Ubuntu 14.10 – Steps to Upgrade

As discussed earlier in a previous blog post, Ubuntu 14.10 is out! Finally the wait is over. Before you are going to upgrade your OS, keep in mind that 14.10 is a regular release and 14.04 is a Long Term Support release (meaning you will get security/critical updates for 5 years). So if you want the LTS to stay, don't bother updating your PC/laptop until 16.04, the next LTS version, which will be release around April, 2016. With that said, for those who always want the stability of Debian with cutting edge packages, can proceed with upgrading their OS.

Steps to Upgrade:

First update your machine. Open terminal, type the following command

sudo apt-get update

This laptop was bit outdated!

Type in the password. After completion, run

sudo apt-get upgrade

Depending upon the number of packages you have and the interval of update it can take few minutes to update your OS to latest available packages.

After this, go to “Software & Updates” click on the “Updates” tab and check the “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version:” option at the bottom. It should be set to “For any new version”.

Search for "update"

Check the last option in the "update" tab

Now go to “Software Updater” and it will notify you that a newer version of Ubuntu is available.

Search for "updater"

Wow! The wait is over!

 Click “Upgrade” and you will be presented with the release notes. Click “Upgrade” here too!

It will download the “release upgrade tool” which will take care of the remaining upgrade process.

The upgrade tool will do preliminary preparations for the upgrade and calculates the packages to update as well as size of download and approximate time to download. Ensure that you have enough time and stable Internet connection. If yours is a laptop, then don't forget to connect the charger! (But sadly, there was a power cut during my upgrade process and my modem went off. But thankfully the download started from where it was left in between!)

Click “Start Upgrade” and the packages will be downloaded. After that the required packages will be installed/upgraded and obsolete packages will be removed.

After everything is over, the upgrade tool will prompt you to restart your machine.

And after that!!!

The wallpaper looks awesome!

Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn

Only two days to go, Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn is planned to be released on 23rd October 2014. If you expect either Utopia or a Unicorn, you will be disappointed for sure. But if you expect a stable and user-friendly operating system, you will never get disappointed with Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 14.10 is a normal release (supported for 9 months), unlike 14.04, which is an LTS (Long Term Support, supported for 5 years). So, if you are running Ubuntu 14.04 and not interested in upgrading your OS for next one and half years, without losing security updates, they you should ignore these versions till Ubuntu 16.04 comes to your rescue!

A laptop running Ubuntu

Ubuntu 14.10 will pack Linux Kernel 3.16 (I am already running 3.17 through openSuse Tumbleweed!) which is well tested up to Debian standards. So you get a latest kernel without compromising stability. Linux 3.16 packs better support for Btrfs filesystem, improved performance in ARM platforms (mainly for smartphones and tablets). This will aid Ubuntu to get a better ground in mobile arena.

Sadly on UI front, neither Unity 8 nor GNOME 3.14 is coming with this version. Also the uncertainty surrounding the new Mir display server also prevails. So, if you are looking for anything new in UI/graphic area, then you have to wait a bit (or even much more) longer.

But against all odds, Ubuntu is a trusted name among PC and laptop users. Its user friendly nature and bundled software make it default choice of people who want an OS that just works! This "just works!" mantra is what Apple uses to sell their products for sky rocketing prices. But Ubuntu gives you everything for free.

DRM in Firefox?

In yet another bad move, Firefox has decided to include DRM in coming versions. First, DRM is not Digital Rights Management as claimed by its proponents but it is Digital Restriction Management used to impose restrictions on end user. So Firefox has decided to allow an option so that third parties can restrict its user. The entire Free Software community is fighting against DRM while Firefox is saying that they will include DRM to have a better voice in the forum.

How This Will Impact Firefox?

Most people using IE are using it just because it came bundled with the operating system. The same goes to Safari. Others who want a different browser install Google Chrome due to better rendering, faster loading, apps and last but not least, marketing by Google. Already Firefox's market share is falling. But still Firefox is having a good user base compared to other lesser known browsers. Who are those users? Most of Firefox's users are people who care more about freedom. They use Firefox against all odds because they feel it respects their freedom (but recent moves by Firefox paints a different picture). So the move to include DRM will repel most of the Firefox users to switch to some other browser they feel that respects their freedom.

We can Just Disable DRM?

The point that anyone who doesn't like DRM can just disable is not valid. The reason not to support DRM is not a choice but a moral obligation. So, if Mozilla stands firm and says no to DRM, then surely there will be some backlash among users against DRM. Remeber, what Wikipedia did with SOPA? Can't we do it again?

Conclusion:

Dear Firefox, stop implementing DRM before everyone abandons you. You are respected for the values that you stood by. Once people find that you have lost those values, you will be forsaken for ever!

What GnuTLS and OpenSSL Teach Us?

Recently there are lot of news about security issues in the Open Source software. GnuTLS was the first to come in light followed by OpenSSL (so called "Heartbleed" bug). Some people are completely unaware while some others (corporate slaves) use this to attack the free software movement itself, saying open source is insecure.

First, being  an open source project won't make the code superior or free of bugs automatically. Only with repeated review and testing along with highly skilled programmers, quality software can be written. So, who is going to review? Who is going to code? Most of the free software are developed by comparatively good developers and frequently reviewed by maintainers and communities. Most of them have an active base of beta testers too. So the free software are, most of the times, superior in quality compared to proprietary software.

BUT, there are many projects where the maintainers accidentally overlook a programming error, which may or may not be intentional. In such cases, there is a chance for the bug to get in to the released version. It will stay there for longer time after this phase as mostly the review will happen for new code. So, unless a biting issue shows up or someone by chance catch the bug during reviews, the bug will stay.

This is what happened with GnuTLS and OpenSSL. But there is a solution for this problem. As we discussed earlier, college students and hobby programmers can be encouraged to review, test and write code for free software projects. That will surely improve a lot. The next is, the corporates who use the free software should show some social responsibility by providing software engineers to test, review and bug fix the products they are using. OpenSSL bug was uncovered by Google's review thankfully. I know, there are smaller companies who can't do that. They can contribute by donating whatever amount of money or time or resource they have for the projects they rely upon.

Quality and safety won't come for free. Especially, in a community, it is everyone's responsibilities. But what people expect is much like, "I am a user and they are the developers". That mindset is the worst problem here. Everyone should think we are part of the free software community and whatever we create or use should benefit all of us.

By the by, for those corporate slaves, Free Software developers are resisting government pressure to create backdoors for the security agencies. But corporates gladly open doors for some money. With closed source tools, who knows how many such bugs exists? Don't think that as the source is closed, nobody can exploit it. Malicious hackers will use disassembler to do the job for them. So unavailability of source and rigid licensing will only delay or prevent identifying and fixing the issues while won't impact those who exploit the issue.

When there is a bug in the free software or open source software, it becomes news because they are rare. But millions of proprietary software bugs are exploited day in and day out without much noise because they are usual thing and even serious issues are covered up by corporate lobbies.

If you still feel that free software are inferior in quality, then it is time to do something to change it instead of sitting and complaining.

Talk is cheap. Show me the code. -Linus Torvalds

What Recent Changes in Microsoft Mean?

What do the following statements mean?

• Microsoft to give Windows OS free to Indian Phone Manufacturers

• Microsoft to give Windows OS free for phones and small tablets

• Microsoft to give Windows OS free for laptop OEMs

• Microsoft to give Windows OS for "Internet of Things" for free

• Microsoft open sources large portion of .NET

Let me share my opinions on each of the above statements here.

Note: People are so confused with the terms free software, open source and freeware. If you are one such person, please read this post for clarity!

Microsoft to give Windows OS free to Indian Phone Manufacturers

Microsoft wanted some Indian phone manufacturers to make cheap Windows mobiles so that they can compete in low-end market. But who will be able to pay around Rs. 1,200 extra for every phone to get the license of the OS when a costless alternative is available? This is the reason Google made Android available for free of cost. As Android is free of cost, most phone manufacturers adapted it to their phones and now Android is the clear market leader. Now Goolgle is earning through ads, app purchases, by selling songs/books/movies etc.

Windows thought that the same tactic that worked on PCs of desktop era will also work on mobiles of smartphone era. But their market share was (and is) so pathetic that at one point they earned more from Android phones than Windows phones. Very few people are developing Windows phone apps. People in developing nations are buying cheaper alternatives. So they tried their best to push their OS to the world's second largest developing market with their Microsoft tax. But the Indian companies rejected Microsoft's offer until they were down on their knees and accepted to give the OS without licensing fee. The funniest part is, even Nokia can't get Windows for free. Why Microsoft did this? Are the Indian companies so clever to bargain and strike such deal? I think no! The Indian companies are the reality that every other company is going to end with. With increasing demand for higher hardware specs in a lower price range, sooner or later, companies should let go the unwanted load of paying for OS. So, it is much like Indian companies telling Microsoft what reality is and Microsoft accepting it without any other option left!

Microsoft to give Windows OS free for phones and small tablets

The previous happened by February/March 2014. As noted, all companies, no matter how big they are will follow the Indian manufacturers in opting for a free of cost operating system to cut cost and stay competitive in the market. So Microsoft can't tax every phone produced and expect their market share to grow or even sustain. It is just Microsoft realizing the truth again. But here is a catch. Microsoft will charge tablets with screens larger than 9 inches. So, it is much like, they will give the OS for free to smaller devices and increase their market share and bring more people to develop their apps, while on the other side, they will gradually start charging license fee. Once a market monopoly is attained (that will never happen!), they will charge the fee in full swing and from everyone. Remember, they are giving it for free of cost, but the source is still closed. So for everything like updates/upgrades/bug-fixes/optimization/customization etc, the companies need to depend upon Microsoft as the code is not open.

Microsoft to give Windows OS free for laptop OEMs

Now Microsoft is also considering a free of cost version of Windows for laptops so that laptop manufacturers can bundle them without paying the fee. Again, this is a honey trap to trick many users to buy laptops running crippled version of Windows. If they want a better version, they should pay. They may restrict the number of applications that can run at same time.They may not provide options to do critical administrative tasks in Control Panel etc. And if a user wants that, Microsoft will ask them to pay for a professional or ultimate edition.

Microsoft to give Windows OS for "Internet of Things" for free

Nobody can imagine an OS that runs on every electronic/electrical equipment around you as a paid software. If you have to buy a bulb or coffee maker running Windows (or any other OS that has license fee) the cost will be doubled or tripled or quadrupled due to the cost of license fee. So a paid OS for Internet of Things will never work. If that is the case, the manufacturers will come up with their own Linux based or BSD based or home grown solutions. And mark my word, the Internet of Things OS will most probably be open sourced. Unless it is open sourced it can't be modified and adapted to everything around you from your bike to bulb and your AC to mosquito repellent. Only exception will be Apple, who will still insist that their hardware and software are unique and that will drive the last nail on their coffin.

Microsoft open sources large portion of .NET

Microsoft has open sourced lot of .NET projects under an unbrella .NET Foundation. Mostly they will be released under Apache 2.0 license which is FSF approved and GPL v3 compatible. So this from the same company that called Linux a cancer and took extreme measures like secure boot to lock laptops and not allowing users to install other operating systems. Why? I think the major reason is, they can't maintain the crappy code their highly paid and poorly skilled developers are making. So they are releasing the code to public so that they can just oversee the activities while hobby programmers and others like college students, freelance programmers etc can take up review, bug reporting, fixing and enhancements. So I feel the motive behind open sourcing too is selfishness. Let us see how things unfold in the long run.

Conclusion:

Microsoft, like Apple and Google is a corporate that tries to become a monopoly in digital world. Apple and Google are also known to release some software code as open source but still their activities prove time and again that their intention is to keep people without any real freedom. Android, Chrome, Darwin, Webkit etc are open sourced not to benefit the public. There are two reasons. Either these software are lifted from existing open source software or their nature itself forces the source to released, without which, development/maintenance becomes costly and problematic. Now Microsoft has joined them. It may be the new CEO or the dying industry! They have taken a 180 degree turn. But the real freedom loving people should try their best to ignore these gimmicks and go ahead with truly free (as in freedom) and open software.

References:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer/

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/microsoft-to-stop-linux-older-windows-from-running-on-windows-8-pcs/9589

http://wind8apps.com/windows-free-phones-small-tablets-iot-devices/

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-open-sources-more-of-its-net-technologies-7000028031/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Microsoft-offers-Windows-Phone-OS-free-to-Indian-players/articleshow/31924651.cms

http://www.osnews.com/story/24800/Microsoft_Earns_More_from_Android_than_Windows_Phone_7

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/03/microsoft-launches-net-foundation-to-foster-the-net-open-source-ecosystem/

http://searchengineland.com/battle-for-books-evil-google-versus-the-altruistic-open-content-alliance-10115

How to Download An Entire Website?

Sometimes, we like to have an entire site or part of it archived in our disk so that we can read it even without Internet connection. But how to do it? Here are two easy to use tools that does the trick.

1. wget:

"wget" is a simple yet powerful command line tool. As usual it is a free software that respects your freedom as well as gives you the freedom to read a site even without a working Internet connection. This tool is available by default in almost all GNU/Linux distributions. It has lot of options. You can use it to download a single file or a web page. You can also download recursively, i.e. a page and all the links in that page. You can choose to download pictures, style sheets, JavaScript files. You can choose the domains from which the files can be downloaded (by this, you can skip unwanted ads getting downloaded).

I am giving here a sample of wget script using which you can download this site.

wget --recursive --timestamping --span-hosts --page-requisites --adjust-extension --convert-links --domains=blogspot.in,bp.blogspot.com --no-parent techmusicnmore.blogspot.in

Let us see the options one by one

--recursive

This tells wget to download a page and all the links in the page recursively. Us it with caution as some sites have many levels of links and you may end up downloading lot of data. You may need to specify the depth using --level=n option to restrict downloads after a 'n' layers of depth.

--timestamping

This is a clever option that downloads a file only if a newer version is available. For example, if you have downloaded a site already or canceled it in between, then you can restart it without worrying about wasting your bandwidth to re-download all the files. This option will make wget to download only non-existing files and re-download only outdated files.

--span-hosts

This tell that wget to look in to other servers if needed. As our blog's images are stored in other domain(s), we need to give this option. But be informed that this may cause you to download the entire Internet!!! So you can restrict the domains by white-listing them using --domains option or black-listing them using --exclude-domains option.

--domains=server1,server2

As discussed in previous option, this option is used to restrict the downloads to just the domains specified in the comma separated list.

--page-requisites

This option is to download all the artifacts required to display a page properly. That is to download images, scripts, css etc.

--adjust-extension

This option cleverly converts the file extensions of pages to html if they are not so by default. Some sites will have other namings like .jsp or .gsp. In such cases too, the files will be converted to .htm(l) extension.

--convert-links

This option is used to convert all the links in the pages to point to local location. Without this, all pages will be downloaded. But the links will still point to the actual website.

--no-parent

To tell wget that it should download ONLY the links/files below the given URL. It will not allow the parents of current link to be downloaded. For example, you have a web page with links to all articles written by a particular author. If you use wget without this option, then all the pages including home page, about us etc will be downloaded. With this option, only the pages written by that author will be downloaded.

wget in action; downloading this blog ;-)

These are not the only way to do the things. You can do lot of things with wget. There are some websites which will prevent automatic downloads like this. You can cheat them by acting like a real user by hitting the server with some time intervals and masquerading that the requests are from real browser.  For that you may need to go through the manual. The link is given below.

wget manual: https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/manual/wget.html

2. Httrack

If you are not running GNU/Linux, my first advice is to switch your OS. If you can't or you need a GUI based alternate to wget even in GNU/Linux, here is Httrack. This has all the options as in wget and lot more. But it has some other options that wget doesn't. That is mainly because, wget is developed for general reasons, while Httrack is specifically developed for website archiving and crawling. So it has a slight edge over wget.

This awesome tool is available for Windows, OSX, Android and of course GNU/Linux and BSD platforms. It is a free software released under GPLv3. So have no guilt in using it. If you are a GNU/Linux user, then download the source package using wget and compile it locally for extra fun!

You can get Httrack from here: http://www.httrack.com/
Httrack for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.httrack.android
Httrack manual: http://www.httrack.com/html/index.html

5 Resons to Use a Free Operationg System

1. Freedom and Free of Cost

With Free Software, you get freedom. That is what the "Free" in Free Software means. But for our people, who are brainwashed by corporate media, free also means for no cost. The good news is, most free operating systems also come for free of cost too. Don't come with vile excuses like you have a pirated copy of Windows or you got it bundled with your machine. Former is silly and later is stupid. It is silly to steal a product when a better product is available freely and it is stupid to claim that you got Windows free of cost with your machine, while you have paid for it through "Microsoft tax". Also you can be sure that no NSA agent is offered a backdoor in your machine. If you doubt it, look in to the source for yourself!

2. Secure

Free operating systems like GNU/Linux and BSD are more secure. There are only few know viruses exist for these platforms and they are also controlled currently. Unless you are foolish enough to reveal your password or keep a password that can be easily guessed or fooled to install a malware, you are almost safe. Even though I will suggest you to have a Free Software anti-virus program like Clam-AV to prevent propagating virus unknowingly to other platforms and any new threat.

3. All in One

When you install Windows, you have to install all drivers and other software separately. And some of them are costly too. It is time consuming to keep all of the installed software up to date. You have to check the software's website regularly and download the latest version and install them. With the software repository concept, (which was there as far back as I remember) Free operating systems allow you to install and maintain all software in one place. Also you can find free software alternate for almost all tools you like. When a new version of your favorite browser or media player is released, your system update itself will update them too. Isn't that easy?

4. Choice of UI

Don't like the Aero UI? You can switch to the Classic UI. Or you can console yourself by changing the color themes. These are the few options available with Windows. With the Free operating systems, you can have wide varieties like GNOME, KDE, MATE, Xfce, LXDE, Enlightenment, Cinnamon and I can't list them all here! You have that many choices. You can install whatever you want or you can install multiple desktop environments in a single system and switch between them in login screen. You can choose not to install any UI and use in CLI mode. This will suit servers and workstation for hardcore geeks like Torvalds or Stallman.

5. No Fragmentation

If you have used Windows for a good amount of time, then you should have noticed that the system slows with time. Why? This is due to file fragmentation. That is, files are stored scattered along the disk and the hard disk head has to move back and forth to read a sequence of data, say an audio or video file. This will also reduce the life of your hard disk. Windows comes with a defragmentor tool. But that too has lot of limitation. But free operating systems come with cutting edge journaled file systems which don't fragment with time. Even if they do very rarely, you can just copy the files to some other partition and copy them back. But I have never came across such situation.

Time to Change

Windows XP's support is going to end this April. So if you are running Windows XP, it is time to go free. Free as in freedom. Here is a list of OS you can choose to get rid of the buggy, insecure XP platform.

1. aLinux

You won't feel that you have changed your OS apart from performance improvemnts, being virus free and less buggy. aLinux comes with KDE 3.5, Koffice(MS office replacement), GIMP(like Photoshop), mp3/divx/flash support, Clam-AV antivirus etc.

Get yours at http://alinux.tv

2. Lubuntu

So, this distro's look and feel is much like XP. It consumes less resources and feels great on old hardware. It comes with Abi Word, MTPaint, Xfburn (cd/dvd burning), Sylpheed (like Outlook). With 256 MB RAM, you get a perfectly working system.

More info: http://lubuntu.net

3. PC-BSD with Xfce

Ok, it may be boaring with too much Linux. Say hi to BSD with PC-BSD. Xfce gives you a classic XP like interface. AppCafe gives easy access for all packages you need and you will love its clean UI.

Check this out: http://www.pcbsd.org

4. Manjaro

Still in beta, from the house of Arch, Manjaro ives you rolling release with a wide choices of desktop environments. I suggest MATE desktop, which is both modern and traditional simultaneously. Manjaro comes with out of the box multimedia support and good hardware driver support. Only downside is, it needs bit powerful hardware.

Get your copy at: http://manjaro.org

5. Bodhi

”Enlightenment” comes here. You need 128MB RAM to run this distro. I won't say it has all tools you need, but it will meet your expectation. The lightweight UI looks so polished and you can fool your friends that yours is a latest PC with a latest OS ;-)

You can negate your bad karma here: http://www.bodhilinux.com/

Top 10 Distros

Well, I have been using Free Software based distributions from 2004 (that was when I got my first own PC). I have come across many distributions. Now, I will share 10 of the best distributions I recommend people and their target audience. The list is sort of a count-down. So let us start with 10.

10. PC-BSD

BSD is not Linux. It is a UNIX clone too. Its file system, partition management, working differs greatly from Linux based distros. But this is a very solid platform and provides a secure and robust system suitable for servers and research and development labs. If you are freaky enough, you can try to install it as a dual booting system along with a GNU/Linux system.

9. Puppy Linux

Do you have a very old PC? Or have you managed to assemble a PC from junkyard? Here is a distro that can fire it up to life. Puppy Linux requires very less memory and other requirements. Of course it lacks fancy GUI and powerful tools like office applications. But it works like charm in very old hardware. Puppy is derived from Ubuntu.

8. Lubuntu

This LXDE flavor of Ubuntu is Puppy Linux for bit newer hardware. Also this packs good driver support and adds option to install latest and greatest packages. So if you have a 10 years old PC and want it to perform fast like a new one, Lubuntu is for you.

7. Gentoo

For those who doubt pre-compiled binaries in repositories, Gentoo is the answer. If you have enough time and powerful hardware, you can do the entire compilation of your GNU/Linux system right on your machine. You may find the installation bit tough. But it is rewarding. You never need to upgrade the system. You only need to update it. This is called rolling release. Compared to Fedora in which you need to upgrade frequently, this is relatively simple. Suitable for BASHers. So install once and forget how to install. You can still complain that the stage-3 tarballs are tainted by NSA ;-)

6. Arch Linux

This is the one for those who are not afraid of command line interface. You have to set up this distro by executing commands. No GUI based installation.This is much like Gentoo minus compilation. Arch is awesome and has a very good community to support. If you search for generic Linux issues, Arch wiki is where you land.

5. Ubuntu/Linux Mint

These are derivatives of Debian. Mint comes with Mate desktop environment for those who hate GNOME 3 and Ubuntu comes with Unity interface. These distros ship with lot of proprietary drivers. The reason I recommend them is because they are suitable for lazy people who just want everything working out of the box. Especially if you have laptops with locked hardware, this will work out in most cases. But the better suggestion is to choose a more open hardware and go for a better distribution.

4. CentOS

CentOS is community supported clone of RedHat Linux. This is one of the most stable and well tested distro. But it lags a lot in terms of package versions. For example, current version of CentOS (as of 26th Feb, 2014) ships with 2.6.x kernel, while a uname -r in my machine spat out 3.13.3. But this has its own plus. All packages are well tested. Almost all bugs fixed and most drivers for bit older hardware are readily available. This makes it suitable for servers and workstations. Also this distro as of now lacks fancy desktop environments. So it uses less resources and perform well.

3. OpenSUSE

OpenSUSE is community edition of SUSE from Novell. Made in Germany. IT has good driver support and an active community to help you out. If you can switch to Tumbleweed channel, you can get a taste of rolling release like that of Arch. Yast makes the system management easy. So this is the distro suitable for home PCs with good hardware configurations. It ships with awesome desktop environments like KDE 4 and GNOME 3. Everything you need in one place!

2. Fedora

This the future version of Red Hat. What is today Fedora will become Red Hat one day. It is one of the most bleeding edge distro. This makes it a bit hard to use for people with proprietary hardware. As the kernel and other stuffs are constantly updated, it may impact the system sometimes. Mostly the stable releases won't have any problem. But don't ask me about why x or y is not working after an update. This is suitable for power users with good open hardware (without proprietary graphic cards, wi-fi chips, web cams etc).

1. BLAG/Dragora/Dynebolic/gNewSense/Musix/Parabola/Trisquel

These are all Free Software Foundation (FSF)  approved distros. They may lack some drivers, no flash,  they can't play mp3s. These are not so fancy and these are not meant for kids playing flash games or adults watching porn. But if you care about freedom, these are the distributions you should run. Especially gNewSense is the distribution that Dr. Richard Stallman himself runs. You can find more information about these distributions at http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html

Site Suggestions for Techies

Here I will give few site suggestions for those who have interest in technology and computers. These are my personal suggestions as of now. The list may change/evolve with time :)

So I will give 2 tech news sites, 2 tech message feed sites, 2 tech forums, 2 tech fun stuff sites and 2 tech political sites.

1. Ars Technica

The site has a title that reminds us the famous Greek phrase "Ars longa, vita brevis" meaning, "Art is long, life is short". The site gives various RSS feeds covering various topics. The site has a good look and it is easy to get what you want.

URL: http://arstechnica.com/

2. Tech Crunch

This is one of the sites that fuels my tech quest on daily basis. Their way of covering things often resemble conventional media. But still, they live up to the name. New time-line like interface is cool.

URL: http://techcrunch.com/

3. Slashdot

This is one of the best tech blog feed site. The main attraction of the site is not the content but the comments by the user community. They are very informative with a touch of wit that is typical to nerds. The site's recent takeover by Dice Holdings and major change in interface (in beta mode) is receiving lot of negative criticism. Some people are moving to Soylent News, which is much like classic Slashdot. But still, Slashdot worth mention.

URL: http://slashdot.org/
For those who like classic version: http://soylentnews.org/

4. Hacker News

This is run by a geek from India, Mohit Kumar. The site reports news that others try to silence. The site's feed UI is very simple and easy to use. You can subscribe to its feed to get updates right on your browser too...

URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/

5. Stack Exchange

The largest democratic QA forum. It has lot of "sub-sites" which many of us assume separate sites. For example, Ask Ubuntu, Super User, Stack Overflow etc are from Stack Exchange family. So this is much like one point access for all your tech forums.

URL: http://stackexchange.com/

6. Linux Questions

This site specializes in addressing your questions about Linux. This site has a very active community that will help you readily with their technical expertise. They also send daily and weekly digests to your mail, so that you can get an outlook on what is going on.

URL: http://www.linuxquestions.org/

7. XKCD

The ultimate fun for all techies. If you show some of these cartoons to non-technical people, they will find them uninteresting at best and meaningless at worst. But for us, this site gives a relaxing fun filled pastime.

URL: http://xkcd.com/

8. The Joy of Tech

This is for those who don't like the monochromatic stick people of XKCD, The Joy of Tech provides colorful, life like cartoons but with good wit weaved together.

URL: http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/

9. Richard Stallman's Political Notes

This is a daily update feed of political articles compiled by The Father of Free Software Movement, Dr. Richard Stallman himself. Though the site have frequent links about American politics, those links are equally valid for anyone living under globalized/privatized market. The site lacks any fancy interface. But the stuff matters a lot more.

URL: http://stallman.org/archives/polnotes.html

10. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

This site covers political activism and technological battles happening around the world. They are non-profit organization that fights legal battles against corporate monopolies and bending of law by the rich.

URL: https://www.eff.org/

Ability vs Morality

Recently, I was in to some arguments with Apple/Microsoft fanboys. As usual, a lone GNU/Linux defender, I was made to fight my own way out. But just one simple argument brought them down. So, I feel, this argument is worth sharing so that similarly trapped freedom-freaks can use it... The argument is none other than FREEDOM and CHOICE!!! ;-)

The points put forward by Apple/Microsoft fanboys include, ease of use, eye-candy, availability of third party apps, more number of games, media, powerful hardware and GUI based tools etc.

Though we can counter the arguments in every front, there is no much room in such arguments when the opposition is deaf to whatever you claim. For example, I quoted that top ten of TOP500 run GNU/Linux (ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOP500). But the problem is they are not aware of TOP500! Likewise, they have many misconceptions like GNU/Linux = bash. They never heard about Gnome, KDE etc. So let us waste no time in explaining them the more technical aspects of our choice for GNU/Linux. Let us attack them for lack of freedom compared to GNU/Linux. Freedom is the cornerstone of the entire GNU/Linux/BSD Free and Open Source Software movement (FOSS). It is not about money or ease of use or anything else.

Consider this example. Once there lived two archers. One of them is better at shooting arrows than the another. But the better one worked for gang of robbers while the other chose to work for the local scout troop. One day the situation made both of them to face each other. The one that was better skilled killed 3 of the men in scout troop, including the lesser skilled archer. But at last, few other men from the scout troop managed to thwart the robbery and killed/chased the gang members. Ultimately, the 3 who sacrificed their life for the public good were celebrated and remembered real heroes, not the one who was able to kill 3 of the opponents within seconds.

Yes! It is more paying to be in the gang of robbers. And there are some cult like following for evil people like Hitler or Osama, while good people who dared to sacrifice their life for sake of others left unnoticed. How many of you can tell the name of American soldier who shot Osama without Googling? Strictly speaking the one who had more talent ended up in the apt place where his skills are valued, recognized and can be materialized as monetary gains. Survival of the fittest, right? WRONG! This type of silly arguments can be used to justify anything from  petty theft to inhumane crimes like rape or murder. Imagine this "I can beat and tie you up and steal your money! Survival of the fittest!!" Is that acceptable?

Similarly, technical people should also have some sort of ethics and responsibility towards the tech-community at worst and public at best. It is out of moral responsibility that we should be supporting Free software/Open source movements. We should choose to be a scout even if we get paid lesser and get lesser visibility. If a doctor claims to have invented cure for cancer by mixing existing pain killer and vitamins (neither of them is invented by him), but patents the same that, anyone who produces or uses the medicine should lick his boots, won't you protest? The same is happening everywhere in the so called "tech giants". That is the exact same reason why death of Dennis Ritchie, who made C programming language and co-invented Unix, is ignored entirely while Steve Jobs, mixed up existing technologies in to a cotton candy for kids, is canonized as "Patron saint of Technology"!

So, it is very bad to just consider the mere profit or benefits, while ignoring the impact in entirety. The locked nature of Microsoft and Apple is causing more harm than good. How much money is wasted in buying laptops where you are forced to pay for a licence of Windows even if you are NEVER going to use it? What about your inability to replace a battery in iPhone? You can't install what you want even after "buying" both the hardware and software?!? Even if you are selling your freedom, they should be paying you! But where in the world and what type of fool will pay for selling his own freedom! If you don't realize what you are missing in Apple/Microsoft products but you can quickly point out that there is something missing here and there in GNU/Linux or BSD, then you are just like saying "I am content with this prison. It is more safe, guarded by police, and I get food on time without doing any hard labor and the cell is painted in the way I wanted"