Desktop Linux for Everyone
Dropbox is annoyingly dropping support for a bunch of Linux file systems. Because backup is so important, I don’t want to use something self-hosted, but I think I’ll give SpiderOak another shot.
I’d say Dropbox doesn’t care about Linux, but honestly I think it’s more they don’t care about their customers (see the Public Folder debacle). They’re just not an awesome company to work with.
Dropbox client warns me that it’ll stop syncing in Nov, why? | Dropbox Community
Sam Hewitt has a very nuanced post on the challenge of customization with desktops, specifically GNOME. The ability to customize makes it hard for software designers to know how things will render. So less customization options makes their life much easier. But the ability to customize it what draws many of us to Linux. He ends on a fair thought:
I would rather see GNOME evolve as a platform and become a little less developer-hostile by dropping support for third-party themes, than stagnate. Doing so would also bring us in line with the how the major (successful) platforms maintain a consistent look and feel and consider app developers’ control over their apps and their rights to their brand identities.
That said, I doubt such a hardline position will be widely warmly received, but I would like to see a more closed approach to look and feel. Though, perhaps actually building some sort of framework that allows for custom stylesheets (so that downstreams can have their unique visual identities) that doesn’t involve totally overriding the one at the toolkit level would be the best solution.
Moving Beyond Themes | Sam Hewitt
A colleague runs our department’s summer youth program and he went around asking people to give the high-school-age students presentations on various topics, from library databases to financial literacy. He suggested I do something around free and open source software, and since I had never done something like that before, I thought it might be helpful to throw the lesson into GitHub.
Free and Open Source Software Lesson | GitHub
Cassidy James Blaede, who you might remember from this interview, is joining the elementary project full-time. It’s thanks in part to a large, private contribution. I’m super curious who that person is! But it’s great news for Cassidy and elementary.
A New Chapter | Medium
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Linux Foundation today launched the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) to provide a neutral forum for open source software developers in the motion picture and broader media industries to share resources and collaborate on technologies for image creation, visual effects, animation and sound.
Suffice it to say, I know nothing about film-making or animation or anything like that, but this seems like a great idea. I’m focusing on the word neutral, which is always important with software. And that’s pretty much all I understand about this.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Linux Foundation Launch the Academy Software Foundation | The Linux Foundation
Manjaro is making a nice looking laptop!
They’re working with Station X, a European company.
I hope this catches on in the US. I’d love to try one out!
The Spitfire 2018 – 2nd Gen | Manjaro Linux
I know Phil from his lovely review of my book, Learn Linux in a Month of Lunches. I also know him from Twitter, where he’s very funny. Phil’s interview gets at a lot of the wonderful things he does to not just promote Linux, but to open people’s minds to it. I also love that his Library has a Linux Genius Bar! Helping the public in that way is brave, since you have to be familiar with lots of hardware and distros. But it’s also generous, since not everyone has the technological or financial resources to get their machine up-and-running. Phil makes me proud to work in libraries!
You can find more of The Linux Setup here.
You can follow Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.
My name is Phil Shapiro and I work as an technology educator and help-desk person at the Takoma Park Maryland Library, a small library in a close-by suburb of Washington, DC. Our library offers 27 Linux stations to the public, seven days a week. We use a commercial Linux solution, Userful, from a company by the same name in Calgary, Alberta. The Userful solution is built on top of Fedora and works in a magical-sort-of-way to provide multiple seats connected to a single desktop. I explain this magic in this short YouTube video.
A typical work day for me is often quite varied. People ask me for help applying for jobs, using LibreOffice to write letters or make flyers, how to crop photos in GIMP, and a myriad of other things. The town where I work and live, Takoma Park, has residents from 92 nations, so it’s delightful working in that mix. I speak French quite a bit at work—and also a speak a smattering of Amharic, Somali, and sign language. I’m a beginner at sign language, but there’s nothing more rewarding than answering a deaf community members’ question in sign. I lived in France as a kid, so my French is functional, albeit not fluent.
In my free time at work, I install Linux on any laptop or desktop that people bring me. This is not an official library service, but my supervisor (who also loves Linux), lets me do this as long as its not interfering with my other library duties. I like to think of myself as a Linux Genius Bar. A friendly, no-cost Linux genius bar. Once I even figured out someone’s difficult Linux WiFi driver issue. He was amazed that he could get such help at the public library. I explained to him, “You brought me a good question and I found you a good answer. That’s what libraries are for.”
I also pride myself on not being a Linux hard-sell person. I never tell people, “You should use Linux.” My approach is to say, “Linux is worth considering. Would you like me to explain why I think so?” When Windows or Mac seems like a better solution for a person’s particular needs, I’m not shy about saying, “I think Windows (or Mac) would be best for you.” And then I explain why.
Incidentally, some Linux enthusiast are not pro-Chromebook. I am pro-Chromebook. Why? Because Chromebooks are a stepping stone to a GalliumOS full Linux laptop, which I explain here.
If enough Linux enthusiasts request computer manufacturers to produce a GalliumOS laptop, then they will produce a GalliumOS laptop. I have been to the mountain top and I have seen the promised land—and to me, it looks a lot like GalliumOS.
Why do you use Linux?
I use Linux becomes its the most logical path towards a more inclusive, healthful, hopeful, and less violent world.
Linux also makes it more difficult for big tech companies to be bullies. I wrote about one aspect of that in this PCWorld article. Linux allows old hardware to be born again (or, as I explain to the public at my public library job, “Linux allows old computers to be born again. (pause) Born again – Halleluyah!”)
I feel a duty to make YouTube videos explaining Linux refurbished computers:
Of course, I sing about Linux often:
If you’re not singing, how can people understand the joy you feel in your heart?
Incidentally, in case anyone is interested in how I first came to open source, I’ve chronicled that story here: “The Day My Mind Became Open Sourced.”
What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?
I’m a big fan of Linux Mint Xfce.
What desktop environment do you use and why do you use it?
I’m a fan of Xfce because it is so lightweight and fast. I often show Linux Mint to people visiting the library and I want to show them Linux running at its fastest and most responsive. I like to explain that a Vista laptop upgraded to Linux Mint Xfce might be as much as three times faster—on the same hardware. People don’t believe me until they see it. Then the believe me.
What one piece of Linux software do you depend upon? Why is it so important?
I could not live without Simple Screen Recorder. It’s my favorite Linux screencasting program. I use it to create many of the video book reviews you can find here.
I should add, screencasting software is vital for librarians because screencasting is a storytelling art. I’m surprised that few other librarians are big on screencasting. I recently turned to screencasting to make these videos:
I use a Core2Duo ThinkPad and an external 23-inch Samsung monitor (1920 x 1080.) I’m eager to try Linux screencasting on 2560 x 1440—and 4K monitors—hopefully within the next year or so. Some people might not realize that screencasting is “making videos.” You don’t need a camcorder, either (although a nice webcam can come in handy. I always prefer Logitech for webcams. For a good deal, buy your webcam on eBay. The Logitech C270 is very affordable and gives you 720p video; ample for almost all screencasting uses).
Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?
For that, I plead the 5th amendment: “nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Imagine 95 icons and folders on the desktop. Scattered. That’s what my desktop looks like—after I’ve spent time tidying it up.
Interview conducted August 16, 2017
The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.
You can follow Linux Rig on Google+ here, follow me on Twitter here, and subscribe to the feed here.
These statistics brought much internal debate within the Lubuntu team, but we decided that going forward, we need to adapt for the current state of the market. Therefore, our main focus is shifting from providing a distribution for old hardware to a functional yet modular distribution focused on getting out of the way and letting users use their computer.
This is really interesting. Lubuntu is still going to be light—just not as light. Which will allow it to do interesting things while also running well on most machines. LXDE is nice, but it’s not my favorite desktop environment. I prefer Xfce for smallish footprint and i3 for no footprint. But Lubuntu could head into an interesting direction as it embraces newer technologies.
Taking a new direction | Lubuntu
Nochka has a youthful energy to her responses. Mostly in that she’s using a lot of software I’m not familiar with! These days, I tend to stick the defaults, but now I’m curious about a lot of the things mentioned here! Specifically, Typora, since I’m always in the market for a good Markdown editor. Nochka also calls out how well Linux works for control freaks, and I have to say that I agree! Minor tweaks are usually easy to make and being able to resolve them always makes me feel better, ie, in control.
You can find more of The Linux Setup here.
You can follow Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.
I’m a 20-year-old college student from Indonesia. When I have some spare time, I also write on my blog (Nochka’s Weekly Tech Findings) about my everyday experiences using Linux and Android, such as reviews of apps I just discovered or fixes for problems I’ve just encountered. I like to think of my blog as a place where I can improve my writing skills and share my thoughts with the world.
Why do you use Linux?
I love the variety of choices and customization options Linux has to offer, which is a good thing for someone like me, who likes to try new things and can be a control freak sometimes.
About a year ago, I decided to take a big leap and stopped using Windows, because Linux is capable of doing everything I need it to do, and all the news about Microsoft makes me appreciate the open source philosophy more. I also don’t have to worry about malware 😉
What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?
I’m running Xubuntu 16.04 LTS.
What desktop environment do you use and why do you use it?
I use Xfce, because I don’t have the most powerful machine, yet I still want to have a pretty desktop. I also use TopMenu and Windowck plugins so I can have global app menu and window buttons on the top panel.
What one piece of Linux software do you depend upon? Why is it so important?
I don’t think I can depend on only one piece of software. But I’m a heavy user of Albert, a keyboard-based launcher. It’s a big part of my workflow, and the first thing I’ll install on a new system. I also browse the internet with Firefox, take notes with Nvpy, and listen to music with Gmusicbrowser. To help with my studies, I use LibreOffice, Zotero, Goldendict, and Org-mode. For my blogging needs, I use Typora for writing drafts and Shutter for taking screenshots.
What kind of hardware do you run this setup on?
I’m using a Samsung NP370R4V laptop with Intel Pentium 997 (1.6 Ghz), 4GB RAM, and 500GB of disk space. It’s still running smoothly for a four-year-old laptop with mediocre specs.
Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?
Sure!
Interview conducted August 3, 2017
The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.
You can follow Linux Rig on Google+ here, follow me on Twitter here, and subscribe to the feed here.
