Rebel Zero

It’s only been about five months since I moved this site to a WordPress blog, abandoning my failure of a Drupal site. Since that time, I’ve learned quite a bit about running an Ubuntu support-like blog.

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.