The last few releases of Ubuntu have left me scratching my head, and not just because of dandruff.  The Developers and MOTUs for Ubuntu have seen fit to add PulseAudio to the audio stack.  And I do mean add it to the stack.  It sits on top of Alsa and attempts to manage the way people use their audio.  And yes, it sits on top of Alsa, not replaces it.  Alsa is still there and functioning properly.

But then, PulseAudio comes in and makes further decisions about what’s available and what you can do with it.  This might not be too bad, except that PulseAudio STILL hasn’t reached 1.0.0 state.  It has been functionally broken since it was first put into Ubuntu and activated by default, and it remains so, today.  Originally, one could find PulseAudio in the Sessions Boot Start-Up, and turn it off.  Likewise on could remove it from the services that are run.  Now, however, it’s rather well hidden.  Somewhat in the manner of a Microsoft activity that someone is ashamed of.

My disgust with the fact that PulseAudio was arbitrarily relegating my audio to monaural, despite the abilities of my sound card, caused me to file the following bug report on March 30.

==========

Bug #352164

PROBLEM:  PulseAudio is unable to determine basic information about my sound system, despite the fact that the information is readily available.

System is a Dell Inspiron 530N
Processor – Intel Core2, 1.60GHz
Memory – 1 Gig
Video Card – NVidia GeForce 7300LE
Sound Card – Intel 82801I (ICH 9 family) HD Audio Controller
Operating System: Ubuntu 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope)
Linux Kernel – 2.6.28-11-generic
This system is up-to-date with package updates as of March 30, 2009, 10:54 PM Mountain Standard Time (UTC -7), or April 1, 2009, 05:54 UTC

This card is capable of AT LEAST 44100 Hz sampling and AT LEAST 5.1 Surround Sound.  Yet what I get from PulseAudio (via the system log) is:

Mar 30 16:18:51 tyche-jaunty pulseaudio[3270]: alsa-util.c: Device hw:1 doesn’t support 44100 Hz, changed to 22050 Hz.
Mar 30 16:18:51 tyche-jaunty pulseaudio[3270]: alsa-util.c: Device hw:1 doesn’t support 2 channels, changed to 1.

This is an unacceptable situation, made worse by the fact that it takes extraordinary measures  to turn off PulseAudio so that Alsa (which IS installed) can do it’s job.  Monaural sound, to someone listening to serious, Classical music is unacceptable.  Installing PulseAudio and initializing it by default is a regression of ability.  Installing it and initializing it by default then hiding any ability to kill it is Microsoft style thinking.  We are supposed to be better than that.

SOLUTION:  Stop initializing PulseAudio by default.  If people want to install it and use it, it should be a choice.

==========

My purpose in publicly voicing my contempt for PulseAudio as a “sound manager” is to draw attention to the fact that, in all this time, it STILL is functionally broken to the point that use of it constitutes a regression in the ability of my system to produce reasonable and pleasing sound.  And no, this is NOT the first time that I’ve filed a bug report or question with Launchpad on this subject.  I grow rather tired of being ignored when I suggest that it not be activated by default.  With something like this that lacks the functionality that people need and want, it should be up to the individual to make the choice of whether or not to use it.  Activating it by default is unconscionable.  Activating it by default and hiding it, to make turning it off an extremely difficult procedure for the uninitiate goes beyond that into the sort of thinking that have moved people away from Microsoft operating systems.

So, I ask once again – and publicly.  Turn it off.  Provide a means of allowing the individual to turn it on IF THEY WISH.  But please don’t foist broken applications on an unsuspecting public and uninitiate new users simply because it’s the “new thing”.

Oh, and for those of you that are stuck with it running, and can’t find a way of turning it off, enter “killall -9 pulseaudio” into the Sessions and reboot.

“Welcome to the first meeting in a long time!  We plan on having these meetings on a regular basis.  At least monthly.  These meetings are a chance for all LoCos to share experiences so we can motivate each other and learn from each other, see how LoCos are doing, discuss any problems we might be facing.”

Thus Nick Ali (boredandblogging) started an IRC meeting that may well prove to be the most momentous one in a long time.  78 nicks from all over the world were found to be in channel by the end of it, and numerous people spoke up with questions, suggestions, observations and other information.  Among the things discussed were:

1. The amount of support that the LoCo teams were receiving.
2. What could be done better.
3. Sharing between LoCo’s.
4. The need for LoCo’s to make presentations.
5. Focusing on different LoCo activities, such as a meeting about release parties – a meeting about participation at conferences.
6. Looking forward in a more timely basis at future events: getting started planning earlier.
7. ‘Global’ events to rally teams together.
8. #ubuntu-locoteams channel should be overflowing with loco people, ideas, “hey I think we should do this” kind of things.
9. This channel should definitely be on everyones auto-join and we do need to promote this channel as a place to hang out.
10. The use of identi.ca to promote this channel.
11. Alternating meeting times, to accommodate other time zones, so everyone can attend them at least once every other month.
12. The location of where locoteams news would be posted.
13. What teams do to increase membership.
14. Translations for non-English speaking countries/loco’s/individuals.
15. Coordination of and use of LUG contacts, and other local open source contacts.
16. More collaboration around events, trying to get the teams together more (which I realize is the purpose of this channel), but it all comes down to communication.
17. Creating a best practice guide for loco’s.
18. How we can help ourselves to be more efficient and organized?
19. The results of Open Docs Day.
20. nixternal reported on LoCo Directory — Right now will be a database of all teams, approved and unapproved…future enhancements include a place to post your events, do some team sharing, and whatever other mashups people come up with.  It is being done with django and postresql, will include the django GIS stuff so you can mash it up with Google Maps and what not.  It will be the one-stop-shop for LoCo teams.

A great deal of discussion took place, and for that hour the channel was really jumping.  Congratulations to the LoCoTeams for an informative meeting.

The new server for the Arizona LoCo has just gone live with it’s new website.  Located at AZ-LoCo (or for the purists http://www.azloco.com/), there are links to our Launchpad page, our wiki page, our forums and mailing list and newsletter (all on Canonical servers) as well as a wealth of links on our new site.  There’s even a way to connect to our IRC channel without an IRC client (look in the upper right hand corner).

We’re a bit new, so you won’t see a lot of blog content on the site, yet.  But we’ll get there.  In the mean time, from the introduction on the front page by our team leader,  John Crawford:

“There are several people, or groups that we need to thank for making this website possible. Devry has donated the rack space and Internet connection for our team. Shane Lofgren has donated the servers. Craig, Kenny, Shane and myself did all the site setup, and will be the site administrators. Without all of these folks working together this website would not have been possible. Thanks!!”

Come take a look and, if you’re an Arizona LoCo Team member, register with the site.  We’d love to see you there.

Recently, the Events Calendar that was hosted as a part of the Fridge has moved to Google Calendar.  This is a major event for the Ubuntu-News team and, at least in my case, a great help.  See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Fridge/Calendar for more information on this move.  Previously, events had to be entered one at a time into the Fridge/Drupal calendar module.  Even repeating events had to be so entered every week.  Now, using the Google Calendar, repeating events can be entered once and told when to repeat them.  Not only that, but many more people can enter events, freeing me up even further.  Thank you for your help.

However, there are ways that YOU can help the Ubuntu Weekly News Team even further.  This week one of our contributors entered 35 entries into the UWN.  This is UP from 12 entries the previous week.  It’s great to see, but there IS some information that we’d like to see in addition to what you’ve done.  Below are 2 screen shots of the edit form for an event.  One is non-repeating, and the other is a repeating event (click the pictures to see full size):

As you can see, they are somewhat similar.  The one thing that I’d draw your attention to is the WHERE block.  We leave that empty and put the location and agenda in the DESCRIPTION block,  preceeded by [space][*][space] to allow for copy and pasting into the UWN.  It’s a little thing, but it can really help when there are 35 entries for the week.  (My cohort in crime is STILL complaining that we’re overworking him.  Despite the fact that I doubled his salary [2 * 0 = 0]).  In addition, if you would list a web page/wiki page for the agenda it would help us to be able to contact you if there are conflicts.

In the mean time, I’d like to welcome all of you to the new calendar and thank you for your help in creating entries for us.  It really shows that there’s more going on out there than just the little that we’d seen before.  Oh, and by the way, if you need help or further information, feel free to contact me at #ubuntu-us-az or #ubuntu-news on irc.freenode.net.  I’m in and out, but I WILL get back to you.

My wife gifted me with a TomTom ONE 125 GPS navigator.  On charging it up and connecting it to my computer, I discovered that Microsoft had struck again.   The program to connect the device to the computer was Windows ONLY.  How barbaric.  No, not even that, for even barbarians were civilized in their own fashion, and had an advanced culture and society that was simply different than the Romans and Greeks had.  Perhaps immature would be a better term, for so blindly following a bully is certainly not a mature way of dealing with life.

I contacted the TomTom Support Team via their web interface:

Having received a TomTom ONE 125 from my wife, for Christmas, I was disappointed to find that your company was so far behind the times as to expect that a connected computer would ONLY be running a Microsoft operating system. Such behavior, in this day and age, is tantamount to a slap in the face to all the intelligent people in America and in the world who have decided to choose an alternative that does not require massively expensive equipment to run and exorbitant continued fees to maintain.

I, therefore, request that you remedy this situation by providing customers with the HOME software in a format (preferably in an Open Standards format) that would be available to Linux users.

I think it would be appropriate for me to mention, at this point, that refusal or failure to remedy the situation could result in significant loss of revenue, due to people becoming aware that your company is so locked into a monopolistic software empire as to not care about their customers.

I received the following reply:

Thank you for taking the time to contact TomTom Customer Support regarding TomTom HOME compatibility with Linux. My name is Ana. We are always happy to help. We understand the frustration such an issue might cause.

Due to software issues, our TomTom HOME program is not compatible with Linux and we do not have any software available for it at this time. We currently only have software available for Windows 2000, XP, Vista (latest service packs recommended), and Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher. We apologize for any frustration this may cause.

We offer the TomTom HOME requirements on our website, please click on the link below to view them.

http://www.tomtom.com/9095

Thank you for choosing TomTom for your navigation needs. If you have any further questions or comments, please email or call us at 866-486-6866 Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM until 7:00 PM EST. Thanks again for writing. At TomTom we believe in showing you the way the easy way.

With Best Regards,

Ana
TomTom Customer Support

I very much want others to see just how customers are treated when it comes to the choice of operating system for their home computers.  To be compelled, without prior warning, to have to use an insecure, buggy, and extremely expensive operating system is absurd. That’s right – NO warning.  Nothing on the box notes any requirement for a Windows operating system in order for the device to fully function in the manner suggested in their literature.   Ignorance MIGHT be an excuse, except that others have also drawn to the attention of TomTom the fact that Linux exists.  Therefore, such behavior is unconscionable in the extreme – a blatant ignoring of a significant population of computer users and potential customers.  And worse, this shows that they are ignoring the fact that they are operating the TomTom ONE using Linux:

From ttgo.bif:
[TomTomGo]
DeviceName=TomTom ONE
DeviceVersionHW=ONE (v8)
DeviceSerialNumber=PB4378B02731
DeviceUniqueID=AKTHL B2C6N
RamDiskVersion=20080613
BootLoaderVersion=55019
LinuxVersion=198799
ApplicationVersionVersionNumber=8014
ApplicationVersion=9372
UserLanguage=English US
UserName=PB4378B02731

(Emphasis mine)  If that isn’t enough for you:

From http://www.tomtom.com/page.php?Page=HOME24 :
TomTom HOME 2.4 and later contains parts of E2fsprogs code licensed under GNU Library General Public License Version 2 built as a DLL on Windows and dynamic library on Mac OS.

Witch leads to – From http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/ext2.html :
e2fsprogs, which consists of e2fsck, mke2fs, debugfs, dumpe2fs, tune2fs, and most of the other core ext2fs filesystem utilities.

And, for an explanation of  what e2fsprogs is – From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E2fsprogs :
e2fsprogs (sometimes called the e2fs programs) is a set of utilities for maintaining the ext2, ext3 and ext4 file systems. Since those file systems are often the default for Linux distributions, it is commonly considered to be essential software.

. . . . . . . .

As the userspace companion for the ext2, ext3, and ext4 drivers in the Linux kernel, the e2fsprogs are most commonly used with the Linux operating system. However, they have been ported to other systems, such as FreeBSD and Darwin.

TomTom uses Linux.  But TomTom doesn’t want to acknowledge that, and therefore ignores potential customers.  Or, perhaps it’s more than ignoring potential customers.  For example, there is the publically demonstrated behavior of Microsoft.  Microsoft is noted for its anti-competative contracts with companies, its “buying off” companies, organizations and even political entities, and its subversion of even standards organizations.  (Oh, don’t believe me.  Go see for yourself.  Search for the lawsuit by the DOJ [such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft]  and the record of what happened at ISO with their “Office Open XML”, or their behavior in third world countries with the advent of the XO computer.)  Such behavior in an individual would be considered unethical at best and criminal at worst.  But because Microsoft has money they manage to get away with it.  If some combination of the above is the reason that TomTom has so ignored Linux as an operating system then their shame is complete, and they deserve to be known as “that navigation company that USED to be a contender in the market”.

Whatever their reasons, they are cutting themselves off from being able to sell various services.  I find it difficult that ANY company would willingly forego the possibility of additional income simply in order to support a dying monopoly.  Yet that seems to be the case.  Now, before someone points out that they also support Mac OS-X, please realize where the money comes from:  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/cyberspace/july-dec97/apple_8-6.html.  Sorry, I just don’t see Apple computers as being separate from Microsoft these days.  I know they have a proud history (or say they have) and that they try to be different.  But the fact that Microsoft bought into them just sort of spoils the whole image for me.

So, here you go, TomTom.  Get your PR department out of the Service department, and start thinking of where you get your money.  Do you REALLY want to forego the income you could make by supporting the very operating system that you use?

Recently, while listening to the Salmagundy radio program (Simon Pontin, WXXI, Rochester, New York – Via temporary stream), I was reminded of Voltaire.  Yes, that one – Francois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire, who wrote, among other things,  “Candide or Optimism”.  The reminder came in the form of the Finale of the musical, “Candide”, by Leonard Bernstein and Richard Wilbur.  But the first thought that came to my mind was the basic premise of the satire: “The Best of All Possible Worlds”.

I have a copy of the translation of the book in my possession.  Published in 1946, the book is listed as costing 50 cents.  Barnes and Nobel sells the book, now for $9.00.  Now, right there, one wonders, at that rate of inflation, how could this be the best of all possible worlds?  It is rather obvious that publishers are charging whatever they think they can get for literary works (of whatever literary ability and quality).  Nor is this rate of inflation restricted to publishers.  Food, rent, insurance . . . I’m sure you can add to the list, yourselves.  Each competing to charge as much as they can get away with while providing as little as they can get away with.

Software is no different.  Except that it’s got a bit of a twist.  First, you buy a copy of the software for a certain price.  Maybe it’s a game.  Maybe it’s an operating system.  Maybe it’s an productivity suite.  Never mind, it really doesn’t matter what type of software it was, because next year you’ll have to pay again to upgrade or even pay all over again to get the latest version, because (of course) everybody else will be using it and you MUST keep up.  It turns out that you’re not BUYING a copy of the software, you’re only RENTING it.  And you will be expected to continue renting it, because (of course) the previous version will no longer be supported.  Now, it wouldn’t be so bad if the software was perfect:  no bugs – no security holes – did what you wanted/needed it to do.  But that isn’t the case, is it.  Even the best software is constantly being fixed to solve programming mistakes, upgraded to add/change functionality, modified to fill security holes.  To charge for updates and upgrades for such is only “The Best of All Possible Worlds” for the commercial entities collecting the money for such software.

Oh, I forgot something.  Support.  Have you priced support for your software?  What happens if you can’t get it to install, or if you can’t find where to configure a particular element to do what you need to do?  That’s added to the price of your software, you say?  You obviously haven’t tried to get such support, lately, have you.  You’ll be told that you must have a service contract for that.

Fortunately, not all software follows that model.  There is software that is free, as in the “free beer” sense.  Software that doesn’t cost any money.  Not only that, but the updates and upgrades are also free.  But what about support?  Well, you can also get free support for it, if you’re willing to be patient.  Or you can get paid support, if you’re running production machines (computers that HAVE to stay on line and working because of the business you’re in).  And, to add to that, you can take it apart and look at the code – even change the code to do the things you need it to do.  That’s what FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) is all about.  And that’s what Ubuntu supplies in its distributions.  So, for those who use the software, this is “The Best of All Possible Worlds”, after all.

I don’t normally get involved with these things.  But I figured, “what the heck”.  So, first the instructions:

• Grab the nearest book
• Open it to page 56
• Find the 5th sentence
• Post the text of that sentence in your blog with these instructions.

And now for the results:

“They were working on a suggestion, made by George Gamow (once a student of Alexander Friedmann), that the early universe should have been very hot and dense, glowing white hot.”

And that is page 56, the 5th full sentence of the page, from “The Illustrated A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME”, by Stephen Hawking.

I have had people concerned about the problem I was having with my new Dell Mini 9.  To recap the problem, I couldn’t get onto the internet.  The machine could see my network/router in Network Manager, but couldn’t connect.

The solution was simplie and, like all simple things, easily overlooked.  Let this be a lesson to you:  CHECK EVERYTHING!  That way you can MAYBE avoid the frustration and embarrassment that I just went through.  The solution?  I’d forgotten that I’d enabled mac filtering on the router, to only allow into the router such equipment as was registered with it.  Once I DID remember it (by stumbling into the page where I actually get at it), it took about 5 minutes to connect to the internet.  Case closed, situation solved.

So, thank you everyone that showed their concern over my problem, and offered advice and suggestions.  Now you know.  Something blazingly simple was what kept me out.  Mac filtering obviously works, as I found out to my consternation.  Now, when you see the nick “tyche_mini” in an IRC channel, you’ll know that I’m on the Mini 9.

On Monday, October 13, 2008, at about 12:00, DHL brought me an early Christmas present:  An Inspiron 910, known as the Mini 9 (see http://tinyurl.com/4on8bv for information).  This was the base Ubuntu package, to which I added extra memory, a bigger Solid State Drive, and a Web Camera.  I had gotten the case for it (sold separately) earlier.

Mini 9 in Case

Now, obviously, I won’t leave it in the case all the time.

Opening the Case

The computer is about the length and width of a hard-back book.  but not nearly so thick.

Press Start

And you’re ready to go.

Easy Desktop

There are 2 desktop configurations.  This one with nice big buttons to select from categories, and the one that is most familiar to those using Ubuntu 8.04 – Hardy Heron.

I’ve already loaded it with some PDF files (novels) and a version of the background I use on my main computer.  However, there are some excellent backgrounds already available.  Of course, there are also some of the standard Ubuntu wallpapers.  But really, creating a new wallpaper is really simple.

Those who use the Hardy on a regular computer WILL see some differences.  A lot of the programs that are loaded by default aren’t there.  This was done to minimize the footprint on the SSD.  However, it does come with a re-branded Firefox, and the full OpenOffice.org and Sun Java.  This would be an ideal machine not for just browsing the web but for actually doing homework, or writing up papers for work.  And, as a friend mentioned to me, it would be much lighter and smaller than dragging around a full-size laptop computer.

Right now, I’m still in “play” mode, finding my way around, and getting used to a slightly smaller keyboard (one CAN touch-type on it.  I can, and I have big hands and fat fingers).  I do have one problem that I havent solved as of this date:  for some reason it doesn’t want to connect to my wireless router.  Ah, well.  That’s what the Ubuntu community and LoCo team are for.

But it’s mine . . . ALL MINE . . . MINE, I SAY!!!!  AH, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Harumph.  Hmmm.  Pardon me.  Just a minor attack.  I’ll go take my meds now. 

Many of you have seen my name associated with the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.  I’ve had many different functions for which I’ve been responsible in my possition as Associate Editor, and enjoyed all of them.  Except one that has scared me silly.

The UWN posts information on upcoming events.  That information is gathered from the events calendar on the Fridge.  But there have been some problems with gathering the information that we have learned to work around.  Most recently, one of those problems came back to bite us.  We ended up, on a Sunday morning, with 2 meetings scheduled for overlapping times in the same channel.  And we didn’t have time to coordinate with the Teams involved to straighten out the problem.  Since I’m a part of the UWN Team, I felt responsible for the problem (even if it wasn’t MY problem, directly).

This lead to my volunteering to try to keep the Fridge calendar (and the Google support calendar) updated and current.  I’ve been added to the editors of thr Fridge for just that purpose, and now I’m asking for your help.  There is information we (_I_) need to help serve you in promoting your upcoming events.  It isn’t anything really difficult to do, and would save me some time in contacting you for further information.

The information we use and need is:

• Start Date/Time/Timezone:  If it’s a world-wide meeting, then UTC.  A local meeting would be in the local timezone.
• End Date/Time/Timezone: I would presume it to be the same as above with only the time changed.
• Location: Such as #ubuntu-meeting in IRC is fine, or something similar.
• Agenda:  A link to a wiki page showing what the meeting is about, if you have one.
• Is this a regularly scheduled recurring event?  If it is, then we can set it up on the Google calendar as such, which will remind me to manually enter it in the Fridge calendar.  This can significantly reduce the possibility of overlapping scheduling, which helps everyone.

This would be the minimum information we’d need, both for the Fridge and for the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, and would help us tremendously.  Getting this information in to us is not difficult.  Go to https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/Ubuntu-news-team and make your request  to the mailing list.  That’s all you have to do.  From there, I’ll take and enter it into the calendars.  Please help me to help you.