http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-EFXWmkeAk

I’m a CDROM-card-carrying member of the FSF, and I have been for a little while now (since August of 2006). I’ve supported the Defective By Design campaign through donation and protest (October 3rd of 2006).

Keeping up with the latest technologies and media is getting harder and harder lately, because the general public is under constant fire from the governments that are supposedly for them, and the companies that they thought they were doing good-faith business with.  The boundaries between motive and marketing are blurring, and law-abiding citizens are being targeted by a plethora of technologies and practices that are designed to remove consumer choice, not extend it.  These limitations reduce freedom, limit functionality, and enable publishing companies to blame consumers for their failed business practices.

Joining with the FSF and other groups that help fight for user rights and digital freedoms is essential to helping win the fight, so here’s a list of places you can go to donate to these groups:

Join the Free Software Foundation: http://www.fsf.org/join

Join or donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org/support

Donate to the Free Software Foundation (one of many programs): http://donate.fsf.org

Join the Free Software Foundation in Europe: http://www.fsfe.org/join

Donate to Save the Internet: https://secure.freepress.net/site/Donation2?1170.donation=form1&df_id=1170

These are certainly not the only groups worth supporting, they’re only the handful of groups I can think of.  If you can think of others, please post a link in the comments.

“Dr.” Jeffery is naive to believe that any standard that Microsoft will cram up the asses of consumers will ever be competitive.  Microsoft itself is not competitive.  They do what they can to remove any opposition in favor of market dominance.  If approved as a standard, OOXML will be used as a platform for more market dictation, just as the exceedingly limited Internet Explorer has been for the web application market.  Once again it looks like we’re going to be limited by Microsoft’s inferior technology and selfish ideas.

It is my opinion that the U.S. Government is siding with a vendor with which they have contracts and are being encouraged–financially of course–to do so.

The general public, it seems, doesn’t deserve a choice.  They all just need to sit down, shut up, and use Geniune Microsoft Software.

Now, the Kubuntu kid! So I’m sure many of you know that I recently switched to Ubuntu’s GNOME to make the most of the fantastic support that System76 offers and to get some of the neat features that Ubuntu’s GNOME has to offer. But there’s still plenty of love for Kubuntu. Kubuntu is led by the best of the best, John Riddell, and it’s got some of the best developers in all of Free Software working on it.

It’s with that love and respect for Kubuntu in mind that I proudly present to you my son, the Kubuntu Kid.

This photo and more are available at http://manchicken.com/gallery

I’m not talking about advocacy here, either.  I’m talking about getting out of your home and office and going to help someone set up and use Free Software… today.  Your local library, your local schools, your local government, the freakin’ boy scouts.  If we really believe in social benefit and helping our neighbors, then let’s go out and help our neighbors.  Let’s run for local office, let’s make dynamic web sites for libraries, let’s set up Edubuntu labs in schools.  And let’s share our work with others.

• GNOME
• KDE
• Xfce
• WindowMaker
• Blackbox
• Enlightenment
• FVWM
• IceWM

Most of these programs (desktop environments and window managers are still just programs, or more commonly collections of programs) perform very similar tasks like putting window decorations (title bars, close/maximize/minimize buttons) on the windows, controlling focus with the various windows, moving and resizing the windows, maximizing windows, minimizing or iconifying windows, and of course closing windows. To some it is surprising that there are so many choices in desktop environments and window managers, but like in everything else it’s usually a matter of preference.

The primary difference between a window manager and a desktop environment is in the scope of its functionality.  A window manager tends to let the other programs that are not part of the window manager itself perform the  general application functionality while it maintains the more core window manager functionality. Desktop environments, on the other hand, tend to provide users with a smoother and more integrated interface with a suite of programs to do things like manage network connectivity, control settings and themes, search for files on the machine, manage persistent states between sessions, and then some—like KDE and GNOME—even go so far as to have a very well integrated set of applications that perform general tasks such as word processing, editing text files, and chatting online.  Desktop environments also tend to have a window manager program included in their suite, though often times it is possible to substitute another window manager for the one included in the suite.

Some prefer to have a desktop environment, some prefer to just have a window manager, some prefer to mix and match. The bottom line on that is that different people like to run their desktops different ways, and with such a long line of window managers and desktop environments to choose from, people are more free to run their machines the way they want to instead of being limited to only what developers put into any single package. This freedom enhances productivity—except in cases where people toy around with their desktop environments and window managers excessively—and allows people to really configure their desktop to work for them instead of them having to conform to the desktop. It also allows those who want to experiment with different usability patterns to try coming up with interfaces that are better geared for specific audiences such as children, students, senior citizens, or those who are unfamiliar with general-purpose computing.

All this to say that it’s good that we have choice, so we should focus on supporting those choices and trying to use these choices to enhance software freedom in general instead of only sticking to the interfaces that we ourselves have adopted and grown to enjoy.

Like many things in the world today, GUIs can be a very polarizing factor. There are many who adopt a single GUI and then write off the rest by citing specific things they disliked about the GUI. Just because we don’t like feature X in GUI Y, or we think GUI Y may be more bloated than window manager Z, doesn’t mean that some other person couldn’t find that GUI or window manager perfectly usable and even preferable to the one that we ourselves use.

So how does this make us better programmers?  When we focus on what the users would want rather than what we feel like coding, then we are engaging a project in a way that can really benefit our community and could be more useful in general. Also, when you’re coding for multiple GUIs you will sometimes find that different paradigms present different benefits and different challenges than others. Qt4 has begun to use a model-view architecture for their GUIs, while GTK is much less structured. Also, Qt and GTK both have GUI tools to help build the interface while wxwidgets and TK are still much more manual. The more we work with, the more diverse ideas we’re exposed to, and the more user experiences we’re able to witness. Taking more ideas into account we can find ways to make better software for ourselves and our user community.

A distribution that enables more user choice while also keeping applications well-integrated is one that a user will be able to adapt to much quicker. If a user has been using Ubuntu’s GNOME for three months and then decides to try Kubuntu’s KDE then the entire distribution will feel better for that user if they don’t have to completely transition to new programs and interfaces for everything. That’s not to say that one should water down their interfaces or program collections, but that there is a need for common functionality between the environments even though the interfaces may differ.

This enriches Free Software by keeping up with user freedom. The more free a user is to choose their interface, the more they will understand that they really are free to use their computer how they want to and that they are not limited to what a proprietary software vendor has chosen for them.

One of the oldest problems when it comes to maintaining GUI software has been that sometimes the business logic of an application gets so tied into the interface of the application that it is difficult to change either the interface or the business logic without impacting the other. This also makes maintaining the application and upgrading to new library versions very difficult. Sometimes separating the back-end from the front-end can be tricky, especially when the line between front-end and back-end can be blurry. To determine whether an bit of functionality is front-end or back-end, ask yourself three questions:

1. Is this functionality something that the user is directly interfacing with? If the functionality is anything other than directly taking an order from the user (e.g. handling a button click or mouse event) or directly displaying information to the user (e.g. printing output onto the screen or updating a status bar or presenting direct audio feedback), then the answer to this question is “no” and this functionality should be part of the back-end. If the answer is “yes” then this functionality should be part of the front-end.
2. Is this functionality something that we could take the interface off of? If the functionality is some sort of data processing like saving a file or transmitting data, or if the functionality is not directly tied to the user then the answer to this question is “yes” and it is part of the back-end. If the answer to this question is “no” then this functionality should be part of the front-end.
3. Could I break this functionality down any more than I already have? This question should always be asked so that we’re not sticking too much of anything in either the front-end or the back-end.

Now, we all know that the open desktop folks work super hard to give us all guidance on desktop application development. It’s normal that we’d all want to stick to their standards—or rebel against them depending on our personalities—but it is important to remember that when you’re developing a front-end to blend in with a specific environment to actually attempt to adhere to the standards and conventions of that environment. GNOME and KDE both have UI guidelines that are distinct and very well followed, and it is advisable to adhere to those guidelines to make your application work better in that environment… but not to the point of kluge. It’s okay that KDE and GNOME look different, and even if we prefer one over the other it is okay for us to adopt the look of the one we’re targeting in our development.

The point of this whole document is, of course, to say when you have to choose between developing for GNOME or developing for KDE, choose both. It’ll make your application more usable, and it’ll make you a better hacker.

I am delighted to report that these hopes have been realized and these prayers have been answered. On Tuesday, the 15th of January, my beautiful wife gave birth to our first born child. Our new son is named Michael D. Stemle, III, after his grand-father and father. He weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and is healthy as can be. We’re delighted to have our son with us after the long wait.

My wife and I would like to extend a very special thanks to all of you who celebrated with and encouraged us.

Now, for the obligatory baby photos (more to come).

Do you use Jamendo.com?  If you don’t, you probably should take a peek over there really quick.  Here’s a link, check it out.  I’ll wait.

Back?  Great, let’s continue.

Jamendo.com, from what I understand, has tasked themselves with giving artists a freedom-loving audience, and giving listeners a freedom-loving collection.  Creative Commons licensing is mandatory, according to their FAQ, for all uploaded content.  This gives listeners unparalleled freedom to discover, listen, and share music.  Their new website is even more geared towards helping users discover new artists.   It seems to use pattern-recognition to suggest other artists that you might like by noticing patterns in who you like and who else likes who you like.

What’s more, for those who like to point out that artists deserve financial support, well Jamendo.com has cracked that nut as well!  There are two programs that Jamendo.com has to help artists, they’ll allow you to collect donations with only a $0.50 processing fee, and then there’s a revenue sharing program that you can be part of.  They split up 50% of their ad revenue with the artists who opt into their Revenue Sharing program.  They say that they’ve got more programs to come in the future.

I don’t know about you all, but in an age of DRM, $20 albums, RIAA lawsuits, and “artists” who live lavish lifestyles on the backs of their fans  while putting out more trash than culture, I think Jamendo.com offers a very nice alternative for those of us who love music but hate the nonsense that seems to be coming along with it.  Now we can all find great music by a variety of artists, we can share the music all we like, and we never have to worry about the highly unethical extortionist tactics of the RIAA.

Perhaps this can also help media and content-based industries realize that this sales-based model just isn’t working, and extorting consumers isn’t going to make it work any better.  This looks like a better business model to me, and I highly recommend this site to all.  Here’s a short list of the bands I’m digging from Jamendo.com (sorry to those who I’ve forgotten), please make sure that you list your favorites here, too.

In no particular order:

• TreeMouth
• Hype
• Try^d
• Alternitro
• Saelynh
• Saint-Jean

Let’s do our best to help recognize this site for its culturally significant contributions, and its commitment to freedom and sharing.

Also, much thanks to any and all media player developers who have integrated or are currently integrating Jamendo.com and other freedom-loving content providers into their players.

I encourage all of my fellow Verizon Wireless customers to send a VERY strong message to the folks at One Verizon Way and opt out. Opt out even if you’re not a Verizon Wireless customer. Send letters to the address “One Verizon Way, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920-1097″ and tell them how disgusted you are with this new practice.

It is not okay for Verizon Wireless to put these ads on our personal property, and if we stand silent while they do it we will be in a world of hurt. But act fast, because according to these terms, Verizon Wireless will only give you 30 days to opt out.

UPDATE:
So, I’ve got some more info for you. Verizon Wireless, in their agreement, says that you have the right to cancel your service with them without paying early termination fees for cancelling.

Sure there’s an awful lot of eye-candy, I won’t lie, but the eye-candy has one benefit: performance. It is astonishing how well compiz-fusion performs on this machine, even with the under-powered Intel GPUs. I’m just boggled when I sit there throwing everything at compiz, and when it’s not crashing (sorry, that does happen a bit) my load average stays under 0.60. Normal X with just swapping desktops and all that did more than that and it didn’t even have any other neat effects.

So there is also some added window-manager functionality that I think is just the bees knees. First and foremost, window grouping and tabbing. This seems like a poorly named bit of functionality, because I had seen others doing it but I couldn’t figure out actually how to do it. It’s called grouping and tabbing, but instead it actually has the functionality of taking windows and putting them back-to-back. The way you do it is you just Super-S on all of the windows you want to group, and then you Super-T to tab them. I know this functionality must have been hard to name, and what’s in a name, but the functionality is just undeniably neat. I think my best use is that I *hate* having multiple browser windows open, but I have to use Firefox while I really *want* to use Konqueror. Normally I would have no choice but to choose between the two, or deal with two windows on my screen. Grouping and tabbing changes all that. Once you hit Super-T, you notice that all your selected windows go into a single window. WTF you may say? What happened to my windows? Well try hitting Super-Left and see what happens. It’s just so insanely cool, but I don’t think you could really appreciate this as useful functionality until you’ve started using it regularly.

Another very useful bit of functionality that I think a lot of folks in OSX like that we’ve been lacking is what the Compiz folks call “Expo” mode. If you enable Expo mode and hit Super-E, then your display zooms out showing you all available workspaces and you can move windows around and all that. It’s pretty darn useful.

There are some *cough* problems *cough* though. The first and foremost of these problems is that kde-window-decorator just does not work. It simply does not function as it should. I’ve been using Emerald, which I believe is in GTK and not Qt. This should probably be fixed. There’s also some very serious confusion in terms, at least for me, going on here. I’m used to the concept of virtual desktops. I’ve been using virtual desktops for about ten years now, and I really find them quite useful. Compiz introduces a new concept called “workspaces” though, and this is just baffling me. One of the areas of confusion may actually just be a bug in the KDE pager kicker applet, but it’s still confusion. I think workspaces are actually just virtual desktops within virtual desktops. It’s very confusing to me and I wish that it were simpler or at least explained better.

Some of the plugins seem to have more stability issues than others, like the Shift Switcher and the Water Effect plugins. The Water Effect plugin causes all windows to stop refreshing under KDE3 when you kick into rain mode. Even after turning off rain mode it still won’t redraw window contents. The Shift Switcher actually shows some beautiful animation (that I would love to see work properly because they seem like very useful ways to look at your windows while tabbing through them) but once the initial animation is done all you see is a 3D horizon and the title of the window.

Then there’s the general stability issue. I’ve heard that GNOME has less of a problem with this than KDE does, but I actually haven’t seen much of a difference. I’ve played with compiz-fusion on both GNOME and KDE and other than having to jump through more hoops in order to get things first set up I didn’t really notice any real difference in stability, functionality, or performance, with compiz-fusion. I understand that the setup I’m using is mostly GTK, but I’m not picky. As long as it integrates well with KDE I’m not going to complain much.

Some of the more eye-candyish functionality is nice to have, and I played with it for a few minutes, but ended up disabling most of it. The Wobbly Windows plugin is neat, and it works well, but it’s not worth giving up window snapping. The Desktop Cube functionality is neat, and I’m keeping it on for now, but I don’t really see myself mouse-rotating regularly. I’m definitely more of a keyboard kinda guy. I also bound my old virtual desktop switching keys to compiz, too.

There are two bits of functionality that kwin had that I’m missing in compiz-fusion though. The first is remembering which windows go where on exit. kwin does that and does it well. It also remembers sticky. Very useful and I’d love to see it in compiz-fusion. The other is Alt-Button3 resizing. If you don’t know what I mean, just fire up KDE and hold Alt and click and drag near a corner of a window with button3. For those of you who are like me and aren’t too precise with pointing devices, this functionality is just so nice to have. It saves all sorts of hassle and time and I really miss it.

Over-all, I’m really digging compiz-fusion, and I think I’ll put up some more stuff about it as time goes on. I’ll give you my little start-compiz script (click here) which fires up compiz and then fires up emerald. Here’s a desktop file (click here) that I put in my ~/.kde/Autostart that fires off compiz-fusion when I log into KDE. I’m willing to take improvements, too, so feel free to critique.

I encourage you to try out as much of this neat stuff as you can while running your system as free as you want it to be (I strongly encourage folks to favor 3D accel cards that have Free Software driver support over those that require proprietary drivers). I’m having a great time with it. I’ll finish things up by sharing some things that I didn’t know when I first started playing with compiz-fusion in a nice bulleted list

• You don’t always need Xgl/AIGLX to use Compiz. Some of the instructions say you do, but I’ve found that compiz actually runs much better without it on my card. I think Xgl is only necessary if you have a graphics device that doesn’t support compositing extensions–like several ATIs I know don’t.
• Emerald works very well under compiz. Until kde-window-decorator works well enough, emerald will pick up the slack.
• The cube only plays well with virtual workspaces, not virtual desktops.
• The compiz configuration program has a lot of configs. They’re not always in the most obvious place, so the search functionality makes life easier.
• When you need help and you can’t find it on the wiki, check out irc.ubuntu.com/#ubuntu-effects for more help.
• GNOME folks have it easier than KDE folks when it comes to setting up compiz, but it’s not that hard… especially if you use the files I’ve given you.
• Save your documents frequently, because while compiz is still as experimental as it is now, it will crash from time to time.
• When compiz crashes, it sometimes takes X with it.
• Katapult is wonkey in compiz-fusion.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my post, and I have inspired you to try this great bit of Free Software.