Having spent some time trying to help people in the Ubuntu server forum, I find that a lot of people fail to grasp what Ubuntu really is and how the various versions relate (particularly the server and desktop version). That's understandable given how other distributions or operating systems are packaged, so I'm going to explain it here:
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Well Intrepid Ibex is out, and if you're a fan of Ubuntu you are probably champing at the bit to get your hardy install(s) up to the next release. Unfortunately, you're going to be competing on bandwidth with millions of others who want to do the same thing.
A clean install of Kubuntu requires just over 1 GB of packages to upgrade from Hardy to Intrepid, and dragging that much data across the cloud is just painful, I don't care how fast your ISP is. It's especially painful if you happen to have an apt-mirror server on your own LAN with a full copy of the Intrepid repository.
With Debian, of course, upgrading is just a matter of changing to the next release in /etc/apt/sources.list and doing aptitude dist-upgrade. With Ubuntu, that doesn't work out so cleanly (though I can attest that it does work if you're willing to hack around on it a bit). You have to use the do-release-upgrade script instead.
So enough pointless rambling, how do we get do-release-upgrade to recognize our local apt-mirror server? Do read on...
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I'm pretty satisfied with my job, but who doesn't keep an eye on Monster.com for that "dream job" to come along? Well, I confess to it, and since pretty much nobody reads my blog these days I guess that's not likely to get me in trouble. Honestly, though, looking at job ads only makes me depressed.
Those of you who keep tabs on the job scene, have you ever noticed the sheer preponderance of "senior" positions being advertised out there? It seems like every time I do a search on programming, unix, or Linux, I get a host of "senior" positions available, e.g.:
While this isn't so odd in and of itself, the frightening thing is that these positions are not balanced out by any number of "Junior" positions whatsoever. You NEVER see advertised "Entry level Linux admin", "Intermediate Python Developer", or "Guy with a few years of Linux experience who could probably really shine with a little guidance from a 'Senior' Unix admin". It's always "Senior" this or that...
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Over at itwire, the Linux pundits and Windows pundits are trading blows over who can come up with more reasons to choose one OS over the other. It's not really worth reading, just the same old sentiments you find on blogs all over the net tallied up, rife with half-truths stretched thin.
There are a lot of little reasons I enjoy doing my work (or play) on Linux instead of on a Windows box, but I hardly think most people are going to be tempted to switch one way or the other over things like doing updates or cooler desktop effects (side note: cooler desktop effects haven't had people migrating en masse to Vista, why should anyone think compiz will bring them to Linux (even if it is better)).
There's really only one worthwhile advantage Linux has, and in my opinion it's a big one: Freedom.
Oh no, here goes another FOSS nutter talking about freedom again...
Wait, bear with me, I promise not to get sentimental...
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After 5 years using Linux, I figure it's time for me to get a handle on Emacs. I've always avoided it, considering that even basic things seem to require hideous key combinations, but I was finally inspired to make the plunge after reading the advice about text editors in Andrew Hunter's "The Pragmatic Programmer". I realized I was always migrating between vim, kate, mousepad, and whatever random Python IDE I was checking out without ever getting up-to-speed on the advanced features of any of them.