http://www.madpenguin.org News From Mad Penguin http://www.madpenguin.org/images/rss.png http://www.madpenguin.org http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8123 (Review) - It’s rare these days that any one program gets me really excited, as I always feel like I have seen it all. Today, however, I believe I have come upon software concepts that have a lot of potential. Both are very different from one another, yet each is very strong in function in their own way. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8122 (Review) - Generally speaking, I have been quite happy using Nautilus with a little help from Tracker from time to time. Nautilus is a no nonsense file manager that allows most users to get the most out of their files and the way they choose to manage them. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8121 (Column) - I never thought I would see the day when a hard drive manufacturer would go from indifferent to outright stupid all with one drive release. Apparently, it has happened. It seems that Seagate has opted to forgo compatibility for anyone other than Linux users and that’s a real shame, as I have always been a satisfied Seagate user. And as you might suspect, based on where this article is appearing, I happen to be a full-time Linux user. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8120 (Review) - A lot of people have been reporting issues with Ralink (rt61, especially) chipsets and the Gutsy upgrade. Some users are struggling so much that they have gone ahead and reverted to using NDISWrapper and the Windows driver for their Ralink chipsets. Guess what - I'm typing this article in Open Office, on Gutsy using an Edimax wireless card powered by the default driver for RT61PCI with network-manager. That's right, no compiling, nothing. So why am I not having the same issues? Because I actually have a better grasp of the problem. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8119 (Review) - I was thrilled to see Linspire continue to work on its CNR service. While our visions for this product vary, in the end, Linspire and I hope to see this as yet another viable, standardized alternative to using other package managers for those who choose to do so. With that said, there are still some very important things that must be addressed. And unfortunately, Linspire has decided to ignore them. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8118 (Review) - What would it take to get more Linux users playing video games? A better selection of native games for the Linux platform? It has been tried over and again with very limited results. But perhaps it's worth trying again, this time with real, obtainable tools and help? Enter Garage Games. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8111 (Column) - This is something that had to come out eventually - has Xandros picked up where the SCO Group left off? Well, let me put it this way. The single most effective way to defeat something that's offered for free it to find a way to make it better, then make a fortune doing it. In the past, Linspire and Xandros, among others, have tried this via various Wal-Mart sold Linux PCs and generally failed miserably at it. Then out of nowhere, comes another - Everex Linux PC - this time using common sense with Google branding power and make a fantastic go at it. Rather than convincing people that Windows-based PC hardware can be "tweaked to work," Everex took the mistakes and successes from others before them and made sure that gPC would be a smashing success. The result? The first major retail outlet selling them sold out in just a day or two. Can Vista claim this level of success? http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8110 (Column) - Are we doing enough to attract new users from the IT community? The results are right here, many of the IT pros do not see Vista as an option any longer, and I personally see a fantastic opportunity for various Linux distros to make a name for themselves going forward. Here's a solid opportunity to take some thunder away from Ubuntu and give a leg up to otherwise lesser known distros. All the development teams of these distros need to do is provide helpful security tools for IT pros and then work at getting the word out of their existence. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8106 (Column) - Why is it that we can manage to sway countless hardware manufactures into looking our way yet those who work in other business circles continue to ignore Linux to the point of almost being laughable? Today, we will highlight these companies, just to remind them how their decisions are costing them money. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8104 (Column) - A lot of us spend a lot of time talking about how we are preaching the value of Linux to our Linux using friends, but how hard are we collectively working to make sure others outside of our comfort zone understand that popular Linux distros are a viable OS alternative? If you are like me, you probably are not doing nearly enough.