Grammerjack

I frequently switch between Mac and Linux, and it's been troublesome to remember to type Command-whatever on the Mac, but Control-whatever on Linux. (For copy-and paste, for example.) I did a quick web search and found out that it's easy to make Ubuntu Linux recognize the Command keys as an extra set of control keys : Choose menu: System : Preferences : Keyboard Select the Layouts tab Choose "Layout Options" Open the "Alt / Win Key Behaviour" tab Check the "Control is mapped to the Win-keys" checkbox.

Android system-level development can be done on either Linux or OSX. For the past few years I've been using OSX, but recently I've switched over to using Linux. Why? Mostly for the higher performance. The full Android system build takes about 30% less time under Ubuntu 8.04 LTS than it does on OSX 10.5 on the same hardware. Not to mention that it's much cheaper to buy a generic PC workstation than the equivalent Mac Pro. I have had some early troubles: It took me a while to get used to typing the "Ctrl" key instead of the "Command" key, and the ugly Linux fonts bothered me for a few days. But since I'm mostly using the exact same programs on Linux as I was on OSX (FireFox, Eclipse, Android), after a few days everything clicked, and I think that I'm just as productive as I was before. And the faster builds and file system stuff (like grep) are wonderful. It helped a lot to install the Blubuntu theme and some nice wallpaper to get away from the awf...

I just bought a Logitech diNovo Edge Mac Edition keyboard for my Mac Mini HTPC. I bought the diNovo instead of the Apple Bluetooth keyboard because: Built-in trackpad. Built in volume control slider. Dedicated media transport controls. Nifty dock / recharger stand. It's my first Bluetooth device. So far I think Bluetooth works a lot better than IR, because you don't have to point it at an IR receiver. The diNovo does have some flaws: No key backlighting, which makes it hard to use in the dark. The mouse buttons below the trackpad are mushy and hinged at the outer edges, making them hard to press. (Happily tapping works and there is a separete left-mouse-button on the left edge of the keyboard. So for typical Mac usage you don't need to use the mushy buttons.) A skim of the Logitech support forums indicates that the function keys are not as programmable as some people wish. I don't use function keys that much so this hasn't been an issue for me yet. My TV is a 40...

The Xbox Media Center (XBMC) is a nifty open-source application for watching videos. It was originally designed for use on modified Xbox video game consoles, but has more recently become popular for Intel-based Home Theater Personal Computers. It has been ported to Windows, Mac, and Linux. It has no PVR features, instead it concentrates on displaying streaming and downloaded videos. Its big advantage over using the Xbox 360's similar application is that it handles a much wider variety of streaming video sources and downloaded video codecs. I've been running Plex , an OSX-specific version of the Xbox Media Center, on my Mac Mini for several months now. Overall it's a good product, but I had some issues for my application. I wanted Plex to serve as a consumer electronic device that my mother-in-law (who doesn't use computers and can't read English) could use by herself to watch videos. The system I put together didn't work very well for her. The problems we ran in...

A nice overview of Linux for Windows users. It's a little bit dated, but still contains lots of good advice: http://www.psychocats.net/essays/linuxguide He has a number of good Linux-related essays on his site, it's worth poking around.

I was a happy Microsoft employee for many years, and as a result, I run multiple Windows Vista machines at home. My family and I are happy with the system, especially the Vista Media Center / Xbox 360 combination that we use as our Digital Video Recorder, so I'm in no hurry to try and replace my Windows servers with a Linux ones. This leaves my poor Ubuntu 7.10 Macbook as something of the odd man out. Over the past few weeks I've been learning how to configure it to work with my mostly Windows network. Wireless Networking This worked out-of-the-box. If I recall correctly, I had more trouble connecting to my home wireless network when running Apple Macintosh OS X 10.4. Hah, for what it's worth, my wireless router is a Linksys router that's running Linux, so effectively there's no Windows involved. But I wanted to mention that wireless networking and Internet connectivity worked well out-of-the-box. Connecting to a Windows Vista File Share Here's where I ran into ...

Now that I have changed jobs, I've decided to try changing blog hosts as well. Older posts can be found here: Grammerjack at Spaces.msn.com This blog will probably have a lot of "Linux newbie" posts, as I am trying to learn Linux, after a long time away from unix systems. I hope these posts will prove helpful, or at least entertaining.

I'm still getting used to using Ubuntu 7.10 beta on my Macbook. Unresolved Bugs The bottom task-switcher bar sometimes disappears. Firefox doesn't quit cleanly - it always crashes. No big deal, this just means that I need to deal with a "do you want to restore" dialog every time Firefox starts up. Macbook Audio can't be muted. This appears to be a long-standing Ubuntu / Macbook bug , due to the way Macbook audio muting is implemented. Someone needs to write a driver, and unfortunately audio driver writers don't seem to care much about Macbook laptops. Resolved Bugs Support for a one-button trackpad Choose System:Administration:Synaptic Use synaptic to install the mouseemu package to allow F11,F12 buttons to emulate middle and right mouse clicks. Phantom button clicks while moving the mouse: Choose System:Preferences:Mouse:Touchpad Un-check "Tap to Click". Choose Close. Problems connecting to Windows Vista Printers and Windows Vista Shares: See my po...