Matt Hartley

Linux audio is one of those things that has gone from horrible to tolerable to not half bad, depending on what you are doing. JACK for audio pros, Pulseaudio server for the everyday desktop. Yet despite this, there is still ongoing heated debate between the value of OSS vs ALSA.
I think that this article did [...]

At first pass, this might seem like a silly question. But if you are considering bridging your business into a specific distro, knowing which one has the most usage might matter to you.
Speaking honestly, I am not sure that this article has all the information to make a clear call on actual usage. That said, [...]

Despite some folks having issues with Pulseaudio in some Linux distros, the fact of the matter is most people love it. Well, those who are not running machines from 8 years ago or using select sound cards that apparently do not play well with the code involved. I have used it on over eight PCs [...]

I have been a supporter for open source software for years. And to that note, I recently jumped on board with with a project known as WebcamStudio. Those who remember the original program would do well to give this software a second look - it has been upgraded BIG TIME.
New UI, new features and great [...]

It’s always cracked me up when someone goes out of their way to purchase a brand new notebook, knowing full well it was designed for Vista, then try to install Linux into it. Then when issues regarding the cheap Broadcom Wi-Fi chipset come up, frustration starts.
Look, if you are buying new anyway, let me set [...]

Cannot say enough about the common sense of any stock exchange not using Windows. And as London joins the stock exchange in NYC (USA) with the switch to Linux, I am willing to bet Microsoft is none too happy about the matter.
Besides cost and speed, there is also the matter of security. Seriously, how frightening [...]

Every time we head down this path, I end up with the “dual-booting” is great crowd, often because they fully understand how to deal with the boot record and various partitions involved. For most people, goto to ANY Linux forum and you will see the “success” of that mindset.
Still, there are some safe ways of [...]

As with any new OS release, I am expecting some fair bugs with the release of Ubuntu 9.10. Already failing to install on my old Averatec 3200, it looks like it will be installing nicely on my System76 Intel based notebook however. But hey, it’s a beta.
If you are planning on being among the early [...]

Imagine your Ubuntu desktop sensing a Skype call coming in only to diminish the music blasting in the background over Banshee, as to allow you to take the Skype call? Sound too good to be true, not at all.
Enter EarCandy.

Before even getting started, I should point out that I have been using Puppy Linux off and on for what seems like years. This being said, I was driven to using this great distro again on a notebook that previously had been using Ubuntu. For a variety of sloppy video chipset reasons coming down from [...]

Recently I receive an email asking me how to best remotely access their XP desktop from their Ubuntu PC. While some might point to a SSH solution, it may not be needed if being done over a LAN and if the data exchange is not really a big secret.
The fact of the matter is this [...]

It’s called a Zipit and for those interested in turning this into a cheap netbook for $50+, I would suggest buying off eBay to avoid the $10 monthly fee for the standard Zipit service.
What is awesome about the Zipit however, is that this $50 messaging machine can easily be turned into a working Linux netbook. [...]

I have to admit that I was really never one for the LUG (Linux User Group) scene. Difficult to pinpoint why exactly, it was just never my bag. And these days, I rarely have free time as it is anyway.
In this article, I was reading about how yesterday’s LUGs have evolved into larger conventions and [...]

For years, I found myself defending the photo editor known as GIMP simply because it was different at some level. As absurd as this will seem to most Linux users, this comparison to Photoshop has been an issue for quite some time.
Well some of the mystique that has kept many users away from GIMP looks [...]

I can see where this article is coming from to a point. On many levels it seems like HP is not throwing enough weight into their Linux efforts. Well, on the PC front perhaps.
Back on the printer front however, I could not be happier. HP supports its HPLIP project with tremendous work as far as [...]

After reading this piece about Shuttleworth, I think he hits on some key issues. Yet that aside, the Linux crew needs to realize that the market is there but will not be addressed due to one fundamental flaw. Support.
While hardware/software and other goods are in pretty good shape, the fact of the matter is that [...]

Far be it for me to try and argue a point about Linux from the guy who developed the Linux kernel in the first place! That being said, I am not really sure if Linux seeing some holiday pounds being put on is really a cause for alarm.
The fact of the matter is that Linux [...]

One of the stupidest things I see people who do know better is recommending to new users to rush out and buy a POS computer for as little as possible. Advanced users know this is BS. Unless you are running PuppyLinux, have zero plans on using Flash for anything and enjoy having the same limited [...]

I started out my travels in the Linux world with KDE and after moving over to Ubuntu back with 6.06, I never looked back as GNOME was just less menu surfing for me to deal with.
Despite being seen as overly simplistic in the past, it seems that today’s latest news of GNOME 2.28 is shaping [...]

First off, I would point out that there is no real surprise that we are seeing HP being so coy on their feature of the Splashtop Linux inclusion with some new laptops. With Microsoft still being such a huge part of their business, it is clear that HP has to walk a very fine line.
And [...]