What do you do when your aging computer starts slowing you down so much that Ubuntu seems to crawl? Sure, you could try out XFCE via xubuntu-desktop, but there’s also a new kid on the block.  Enter LXDE.

Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment

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I know I haven’t posted in a while, but I hope that “that time” has come to an end. I’ve been bound and determined to rekindle my dedication, but have been lacking that troubled feeling that was oh so necessary. Until now…

The story begins last night as my wife and I were walking through a well-known big-box electronics retailer. I spotted a good deal (rare at this sort of brick and mortar store since the introduction of online retailers, except during the now 6-month-long holiday season) on a rather large external hard drive. (more…)

If you ever read trade magazines, you’ve probably seen the phrase “…areas in which Linux needs to grow to…” washing down articles that would otherwise promote some open source software. One such article made me bite my lip at work the other day, and I couldn’t wait to get back here and voice my opinion… no… fact.

Fact: Desktop Linux is better at package management. (more…)

If you’re considering trying out GNU/Linux for the first time (or even changing to another), choosing a distribution can be a daunting task. With literally hundreds of distros out there, actually narrowing down to the one to try can be an extremely confusing process, especially to those that are new to linux. This is just another short list to help new users examine a few of the differences between a few of the major, more mainstream distributions (and possibly make it more confusing). (more…)

If you’re running a dual-boot linux windows machine, there’s a pretty big chance you’ve come to a point when you’ve wanted access to certain files in the opposite OS’s partition. Granted, if you’re in linux, getting at NTFS partitions is easy enough (and if it’s not, you can find any number of resources to get you there), but the other-way-around isn’t nearly as easy (at least to find). (more…)

Yes, that’s right; my mom is an Ubuntu user. She has been for about a year now (since Edgy). This is the story of how it all got started. (more…)