My Ubuntu Blog

Google Chrome arrived and I had to log on MS Windows to see how it works. I am so impressed that I don’t really feel like going back to Ubuntu and use Firefox. I have installed Windows Vista, which has Aero theme. I use Chrome and the world is beautiful again.

Honestly, I don’t like Microsoft Windows much. Previously I had trouble getting it configured for my internet, graphics and audio settings. It is just too much work with windows, I thought. But may be I was a little bit too biased towards freedom. I had this feeling that I am a software freedom fighter, I can not use Windows. But I am starting to think differently now.

If I use Windows I have Aero which looks 10 times better than Gnome with compiz and it has Google Chrome which is faster than Firefox and works like a charm.

These new things make me feel good. The graphics aren’t ugly, I have the same visual effects on Ubuntu too but they don’t look that good. Gnome’s interface that I have loved so much, now looks childish and boring. The simplicity has gone to a point where it feels like an insult to the human intelligence.

The windows are too big they take a lot of screen space. The fonts are ugly. Definitely Ubuntu has better support for Urdu Language but Vista is not that bad either. Using Vista I can use the new VLC media player that uses QT and has good looking interface.

I tried searching the Gnome website to see if they have any plans to give me something thats more beautiful than Mac OS X, Vista and KDE4. But I don’t think they have any plans to bring something modern and new for at least a few more decades. I can go for KDE4, and I did. I tried it with opensuse. But it crashed so often and after a week of trial I gave up. I tried KDE4 on ubuntu and the result was the same.

Developers at Gnome should think about improving their simplicity. Give me an intelligent user interface that is smarter than me. Give me better fonts. Don’t fill my screen with thick windows, fat buttons, and king size Icons. The KDE folks if they read it, please make it available for Ubuntu and make rock solid. Every body hates to see the crash handler poping up now and then. and I want VLC with QT ASAP.

Please bring me back to the free world. Please bring something exciting and modern.
BTW, after finishing this post I am going to try KDE for windows and see how it works. It might be unstable like hell but I want to do try it anyways.

Note: I haven’t completely switched to Windows yet. I am just jealous.

Ubuntu Story is a new web site promoting Ubuntu by sharing the stories of people who use Ubuntu as their operating system. The web site has a beautiful design that highlights the key benefits of using Ubuntu Linux. These key benefits are:

1. Flexibility
2. Speed
3. Simplicity
4. Appearance
5. Stability
6. Freedom
7. Security
8. Community

Most user stories revolve around these benefits. They are the main reason for many people to switch from Windows/Mac/other Linux distros to Ubuntu Linux. I have talked many people about Ubuntu. I tried to convert my friends, family and neighbours to Ubuntu. I noticed that it is appearance, visual appeal and simplicity that impresses new users at first. Once they have used Ubuntu for a month they start loving it for security, stability and freedom.

If you never used any operating system but Windows, then looking at all the Ubuntu related news on the web, you might be asking yourself, “What is so special about this Operating System?”. For you I have shortlisted my reasons that describe why I love Ubuntu so much. Remember that I am not someone you might identify as a geek. I am just a regular guy like you, a guy who has found something truly great and desperately wants to share it with everyone.

1. Freedom

Ubuntu gave me the freedom to install my operating system, modify it, redistribute it to friends and family without worrying about License.

2. Reliability

I am using Ubuntu since an year now and I haven’t seen any virus, trojan or adware on my system during this whole time. An year is quite a lot for an average windows user who often finds himself combating with some silly malicious software. The Ubuntu version I am currently using is supported for three years. This means that I receive free security updates for three years.

3. A whole lot of free software

Firefox, Open Office, Gimp, and a huge repository of free and not so free software that I can download and install without any hassle.

4. Community

Ubuntu introduced me to a community where people are always eager to help. I met some wonderful people online while asking for help. These wonderful people volunteer to maintain the help documents, support forums, mailing lists and IRC channels. I know I can always visit any of these places and ask for help, advise or have a little chat about just how cool this whole new Ubuntu world is.

5. Pride

I love to tell people that “I use Ubuntu Linux!” In fact I love the part when people ask, “Really? Whats so cool about this Ubuntu Linux that you are using?” While explaining them just how wonderful the world of open and free software is, I feel like I am a warrior saving the world from harmful side effects of not so free operating systems.

Microsoft’s ISA server firewall is the tool used every where on networks in Pakistan and it is the second most common problem for Linux advocates in Pakistan. The first most common problem is getting drivers for win modems.

My Cable Internet service provider also uses the same stupid MS ISA server firewall. They are a nice group of guys but they act crazy sometimes. This time, they updated the servers and forced me to authenticate to a proxy server. No big deal, I knew how to get around this trouble but this time they had gone totally mad and configured the sever to accept HTTP requests from Mozilla and IE only.

I was unable to download updates using either synaptic or apt-get. Fortunately I found Micheal Carden’s Ubuntu – ntlmaps post and it solved all my problems. Not that I was unaware of ntlmaps but actually I was unable to get it configure to use my proxy. Micheal Carden’s post explained how he solved this by moving the server.cfg from /etc/ntlmaps/ to /usr/lib/site-python/ntlmaps/main.py. This ntlmaps thing just works!

Once you have Ubuntu GNU/Linux installed and you find it useful then it is the time for you to consider ways to contribute in Ubuntu. Ubuntu Wiki now has a detailed page Contribute to Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is most of all a community. All of the software, artwork and documentation in Ubuntu has been created, tested, used and discussed openly by people around the world participating in the Open Source community made possible by the Internet. Anyone who uses Ubuntu is part of this global community, and we invite you to help shape Ubuntu to better meet your needs. To make it yours!

Here is a list of how I am contributing to Ubuntu GNU/Linux. It is not much comparing to what so many others are doing for the community. But I think showing off contributions is one way to inspire others specially those who are un-familiar with open and free software philosophy.

• The easiest way to contribute is to use Ubuntu. I am using it for five months now.
• I have distributed Ubuntu Linux CDs to some friends. Successfully convinced one of them to use Ubuntu at home.
• I am spreading the word on Ubuntu by blogging and writing about my Ubuntu experience on various local forums.
• Currently I am trying to improve the out of box Urdu support in Ubuntu. I am trying to get in touch with MOTU’s and Developers.

I am also a member of Urdu Translators and Ubuntu Pakistan Teams. Not much progress going on in both of these teams I think we don’t have good leaders to motivate rest of the team members. We need to organize small events in Pakistan to promote Ubuntu particularly for schools, Internet Cafes, small businesses and home users. We also need translators for Urdu translation of Ubuntu. I want to do lots of things but it seems like may be I am over excited or the other community members are busy somewhere else.

I was asking myself, if Linux and GNU based software are so good, free and legal then why Pakistanis don’t go for them. Some reasons are pretty obvious and others, we will have to figure those out.

1. Pakistanis who spend their time in front of computers at work are forced to work in a Microsoft Windows environment.
2. Home users in Pakistan demand full multimedia support so that they could watch pirated videos on their computers and enjoy pirated music. So who cares about using a free legal software.
3. Young computer users prefer to spend their time playing games and most such games are made for Windows. They also don’t like the way Linux based distros treat Instant Messaging. You can not show or view web cam of your MSN Buddies using Gaim.
4. Small Businesses, aren’t they aware of the fact that Linux has tools which could increase their productivity.
5. What about schools? Does any body ever tried to sell thin clients running on Linux to any local school? Like that $100 laptop thingie, can’t we do such a thing in Pakistan? May be we can not create a laptop but we can atleast equip schools with low price, highly reliable and better learning machines. Reading about edubuntu I think that it has so many learning oppurtunities, it is a great tool for schools.

There is a lot more to it. Please add your reasons in comments. Why you think Linux is not catching up in Pakistan?