2011 April 02 archive at Robert Pogson

Archive for April 2nd, 2011

Collateral Damage Due to Radical Change in UI for Ubuntu

Published by Robert Pogson April 2nd, 2011 in technology. 28 Comments

A review of the beta release of Ubuntu 11.04 shows the problems that happen with regular releases and radical change. Things break and the system is rough. That’s the advantage of Debian GNU/Linux testing flavour. They put all that rough stuff in a separate branch of the distro until it’s ready. Ubuntu charges ahead like a bull in a China shop.

If this is what Unity and Weyland have in store for the standard-bearing distro for the GNU/Linux desktop, the world needs to shift to something smoother like Debian GNU/Linux. A larger distro with more flavours gives smoother transitions and more choices. That’s what end-users or OEMs need to supply a usable product.

- Robert Pogson

Performance of Thin Clients on GNU/Linux

Published by Robert Pogson April 2nd, 2011 in Linux in Education and technology. 2 Comments

Intel wants you to buy powerful processors on thick clients. That’s where it gets the big bucks. When I saw a report of a test of thin clients sponsored by Intel, I paid attention. Here’s the crux of it:
“In our tests, all the clients performed the same tasks at the same time, though each had its own copies of the data files. Though typically people are not doing exactly the same thing at the same time, most networks of a similarly capable server would be supporting a lot more than a mere 5 simultaneous users. Further during normal work hours a great many of those users would be working on different tasks at the same time. Our test cases are thus probably less demanding on the server than real user networks.” Continue reading ‘Performance of Thin Clients on GNU/Linux’

- Robert Pogson

My Mission

My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. I do not care whether my solution is the same as yours. I like to think for myself.

My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. I have been blessed by working in schools where students and school systems have benefited by good, modular software easily installed in most systems.

I have shown GNU/Linux to thousands of students and hundreds of teachers over the years and will continue in some way doing that until I die in spite of the opposition.