My ugly mug and the new Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Desktop CD. Thank-you to Canonical for getting it to me so quick. I wasn’t expecting it until later this month. This is consequently the last time I’ll be requesting a free CD, as I mentioned a few days ago.

…You get your stupid Linux Kernel and Linux Distro for free, I repeat, You don’t pay anything for it….

…made me realize that I’ve been using Ubuntu for the better part of the last three years, for free. Aside from the subsidized Windows licenses that are bundled with a few of my laptops, I haven’t paid for an operating system since before my first Ubuntu installation. And while I haven’t enjoyed every feature, Ubuntu has been a liberating computing experience. Knowing this, I began to feel guilty about my usual request of a free CD for every Ubuntu release from ShipIt. Theoretically, I could hunt down the area’s LoCo and get one through them, but that doesn’t make up for the added cost I’ve contributed to Ubuntu’s budget over the years. While the CDs are free to receive, it still costs money to make and ship them.

So from now on, I’ll be purchasing CDs through the Ubuntu Shop. I tried to look into canceling my recent free CD request for 9.10 Karmic Koala, but it’s already been given to the shipping department and most likely on its way. I did, however, put an order in at the Ubuntu Shop for a 5-pack of Ubuntu Desktop CDs and an Ubuntu cap.

It’s not much but at least it is a start.

It’s clear that the bulk of the site’s visitors within this past month are using some form of Firefox/Mozilla and Linux, over 76%. There’s a significant number of visits from Firefox-Windows users that I can only presume comes from the number of Firefox related posts here.

And don’t fear the mighty Google. Only the site’s traffic data is collected.

“I’m also going to move to Drupal. WordPress just violated trust with this upgrade, and I had 15 minutes of downtime, which is unacceptable, given how they advertise an easy upgrade process.”

“I feel that Drupal is the 2nd choice after WordPress. I love WordPress, but after this violation of trust, I can’t bank my blog on it.”

“You guys made a very shitty upgrade and should tell people to upgrade before testing it properly. I can’t do anything about it and I can’t continue working on my blog since nothing works properly. Thanks for ruining my blog! you’re the best! Have a great day!”

“Who’s responsible for this crap ? Did anybody do any honest and real testing on it?”

Of course, this is only from a few people so it’s hardly a representation of how well WordPress is actually built. I imagine that most WordPress users had no issue upgrading regardless of how they chose to initiate it. WordPress can always be upgraded manually but that can prove difficult for a novice user or one who doesn’t have direct access to the installation. WordPress has since developed an automated update which makes upgrading as easy as a few mouse clicks. Unfortunately, the easy way is hardly always the best way, so some breakage is expected.

While we can all agree that a site you’ve studiously worked on suddenly stop working is frustrating to see, attacking the developers really won’t solve any problems. Given that the developers have worked countless hours coding a simple, yet versatile, blog just to be given away to the masses for free, it hardly seems right to bark at them when things go wrong, especially when they’re more than willing to help solve the issues.

It’s hopeful, albeit unlikely, that all those who have had problems with the upgrade learn some valuable lessons from their problems:

1. Always expect the unexpected.
2. Even when they seem unwarranted, take a moment to create a backup.
3. Directions are written to be read.
4. Nicely ask and someone will nicely answer.

Now for the meat and potatoes. RebelZero.com has been successfully upgraded to WordPress 2.8. Have a nice day. Any if you have the means, check out Fedora 11 Leonidas.

In the meantime, give Jorge Castro’s post about Jaunty’s quick boot times a read. Almost makes me want to empty the checking account for a new SSD drive for my Thinkpad T61p.

The first is that AMD/ATI should really put forth more effort into supporting the Linux community. Here are two snapshots of how much traffic I’ve gotten for the Ubuntu 8.10 – ATI/AMD fglrx Driver Updated post since October 15, 2008. It’s popularity is second only to Installing OO.o 3.0.0 Onto Hardy Heron (and Intrepid Ibex), and it’s attracting visitors with 23 of the top 50 search terms.

Top Posts

Installing OO.o 3.0.0 Onto Hardy Heron (and Intrepid Ibex) 10,392 Views
Ubuntu 8.10 – ATI/AMD fglrx Driver Updated 8,843 Views
OpenOffice.org 2.4.x Dark Theme Workaround With Ubuntu 8.04 3,172 Views
Ubuntu: Changing Your Computer’s Hostname 622 Views
Hardy Heron And The DVD-ROM Conundrum 524 Views
Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.2, Features Source Editor, OO.o 3.0.0 Source 506 Views
PPA For OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 For Hardy/Intrepid 396 Views
Ubuntu 8.10 Beta – First Impressions 219 Views

Search terms (with counts)

ubuntu 8.10 ati (1,018)
ubuntu 8.10 ati driver (528)
fglrx ubuntu 8.10 (514)
ubuntu 8.10 fglrx (501)
ubuntu 8.10 ati drivers (229)
ati ubuntu 8.10 (171)
ati/amd proprietary fglrx graphics drive (134)
ati driver ubuntu 8.10 (113)
ati drivers ubuntu 8.10 (110)
ubuntu 8.10 ati fglrx (77)
ubuntu fglrx 8.10 (71)
ati amd proprietary fglrx graphics drive (56)
ati fglrx ubuntu 8.10 (42)
install ati driver ubuntu 8.10 (40)
ati drivers for ubuntu 8.10 (40)
ubuntu 8.10 ati driver install (37)
ati/amd proprietary fglrx graphics drive (36)
install fglrx ubuntu 8.10 (32)
ati driver for ubuntu 8.10 (27)
ati amd fglrx ubuntu (25)
ati amd proprietary fglrx graphics drive (25)
ubuntu 8.10 fglrx driver (25)
ubuntu ati 8.10 (25)

Given the small size of RebelZero.com, I think those numbers goes a long way to prove that support is lacking for AMD/ATI chipsets.

It’s clear that different hardware manufacturers have different levels of Linux support. It would greatly benefit the Linux community if they were all as supportive as the likes of Nvidia, Intel, and IBM, either through releasing code to the open source community or taking on a more active supporting role.

Secondly, I couldn’t possibly answer every request for help. Unlike some other sites, I’m the only one. I’m also a user as opposed to a developer. My experience is limited to only what I’ve personally accomplished as a user. This blog is intended to relay those accomplishments to others dealing with the same issues. As you might expect, people do ask for help and I do my best to answer them. When my limitations get the best of me, I try to point users in the right direction.

The best example of this is with the same AMD/ATI post mentioned above. I’ve gotten a few responses in the comments of users searching for help. I can’t answer them, but I approve the comments in the hopes that someone else might.

Lastly, I find as an author, I need to become more clear and precise with my language. I either leave a post with too little information or two much. I need to find a more suitable middle ground. That and I need to devote more time for adding content. Having six computers assigned to different tasks, it shouldn’t be hard to find something to discuss.

And beyond all of that, I need to figure out how to get Alexa to update the friggin’ thumbnail of the website. I’ve clicked the update link plenty of times and was apparently successful at adding the request to their queue. Still, no update.

I’m not quite sure what the previous proprietors of RebelZero.com were up to, but it must have had something to so with homicidal, chain-smoking chimpanzees.

It has been replaced with my personally approved Linux OS links, which I admit could use some updating. So to conclude, I sincerely apologize for those crappy ads.

I tried to build a website based on Drupal that was going to center on personal experiences with Linux. I thought Drupal was the best option for what I had in mind. I really did. It may still be. Unfortunately, whenever I found myself wanting to add new content, I was left feeling that the site was using me and not the other way around.

Rather than get into a long and drawn out explanation, I’d rather get busy with posting content. The first two posts after this will include the most popular from the Drupal installation. From there, I’ll continue with new subjects as they present themselves.