The Zero Room

A while ago we got this query via the contact form on the site, and as it's a question so often asked, I think it's worth putting the answer somewhere Google can see it.

I have loaded Ubuntu 8.04 and all is well except when I download other programs eg Banshee I have no idea how to install it or any other app. This is generally a very easy task in windows.

Those of you who have used GNU/Linux for a while are now doubtless spraying the screen with bikkie crumbs as you shout "It's EASIER than in Windows!!!", but there are good reasons why a new Ubuntu user wouldn't know that.

It's just been brought to my attention that the Coffs Coast Community College is offering courses this semester in OpenOffice.org and the GIMP, led by one David Bryant, a familiar face to ClubLinux regulars. Well done David! I would advise anybody interested to enrol ASAP.

Not only is the design of the Netherlands' latest commemorative coin very clever, it was developed with 100% free software. A must-have for freedom-loving numismatists everywhere.

Earlier this month the Free Software Foundation (FSF) announced a "reboot" of it's High Priority list, a list of projects critical to allowing people to use their computers in freedom. I've finally had a look at the revised list, and think it's right on the money.

I suspect there is a rich seam of jokes to be mined here.

Richard Stallman "recently" (don't you hate it when people don't attach a date to material posted on the Web?) delivered one of his regular talks,"Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks", to the University of Waterloo in Canada, who have put the video of the event online. Richard is an inspiring individual; one of only two people on Earth I'd count as a hero. Despite having heard recordings of earlier renditions of this talk, I would still have dashed out of the house to change the world immediately after watching this, were it not for the fact it was around 1am and I was not dressed for world-changing.

Also highly recommended is the video of Eben Moglen, of the Software Freedom Law Centre, talking about "The Global Software Industry in Transformation: After GPLv3" in June this year. Anybody who's bandwidth-impaired can get copies of these (they are appropriately licenced for free redistribution, of course) from me at the next Club Linux meeting.

While addressing the question of "how to get started in Linux", Andrew Cowie offers this graph, which I think is bang on the money, of ease of installation versus ease of subsequent upgrading for a number of popular free operating systems. (Ease of upgrading is not considered so important in non-free operating systems since users of these systems routinely wipe their hard drives and reinstall from scratch every six to twelve months to rid their computers of bloat and malware.) For a very long time these two qualities were present in any one OS in inverse proportion, so it's hardly surprising that any system that bucks this unwritten law should receive a lot of attention.

Long ago, I used to read a magazine (no longer in print; a victory of the Web over dead tree publication) which carried Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" comic strip. At the end of each year, it was customary (I don't know if it still is) for Matt to list the "Forbidden Words" for the following year; terms relating to the fads, scandals, cause celebres, and all the cringe-inducing cliches of the previous twelve months.

Linux.com has reviewed the new releases from Mandriva and Ubuntu, both generally favourably. Mandriva's package management system(s) still appear to be letting it down, and Ubuntu "Edgy" disappoints for it's lack of "edginess". If you've used either, leave your impressions in the comments below.

LinuxForums has published yet another review of the options for Windows refugees. Highlights include a comparison table featuring minimum and recommended system requirements for four GNU/Linux distributions plus two proprietary operating systems (I nearly choked on my muesli reading the stats for Vista), and a pleasing absence of the misleading generalisations, ignorance, and FUD-repeated-as-fact that one often finds in these sorts of articles.