My new toy

Today i went to Future shop and found a hard drive enclosure for $44 CAD. Although i thaught it had a 80gb harddrive i was not very disapointed when i saw that it didn't. I then went to Sams club (similar to Cosco) and found 200gb 7200rpm Maxtor hard drives for $115 CAD. So i bought it ad put the two together and bang!! i now have a 200gb external hard drive that works great in linux. And to boot i got it for like $150 CAD!!

Bye Bye Windows :)

I have not posted for while a while beacuase i have been crazy busy getting rady for exams and finishing summatives (exam week/s starts next Thursday). Anyway yesterday i was resizing my ntfs partition because i wanted to make a clean install of ubuntu 6.06 dapper LTS (32 bit). I was using GParted on the ubuntu live install CD and it failed and screwed up my ntfs partion. I had all my school work, music and apps on it!! So i got myself a Windows XP cd and booted to the recovery console. Then i repared my mbs using the command 'fixboot' an then re-wrote the mbr by using the command 'fixboot'. Then i proceeded to reboot. Windows gave me a blue screen so i rebooted again and poped in the ubuntu live install CD. Once the live installer CD booted i edited /etc/fstab so i could mount my ntfs partition. (Note: before i 'fixboot' and 'fixmbr' nothing could read the filesystem of my damaged ntfs partion). Then I got my dad's portable harddrive and copyed my data from that. Resault: I have saved all my data and live without windows :) I still have not yet got my ATI propriatary drivers working (there is some issues with the driver for the Radeon 200M)...if anyone knows how to get them working it would be really nice if they could show me how because i am becoming very frustrated with it. Or if someone knows of any third party driver (that supports 3d acceleration) give me a shoot. Anyway...i have to get back to homework.

ATI and BCM3418 drivers are not working :(

Lately i have been working extremely hard doing school work and getting ready for exams. On my spare time i have been trying Ubuntu 6.06 (I have been using linux for over half a year). I apsolutely love it but have been having a hang of a time getting it to work. The ATI drivers are being very anoying (they don't install correctly no matter what tutorial i use...i have a Radeon 200M and have to use the older driver because ATI broke the new driver for my card). On the weekend i got wireless working (i have a Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02) wireless card) but it only worked for one connetion and i have not been able to get it running since (Note: i used this guide: http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=185174). If anybody knows how to get ubuntu 6.06 dapper on the compaq R4000 with the ATI Radeon 200M and Broadcom BCM4318 wireless card feel free to link me to a tutorial or tell. Currently it is a pain in the but to get the wireless and ATI driver working so if i can find a way that works then i will make a shell script so it is easier for others to get it working. BTW, a friend and I have started a new blog about linux that will have many resources like i just specified...we also are working on how-to manuals. You can check it out at ttr-linux.blogspot.com.

Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper LTS released

Today Ubuntu 6.06 dapper LTS was released. I was running SuSE 10.1 with Gnome 2.14 because i was trying to get XGL and my ATI propriatary drivers working. I highly recomend Ubuntu 6.06 (i have been using the development releases since Flight 6). I am definitly going to be downloading and installing it tonight. You can go check out Ubuntu 6.06 dapper LTS here.

Damb ATI!!

Yesterday me and a friend spent the entire day trying to get the ATI drivers working on SuSE 10.1. We got it working on his computer in a couple of minuits but when we got to my laptop we just could not get it to work. We followed a coupe of wiki's including the official guide. We tried both 64 and 32 bit drivers and the week before i worked on getting it working on ubuntu 6.06 dapper RC. I was very angry because i wanted to get XGL working...we got it working on my buddies computer but when it came to mine we had no luck. I am just about to shoot ATI because they just can't get it right!!! I am using a Radeon XPress 200M...i am thinking it is a problem with the actual series of cards (the card works fine in windows). Anyway i spent the entire day in command line shich was interesting but after 6 hours of hacking away and troubleshooting i almost died. I can't leave windows XP until i get linux worki9ng well. Anyway that is my rave for a little while...I am swamped with work from school.

News

Lately i have been very busy with school becuase it is the end of the year and exams and summatives are coming up...anyway after JavaOne there was lots of new in the Java world. You can check it at planetnetbeans.org and planetsun.org . I also jsut found that Ubuntu 6.06 dapper Release Candidate is out. I am just downloading it now...hopefully they have fixed some bugs (esspecialy the gstreamer error [I noticed it while using Flight 7]). I also found a newer linux distro called RR4 (or RR64 if you have a 64 bit pc) that comes with ATI propriatary drivers built in which in it's self makes this distro very apealing to me because my laptop has a ATI Radeon Express 200M. It is also built on Gentoo which is also very apealing. I am going to be trying it so i post what i think of it later on this week or next. You can check out RR4/RR64 at http://www.lxnaydesign.net/.

Upcoming NetBeans Releases

I have lately been trying out the Q-builds of NetBeans 6.0. It is just awesome and has so much stuff added. I am interested in seeing how Matisse matures as well as the new features in the enterprise pack and creator pack. I also really like the NetBeans module development support. One thing i would like to see is "visual branding" so people who are making rich client applications can simply just select which menus/menu-items they will be using. Another thing i would like to see for NetBeans 6.0 is scripting support. It maybe could be downloaded as another pack...it could maybe be called the "dynamic language pack". Anyway there has been lot's and lot's 0f interesting java news this week because of JavaOne so check planetnetbeans.org for current updates...Aw...i so wish i could have gone to JavaOne...next year for sure...anyway have a nice weekend.

Wow...i think i am getting popular... just kid'n

I searched areound today and found quite a few blogs about me...i thaught cool...so i decided to blog it...Here are the links:

Muthu's web log
Seeking Knowledge
Rajmahendra's Blog
Waves

What I want to see in Linux & Results from my quest for a OS

Over the weekend i tried many OS's. I tried Fadora Core 5, SuSE 10.1, Ubuntu Dapper 6.06 Flight 7/Beta 2 and Kubuntu. I was mainly looking for hardware support (specificly for laptops (my compaq R4000) and an out-of-the-box linux. I found for the best "out-of-the-box" experiance, software wise is SuSE 10.1 and Fadora Core 5. The best "out-of-the-box" experiance, Hardware wise was Ubuntu/Kubuntu (Dapper 6.06 Flight 7).

Out of all the OS's i tried Ubuntu/Kubuntu was my favouriteUbuntu/Kubuntu still needs a little more work...I readlly liked the new network manager...it is phenomenal. I would like to see it be able to detect what type of hardware has been added to the system and then install the correct drivers by connecting to a repository) and then have a simple way to configure it. Don't get me wrong i love the command line (it is fun) but it would be nice to be able to have things working without have to compile things into my kernel. I would like to see more usability and user-friendlyness (specificly out of the box software support (ex. Media codecs installed, able to play DVD's, ect...). I would also like to see more avalablity of deb packages so any users could simply use Ubuntu/Kubuntu.

Next i tried Fadora Core 5. It was very pretty and nice to look at but i found that it was not very good on laptops. It comes with lots of software and it seemed resonably easy to install. I did not explorer this as much as i would have liked to but i wanted to explorer others.

Finally i installed SuSE 10.1. I used to use SuSE 10 all the time but got frustrated with it after time because of some bugs in YAST and minimal hardware support...at least on my laptop. (Note: Laptop support in linux NEEDS to be improved [it has been in the past year but i would like to see more]). It is one of the prettiest OS's i have ever seen. I would like to see Gnome updated to the current version and have some bugs worked out...my favourite thing about SuSE 10.1 is the out-of-the-box software support. I like how it comes with the helix engine and media codecs (if specified).

Anyway that is my take from two days of installing OS's and testing them. So as you have prabably noticed i would like to see better hardware support specificly on laptops and a more user-friendly OS. I am known to bash windows but i must say it is nice that everything "just works" . Next i will try Gentoo (v2006.0) and Solaris, so stay tuned!

NetBeans 5.5 Beta Released

Instead of repeating what was already said in quit a few places I will just link and give my opinion of NetBeans 5.5 Beta. I think it is absolutely awesome....It is almost time for eclipse to give up...(see Eclipse Killer ). There could be some improvements to the editor and maybe some in areas where I am not very educated (J2EE and J2ME [Although from what I have done of J2ME in NetBeans it was very easy to pick up]). I really like the new Welcome screen and I especially like the UML support. I also like the C/C++ support. You can download NetBeans 5.5 from here. You can read more about it at NetBeans.org or at the following:

Alessio Pace's blog
Paul Walk's blog
Geertjans Blog (Part #1)
Geertjans Blog (Part #2)

Friday Fun

Today i came across some very funny advertisments for Firfox. My favourite is this one. Anyway it is very late in Canada so i am going to call it a night.

What Operating System should i Use?

I have a compaq R4000 laptop and currently have windows XP and SuSE 10. I have been having a hard time trying to decide whether i should use SuSE, Ubuntu or Solaris. It would be nice to have some comments on what you prefer and what you like/dislike about the mentioned Os's.

Note: I have to have XP for the little amounts of time when i decide to play halflife 2 or Doom 3.

I am on NetBeans.org!!

Check netbeans.org 's homepage. I was interviewed by Roumen Strobl a little while ago and it is live!! Anyway you can comment on the interview here.

What Java Needs

I have been listening to some old Java Posse Podcasts and have been thinking about what i would like to see in the future of Java. I also was looking over what i would like to see in future releases of NetBeans. In the next release of Java i would like to see support for many scripting languages (JavaScript, Ruby, Python, ect..). This would be really usefull because it would create the possablity to use Scripting languages with Java API's. I would also like to see better support for scripting languages in NetBeans (Debugging and Profiling, along with good refactoringas and editor support). In Mustang it is possable to use JavaScript (using project Rhino). This is very cool and should also be done with more dynamic languages. BTW, there is now C++, C support in NetBeans!! It is suppose to be in NetBeans 6.0. Also there is the Enterprise pack which includes support for UML.

Gone for a little while...

I am going to be very busy with school for the next little while so sorry if you won't hear from me...It is taking me a long time to get a new microphone and server so hopefully they will be available soon. On a side note NetBeans 5.5 is awesome and i recomend you go try it (it is still in Q-Builds). Anyway i will try and blog as often as possible.

Quiet

Over the past week I have been pretty quiet (I guess you could say lazy). I have been on march break and have been just loving it! I have been spending most of my time learning more about developing NetBeans modules. I very much like this type of work. Anyway there has been a lot going on in the NetBeans world (C++/C pack, enterprise pack, ect..). I looking forward to the 5.5 and 6.0 releases of NetBeans. They will be great!! Anyway it is almost 1:00 AM and I have to wake up in the morning so this is going to be cut a little short. Now for a short update...I am still waiting to get a server (it should happen this week hopefully) and that mean I will be start up my podcast. About the flash demo I said I was going to have ready for last week, it never happened because the audio is not very good quality so I am going to pick up a new mic and re-record.

Eclipse (The Super Power in the IDE War) is Having Trouble Keeping up with the Fast Pace of NetBeans

Ian Skerrett has shared false information regarding Eclipse and NetBeans. Eclipse said that NetBeans use went down 0.2% and that they are still at the top of the on going IDE war. The results where based on a online survey of 621 developers. Below is a graph of the amount of unique accesses to the NetBeans update center. (note: each NetBeans IDE has it's own unique ID and is not effected by DHCP). The hits to the NetBeans update center does not include people who are behind firewalls or people who disable their update functionality in NetBeans or people not connected to the internet.

Anyway I don't want to pick on eclipse...They do have a great product with some (very few) features that beat NetBeans. One thing where NetBeans is far ahead is in it's GUI builder Matisee. Btw a new plugin is coming out for eclipse that integrate the amazing NetBeans Matisse GUI builder. You can check this out here. This brings up the topic of how Elcipse can't even think up there own idea's they have to steal the code from NetBeans. Any way there are quite a few other reasons NetBeans is better that Elcipse (Swing vs. SWT, Mobility Pack, the new enterprise pack, Ant build system, ect...). At the end of the day it is good that eclipse is around because it let's developers choose what tool they would like to use. Competition is a good thing because it make tools better. Don't expect the IDE war to end anytime soon!!

NetBeans has a lot of momentum and has came leaps and bounds from 3.x and even 4.1. Don't expect NetBeans to slow down!!

For more information visit: http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/roumen?Entry=netbeans_growth_questioned#comments
http://cld.blog-city.com/what_form_does_success_take__a_clear_picture_of_success_with.htm
http://ianskerrett.blogspot.com/2006/03/eclipse-gains-market-share-in-2005.html

Groovy

Today I tried out Groovy. I was very impressed with how I could use a scripting language with and on top of the Java platform. I was using the new updated nbm's from project Coyote (the nbm's were updated to 5.0 by Roumen Strobl). Project Coyote has basic support for Groovy and Jython but need many more features (code completion, syntax highlighting, ect...). Some day I would love to see java with a dynamic language of it's own and groovy is looking like a great choice.

Photo's from Mt. St.Anne Quebec

Beuatifull painting on an old building in Quebec City

One of my favourite parts of the part at Mt. St. Anne

Me Coming out of a Chocolate shop in Quebec City

Chalets in front of Mt. St. Anne

Place where we stayed

Picture From the top of the Mountain

the main gondala at Mt. St. Anne

Blue Skies infront of the biscotte (a small eatery)

Road leading up to Mt. St. Anne

I'm Back

I am back from my holiday with my family. It was a great relaxing time and very fun. I will have some pics posted once I get a-hold of some from my dad's digital camera. This week I should be able to get my UML demo finished. I will also have a new server and will have it set in about one and a half weeks. Along with this I will be starting my own podcast. The first episode will be release probably by the end of the month. So stay tuned for some new things coming on rekahsoft.blogspot.com.