How to fix the 100% CPU issue in XBMC
Long time users of XBMC and Boxee on Linux will probably be aware of a very annoying bug that essentially uses an entire CPU when just sitting at menus.
Linux
Nano: Open a file at a specific position
Nano isn’t the best editor but it does a fairly good job at staying out the way and letting you edit or view things without needing a cheat-sheet of cryptic keyboard shortcuts. However, what do you do when you have a 50,000 line document and you want to get a specific line somewhere near the middle?
The Linux “1% myth” is pretty accurate
Linux market share is an oft-debated topic. Some people release statistics, others shoot them down. But are they incorrect? Is desktop Linux still at 1% share?
My issues with Linux et al
Like a warm ocean current, the tides of contempt are slowly eroding my enjoyment of Ubuntu. I’ve been using it full time for eleven months now but I feel I have to write down my grievances before I find myself jumping ship.
Does Linux really want Windows users?
Linux is often criticised for its over-enthusiastic community trying to convert everybody and their grandma. Today I saw another post asking why we should care if more people use it. In short: yes but I’ve got plenty of reasons to back this up…
10 Reasons Why Linux Ubuntu is Better than Windows
Rather than listing 10 genuine reasons, I’m taking these points from a fanboy. I use Linux as my desktop operating system but these reasons are amazingly flawed.
Does Windows have a viable future?
Microsoft have enjoyed a long stretch as dominant market-share holder in the desktop market; but now they face stiff competition from two sides: OSX and Linux. Can they maintain their strong position?
7 things Windows 7 has to do to win me back
As I keep harking on, I moved to Linux. I’m happy and things are getting a lot more routine for me. I’ve been seeing a lot of fake screenshots this week for Windows 7 and it made me think what I would need from the next version of Windows to migrate back.
Oh my! Nokia are buying KDE!
Well that’s a bit of an overstatement. Nokia are buying the makers of the Qt library, by far the biggest component of KDE and KDE applications. Make no mistake, this is big news for both Nokia and Linux.
The 2007 Linux review
Another year, another time to ask the question: “Will next year be Linux’s year?” So lets look at 2007 and what desktop Linux has managed to achieve and at what point this leaves us for 2008.
4 Windows apps I can’t let go
If you’ve read anything by me in the past month, you’ve probably seen that I moved to Linux. I’m extremely happy here but I still find myself loading Windows in VMWare for several tasks.
Skype for Linux gets video (at last)
I once heard that good things come to those that wait and today Linux users who’ve been waiting for Skype to push out a video-chatting client finally got their wish, albeit in beta form. Download link included,
Errata: Linux needs cross-platform applications
Some time ago I wrote that Linux needed "golden applications" to succeed on the desktop. I was wrong because I’ve seen the light that is Amarok. Cross-platform FOSS will cause platform freedom.
OMGBUNTU!
The Gutsy-fever is approaching tangibility and unlike most other bouts of mass-enthusiasm, I’m actually enjoying this.
So what’s wrong with Ubuntu?
While there’s definitely progress in the latest release of Ubuntu, there are still problems: some limited to Ubuntu, some ingrained in gnome and some endemic to Linux as a whole.
Gutsy, you’re just too… pretty
It’s that time of year again: "Oli attempts to migrate to Linux"! This time (using Gutsy) I’ve got to say that it was considerable more successful that previous times and damn, it’s just too pretty for words…
Game: Spot the death threat
In short: Caitlyn Martin said last month that she was unable to review Puppy Linux. She claims today that a commenter in a Distrowatch thread issued her a death threat… Nasty stuff but I just can’t see the threat angle of it. "Threat" included in the post.
Distrowatch’s statistics don’t mean popularity.
Distrowatch’s HPD stats are often bandied about to make out one distribution is “the best”. But do the numbers actually equate popularity and why do some care so much anyway?
3 moments in Vista that make me consider Linux
While I definitely think some elements of Vista are definite improvements, 10 months of experience has shown me there are some things that just annoy me to my very core. Here are the three things that most make me wish I had the strength to move over to Linux — full time.
PCLinuxOS’s militant leadership
As a reviewer, I expect people to disagree with points I make. Everybody has their own opinion. But is it okay when the project leader of a maturing Linux distribution calls on his users to "hammer" a site because of its outcome?
Review: PCLinuxOS (PCLOS) 2007 Final
Oli reviews the final of PCLinuxOS 2007 to see if all the commotion about this quickly rising newcomer is really worth the weight people are pushing it with.
Review: Ubuntu Studio 7.04
Ubuntu variant of concentrating on three creative tasks: video editing, audio recording and graphics. I takes it for a test-drive.
Review: Gentoo 2007.0
After five years of abstaining from getting down-and-dirty with Gentoo, Oli revisits the distribution that was responsible for many a migraine all those years ago… But does it cut the mustard when compared to other modern distributions?
Review: MCNLive Delft RC1
Another Linux review and in my sights this time, Mandrivaclub.nl’s MCNLive ‘Delft’ Release Candidate 1.
Review: PUD GNU/Linux 0.4.7
Oli gives the PUD GNU/Linux project a run for its money over two computers and finds that the real let down is the XFCE window manager that, although fast, is nowhere near as usable as it needs to be to compete in the Linux desktop race.
Linux is the only winner in the PC vs Mac war
Ubuntu and Linux are NOT consumer ready
Moving to Ubuntu - Part 1
Linux Needs Golden Applications
To be successful in the short term, Linux needs to gain user from closed systems by having its own brand of unique applications.
Massive Security Hole In Ubuntu
Turns out all the data entered during installation is logged. Including passwords.