Fedora 10

Yes, I've finally set aside some time to test Fedora 10. I've played with it for a couple of hours only (install + first run) and I have to say I'm impressed. The desktop I'm using is Gnome, which I find simple, efficient, and uncluttered, although sometimes short of customisation options. Well, that's that the command line's for anyway...

I'm going off-topic. Back to Fedora 10, the boot/start up time is impressive, I can't tell you the exact number of seconds, but it makes Ubuntu feel like a tortoise in comparison. Looks neat, works fast, very good software selection even if you don't customise it (I went for the default + development packages).

Anything bad? I wish I could have more control over which repositories to use in order to add and update the software. I've been spoiled by Debian, Ubuntu and their derivatives, yes... And perhaps a tool like the restricted drivers utility/install wizard, like the one Ubuntu includes, would make things easier.

Otherwise and so far, superb distro. I just wish it had tools to make my life easier in terms of optimisation, as I mentioned in the previous two paragraphs. I don't think I'll have enough time for another post on Fedora 10 anytime soon, but if you have the time and you like to try something different than the Ubuntu crowd of distros, have a look at Fedora. It's worth your time, in my opinion.

Linux on USB flash drives

I've been having a blast testing a couple of Linux distributions, but this time using 1 or 2 GB USB flash drives instead of burning a bunch of CDs that end up in the waste basket... Plus booting from a USB drive is much faster than doing so from a CD or DVD.

The tools you need:

1. UNetbootin
2. the ISO image of your distribution of choice

True, if you have broadband or you could let UNetbootin download it (#2) for you, but I'd recommend you to check if there's a fast(er) server than the preset servers of UNetbootin.

A last piece of advice: try to stick to the "Default" boot option of the UNetbootin boot loader. Trying a couple of distros with other options messed things up and the distro couldn't finish booting. Had to restart (CTRL+ALT+DEL) and try the default option.

Another valuable source is http://www.pendrivelinux.com/ ; do check it out if you want to learn more about putting Linux on pen/flash/usb drives! ;-)

New to Mac OS X

At work I've been exposed to Macs, so I've had to learn how to use them.

The purpose of this post isn't to review or criticise the platform or the OS, but to help you if you're new to Apple Macs and OS X, like I once was.

Hope you will find these links useful. I was trying to find Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" resources, but there are links to Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" as well.

(videos)

• http://www.vtc.com/online-tutorials/Mac-OS-X-10.4-Tiger-tutorials.htm
• http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/osx_tiger_orientation
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGVHKl0CCCE
• http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

(tutorials, text+images)

• http://www.apple.com/support/osfamily/ (support for Apple's Operating Systems & software - main link)
• http://www.apple.com/support/leopard/ (everything that Apple as for the 'Leopard' 10.5 system is here)
• http://www.apple.com/support/tiger/ (everything that Apple as for the 'Tiger' 10.4 system is here)
• http://www.inspectmygadget.com/2007/08/21/mac-os-x-taming-the-tiger-a-guide-for-beginners-part-1/
• http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/ (this tutorial shows the newest system 'Leopard', very similar to 'Tiger' - there will be minor differences, though)
• http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_Beginner's_Guide (collection of links)
• http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2477 (some essential info. on the system)
• http://osxhelp.com/ (more tutorials)