The opinions here are solely my own and do not represent the opinions of any of my employers - past, present, or future. I wanted to post this disclaimer since there was a recent e-mail sent out that advised us to post this disclaimer if we have any blogs.
Disclaimer
August 3rd, 2008Linux Hardware Compatibility
August 3rd, 2008I have yet to find a reliable source for learning whether a motherboard or other piece of hardware is going to work in Linux. There are some sites and forums out there that have bits and pieces, but I have not found a reliable, up-to-date, and complete source for the latest hardware. Especially since there are so many viable distros - each with their own level of compatibility.
If anyone knows of a site that I haven’t found yet, please shoot me an e-mail to my first name at nethub.org.
ext4
May 6th, 2008From the article:
Ext3 tops out at 32 tebibyte (TiB) file systems and 2 TiB files, but practical limits may be lower than this depending on your architecture and system settings—perhaps as low as 2 TiB file systems and 16 gibibyte (GiB) files. Ext4, by contrast, permits file systems of up to 1024 pebibyte (PiB), or 1 exbibyte (EiB), and files of up to 16 TiB. This may not be important (yet!) for the average desktop computer or server, but it is important to users with large disk arrays.
and…
The single most dramatic improvement in ext4 is in file and file system size. Thus, the users who are most likely to need ext4 are those who have more than a few terabytes of disk space. The list of features in Table 1, though, may present some other tempting improvements. For instance, you might want to try ext4 if you have directories with huge numbers of subdirectories or if you need timestamps accurate to less than a second.
Very nice. I’m sure we’ll be concerned about 2 TiB files soon enough…
Kubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)
February 24th, 2008I know I’m a little late to the party in terms of installing Kubuntu 7.10. However, I finally installed it on my Dell 600m this weekend. It worked out of the box with absolutely no tinkering which was a pleasant surprise. Kubuntu is surprisingly polished and I’m pretty impressed so far.
After updating all of the packages and rebooting, I found myself with a non-functional wireless card. Having had this happen in the past, I knew where to look. The firmware was deleted from the system when the new kernel was installed and the firmware needed to be downloaded.
To get the wireless card working again, I did the following (procedure modified for use with Kubuntu from How to enable Wireless Lan on [wifi] FC-6):
1. Download ipw2200-fw-3.0.tgz from Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG Driver Firmware.
2. Unarchive ipw2200-fw-3.0.tgz.
3. Move all .fw files to /lib/firmware/2.6.22-14-386 (the exact directory may vary depending on your kernel version).
3. /sbin/modprobe -r ipw2200
4. /sbin/modprobe ipw2200
Your wireless card should be working again. Enjoy.
Insane Comment Spam
April 22nd, 2007If anyone knows of a good comment spam killer, please let me know by e-mail. I am probably going to disable comments until I can figure out what to do about it. Akismet is not working anymore.
CentOS 5 and RHEL 5
April 14th, 2007CentOS 5 was finally released this week after RHEL 5 was released earlier this month. I did an install on a spare server to play around with it, and so far so good. I may post a more in depth review after I’ve logged some more time playing around.
I just read an article in eWeek titled Red Hat should lighten up.
I think Red Hat’s current policy of requiring subscriptions for access to RHEL is flawed. CentOS has a huge userbase which could contribute more directly to the development and community around RHEL if Red Hat opened up RHEL to users who don’t need support.
I understand that there are definite costs to having mirrors for all of the users. Many companies have stepped up and offered mirrors, and I think they would have no problem continuing to do so if Red Hat opened RHEL.
Since CentOS currently has a 2-3 day lead time to download the new source RPMS and compile them for the OS’s after they are released, why not do the same for the free version of RHEL? Add that as another advantage to buying a subscription — priority updates.
If there were a free version of RHEL, it could also change Oracle’s plans on Unbreakable Linux, which like CentOS, is just another rebadged RHEL.
I think that what bugs me the most is that there’s so much wasted productivity in the rebadging/recompiling/etc that could be better utilized in the further development of the OS.
I do understand Red Hat’s position on RHEL. I do see potential downsides to opening it up — the main one being that some users that now pay for subscriptions might switch to the free version. However, I think the potential benefits outweigh the risks.
Termination of RegisterFly.com Registrar Accreditation
March 17th, 2007ICANN has terminated RegisterFly’s Registrar Accreditation. After all of the recent controversy surrounding RegisterFly, I’m not surprised. It will be interesting to see what happens now — it sounds like RegisterFly may be forced to transfer customer domains in bulk to another registrar. If that happens, will RegisterFly get any kind of compensation? Watching this story play out could prove to be very interesting.
RHEL 5 out today
March 14th, 2007Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5, at long last, was released today. This release is based roughly on Fedora Core 6, which is a huge update from RHEL v4 (which was based off of FC3). I look forward to installing CentOS 5 when it is released in about two weeks.
One other thing worth noting — The Fedora Project recently started Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) which looks to add a new repository for RHEL/CentOS/etc users who are looking for packages that are not included with RHEL but are available in Fedora. This will bridge a gap between Fedora and RHEL.
Good job, Red Hat!
Upgraded WordPress
March 4th, 2007I just upgraded WordPress because I was suddenly getting thousands of comment spam that seemed to be coming as a result of some kind of bug in WordPress. Hopefully the madness will stop now.
Avoid TigerDirect
August 31st, 2006I just got this in from my friend Josh. Somewhat surprising that a major online retailer would try to pull this stuff. I think I’ll stick with NewEgg when I need tech gear.
I recently purchased a Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset from one of our favorite retail venues, Bestbuy. I paid full retail price, $124.99 for the H700. It’s a little expensive but I just got tired of the Jabra ($79.99) headset underperforming so I decided to upgrade. After purchasing the H700 I found out that TigerDirect.com had the H700 for $54.99 so I decided to buy one from there and return the one to Bestbuy. All totaled, I paid $71.00 with 2nd shipping from TigerDirect.com. I was very happy to save the $55. Today I received the new one from Tigerdirect and immediately, I noticed that the package was different. The one from BB had to be cut open with a knife (its that hard plastic bubble type package) and the one from TD opened up like a clamshell (no knife, just snapped apart). As soon as that happened, I got curious and began comparing the two packages directly.
To make a long story short, I determined that the product from TD was a knock off. The quick start guide was a different color; the pictures in it were pixilated and blurry. The user manual was cut wrong, the cardboard packaging that shows thru the clear plastic bubble was all pixilated and the colors were off…after a closer look, even the Motorola M circular logo was misprinted.
I called TD and explained to them that they were selling counterfeit products and that I wasn’t paying for it or the shipping. They of course denied the facts but did agree to cough up the total cost, shipping included.
I sent it back and I’m not buying from them ever again.