From itwire.com is the news that Dell has started putting the latest revision of Ubuntu Linux on some of its computers, Gutsy Gibbon, or 7.10. What is the newsworthy part is that Dell has decided to put some non - open source, non - free software on the computers.

There are two packages being shipped on the machines now, which are not a part of the distribution. One is the Adobe Flash player, which seems innocuous, as it is a truly free item, and almost everyone who surfs the net comes upon a site that needs it to render all that is on the pages. The other item is a non - free player from InterVideo, the LinDVD player.

Already there are users who have seen fit to decry the practice of mixing this non - free software into the distribution. This isn’t going to win any friends for Dell when the rest of the purists get the word on this.

The article goes on, however, to show that perhaps Dell is making a deal with InterVideo to spice up its distribution, and make it special for buyers of Dell computers.

The LinDVD page says “LinDVD, InterVideo’s Linux software DVD player, is currently available only to manufacturers for evaluation and integration.” Is this only legally available to Dell owners then?

“It looks like Dell wants to create a DellOS distro based on Ubuntu with various of proprietary things in the mix (ala Linspire) to help sell their computers. There’s nothing stopping them from doing that, but is it really fair for Dell to be calling this “Ubuntu” though?”

I fully understand where Limulus is coming from. However, having run into the problem of trying to install DVD playback on Ubuntu myself, I can also appreciate Dell’s point of view. The problem for Dell as I see it is that it wants to sell Linux PCs that can be used out of the box. After all, that’s the idea of selling pre-installed Ubuntu PCs - no? If a PC with an optical drive can’t even play back encrypted DVDs when you take delivery and switch it on then it is not a fully functional computer compared to a Windows or Mac box.

Getting an Ubuntu box to play encrypted DVDs is not rocket science. You just have to download the required codecs from the Ubuntu software repository. The problem is that because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act this is illegal in the US - most Ubuntu users in the US do it anyway. For US company Dell, however, it would appear that there is no way the company can legally give its customers plug and play DVD playback other than bundling a proprietary solution like LinDVD (please correct me if I’m wrong).

I don’t think this is such a big thing -  if all the legal problems are scienced out - Dell could make a really nice profit if the money spent on a Windows license was spent instead on workability solutions for Linux, so that the ‘everyman’ could get working as soon as all the cords are plugged in.

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Tags: ubuntu 7.10, gutsy gibbon, dell computers, intervideo lindvd

The road to Kestrel, the 9.50 revision of the Opera browser has not been quite as smooth as many of the other revisions. This is probably because the other revisions from 8.5 to 9.25 (the current non-beta version) have all been changes that were incremental, and any bugs that were noted were small. I admit that I have not noticed some of the bugs in the 9.5 builds, as I don’t use the mail portion of the browser.

I have used the mail in Opera before and was happy with it, but it is not as full featured as Eudora, Outlook, or Windows Live Mail. It is certainly serviceable, and this latest beta squashes many of the bugs that have lingered in the recent alpha and beta builds.

What I am very critical of, and what has been (seemingly) completely fixed is the rendering of web pages. Every alpha, and beta, as well as 9.24 and 9.25 versions have had problems rendering pages written here. Now I can happily report that the problems are gone, and at least 70% of the change in speed of the first Kestrel builds is back.

I have yet to record a single flaw…this might be the one.

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Tags: opera 9.5, kestrel, beta, browsers, acid2 compliance

In many efforts to find things on the Microsoft web site, I have been very frustrated and been to the point of rage a few times.

I see that others are thinking in the same way, and finally someone took the time to do something about it. This can only be good for Microsoft, who has never had a decent index of their own site. It’s also good for those of us who have less time and patience than we probably should.

By going to http://www.google.com/microsoft.html it is possible to get the power of Google put to task on the Microsoft offerings. Now it won’t be so hard to get the new version of the mouse driver, the latest theme for XP, or the updated driver for that obscure device you just have to hook up.

When it is considered that Google searches are much more efficient than any one originating from within the confines of Redmond, perhaps the personnel devoted to the Windows Desktop Search tool should be re-allocated to another, more pressing job - like restroom maintenance.

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Tags: search, google, microsoft, windows desktop search, google desktop search, index

As I was watching re-runs of Torchwood on BBC America last night, I was thinking about the upcoming changes in television, to digital, and the move many are being forced to make from CRT to another form.

The problems with new content will have some effect on the numbers watching, but I wonder how much. Many people I talk to are buying better televisions simply for theater-like usage - watching movies in either Blu-ray or HD DVD format. The televisions rarely see the use of the tuner as a source of programming.

Does this speak well for the effectiveness of the strike that is going on, or does it show the public’s basic dissatisfaction with the bulk of what is being presented on standard television?

I know I have not made a switch yet, and I certainly would not be doing it for a number of reasons that are being given to the public. For example, I think anyone who gets excited about the prospect of seeing the network news in high definition should be fitted with one of those nice white jackets with the tailored extra long sleeves.

I do know that the non-standard fare is holding my attention much more than anything else these days. Things on PBS (many times a great reason for HD television), basic cable channels (such as USA and SciFi), and BBC America are getting the lion’s share of the time I spend watching - which is becoming less and less.

From the talks I have had with others, I’m not all that different than many … I wonder how this will affect the next years of programming on the box (really can’t say TUBE anymore!)

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Tags: television, networks, programming, bbc america, usa, pbs, crt, high definition formats

Unfortunately, this is the time of year when very little innovation happens, as most people are in either a tryptophan-induced stupor between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or are in a controlled frenzy, dividing time between worrying that they will get the right gifts from others, and feverishly looking for the things that those close by, tend to want.

Several websites offer up their own visions of the future of computing, most making attempts to explain what those who make One Redmond Way their daily workspace will do in the next 12 months or so.

I will offer up my insights at this point, so that next year at this time we can compare the results of what has happened in the intervening time and how good my prognostications are. ( I will avoid aping the results of anyone I’ve read, lest you say that is what I’m doing.)

First, the FUD will continue. No one says this, but in fact, the FUD is welded into the fabric of the company…it cannot be separated out.

Next, Windows 7 will not be shown anywhere, as it won’t be close to completion, and Microsoft will still be fretting over how much of the public is STILL using Windows XP and eschewing the travails of Vista adoption. The talking heads will be saying that Service Pack  2 will be the turning point this time, as it will finally be what Microsoft intended to release two years prior.

Next, Silverlight will still be around, but it will be only because Microsoft is too stubborn to get on with other things, and pride also keeps anyone on the edge of things (the manufacturer-customer interface) from admitting how silly an undertaking it was in the first place.

Last, Mr. Ballmer will be kept on large doses of medication, and will generally move toward looking more at ease with the public, if only slightly glassy-eyed and vacant.

The new face of Microsoft, and Mr. Ballmer.

Remember, inertia is a magical thing. The more mass a thing has, the more inertia will force things down the path undertaken. Microsoft will continue down its current path, and only in a couple of years will the behemoth seem to wake up to the disasters happening all around it.

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Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Windows, 7, Vista, XP, Silverlight, FUD

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Tags: microsoft, windows, 7, vista, xp, silverlight, fud

Dell wants to be number one again. How nice. Number one companies do things that others don’t do. The build quality of the machines is above other manufacturers. They make it easy for customers to know what is in their machines. When problems arise, it should be easy to deal with the support options offered.

After a week of working on many Dell machines, and realizing that, in general, build quality is high - but could be higher, using service tag number doesn’t guarantee knowing what was put into the machine - as it is meant to, and the people who work at support are more interested in getting off the phone than helping the customer - even for a customer that buys hundreds of machines per year, it is easy to see why the company has slipped down the rating ladder.

The thing is, if styles don’t change, the slide will continue, as people like me, who interface with many, and when asked an opinion, give a less than favorable one - that slide is guaranteed to pick up speed.

I’ve read interviews with Michael Dell, and he talks a good game, but he must be willing to do more than talk.

(By the way - there is not much support for anyone who wants to use Linux, and the site is a mess for those searching for things to help fix any driver problems - I’ve seen 13 cases of hard drives that will not restore from the hidden partition, which makes me wonder why Michael Dell isn’t willing to use a restore disk, with drivers, and absorb the extra two dollars that might cost, so as to help rise up to that number one status again. A quick online search reveals that the restore partition is frequently problematic, and not because of bonehead users - though that certainly enters in.)

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Tags: dell computers, support, michael dell, microsoft, windows, linux

The second iteration of a dual format high definition DVD player from LG Electronics has been released today.

Blu-ray- superior format, favored by some of the movie studios, and HD DVD, a good format, with lower requirements, and its own legion of followers. Now there’s no need to choose!

The first iteration from LG had a few problems, and the company assures the consumer that this one is a keeper! It has been certified by both HD DVD and Blu-ray consortiums, and also will be upgradeable to BD Profile 1.1 when that media arrives.

LG brings the formats together for those who don’t want to be left out of any action!

 LG BH200 - a dual format winner! Quality movies no matter what the studio affiliation!

The unit supports up to 1080p resolution and lists for $999. While the BH200 is rather steeply priced, it boasts full compatibility, and no problems with obsolescence in the near future. The BH200 also includes the latest connection capability, with the included HDMI 1.3 port.

HDMI connection included on the player (like the one on this video card)- making it easily connected to your large computer LCD or television.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but once the price is overcome, the ability to get high definition movies from any studio is possible. It also makes rental of them easy, during the healing process after the purchase.

One format will eventually win, but it may be years before that win takes place, and many times older titles will not surface in the winning format. This way 1080p is available no matter what. Your eyes will thank you for it!

(There is a Samsung model coming later this month, for a list of $799, but it is rumored to be less full featured - still I’d become familiar with this, so a really good comparison is possible in a week or so…)

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Tags: blu-ray, hd dvd, lg, bh200, format wars, 1080p

Part of the changes in Vista that Mark Russinovich had touted with Vista was that media files were purposely given priority in playback, so that the choppiness and stutter could be made to disappear from the machines that Vista was used on. Much was made of this feature, and it was given great amounts of space, to explain why the kernel was changed in this way.

Now, with everyone on the planet not owning a quad core CPU with double digit gigabytes of local memory, it seems that part of the Service Pack 1 ‘repairs’ is to at least partially negate this emphasis on media performance, because the great majority of users have noted what porcine performance Vista has when accessing a network.

Now the Service Pack will allow the user to choose where the compromise should be, media playback or network performance. Apparently the throttling mechanism will be almost continuously variable, which will allow for good performance of the most important things.

This is a plus for users, but it is odd that other operating systems have better CPU optimizations, and are much more lean, allowing better performance, and less need for these choices.

Perhaps a return to more low level coding, and less .NET, could bring the kind of performance that Microsoft had in mind, when waxing on about the virtues of Vista.

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Tags: vista, media optimization, network throttling index, network performance

Now that the promises of repaired speed with Vista transfers over the network are out there, and many are almost ready to give the operating system a chance, more problems are being pondered about the workings of its IPv6 implementation.

Researchers from Symantec and Ericsson have produced a paper that calls into question the long-term viability of the Vista stack, and the Teredo protocol that it employs. Teredo is part of the way that Vista deals with the outside world of IPv6 when the system is located on a private IPv4 subnet.

The long and short of things is that the authors of the paper state that when the Teredo protocol is being used, the level of inspection of packets is changed, and security can be compromised.

The easy way to avoid this is to have everything on the network use IPv6, so that Teredo is never allowed to come into the picture, but as everyone knows transitions are seldom quick, and almost never instantaneous.

This will be more of a problem for corporate networks, and it seems strange that Microsoft would not have put a better arrangement into its flagship operating system. The problems with the protocol are well known to Microsoft, as the implementation has been available as a workaround in XP for awhile, but not used by default as it is with Vista.

Perhaps this is another thing that should have been gotten to before the release, along with the WinFS file system, and all the other dropped features.

full story here

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Tags: vista, networking problems, ipv6, teredo protocol, teredo furcifera, microsoft

Symantec has done nothing to continue the fine reputation that the Norton Utilities had. When Peter Norton headed the company the Utilities were a standard part of almost every tech’s toolkit, and  enlightened home users always had the latest version.

back then, this man was a god!

When Symantec took over, the only person that must have been happy was Peter Norton, as he reportedly got quite a sum for his company, and work.

Since the takeover, Symantec has made many mistakes with the utilities, not the least of which was letting them languish and become something less than important to most. The one part of the package that Symantec kept up, of necessity, was the Antivirus program. I still use it as a backup today - it is not as good as some others, but it does validate some things, as well as help indicate false positives.

This last week a routine update from Symantec Security Response wreaked havoc on a California company’s clientele when it inadvertently tagged a program produced by Solid Oak Software as a virus and cut off the Internet access of Solid Oak customers.

On Monday, a virus definition was released that incorrectly identified Solid Oak’s CyberSitter filtering program as a virus. Depending on the version of Symantec’s Norton Antivirus product that Solid Oak customers were running, CyberSitter files were either deleted or banned from use by Norton, according to Solid Oak.

The problem was very severe, and not knowing what else to do some of the customer’s of the Solid Oak software were so far as to re-install the operating system and various other programs.

This is the third time in less than a year that Symantec’s Norton products have caused severe damage to computers running CYBERsitter software offerings, said Brian Milburn, president of Solid Oak Software, in a statement. “In my opinion, Norton products are worse than any virus I can think of,” he said.

“We have thousands of users with no Internet access and all Symantec has done is to provide our mutual customers with a non-functioning support number that tell them to use on-line support,” Milburn added. “The problem is even worse because [it’s] the holiday season. Users are trying to order gifts on-line and they can’t.”

This support number spoken of was up for only 2 days, and then disconnected - this was before the fix was widely distributed, so many were further frustrated by calling a non-functioning help number.

Everyone knows that nothing can be tested on every machine, or account for every situation, but when your company has blown it twice in a year, it might be prudent to use more care to test against those products shown in the past to be problematic.

poor Peter, he should have insisted on a name change of his utilities, before his name, and the reputation of his code, was tarnished

Peter (if he’s still alive) is cringing right about now - and anticipating a name change.

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Tags: norton antivirus, symantec, solid oak, cybersitter