This month’s poll result gives us Pidgin as the favorite messaging client for us Linux users. Hrmm. Maybe we’d wait in several months time and see if this will change, right? Will any of the others come close to the status of Pidgin? What do you think?

* Pidgin
51 - 60% of all votes
* Kopete
16 - 19% of all votes
* aMSN1
8 - 9% of all votes
* emesene1
4 - 5% of all votes
* gaim1
2 - 2% of all votes
* Gajim1
2 - 2% of all votes
* GyachI
1 - 1% of all votes
* kmess1
1 - 1% of all votes
* Empathy
0 - 0% of all votes

I think I am looking forward to seeing Empathy get a higher number votes the next time I run this poll question. Thanks for joining this month’s poll!

What is your favorite messaging client on Linux? I’d like to know why and in particular, what are the advantages for you.

Choices are:

• Pidgin
• GyachI
• Kopete
• Empathy

I’ve only listed down those that I know of and have tried at one point in time or another. Right now, I’d have to admit that I am still using Pidgin mainly for everything. I couldn’t switch to Empathy yet because I still don’t know what’s wrong with it and as I’ve been busy with work, I haven’t been able to give it much time either. But I’d so love to use Empathy because of voice calls. Even though I have a Skype account, I’d rather use Google Talk’s voice chat feature because most of my contacts are there.

I suppose that the popularity of messaging protocols might vary from country to country but I’d still like to know what your favorite messaging client is.

And the results are in:

• I need my games! - 43 (48% of all votes)
• There aren’t any applications I could use in my line of work. - 5 (6% of all votes)
• I couldn’t figure anything about Linux, even with the graphical user interface. - 6 (7% of all votes)
• I am wrong in the head - 5 (6% of all votes)
• Not enough time to fully understand Linux - 9 (10% of all votes
• Craniotomy - 5 (6% of all votes)
• DVD CODECs, & scanner setup not included - 3 (3% of all votes)
• Default Install on new system - 3 (3% of all votes)
• Graphics drivers / dual monitors - 3 (3% of all votes)
• Steve Ballmer is hot! - 2 (2% of all votes)
• Drugs, obviously - 4 (4% of all votes)
• Photoshop - 1 (1% of all votes)

Considering though that some of them might be related, I’d have to re-organize the results as follows:

• Games - 43 votes
• Applications needed - total: 6 votes
  1. There aren’t any applications I could use in my line of work. - 5 votes
  2. Photoshop - 1 vote
• I couldn’t figure anything about Linux, even with the graphical user interface. - 6 votes
• Hardware issues - total: 6 votes
  1. DVD CODECs, & scanner setup not included - 3
  2. Graphics drivers / dual monitors - 3
• I am wrong in the head - 5 votes
• Default Install on new system - 3 votes
• Not enough time to fully understand Linux - 9 votes
• Other reasons - total: 11 votes
  1. Craniotomy - 5
  2. Steve Ballmer is hot! - 2
  3. Drugs, obviously - 4

Most of the poll votes are for games so that implies that many of you are quite hooked on to games that run on Windows and might be having difficulties playing it on Linux, be it on Wine or natively, in case you’ve tried.

As for applications, it could be really difficult to look for those that might suit your work. It depends on how badly you depend on the applications, I guess. But as a friend said, there’s nothing quite like SPSS on Linux or even running it on Wine is a pain.

Dual monitors could be a problem, too, if you don’t have any idea on how to do the setup. You need to edit the Xorg.conf file and add some lines that would indicate the total width of the monitor if you want an extended monitor set-up.

For now, these are the poll results for August. I am still thinking about what to ask for the month of September.

Your answers were:

* I was getting tired of using other operating systems.
21 - 13% of all votes
* I just got curious about it.
40 - 25% of all votes
* The school/office changed the operating system on the computers we use and I got hooked after that.
4 - 3% of all votes
* No More MS for me1
30 - 19% of all votes
* vista 1
16 - 10% of all votes
* I’ve always used Linux1
5 - 3% of all votes
* had a problem with the XP and couldn’t afford it so decided to take a chance1
8 - 5% of all votes
* Just bougth a new desktop with linux.1
1 - 1% of all votes
* I truly believe that knowledge must be spread and used free of cost1
22 - 14% of all votes
* Some one told its very tough compared to windows 1
1 - 1% of all votes
* I bought a handheld device and wanted to try it1
1 - 1% of all votes
* I was introduced to it at work1
4 - 3% of all votes
* I haven’t switched to Linux yet1
3 - 2% of all votes
* Wanted to run apache1
2 - 1% of all votes
* I needed a Standard and coincident with human ’s brain operating system1
1 - 1% of all votes
* I like pain1
1 - 1% of all votes

Total Votes: 160 Started: June 30, 2008

I give my thanks to everyone who participated in last month’s poll and the option with the most votes is that people got curious!

Twenty-five per cent of those of you who answered this question said you were just curious. I guess that one could get curious because of the fuss people make, be it the good kind of fuss or the bad one. People say things that could make others even more interested in trying out Linux. I guess that partly, this poll also reflects how differently we react to changes. Like switching to Linux because some said it was very tough compared to Windows. If you wanted to prove something, sometimes you have to see for yourself before you judge it, right?

Two people said they haven’t switched yet. Well, it’s up to you to switch or not. And I asked this question for people who have already decided to make the switch so I hope that the next time I make a poll, no one would misunderstand me. I also hope that the two voters ( said that they haven’t switched yet) will give us their reason/s for not switching to Linux. I hope that you would feel comfortable enough to leave a comment.

For this month’s poll, I am still trying to come up with the question.

The results are:

• Downloaded from the Internet - 59 (91% of all votes)
• A burned CD/DVD from a friend - 1 (2% of all votes)
• Bought online - 2 (3% of all votes)
• From a magazine subscription - 1 (2% of all votes)
• Ordered DVD’s for free! - 12 (3% of all votes)

Total Votes: 65

Two people said they ordered free DVDs! XD It’s an easy way of getting a pressed copy of a distro you like. Especially if you don’t have the bandwidth for downloading an iso. Thanks for participating, folks. Watch out for the next poll question!

Where did/do you get your Linux distros?

• Downloaded from the Internet - 40 - 91% of all votes
• A burned CD/DVD from a friend -1 - 2% of all votes
• Bought online - 2 - 5% of all votes
• From a magazine subscription - 1 - 2% of all votes

Total Votes: 44

There’s a lot of you who get copies of Linux from downloading them. I was thinking that there might be some who don’t have fast internet access and might be getting them from alternative venues. It’s still interesting to see what the stats are, more or less.

I think that if there were Linux distros available in bookstores and computer shops I would have gotten copies there. But it’s not the case here where I am. I suppose that because more people download, shop owners don’t bother with putting Linux distros in stock. Oh well. That means I must keep my computer running all the time just so i could have a copy of Linux distros ne?

After almost a month, there are 47 votes on the poll and survey says…

• It sucks and could make Linux look really bad.

• It’s not a big problem. It’s Wal-Mart’s loss.

• I expected that. Linux isn’t ready for mainstream yet.

• I don’t care.

• They’re still selling the PCs online.

• F*ck the Wal-Mart. Go buy elsewhere!

• Add an Answer

Looks like some people really feel strongly about the matter. They say that we should buy elsewhere. Well, that’s true too. We have other options. But it is possible that the way Linux was introduced to the market was not the right way or it wasn’t enough to catch their attention. Maybe this experience should serve as a lesson for Wal-mart as well as other companies who would like to sell Linux machines.

If you have something to say about the topic, you could answer the poll and post your reasons here. Whether you think it’s a bad thing or a good thing, please feel free to share your thoughts. Maybe you even have suggestions as to how the situation could be handled better in the future.

Poll results show that the Asus EEE is a popular choice!
* XO laptop
9 - 14% of all votes
* Asus EEE
39 - 61% of all votes
* Aleutia E1
4 - 6% of all votes
* Nokia N8001
8 - 13% of all votes
* Nokia N8101
4 - 6% of all votes

Total Votes: 64

I certainly hope that those of you who are thinking about the Asus EEE would really take into consideration the intended purpose of the gadget as well as the end user, especially if it’s not you but someone in your family or your friends. I know that it’s important to make sure that we have something nice and useful to use but does it really fit the needs of the end user and would it really be the best deal to make? You could read other thoughts on the matter on my blog entry about people installing Windows on the Asus EEE.

Edit - My bad. I forgot to put the dashes between the number of votes and the percentage. (22 Jan 2008)

There’s the XO laptop, the Asus EEE PC and Aleutia E1. If you could, which one will you use? If you were one of the people who availed of the G1G1 of the OLPC project, please let us know through your answer. And if you could, please share your reasons. Maybe you could even add thoughts as to whether you would recommend one of them to your friends and co-workers.

I am personally thinking that maybe next year, if I have enough savings, I could probably buy my own Asus EEE PC which I could bring when presenting project proposals, etc. Or maybe when I am meeting clients outside the office. It won’t be so difficult to commute with such a small laptop. But I think that the resolution is going to be an issue for me. What about you?