September, 2008
Flash 10 RC2 for Ubuntu Hardy
Markus Thielmann — Tue, 2008-09-16
Adobe updated the Linux Flash 10 Beta to RC2 (aka 10.0.10.12).
Have a look at the new features and the list of fixed bugs of this release.
I updated my Personal Package Archive (PPA) accordingly. If you already added my PPA to your sources list, you'll get the updated flashplugin-nonfreebeta within the next upgrade.
It seems the problems with some video services are gone, but you're still unable to get fullscreen mode on your second monitor.
Since I'm unable to test the AMD64 package, please consider it not existent. If you're still willing to give it a try, please report any errors you might encounter. It seems that the i386 package works quite well.
Zattoo stuttering on Pulseaudio/Ubuntu Hardy
Markus Thielmann — Sun, 2008-09-07
Zattoo is a free (as in beer) P2PTV software, which offers some TV stations in some of Europe's countries.
Unfortunately, Zattoo seems to have some problems with Ubuntu Hardy's (and Intrepid's) Pulseaudio configuration.
If you're experiencing stuttering audio, it might be possible to configure the pulseaudio daemon to provide a better Zattoo experience. I'm not a Pulseaudio expert, but I managed to get an acceptable sound output when adding:
high-priority = yes
nice-level = -14
no-cpu-limit = yes
default-fragments = 8
default-fragment-size-msec = 5to /etc/pulse/daemon.conf. I found most of the variables while surfing for Pulseaudio/ALSA problems, but I still have very limited knowledge on Pulseaudio or ALSA internals. It seems some of my changes cause audio/video sync problems, fortunately the differnce is quite short.
I'd be happy to get some advice from experienced sound enthusiasts, to improve Pulseaudio/ALSA interaction.
Web 2.0 kills Open Source
Markus Thielmann — Thu, 2008-09-04
When was the last time you discovered a really great FOSS web application? One you wouldn't trade for a free (maybe ad-sponsored) solution, except for reasons like confidentiality or security.
For me it's Dimdim, which I discovered today. Besides Zimbra (Yahoo offers only a feature limited version of it's premium product), I can't remember any other solution in the past two years. Unfortunately.
In my opinion, the reason for the lack of outstanding solutions however is simple: If you write a groundbreaking, scalable and easy to use web application, it's a really small step to run your application on a "Software as a Service" level and earn money through ads or fees, or just sell your company. Thanks to cloud computing and a vivid community, you don't need much money to start of your business. Even a "me-too" portal is able to make it's share, if it's as easy to use as the main player. Facebook clone StudiVZ was recently sold for more than US$70 million.
Getting venture capital for a web based startup seems much simpler than finding someone who is investing in classic software distribution.
I'd really like to know which FOSS web based application you find worthy enough to disagree with me on this opinion.
Dimdim: Free and open source web meeting
Markus Thielmann — Thu, 2008-09-04
I think it would be fair to call Dimdim a WebEx "mee-too" application.
Dimdom offers a web- and Flash-based meeting application which allows you to communicate (via video, audio or text) and to collaborate through whiteboards. You're able to share a presentation or even you whole desktop (at least if you're still on Mac or Windows).
The most outstanding feature however is the released source-code. Not only open, but also free as in speech, distributed under the terms of the GPL.
Even if you're not interested in deploying your own server, you might want to trade any other web meeting portal for dimdim. Unfortunately, sharing your Desktop with Linux is not possible right now, but at least it's on the roadmap.
While I consider the release of the source code a really smart move of Dimdim Inc., I wonder why they don't offer paid support for the open-source edition. There are a lot of companies who prefer FOSS, but still able and willing to pay for their software through support contracts.
Ubuntu: Adding repositories via URL
Markus Thielmann — Wed, 2008-09-03
Last week I was asked for Google Earth by a not-so-tech-savy Ubuntu user. He found Google's .bin Installer and was asking for help with installing.
I told him, that it would be better to use a software repository and did a short introduction to packaging and repositories. While it was easy to send him a link to a Google Earth package for installation with gdebi, telling him how to enable a third-party repositories was not.
A short search reveals that apturl is able to add repositories via URL, unfortunately this feature is disabled by default.
In my opinion, this decision should be reconsidered: While it is true that third party repositories and third party packages mean a potential harm to the users system, the current handling of third-party software is not consistent.
Installing a Ubuntu package via gdebi is easy and used frequently. Even when installed from a trustworthy source, installation of single packages cause a security risk due to a lack of updates.
If the user decides to install third-party software, it seems just consistent to offer him a comparable easy way of adding a repository. This way, his software will get updated and he will decrease the risk of possible security holes due to outdated software.
If you agree with me on this topic, I'd like you to consider voting for this idea on Ubuntu Brainstorm:
If you don't agree, I'm eager to read your opinion.