What Is Going on?

It seems that things are not too bright in the world of PCs.  In the Linux camp, a number of previously well-known distros are falling into oblivion.  Some people list Zenwalk, Pardus, Mandriva, Mepis, and even Ubuntu.

At the beginning of this month, I had visited Distrowatch and got these numbers:

Number of all distributions in the database: 763

• Number of active distributions in the database: 301
  
• Number of dormant distributions: 52
  
• Number of discontinued distributions: 410

Currently, those figures changed:

Number of all distributions in the database: 763

• Number of active distributions in the database: 297
  
• Number of dormant distributions: 54
  
• Number of discontinued distributions: 412

Active distros in DW have fallen below 300, with two more discontinued distros and another two going dormant.

Still, Linux market share managed to grow from 1.52 in August to 1.65 in September, according to Netmarketshare.com.  I guess this is part of the evolutionary process Linux is part of. 

Things don't seem so rosy for Windows users, either.  After a year since its launch, Windows 8 has not reached a double digit market share yet.  Last month, it was at 8.02.  I wonder if that number will grow past 15 due to the fact that in September, Windows 8.1 was at 0.87 (growing from 0.24 in August).  As 8.1 gets traction, Windows 8 will naturally die out. Also, let's not forget that the much forgotten Vista, during its best time (August, 2009), reached a market share of 19.01!  Windows 8 has conquered Vista's current market share, but it still has to overcome Vista's best score.  Will it do that?

Still, Microsoft apparently had some pretty serious issues with its 8.1 and RT upgrades.  That is no good news for Windows users.

Then again, given the new fast release model that MS is adopting, Windows 9 should be out in the second part of 2014, which would give but 12 months to both 8 and 8.1 to grow their numbers.

But wouldn't this lead to the horrible "fragmentation" that Windows users always criticized of Linux?  How will customer support manage to juggle Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 9 (and probably some stubborn XP and Vista leftovers?) by then?  Those people will have a terrible time trying to do their job.

On the other hand, Mac OSX versions, combined, reached around 6.72 in August.  Last month, they climbed to 7.03.  More people seem to be choosing Apple products.

Although I don't know what is happening in the world of computers, I think it'll be interesting to see all this again in a year's time.   

Epic Inventor: Nostalgia Meets Creativity

Thanks to Mechatotoro's wanderings in the lands of Steam and Desura, I also got to test the latter.  Browsing the games there, I found Epic Inventor.



Epic Inventor is a free game by Pixel Prone Games.  It's hard to classify it, unless Side-scrolling-action-RPG with a retro taste may be considered a valid category.


This game transports you to a fantasy world in which the land is full of monsters.  Monsters like wild beasts, giant bugs, trolls, flions (flying lions) and zombie walrusses look for you.  Scary, right? 

But you can't be scared.  The game places you in the shoes of a heroic inventor who, helped by his faithful robot, explores forests and caves in search for materials.  Those materials, when combined skillfully, will help him create tools, weapons, armor, and anything your imagination may reach.

Did I mention you have to grow your own crops in order to produce the food that will restore your health?

Yes, you also build cities in this game.  As you may see, I have a worktable, a furnace, two boxes I made to store items, two farms (a big one and a small one), and I also managed to build a thorn trap to keep some enemies off my land.

The game is really fun and quite addictive.  True, its graphics are not the latest greatest, but I really don't care about that.  I wish I had some more free time to actually become a true Epic Inventor!

The Question of the Moment: Too Many Distros?

Currently, I'm swamped with work.  Whenever I manage to finish several items of my "to-do" list, I am rewarded with twice as many new ones.

Still, when I need to take a break, I've been able to play Braid (nice game!)   For shorter sanity-keeping breaks, Connectagram, Pynagram, and Circus Linux fit the bill.

Also, to expand my horizons, I've learned to create presentations with Inkscape and I've read some Linux-related articles.

Apparently, several sites have been asking their visitors their opinion on the number of Linux distros.  Results have been somewhat varied, although it seems that most people believe that the number of penguins in the wild goes from confusing to overwhelming.

This raises the always present question (again):

Is GNU/Linux fragmented?

Some say "just look at the name!"  Some call the penguin "Linux" and others point out that it should be called "GNU/Linux."  Eric, the Nocturnal Slacker, has also proposed the name Gnix. 

From the name, we jump to distro numbers.  Currently, DistroWatch lists:

• Number of all distributions in the database: 763
  
• Number of active distributions in the database: 301
  
• Number of dormant distributions: 52
  
• Number of discontinued distributions: 410

That's a lot of distros, surely!

But we still need to add the number of distributions on this site's waiting list: 312

Does that mean that there are too many distros for newbies?

Does that mean potential Linux users will get confused?

Does that mean duplication of effort and waste of time?

Is it better to have just 10 big distros?

Now...which ones would those be?  The first 10 from DistroWatch?

Currently, I have 8 distros spread among my different computers.  Interestingly, none of them is part of the top 10 of DW.  In fact, one of them is not even listed there!

Do they work?  You bet they do!  One day I use one, or several.  Another day I use another (or others)... My brain hasn't exploded because of that.

I think that Linux, or GNU/Linux, or Gnix, is an ecosystem.  A chaotic one if you wish.  That's why many people feel baffled by the number of penguins around and think it is better to limit them to an easily manageable number.

But that desire actually comes from the inner human need to control their ecosystem.  We want to rule over our world; we want to feel we are in control (even when we aren't.)  In spite of all our efforts to dominate our ecosystem, nature has always proved us wrong.

We'd better accept it:  Linux is free and open.  Freedom and openness also mean that anyone with enough knowledge can do whatever he or she sees fit with the tools that this person has.  As long as Linux is free, there will be new distros appearing and old distros fading away into oblivion.

We want a number of distros that is easy to handle?  Then, let's make Linux closed source, hand it to a small number of companies, and give our freedom up.

That's the way to go!  Who wants freedom anyway?

ZaReason Makes its Open Tablet: The ZaTab ZT2

Visiting ZaReason, a vendor of Linux PCs, I discovered that now they are offering a new device, ZaTab ZT2.  That's, according to their site, "the first open and hackable tablet":

"Some manufacturers consider "root" to be a four-letter-word. We don't. The ZaTab is an open device. The bootloader is unlocked. Root access is available. We welcome the community to develop custom ROMs and port other Linux distros to the ZaTab." 

I must say they got my attention.  I bought a laptop from them last year, an Alto 4330, and its specs and performance really satisfied me.  In fact, I am typing this entry from it.  

I've been reluctant to buy a tablet because I wanted an open device.  I've been waiting for the Vivaldi tablet, of course...but I think I may give the ZaTab ZT2 a try meanwhile.  It costs $300.

Unlike the other systems that ZaReason offers, you cannot choose the OS to be preloaded.  It is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. 

Here are the tablet's specs:

• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• Allwinner A31 SoC (4-core CPU, 8-core GPU)
• 10.1" IPS 1280x800 display
• 5 point capacitive touchscreen
• 8 GB internal storage + microSD for additional storage
• 2 GB RAM
• WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)
• Front (.3 megapixels) and Back (5 megapixels) cameras
• Sturdy metal back
• Stereo Speakers
• High-capacity 6000 mAh battery
• Ultra-light 600 grams

Ports:

• Headphone
• microSD card slot
• miniHDMI video out
• microUSB port

Package includes:

• Tablet
• AC Adapter
• USB Cable
• Source Code

It's good to have vendors that offer open devices!

Advancements with Pisi Linux

Although Pisi Linux is still in developing stages, this little distro is very promising.  Yesterday, motivated by another Pisi user, I installed Enlightenment.  This is what I got after some minor customizing:

I found an issue, though.  When trying to activate my wireless connection, I found out that it was asking for EConnMan, a little package that was not included in the Enlightenment category.  No big deal, it was in the repositories.  After installing it, I got my wireless working on my new DE.

After reporting my experience in the forums, a developer kindly added the package to Enlightenment's dependencies.  Pisi may be a new little distro, but you can surely say its developers and community work passionately.  Another user is putting together a video tutorial site.

Back to my new DE, I must confess I still need to get used to my Enlightened Pisi...but I am very happy I got the options to explore different software and different DEs.  It makes you feel free and it gives you the chance to learn and keep your mind young!

Patience...

I've been waiting for Jetpack 2...but its release date is not in sight.

Apparently, I'm not the only one.  Another Kickstarter backer of the project posted this on JetpackHQ's forum:


As a Kickstarter backer I was thrilled to be able to back this game and really looked forward to being able to play it in December of 2012.
Here we are 8 months overdue and still nothing.
Is there a realistic update to the release date?

The developer replied the following:

I was overly ambitious with that date and since I missed it I decided to complete the mission pack idea.  I'm shooting for December of this year.
There should be the first beta release of the web game in about a month.
Thanks for your support!


I've been waiting for quite a long time, so I guess I can wait a bit more. 

Also, I'm waiting for Pisi Linux 1.0 to be released.  Both the forum and PisiLife have been silent in that sense.  Although they never mentioned a release date, I hope to hear from them soon.


Another release that has become a test of patience is MEPIS 12. The good thing with MEPIS is that there has never been a release date, so we are used to waiting (im)patiently :P

In the meantime, I'll keep using my beta releases of Pisi and MEPIS, which have been working perfectly.

On Linux and Fun

Jack Wallen, who writes fiction as well as articles about Linux, wrote this article in which he claims that if Linux wants to succeed on the desktop, what our beloved penguin needs is more fun.

As a relatively new and non-technical Linux user, I couldn't possibly agree more. All the people that have seen my Linux systems and have gotten interested in them, first noticed a rather "trivial" feature.  The list is more or less as follows:

AMOR

KDE's plasmoid Benma

Kaquarium (this was for old KDE 3)

Kfish

CircusLinux

PumpTux, a KDE splash screen

Cowsay

Package Manager PiSi

PicarOS MiniNO Linux "childish" UI

The command "whoami" (believe it or not!)

Mr. Wallen provides in his article an example of a "silly" app that many users could want and that Linux needs: "a social app, an app to create memes, an app to turn kittens into conquering Vikings."

What about an app that let you add themes of TV shows and displayed their image after a click, when the user has answered?  (pretty much like Auralquiz, but with images and more flexibility) 

Judging from what others are attracted to of my Linux systems, I think he is right. I myself have dreamed of having something like Benma, but configurable so that when clicking on her, the cute manga girl told me a joke, or gave me a random interesting fact, or even showed me some words to help me memorize my French vocabulary.  That would be a great break for the moments when my brain is simply overwhelmed with work and I need a very quick pause to keep my sanity.

What's the problem?  First, developers are far too concerned about waste of computer resources.  Well, that used to be true when computer's specs were very limited, but nowadays computers have evolved quite a bit.  Besides, a Linux computer won't be using as many resources as systems with other OSs.  Second, developers seem to think that users worlwide just care about productivity and that any feature not meant to treat humans as part of the computer are distracting and annoying.

Well, that may be true for work...but nowadays, computers have merged with all aspects of human life.  Working is only one of such aspects. As Mr. Wallen well said it, humans love to have fun.

Now, I am not a developer, so I don't know if Mr. Wallen is right when he said that "the majority of users are playing with apps that can be created in most developers' sleep."  I don't know how hard it would be to create a plasmoid like Benma that could be configured so that users added their own content and could activate a random display of such content by clicking on the plasmoid, but I would love to have something like that on my system!