Just wondering because I am getting an iPod. (It’s a long story.) In any case, I read that Rhythmbox could. Same thing goes with Banshee. However, those two don’t seem to support videos so now I am thinking that I should probably go with Gtkpod. I’ve never had an iPod before so I am quite used to the drag-and-drop copying and pasting of files to a microSD card I put on my DS Lite’s DS TT card and I run Moonshell on it. That is what I have been used to. This time around, I need an application to synchronize my media files. Maybe help me out with your recommendations?

For now, I think that Gtkpod suits my needs. But other recommendations are welcome. Whether it’s a command line tool or something with GUI, I know that there is still probably a whole slew of options out there. What worked for you? I’d like to know. And it would be nice if you could share it with the rest of the world so we all know if we should try something new for syncing files.

If you’re working in a small company and you suddenly need to hire ten people in one go, you might catch yourself gasping because you don’t have enough computers for all these new people. You might have to purchase an additional 4 units. Ack. And licenses, yes? In some places, license for software can cost more than the actual computer and if you multiply the cost… It could be quite daunting. Some people turn to Linux when they realize that they might be better off with it. But you see, it does depend on the tasks that each person has to perform.

The article Deploy Linux desktops for non-technical users, says study points out that deploying Linux desktops is easier if you have non-technical users. If you have users who mainly have to use only several apps and they’re stuff that are available in repositories anyway, then Linux and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) could be good for them. Users who are solid Windows users are the ones who are more difficult to convince to switch because they will most likely resist the changes.

The article spawned comments asking about the tools to manage a huge amount of Linux desktops. One comment contained a link to the article asking where the enterprise management tools are in Linux. As some of my co-workers and online buddies pointed out that there are tools in Linux but not all of them are point and click ones. And that’s one issue that makes it appear that there are no such tools.

Anyhow, in my experience, I’ve seen co-workers adapt to their Linux machines well. They would complain sometimes but some of the issues they encounter are the things that might be difficult to fix if you really are new to Linux and not very interested in it either — examples include printer driver and configuration and SSD failure. In any case, it is doable to deploy Linux-powered machines if you know your users well enough to help them focus on their tasks.

In your case, do you think it is doable? Why or why not?

This is a question I’d like to ask you whether you’ve been using a Linux distro for only a couple of days or maybe many years.  I suppose that there are still things that we can’t do properly on many Linux distros.  Are you contented or are you still bothered by what’s missing?

sometimes we still look for a feature in Linux but it doesn't exist yet

Is there something that you’ve been used to that you miss?  I suppose that you’ve been using Windows for a long time now, then the Linux distros would look quite differrent for you because … well, they are.  It’s as simple as that, really.  But if you’re trying it out for the sake of using something they claimed to be user-friendly, maybe it’s not your kind of user friendly.  So what will make it feel like really usable to you especially for your work + personal needs?  Are there features you wish it could have?

For me, right now, I’d like to change desktop environments without logging out.  Something like switching from GNOME to KDE (or anything) while I am logged in, so that when I am using an extended screen, I could use a full DE of my choice.  When I am using my netbook alone, it’s perfectly fine for me to use Openbox but sometimes I wish to switch to GNOME for the full DE experience when I have an extra screen.  Oh well.

There are currently a bunch of netbooks out there that we could all choose from. There are Linux-powered ones and those with Windows XP. I’ve been thinking about buying a netbook myself but what is a compelling reason to do so?

Going light is something I’ve been wanting to do. I know that there are Linux distros that really ‘go light’ in so many ways. Some have applications with really small footprint when they are running and they don’t have too many big packages as dependencies when you install them too. I know that going light is possible with Linux and the many kinds of applications out there but why would I really want to do this when I am already using a laptop for work purposes?

PC Mag’s website recently published an article that asks what XP-based systems offer to differentiate them. Tim Bajarin’s article mentioned that netbooks could be viewed as “PC companions” in the way that users view them. He pointed out that this is a possible area of differentiation that could be used by netbook manufacturers. Whether the desktop machine and netbook are on different OSes or they have the same OS, you could already synchronize them through the use of services like Dropbox or you could store your data in portable hard drives.

Each person has different needs. For those of us in developing countries, these netbooks could be seen as blessings because we don’t have to give in to the pressure of buying really expensive ultraportables or second hand laptops which are underpowered and very heavy. (Of course, it still depends on the netbook of your choice. Some might still seem underpowered, but if you ask me, some netbooks are way better than refurbished laptops.)

Let me know what you think.

For lack of space, people compress files before copying them or sending them via email. If you guys didn’t talk about the archiving, you might have some headaches especially if you haven’t used Linux before. There are tools like XArchiver and when you’re using Gnome, there’s FileRoller and in KDE you have Ark. These are all graphical ways for you to use the tools like the tar compression and zip compression applications. I haven’t seen a distro without one of these three yet.

For users of Gnome and Kde, you could simply click the file you want to extract. You might have some trouble though if it’s a rar file you need to extract. If that’s the case, you need to download unrar from the repositories first. That or you get it as source then build it.

I also learned recently about the 7zip archived files. I haven’t encountered them myself but there is a Linux tool for compressing and extracting them. P7Zip is the project you need to check out if you have to open some 7zip files for work. Well, if ever you couldn’t use the graphical tools after installing 7zip, there’s an online guide on how to make the compression work for you. It’s called the 7zip Helper.

I hope that helps!

Just curious. What’s it like for you?

Was it hell? Did you need much tweaking? Were there times that you had to reinstall or you had to reconfigure something?

Drop by and let us know here on New Linux User.;)

Edit: Sorry I had a typo! It’s Ubuntu 8.04 indeed. Thanks for the comments.

A blog entry called the The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Linux Users got my attention. Some of the things mentioned in the entry were taught to me by my friends and contacts as soon as they learned that I was about to use Linux.

The list includes not using the graphical user interface when logged in as root, giving your files good names (the ones which don’t use spaces. etc. in the names), place the home folder in a separate partition. Actually, I’ve been placing /home in a separate folder since I don’t know when. I realized later on, especially because I still dual boot on my laptop, that having the home folder in a separate partition makes it easier for me to move files around. It’s just there. Though of course I have to remove some dot files because they won’t work or they are not applicable, at least I have them all in one place. Also, when it crashes, I find it easier to move the files in that partition.

However, I think that distro-hopping has its advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of distro-hopping is that you get an idea of what it’s like using various distros. Sometimes the major difference lies in the package management system. Sometimes it’s the way a distro enables users to configure some things. Also, it allows you to see which distro seems more appropriate for your hardware and stuff because there are times when you see that certain devices you use are supported better in other distros. But distro-hopping isn’t really a good thing if you immediately give up using one distro just because. One dilemma I have with distro-hopping is that you might switch distros too quickly and then give up using Linux altogether when you get frustrated.

How about you? What are your Linux habits?

(from Kino-eye’s Flickr photo stream)

Even if people are not comfortable with the idea, Linux is beginning to become more mainstream than we imagine. The production of machines such as the Asus EEE, Dell’s selling of Ubuntu-powered machines, Acer’s computers running on Linpus and now we have HP with small notebooks which run Linux — these have all helped in making it more known to the general public. However, there are still some challenges when it comes to Linux adoption:

• Mindset. - Geeks must understand that other people are beginning to use Linux as well. And the new users who probably don’t consider themselves as geeks must not feel terrified of asking the geeks. Sometimes mailing lists and forums would have so many newbie questions and there are those who hate reading such mail or questions but it’s part of the growing number of uses and converts to Linux.
• Advertising/Campaigns - It’s not enough to let people know about Tux and give an idea of the culture behind Linux. There should be more campaigns or ads that would show users why it is useful or why they really should use Linux instead of other operating systems.
• Support. - For manufacturers who are selling laptops with Linux pre-installed they have to be sure that their tech support representatives are skilled enough and know where to look in case that there are tricky issues that the users are encountering.

In your experience, how would it be better for users now that that Linux is more mainstream?

So far I’ve only seen poll votes but not opinions on the matter. I’d like to read your reasons as to why you voted such and such.

Do you think that new Linux users wouldn’t benefit from that move Wal-mart made? Or do you think that it doesn’t really matter? Why won’t it matter?

In my experience, new Linux users seek help from people they actually know, not from people in retail shops which hardly sell machines with Linux pre-installed. So from this perspective, I think that it doesn’t matter. But that’s coming from someone in the Philippines.

How about you? What do you think?