Linux in your lap
May 11, 2007
As I mentioned the other day, Windows XP wasn’t cutting it on my new laptop so I decided to switch it over to Linux.
My first instinct was to simply grab the Ubuntu CD I used to install Linux on my Desktop computer, but I ran into some problems with my hardware. While Ubuntu works great on my honking huge desktop system it’s a bit clunky on a laptop.
I started looking around for another distribution. I tried openSuse, Fedora, PCLinuxOs and a few others but all of them were having a hard time configuring my video and wireless cards.
I can understand why that sort of thing happens with proprietary drivers and all of that stuff, but it still kind of sucks.
I was just about ready to give in and install Windows again when, on a lark, I gave Sabayon Linux a shot.
Everything worked. Video, sound, wireless . . . everything just worked after a five minute install.
The laptop is running great. I can surf the web out under the pecan tree, listen to music, watch videos and most of all get some work done on the next book.
Sabayon is named after an Italian dessert and it is, you guessed it, pretty sweet.
I will keep using Ubuntu Linux on my desktop, but for a laptop Sabayon’s mini-CD installation works like a charm. It’s an amazingly well thought out distribution that installs with a few clicks of your mouse.
I other Linux news, Ubuntu Studio (a Linux for multimedia work) is finally hitting the streets and Ubuntu Christian Edition (Linux with bible study software) has been updated. The two distributions are good examples of how the Linux operating system can be modified to fit specific tasks or the needs of specific communities.
That’s why I love using Linux. I don’t hate Microsoft and I don’t care if a company makes money. I simply want my computer to fit into my lifestyle rather than the other way around.
At some point down the road I’ll have to follow the example set by the team who put together Ubuntu Christian Edition and start up a distribution for folk musicians.
“Banjo Linux” anyone?
Until then, Sabayon is working great on my laptop, Ubuntu is working great on my desktop and all is right with the world.
Anniversary
May 11, 2007
The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo is four years old.
I can’t point to a specific day. The serendipitous creative process that shaped the book took place over the space of a few weeks, but Dear Old Dad added his introduction to the manuscript in May 2003.
There really isn’t much to say. The book is still selling faster than we can print it and the free online version is being used by hundreds of thousands of people.
Here’s to another four years of sharing music.
