It seems like eons ago that I started this thing. Back in 2003 I installed what would become this server, and after a while this started to grow. The name (darklands) was inherited from that machines previous owner, and it still felt right. Admittedly I have none of the original hardware left, having replaced everything including the chassis, but the name still sticks.

Debian was the operating system of choice, made as far as I can remember on an impulse and a mild suggestion from a friend. Debian Woody to be precise, since back then I didn’t really know much about Debian and went for the “stable” release.

This installation served well for the next seven or so years. It got upgraded twice (from Woody to Sarge, then from Sarge to Etch) and survived my occasionally wild exploits. It hosted websites, and helped teach me a lot about the finer qualities of maintaining a 24/7 server.

But as time went by it became more and more unstable. Or rather, not unstable as such (uptime when I pulled it offline was 270+ days) but it had developed a lot of personality. Since I didn’t quite know what I was doing in the beginning, back in 2003, I took a lot of -in hindsight- very poor decisions. Decisions which I later regretted and had to endure working around for the next seven years, always being a nagging irritation at the back of my mind.

No more of this now.

I spent a week reinstalling the machine from scratch. After giving a lot of thought to it all I decided to go with Ubuntu Server instead of the previous choice, Debian. Admittedly, since Ubuntu is based on Debian the differences are very subtle, and all in all I’m quite happy with Ubuntu even as a server OS. It’s got the good things about Debian, and very few of the annoying ones.

The reinstallation was surprisingly smooth. I transferred the original machine into a virtualized environment running on my workstation to minimize the downtime while working on the actual machine. This proved to be a good idea, and I’m happy I took the time to do it. It also cemented that VirtualBox is a perfectly decent environment for virtualized computing.

Reinstallation went smooth. Minor hiccups always occur, but with seven years of experience I sorted them fairly quickly. Getting the external services running proved a challenge, but after some tweaking I managed it just fine. Apache, MySQL, all that stuff went up fairly quickly, and with minor modifications and tweaks the original content and configurations could be transferred to the new environment.

Internal services also went up smoothly. In about two days I had gotten approximately 90% of the external and internal services up and running. Quite nice. It’s been running for about a week now, basically just a shakedown to make sure things don’t go haywire for no reason.

Work remains, but now I can do it in the background or at night while the machine hums along and provides the same services it has always done. I’m happy, and proud of myself.

I’ve been avoiding upgrading Firefox from 3.5 since up until just recently I hadn’t found a good way to do it under Ubuntu. The only real option I’d found (apart from installing it manually) was using the mozilla-daily PPA, and that has some negative effects since you’re essentially installing a nightly developer-build of the browser that isn’t adapted to Ubuntu. It’s just a little too bleeding-edge for my taste; having your browsers behavior change on a virtually daily basis because you’re running nightlies of developer-versions is not something I recommend. Additionally it doesn’t install the Firefox-branded version but rather the generic Iceweasel-version instead, which is a minor annoyance.

Until I found this little article detailing a different PPA to use, and it worked flawlessly. A quick tour in aptitude and presto, new version of Firefox.

I’ve been using Firefox as my main browser for many years now, and I see almost no incentive to change that habit. I’ve used it since back before it was Firefox, back when it was Firebird, and it’s still the best browser in most ways. 3.6 has made it better by removing some of the annoyances I had with 3.5, most notably how the browser would often simply “pause” for a second or two. Admittedly a lot of these annoyances could stem from me using about 56954 different extensions but whatever.

It’s a nice improvement, and if you’re using Ubuntu then the abovementioned PPA will be a nice and easy way to upgrade. It won’t blow your socks off, but it’s a nice improvement. Slightly faster and more of the same Firefox-goodness we’ve all come to love over the years.

Yeah, weird topic. However, I discovered MyPaint purely by chance earlier today. It looks like a neat Painter-style application geared towards people with a preference for Free and Open Source software. It runs on Windows and Linux, and there’s a nice .deb ready for Ubuntu from GetDeb so installation was a breeze.

I dug out my ancient Wacom tablet (not my tablet pictured, mine is a lot more dirty and worn, and I lost the silly mouse thing years ago) which I’ve had for almost a decade (it turns ten this summer) and got a little curious as to how painless it would be to get it running under Ubuntu. Turns out it was completely painless – plug it into an available USB-port and presto, everything works just as expected. Especially important was the pressure-sensitivity, and when I gave it a quick go in MyPaint it worked just fine.

So, maybe soon I’ll be doing some virtual painting again? Was a long time since last I did this, might be fun!

This is the fanspeed reported by i8k on my recently inherited free second-hand laptop running Ubuntu. Notice anything?

The speed reported is… well… slightly exaggerated. 70k plus revs per minute? A jet engine powering a jumbojet doesn’t spin that fast. Methinks the speed is erroneously reported…

In a burst of caffeine-fueled energy, inspired by this article I wrote the below piece on how operating systems would be if they were cafés. I didn’t like the original article and here’s my take on the same concept. Of course it’s filled with my own opinions, caveat lector.

Microsoft Café: To enter you first have to agree to a EULA stating that Microsoft cannot be held responsible for anything that you do while inside café, nor can they in any way be expected to provide service or any kind of warranty. Also, simply to enter the café you have to pay various fees depending on where in the café you want to be seated. If you pay the most expensive price to be seated in the “Ultimate” room you’re promised to be pampered and receive free gifts, however none of these ever materialize, usually with some hollow excuses to the effect of claiming that shipping has been delayed. They recently redecorated and now heavily style the café with smoked and frosted glass, while previously it looked as if the interior was designed by Fisher-Price. When you ask what they serve the reply is “nothing” since you’re expected to purchase any beverages or snacks from other vendors and bring with you into the café. When you ask how the café is funded, or how it’s run you get the reply that the source of that information is only available to the management of the café. Every so often the chair randomly explodes under a customer for no apparent reason, and everyone simply accepts this as normal procedure.

Apple Café: The café is nice and shiny. Lots of metal and glass, and there’s neat little tricks that the chairs and tables can do. However, the entire café is run by one person, and is heavily decorated with pictures of him. The coffee and snacks are horribly expensive, even though the ingredients are virtually the same as any of the other cafés albeit a little prettier to look at. Most of the patrons are dressed in identical blue jeans and black turtlenecks, and will viciously attack any other newcomer who voices even the slightest criticism of the café. The chairs don’t explode quite as much as at the Microsoft Café but they will do so occasionally. A much more frequent occurrence is inexplicably being hit in the face by a vividly colored beach-ball. There’s also a very limited menu, and when you ask for something that isn’t on the menu the rude staff will look strangely at you and ask “why would you want that when we have everything you need right here”.

Linux Café: It isn’t so much one café as a bunch of different cafés working together with similar menus and similar furnishings but with many minor differences. Everything inside the café is free of charge, and you can bring the coffee with you home or give it to friends. The staff is regular people just like you who all take turns working at the various cafés, and you notice that many of them seem to work simultaneously at many of the different cafés within this franchise of sorts. You inquire as to how the café is run and without question you’re furnished with copies of every invoice, every order, every business deal the café (and others) has ever done. The interior of the cafés are easily re-arranged to your taste, and if you want to start your own café you are promptly provided with the necessary tools to do so. Also, the café is capable of not only traveling through time and space, but it can also convert into a church, a stable, a farmhouse or a dormitory if the need for such should arise. The menu in this café is incredibly vast and they serve approximately 20.000 different varieties of coffee, have about 30.000 types of biscuits, cookies and other delicacies as well as serving multiple types of food from all over the world. Everything free of charge, of course. You’re also encouraged to contribute your own type of coffee-drink or snack, either from scratch or adapting an already existing type of food.

Today is Thursday the 29th of October, 2009, and now the latest Ubuntu has been released. Karmic Koala aka 9.10 is now available for download. I was about to say “get it while it’s hot” but it seems redundant since it’ll be hot for the next six months until the next version is released.

Need some more information? Take the tour!

In less than two days the new Ubuntu gets released. This time it’s 9.10 aka Karmic Koala. I’ve been running Karmic as my primary desktop system since late August, and while it had something of a… err… personality when i installed it back during Alpha 4 it has since become very nice to deal with. Looking forward to having it finished.

And another thing I’m quite stoked about when it has been released is re-installing my server! Yes, I’m actually looking forward to doing this. I’ve been going over the process in a sandboxed virtual machine, and I think it’s going to be good. I’ll be reformatting the server and moving from Debian to Ubuntu Server instead. Not that Debian is any bad, I just have the feeling I’ll be slightly (0.0005% probably) happier with Ubuntu Server.

I’m stoked about reinstalling my server since it’ll feel good cleaning out the cobwebs. Literally and metaphorically. The server has been puttering away inside my storage for the last year-plus and it’s probably filled with dust and other nasty stuff. I never cease to be impressed by that machine. It’s cobbled together from spare parts that used to be in my desktop, yet it’s like an incredibly faithful dog – it just never quits no matter how much I abuse it.

The Debian-installation has been running since 2003, with upgrades every now and then, but it’s become quite broken and needs a lot of tender loving care to keep running. So, it’ll be nice doing some fall-formatting. Getting rid of all the insecurities when dealing with it. Such as no longer having to worry about “will it come back up after a reboot or is the LILO screwed again?”

Which just goes to show what goofy installation that is. No sane distro has used Lilo for years, and the prospect of switching it to GRUB scares me. But Lilo was default on Woody, which was what that machine was originally installed with. Ho boy.

So, next week perhaps. Don’t panic if you can’t reach me by web, XMPP or mail, it’s just my machine being reinstalled.

In most cases I’m not interested in anything Microsoft does. I have, by and large, left that portion of computing behind me. There’s very little that excites me about Microsoft, very little that excites me about their products. Generally speaking I view Microsoft as a very uninteresting company that lives off of copying more innovative products, and re-releasing the same old warmed-over leftovers every year, with some minor bells and whistles added.

Thus, the whole Windows 7 release type thing interests me very little. October for me is Karmic-Month.

But every time Microsoft rears it’s less appealing sides and decides to try to hit below the belt I become annoyed. Not because there’s any truth in what they clam (there isn’t) but because it’s just such a low and tasteless tactic.

Recently there’s been some hooplah over the training that Best Buy-emplyees have received. Microsoft has given them a long list of various arguments why customers should choose a Windows 7-equipped computer over a similar Linux-equipped machine.

I’m now going to take the time to go through a few of these arguments.

• Linux can require a lot of time to maintain. For example, Ubuntu (a version of Linux) may have hundreds of updates a month

False. This is a complete straw-man argument, it has no grounding in reality. It simply sounds impressive.

Microsoft updates their OS on a predetermined, scheduled date. This means that an unpatched system might be vulnerable while waiting for Microsoft to take their sweet time. Linux-distributions shove out the security-updates as quickly as possible.

Add to this that it’s a breeze installing updates under most distributions. Vista makes a big show out of installing updates and constantly interrupts the user while doing it, while for example Ubuntu makes it very discreetly. Under Windows a batch of updates virtually always require a reboot, while under Ubuntu it’s rare with forced reboots. This also applies to most other distributions.

• It can be unclear to users whether or not software updates need to be applied immediately or are optional.

False. It’s quite easy. Simply apply all updates when they show up. Under Ubuntu for example updates are clearly marked where they come from. If it’s a security update, you have to be pretty dense to not understand to install it immediately.

• Linux does not support many common applications and online services like iTunes, Zune, Quicken, Photoshop, and Office 2007.

True, but only for Photoshop. The rest are easily replaced with similar free programs performing much or all of the originals features. In many cases the free software performs MORE, as well as being unencumbered by things such as DRM. Free Software is designed from a users perspective, not the designers. Thus, features are added that a user might enjoy – not the other way around.

UPDATE: The Photoshop-argument becomes even more absurd when you consider that this propaganda is aimed at people thinking about buying a netbook. Running Photoshop on a netbook is nothing less than madness – netbooks were not designed for that.

• Windows works with more software and devices.

False. This is one of the oldest lies about Windows, and Microsoft likes to perpetuate it. There are good reasons why computers for the last decade and a half have had the “Designed for [whatever]” sticker. Without it, you’re on your own. You still have to hunt down drivers, software and make it work.

Linux includes more drivers than Windows could ever dream of. It’s very rare these days to plug a device into a Linux-machine and not have it work immediately, and flawlessly. For a real-world example of this, I suggest you read my experience with a webcam.

• [When using Linux] There’s no guarantee that when security vulnerabilities are discovered, an update will be created. Users are on their own.

False. Had this been Windows, then it would be true. Microsoft has a policy of not releasing fixes for security issues that aren’t actively exploited in the wild, despite them being discovered. Linux-developers pride themselves on security and fixes are issued regardless of whether or not it’s being exploited in the wild.

In short, when you use Windows, you’re on your own. Microsoft likes to promote the “caring and loving” image of themselves, but it’s a lie. They will not help you, and they absolve themselves of any responsibility when using their product.

• Linux is a self help solution. There are no step-by-step tutorials provided, and help documentation is limited.

False. It’s been widely accepted that Linux as a solution and operating system is one of the best documented the world has ever produced. There are literally hundreds of thousands of websites devoted in some degree or another to providing help and documentation. If these are not sufficient enough, there are forums where more experienced users will help new users – providing these new users aren’t being assholes about it.

• Because there are different “flavors” of Linux, you can’t learn one version and be sure you know them all.

False. Most major distributions use the same desktop environments with some customization. Essentially, if you’re used to Gnome on Ubuntu, you will quickly feel at home in Gnome on Fedora, and so on. The minor differences are no more different than a driver being used to a certain car and needing some time to adjust to another vehicle. It happens in a few minutes.

I had myself a large dose of nostalgia today. One of my favorite pastimes is re-visiting and reminiscing about my computer past, and think about how far technology has come. You know, just generally taking a stroll down memory lane, so to speak.

One of my favorite games of all time is Blade Runner from 1997. It is loosely based on a similar concept to the favorite movie (which incidentally happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies) and follows a different member of the Blade Runner-unit, a man named McCoy. When released it was considered a landmark achievement and managed to mix atmospheric visuals and audio with a well-written plot. It also had up to thirteen (!) different endings, depending on the choices the player made. I managed to get eleven of them, that I know of.

Today I remembered the game for some reason. It’s been rattling around in one of the drawers in my desk for the last six or seven years, but today I dug it out. The game was a gift to me on my birthday from my then circle of friends, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The only sad part is that somehow, somewhen, the box has suffered some minor… uuh… cat-damage. So it has a somewhat pungent smell. But the contents were blissfully unharmed.

(Speaking of which, I miss these boxes. This was back in the day when games came in proper boxes, not just a keep-case. Actual cardboard boxes. I miss it.)

The game comes on four CDs, something which was impressive at the time. I popped the first disc into my drive, and installed it using Wine. I wasn’t sure if it would run, but I had nothing to lose. Also, I had even bigger doubts about Vista (which I occasionally dual-boot for gaming) running it.

Wine installed it just fine, and when I tried running it, it worked perfectly. Absolutely beautiful, and was fully playable. Audio, video, all worked fine. I had a fun half-hour running around in the game.

The introductory scroll of the game is an exact replica of that from the movie, complete with similar music. It sets the atmosphere for the rest of the game beautifully.

Sure, it looks a little odd since you can’t change the resolution of the game, and it was released loooong before widescreen monitors were invented. But it’s completely playable, and I might just dig into it – for nostalgias sake.

A while back I said that this fall I was going to reinstall the server that powers (among others) this website. I reneged on this since I was a coward, and felt it would be a lot of work.

But, after having fiddled around with Ubuntu Server in a VM I’ve come to the insight that it won’t be as much work as I thought it might be. Sure, it’ll still be work, but not nearly as much as I anticipated. In fact, I think it’ll go over fairly smooth.

I’m going to hold off on it until the upcoming version of Ubuntu Server is released, and then I’m going to take the plunge.