HI SYN!

For the past month and half I’ve been trying to use Ubuntu 7.10 exclusively.  However, the same old story happened to me as it’s happened to others.  Here’s the recap of some of the issues I ran into:

- Exchange client: I tried the thunderbird exchange client, didn’t work and webmail is no substitute for the full client

- IRC: X-Chat is awesome, however I use BNC’s that require both a password and a different port on connection; something X-Chat doesn’t like

- Flash: It’s “supported” but not fully since some flash movies work (ie> most of youtubes) and others do not (ie> just about all of yahoo.com’s)

- Java:  Hit and miss for websites (ie> SmugMug).  I trialed SmugMug and generally like the service but I wasn’t able to fool with the easy to upload features during the trial.

- Nvidia 8800GT: It’s not new but yet the drivers are considered beta and need to be MANUALLY installed (and reinstalled for every kernel upgrade/recompile)

- Creative X-Fi: Not supported at all and I had to install a SB Live! card to get sound!  This card is not very new so I’m not understanding the hold up here.

- Dell Webcam: I got spoiled by this little puppy for the first month I had this monitor before I switched to Ubuntu but it’s not supported in any way in Linux right now

- Games: I had WoW running under emulation

Things I will miss

- (Good) Virtual Desktop: Windows has it but it’s not as good as Ubuntu implementation.  I really liked the ability to use the scroll button to switch between 2 Virtual Desktops

- Overall Unix Desktop feel: The only way I’m getting this back is if I switch to a Mac… and if OS X ever supports (not via hacks) my XPS 720, I just might pull the trigger on that.

- Compiz: The wobbly effect is an immediate disable in my mind but I do like this engine after all

- 4GB memory usage: The most I used was 3.2GB but having all 4GB available was nice!

As I thought before, Linux on the Desktop is a good idea but won’t be fully realized outside of nitches and devices like the Asus EeePC.  I still think the ultimate (Open Source) OS will be something based around a design like BeOS…. now if Haiku can only get to beta stage I can start considering a switch to it!

By far the coolest & smartest host provider I’ve seen in a while is Mythic Beasts. They are a host provider in the UK that are pretty much focused on dedicated + colo hosting of Mac Mini’s! Talk about being green about your servers, that’s a great idea if you require a dedicated server but don’t really need the full power of a 1U rack server (mostly lots of memory and RAID).

I’m tempted to switch my hosting over there since my needs are little but I’ve switched hosts enough for work and play… this VPS through TekTonic is technically “Green” so I think I’ll stay right here, unless THEY start offering very cheap mac mini hosting!

An article about Mythic-Beasts:

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/mythic_beasts_02

Gesh, time just flew by since I last updated this blog!  Short version is: I got married to a wonderful woman, went on a great cruise and am now on a beast of a computer running Ubuntu.

More to come after I sort a few things out now that I’ve moved it…  again.

I’ve come up with a plan to reduce my footprint but it’s going to cost me a few bucks to get it done to really cut down on my power usage.

If I create a small EPIA computer to take over Wireless Access Point and Firewall/VPN duties and keep the power consumption under 12W that will reduce the footprint for those two items from 50W to <12W.  (Power Saved: 38W)

Next up is the computer situation. My laptop isn’t going anywhere. However the systems I use can be tweaked.  I can’t remove the gaming system, but I can stop using it and shift watching anime, listening to music and some basic gaming stuff to the Ubuntu box. As for the Ubuntu Box, I want to lower it’s footprint complete.  If I get a LCD monitor that will lower the footprint some.  Then if I build a new’ish mini-ITX system I should be able to do everything I am now and then some with a much lower power consumption.  How much? I don’t know just yet, time to research parts + prices (Power Saved: 180w+?)

As for my file server, I think I’m going to leave it shut off most of the time and use it to back up files to. I’ll keep all my mp3s on my Ubuntu box and install a bit torrent client on the Ubuntu box so I can download to it in the background.  (Power Saved: 50W)

Crazy plan? (268w+ power saved!) Yeah possibly, but the power savings could be huge if I have a 50W server off all the time, a 180W gaming rig off most of the time and reduce my Ubuntu box’s powah footprint.

I see this as the first necessary step to reducing what I use for when I have a house and I can have a solar + wind power solution in place. I should really see a difference in how much power I use through my monthly bill.