Comments for The Linux Extremist

Comment on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 on a HP Compaq nx7000 by markmorgan

markmorgan — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:32:01 +0000

hi. If you have any pointers on getting any sort of multimedia to work with a savrow blade 75 i’d appreciate them.
getting ubuntu installed was generally ok, installed via dvd and updated over the net. but it all falls apart with the multimedia. Ive managed to get mp3 working and thats about it.
Using either gnome or kde - all i get is codec errors despite installing a set of windows codecs (following instructions). ive even installed the divx codec seperately with no luck.
finally - the integrated tv tuner (lifeview) simply cannot be seen - i’ve tried using tvtime and mythtv with no luck.
so far i’ve got little more than a fileserver - so any help would be welcome - im on markmorgan10@hotmail.com

thanks
mark

Comment on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 on a HP Compaq nx7000 by valde91

valde91 — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:58:57 +0000

HI! I have the same laptop, without yours littles hardware update. With Hardy It’s works fine. I want only to point that actually I use Desktop Effects and they works great! If you want to use it you must use the open source ATI radeon driver. You can find a wiki at this page:

http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/ATI%20with%20AIGLX

bye bye valde91

Comment on Marx and Linux by brianhorrocks

brianhorrocks — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:54:06 +0000

Hey, I am actually currently researching to write a paper on Marx and Open Source Software. I am not focusing much on communism but more on Marx’s views on estranged labour. Marx does speak of an overthrowing of the Bourgeois by the Proletariat, but doesn’t go into any great detail of what a society without estranged labour would look like. I think that Open Source does satisfy this specific aspect of what Marx wanted. Have you read on estranged labour? Let me know if you completely disagree with what I have just said.

Comment on A 64 bit Linux PC for Christmas by dangman4ever

dangman4ever — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:48:10 +0000

Great build but there are some incompatibilities. Mainly the motherboard. You see, you chose a 1333Mhz FSB CPU. Unfortunately, the motherboard you chose does not support CPUs that require a 1333Mhz FSB. Also, the P965 chipset of that Intel motherboard actually limits your upgrade options because the P965 chipset does not support Intel’s new Penryn 45nm CPUs due out in Q1 2008.

The Penryn CPUs are more power efficient and faster versions of Intel’s current Core 2 Duo CPUs. The best thing about the Penryn CPUs is that they will be introduced at the prices of current Core 2 Duo CPUs. So you will be getting more performance but at the same price as current C2Ds. In addition, if the rumors have a grain of truth to them, Intel will be releasing a Penryn Quad-core CPU sometime next year for $200!

So I recommend going with a motherboard based on the P35 chipset, which does support 1333Mhz FSB CPUs and Intel’s new Penryn CPUs. It doesn’t sound like you or your parents need something particularly high end so I highly recommend the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 Motherboard. It’s a solid well made motherboard that should be enough for your parents. It’s OOS at the moment but it should be back in stock pretty soon.

Also, that RAM is actually geared toward overclockers rather than everyday users. Truth be told, you won’t notice the lower latency of the RAM outside of synthetic, artificial or canned benchmarks. So unless you’re planning on doing some major overclocking, I recommend the G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM. G.Skill does make excellent RAM and. like most RAM manufacturers, offers lifetime warranty. I’ve used G.Skill RAM myself in many builds and they work just great. And it’s a great deal at $110 for 4GB of RAM.

In addition, I recommend trying out the onboard sound first before getting a sound card. Onboard sound has improved a lot over the past few years to the point that the average person does not need to buy a sound card to get decent sound. So try it out first and see if it’s to your liking. If not, then get the sound card.

For $5 more than that Western Digital 250GB drive you chose, you can get an extra 70GB of storage if you go with the Western Digital WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for $75.

Now for the power supply, I recommend ditching it. Among PC enthusiasts, that particular PSU is a piece of shit. It’s really not worth its price considering its low quality and inefficient PSU. I recommend getting the XClio Goodpower 500W Power Supply instead. Same price but it offers a bit more power where you need it and it’s of much better quality since it is built by Channel Well Tech, makers of quality power supplies. The Thermaltake PSU you chose was built by Sirtec, a company not known for good power supplies.

You’re probably wondering what I meant when I said that the XClio Goodpower 500W PSU offered more power than the Thermaltake Purepower 500W right? In case you didn’t know, wattage doesn’t mean as much these days. What matters most is where those watts are being delivered, the voltage rails. For current PCs, it’s all about how much amps are on the +12V rail since most PC parts draw their power from there. More amps on the +12V rail allows you to add more add-ons cards(sound cards, TV tuners, etc), hard drives, or faster video cards without the power supply dying on you.

You determine the amperage on the +12V rails by first finding out what’s the total combined wattage set aside for the +12V rails alone. Often some power supplies do not tell you this information straight up. If you see this on the power supply label: [+3.3v & +5V Combined: Some wattage], then just subtract that “Some Wattage” from the overall total wattage of the power supply.

So for example, the Purepower 500W PSU that you chose has a +3.3v & +5V Combined wattage of 220W as shown here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=17-153-052-03.jpg&Image=17-153-052-08.jpg%2c17-153-052-02.jpg%2c17-153-052-03.jpg%2c17-153-052-04.jpg%2c17-153-052-05.jpg%2c17-153-052-06.jpg%2c17-153-052-07.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&Depa=0&Description=Thermaltake+Purepower+W0100RU+500W+Power+Supply

So subtract 220W from 500W and we get 280W available on the +12V Rail. Now divide that total wattage for the +12V by 12 and you get how much amps the PSU has on the +12V rail. In this case, 280W divided by 12 is ~23A. So the Thermaltake Purepower PSU has 23A on the +12V Rail.

For comparison, the XClio Goodpower I recommended above has 30A on the +12 Rail. So the XClio Goodpower 500W power supply will provide you with more room for upgrades than the power supply you originally chose.

Sorry for the long essay but I thought you might have wanted to know if there were going to be problems with your build. So I hope my post will be of some help to you. Great blog by the way! Been reading since July.

Comment on Life With Edgy by twenex

twenex — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:18:36 +0000

Welcome back! We’ve missed you! Where HAVE you been?!

What does the remaining computer run, out of interest?

Comment on The Swiftfox Experience by Kilz

Kilz — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:08:22 +0000

The only problem is that Swiftfox is non free software. It has a restrictive license that takes one of the 4 main freedoms of free software away. Redistribution, you cant legally give a copy to anyone.
Swiftfox doesn’t add anything to Firefox like say Flock dose. In fact it disables disables things (pango) to speed up the start time. But it is able to take the compiled binaries and change the license to one that takes away freedom the original application gives.
The person who compiles Swiftfox says its for “safety” but who is he that we should trust him? His actions prevent the application from being included in distros and repositories where others could look at the application and vouch for its safety. He could also publish an md5sum so the binaries could be checked.
For me I will not use Swiftfox. I value freedom over the .12th of a second speed difference independent benchmarks have shown are the speed improvements.

Comment on An End to ASP by DerGuteMoritz

DerGuteMoritz — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 18:04:59 +0000

No offense, but I wouldn’t call PHP modern in particular. Actually, I think PHP also attracted a lot of people (if not even more) who couldn’t be bothered to learn a proper language which is one of the main reasons of PHP’s popularity, in my opinion. I mean, look at the core functions: One huge namespace with inconsistent naming and behaviour (think of strtr, str_replace, strpos and the like). Talking about current and thriving, I’d say Python and Ruby are clearly superior.

Comment on Irony Deficiency by twenex

twenex — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 22:34:36 +0000

Whilst sections of the Islamic world can certainly be taken to task for failing to live up to the religion’s high standards and reach out to the West, your statement ‘The reaction of the Islamic world can be largely encapsulated by the statement of Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Mali, a Somali imam, who told his congregation: “Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim”‘ shows that there is work to be done on both sides; I’m sure that whilst there have indeed been violent protests, the majority of Muslims, whether they agree with the Pope’s comments (as expressed or reported) or not, are keeping quiet and not endorsing or engaging in violence.

Comment on Five Years On by Winter

Winter — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 10:54:49 +0000

I can understand the anger about Al Qaida. However, I think they have already won even though their organization has been utterly destroyed.

It must be emphasized that the aim of Bin Laden cs. is *not* to destroy the USA, although they would see it as a happy collateral. Those Islam expert who do really study the Islamic political movements generally point out that the target of fundamentalists is preventing the integration of muslims, more specific, arabs, in Western society.

Their nightmare is all those UK and French muslims playing an active part in UK and French society. Because these women and men are the comming leaders of the Islamic world. Remember that Islamic fundamentalists have killed hundreds of arabs, afghans, and pakistani for every westener they got. They chased away most Free-thinkers from Egypt, the center of the Arab world. The fight for Indonesia is just starting.

There is good cause to say that almost all original thinking on islam and arabic culture goes on in France. Original Pakistani thinkers seem to be mostly located in the UK. From this we must conclude that Al Quaida won big time. The western world had indeed barred all muslims from active participation in their societiety. And the one arabic country that was really becoming democratic, Libanon, has been destroyed by the US (this is how the arabs see it).

Btw, you should remeber that *all* predictions about the war in Iraq made by the French and Germans have come true. This war was an enormous mistake. It undid whatever good had come out of beating the Taliban. It also showed that the Neo-Cons are essentially con men, but that is just my personal judgement.

Winter

Comment on Marx and Linux by Anti-Linux Patriots « e-Caffeine

Anti-Linux Patriots « e-Caffeine — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 00:39:03 +0000

[...] An interesting article in The Linux Extremist regarding the “Anti-Linux Patriots”. [...]