My Debian Saga

I want preface this blog post by stating I am a Debian Linux fan. I think when set up properly, Debian can be almost unbreakable. It can run light and fast and cool, but first you have to get it installed.

I've installed numerous Debian forks and had few if any issues with them, distributions like SolusOS, Linux Mint debian, SalineOS, and Mepis. All were very solid Linux distributions and relatively easy to install. Not so with vanilla Debian.

My goal was to install Debian to a 16 gig usb stick, essentially installing Debian to an external hard drive. To start with, Debian is not as easy to find and download as say, Ubuntu. You don't go to the home page and click on the "install" button, you have to search through directories to find what you need. I began with what should have been the easiest way, the Debian Live page and Stable release. I downloaded the KDE image and burned it to a usb stick with Unetbootin and booted up the operating system. So far so good, I had a wired Internet connection that was working and the KDE desktop looked good. So I click on "install".

At first the installer looks straightforward and simple enough, asking for your keyboard choice, time location, name, password, etc., and I even got past installing the system, but then it asked for my mirror choice, which was the U.S. and then the installer choked. My guess is that after it installed the system it killed my Internet connection and I could find no way of backing up or going to the desktop to check it, I was stuck with the only option to kill the install and start over, which I did, this time using the Gnome version iso and same results, it croaked at the mirror choice with no way to get out of it except to go forward without finishing the install, then it froze at the grub install.

OK, I said to hell with that (my cussing increased a thousand fold during this experience) and I downloaded both the Xfce/LXDE and KDE Wheezy/Testing iso's. The installer seemed to be working better, but it too choked, freezing during the install applications point, both the KDE and Xfce/LXDE iso's croaked during the install process. I remind you again that I'm not a complete newbie, you can see by numerous other posts that I've had success installing quite a few Linux distributions.

OK, I said to hell with that (my blood pressure definitely rising) and I went with a net install iso. I figured if there was any possibility of saving this mess of an experiment with Debian it was with the net install. So I begin the install with the net install iso, and everything is going much better, except that it is a 3 hour process downloading the thing on high speed Internet. I use the guided install, letting Debian have its way, because 'manual' is beyond hopeless, and things seem to be going very well, except for taking all night to install. But I actually have some hope this might work.

I finally get Debian installed, though by this time I'm convinced it wasn't worth the time or effort when a hundred other Linux distributions have  easier installers (and I could have installed 20 other Linux distributions by now) and a more straightforward process, and the 'fun' has still not ended. Instead of installing grub to the partition I selected, it overwrites grub on the sda hard drive so that I have to fix that on my host computer, and reinstall grub to the usb stick.

OK, it boots up, so far so good, it gave me a GUI desktop (KDE) but offered no choice in the process, so luckily I like KDE and that's not an issue, except that it gives me a broken KDE desktop, one that will only launch some applications and not others. It won't install applications outside of synaptic, gdebi doesn't work properly. Since I'm planning on using this on a laptop I install my wifi firmware, and add the multimedia repository and keyring. I'm entering phase two because though I somewhat admire the Debian philosophy of "everything open source" I have to live in the real world where codecs and flash are needed. All of those important items need installing on Debian before I can use it, but I till have a broken KDE desktop.

So I figure I might as well install the Gnome desktop and see if I can salvage this mess. Anyone in their right mind would have quit long ago, but my stubbornness and the fact I've invested all night in this mess keeps me moving forward. I'm at my last straw though, if the Gnome desktop install does not set things straight, the towel is thrown in, I'll chalk this up to a learning experience and  something that teaches me greater appreciation for the numerous other Linux distributions that don't demand so much heartache to install and make them usable.

A couple of things I need to add here. I know some people have installed Debian without any issues. I also know that it is easier to install Debian to a regular hard drive than to an external one. But I also know this, Debian, with its huge number of developers, should not be behind small teams of other distributions that make perfectly easy to use installers. Sometimes just one or two developers make forks of Debian that work so much better for your desktop computer user, which brings me to my main conclusion: I don't believe Debian is meant for the desktop computer user, not vanilla Debian. It is well suited for servers, but for your everyday desktop computer user, and especially for those new to Linux--Debian is probably not for you. And I think that is a shame, because I don't believe it would be all that hard for the Debian developers to make a Debian distribution that would be great for desktop computer users. SolusOS, Mepis, SalineOS, and others have proven that Debian can be a great distribution, have an easy installer, and user-friendliness thrown in, but I don't expect it will happen. A quick visit to a Debian Forum will get you arrogant responses and general unfriendliness to put it mildly from the mere suggestion that Debian could be improved in any way, or that an easier installer would aid in its adoption.

I may update this post if I ever get Debian working properly, probably six months from now I'll have it running like a dream, but I'll never recommend vanilla Debian to anyone. There are some great Debian forks I highly recommend, such as SolusOS, but unless you want an exercise in frustration, go with something easier to install, and more user friendly out of the box. It need not be this way, I think regular Debian could pretty much run the Linux show if it had an easier installer and a ready made package of codecs to quickly find and install, but, sadly, that is not Debian.

Cutting The Cable Cord

While Hollywood complains and moans about lost movie revenue, and cable companies do the same because of lost customers, consumers are looking more and more to alternatives to shoddy new movies and rising cable prices.

About six weeks ago I realized that my wife was watching the one millionth rerun of "King of Queens" and I was scouring the hundred or so channels on cable and finding squat worth watching, so I decided it was time to try something new and save some money in the process. I picked up a Roku box.

I soon discovered that I could watch reruns of my favorite shows without commercials on Netflix using a Roku box to stream shows. For $8 a month with Netflix verses $80 a month for Cable I could watch more shows than I could keep track of, plus watch numerous movies on Crackle for free. More recently I added Hulu Plus giving me yet more choices in shows for another $8 a month. Add an antenna for local TV stations, and cable seems a useless waste. On top of this I can plug my computer into my TV and get additional free content over the net. Wow, who needs cable?

Networks and cable companies are beginning to realize too late that trying to shore up a falling entertainment wall is seeking to hold back floodwaters that are already up to their waist. They are planning for the battle and haven't realized they already lost the war. Hulu Plus is creating their own programming, as is Crackle, the new media empires will be streaming across the web and not from cable companies.

This has been going on for years, actually I'm late to the game. My daughter was doing this years ago, and people have been cutting their cable wires for years. About the only reason I can see to have cable at this point is for sporting events, but not being a big sports buff this is no loss to me, and I will be surprised if we do not see sports empires finding ways to bypass traditional methods of revenue and go directly to the customer without middle men in the future.

I expect the cable companies will survive largely as Internet service providers. That is my final tie to my cable company and I have no complaints about the Internet service they provide. As long as they continue to provide that service and continue the quality I'm happy to maintain that connection, but extravagant cable bills for TV and cable networks with ever-increasing prices--I've left those days behind forever.

It did not need to come to this. I was blissfully ignorant of just how easy it would be to bypass cable television. If greedy networks had not continually foisted higher prices and held hostage numerous programs over the years, I would never have come to this place. All apologies to sports and food network fans but I'm tired of paying extra dollars each moth for network programming I never watch. If cable had offered us an ala-cart menu with lower prices making available to us only those networks we actually watch--I probably would not have cut the cable.

I don't want to sound like I'm just bashing the local cable companies, they have often had no choice but to bite the bullet and pass on higher prices to consumers. What I got for free with an outdoor antenna many years ago when when I lived at home, now is a bazillion dollar industry that not only crams endless commercials down our throats for ad dollars, but soaks us with increases in our cable bills leaving us to pay for their lousy programming twice over, we pay once in precious time spent with commercials, and again with ever-increasing cable bills. And there are ever more stations for higher prices, most of these new stations are hardly worth watching but we pay for them anyway.

It may not be easy for some people to cut the cord with their cable companies, and I can understand that. But for me, adding an antenna for the local stations, getting a Roku box for Netflix so I can watch ad-free Movies and TV series, and Crackle which has modest ads but provides free movies and a handful of TV series, and Hulu Plus which is obnoxious with the ads but supplements choices for cable cutters with newer TV programs, and the option to plug a computer into the TV for additional programming, these make cable cutting worth it to me.

I think the old paradigm of people depending upon cable companies to supply them with entertainment is beginning to fade. There are more options today for entertainment than ever in our history, and we can be sure such choices will increase in the future. I don't hate my cable company, but I can't say I'm sorry to say goodbye. The future regarding entertainment is going to be something to see, and I suspect that those who adapt to the new paradigm will thrive, while those who try to hold onto the old ways will lose their customers.

How about you--have you cut the cord to your cable company?

Thinking About Fuduntu

Funduntu 2012.3 is somewhat unique among Linux distributions. While you find many Debian and Ubuntu spins and forks you do not find as many Red Hat spins and forks that are user friendly, and more, optimized for laptops and netbooks.

It seems not only optimized for netbooks and laptops, it is also very "Google friendly" having the Chromium browser, the Gmail application on the dock, and only having Google Docs for a word processor. I get this as Fuduntu is a distribution aimed at being light weight, and I credit the developers for having updated versions of Firefox, Thunderbird, and LibreOffice in the repository.

Having recently spent some time with Fedora 17, it is interesting to compare Fuduntu and Fedora. Fuduntu is a fork of Fedora 14, so the Fedora user will find themselves on familiar ground. There is no question in my mind that Fuduntu is much more user friendly out of the box. The fonts look good, unlike Fedora's fonts out of the box. Many of the things you must hunt down and add repositories for in Fedora are there by default in Fuduntu, such as Flash and codecs.


I first came across Funduntu about a year ago when I was test driving every Linux distribution I could find to decide which ones I liked best and wanted on my computers. Fuduntu was one of about four or five on my short list. I found it one of the most attractive Linux distributions. I still find it attractive with its simple user interface using Gnome 2 and having a nice dock.

Andrew Wyatt's work on the Jupiter app cannot be praised highly enough. I use it on both a Kubuntu 12.04 install and a Fedora KDE 17 install, without the Jupiter app both of those installs run too warm on my netbook. Andrew Wyatt is also the creator of Fuduntu. So it is not surprising to see that he has brought the same skill to creating his own Linux distribution.

OK, enough praise, what don't I like about Fuduntu? As a Fedora fork some of the software made for Fedora may not work on this distribution. And usually if you have to go outside the repositories for a program you get the choice of: Debian, Ubuntu, or Fedora based applications. This can limit your choice of programs, for instance, I wanted the Xiphos application and it wasn't in the Fuduntu repository, so I tried installing both the Fedora 14 and 15 versions with no joy. A fork can be a good thing, especially if you don't like where the main distribution is headed, or wish to take your own path with a distribution, but forking can also mean a loss of some of the good things and the popularity that brings in applications and new programs that a small team may have difficulty keeping up with.

A couple other minor complaints, even writing this article I find the "Fuduntu" name annoying. I find myself either wanting to write "Feduntu" or "Fubuntu". The only good thing I can say about the name is that it gets across the idea of Fuduntu being a distribution that tries to be a cross between Fedora and Ubuntu as far as usability. Another issue that is a minor complaint but still a bit annoying is that I find launched applications cut off at the bottom on my netbook so that I have to maximize the window to reach the buttons. One final annoyance is that when apps are running sometimes "the lights dim" as if there has been a big power drain on the system. The screen darkens until the load decreases. I'm guessing that might have something to do with the Jupiter app but I haven't seen it happen with other distributions running Jupiter.

But let's end on a positive note: Despite my few complaints I find that Fuduntu is sent down from the gods as the perfect distribution for netbooks. It looks good on a netbook, runs good on a netbook, you wonder why the major Original Equipment Manufacturers of netbooks are not knocking on Andrew Wyatt's door to get this operating system on their netbooks. It beats the hell out of the crippled version of Windows 7 that came on my netbook. Anyone with a netbook or other small laptop who does not give this distribution a try is doing themselves a disservice. For despite a few quirks this distribution is impressive on the small screen. I think it would be awesome on a tablet as well.

Conclusion: Just as back when I tried this Linux distribution about a year ago, I really like Fuduntu. I think this one is a winner. It is the most user friendly Red Hat based distribution I have ever tried. The Jupiter app is priceless on a laptop/netbook for saving the battery and keeping the hardware temperature down and comes by default on Fuduntu. If Andrew and his team can keep the repository for Fuduntu going strong with updated applications, and keep this fine distribution rolling along, I suspect Fuduntu has a very bright future.

Thinking About Fedora 17 KDE

Somehow it seems fitting on this, the 4th of July, to write about Fedora 17 KDE with its fireworks wallpaper. My first experience trying Fedora about a year ago when Gnome 3 came on the scene was not fun. Gnome 3 crashed every few minutes, and was an unusable mess. I felt like a wall had been thrown up between me and my computer using Gnome 3, that dreaded Gnome Shell.

My experience with main Fedora 17 using Gnome Shell again this year was an equally bad experience. I can find no love for this bastard child of Gnome. While Gnome 2 was one of the easiest desktop interfaces ever created, Gnome 3 is the most useless offspring of Gnome. But enough beating a dead horse, Gnome 3 cannot die soon enough.

KDE Fedora is the good child, the useful offspring of Fedora. Today a Linux operating system is chosen as much for its desktop interface as any other reason. KDE is one of the best, if not the best, of the Linux desktops. It is fully configurable, has an almost endless ability to be tweaked and adjusted. Some complain that it is heavy on resources, but if you turn off "effects" and make a few other tweaks, you can run it easily on less robust hardware. I'm running it right now on a netbook using 1 gig of ram and a 1.66 cpu. It feels as light and fast as Xfce to me with a few adjustments. As I write this Fedora KDE 17 is using no more than 12% of my cpu.

As mentioned, it is mostly about the desktops today, your preferences in desktop GUI likely leads your choice in Linux distributions. Fedora is using KDE 4.8.3 which is a mature and polished KDE desktop. Using "yum install" in the terminal brings you access to many nice applications like Firefox. Or you can use the Software Management GUI to install your favorite applications.

I must admit that I favor the Debian based Linux distributions, Debian Stable in particular. But if you have hardware that is fairly new, requiring a newer kernel and more up-to-date software, Fedora is going to be well worth considering.

It is curious to me that this Fedora release would be called "Beefy Miracle", I think perhaps it shows a great sense of humor from someone at Fedora. I will refer to it as "Fedora 17" because I cannot imagine saying to someone: "Come look at my computer, check out the Beefy Miracle". I wonder what they were smoking when they came up with that name :-)

I don't like the "Beefy Miracle" theme on KDE. The text in the panel is almost unreadable with that theme, so I changed it to the nicer Oxygen theme giving me good contrast on the panel with a black panel and clear white text. In general, whether it's on the Gnome 3 release, Xfce, or Fedora KDE, the font rendering is rather bad in Fedora when compared to a distribution like Ubuntu. One thing I like to is change my system fonts to DejaVu Sans bold, and I enable rgb, 96 dpi, and set anti-aliasing to slight, which improves the fonts considerably.

Over time I think Fedora could grow on me, and with their plans to play ball with UEFI Secure Boot on Microsoft Machines, in the future they may be one of the few Linux operating systems to easily install and use on new hardware, one of the few distributions that will make it easy for newcomers to use Linux. I don't like the fact that Fedora only has a year of updates and support, I think that is a weakness in the system. You might have a truly wonderful Fedora release that works perfectly on your hardware, and find that the next release is complete dog on your system. It is too bad there is not a backport system as in Debian to keep alive an excellent Fedora release.

I would be remiss in these comments if I did not mention Fedora's excellent installer. Next to Ubuntu, Fedora is one of the fastest and easiest Linux installs I've ever come across. I suspect this is part of Fedora's popularity.  And because Fedora has such a short shelf life, having an excellent installer is of paramount importance.

To me Fedora will always seem something of a Redhat testbed. It makes me think of Debian Sid, the newest Debian whose main purpose is to filter down stable software for the main purpose of creating Debian Stable. In a similar fashion I see Fedora as the testing ground for cutting edge software that will eventually make its way into the Redhat server edition and CentOS. This is not necessarily bad, but worth considering if you prefer a stable rather than cutting edge distribution.

If there were no other Linux distributions, I could happily live with Fedora. And if I had a new computer, Fedora would be one of the first distributions I would consider, but with the caveat that it would be the KDE spin of Fedora and not the main Gnome 3 mess.

Fedora 17 KDE is well worth trying out and if you want cutting edge software you will be a happy camper with Fedora. If you ever want a job involving Linux you will need to spend time with a Redhat distribution adjusting to yum and rpm package management, and Fedora is a user friendly way to step into the Redhat world of Linux. It may never become my favorite Linux distribution, but with a usable desktop like KDE, Fedora is a nice distribution.