::why ubuntu, anyway?

Why does everyone have such a hardon for Ubuntu, anyway?

To be honest, I’m not sure.  I installed Ubuntu after failing to install Debian on my laptop since the installer wanted to know everything there was to know about my hardware but I was afraid to find out.  I had decided to try it after mucking around with RedHat 9 for quite a while and found myself wanting a more current OS.  I didn’t want to move to Fedora, which might seem like a more natural move, largely because 1) I didn’t want to pay for updates, and 2) I just never really liked RedHat all that much. 

I downloaded Ubuntu after hearing about it from a co-worker.  I was immediately impressed with the hardware recognition and the fact that I didn’t have to spend days getting little things like sound and video to work, the way I did with RedHat. 

Why do I stick with it?  Excellent support from the Ubuntu user community, for one.  The incredible breadth of software available, for another. 

Are there better distros out there that are just as good for the home user?  Probably?  Better distros?  Maybe. 

Do I find (k)Ubuntu lacking enough to go out and find them? 

No.

kisses,

jimbo.

::odd

Ubuntu Christian Edition made it to Distrowatch today, which raised my eyebrow a little. I’ve seen some talk of this on the Ubuntu forums, and while I admit I do wonder why it is necessary to have a christian editiion of a linixu distro, I figure it is all in good fun anyway. I’ll stick with my Heathen edition, thank you very much.

I did have some curiosity, though, so I went to their web site to poke around. They link to Linux for Christians. Again, the question of why. So I clicked it hoping to find an answer instead of a laugh. I found a laugh instead.

It is almost makes me want to convert.

But I’m a jew, and we killed Christ.

And that means the dog would probably bite me.

more power to you, kids.

kisses,

jimbo

::streaming mp3s

So, you’ve got a large (completely legal) mp3 collection that you want to share with others in the house or in the world, and you want an easy way to do it, right?

Gnump3d is the answer, my friend, and the answer is blowing in the wind.

or something.

Gnump3d is one of many steaming mp3 servers available from the open source community.  I’ve tried a few, including kPlaylist and Agatha, but I like Gnump3d the most.  It takes just a few minutes to configure, is easy to manage, and is very robust without being bloated.

Ubuntu users can install Gnump3d from the repositories, or you can download the source from the main site.  Either way is essentially the same result–the only difference is downloading directly from the site requires you to go through the hell of having to extract the files and run the ever tedious make install command.

egads

Once installed, you configure the program by editing /etc/gnump3d/gnump3d.conf, which takes all of about 10 minutes.

In addition to mp3 support, Gnump3d will also handle your OGG and movie files, and much, much more!

It is also well supported with a not overwhelmingly active mailing list supported by fairly large community.  You’ll frequently find posts by the progam’s main author, which I like a lot.

give it a whirl, you’ll like it.

kisses,

jimbo