Yep, here I am, using Puppy Linux.
No, the "new" MacBook Pro hasn't self-destructed, or any such thing. I spent all day running Snow Leopard on the MacBook, came home and made a good run with Mountain Lion on the MPB, and...
Well, I decided to take a break. But that didn't last long. I haven't used my little Sony Vaio with Precise Puppy in ages, so...
The first thing I do is go and check out Puppy Linux World, and low-and-behold, he has a video up on a new release of Precise Puppy, this one 5.7.1. I mean, jeez, I just got comfortable with 5.6.1, and there's already a new distro?!?
Good Grief!
I think, for now, I'm going to hold off on my usual "run and jump" response to this. 5.6.1 is still doing fine, and I don't use it enough to justify an immediate upgrade. (Hey, I've still got Saluki going on the X60s, and am still trying to work out a time to get the older version of Simplicity Linux running on something...)
So many distros, so little time...
And, no, I'm still not going to fool around with BSD...
Monday, July 29, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Day 2...
I think it should be more like "Evening 2", as I actually was toting the MacBook around with me. Had to do some work in the office, and the MacBook had all my field stuff on it. I would've loved to have given the "new" MacBook Pro a workout, but... I'm still testing it. Better safe than sorry.
However, things are looking up. The new MBP (MBP2 for lack of a better reference) has been doing quite well this evening. I've been on/off of it for the last good while, doing some heavy net stuff, and I still have over 2 hours on the battery.
I finally managed to get the thing to recognize a LibreOffice disk image, and now have LO installed. That makes this system a bit more "work enabled" for me. And I've installed some of my "usual suspect" utilities. Right now, I've got ClamXAV going through its new upgrades. I'm still not sure about AppleJack, though, so I'm holding off installing it. I rather feel naked without it, but better safe... Oh, you know...
Strongly thinking about cleaning up "MBP1", my Core Duo system, and giving it to Mom to use for her writing work. She's tied to a desk with her iMac, and might appreciate being able to get out for a while. (Though that would mean I'd have to find my MS-Office disk and do an install. Yuck.)
As a funny side note, I've been doing all of my current office work in (are you ready for it?) AppleWorks 6! I've said it before, but that's one of the things I do love about Snow Leopard: I can use Rosetta, letting me still use the blindingly cool AppleWorks. Granted, LibreOffice has all the functionality, and in a more powerful package, but it soooo lacks AW's cool factor.
(Am I really starting to sound like a fanboy here? Oh well. At least it's better than Office. But, then again, a chimp with a pointy stick is better than Office.) (Uhmmm... Maybe we better change the subject...)
Just thinking that I need to get the Linux fleet out and do upgrades. I've been rather lax, since being on the road. I see a new version of Simplicity Linux has come out, but I'm not fond of the interface redo. I like the older design better.
And there's new episodes of "The Tek" on YouTube that need to be watched. Need to canvas my usual YT channels to see if anything else is up and about. Can't get out of touch!
I do think that MBP2 will work out OK. Granted, I'm holding judgement for a few more days, just to be sure.
We shall most certainly see.............
However, things are looking up. The new MBP (MBP2 for lack of a better reference) has been doing quite well this evening. I've been on/off of it for the last good while, doing some heavy net stuff, and I still have over 2 hours on the battery.
I finally managed to get the thing to recognize a LibreOffice disk image, and now have LO installed. That makes this system a bit more "work enabled" for me. And I've installed some of my "usual suspect" utilities. Right now, I've got ClamXAV going through its new upgrades. I'm still not sure about AppleJack, though, so I'm holding off installing it. I rather feel naked without it, but better safe... Oh, you know...
Strongly thinking about cleaning up "MBP1", my Core Duo system, and giving it to Mom to use for her writing work. She's tied to a desk with her iMac, and might appreciate being able to get out for a while. (Though that would mean I'd have to find my MS-Office disk and do an install. Yuck.)
As a funny side note, I've been doing all of my current office work in (are you ready for it?) AppleWorks 6! I've said it before, but that's one of the things I do love about Snow Leopard: I can use Rosetta, letting me still use the blindingly cool AppleWorks. Granted, LibreOffice has all the functionality, and in a more powerful package, but it soooo lacks AW's cool factor.
(Am I really starting to sound like a fanboy here? Oh well. At least it's better than Office. But, then again, a chimp with a pointy stick is better than Office.) (Uhmmm... Maybe we better change the subject...)
Just thinking that I need to get the Linux fleet out and do upgrades. I've been rather lax, since being on the road. I see a new version of Simplicity Linux has come out, but I'm not fond of the interface redo. I like the older design better.
And there's new episodes of "The Tek" on YouTube that need to be watched. Need to canvas my usual YT channels to see if anything else is up and about. Can't get out of touch!
I do think that MBP2 will work out OK. Granted, I'm holding judgement for a few more days, just to be sure.
We shall most certainly see.............
Friday, July 26, 2013
Better Tardy..?
I must really apologize for not writing anything in ages. But I've been tied up with work, and work has left me a bit on the drained side, not particularly in good shape to be writing entries...
I must make a slight admission now: An entry or so ago, I made mention of looking at a "new" MacBook Pro as an upgrade for my 1st gen MPB. I said I wasn't going to get it, and sort of put the whole idea aside...
Yeah... Well... I found one. Even cheaper than the one I was looking at then. It's a Core2Duo, 2.4 Ghz model. Whoever had it before me had installed 3 GB of RAM, and had stuck in a 1 TB hard drive.
To be honest, despite the specs, I wasn't expecting much. The price was very, VERY low, even for one of these older models. So I was really looking for a somewhat usable clunker...
I just came off the road and home today, and found the system waiting for me. And, to be honest, I was impressed. A few of the normal dings here and there. The major thing was the rubber thingie on the screen hinge is kind of loose, but otherwise... The screen and trackpad were filthy, but that didn't take long to remedy. The keyboard backlight seems OK as well. Even the battery seems to be in decent shape, showing a low number of cycles. So, I'm happy, given what I paid for it.
The big change, though, was when I booted it. From the description, I'd taken that it had been upgraded to 10.7 Lion. And my initial response was that I intended to wipe the drive and reinstall Snow Leopard. However, when I got it, I discovered it was running 10.8 Mountain Lion.
This filled me with minor touch of trepidation, as I've been a constant complainer about what I saw as 10.8's slide down the IOS drain. (IOS is fine on my iPhone, but I don't want it on my laptop.) But...
But.
I started playing with the system, ran through the updates, and then dropped some software on it. (iWorks, and my most-used utility, Bean.) I dug into "System Preferences", and reset the touchpad scrolling to the "way it should be" (ie, not the way it works in IOS). I jumped onto Safari, and did some web cruising...
The only things that's kind of threw me: I'm not sure if there's a version of AppleJack compatible with 10.8, and I'm can't get it to recognize the disk image for the current version of LibreOffice. Oh well... (I did find a rather decent looking drawing program called iDraw, which I did actually buy. Looks like it might be of use for doing title diagrams...)
I'm working on the system right now, and I really have no complaints. But, then again, this only the first half-a-day or so. It'll take time.
But it's a good start. And I've surprised myself by actually liking Mountain Lion.
We'll see how things go from here...
I must make a slight admission now: An entry or so ago, I made mention of looking at a "new" MacBook Pro as an upgrade for my 1st gen MPB. I said I wasn't going to get it, and sort of put the whole idea aside...
Yeah... Well... I found one. Even cheaper than the one I was looking at then. It's a Core2Duo, 2.4 Ghz model. Whoever had it before me had installed 3 GB of RAM, and had stuck in a 1 TB hard drive.
To be honest, despite the specs, I wasn't expecting much. The price was very, VERY low, even for one of these older models. So I was really looking for a somewhat usable clunker...
I just came off the road and home today, and found the system waiting for me. And, to be honest, I was impressed. A few of the normal dings here and there. The major thing was the rubber thingie on the screen hinge is kind of loose, but otherwise... The screen and trackpad were filthy, but that didn't take long to remedy. The keyboard backlight seems OK as well. Even the battery seems to be in decent shape, showing a low number of cycles. So, I'm happy, given what I paid for it.
The big change, though, was when I booted it. From the description, I'd taken that it had been upgraded to 10.7 Lion. And my initial response was that I intended to wipe the drive and reinstall Snow Leopard. However, when I got it, I discovered it was running 10.8 Mountain Lion.
This filled me with minor touch of trepidation, as I've been a constant complainer about what I saw as 10.8's slide down the IOS drain. (IOS is fine on my iPhone, but I don't want it on my laptop.) But...
But.
I started playing with the system, ran through the updates, and then dropped some software on it. (iWorks, and my most-used utility, Bean.) I dug into "System Preferences", and reset the touchpad scrolling to the "way it should be" (ie, not the way it works in IOS). I jumped onto Safari, and did some web cruising...
The only things that's kind of threw me: I'm not sure if there's a version of AppleJack compatible with 10.8, and I'm can't get it to recognize the disk image for the current version of LibreOffice. Oh well... (I did find a rather decent looking drawing program called iDraw, which I did actually buy. Looks like it might be of use for doing title diagrams...)
I'm working on the system right now, and I really have no complaints. But, then again, this only the first half-a-day or so. It'll take time.
But it's a good start. And I've surprised myself by actually liking Mountain Lion.
We'll see how things go from here...
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Nostalgia Again
 |
| WriteNow, one of the middle-weights of the old Mac world. And it would still do footnotes... |
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Mac state of mind
It's been a bit odd today.
I just sat and strongly contemplated buying a "new" MacBook Pro. New being a Core 2 Duo model with 2 GB RAM and a 200 GB HD (the copy said it was running Snow Leopard, but the photos showed it running Lion). My current MBP is a Core Duo, with only an 80 GB HD.
In the end, I nixed the idea. My current model is working fine for me. And I prefer Snow Leopard anyway. (Not that I couldn't do a reinstall, but...) Besides, I can't really afford even the reduced price they were offering the C2D model for...
Which is all funny, in a way, as I'm typing this on a 12" G4 Powerbook, running Leopard. This was my working laptop for the day, accompanying me on a trip to state archives for a touch of research. I spent a good chunk of last night typing up a diagram of research notes in, of all things, AppleWorks 6 (the Draw module is one of my favorites, even over LibreDraw). I'll probably use this Powerbook to type up an article for the local historical society later on this year. (It also happens to have a very good platting program installed. I still haven't gotten around to getting a deed plotter on any of my Linux systems yet.)
It's funny, but as much as I love my Linux systems, when I need to get really serious work done, I still find myself turning to my Macs. They're what I've been doing "serious work" on for the last three years, ever since I wised up and made the jump from 20 years of Windows-based hair-pulling.
Don't get me wrong: I love Puppy and CrunchBang (especially running on my Thinkpads), and will not give either up any time soon. But I still love my Macs, and know I can depend on them, through and through.
What more can you ask from a computer?
I just sat and strongly contemplated buying a "new" MacBook Pro. New being a Core 2 Duo model with 2 GB RAM and a 200 GB HD (the copy said it was running Snow Leopard, but the photos showed it running Lion). My current MBP is a Core Duo, with only an 80 GB HD.
In the end, I nixed the idea. My current model is working fine for me. And I prefer Snow Leopard anyway. (Not that I couldn't do a reinstall, but...) Besides, I can't really afford even the reduced price they were offering the C2D model for...
Which is all funny, in a way, as I'm typing this on a 12" G4 Powerbook, running Leopard. This was my working laptop for the day, accompanying me on a trip to state archives for a touch of research. I spent a good chunk of last night typing up a diagram of research notes in, of all things, AppleWorks 6 (the Draw module is one of my favorites, even over LibreDraw). I'll probably use this Powerbook to type up an article for the local historical society later on this year. (It also happens to have a very good platting program installed. I still haven't gotten around to getting a deed plotter on any of my Linux systems yet.)
It's funny, but as much as I love my Linux systems, when I need to get really serious work done, I still find myself turning to my Macs. They're what I've been doing "serious work" on for the last three years, ever since I wised up and made the jump from 20 years of Windows-based hair-pulling.
Don't get me wrong: I love Puppy and CrunchBang (especially running on my Thinkpads), and will not give either up any time soon. But I still love my Macs, and know I can depend on them, through and through.
What more can you ask from a computer?
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Dreamin'
Well...
Yeah...
In the name of doing something completely unnecessary, I downloaded and burned an .ISO for Simplicity Linux "Desktop" 13.4, yet another fork off the Puppy tree. (This time from Carolina Linux, et al.)
And it's cool. A bit heavy on the eye-candy, running Xfce as the interface with a pre-installed Conky and VERY Mac-like Cairo Dock.
I do have to say, Simplicity is quite nice. It's fairly light (the download is 432 MB, big for a Puppy variant), and it runs fast on this older AMD processor. And it's just nice to look at. The Conky is well thought out, and the Cairo-Dock does it's job well.
So, I've had the desktop here running off of a liveboot for the past, oh... 3 days. My defacto desktop has become Simplicity, running off CD. I'm just far too lazy back up all my data under Mint, and just do an install... Now, if that isn't sad...
There are a few odd quirks, most notably the top Xfce menu bar, which is pops down whenever you run the mouse across the top of the screen. If you have an application ope (like FireFox), and have it full screen, the menu bar will cover the top bar of the program. You have to be careful if you go to minimize the program window, as you might tap on something on the Xfce bar... Odd, but tolerable...
The only thing that really concerns me is the use of the "Portable Apps Platform", rather than just direct installing LibreOffice. But I really haven't played with it enough to make a decision one way or another. (I'd like to hear from the creator of this distro, but I can't find any comments...)
We'll see where this leads. I'm eying this on the Thinkpad T400, if/when it comes back from the Computer-Shop-Across-The-River, where it's currently residing with what I hope are only hard drive issues...
In other useless news, I found myself eying MidnightBSD...
Be afraid. Be very afraid...
Yeah...
In the name of doing something completely unnecessary, I downloaded and burned an .ISO for Simplicity Linux "Desktop" 13.4, yet another fork off the Puppy tree. (This time from Carolina Linux, et al.)
And it's cool. A bit heavy on the eye-candy, running Xfce as the interface with a pre-installed Conky and VERY Mac-like Cairo Dock.
I do have to say, Simplicity is quite nice. It's fairly light (the download is 432 MB, big for a Puppy variant), and it runs fast on this older AMD processor. And it's just nice to look at. The Conky is well thought out, and the Cairo-Dock does it's job well.
So, I've had the desktop here running off of a liveboot for the past, oh... 3 days. My defacto desktop has become Simplicity, running off CD. I'm just far too lazy back up all my data under Mint, and just do an install... Now, if that isn't sad...
There are a few odd quirks, most notably the top Xfce menu bar, which is pops down whenever you run the mouse across the top of the screen. If you have an application ope (like FireFox), and have it full screen, the menu bar will cover the top bar of the program. You have to be careful if you go to minimize the program window, as you might tap on something on the Xfce bar... Odd, but tolerable...
The only thing that really concerns me is the use of the "Portable Apps Platform", rather than just direct installing LibreOffice. But I really haven't played with it enough to make a decision one way or another. (I'd like to hear from the creator of this distro, but I can't find any comments...)
We'll see where this leads. I'm eying this on the Thinkpad T400, if/when it comes back from the Computer-Shop-Across-The-River, where it's currently residing with what I hope are only hard drive issues...
In other useless news, I found myself eying MidnightBSD...
Be afraid. Be very afraid...
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Yeah, hat trick...
It was a pretty rough night last night. I'm not sure where the half & half insomnia came from, but... Thrashing around for half the night, desperate to go back to sleep is no way to spend your time...
At some point during some vague catnap, I found myself wondering if all of this was running in virtual, or was an actual boot run...
I'm spending entirely too much time with these damned computers...
My VirtualBox experimentation sort of came and went. I did play with a couple OS's I downloaded, but I deleted them after the test run. The "specific OS" I wanted to try was NextStep 3.3, which someone had put together for VmWare Fusion. However, I never did get the package unarchived, even after downloading the "appropriate software. At that point, it really lost its relevancy to me, so I did some other experimenting, and then chucked the lot.
I still haven't done anything with WINE yet.
I did, on a whim, do a frugal install of Saluki 023 on my Thinkpad X60s, replacing Mint 13 (Mate). While Mint was solid as a rock, and performed like a champ, Saluki is simply a screamer. I did the install, did some customization (including installing the "Celtic" mouse pointer, which is bizarrely cool), and downloaded/installed Flashplayer and the Firefox .SFS. (I will have to install LibreOffice later on, so I can copy over some work files I had from Mint.) By this point last night, my dog was glaring at me, demanding to know, "Are you EVER going to go to bed???"
At the moment, I'm running my 32 GB Saluki stick on my T60, where it's a stunning performer as well. (Though the underlying CrunchBang install on the hard drive is in no danger. It's too much of a screamer, itself.) Just installed LibreOffice here, and did some desktop cleanup.
So, I'm going to try to slowly ease off the system tonight, and hopefully get a decent night's sleep.
Without worrying about whether I'm running in virtual or not...
At some point during some vague catnap, I found myself wondering if all of this was running in virtual, or was an actual boot run...
I'm spending entirely too much time with these damned computers...
My VirtualBox experimentation sort of came and went. I did play with a couple OS's I downloaded, but I deleted them after the test run. The "specific OS" I wanted to try was NextStep 3.3, which someone had put together for VmWare Fusion. However, I never did get the package unarchived, even after downloading the "appropriate software. At that point, it really lost its relevancy to me, so I did some other experimenting, and then chucked the lot.
I still haven't done anything with WINE yet.
I did, on a whim, do a frugal install of Saluki 023 on my Thinkpad X60s, replacing Mint 13 (Mate). While Mint was solid as a rock, and performed like a champ, Saluki is simply a screamer. I did the install, did some customization (including installing the "Celtic" mouse pointer, which is bizarrely cool), and downloaded/installed Flashplayer and the Firefox .SFS. (I will have to install LibreOffice later on, so I can copy over some work files I had from Mint.) By this point last night, my dog was glaring at me, demanding to know, "Are you EVER going to go to bed???"
At the moment, I'm running my 32 GB Saluki stick on my T60, where it's a stunning performer as well. (Though the underlying CrunchBang install on the hard drive is in no danger. It's too much of a screamer, itself.) Just installed LibreOffice here, and did some desktop cleanup.
So, I'm going to try to slowly ease off the system tonight, and hopefully get a decent night's sleep.
Without worrying about whether I'm running in virtual or not...
Monday, July 1, 2013
Hey Rocky... Awaiting Hat Trick...
Here we go again...
I decided I was going to do some playing around. I'm apparently the only person on the planet who has never used VirtualBox, so I started planning on giving it a go. That was last year sometime, and you see how long it's taken me to get 'round to trying to implement everything.
Well, I took a big step today. I just set up a new Saluki Linux install.
Yeah. Saluki.
I know, everyone is staring strangely at there screens right now. I know Saluki has been on the discontinued list for some time, etc., etc. But I happen to like this distribution. It's Puppy with a different feel.
And, by the way, I just happen to like the name "Saluki" better than "Carolina". (If your name happens to be "Carolina", or you live in one of the Carolinas, I'm sorry. But that's just they way it is.)
To be honest, if I wanted to do this on a Puppy distro, I probably should've used Precise or FatDog, or somesuch. But... I don't know... To me, it just happens to "feel right" for using Saluki. (Don't ask me to explain that. You know how that goes...)
Anyway, I found a nice 32 GB USB thumb drive, which I figured would give as much room as I needed, and I went to town. In no time at all, I had it partitioned and everything copied over. Downloaded the .SFS's for FireFox and VirtualBox, and...
Well, put myself in a holding pattern. I DID install FireFox through the SFS Loader, but I'm holding off on VB, at least for the time being. There's a very specific OS that I want to grab and try, but I need to do some more research before I have a go.
In the meantime, I think I'm also going to grab WINE, and do some experimenting with it. I have a bit old Win software that I want to see if it will load/run properly. If so, I may have solved the problem of needing to take my Mac along while out on a job. We shall definitely see...
And, by the by, what is it with Midori and HotMail?? I know MS can be some royal pains trying to finangle people into swallowing IE, but... Come on! Not even allowing a browser to log onto your service? That's chintzy.
Yeesh.
I decided I was going to do some playing around. I'm apparently the only person on the planet who has never used VirtualBox, so I started planning on giving it a go. That was last year sometime, and you see how long it's taken me to get 'round to trying to implement everything.
Well, I took a big step today. I just set up a new Saluki Linux install.
Yeah. Saluki.
I know, everyone is staring strangely at there screens right now. I know Saluki has been on the discontinued list for some time, etc., etc. But I happen to like this distribution. It's Puppy with a different feel.
And, by the way, I just happen to like the name "Saluki" better than "Carolina". (If your name happens to be "Carolina", or you live in one of the Carolinas, I'm sorry. But that's just they way it is.)
To be honest, if I wanted to do this on a Puppy distro, I probably should've used Precise or FatDog, or somesuch. But... I don't know... To me, it just happens to "feel right" for using Saluki. (Don't ask me to explain that. You know how that goes...)
Anyway, I found a nice 32 GB USB thumb drive, which I figured would give as much room as I needed, and I went to town. In no time at all, I had it partitioned and everything copied over. Downloaded the .SFS's for FireFox and VirtualBox, and...
Well, put myself in a holding pattern. I DID install FireFox through the SFS Loader, but I'm holding off on VB, at least for the time being. There's a very specific OS that I want to grab and try, but I need to do some more research before I have a go.
In the meantime, I think I'm also going to grab WINE, and do some experimenting with it. I have a bit old Win software that I want to see if it will load/run properly. If so, I may have solved the problem of needing to take my Mac along while out on a job. We shall definitely see...
And, by the by, what is it with Midori and HotMail?? I know MS can be some royal pains trying to finangle people into swallowing IE, but... Come on! Not even allowing a browser to log onto your service? That's chintzy.
Yeesh.
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