Letters
Every month we like to publish some of the emails we receive. If you would like to submit a letter for publication, compliment or complaint, please email it to: letters@fullcirclemagazine.org.
PLEASE NOTE: some letters may be edited for space reasons.
Letter of the Month
Writer of Letter of the Month wins two metal Ubuntu case badges!
Since I'm a Linux user, and love to read about news in the open source world, this means I like to read Full Circle. I must say that Ubuntu has evolved greatly since 6.06 (the first primary Linux distro on my PC) and still there are some things that I hate (like compiled mencoder and ffmpeg with half options) but I do like that there are no patent and license difficulties. I found a good AutoCad replacement for 2D drawing (qcad), a way to use my DOS apps (dosemu) and to convert between many video formats (convertit) but there is one section where I need some help, and that is video editing. I just need basic trim/copy/paste possibilities (with sound and video) but I also need (very badly) video transition effects. Any recommendations?
Krak
Ed: The only one I've (briefly) used is AVIdemux which is basically a Linux version of the Windows program VirtualDub. Although I'm not sure it has transitional effects but I'd certainly recommend it for the basic trim/copy/paste things.
The desktop from Jozef Anon in the "My Dekstop" section of FCM#11 was cool! It was one of the few desktop layouts, which didn't try to mimic Vista or Mac OS X and still made my eyes pop-out.
Chandra Sekar.S
Ed: You're not the only one. I received about half a dozen emails asking me about Jozef's desktop! It certainly is one of the most impressive original desktops I've seen.
Ubuntu Easter Egg!
LinuxLoop
Reading the "You Use Ubuntu, not Linux" opinion piece (see FCM#11), I couldn't help but feel a little offended when Vincent attempted to call me "crazy". That's a pretty harsh and judgemental statement coming from someone with such a juvenile argument.
Vincent's justification for calling those who insist on referring to the operating system as "GNU/Linux" was a poor attempt at a reductio ad absurdum argument, as he claims that no one would name every component of his operating system (e.g. GNU/XFCE/Firefox/AbiWord). Clearly Vincent doesn't understand the difference between an operating system and an application. Ubuntu is a distribution of the GNU/Linux operating system with many additional applications and tools. GNU is the operating system, Linux is the kernel. You need the GNU tools and Linux for your computer to "operate"; you don't need a web browser or spreadsheet program.
GNU/Linux is much more of a logical name for the operating system, even if Ubuntu is the appropriate name for the distribution. I hardly think that's crazy.
Blaise Alleyne
Ed: You make some good points, and I agree that any Linux created using GNU tools should be referred to as GNU/Linux as it gives credit where it's due. I personally believe that Linus Torvalds receives too much credit for Linux; without Stallman's GNU tools there'd be no kernel.
Ubuntu Granny with Asus EEE
Enlarge picture
This weekend was the birthday party of Nyana's grandmother, also known as the 'Ubuntu Granny'. This Gutsy Granny is one of the geekiest Senior Citizens I know and has been running Ubuntu on her old laptop for two years now (see FCM#2).
When we went to the family dinner a few weeks ago I took along my Asus EEE, just to keep me occupied. Granny walked into the living room, caught sight of it and immediately remarked: "what is that?!" I explained to her what it was, where I got it, and how much it had cost me. She was ecstatic! Twenty minutes later she yanked it out of my hands and was playing Frozen Bubble like there was no tomorrow. Talk about your anti-social teenager texting when the family has dinner? This is the 81 year old computer-savvy grandma who couldn't care less if her soup went cold as long as she made it to the next level of Frozen Bubble.
With her birthday coming up, the family put their heads together and we looked at pitching in and getting her one of these. Of course they aren't available in Belgium yet so we decided to give her a "voucher" on her birthday for "One EEE PC" to be collected as soon as they arrive here in Belgium. Did I mention that my EEE is running a full distro of Ubuntu?
I took my EEE with me as a "demo unit" and she got to pose with it (and play more Frozen Bubble). Just to show how geeky this family is: we hooked the EEE to some stray wifi and were showing each other YouTube videos and were uploading the pictures we took at the party straight to Flickr. So happy birthday Gran-EEE and may your ASUS arrive soon.
Knightwise