Prakash Advani's Blog » Linux

My article in Times of India: Is Linux ready for your PC?

Prakash — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:51:49 +0000

In the battle of the desktop operating systems (OS), there are only three dominant players left – Windows, Mac and Linux. At some point, Windows was cast as the platform for the common man, Mac as the one for the artist, and Linux as the geek’s playground.

Linux found favour in powering servers, supercomputers, large businesses and even stock exchanges. And Google even used it as the platform to build its popular Android mobile operating system. But in the desktop and notebook space, it still failed to gain traction.

There’s an image associated with Linux that can be frightening for a normal user, invoking pictures of command lines and terminal windows. But over the past 20 years, some massive steps have been taken to make the OS more accessible.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is now available for Download

Prakash — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:59:54 +0000

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is here. This is the first time Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Desktop) will be supported for 5 years.

Torrent is preferred method for me.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS	Torrent Links	Direct Downloads
Ubuntu Desktop 64-Bit Edition	Torrent	Main Server
Ubuntu Desktop 32-Bit Edition	Torrent	Main Server
Ubuntu Server Edition 64-Bit	Torrent	Main Server
Ubuntu Server Edition 32-Bit	Torrent	Main Server

Other Links:

CD images + Alternative CD.

Ubuntu Core – Just 35 MB of pure Ubuntu.

Have fun

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Insagram: Behind every billion dollar company there is a Linux :)

Prakash — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:13:41 +0000

The recently acquired Instagram is powered by Ubuntu! Instagram was recently acquired by Facebook for $1 Billion. Its a 13 people company almost all of them in their 20s and just 2 years old.

It is not just Ubuntu, the site is completely built on Open Source: Apache Solr, PostgreSQL, Redis and Django.

8000 developer and 800 companies build Linux!

Prakash — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:11:18 +0000

Linux is today powering Android phones, TVs, set-top boxes, enterprise data centers, cloud and supercomputers. Here are some stats.

The Linux Foundation has released its Annual Linux Development Report, here are the excerpts:

More than 7,800 developers from almost 800 different companies have contributed to the Linux kernel since tracking began in 2005. Just since the last report, more than 1,000 developers representing nearly 200 companies have contributed to the kernel.

Seventy-five percent of all kernel development is done by developers who are being paid for their work. Long believed to be a basement community of developers, the Linux community is a worldwide, professional network of the best software talent in the world. This army of developers together builds the foundation from which innovations such as Android, cloud computing, KVM, Xen, and more are born and succeed.

The top 10 organizations sponsoring Linux kernel development since the last report (or Linux kernel 2.6.36) are Red Hat, Intel, Novell, IBM, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, Nokia, Samsung, Oracle and Google.[1] Mobile and embedded companies have been increasing their participation in recent years, not only adding more hardware support to the kernel but also taking responsibility for the advancement of core kernel areas.

For the first time, Microsoft appears on list of companies that are contributing to the Linux kernel. Ranking at number 17, the company that once called Linux a “cancer,” today is working within the collaborative development model to support its virtualization efforts and its customers. Because Linux has reached a state of ubiquity, in which both the enterprise and mobile computing markets are relying on the operating system, Microsoft is clearly working to adapt.

The rate of change since the last report is high and increasing, with between 8,000 and 12,000 patches going into each recent kernel release every two to three months. That’s nearly 6 new patches per hour since the last release of this report.

Read the full report.

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Android Kernel and Linux kernel merge

Prakash — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:32:01 +0000

Android so far has been maintaining its separate kernel from the mainline Linux kernel. The android kernel forked out of the mainline because of differences in accepting the changes which the android developers were working on.

The good news is now with Kernel 3.3 the android specific changes are accepted in the mainline kernel.

Ubuntu 12.04 scheduled to release next month, will be on Linux kernel 3.2, expect 12.10 to benefit from this.

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Ubuntu Cloud Day in Banglore

Prakash — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:15:00 +0000

Ubuntu Cloud Day is coming to Bangalore on April 4th 2012.

If you are interested you can register here. http://ubuntucloudday.in

Here is a discount code to get you 20 percent off. Have Fun

LNKD20

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Epson L200/L100 on Ubuntu 11.10

Prakash — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 01:09:42 +0000

Epson L200 is a low cost multi-function device which is good for bulk printing. It offers Printing/Scanning and Copying. A similar model L100 is a stand along printer.

First this model works on Ubuntu 11.04 with these instructions. However on Ubuntu 11.10 you require some tweaking.

First go to Epson Linux Download Center.

These instructions work for L100 and L200.

Search for N11, L200 is not yet officially supported hence you search for similar model. The OS drop down below should show Linux.

Download the printer driver. For 32-bit systems the file is

epson-inkjet-printer-n10-nx127_1.0.1-1lsb3.2_i386.deb

It will require some LSB files which it should download on its own.

Now reboot your system and plug on USB, your printer will get auto-detected and it will install the driver. You will not be able to print yet.

On your browser, type localhost:631 this will bring up cups front end where you need to change a few things.

Click on printers tab on the right, select L200 under Queue Name, you will see two drop down menus.

Select Maintenance in the first one and Modify Printer, Now select the printer and say continue.

It would show Make Generic and Current Driver Generic ESC/P Dot Matrix

Click on Select Another Make/Manufacturer

Select Epson and Click on Continue

Now Select Epson Stylus N10 N11 Series

Now click on the Link below that says Modify Printer

Now if you print a test page you should see it printed.

To install the scanner, This is for L200.

Now go back to Epson Linux Download Center.

Now search for L200

The OS drop down below should show Linux.

Now accept and download these files for 32-bit systems

iscan_2.28.1-3.ltdl7_i386.deb

iscan-data_1.14.0-1_all.deb

Install them and now you can scan from Any application like SimpleScan or use the ImageScan application installed.

My first comments on this printer for Linux/Ubuntu users.

This printer was a pain to install on Ubuntu and to print in the best photo quality you need Windows, on Ubuntu I was able to print in colour but not get the best quality.

Secondly to setup the printer you need Windows, to enter the ink tank codes, you will need this everytime you re-fill the tanks.I have seen some hacks around this on Youtube, yet to try it and those hacks are also Windows only

If you have Linux only, you won’t be able to setup this printer and even if you have Windows, its a pain to setup on Linux.

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Eight features Windows 8 borrowed from Linux

Prakash — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:23:14 +0000

“Good artists borrow, great artists steal!” — Pablo Picasso said it. So did T.S. Eliot. And, more recently, Steve Jobs. Let’s face it: If something makes sense and succeeds, it gets imitated.

Though Windows 8 and Linux distributions differ greatly from each other in design, ideology and — last but not least — their primary audience, they’re all built on the same basic principles of OS design so there’s bound to be some overlap. And while Microsoft has long been accused of stealing from the open source community, according to some Linux fans, it’s getting to the point where Microsoft simply appropriates good Linux features.

I have noticed many features in Windows, which came into Linux first and Windows users don’t even know them..

How a chef made the move to Linux

Prakash — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:41:01 +0000

Chef Yash Amin, is our guest blogger today. He is greatest chef I have known and has moved to Ubuntu, here is his experience.

Why i made the move from being a slave to windows to open source and Linux.

For years since I’ve been using computers, windows has been the mainstay of things and although I had heard about Linux, was hesistant to try it because for a non-technical person like me. I dabble a lot with computers, but at the end of the day I’m a chef and the maximum that I’m able to do with a laptop is add more RAM. (in terms of hardware). The biggest reason, not to change was quite simple really, noone likes too much of a change in lifestyle / clothes or even their OS.
But with the hundreds upon hundreds of security patches, updates, slow working systems being tied down to paying for new software, was gettting to be too much. After i have switched to Ubuntu/Linux working on the laptop just seems easier, it boots ups faster, the updates are seamless and take a few minutes at the most. it has a graphic user interface (GUI) so theres easy to click on icons for everything to do and best of all, my favourite open source game nethack is now made for Linux too, so I can play with it as much as I can.
even though 12 years after first starting to play nethack, have still to crack the game and ascend as a demi god!!
Switch to Linux, now and save yourselves endless frustration, virus updates, security patches upon more and more and all in one package. Just download and your good to go.

after so much tech or not so much tech talk, i need to talk something about food.

The art of making a great tasting chocolate mousse

This assumes a few things and is not a DIY for dummies chocolate mousse recipe, but rather aimed at a few people who are passionate about dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is a sinful thing almost and most people will enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. A well made mousse takes that to even more dizzying heights and can be really delicious and smooth and creamy. Enough talking, now lets walk the talk.

For a family sized portion or if you are particularly greedy this is how much you would need.

Dark chocolate broken into small pieces- 200 gms(if you can get one with 50 percent+ cocoa solids then even better). Even Cadbury’s make one called old gold. If not then use Cadbury’s dairy milk and add about 30 gms of the darkest cocoa powder that you can find.

Butter – 30 gms
Eggs – 3 numbers
Sugar- between 60-100 gms (if you want it more or less sweet)
Cream – 250 ml
Alcohol-(rum/ whisky/ or a liqueur (baileys, kahlua, cointreau or similar)- optional, but adds another hint of wickedness to the final product.- about 20 ml

Process

Beat the eggs and sugar over a double boiler (pot with hot water over a low heat). The water should not touch the eggs but just be lightly simmering otherwise you will get sweet scrambled eggs. The consistency to try and achieve is very very fluffy and creamy and when stirred leaves a trail or when poured is ribbony.
Melt the chocolate and butter together, just melted about 40 seconds in a microwave is generally enough. This should be done while the eggs are getting beaten. If you are using milk chocolate then add cocoa after the mix is well melted. Add in the alcohol if you like and mix well.
Whisk the cream till its almost double in volume and forms soft peaks. Keep chilled. Do not over beat otherwise will split and turn into butter.
Mix in the chocolate mixture gently into the eggs and sugar mix.
Take of the heat and allow to cool down slightly.
Fold in the whipped cream. ie. gently mix it in trying not to lose all the air which has been incorporated while whisking. Taste the mix by dipping in finger and licking clean. Yes this essential quality control measure
Put into individual glass bowls and refrigerate until set – about 2-3 hours. It can even be frozen quite successfully and eaten frozen like a rich ice cream or used a filling for a cake/ tart.
Enjoy your chocolate mousse and Linux with family and friends.

For more recipes see Yash Amin’s blog.

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Dropping the “L” Word

Prakash — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:56:14 +0000

The root cause is branding. “Linux” (the brand) is muddy, confusing, and unfriendly to the mainstream computer user: those on the other side of the chasm. They are the exact people that we need to embrace Ubuntu and they don’t *get* “Linux”. They don’t know what it is. They get a negative connotation when they hear the word. Don’t believe me? Ask your non-techie friend or loved one. (I just asked the person beside me and the response I got was less than flattering.)