Fewer Broken Pieces

I have released a new version of surl (”surl unlengthens resource locators”), a command-line interface to metamark.net (a URL-shortening service).  You can download the 1.0 release at Sourceforge.  It requires Python 2.4 or newer.  This version implements command-line options and fixes STDIN usage.  I am going to see about getting it into the Gentoo tree, or at the very least getting it bumped in the Sunrise overlay.

After unpacking the archive, you can install it by running the following command:

# python setup.py install

Surl is comprised of one script, so you can skip the installer if you like and just add it to your path.

EDIT: Make that 1.1.

Banshee, an open-source audio player, is now in beta for Mac OS X (Intel).

Finally I have discovered the secret to audio happiness on OS X.  First, Cog for playing music.  It’s simplistic, but has some great features (including support for the front row remote).  Next, Max, which is the answer to my prayers for a decent CD ripper.

Apple’s iPod product is popular, but its abilities are fairly limited.  Want to play back Ogg Vorbis files or customized the user interface?  Too bad.

Thank goodness for Rockbox.  Rockbox is a free-software alternative firmware for most iPods and many other portable digital music players.  I happen to use it on my 2nd generation iPod Mini, and I love it.  So, if you are feel like trying something new on your boring old iPod, check it out.

Is there no good audio player on OS X?  iTunes is out of the question, being a bloated piece of crap which does not even play every format.  I typically use VLC, but it is not full-featured enough for my taste.  Songbird seems a bit heavy, and needs more work, but maybe I will give it another shot.  I guess Amarok will be running on OS X shortly.  Any other ideas?

Chromium is the name of the open source build of Google Chrome.  You can find snapshot builds here.  It is virtually the same, except that it lacks any Google branding.

Why is it that so many are focused on promoting the Linux kernel on the desktop as opposed to Free Software or Open Source Software on the desktop?  Or, why does Linux have to be the kernel of the F/OSS desktop when there are now other available options which may be better suited to the task?

Linux became the “standard” kernel for Free Software systems, it seems, because it was the first freely available kernel which was actually useful.  Now, however, there are some other options coming on line, namely OpenSolaris, and let us not forget our BSD brethren.  Could it be that one of these other kernels (and perhaps userlands) could better serve the purpose of a quality Free Software desktop operating system?  Excuse my ignorance, (I know it probably shows in this post), but the frenetic development process of the Linux kernel and its lack of a stable API for drivers are two possible disadvantages I can think of when it comes to using it as a basis for the Free Software desktop.

Also published at Technocrat.

Richard Stallman has an essay published by the BBC on Bill Gates’ retirement and the problems of proprietary software.  You know that RMS, given an audience, will always talk about Free Sofware.

Today I found Big Buck Bunny, which is a cute and funny cartoon, running about 10 minutes.  This cartoon is special in that it was made using an entirely open process.  It was created with Blender, which is open source 3D modeling software, and is licensed (along with its source files) under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 lincense, so it can be shared freely.  It can be purchased on DVD or downloaded in a number of different resolutions (1080p, 720p, 480p) and formats (including Ogg Theora/Vorbis).  You can also check out Elephants Dream, which is another result of the Blender project.  Cool!

This week I decided to abandon the too-time-consuming-for-me Gentoo and switch to a binary-based GNU/Linux distribution. Of the options which appealed to me, only Fedora and Debian had official PowerPC support. I ended up going with Debian.

At first I installed the stable Etch (4.0) tem but soon found myself longing for the more recent versions of some of my favorite software (Pidgin, Claws Mail, Transmission). So I switched over to the testing Lenny branch (5.0), which is working quite well for me. The default Gnome install is a bit heavy for my 350 MHz G3, but I am getting on well enough.

So it seems I have found a new Linux home, as it were. Yes, Debian had a rather colossal screwup with SSL recently, and yes, it is not as exciting as its progeny Ubuntu. However, one of the things I really appreciate about Debian is its outspoken support for Free Software. Add that to a system that does everything I need (word processing, web, email, games, amateur radio, chat, etc.), and I am in heaven.