Loud ramblings of a Software Artisan

Not so hot news, but Atheros finally released the HAL source code under a Free Software license. Given that they always claimed it was because of the FCC, I now wonder where that argument will stand now.

Update: it appears that it is not the ath_hal source code. (source) As I understand it, it is the same source code that make ath_hal in MadWifi. This means that we can get a really Free Software madwifi. Apparently the ath5k authors are already using it to fix issues with the in-kernel driver.

Kudos to Atheros, you did the right thing.

I arrived yesterday in Paris. I'll be there for a little bit more than a week, on vacation. I have been told that their will be a beer BOF with local GNOME people :-)

Dear lazyweb,

I have this EEE PC 2GB, and I'd like to install something I can be productive with, not the clunky s*** that come with it^[1].

So far I tried the following:

• Mandriva Flash: would be good, but the Live flash from GUADEC does not install on the 2GB model as it needs more space. *sigh* FAIL
• openSUSE 11.0: installed from the DVD after reducing the packages and end up with a non-functionnal system: YaST does not start, no wifi^[2], no Ethernet, etc. Gotta have to debug it and fix it. FAIL
• EEE-Ubuntu Ubuntu-EEE: I don't like their statement bashing open solutions. Sorry guys I use Linux for the freedom. Anyway it seems to not like to be installed on 2GB either. FAIL
• EEEdora: the long list of hacks did deter me.
• Debian: they upstream broke the kernel. Not a good sign idea.

So what else?

I'm not installing on an external SD card as I want to keep that for useful removable storage

Thanks.

Update: I got ahold of an iso for EEEdora from this howto. It did install almost without glitch (I actually had to make a symlink for the live CD to find the DVD drive, go figure). Did install but I get a functional but akward system without login and without a proper user (it can't even sudo), where either logout or reboot do an actual shutdown.

Update 2: it is Ubuntu-EEE I tried not EEE-Ubuntu. How confusing!

Update 3: kernel is broken in upstream no Debian.

Google get a Fail for their comic strip to present Chrome. It is simply unreadable on a computer screen because it is formatted to be in portrait orientation like in a paper book and not in landscape orientation like on a computer screen.

And the Reg has parodies, because not everything is a rant. :-)