The Ringtail

This may be a bit stream-of-consciousness, apologies…

I just read a post about a proposed addition to Ubuntu 10.04 - Ubuntu’s integrated music service. This sounds pretty good to me. Additionally, I can see that it might start to make people think about, at the very least, giving Linux a try. So far so just-what-it-says-in-the-link. My thought is really about the burden on a user such as myself when things like this happen. Why? Read on.

When I was a Mac user it didn’t really matter what I said about them as Apple’s marketing machine was quite capable of swaying opinion without my help. Ditto for Microsoft (the effectiveness or otherwise of the Jerry ‘n’ Bill ads notwithstanding). With Ubuntu I feel it does make a difference what I, and all other Linux users, say and do. If someone looks over my shoulder on the train and sees me using Gnome on Ubuntu they would probably be interested to find out what this non-Windows thing I was using was. If they see me using the Awesome WM under Arch Linux they will probably shake their head and look the other way at what a luddite I am. It doesn’t matter if I know that the command line is more pwerful, or that getting rid of distractions and unnecessary processes makes I and my laptop more productive. People will want a free alternative if it looks like something they already know.

At my old job I was running openbox. All was set up nicely except that I had to drop to the command line to connect to a Windows share. Someone came over and asked to see a document, I popped up a terminal to connect to the server and retireve the document and they said (in essence), “this is so much harder than using Windows, why bother”. Forget the fact that it was actually quicker to go from start to open document, forget the fact that all the software I was using was free, this was ‘harder to do’. Had I popped up Nautilus and clicked on the shared drive and browsed down to the file like I would have on Windows, I’m sure the impression I’d given would have been that it was at least as easy as Windows. And it’s free!? Sign me up.

Because of distros like Ubuntu, Linux is making ground. I’ve had quite a few people say, ‘oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to try that out’ when I’ve mentioned I use Linux. I’m pretty sure they meant Ubuntu, and I’ve always straight away arranged to get them a CD to try it out.

My overall question is - as a proponent of Linux, and someone who will happily bang on about it to others, what pressure is there on me to use a distro like Ubuntu? Is it something in the makeup of a Linux user that makes them try and make life hard for themselves or is that just me? Ubuntu does all I need and more so why don’t I be a good global citizen and use it, help to promote it, make it visible? I think its the ‘and more’ that puts me off (see last post about Arch), but I don’t think I could really say why I feel the need to economise on RAM, processor use and disk space when I have more than enough to spare.

I’m not really sure what I’m even saying here, but I think there is a sea-change in the offing, and Canonical may well be the ones to boot Linux into contention for once. I’m just not sure what my role in it should be, but I genuinely feel I can play a role in this, something I never felt with Apple or Microsoft. What’s a boy to do?

I’d make a fortune if I got paid every time I post a note to this blog or to Twitter about how I have found the perfect new system to use. This time I have settled. I have landed. I have decided to stop trying to find a perfect system. I’ve used Linux and tried to keep everything completely free software, then left as I got annoyed at things I couldn’t do. I’ve gone the other way and gone back to the Mac using all paid-for software and got fed up with the lack of freedom and the cost of (for the most part) inferior software.

I am now using Ubuntu, but have enabled Medibuntu and various other repositories that have non-free software. I am using OpenOffice for documents instead of Vim and a LaTeX plugin. I am using Evolution instead of Mutt. I am using Drivel to post this to my blog instead of trying to hack emacs or vim to do it for me with the help of a mere 78 scripts along the way. I am enjoying myself and have not yet found anything I can’t do.

I am selling my Mac and never going back.

For now.

I was sceptical about hash tags on Twitter at first. They seemed to be a way of getting more noise into the signal, and I found that I unfollowed a lot of people whose Twitter stream consisted of nothing more than hashtagged tweets. But it seems that an interesting thing has happened. The hashtag has now become a communication tool in its own right (at least now I’m not following the scatter-gun hashtaggers).

A well placed hash tag can convey so much more meaning than trying to explain what you mean in words. Consider:

“good full-day meeting today #thehellthatismyoffice”

over:

“Another full day meeting today. Seriously, my office is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable working practice in this day and age”

The first is more concise, funnier, and, more to the point, conveys the message of the tweeter far better. I’m not saying there’s anything profound about this, I just think its a great example of the adaptability of a system like Twitter that has allowed new modes of expression to form, adapt, and exceed their originally planned usage.

Anyone who can give me a couple of examples of messages improved by truncating and hashtagging - please feel free to comment!

It’s nearly November, which means nearly time to start writing my novel. I have a plan for it, but I’m not sure how it will pan out once I start writing. It’s a zombie story - not a modern take on zombies, not a post-ironic zombie story, but an honest-to-goodness tale of flesh-eating monsters, driven by ancient forces, unstoppable and undefeatable. I’ve been reading a lot of horror books recently and I decided that the only way I would find a book like the one I want to read would be to write one. Starting tomorrow I will be trying to write about 1,667 words a day to hit my goal. I may or may not post the work to my blog as I go. I’d like to share it as I write, but I’m just not sure if I can be bothered to update my blog with that much text every day…

I have recently set up a Milton Keynes chapter for the Lure Anglers Society. A chapter is an informal group of members, based loosely by area, which provides a way for people to meet up and get to know other anglers and waters around where they live. We have about 10 members now, and I have set up an MKLureFishing Twitter account to give out messages and news for anyone who is interested. We will probably have a couple of fishing meets each year for everyone to come along and meet each other, with other members hopefully meeting up in smaller groups more regularly as well.

Should be great fun, follow us on Twitter for news or keep subscribed here for occasional write-ups of meets.