EZDVD is back!

Hey all, I'm working on my application again after being ludicrously busy with other stuff (much more boring than this!) Anyhoodlums, I've prototyped a new interface,

EZ DvD Ripper Beta!

Hey all! Just an update, I have uploaded a beta version of my EZ DvD Ripper here.

Now I must warn you that a) the progress bar doesn't yet work and there is no "Balanced" either. I have tested the other two and they seem to be working well. I have had particularly nice results with the "Slow" setting although it does take an age.The Fast setting produces pretty good results too and transcodes an awful lot...well...faster!

To run it you'll need to execute from the command line for the moment due to the lack of progress bar. I know I know! It's meant to be simple. It will be I promise I've just had a life to get on with lol.

The Great Windicator Mystery

After the much anticipated release of Ubutnu 10.04 Mark Shuttleworth gave his opinion on where to take the UI experience. These Windicator things seem to be at the forefront of the so called improvements.

I don't tend to shirk from change. In the Open Source world, that seems, counter-intuitive. However, I may be mistaken but, I haven't heard or seen anything since his annoucment. October is closing in fast and I'm not seeing any evidence of them. Not that I'm complaining, there has been a lot of progress with the sound and messaging menu which actually matters more to me than the windicators. But still I was quite excited by it. It signalled a new way to think about Linux as a whole. It would have more of an identity. Something that has been highlighted recently with Fedora's row with Canonical regarding their contributions to Gnome. The whole thing is ridiculous but thats by-the-by.

I'm still very excited for the new release of Ubuntu. I fully expect it to be full of bugs but we all know they'll be fixed pretty quickly. Only Time will tell.

Free and Open Software

Software is big business, we all use it. Recently though, there have been changes to how we think about it. In actual fact this shift has been slowly creeping for the last ten or so years. In the late 1990's we grew all too familiar with Outlook Express. It was the standard email client shipping with Internet Explorer. It was the light version to the far more functional Microsoft Outlook as part of the famous Office suite. However, after Microsoft's acquisition of Hotmail, things got a little more interesting. Some people argued that they no longer needed a email client. At least we did as teenagers. The more business minded wanted the greater functionality of Outlook. Linux usuage was definitely on the increase. During this time, Sun Microsystems acquired Star Division, the creator of the popular and acclaimed alternative office suite "Star Office". They then made this Open Source and available to download for Linux users under the name OpenOffice.org. A small number of people started using this as their default office suite. In a time of piracy, people needed a way of doing their work easily without the need to steal the latest iteration of Microsoft's excellent, (although sometimes frustrating), software. There are many applications avaliable to us for free, which ever platform you use. But with the Internet age upon us...

Has the free desktop software movement missed the boat?

I think it might well have done. Although I'm not sure it's their fault. There is one saving grace in that as it stands, the large majority of the internet applications out there are usable for free. Currently there is still a need for desktop applications to be developed. Mostly for workstations that aren't connected to the world wide web. This, coupled with the fact that the internet apps just aren't good enough to be viable solutions. Google however might be changing this sooner rather than later. There are very few people I know that don't use gmail. Hell, I use one just to write this blog!

I could go on for hours about the free software movement and Open Source, I'm sure neither of us want that. There is a question that bugs me;

Is free software value for money?

As a Linux and OSS user I would say yes of course. The general computer users I've spoken to either don't care or think that it isn't. The former is completely understandable. The 'If it works... great' attitude, goes down very well with me. The latter though, grates somewhat. I'm aware that the basic applications that the average Joe user wants from their system; Office suite, DVD burner, email client... etc. aren't always up to their commercial counterparts. This however is besides the point. You have to pay for them. To get something anywhere near that quality and not have to pay, surely thats worth the effort to learn how to use a new word processor. If the alternative was piracy, you've also left yourself with a clear conscience.

I do however, believe that if people are going to embrace free software, two things need to happen. Firstly, it needs to be good. I would like to use software that has a version number of at least 1. Secondly and far more importantly, people need to feel that it is OK to download software for free. I switched my mum over to Linux about a year ago. It's taken me this long just to convice her that you can indeed get something for nothing.

I'm not entirely sure how well the OSS community can stave off this attack from the web app sect in computing. Only time will tell. I am however sure that Google will dictate how that will progress in the next few years at least.

- David

Open Computing...?

There are many situations in life that we are able to open our eyes to the seemingly impossible. Revelations hit people when they least expect. Completely changing how they and we think about a certain issues and ways of life.

Archaeology tells us that human beings have always been inventive. Changing life for the better. From the invention of the wheel to the car. Much in the same way we have progressed from the invention of the microchip resulting in the construction of supercomputers capable of calculations far beyond the human brain.

Through this evolution in computing there have always been the key software players, Microsoft and Apple. In the beginning there, of course, were others. In the last ten years it has become easier to live without Microsoft products. Something that, in the 1990's, was unthinkable.

This is due to Apple's innovation of what we knew as an Operating System. Although Microsoft still holds a vast majority of the market share. Apple is denting it. By concentrating on the mobile line rather than the desktop. Whenever I'm in Starbucks, I expect people to pull a Mac out of their bags. Not always the case but the damage has been done.

In the wake of Vista's arrival, dissatisfied PC customers were looking for an alternative. The obvious choice was Apple's new MacBook and MacBook Pro. The sexy looking polycarb shell, gleeming for all its worth on the shop floor, luring unsuspecting consumers to the largely unknown quantity. I can't of course begin to suggest that Apple's success is completely due to Microsoft's failings. Steve Job's marketing team did a fantastic job of negative campaigning against Microsoft's seemingly inferior product...

There is still a crowd of dissatisfied PC customers who retain the belief that Mac is not worthy of their time. I must admit I was one of them. People looking for an alternative without the need to buy premium hardware that both Vista and OSX required. So...

Is there something out there for all of us?

Realistically, it's difficult to say. A mathematician might offer that to each problem there is a solution. So given that, the Operating System that provides the 'Jack of all trades' option is the best for all of us. I would lean to agree with this opinion. However, there is more to the human brain than just solving problems. We are all susceptible to emotion. Individuality. I'm not sure how many things we own and can't change to how we want them to be. Computers appear to be one of them.

The Licences and product keys that Microsoft have become infamous for, has taken away our right to change the systems we have paid for, to suit us. We have to rely on others to decide what is good for us. Apple is no different in this respect.

Are our basic rights to possession being violated?

As well as Apple, there have been movements in the Open Source community. Mark Shuttleworth led Canonical, have done well in improving and marketing the Ubuntu Distribution of Gnu/Linux.

What I have found is that Linux allows us to reclaim our PCs. It's our machine, we paid for it, it should look and perform how we want it to. Not how the two Steves think it should. But of course,

Can Linux compete with the big boys?

Essentially, no. Currently, Linux is playing catchup. As long as Microsoft and Apple are innovating how we use computers, the Linux community will be trying to add more functionality to try and emulate the Windows and Mac prebuilt machines from PC World. Until the Linux community comes up with something revolutionary that will attract people away from their PCs and Macs, they can't possibly compete. Linux is very much an adolescent platform. The misunderstood teenager, trying to show their individuality through creativity, that isn't quite up to the same standard as the professionals, but is commendable none-the-less.

I mean not to quell enthusiasm surrounding Linux and the Open Source community. I, myself find it most exciting. But then I'm a computer scientist. I use Ubuntu Linux as my main platform. It does everything I need it for. It looks how I want it to look. It nearly performs how I want it to perform. But it lacks the polish of the other two. That's what I personally miss.

Ultimately, there's no reason why you shouldn't go and try it. It's an option available to all of us, it is free after all.

- David