Stop complaining:Linux is OK for average consumer

I always wonder why people keep complain about the usability of Linux on the desktop PC.I am sure they must be the people who never tried Linux or must be living under some rock.The usability of Linux has improved leaps and bounds over the last two years thanks to the likes of Ubuntu.People who have been using Ubuntu vouch for it.In fact, I set up Ubuntu on my home PC for my parents and they never complained about it.If they could use without any pain then anybody can try it.It never catches viruses and it's free too.Personally my evangelism influenced more than ten people to try Linux.Hmm,that's a good number to me at least.Most people I talked to have the perception that Linux is all about command line UI.This is the problem.Without even trying Linux they are forming opinions.

Linux may not be ready to replace Windows but it is certainly a good choice to consider. Personally I encourage people who use piracy versions of Windows to try out Linux.If you can't afford Windows then Linux is a really good choice and it can do every thing average consumer wants it to.It can do multimedia, web browsing, productivity etc. without giving you much pain.Linux is perfect for people who run internet cafes in countries like India.

Having said that, I am not against Windows and it has its own strengths like vast eco system and huge ISV support.I attribute Windows success mainly to MS Office.Yes,that's right.Most people use Windows because it can run MS Office.Macs too can run Office software but there are other issues like cost,lack of hardware flexibility and Apple's lack of enterprise ambitions limited its uptake.I am sure if Microsoft releases Office software for Unix/Linux platform one day then it can also be on par with Windows.There are alternatives to MS Office like Open Office, Star Office,IBM's Symphony and web based offerings like Google Docs,Zoho but MS Office still beats them. There are likes of Wine to run Windows softwares on Linux but it's still a long shot.

Linux has achieved significant success in the server and embedded markets but its desktop position is nowhere near it wants to be.This is partly because of lack of strong support from commercial Linux vendors, ISVs, PC manufacturers and you can list few more.So what happens to Linux then?The recent happenings suggests that it still has a lot of life left in it.The emergence of sub-notebook, mobile internet device and smart phone markets should help its uptake.

USB based Mint Linux, a handy one for unbootable computers

There are varieties of Linux distributions available which can be installed on a USB flash drive,but nothing beats Mint Linux to me.Because, Mint Linux usually packs all the multimedia codecs and comes with all kinds of handy softwares.For USB based installation it's perfect and you don't need to install anything extra.For regular native desktop usage also it's good and it's a derivative of Ubuntu. I use Ubuntu on my personal notebook and whenever it is down for some reason, USB Mint Linux saves my day usually. Even though it runs from USB,it's still as fast as native OS and some times I find it even faster.USB based Mint Linux is very handy to run computers that are unbootable.It's worth a try and all it needs is a formatted 1Gb pen drive.Here is the link that details this process.Very easy to follow and try it.

'EXT3-fs: error loading journal'

'EXT3-fs: error loading journal' error is really confusing one.But somehow I got away with it by doing fsck from live CD.Simple solution to this error is checking file system integrity.In my case the file system seems became ext2 where it should be ext3 and fsck brought it back it to original one.

*Boot from rescue CD or Live CD and type "e2fsck /dev/sdax" or "fsck /dev/sdax" where sdax is your Linux partition.It will then ask to replace or fix corrupted blocks and etc.Accept everything by typing 'Y'.

It worked for me twice and it's better than reinstalling the whole thing.I have checked this on Fedora 8 and I am sure it works for other distros as well.If anyone have better ideas please let me know.Thanks in advance.

'\windows\system32\config' and '\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe' missing or corrupted!Save it with Linux

Often Windows system suffers from dreaded errors like '\windows\system32\config\system' and '\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe' missing or corrupted! Most people consider reinstalling the whole system but that's not the solution when you could save it.One can save windows from these dreaded errors using Linux Live CD(Uuntu,fedora etc.).If you have dual boot it's even better.First I would discuss '\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe' error. The solution is simple.Your ntoskrnl.exe is damaged and you have to replace it with backup copy from dllcache folder. If you have NTFS partition you have to install ntfs-3g (In case you don't have that on CD or Linux partition).Here we go.

*Boot into Linux partition or Live CD.

*Open command console and login as root.

*Create a directory by typing 'sudo mkdir /media/windows'

*Then mount your windows partition on to this by typing 'sudo mount -o rw /dev/sdaX /media/windows' .In most cases your windows partition will be sda1 or hda1.Try to get this info by using Gparted.

*Now copy the backup copy of ntoskrnl.exe by typing 'cp /media/windows/windows/system32/dllcache/ntoskrnl.exe /media/windows/windows/system32'.

*It will ask do you want to overwrite.Type 'y'.You are done.Remove Live CD or exit from Linux partition to restart.You can happily log on to your windows back without any error.

If your machine sufers from '\windows\system32\config\system' error then process is similar but you have to copy the back up copies of registry files from system volume information folder.This works only if you had turned on system restore feature in windows.You have to find 5 registry files(system,security,sam,software,user) and copy them to \windows\system32\config\system folder.Here is the link that details this process.

Hope this helps to people who are in need and don't want to reinstall the whole thing.You can also do this operation using windows installation CD and entering in recovery console.But I prefer Linux because you can simultaneously do other things rather than getting stuck in command prompt.

Some Hilarious facts about Windows

Many a times I was shocked to see pathetic awareness about Windows OS even though Microsoft burns billions of dollars on campaigning.Some of them are.

• Many people I spoke to believed 'Windows' is a company name.

• Most Windows users don't know that 'Microsoft' is the exclusive provider of 'Windows'.
  

• Ironically many of them perceiving it as a 'free software'.

• Adding to injuries,many people do not know that MS Office is a separate product and think that it comes with Windows as a bonus.This is true in countries where piracy is on rampage.
  

• For many Windows users, knowing their internet speed is one of the biggest puzzle.Most people I spoke to often believed 100Mbps,54Mbps,11Mbps as their line speed which generally shows when you point your mouse on the network icon.

• Many believe that Windows Media Player can play any format on this planet.

• Many people I spoke to do not know the word called 'browser' but they know damn 'IE'.

• Many tend to believe that 'Monitor' is computer and not the CPU.

• Many users tend to be panic if they don't see 'START' menu.

• Majority of the windows users never had to touch DOS in their lives.Credit to Bloatware.

• Many doesn't know how to partition the hard drive and tend to keep important stuff in C drive.

Well, I can go on.But let's stop here.

Halloween documents revisited

Last month I was reading a piece of news fom GrokLaw which says SCO is getting $100 million funding.It's a shocker to everybody who have been following SCO vs Linux case.These guys are badly after Linux and Lawyers seems to be running the company.I still don't understand whether they have any growth agenda other than simply being 'patent troll'.In case you don't understand what I am talking, you should read Halloween documents, solid wiki article about SCO vs Linux.Let's see what SCO is up to this time after loosing series of battles against Linux community.

How to restore xorg.conf

Few weeks back I messed up with my Ubuntu Graphics Manager and it stopped starting Gnome display manager.It stucks at command prompt with a message Xserver failed to start and I couldn't see GUI any more.Obviously, i tried 'startx' without success.Then I tried 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg' to configure my graphics environment from command prompt.Some how I could configure only 4bit color depth and un fortunately it didn't allow me higher bit color depth.It was horrible to see the 4bit color depth screen and i decided to try other methods.If you have backup file of xorg.conf you can restore with 'sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.mysave /etc/X11/xorg.conf' where xorg.conf.mysave is your backup file.In my case i couldn't figure out the backup file correctly in /etc/X11 directory as there seems to be more than one.

I decided to try another method from ubuntu forums which says xorg 7.2 has a pretty useful feature.That is if you delete xorg.conf file then it will regenerate a new one with default settings.First I have checked the version of my xorg by typing 'X -version' and confirmed it is version 7.2.Then I have deleted my xorg.conf file by typing 'sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf' .It worked like magic and i could see my GUI again.Thanks to ubuntu forums.

Microsoft playing Zero-Sum game

It didn't surprise me much when Microsoft launched a bid to buy Yahoo!,considering the company's woeful record in online space.It could be seen as a desperate and one last attempt to lift its online business(Forget competing with Google).Moreover, this deal is subjected to scrutinies from anti-trust watch dogs and I am sure Google will try its best to stop this deal going ahead.But Microsoft's underdog status in online ad space may help the deal to get through.

On the surface it looks like MS will take back some control with this move as MS have deep pockets to invest.But that can happen only if and if MS spins off its own online business unit to merge with Yahoo!.Then the companies can get off with integration issues and Google will get less time to cash on the transition.Otherwise Google will totally un-settle the two companies in this uncertainity period.MS also suffers branding issues in its online strategy and Yahoo! will add more injuries.MS already confusing customers with MSN/Hotmail/Windows Live.. whatever the hell is that.MS simply lacks weapons to compete online.

So far,Yahoo! itself couldn't figure out much, how to translate traffic into profit and I don't know how LAME MS will help it.Mind you,Yahoo!'s Project Panama also couldn't lift its revenues.But on the positive side,Yahoo! is one of the pioneers of the web and they have stronger presence in asian markets and Mobile search.Yahoo! search is way better than Live hell and MS at last realized that Google's online success is because of its high-quality search engine.MS was late to search market and I still don't understand why MS links Windows with its online strategy(Why Windows LIVE??Misleading and irrelevant name).I can't imagine that hot properties like Yahoo answers,Flickr,Del.icio.us,Eurosport falling in MS hands.Except hotmail(that too acquisition) tell me where MS had success in online business.They coudn't build communities and hot portals even after burning billions of dollars.MS should remember that internet communities are sensitive and it takes only seconds to switch to another site.MS playing Zero-Sum game here and now they are thinking that Yahoosoft+Google=100% of online advertising.They are totally wrong and there are no. of startups who are working towards game-changing online ad technologies.

Given its poor execution of online strategy record, I feel even after this buyout MS will be vulnerable.As long as the company under estimates the open standards it may not find recipi.Internet is all about open and nuetral standards.Imagine, I visited Flickr website through my Ubuntu-Linux notebook and a message pops to me saying you are not using Vista/XP or IE hell.Thats quite possible after this merger and thats my worry,which can force me out to look for alternatives.Now, Microsoft is embracing the disruption and I am really hoping that company will move out from its safe zone(Windows and Office) to the real future.