Category: Linux

Linux is my primary operating system. I used it on the servers, desktops, laptops, netbooks, and even mobile phones since approximately 1997. I’ve tried a number of distributions over the years, and even created a couple myself. I still look around sometimes to see what others are up to. But most of my machines are running some sort of Red Hat – either a quick and easy Fedora Linux, or a stable and secure Red Hat Enterprise Server, or a cheaper CentOS alternative.

And while by now I am very comfortable in the Linux environment (both graphical and command line), I still discover a lot of new and interesting things about it. When I come across something worthy, I usually share it with the rest of the Open Software world, using this category.

Fedora 11

Fedora 11 Launch
Fedora 11 Launch

Fedora 11 – code named Leonidas – was released just a few days ago.  Having access to an excellent Internet connection in the office, I immediately downloaded it and upgraded.  It didn’t go as smooth as I wish it did, and I still don’t have everything working properly, but I’m glad that I did upgrade.

Here are the issues that I came across:

  • I was upgrading using the preupgrade utility.  It downloaded the packages nicely and created a “Upgrade …” option in the grub boot loader.  Once I rebooted, the upgraded process started and everything was looking good.  However, when the last package was installed, and a popup came up saying “Finalizing install process.  Please wait, it can take a while”, the upgrade actually hang.  The progressbar was going back and forward, but nothing was happening.  I waited for about 40 minutes or so and decided to reboot the machine.  Upon the reboot, it seemed like the upgrade process actually did everything it had to do.  So that was a minor issue.
  • My dual monitor setup broke.  I am using a Lenovo T61 laptop with an external Samsung SyncMaster 2053bw monitor.  Laptop’s resolution remained at 1280×1024, but Samsung monitor went down to 1024×768 and it seems there is no way to push it up.  This is probably due to new kernel and xorg, and I guess has something to do with kernel mode setting.  I tried those few tips that  I could find, but nothing worked.  I still have the problem, so if you by any chance can suggest anything – I am all ears.
  • Once I got to my desktop after the upgrade, Firefox refused to start.  It was crashing with a whole bunch of debug output, but nothing that made any sense.  I had to spend a day in Opera, which turned out to be a nice browser for as long as you don’t need your extensions.  Gladly, the Firefox problem as resolved the next day with the help of some folks in #fedora IRC channel. The issue was a plugin conflict (not addon, but plugin).  Once I removed conflicting plugins and restarted Firefox – it worked automagically.
  • Flash was broken in the browser, but once I removed all plugins and re-installed the ones that I needed, the problem was solved.

That was pretty much all in the troubles department.  Now for the good stuff.

  • My filesystem wasn’t upgraded to ext4.  This is probably a bug or something, but I’m glad it wasn’t.  I have a single / partition with /boot, /home, /var, and everything else on this same partition.  Probably Fedora decided that it’s too precious for the upgrade.
  • Booting is faster now.  I can feel it.  And being on the laptop, I do lots of booting (between home and office, due to very different setups).
  • KDE 4 is a pleasantly usable stage.  After using Gnome for the last year, I decided to give KDE 4 another chance, and it happily took it.  It’s a fast, slick, efficient desktop.  And I enjoy using it.
  • Firefox 3.5 beta 4 is way faster than whatever I had before.  Some addons are still not supporting this version, but the speed with which it starts up and renders pages provides for some balance.

So, apart from having just one screen now, I am enjoying the ride.  It was worth waiting for, downloading, and  upgrading.  And the screen … the screen will come.

Fedora 10 booting issues

If it so happens that your Fedora install suddenly fails to boot, giving some error messages or a simple “GRUB ” string, then I advise you to boot into rescue mode, install all updates, regenerate initrd image and reboot.  All should be nice and sweet now.

Those of you who need more info, scroll through Common Fedora 10 Bugs wiki page.

It’s not the move, it’s the “after” life

There is a lot of noise going about these news:

The Foreign Ministry is migrating all of its 11.000 desktops to GNU/Linux and other Open source applications.

That’s good.  Both the noise and the news.  But it’s not the first time that we hear about this or that government office moving to Linux desktops.  It happened before.  What I am more interested in hearing is the “after” life.  Something along the lines of “Look, we moved to Linux desktops one year ago and we are doing better than ever.  We are happier and we also spend less money”.  How many of those moved roll back to what they had before?  Why did they roll back? How many stay?  How many of those who stay are more satisfied?  How much cheaper it is for them?

That’s what I’d like to hear.

Vacancy for Python or C++ programmers and Linux sysadmins

Point Nine is looking for some talanted people.  They are working in the financial sector, and seeking Python and C++ programmers, as well as Linux system administrators.  They seem to be an interesting company, judging both by their technology stack and hiring techniques.   For example, I’ve spotted their job ad on The Daily WTF.  Cool stuff.  If I wasn’t working where I am working, I would have applied for the job already.

How far is a desktop from a server?

There is an interesting post at The Open Source Advocate blog – “Win the desktop, and you will win the server“.  Tristan Rhodes, the author of the blog, suggests that in order for an operating system to conquer the server market, it should first conquer (or fight reasonable well for) the desktop market.

I have to admit that when I just read the article, I felt almost like agreeing.  But something kept buzzing me from the inside, so I kept that tab open for a few days.  Now that the post was processed at the back of my brain, I have to say that I don’t agree with that point.

There is, of course, a correlation.  Once sysadmins start using something they like on the desktop, it’s pretty soon that they try to see how well that thing handles server tasks.  So, of course, people using Windows on the desktop were checking out how to make a server out of it.

But.  I don’t think that conquering the desktop is the only way to the server.  Not at all. There are more ways, I somehow feel that those other ways are actually simpler.  For one thing, Linux has never been particularly good with desktops.  However, only the stubbornest and the most ignorant of sysadmins will argue against Linux server superpowers.

Furthermore, real sysadmins (which are, of course, in the minority) clearly understand the differences between a desktop computer and a server.  What’s good for one might not be so good for the other.

And then there is this whole “enterprise” issue.  Big companies (aka “enterprises”) aren’t about desktops.  They are about support services, customizations, and having someone to blame.  If there is someone on the other end of the twisted phone cord, they’ll grab him with both hands.

The historical examples in the Open Source Advocate’s blog post might be related or they might not.  The times were different anyway.  But even if these examples are related, they aren’t as heavy as they seem.  There are many factors to consider (prices, distrubution, documentation, hardware requirements, etc).

What do you guys think?