Full postings from JoeLitton.net Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:03:56 -0400 http://www.joelitton.net/A559B2/home.nsf http://www.joelitton.net http://www.joelitton.net/images/om.gif http://www.joelitton.net/A559B2/home.nsf/d6plinks/7GLSQ2 Ubuntu was getting to feel quite familiar, and I was really liking running primarily open-source code over an open-source OS. But, alas, it was not meant to be. Not yet. My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A75. The display adapter is ATI Mobility Radeon ...NoneJoe Littonhttp://www.joelitton.net/A559B2/home.nsf/d6plinks/7GLSQ2 Ubuntu was getting to feel quite familiar, and I was really liking running primarily open-source code over an open-source OS. But, alas, it was not meant to be. Not yet.

My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A75. The display adapter is ATI Mobility Radeon 9000, which unfortunately is not compatible with Ubuntu 8.04. Earlier versions of Ubuntu gave me other problems (one challenge had been getting my internal wireless adapter to work with Ubuntu using WPA encryption, and Ubuntu 8.04 was now working flawlessly for my wireless access). So I was happily getting more and more applications and features working, loading all manner of open source solutions (and the Lotus Notes 8.5 beta!) configured. One of the final items was to test things like playing DVDs, viewing YouTube and other online videos, etc ...and that's when I hit a wall. There are many postings on the Ubuntu forums and elsewhere about the incompatibility of the ATI Radeon adapter with Ubuntu. Well, I am not a device driver writer, so I had to go back to Windows. sigh

On the bright side, I have a fairly clean install now, and am running almost all open source applications (Lotus Symphony for my office suite, Firefox browser, Pidgin chat, Twhirl for Twitter, GIMP for graphics, Avast antivirus, ZoneAlarm firewall, etc.). And to dress up the look a bit, I'm using the RKLauncher for a MAC-like toolbar at the bottom, a few Yahoo! widgits on the desktop, and I snagged a wallpaper image that makes me smile from gnome-look.org.

And now I wait. Waiting for Intrepid Ibex (Ubuntu 8.10), due in October 2008. Hopefully it will work with the ATI Radeon adapter ...or I'll find a pot of gold somewhere and buy a new machine :)

]]>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:03:56 -0400http://www.joelitton.net/A559B2/home.nsf/d6plinks/7GD4XZ Well Ubuntu is starting to feel more like home :) ...This is my first post written from Notes 8.5 running on top of Ubuntu 8.04. This machine is now only running Ubuntu - no Microsoft Windows on the machine at all. And with Notes now installed ...running ...NoneJoe Littonhttp://www.joelitton.net/A559B2/home.nsf/d6plinks/7GD4XZ Well Ubuntu is starting to feel more like home :) ...This is my first post written from Notes 8.5 running on top of Ubuntu 8.04. This machine is now only running Ubuntu - no Microsoft Windows on the machine at all. And with Notes now installed ...running natively in Ubuntu ...I am smiling! Really the hard part was NOT getting Notes installed. The hard part for me was getting Java installed so that I could use the DownloadDirector (I wanted Java for other reasons as well, but this was the first real test of Java for me with Ubuntu and with Firefox).

And, I must say, even though I've got Open Office installed, the Symphony interface is looking pretty nice to me. It looks more intuitive than Open Office, so my hat's off to the IBM/Lotus folks for delivering a very nice user experience. Lots more for me to experiment with, but my goals for tonight are met, and it's past bedtime.

If you are reading this post, it means that Ubuntu 8.04 is humming along on my Toshiba laptop, Notes 8.5 is installed properly (a super easy install!), and replication with the Prominic server has worked ...and it should work, since Notes in Ubuntu is just like Notes in Windows ...but with an open source operating system. Very cool.

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