Jonesieblog

If you really need to run a bit of windows software, then sometimes a nifty project called WINE can come to the rescue.  WINE allows Windows software to run on a Linux operating system.  It doesn’t always work, and obviously space is limited on the Eee PC’s memory, but it can be done.  Here’s a screenshot of Graph (GPL Software, in case the IT boys were wondering) running using WINE:

Stumble it!

I’ve been using Linux since 2002, and am absolutely convinced of the enormous potential of Linux and open source software to provide high quality, low cost, easily maintained solutions for education. But when I talk to people, I often find that they have very little knowledge about Linux, beyond the fact that it’s free! To put that right, here’s a 2 minute guide to Linux. It’s woefully incomplete and overly simplified, but will hopefully help you understand why I’m so enthusiastic.

The Gnu Public License

Linux, and most of the software running on Linux are distributed under the GPL. This license guarantees:

• the freedom to use the software for any purpose,
• the freedom to share the software with your friends and neighbors,
• the freedom to change the software to suit your needs, and
• the freedom to share the changes you make.

In effect this means that Linux is free as in “free beer”, and free as in “free speech” (the French would say it is  “gratuit” and “libre”).

Anatomy of a Linux Distribution

Linux (or GNU/Linux as the hardcore free software crew call it) really refers to the kernel, the foundation of the operating system upon which the rest of the system is built. A full operating system based on the Linux kernel is called a Linux distribution, and includes the kernel, a desktop environment (the software that deals with windows, menus, login screens etc) and thousands of open source programs (called packages) to run on top (18733 packages in the case of Debian). These packages are stored online in repositories.

There are hundreds of different distributions. Popular ones include Debian, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, and Fedora.

One of the great delights of a Linux distribution is the ease which you can install new software and keep your system up to date. It all happens over the Internet in the simplest way imaginable. You open up a wee application and (once you have given a password to show that you have admin rights) you are presented with a searchable list of all the available packages. If you see one you like, click on install and you’ve got it! It downloads from the repository and installs on your machine. Since all the packages in the repository are open source, they are all free and there are no licensing issues.

Your local Linux system keeps track of what versions you have of packages, and as soon as any updates becomes available, it alerts you and allows you to update your system with a single click. Absolute simplicity.

Linux Security

Linux has always been very secure operating system, unlike Windows which began as a security nightmare and has gradually improved! The design of Linux assumes multiple users, with a “root” user that has admin rights. By default, all other users are prevented from performing any action that would affect the system, or the files of other users. For this reason, Linux viruses are simply not a problem. The first time I ever saw anti-virus software for Linux was on the eee pc!

Stumble it!

My feeling is that the Eee PC needs a touch screen to be the perfect 1-1 device. The chat online is that this is coming soon, for very little extra money, so I’ve been exploring how we migh use it, with the help of my wee Volito graphics tablet.

I installed the excellent open source xournal and plugged in the tablet. The Eee recognised the tablet immediately, and I rattled off a quick quadratic equation. Xournal can export to pdf, so you can see that here or just look at the screenshot (click on the screenshot for full size image):

Stumble it!

I was rather shocked this evening when I realised that the last official release of FreeMIS was in June 2006!  This release has been downloaded over 3000 times, but I have done quite a bit of work on the application since then, so I really ought to put together a  more up-to-date package.

It’s now officially on my to-do list!  Anyone impatient for the latest code can always download it from the subversion repository

Stumble it!

Whilst taking a break from a bit of lesson planning (yes, I do plan!) for iterative schemes with my advanced higher maths class, I clicked on SumbleUpon and up came
Quake 3’s Fast Inverse Square Root Function.  Most serendipitous!

Stumble it!