Category Archives: computers

New Reasons to Use Linux

Posted on August 1, 2009 by ehurst

Let’s be clear: I don’t know all the details, don’t have a full range of understanding in computer technology. I’m pretty much a duffer. But I know what I like and what seems to work for me. What I do … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Tagged , , | Comments Off on New Reasons to Use Linux

Haiku OS Progressing

Posted on July 23, 2009 by ehurst

I’m still running Debian Etch because just about everything else so far has failed me. Most of the more recent Linux distributions are utterly unusable on this old laptop. But as the final days of Etch tick down, it seems … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Tagged | Comments Off on Haiku OS Progressing

Kdrive/SmallX — Buried in Obscurity

Posted on July 16, 2009 by ehurst

In my on-going research for alternatives to the X.org full server, I ran across references to a “TinyX” which led me to SmallX, AKA Kdrive. Aside from one, very obsolete reference written for mere mortal users, the whole thing is … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Tagged , | Comments Off on Kdrive/SmallX — Buried in Obscurity

Console: Not Giving Up

Posted on July 3, 2009 by ehurst

Nobody has to tell me I’m flaky. I managed to figure that out a long ago. I’m still trying to get life on the console worked out, even if there are things I can’t do without building the OS from … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Comments Off on Console: Not Giving Up

No Life on the Commandline

Posted on June 29, 2009 by ehurst

It was fun, and I really gave it a good run. I tried hard to make things work the way I needed them to work, but it was not to be. At least, not yet. I have found evidence there … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Tagged | Comments Off on No Life on the Commandline

FreeBSD: Busted

Posted on June 28, 2009 by ehurst

I’m posting this from a borrowed Windows machine. FreeBSD was a bust. I got the whole thing optimized and ready to rock-n-roll, but most of the ports I needed were broken. That is, they refused to build, or did crazy … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Tagged | 1 Comment

Squeeze Too Dependent on X

Posted on June 27, 2009 by ehurst

I’m finding I can’t even install Groff without X. I was willing to learn how to mark up in troff so I could print a few things now and then, but I can’t get the basic Groff package without heavy … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Comments Off on Squeeze Too Dependent on X

Console Life: Adjustments

Posted on June 24, 2009 by ehurst

This is not about what you should do if you run the console, but what I have experience with Squeeze on my Inspiron 4100 laptop. I tested the Radeon Framebuffer (“radeonfb”). While it does work, it’s not quite right. There … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Comments Off on Console Life: Adjustments

Life on the Console: Debian Squeeze

Posted on June 22, 2009 by ehurst

Perhaps you can come up with your own reasons for it, but running Linux on the console only is certainly worth the effort. For example, a lot of really fine hardware still runs fine, but painfully slow if you run … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | 11 Comments

Console Only: Unable to Serve

Posted on June 18, 2009 by ehurst

It was a washout. While I had no trouble doing it for myself, there were lots of problems when it came to serving others. There are too many things I do for other folks which require having OpenOffice.org, multimedia capabilities, … Continue reading →

Posted in computers | Tagged , | Comments Off on Console Only: Unable to Serve