Fedora 15 - Gnome 3

These are the comments that I posted elsewhere and thought they were worth keeping.

http://ostatic.com/blog/fedora-15-released-gnome-3-looks-good

(not me)

by Enzo on May. 25, 2011

Looks good, works bad. I'm trying to give Gnome 3 a fair chance and have been using it for awhile now on a daily basis, but a few things still bug the shit out of me and plenty of other people as well.

1) Stop trying to hide all of the configuration options. How can I change my system fonts? Have to hack it. 2) Then you hide the important stuff - like how to restart the fucking system - put that in the menu option when I click my user name - why should i have to hold down the ALT key to make Suspend go to Poweroff? or logout in order to restart? 3) No real screensaver - really? Who's the dipshit that thought of that? 4) Minimize - the old minimize missing button war - i've read all of the reason behind it, but if i can still right click on the window bar and minimize the window, all of those reasons are bullshit. Put the fuckin' minimize button back on the window. 5) Accessing workspaces requires me to move my mouse to the upper left hand corner hotspot to get the desktop overview display and then all the way back to the right to select my workspace. Again, who's the dipshit that though of that? Why not create a hotspot in the upper right hand corner that brings up the workspaces? This is not that hard folks. Is anyone who works on Gnome 3 actually using Gnome 3?

It is not complete horrible, but it is not good either. There are definitely some complete morons working on this project from an overall design and usability perspective.

(me)

I agree with Enzo. Trying to turn my machine off was confusing and so i got pissed and found a terminal window. It has been off for 2 days now while i decide if i want to deal with this again. I came over to Linux so that I could customize and change things. Gnome 3 is very reluctant to let me do that.

Wasn't aware of Enzo's observation about the (lack of) screensaver and use of the Alt key.

I am a new Mac owner and I have to tell you this is not what i was looking for in my Linux desktop. I see a lot of potential in Gnome 3 but right now it's utter crap. Why would you release a version of software with so many glaring usability flaws? It feels like they were trying to push this release out the door the way Mozilla crew is pushing out FireFox and Thunderbird quicker just to inflate their release numbers.

-------

Now that I've had 24 hours to reflect on things and play with Gnome some more, I still feel the same way.  One of the old jokes about Linux is "fixing stuff is part of the fun of using it."  Bull shit.  That mindset went out the window five years ago when they got the brilliant idea to believe it could be a threat to the desktop world.  If people want to make an interface that kicks ass then they should spend the time to make it instead of churning out a half finished product and expecting everyone to put in a lot of work to finish it.  If they have a vision as to what they're trying to build then to hell with the release dates and version numbers... finish the damn product!

The other argument I've heard for years is that since it's open source it's OK that things aren't working perfectly.  You should expect it to be a bit buggy and you get what you pay for.  Sorry but that's a cop out.  Most people involved in these projects do this for a living where their code is held to a standard.  Dare I say, experienced coders would bring a level of professionalism.  I'm sure most are genuinely upset that people like me are unhappy with their product but then the entire team should not only take pride in their accomplishments but also feel ashamed of their short comings.

For what it's worth, I finally figured out how to change the background on my desktop but no chance at changing the theme colors or even a screensaver.  Took me 30 min to figure out where Firefox went when minimized it and wasn't too happy to find all 15 of my instances when i did figure it out.

Gnome 3 is failing for me right now...

Fedora 15 Install Progress

I installed Fedora 15 the other day.  Initially it looked like a good product.  The install went pretty smooth.  I have /home on a separate disk so had to specify my mount points of / (root) and /home which was to be expected.  Installer made me format / as ext4 whereas it had been ext3 in the past.  No big deal for me.  Since /home/username already existed and i chose there was a little confusion for the installer.  It apparently had to change permissions on the directory.  Finished install and ran updates.

Welcome to Gnome 3!

Yeah.  Not a fan of it out of the box.  It looks pretty.  I installed a few programs and they were able to sync up with the preexisting user data in /home/username.  Despite the different look and feel of Gnome things were starting to work again so I thought I'd give it a shot and try to get with the times.

Right now I'm hung up on trying to update the Nvidia drivers which seem to be a bigger pain than they need to be.  I tried:

• /etc/init.d/gdm stop
• killall x
• init 3

Finally got the command init 3 to kill the xserver but then had other issues which need to be researched when it's not the middle of the night and I have to work in the morning.

Another issue I'm running into is when i open up terminal and pwd, I'm not in /home/username where i should be.  I have a hunch this is the ghost of my old profile and planning on testing this by creating a different user to see if this holds true.  If so, then I'll back up important files and blast the old user and then recreate.  Sounds simple enough which is why I'm sure something will go wrong!

Meantime I'm starting to read up on Gnome 3 some more.  I couldn't save anything to my desktop which I tend to do a lot.  Not sure if this is considered normal or not.  Also had issues copying stuff from a flash drive to /home/username.  It was very awkward and not intuitive.

Game plan is to take another crack at a couple of my issues one of these evenings.  Then reinstall and take better notes as I go along.

I'm conflicted right now.  I wanted to like what I saw.  I knew things would be broken out of the box like with every other Linux distro.  Right now I have a sinking feeling in my stomach because of what I've experienced with it.  For all of the prettiness that I saw I'm not not as impressed.  KDE is quickly becoming an option and I'm even considering going in a different direction and use Kubuntu.  I want to like this creation of mine but I have a feeling that in order to save it I might be forced to destroy it.

This situation is going to take some consideration.

Patching Adobe

(rant)

Dear Adobe:

I hate you.  I hate your face.  I hate your retarded patching system.  Why oh why can you not be less of a PITA?  Because people pay for your products, does this mean you're supposed to be a d-bag and make it even harder to patch your software?  People are getting slammed by Adobe exploits not because of the hackerz but because your patching from an admin perspective is as retarded as your face.

(example)

Administrative deployment

Administration Installation Point (AIP) deployments must not apply a quarterly update AIP in which a security update was the most recently applied update. Because a quarterly update includes the changes implemented in all recent security updates, the quarterly update forcibly bypasses those updates entirely. To deploy a quarterly update from an AIP, create a AIP which includes only quarterly updates as follows:

   Acceptable:      Acrobat 9.0.0 -> 9.1.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.1.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.2.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.3.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.3.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.3.3 (Quarterly) ->  9.4.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.4.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.4.5 (Quarterly)

   Acceptable:      Acrobat 9.0.0 -> 9.1.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.1.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.2.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.3.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.3.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.3.3 (Quarterly) -> 9.4.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.4.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.4.3 (Security) -> 9.4.4 (Security)

   Unacceptable:  Acrobat 9.0.0 -> 9.1.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.1.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.2.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.3.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.3.2
(Quarterly) -> 9.3.3 (Quarterly) -> 9.4.0 (Quarterly) -> 9.4.1
(Security) -> 9.4.2 (Quarterly) -> 9.4.3 (Security) -> 9.4.4
(Security) -> 9.4.5 (Quarterly)
----

So what this is saying is that to go from 9.4.3 to the latest which is 9.4.5, I have to go back to 9.4.2 and apply the update to 9.4.5 thus bypassing 3 & 4 because i assume they're all built into 5.  Wish i'd known this before i put a dent in my wall on fri last week trying to figure out why 9.4.5 wasn't applying to 9.4.4.

In closing, I hate you.  You're dumb.  No one likes you for anything but your money.  You uniqueness is not quirky but annoying.  You have products like Photoshop which are meant to make things look better by cheating reality but the fact is that you need to Photoshop your face because it's still dumb and i still hate it.

Sincerely,

Someone Too Sober.


-----EDIT-----

Patching Adobe with Administrative Install Points (AIP's) is starting to make more sense.  What bothers me is that you need to apply patches to the quarterly releases and not just the previous version number.  Theoretically you would work with a much lower version number in order to install the latest patch.  It makes sense somewhat now that I've had time to think about it.  Security patches are applied to fix something and then they tend to cause another hole which in turn needs to be patched.  We've seen Microsoft do this for years and so it shouldn't be much of a surprise.  There's very much a learning curve in all of this and trying to get used to how they do things.  My advice is to note what is in italics above and that will help you start understanding it.

Here are a few links that I have been using as a guide as I've worked on these Adobe updates:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/888/cpsid_88814.html
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/498/cpsid_49880.html
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/
http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/479

The last link has actually been a huge help for me!  I'd also like to note that the Adobe customization wizard is actually pretty nice too.  I had to use it the other day when I had to rebuild the install.msi file and got a chance to see first hand how powerful it can be.  Want to suppress the customary reboot at the end of install?  No problem.  Hide the EULA so this can be an unattended install?  Done.  Pesky icons on the desktop that no one uses?  Not a problem.

In closing, I'm still mad at Adobe.  Perhaps if it will buy me dinner while it tries to make up for the stress it gave me I'll forgive it but i seriously doubt that it will.  For better or worse, I'm stuck with it as long as I'm in my current position.

Wisconsin Senate passes concealed-carry bill

Original story

Pardon me for being just a bit more nervous.  Despite all of the training that these users are supposed to go through, I'm skeptical.

This isn't the Old West.  Why in gods name would you carry your gun to the store, to a restaurant, or to church?  You may not but this has already happened locally as people pro-gun have built up to challenge the laws which lead to this.

I'm not going to go hide away scared but i genuinely don't see how this can help any.  Perhaps my opinion is biased by those that i have met and know.  Perhaps I don't have enough faith in my fellow citizens but this truly feels like a step back for us as Americans.

We as Americans tend to have a false sense of superiority.  This comes from the country being both an economic and military power for over a generation.  Everything we as a nation do we try to spin as being 'justified' in an epic battle of good vs evil.  We would never invade a sovereign nation based off of flimsy intelligence.  We only act on the behalf of good.  We're a civilized nation and trying to spread our goodness and ideas of freedom and self determination to others (assuming that your not in the geographic regions currently known as: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Vietnam, Libya, Cuba, Mexico, and Texas).

I'm sorry but if we're so 'civilized' then why is it that we have a disproportionate faction of the population currently incarcerated?  Why is it that we're the only 'western' and 'first world' nation (implied = civilized) to allow JUVENILES on death row?

Sorry Tex but you I think you should check yer six shooter at the border where it belongs.

It hasn't happened yet but what scares me the most is citizens being armed.  I'm not saying that I trust the government and its troops to act in my best interest.  I'm saying I am genuinely waiting for the day that someone tries to be a vigilante with their weapon and try to prevent a crime happening.  We entrust the police to carry potential deadly weapons because they go through extensive training in both handling those weapons and the circumstances as to when they should rely on them.  I have little to no confidence in an individual who has gone through a training course in hunters safety to control themselves in a heated situation.

I frankly believe there will be a time that somewhere someone will pull their gun to try to 'do good'.  The police will arrive on the scene and focus on the person screaming "i have a permit for this and it's my right."  A tense situation will be escalated.  Something bad is bound to happen.  I'm not saying that i believe that this will be the norm.  I believe that this will be a very rare occurrence but one that needs not happen in the first place.

What I'm saying is that this is now the law of the land.  Fine.  Now, much like smoking, please go away from me because i don't wish to be near people like you.

Response to Teen Sentenced to Year in Jail For Friends Death

Original Article

This bothers me.  The issue is that a teenager (Madeline Kudlata) flipped her car while being reckless and her friend (Sydney Tabakin) died as a result.  The driver is sentenced to one year in jail and on probation for 5 years.  The year that she is in jail, she'll be allowed out to go to class while she starts her first year of college.

I'm normally for less harsh sentences but this just doesn't make sense.  I understand that the driver lost one of her best friends and has to live with the survivors guilt for the rest of her life.  I understand that her first year of college will be drastically different when compared to her fellow students.  Where I have issue is that she's not doing prison time and instead is doing jail time.

Where I have issue is that she's only getting a year for her irresponsibility which in turn cost her friends life.  Where I have issue is that this story normally ends differently.  If the driver had been from a different area I believe the outcome would have been much harsher.

Going to college next year?  Too bad.  It has to wait.  I don't believe the law should work around someone's long term plans when they're being punished.  College can wait a year while she serves her sentence.  She did the crime and now she must do the time even if it is such a limited amount.  She is starting college.  Her friend is not because of her.


Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams told Martens that the case could have been charged as homicide by drug-impaired driving, a 25-year felony, but that his office negotiated the lesser charge, and plea, in the interest of justice and the facts.

One year in jail instead of a 25 year life altering sentence is the punishment for taking her friends life.  I'm sorry but i don't believe that one year is enough to compensate for another life.  Especially when it's a life that she knew very well.  This wasn't a complete stranger.  This was much more personal than the typical accidental death.

It's the fact that she killed her best friend that actually comforts me in this whole scenario.  I can't imagine what it's like to take a life.  I can't imagine the level of guilt knowing that someone is gone because of my actions.  I can only imagine that the loss of your best friend is some form of cosmic justice.

Culture Shock

It's amazing how much a change of scenery can change your perspective on work.  I left my last job voluntarily in order to get my life under control and to find something that is a different pace.  I have found it.

This is an example of an average day in my previous life:

"Here's a link to something and get back to me in 15 min as to what your thoughts are... Why haven't you responded??? Why aren't you at your desk looking at what i just sent you? We have a meeting about this in 10 min and i need feedback!!!"

This week I'm researching SCCM and Identity Finder Enterprise . Both products will be going live in the near future and we have to set them up. I've never set up any Microsoft Server project of this size but I'm not worried. I've been given time to research this and find solid documentation. I've got a partner who knows the infrastructure better than myself to tag team this with. I'm not worried in the least bit.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of setting up an SQL server among other things, I'm more concerned with trying to prove my worth that i was the right choice to bring on board. I'm not worried about how I'm going to even find time to look at this while I have a hundred other problems, an obscure problem within Citrix that no one else is working on, and still need to orchestrate phone moves for people in the cube farm.

Last week I fumbled my way through an install of Server 2003 and then a very ugly install of SQL. This week I'm hoping to start from scratch and learn from my mistakes so that this guinea pig can be much much less ugly. Learning on the fly... with enough time to make notes!

So far I'm impressed with what I've read of Identity Finder. It looks very straight forward and has good reviews. I can't help but wonder if Microsoft has said anything about them creating a product that looks like it's copying the default Office 2007 theme. On the back end this looks like it'll take a bit of work to do but shouldn't be too bad. Right now we're in the middle of figuring out if we've got the green light for a license. If so we'll scan user shares first and then roll it to desktops. This could be done sometime in the next month or next year.

SCCM seems to be quite a beast to set up even with the step by step instructions . Everyone is saying that it'll be worth it. I'll be making notes of my mistakes with the hopes that I can learn from those too.

Scotty... Please don't beam me back up to the ship yet!

Change of scenery

Today I made the first major aesthetic changes to this blog.  Although i liked the simplistic look of it from before, I felt it was time to tweak things a bit.  I'd like to generate a little more traffic here which is why i'm trying to post more often.

I must say that blogger was being a major pain in the ass as i tried to make changes.  After making changes and trying to save them, I would repeatedly get a 503 error.  This isn't cool when you're trying to make changes on the fly and hoping to see them quickly while you still have an idea in your head.

The other thing that I've run into is the adsense widget seems to be very much not working right now.  I've tried to re-add it and it doesn't appear anywhere.  My reason for caring about this is because i would honestly like to see if i can make a little bit of money from my rants.  I've not dealt that much with adsense or much of any of the aspects of this blog in years so I need to spend some time going through things more closely.  I'd had a couple of ads here in the past and they were small and non-offensive so i kept them there.  Because of that, I'd like to see if i can get them back.  I'm more annoyed by the fact that they are gone and don't seem to be coming back than i am by the fact that they're ads in the first place.

Perhaps some day I'll be able to move from this site to somewhere else where i can grow more.  In order to do so I need to have more justification though since this is in fact free and I like free things.  :)

Response to Facebook status - Florida drug testing welfare applicants

(ORIGINAL POST)

Florida is the first state that will require drug testing when applying for welfare (effective July 1st)! Some people are crying this is unconstitutional. How is this unconstitutional? Yet it's okay that every working person has to pass a drug test in order to support those on welfare?
Re-post if you agree!!!

about an hour ago ·  · 

• • 
    

    (MY RESPONSE) Rather than blindly reposting like most of the FB sheep out there, i briefly dug into this. No mention of what drugs are being screened for. Think of the false positives that can and do happen in professional sports because of obscure meds someone is on. Pill popping addicts are just as dangerous as other addicts. Only difference is the delivery method.
    
    Also this is coming from a state that thought Jeb was a wise decision as governor in recent history.
    
    Also you have to pay up front for the test which can lead to you being reimbursed. Ummm if you're on assistance then what are the odds that you can afford to pay for a mandatory test? This right there is where the courts are going to kill this because you're excluding those that potentially need the aid the most.
    
    After failure of the test you can designate someone else to receive the benefits for your kids. If that doesn't sound like an opportunity for exploitation then i don't know what does.
    
    How much of this added layer of bureaucracy going to cost the tax payers? Has anyone done a cost/benefit analysis?
    
    BTW, not every working person has to pass a drug test...
    
    I have an idea... Let's put a bit of effort into collecting those that owe taxes (especially corporations) and investigating the rampant fraud within both out healthcare and benefits system. I'm sorry but this idea is too complex for most FB'ers to grasp let alone constantly repost in their status to make themselves feel good for 10 seconds before they click on the next bright shiny object...