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First, the monopoly from Redmond claims that Linux, my operating system of choice, infringes 235 Microsoft patents. Now they claim that they can’t give details because of administrative overheads:

Microsoft patents attorney Jim Markwith told OSBC it would be “impossible” for Redmond’s bureaucrats to respond to the volume of responses that would result form disclosure. Also, apparently, it’s ungentlemanly to name names.

If you make a claim which you can’t back up with facts, it’s called bullshit in my books.

Not only have Microsoft failed to show a single line of stolen Microsoft code in the Linux kernel, or even one Microsoft patent that was so-called infringed by the Linux community… it continues time and time again to engage in an IP terrorism campaign against the open source community.

Microsoft: 235 Patents Infringed By Linux, But We Can’t Even Name ONE. We’re Just Too Busy (With Our FUD Campaign)!

Dell is to announce the sale of computers preinstalled with Ubuntu Linux. Prior to the announcement, Direct2Dell published an overview of what customers can expect from this offering.

I think that Ubuntu is an excellent distro to be shipped as standard OEM OS. I’ve been using Ubuntu exclusively at home for more than two weeks, and needless to say, I’m totally smitten! It is by far the easiest Linux distribution to get up and running.

At first, I’m a bit annoyed by the weird sudo setup Ubuntu uses. However, it’s just a matter of getting myself adjusted with how to work with the distro. I’ll be very honest here, I don’t really miss Slackware that much.

I believe that Dell’s move to ship preinstalled Ubuntu systems will be a success. It’s a win-win situation for both the Linux community and Dell in the making.

I downloaded and installed Ubuntu over the weekend and must say that I’m impressed with it so far. I thought it was a good time to test it out because I just bought a 250GB hard disk on Friday with the purpose of physically separating my Linux installation(s) from sharing the same hard disk as Windows XP. Some things I especially love about Ubuntu are:

• Synaptic: Ubuntu’s package management software. Locating and installing virtually any software is a breeze! If the software you’re looking for is out there, chances are you’ll find it in Synaptic.
• The GUI: Gnome’s all right so far. I was expecting that slow performance will follow the multitude of features that Gnome brings to the desktop; so far, I’ve been proven wrong… and I hope I’ll be wrong forever.
• Ease of Use: Very similar with the point and click method of Windows. If it’s a registered file type, then the proper application will be used to open it. If additional libraries are required (eg. for video files), then Synaptic would jump in and tell you what you need.
• Ease of Installation: Really, really simple. Although some things are pre-assumed, and pre-assumed wrongly at that. Changes can be made very easily once the installation is complete.

I think that Ubuntu could be the Linux distribution that even my SO and four year old kid can use and love. Basically you can get everything from productivity suites to educational games very easily.

I’m already in the process of migrating the data on my Slackware partition to Ubuntu. It seems that it’s almost certain that the Slackware partitions will be deleted and reallocated to my Windows XP partitions.

I’d definitely recommend Ubuntu to those who wants a nice desktop Linux experience, especially those migrating from Windows. However, I still think that Slackware is a worthy distro if you want to understand Linux.

If you’ve been reading HTNet for some time, you’ll know that I’m a fan of Slackware. It will always occupy a special place in my heart for being the first Linux distro that made me fell in love with the OS.

For the past year though, mostly due to contracts and work related stuff, I’ve been an adopter of CentOS for Linux stuff related to business. My first experience with CentOS was for a production web server I set up for a web hosting company. So far, it has been running dandy… at least that was what the company said.

CentOS pretty much corrected a huge bulk of the misconceptions I held about RPM-based distros. The last of which I used was Red Hat 5. From this experience, I have to say it; RPM hell seems to have become extinct.

But what should I use for my home OS? Slackware has pretty much made me at least a thousand times more competent with maintaining and running a Linux system compared to the times when I ran Mandrake. I don’t foresee having much problem with any Linux installation regardless of the distro. However, I’m looking forward to using a distro which fits the following requirements:

1. Has a rich application library, which effectively reduces the need for me to compile from scratch
2. Has up-to-date versions of common user apps (browsers, email clients, IM clients, productivity suites, editors, etc) in the repositories
3. Has plenty repository mirrors for me to choose from; bonus points for distros that have Malaysian or Singaporean repositories

Yep, my needs are pretty simple. Basically, if you read between the lines, I’m in need of a popular Linux distro. I’m currently leaning towards Ubuntu, especially after reading so many reviews about it, especially from mypapit.

Any suggestions?

Wired News has an interesting update on the Hans Reiser murder case. Specifically, regarding Sean Sturgeon, a former acquaintance of Hans Reiser who Nina Reiser had once dated. What was the interesting part? Apparently, Sean Sturgeon had confessed to killing eight people, although none are related to the Reiser hearing. Interesting excerpt from the Wired article:

Sturgeon’s answers in the 40-minute interview were frequently evasive, and he declined to answer specific questions about the alleged killings. “I have offered to be judged for my crimes,” he said at one point. “I take responsibility for what I have done.”

Nonetheless, he vigorously denied killing Nina Reiser. “I’ve never been a threat to Nina Reiser,” Sturgeon said. “I will take a lie-detector test. I will take whatever passes for truth serum these days.” He also indicated that the evidence pointed to Hans Reiser’s guilt. “I will not take credit for what another has done,” he said. “Let Hans take a lie-detector test about Nina.”

It’s unclear when Sturgeon made the confession — he would say only, “I have cooperated since day one.” Asked why he had confessed at all, he responded with this question: “In a murder case, if somebody has killed, who is a witness, is it relevant? Yes or no?”

When this reporter responded that it was relevant, Sturgeon said, “Then you have the answer to your question.”

CrimeBlog.US has done excellent research on this case and it’s showcased very well in this post. Recommended reading for those interested in this interesting case.