Debian 7 Is Finally Here!

It took awhile, but Debian Wheezy 7 is finally here and available to download. I have been playing around with Debian Wheezy for the past year, and I have had it installed on my desktop computer since last summer. So my expectation and excitement has been high regarding this release of Debian's new Stable branch.

I have KDE Wheezy on my desktop computer, and even with just a 1.8 ghz processor and 750 mb of ram, by tweaking KDE Wheezy a bit, mostly by turning off effects, Debian 7 KDE runs faster and better than Windows XP ever did on that old computer.

More recently I installed Debian Wheezy Gnome onto one of my netbook computers, and while Gnome Shell is not my favorite Linux desktop, I no longer hate it and find it runs well even on a netbook with a 1.66 ghz Atom processor with 1 gig of ram. You will have a hard time getting anything besides Debian running so light and so fast on low spec hardware with those full KDE and Gnome desktops. Debian shines because it is light, fast, and reliable.

The downside of Debian is that it is not the first Linux distribution that comes to mind when you think of newcomers to Linux. Having done three installs of vanilla Debian it is not quite the chore I found it to be the first time, but even with a slightly improved installer I find I must 'babysit' the installer. Unlike with many Linux installers where you tell the installer what you want then let it do its thing, with Debian's installer it does something, asks you questions, does something for awhile, asks yet more questions, and so it goes for the better part of an hour. I think it is worth it once you have Debian installed, but for newcomers this distribution may not be the best choice.

There are easier Debian versions to install, such as MEPIS, and Mint Debian, but for the bold or experienced, vanilla Debian can be a very satisfying.

I tried three of the Debian Live CDs: KDE, Gnome, and LXDE. All three booted fine and worked fine in live mode. They can be found here: Debian Live CDs.

I installed Gnome Debian 7 using DVD 1 on my netbook using the image found at this link: Debian Installer Images.

For those new to Linux, or simply wanting an easier, quicker installation, Mint Debian, Saline OS, or MEPIS will probably be a better choice to get Debian. But for those willing to put in a little time and effort, those who want pure Debian in its pristine state, it is worthwhile to learn the steps to install vanilla Debian.

I have been using Linux for about two years now. I have used and tested most of the major Linux distributions and many of the smaller ones. I have had the fewest problems and the best service from Debian. I have in mind Debian Stable in particular. It is rock solid, dependable, fast, light, and in my experience less prone to break from updates than other Linux distributions.

Debian 7 Wheezy is Linux at its best. Another great Debian Stable release. Congratulations to all those involved!

The Acer C7 Chromebook

I have had my Acer C7 Chromebook for several weeks now and it is as comfortable to me already as a nicely fitting pair of shoes. It has become my primary computer, even, to my surprise, pushing my 10" tablet aside to get the most attention and use.

First I want to get out of the way what I do not like. There are not many negative issues, but a few worth mentioning. Perhaps my biggest disappointment is the keyboard. While spacious and looking nice, in use it feels like the touch keys of a TV remote control. There is not much give, and it is not particularly comfortable to type on, plus sometimes letters do not show up unless you hit the keys just right. By far this is my number one complaint about it. My second complaint is the poor battery life, about 3 1/2 hours. This is inexcusable for a Chromebook. I had Chromium OS running on a netbook with a 9 cell battery and that thing ran nearly all day long. The good news here is that Acer got the hint, and a 6 cell battery edition of the C7 is coming, but with a higher price tag.

Other than those instances, I continue to be impressed with my Chromebook. Chrome OS is light and fast and secure. It may be the perfect operating system for schools and businesses. Pretty much anyone can use one of these. I handed my Chromebook to my mother, she is almost completely computer illiterate, and she liked the Chromebook right away. Then I handed her my tablet and in five minutes she had it messed up, and I still can't say what exactly she did to it.

I want to mention the applications available on the Chromebook. My biggest concern was word processing. I did not know if Google Docs could fit the bill, yet have been pleasantly surprised at just how well Google Docs works for me. I especially like that saves docs every few seconds. By setting my older docs to convert when I upload them to Google Drive there has been few issues with converting previous documents. I think it is safe to say Google Docs are fine for your average user, and probably sufficient for many business users.

Google Drive is quite useful, and the 100 gigabites of storage for two years to Chromebook purchasers is nice. For moving files from other computers Drive can be handy, of course you also have 3 usb ports and one sdcard port, so moving files is not a problem on the Chromebook.

Must mention the native app for playing movies works well, at least on m4v files. Netflix works great also, but found I must access it from the browser rather than the app to get it to work. Hulu works well too. The speakers are not loud, and I generally plug in my headphones, but for music like Pandora cranked all the way up it works well enough. Worth noting that the screen looks good.

Another app that I have found incredibly useful is Pixlr Editor, this has worked so well for my photos that I'm astounded. As for other apps, there is Pandora for music and Google Music, and great apps like Evernote, Amazon's Cloud Reader and Cloud Music Player. As mentioned, you have Google Drive for storage, along with other cloud storage services like Box and Dropbox. But the Acer C7 has a huge amount of hard drive storage for music and videos and photos--320 gigabites. The argument is that you don't need that much storage on a Chromebook, but I am happy to have it.

Speaking of a large hard drive, the Acer C7 can run Ubuntu. This was a selling point to me, I imagine this little laptop would fly on Xubuntu or Lubuntu, just install Ubuntu following one of the many guides on the net:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qpjTzav3kw
and add the Xubuntu or Lubuntu or even the Kubuntu desktop, at least that is my back up plan if I ever have issues with Chrome OS. But so far so good, I am quite pleased by Chrome OS and it strikes me of the King of the KISS Principle for computer operating systems. Chrome OS keeps it simple, light, auto-updates, and is secure. I think Chrome OS has a bright future.

I often hear the complaint from those who have never used a Chromebook that it is just a browser, and not a real operating system, especially without the Internet. My thought is, what good is a computer without the Internet today? If my Internet goes down, I watch TV, listen to music, read a book, but could care less about fooling with a crippled computer, because like nearly everyone else, 99% of the time I am on the computer I am online.

Is a Chromebook for everyone? No. If you have no interest in using Google products and services, this machine is Not for you. But if you already use YouTube, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Music, Google Books, Picassa, Google Calendar, and are spending all your time on a computer inside an Internet browser--you are going to feel right at home with a Chromebook.

Some Acer C7 Specs:

1.1GHz dual-core Intel Celeron 847 processor

2 gigabite of Ram

320 gigabite hard drive

boots up in about 16 seconds

dual speakers up front on bottom

very lightweight for a laptop

1.3 megapixel front facing camera

11.6 inch display with 1366 x 768 resolution

3 usb 2.0 ports with two on the left side and one on the right side

1 sdcard port up front

HDMI port

Ethernet port

VGA port

and of course a headphone jack

the battery is removable

the Ram can be upgraded

My experience with the Chromebook has been very good. 

Lucrombu Linux Setup--A Chromebook Wannabe

Having an Acer C7 Chromebook, and trying to figure out the best way to set up a Linux distribution to look like its cousin the Chromebook, I decided the best Linux distribution for this is Lubuntu. Lubuntu is both lightweight which stays close to the Chromebook principle, plus it is fairly easy to configure as a Chromebook type setup. I title my setup: Lucrombu.

This is a very easy setup. I set the panel color to clear, and I slid the clock over to the left in the same position as it is on my Chromebook. I grabbed a different menu icon off of the web, something square and light to be similar to the app button on my Chromebook. I put a few choice Lubuntu apps on my panel, with the Chrome browser app in prominence at the far left. I could have just used the installed Chromium browser, but I wanted the full Chrome experience, so I installed Chrome browser from the web. I added Pithos because it is an awesome Pandora client, and we want to stick with a cloud based theme.

The wallpaper I grabbed off of the web, it is one of the same wallpapers on my Acer Chromebook. I went to panel settings and changed my fonts from black to white color so I could have a white clock readout on the panel like on my Chromebook. I'm running this "Lucrombu" Lubuntu 12.04 setup on an Acer D250 netbook, and it does look and feel much like my Chromebook, but with all the fullness of a Linux OS.

Next is an actual screenshot of my Acer C7 Chromebook. What do you think? Did I pull off my Lucrombu Linux Chromebook wannabe? :-)

Lubuntu Fork LXLE

This is more of a "heads up" than a review. I would just like to bring your attention to a new Lubuntu fork called LXLE  which has much impressed me. I have installed it on two old Acer Aspire One D250 netbooks and LXLE seems like it is made for these things. I can even get them to suspend without freezing up like with main Ubuntu.

LXLE is built on Ubuntu 12.04 and calls itself a Long Term Release version of Lubuntu with full support for 5 years, unlike regular Lubuntu which is only supported for 18 months. It looks like LXLE has added repositories for several apps, and it has updated apps like a newer version of Libre Office.

Love the changing wallpaper, each boot gives you a new background. The only issue I have had was the weather forecast didn't work for me, so I removed it and added Indicator Weather. I tweaked the desktop to my liking, but there was not much to do, any software I could think to add was already on LXLE. It was the fastest Linux setup I have ever experienced.

LXLE is tailor made for older hardware. I actually timed my battery on one of my old netbooks and LXLE ran longer, battery lasted longer, than Debian Wheezy with Xfce. I am quite impressed with this Lubuntu fork. It is the best looking and most robust LXDE I have ever used. Though the term is much over-used, in this case it fits, think Lubuntu on Steroids and you have LXLE. Check it out.
http://www.lxle.net/index.php?x=about

When Technology Improves Our Lives

I think there are many people over 40 years old, like myself, who are a bit slow to embrace change. Perhaps never in history has there been so much changing technologically than in the lives of those over 40 years old.

In our short lives we have gone from rotary dial, party line telephones to cell phones. We have gone from three major TV networks to three hundred or more TV channels. Computers that were once housed in huge buildings are now housed on our wrists. It is almost impossible to measure the incredible technological changes that continue to increase rapidly.

I have not always been quick to embrace change, but as I have grown older "change" has gone from being a dirty word to an opportunity to make life more enjoyable. I remember a couple of years ago seeing that my daughter was streaming something called Netflix through her computer onto her TV. I thought it was interesting, but it seemed strange to me at the time. I later discovered the benefits of cutting the cable myself and now thoroughly enjoy my Roku box. And I remember how hard it was to tear that telephone land line from my wife's tight little fist. Today she could not imagine using a land line telephone in place of her cell phone.

Other interesting technological changes have come. I saw right away the benefit of e-books long before they became so popular. I was slower though to accept the fact of tablet computers, and became amazed at how quickly I took to one. Yet I embraced netbook computers, writing entire books on the devices, while people mocked them as 'toy computers'. And lately I have been writing about Chromebooks, which I am convinced are going to play a far bigger role in the future of computing than most people realize.

Technology is moving so fast that it is almost impossible to stay on top of the changes. Google Glass is going to be an interesting item to watch. I think the day is coming when we will see Apple as a dinosaur regarding technology much as Microsoft is nearly a dinosaur today stuck in the old computer paradigm.

Technology can and has improved our lives, and while I am tempted to jump into all the negatives of technology, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives. Indeed, I think that smart people can easily navigate any difficult waters when it comes to technology as long as they own the technology instead of letting technology own them.


I can only wonder at what future generations will experience when it comes to technology. The potential for improving lives is great, and as long as wisdom and common sense are not thrown out the door, technology can be a blessing and continue to improve our lives.

Chromebook Pixel Will Shake Things Up

Google has joined the big league with its Chromebook Pixel. It is a nice looking laptop with high specs challenging even Apple at the high end of laptops. Many news reports today say that Google has lost its mind producing basically a Chrome-browser based $1300  waste of money.

If Google is crazy, I think they are crazy like a fox. Up until now the Chromebook has basically been seen in one of two ways, first, as an over-priced laptop, and secondly as a cheap back up laptop. I think Google wants to be seen as "The Laptop" that encompasses high end, low end, and with the Pixel--the highest quality end of the computer hardware spectrum. Basically what Microsoft Windows covered before the recent failure of Windows 8. Microsoft computers covered the entire hardware spectrum with cheap laptops and netbooks to high end ultrabooks.

I think up until now the argument for and against Chromebooks has probably been wrong with the emphasis being that people really only need a browser for today's computing, or that the Chromebook is too limiting for a laptop. Lately I have been thinking much about what I use a computer for and what matters to me. The thing I keep coming back to is the KISS Principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid!

The Chromebook is king of the KISS Principle. You boot up quickly in a Chromebook, it is light on resources and it saves battery power,  it has a simple interface anyone can use, and everything is backed up on the cloud. If lightning strikes your Chromebook? No problem, just pick up another one, log in, and your computer is back. No messing with antivirus programs and scans, no endless updates to fool with. Microsoft has to be losing their mind knowing that most people could not only get along fine with a Chromebook--they would excel with one, have fewer headaches, and less chance of computer downtime.

I am not as young as I used to be. I love technology, computers, Linux, messing around with various operating systems. But when I need to get work done, the last thing on earth I want is for my computer to get broken by an update, frozen up from some application-system conflict, or any other computer malady. In other words, I want the KISS Principle to be at work for me on my computer.

Recently I have been playing around with Chromium OS, the open source version of Chrome OS. It is not a full-fledged Chrome OS, it is missing flash, codecs, java, pdf reader. But it is fairly simple to install on a USB stick and boot into. I have it booted up on an Acer Netbook that is not too different from the Acer C7 Chromebook. My battery life is doubled, and other than the missing flash and codecs I'm finding it a pleasantly simple operating system that has not given me any headaches so far.

But getting back to the Pixel, it will be interesting to see how many of these high end Chromebooks Google actually sells. If I had the money I'm not sure I would spend so much on a Chromebook when there are decent Chromebooks in the $200 price range. But I suspect it would be interesting to have a touch-screen Chromebook that is made so well, and it makes me wonder how long it will be before we see some kind of convergence between Chrome OS and Android.

It is likely my next laptop will be a Chromebook, probably the Acer C7 since it appears it is fairly simple to install Linux on it if I get tired of Chrome OS. I have been asking myself for the past few weeks if I could and would want to do much of my computing on a Chromebook, and the answer is "yes". With my Linux machines as back ups in case I need to access apps not available with a Chromebook, and with my two Android tablets figured into the equation, I think 99% of my computing could be easily handled alternating between my tablets and a Chromebook, the Chromebook mostly being used for serious word processing and in cases where I need to type more than is comfortable on a tablet.

I believe Chromebooks are going to do quite well. I'm not convinced people are going to be lining up to buy a Pixel, but I could be wrong. In any event, between Android and now the Chromebook, Google is really shaking up the realm of the computer operating system.

The Rise Of The Chromebook?

Chromebooks are much in the news lately. Acer has mentioned that Chromebooks have accounted for 5-10% of their U.S. shipments. It may just be that the time is finally right for a Chromebook.

My mother is mostly computer illiterate. She has an old desktop that I suggested JoliOS for, a Linux operating system with big app-like buttons she could click on for Facebook and searching the web. I have been considering where her next step, a move into portable computing should be.

I have also been thinking about where I want to go in my next personal computer buy. Microsoft has angered computer hardware vendors with Windows 8, and Linux fans with the so-called "Secure Boot" which mostly only keeps Windows PCs secure from having Linux installed on them. I suspect in the end this will all get sorted out, but in the meantime future Linux users are lost, opportunities not to be found again as PC users who already have a built-in Linux fear are further driven away by Microsoft's shenanigans.

It is also in my mind, as my disgust with Microsoft grows, that I never again want to pay a "Windows tax" on a computer purchase. Of course I could build my own desktop, but desktops, in my view, are going the way of the buggy whip. I could buy a laptop with Linux pre-installed, and that may be the best route for most people, but these small companies have a hard time keeping their prices competitive because of lack of volume, so that it is no real saving of money by skipping the Windows installation. Yet to be free of the hassle of "Secure Boot", and to avoid the "Windows tax", this is worth considering.

I've been thinking much about Chromebooks. Security, stability, speed, long-lasting battery, light weight, and the ability to do more than 90% of what your average computer user will ever do on a computer, someone like my mother who wants to visit Facebook, send the occasional email, look at some photos, and search for info on the web--the Chromebook is a perfect, inexpensive route for this type of person.

A Chromebook is basically a browser-based, cloud-based operating system. One thing that encourages me about the move in this direction is that Linux can get you there plus cover those who want that other 10% of options from their laptop. Chrome and Chromium Browser works great on Linux. In fact, take an older, slow Windows laptop, wipe the hard drive and install a lightweight Linux operation system, let's say Debian Stable, add a Chrome Browser, and you basically have a refurbished Chromebook. You can access the Chrome Web Store right from the Chrome Browser, add Google Docs/Drive, wonderful apps like Pandora, Wikipedia, shortcuts to many web sites and cloud-based applications and you have made yourself a re-purposed Chromebook with access to the full selection of Linux applications.

But for a newly purchased  computer you can get a Chromebook and add Linux to it, make it a dual-boot machine without that Windows secure boot nonsense, without the lousy Windows tax, and save money. Yes, I'm thinking much about Chromebooks these days and I'm not alone. More hardware manufacturers are moving toward Chromebooks. They are beginning to see the writing on the wall--most computer users who want a keyboard need little more than a browser to get them onto the web. They don't need expensive, supersonic hardware to browse the web. They don't need endlessly expansive hard drives and tons of ram to look at pictures of their grandkids on Facebook, or to watch a bit of video, or to listen to their music. The day of super machines and ever-expanding, expensive hardware is, for your average consumer, nonessential.

It may be the greatest thing that ever happened, seeing Microsoft jump off the cliff. First with Windows 8, then with Secure Boot, and now with Office and their drive toward a rent/lease software model. Keep it up Microsoft, soon you will have nothing but the endless piles of Windows PCs that litter landfills. Meanwhile Google will be skipping across the technology landscape holding hands with Apple as Microsoft becomes a distant memory. Tablets increasingly become king, PC sales continue to slump, and Chromebooks become the new laptop.

It is sort of amazing that we have not seen Mozilla Firefox make this same push for a browser operated PC. I know they are shooting for phones, but why let Google have this opportunity alone? There is a "dark side" to all this Google love. I have written in the past about my concerns regarding Google gathering so much user information to use for its advertising. I think we are correct to be concerned about this, and I fully understand those who eschew both Android, Chromebooks, and everything else Google due to privacy concerns. I have those same concerns, and do not believe we should go blindly into this new Google-dominated technology landscape.

Nevertheless, very real concerns aside, Google offers some excellent software and applications, mostly for free. Android is unstoppable at this point, and I think we are just beginning to see the potential of the Chromebook.

Would I buy a Chromebook today? The short answer is "yes", yes I would. It seems a viable alternative to paying the Windows tax, and to having to wrestle with secure boot to install Linux. Chromebooks are somewhat limited, and many users would be happier with both Linux and a Chrome Browser verses just a Browser based operating system. But now that prices have come down, the Chromebook begins to look like a real bargain in the current landscape.

So what do you think? Would you buy a Chromebook? Would you recommend one to the computer illiterate who may never be able to install Linux? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.