Archive for July, 2008

Shutting Down this Blog.

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

Thomas Holbrook II

In light of recent events, I decided that the best thing to do is to shut down this blog.  The entire site will be reorganized a bit.  Now it is my turn to shut my mouth for a change.

The rest of the blog will be intact.  I just will not post to it anymore.

Don’t Be Afraid of the GNU/Linux Community

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

By Justin Breithaupt

Ever tried to please the GNU/Linux community? Has it ever worked? If your really lucky it has and you haven’t received any hate mail or been banned from any sites. If your not so lucky and you make mistakes you might be on the other side of the fence but does that mean your down and out?

I’ve experienced this other side of the fence first hand and yet seen projects succeed despite what the media says or the GNU/Linux community. Why is this? It’s because the GNU/Linux community is divided among itself and can’t focus on what really needs to be done or who or what the real threat is.

Just for the fun of it why don’t I make a quick list of sites I can’t post on or have been banned from:

Lxer.com (not banned they just won’t let me post)

Wikipedia.com Banned

PCLinuxOS.com Banned

distrowatch.com (not banned they just won’t let me post)

linuxtracker.com (not banned any more and can post)

ect. the list goes on.

I’ve had anti-Christian activists groups rise up against me and the Jehova’s Witness made up of PCLinuxOS moderators. They were the hardest to shake off my tail and my hat goes off to them for the 2007 Internet Troll awards.

But you see I was young in the GNU/Linux community and didn’t know these bullies existed or how to behave. It was a completely new world for me to contribute by making something. I never knew there were any dangers in it. I figure if I would have kept up the defense long enough they probably would have sent someone to kill me. I’ve had a lot of people warn me about that too.

So what did I do that was so wrong? Well I’m going to spell it out to you. First I installed illegal codecs into my distro and released it without understanding what illegal codecs were, 2nd I made people jealous by making their software better and improving upon it and I even gave them credit, 3rd after they all started complaining to me and getting angry I reacted by trying to fix my mistakes and then asked them what to do and they banned me from PCLinuxOS.com and linuxtracker.com.

At this point I had to make a decision to stop or keep trying to make something I thought was wonderful for my Windows users to switch to. During this time I made my first real mistake and started speaking out against the bullies that harassed me. This never works. The only thing that works is to quietly try to do the best that you can and know that others will eventually realize that you really have something assuming that you do. I spoke to several people including Ken Starks, Richard Stallman, and others. They encouraged me and gave me good advice.

After following the advice about 85% of the hate mail and comments stopped. Months later I was able to use linuxtracker.org again.

The first month I put out my distro over 40,000 people downloaded it. I got many positive remarks from CEOs and customers all over the world. They said it was the best distro they had ever seen for Windows users to switch to. I was not done. I still am not done.

The current result you see of Ultumix 0.1.7.7 containing the Mac4Lin interface and a Windows like interface is still not complete. I would say that 50% of the features that I want people to experience are in Ultumix 0.1.7.7 and that when I’m able to put money into the project I will hire programmers to help me to finish making my dreams into reality.

In one of Richard Stallman’s letters he says that it’s ok and he encourages you to sell free software. Of course now I know that my distro is not free-software according to Richard Stallman’s standards and that I’ll have to put out a free version as well. If it has the same name Richard Stallman says the FSF won’t support it.

I’ve had a lot of time to set back and reflect on what has happened and what will happen in the FSF and Open Source community. I have decided that there exists a problem that separates the two and that the Open Source community is devided among itself. That’s why I purpose a new idea to you. This idea is called the Freedom-Software Community. http://pediaopeness.wetpaint.com/page/Freedom-Software+Community+TM . The main statement is not finished yet and it’s a work in progress or beta but I have faith that together we can make it work.

The Freedom-Software Community is more powerfull than Linux Haters!

Friday, July 18th, 2008

By Justin Breithaupt.

Recently I’ve been talking with Richard Stallman for 2 – 3 weeks on the subject of running free-software. ( Richard Stallman is the president and founder of the FSF or Free Software Foundation. ) What I got out of reading Richard Stallman’s writings and e-mails was that free-software as in freedom is software that has it’s source code released to the public and the public is allowed to modify and redistribute that software as well. This does not necessarily mean free as in cost. This includes drivers and firmware as well.

If your running hardware that has non-free software / firmware in it you can’t use it because that’s against the FSF and if that hardware requires non-free drivers you can’t use it according to the FSF.

I did research to find hardware that supported a modern PCI Express video card with 3D that would work with the free drivers. I also looked for motherboards.

What I did find was obsolete and would require me to spend more money to aquire. At the time I was trying to start a business charging kids to play games on my computers. (playing just free-software games would have been ok).

So now we have rulled out free-software only GNU/Linux distributions and hardware out of the picture. What is the alternitive?

Open Source / FOSS is the alternative. Businesses and countless others such as Ubuntu have went to Open Source / FOSS which is the idea that non-free software and free-software can coexist. This sounds great doesn’t it? The problem is that these people get lazy and don’t try to make free-software and become independent of non-free software any more. Instead they get money from big companies like DELL, IBM, HP, ect. to put non-free drivers in their kernels so that the vendor’s hardware will be supported with Ubuntu’s kernel even though it has non-free software in it and it will work on almost any computer. Sounds great Right? But how does this help make us independent from Corporate America and all the non-free software? It doesn’t.

The other problem is companies like NVIDIA are making it harder to use their proprietary drivers. ATI however has the respect of the FSF for now. NVIDIA drivers for newer cards and chipsets don’t seem to play friendly with GNU/Linux distributions unless you download Ubuntu’s latest kernel. Why? Why are all the rest of us left in the dark? Why must we become dependent on Ubuntu and Corporate America?

A perfect example of this is Ubuntu 8.04. It’s kernel is not even up to date enough to support the newest NVIDIA drivers that are out there and in some instances you can’t install it. I based the latest version of Ultumix TM off of Ubuntu. I updated the kernel and guess what it works! But why should you have to update the kernel every month. Any GNU/Linux hardcore hacker will tell you that’s a bad idea and will make your programs and system unstable.

The thing is whenever it’s possible to use free software to do your work you should but you should not be limited to just using free-software all together. Likewise the developers should work harder to create free-software, drivers, firmware, ect. We also need hardware made by companies that support the free-software idea that the drivers and frimware should be free-software.

The other major problem in FOSS is that the different distros and communities fight with each other to get to the top of distrowatch.com and say they are the best.  I’ve heard officials from the Ubuntu community say to me that they believe that their distro is the best one out there and that users should only be presented with Ubuntu. Why I asked? Because of the confusion of choice they answered. Free-software is all about freedom of choice and not a one world takeover. Lets get back to the GPL guys. And worst of all the people who are really in charge of these projects have lost control. Their moderators go wild in the forums and make people angry and ban people for nothing.

So now that that’s all clearly spelled out to you take two tablets of Tylenol as we discuss the solution.

The Freedom-Software Community TM or FSC can and will solve all of these problems if Linux distributions join in. The FSC has not officially or publicly announced it’s presence before. That’s because they are still working on writing it’s philosophy for people to follow.

Here is the basic idea:

You are expected to use free software when:

1. There is hardware that is supported by free-software and the hardware is in no way more restricted than when it’s using non-free software.
2. The abilities of the non-free software that are needed are not met by the free software.
3. When the expenses of using free-software are affordable. Example of when this would not be the case: You want to run the hardware that supports free-software and has all the abilities of similar hardware that only supports non-free software but the hardware that supports the free-software is either obsolete or too expensive for the average consumer.

At any other time you are expected to try and use free-software and even if these conditions above don’t exist you are expected to try to support free-software in whatever way you can.

There are more aspects to the Freedom-Software Community that prevent fighting and arguing and promote unity and community. You will have to wait for the announcement in the news to hear that unless your an active member of the Ultumix TM Project.

The FSC TM is a Trademark of Justin Breithaupt.

What’s More Powerful Than Linux Haters?????

Friday, July 18th, 2008

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG

Apparently, that would be Maddox himself!

Take a look at this graph from Alexa.  Can you see it?  While Linux Haters has seen some success concerning site hits, they appear to have come nowhere near outdoing Maddox, the smart alec writer who has slammed web designers for not concentrating on content, bashed Apple fans, and tore the iPhone’s hype into pieces.  So why am I noting certain pages published by Maddox slamming Apple twice and Linux Haters in the same blog post?

When I read this entry on Linux Haters, I smirked.  They were going on and on about the evolution of an Ubuntu user.  What was their proposed solution for those frustrated with Ubuntu?  When one initially reads about the Linux Haters, they may think that they love Microsoft products, especially Windows.  So is Vista pimped as the solution here?  Prepare to be surprised.

“At this point, some users wake up and figure out they should just buy a Mac. Others are lost forever.”

Now you know why.  Again, for those who think Macs are the cat’s meow, read what Maddox has to say about Macs in general and iPhones as well.

*Nixed Blog › Create New Post — WordPress

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Editor’s Note: There has been some issue with this blog as of late, but after a period of time passes (24 hours), everything appears to be fine again.

By Justin Breithaupt

Yahoo Logo  V.S. WordPress

I was going to write an article about Yahoo being broken but then I tried to upload the screenshot to 1and1.com’s blogging thing and got this:

Warning: imageantialias(): supplied argument is not a valid Image resource in /usr/local/oneclick/wordpress/wp-admin/admin-functions.php on line 2274

Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /usr/local/oneclick/wordpress/wp-admin/admin-functions.php:2274) in /usr/local/oneclick/wordpress/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 331

What does that mean? I don’t really care anyway all it means is I can’t upload my tiny image to this blog. Time to go with Google’s blogger. Well anyway lets get back to Yahoo.

Why do I use Yahoo.com? I’ve been asking myself that for the past couple years now.

 My Geocities Unlimited Account is limited.  Got a headache yet? Lets start from scratch. A little while ago I could upload large .iso files to my limited server at 100+ kbs via FileZilla. And so I created my website and it worked nicely with my small server space that I was allocated. Then this add poped up on my screen last month that said upgrade to the unlimited account and pay less per month. WOW! Right before I was ready to jump ship from Yahoo they decide to offer not only unlimited mail but hosting! I can’t pass this up. So I put my $12.00 a month down (minimum 3 month payment) for unlimited bandwidth and storrage. Yes thats right! So I begain uploading my Ultumix TM GNU/Linux distro last week. FileZilla stops and tells me I have a disk space error and gives me a link to contact Yahoo. I go to the link and call Yahoo (Almost forgot now I can only upload each file at 30+ kbs max via FileZilla now). A guy answers the phone who has no idea I actually thought my Unlimited account was unlimited. I explain the error and he ups my file space. Yesterday the same thing happens while I try to finish the upload. I call Yahoo again. I’m sorry but we will have to escelate this and you should be back in service by Monday. 🙁 . I told them I need to be able to upload 1 TB per week for my GNU/Linux mirror. They understood.

Now while I had them on the phone I decided to ask them about Yahoo Answers’ GNU/Linux discrimination and why they booted me for answering computer questions with GNU/Linux answers. They could not help me in that departnment but assured me Yahoo is very pro GNU/Linux. ??? I asked who to contact but they could not give me an answer other than e-mailing Yahoo Answers again.

Strike 3. Yahoo is out.

So today I’m at work wanting to read my E-mail for various reasons and guess what? The mail server is down. This happens like every 5 secons and it lasts for 24 hours. WHY! Our company also uses Yahoo’s IM in pidgin to communicate with some customers. So now we can’t communicate and my mail is unavailable. WHY YAHOO DO YOU PLAY THESE GAMES WITH ME WHY? I THOUGHT YOU WERE USING GNU/LINUX SERVERS NOT MICRO$OFT. WHY WHY WHY.

By the way when logged in to 1and1.com I got this error when going back to edit something in this article:

WordPress

You are not allowed to edit this post.

Blog of helios: T’was The Night Before Felton

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG

Blog of helios: T’was The Night Before Felton

Right before helios left for Felton, he got an e-mail from an old friend…..

*NIXEDCAST Coming to An Ear Near You

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG

The *NIXEDCAST: Intro The *NIXEDCAST: Intro

I have decided to do it everyone.  I am going to record audio for everyone to listen to everyday.  Unlike podcasting, I will be oggcasting.  Since I happen to be too lazy to learn enough about XML, I figured I would use this blog in order to announce when a new show has come out.  I have no plans on using any third party website for podcasting in the future, because most of them require MP3 files, which has patent issues, and thus hurts independent artists.  In order to encourage more people to use OGG, one must already be using it themselves, hence why I am doing The *NIXEDCAST in this format.

Forget Where I’m Going. Here’s Where I’m Coming From.

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG

There are times when opinions are stated and thoughts are provoked. Danijel Orsolic stirred up a bit of controversy when helios was attempting to bring up a point that I was trying to earlier.  An interesting discussion ensued on LXer as well.  I figured I would take time out to explain where I am coming from philosophy-wise myself.  It is of course subject to change given time and availability of new information.

You see, I have nationalistic leanings…. to a point.  I do not believe that Government should be putting flashlights in the orifices of their people if you catch my drift.  In that sense, I have Libertarian leanings as well.  When I kept reading the argument of nationalism being a bad thing, I realized there was a bit of confusion.  Before going any further, allow me to clear up said confusion.

Nationalism vs Jingoism

Yes, there is a difference.  Nationalism involves being proud of having a unique identity of sorts.  For example, someone living in France can identify themselves as part of that country by declaring that they are French.   This does not mean they are better than everyone else.  It simply means that their home means something to them.  I identify myself as an American.  I love my country, even now, due to many of the opportunities that it holds (at the moment).  I also liked the concept of the Founding Fathers, who deliberately set up the governmental system so that those in Congress would spend more time debating than anything (that is how it was supposed to work) so that those in all the individual states could go on with their lives as they saw fit.

Jingoism on the other hand is the real danger.  It is what I refer to as blind patriotism.  Just because I still like my home does not mean I will not criticize it or think of ways it could improve.  Jingoists on the other hand believe in aggressive foreign policies in the name of “national security.”  Most Neo-Conservatives could in a sense be considered jingoists.  I consider myself an American patriot, not an American jingoist.  Keep in mind there is a big difference.

Now allow me to continue.

My Philosophy

I personally believe in freedom of choice.  For instance, I myself do not own a single firearm.  I do not mind seeing guns in videos and such, but I would rather not be near them if I can help it.  I made this decision myself, and I am not going to take such a decision away from everyone else, which is why I support the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights.  I also believe that if one strongly believes in something, they should have the right to stand up for their beliefs, no matter how controversial it may seem.  Remember that speech may be countered by speech.

I am a strong believer in the liberty of the individual and that infringe upon those liberties is wrong.  However, I am not a one-worlder.  I can see all sorts of problems if there was indeed a world government enacted, and the thought of such a thing at present absolutely frightens me.  We can not have a one world government, because it would not work, period.  Think of how many regions have corrupt regimes already.  If one expects a one world government to solve the “evils” of smaller nation-states, I have some bad news…. it will only result in a very negative worldwide form of tyranny.

Again, while I do love the country I am in, that does not mean that I am a blind patriot.  I do see some things that are very wrong, and on a very broad spectrum.  For starters, the USA Patriot Act troubles me deeply to this day, especially section 802.  To give you a hint, let us take a pot smoker having a joint.  Since they could be endangering a human life, are they a terrorist?  Think about that one for a moment, and while doing that, check this out as well.  An American citizen was taken away by the military because they were deemed an “enemy combatant.”

I also do not agree with what is being done in the Middle East, particularly Iraq.  While some would believe that Saddam did have WMDs, one also needs to be reminded of the following:

  1. It was thanks to members of the U.S. Federal Government that he was in power in the first place.
  2. Of course he had WMDs at one point.  Where do you think he got them from?  Hint: Remember Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam?

Now mind you I also do not think in the confines of left-wing/right-wing as I see it as a false paradigm.  In other words, left and right is a false choice pertaining to politics.  I also do not subscribe to the theory of two party politics either.  I do not see Democrats and Republicans as the end all to the political system in the country I am in, and I find it very sad that both major parties have such a dislike for third parties that they will do anything to prevent their recognition.

Like Danijel, I too worry about a North American Union, especially since nobody in Congress debated any of it.  Want proof?  Take a look for yourself:



Yes, I do fear these things coming to pass, which is why I do what I do everyday.  However, I have also come to a very profound conclusion.  If we are to improve ourselves and hopefully make our positive mark on this world, we need to be able to work on what we do agree on and argue about the small details later.  Yes, I do see problems in this country, and I see that corporations such as Microsoft are a part of these problems.*  Free and Open Source Software, or Freedomware, is something that I know a bit about and that is where a good portion of my specialty lies.

It was not a very well organized blog entry, and for that, I do apologize.  Fighting through a headache while writing this was not an easy task.  Therefore, I shall now end this blog by saying the three things that I started out saying, but need to say more often and more than ever before.

  • Entertain Yourself
  • Education Yourself
  • Empower Yourself

*Note that there will be a future blog post about Microsoft.  It is a series of patterns that I have noticed within the last several months.  Stay tuned…..