To preface, there have been times in the last year where I have been very close to pitching my Linux desktop operating system over issues that seem to reveal that it just does not have the stability, reliability or “usability” that an average person needs.  Like when a home computer is malfunctioning, or I’m trying to support a family member’s new system and issues keep coming up I have been tempted to toss the system and move back to Windows, primarily to simplify things and create an environment where the variables are less dependent upon me.

I’ll add a couple of caveats to the paragraph above.  Linux is very customizable, which is a great strength of it, but also is dangerous.  It is easy to delve into configurations that are open which should be left alone; in a Microsoft or Apple environment those doors are sealed shut for the most part.  Another issue is that I update a lot.  Almost everyday.  I should be more patient– it’s a bad habit.

Overall the last six months has actually strengthened my resolve to stick with the OSS community, and especially their operating system.  My OS of choice is OpenSUSE, and I have found that the forum members have been sincere, jovial and compassionate.  It is worth sticking with the Linux system if for nothing else than the community.

Here is a log of some issues I’ve allowed to build up in my system, and how I went about solving them.

Hibernation Mode broken

My hibernate splash screen has been “command line” instead of a graphical splash screen.  So I began following this bug and this page.  Eventually by adding a development build of splashy and adding some custom code I got a fix.

I found you could adjust settings here /etc/suspend.conf to:

## use splash picture? (default y)
splash = y

Since then the standard repositories have updated, and I think for the most part this is fixed.  I have also found some splashy configuration files here: /etc/splashy/ and usr/share/splashy/themes/.

LibreOffice won’t load because of Java issue

I began having an issue whenever I would try to launch LibreOffice.  The error would state: javaldx failed! Warning: failed to read path from javaldx.

I knew this had something to do with Java, and thought perhaps it was a Java 1.6 vs 1.7 issue.  Earlier this year I was finding that LibreOffice would have issues when I installed the new Java application on Windows computers, I think this is fixed now.  But no Java upgrades or downgrades would help.  Currently I use Java 1.6 OpenJDK which I’m happy with, except for the occational propritary webap which requires Oracle’s version, rather than the opensource OpenJDK version– see here for the news of the removal of Oracle pulling back their free licence earlier this year.

Finally this was a very basic fix.  I simply changed the permissions of my ~/.libreoffice directory to 766 in Terminal and LibreOffice worked!  Then I realized that I had recreated my user profile, and this is when I began having trouble.

Next time I create, copy or attempt to duplicate a username I need to make sure I adjust all the directory permissions.

Private XMPP server on kde?

I would like to use a kde client with a private xmpp server like OpenFire, but I haven’t had luck with kopete or telepathy, spark and pidgin work for me though.  I used to use Kopete entirely on my KDE desktop, but now have reverted to using Pidgin which I haven’t used for a long time.

There is a KDE Bug out there which seems to be getting no love.  I would love to see a patch for this… but fix in sight yet.

Discombobulated Font Rendering

After installing quite a few updates on a system my font rendering was entirely messed up.  This was at a point when the unstable kde-telepathy presence module really messed up my system, and I had to delete and restart my ~/.kde4 directory.  I reinstalled fonts, and the freetype2-devel package (which is REALLY, REALLY great), and fetchmsttfonts (or msttcorefonts in some systems).  Still no help.

I then realized I had not readjusted my KDE Font Settings.  So then I went in and enable anti-aliasing, and then configured the rest of it.  I still had issues. I rebooted, tried different profiles, still no fix.  But my other Linux computers were fine, and the issue was especially related to Google Fonts on a particular website which now looked really ugly.

Finally today I found the issue.  I had not configured my anti-alias font setting correctly, or I had gone overboard.  I had selected an “excluded range.”  Taking this off, and keeping sub-pixel rendering to RGB, and hinting style to Medium I had a beautiful desktop once again!

By the way, if you have not taken advantage of freetype 2.4, please do, it makes for a shiny, clear looking graphical interface.  Also, upgrading graphics cards and adding DVI cables where ever possible lately has also made a huge difference!

OpenSUSE 12.1 (32-bit)
Linux 3.1.0
KDE 4.7.3

AMD Athlon II X2 processor
4GB RAM (3.68GB available)
ATI Radeon 4350

I primarily had three issues:

Proprietary ATI driver

NTFS fstab entry which caused boot failure until I commented it out.  Since then I’ve added it back, so I’m not sure what the issue was.

ALSA dropped my audio settings, adding back my user to audio group fixed it.

Other than that it is a beautiful system!

desktop screenshot

UPDATE:
There was, in my opinion, a strange change to the login window (KDM) in the 12.1 release.  There is no graphical way to select users, you have to know their username and type it in manually.  To fix this, here is a link to change the settings:
http://forums.opensuse.org/blogs/jdmcdaniel3/opensuse-12-1-suse-kdm-login-screen-user-listing-80/

First I booted off a Linux LiveCD– PartitionMagic 3.6. I created a 65GB NTFS partition and left the rest of my 150GB unallocated.

I booted off a WinXP disc and installed into the first NTFS partion.

Then I booted off OpenSUSE 11.4 DVD and installed my Linux desktop on the unallocated portion, formatting it in EXT4 format. I saw the installer identified by windows partition and chose to leave it alone, and I chose to boot off my MBR as the only customization.

This gave me a GRUB menu with OpenSUSE and Windows both as options automatically!

I then upgraded Windows XP to 7, which wiped out my GRUB. So I booted off my OpenSUSE DVD and chose “Upgrade” which I don’t believe really did anything except reinstall GRUB. After a reboot I was backbone business with my boot menu displaying OpenSUSE Linux as the default, a “Failsafe” Linux option, and then Windows.

So far it has been great! From within Linux I can also access my Windows partition and so I created a link to my user directory to be able to easily share items. I’m not sure if I can do the same from within Windows and mount my EXT4 /home drive…

I’m currently exploring how I can sync apps within the two OSs. For the first time I’ve used Firefox Sync and it seems to to the job between using browsers in both systems, although thy was probably not the top reason it was designed.

I’ve been very impressed all along with the amiable attitude eminating from the LibreOffice developers toward Oracle, despite the obvious philosophical split and project splintering.

Currently I feel that the incubation and soon “re-hatching” of the OpenOffice.org project under Apache creates the opportunity for a great new dynamic within the FLOSS world! The supposition seems to have been that OpenOffice.org has just stagnated, and will only continue to do so under the Apache license. I can’t speak to that or how future creative development may happen within the milieu of Apache. However a the catalyst of competition within FLOSS is rare, and we may see it’s birth here. That is exciting for me.

To start with I have included the subpixel repository which improves the look and other restricted drivers.

The “gnome-tweak-tool” was an essential add-on to adjust the environment. I’m still confused why it is not added by default, as the Gnome2 Appearance tool is always a default package.  I needed to add the Adwaita theme separately from OpenSUSE repos, which then helped the default and ugly interface.  But since then I’ve switched to Sonar which I prefer because the window decoration is smaller.  I’m currently using the Tango icon theme.

I finally figured out two shortcuts that made a world of difference. Like a Mac ALT-TAB changes your apps in a workspace, not your windows. This makes a big difference when wanting to switch between Firefox or LibreOffice windows. The typical shortcut I’ve always used for years doesn’t help. For awhile I limped a long using a combination of ALT-TAB and my mouse to hover over submenus that appeared to navigate to the window I wanted. Finally I realized last week that, like Mac, ALT-~ toggles between windows within the same app! This is an immense help.

The other issue was shutting down or rebooting my computer. There just did not seem to be any option available for it! The User Status menu in the top right corner is where I thought it should be, and I really like the menu– but it’s total functionally has puzzled me as the shutdown and reboot options are not present.

The “Super” or Windows-Start button opens the shell application browser.  I’m used to using Gnome-Do, but this shortcut and interface has begun to replace my use of Gnome-Do so far.  But I still summon it when I need to get to an OpenSUSE-specific app or YAST2 module, such as my Repositories list.

Just today I have found that there are a number of Gnome Shell extensions available in the GNOME-3 repository, this is a great help!  I started by installing them all, which then kept crashing shell.  So after removing a few I’m able to use it again.  I think “gnome-shell-extension-user-theme” is the one that has made it crash, but I’m not positive.  The “gnome-shell-extension-alt-status-menu” has given me my “Power Off…” option to my User Status Menu again!

I’ve also found this post (GNOME-Shell Extension: YaST (item in) Status Menu), which I will attempt to add.  YAST2 certainly needs to be integrated with the Gnome 3 Shell to keep pace with where Gnome is at.  Try downloading it directly here:

LibreOffice 3.3 with Oxygen icon theme

The last few months have bred numerous ideas that creatively rearrange the layout of LibreOffice– especially the Writer application module.  See some examples here:

by usrnametaken at DeviantArt

by usrnametaken at DeviantArt

by pauloup at DeviantArt

by clickortap

These prototype designs show a promising future and a sleek user interface if the developers on The Document Foundation indeed pay attention and latch on to one of these ideas. However another possibility would be a downstream submission which would provide an alternative interface for users of a particular Linux distribution–I’m thinking of Ubuntu’s Canonical here (although I personally think Scribus would be a better use of their time).

In my opinion these designs each demonstrate that an eye-pleasing layer could be placed over the existing suite of applications and offer a user a sense that they are working in a 21st century program and aesthetically compete with Microsoft and Apple a little more directly. But there is another, more compelling reason for this to be considered. To offer innovation within the GUI (emphasis on USER) would be a benefit not simply because everyone else is doing it, but because it fits exactly in-line with the philosophy of free software, if done right.

Commercial software companies spend an enormous amount of money on interfaces focused on end-user studies, ergonomics, usability and intuitive design.  In fact it would seem sometimes that new versions of these commercial programs update the graphical design more than the actual features or capabilities of the software. The Document Foundation now has a 40.000 € budget and growing. Even this is a small amount in comparison if it was all tossed to specialists and third-party advisers in these critical development areas. We can do better, not because we are Linux, but because we have a different understanding of freedom/liberty.

In each presentation of the best, latest, shiniest software release there is a subtle, sneaky lock-in, learning curve and dictation from the supplier to the user as to “what is the best way to interact with this program” and what functions will be the best tools to accomplish what you want to get done.

LibreOffice will be successful not because of innovation (dictation) but because of freedom (customization).

My suggestion, is to take the best of tabs, ribbons and docks. Take the finest customization techniques built into LibreOffice and already available in the Linux-sphere and pack them into an upgrade of this suite that will offer users what they want, what they need, and what works for them.

What this would look like is full customization of tools, groups, position, appearance and visibility.  My term for this is “toolgroups.”  This reaches beyond the function of static tools grouped within a ribbon tab.  Rather, this is a user-customized group of tools tagged to appear always, or workspace dependent.  The group can be placed in a sidebar, floating dock or in an inactive tabset.

I hate to even upload a mockup of what this would look like.  Partly because I’m not wanting to compete with the great DeviantArt works that are out there.  They are done well and speak for themselves that creativity and time has been invested in them.  I especially do not want to post something now because a display of my toolgroup arrangement would be personally descriptive, not imperative.

The Windows installer itself needs improvement.  I state this first because this is the initial encounter a user has with the software.  I often consider suggesting opensource software apps to new people based especially on how simple and intuitive the installation process is.  The particular installer for LibreOffice immediately asks the awkward question of where installation files should be “unpacked”.  For most elementary PC users this is confounding–”Is this the installation directory I’m choosing?”  ”I thought I already downloaded the application, what’s this?”  I don’t know why this a necessary step in the process.  It would seem it could easily be bypassed by simply hiding this step even if it is necessary and assign it to the background while a hidden, temporary directory is created and then deleted afterwards.  The remaining directory on one’s Desktop or anywhere else chosen is a confusing item unless one already understands the process and is confident in quickly deleting it.

Here are some other items on my wishlist, especially for the Windows-based development of LibreOffice:

A 64-bit installer.  Really, I don’t think it’s that unreasonable to ask for this.  The simple reasons are: it is available in Linux, it is inevitable that it will be done eventually so it will be a pleasing benefit the sooner it is accomplished, and finally it will satisfy the insatiable desire for 64-bit OS users to migrate all their apps to native (even if the gain is negligible).

Another issue is the setting of default save formats.  One of the first steps I perform after installing LibreOffice on a friend’s computer is quickly get into the Options and change the Load/Save->General settings for the Document type.  I typically will reset these to doc, xls and ppt for respective programs.  I’m not against ODF.  But I do this to avoid the conversation sometimes with persons I know will not be convinced within the time we have to talk, or will immediately complain and trash the application as soon as they discover “it is not compatible with Word.”  So, it order to make this an obvious option and capability of the office suite I would suggest adding this into the installer or first-boot.  Why not have a series of radio boxes such as this:

There needs to be serious consideration of the toolbars.  Other commercial software companies have been creative in this area, I hope LibreOffice attempts this too.  I’ve heard requests for “ribbon” (aka Microsoft’s Fluent User Interface) for awhile.  My preference would be to have something more along the lines of “tabs” in the toolbar and improved icons.  I would especially approve of downward facing tabs, as it is less mouse-movement to reach tabs that are closer to the workspace than above the tools I don’t want to use in order to get to the ones on the new tab I do want to use.

There needs to be easier style creation.  Impress has made a step in the right direction with the implementation of the OOo Renaissance project.  This needs to be spread into the Writer and Calc applications, especially in regards to table formatting.  The DataPilot tool in Calc would look great with “sticky styles” that could be applied to dynamic data.

Finally, Base needs unique, attractive features to allure people.   If access control features were available so that a file could be distributed with preset permissions built in this would be very helpful ( I realize one method is to do this on the backend of  a ODBC database for example).

At some point Facebook reintroduced a mobile site which I’ve enjoyed using on my XO laptop running Sugar and iPhone. Here it is (at least the SSL version I prefer):
touch.facebook.com

Apparently this site began more than a year ago, but I don’t hear much reference to it.

UPDATE April 2011:
m.facebook.com
This is the new, and much improved site now.

I feel like this is a very important subject for the FLOSS community

OpenOffice Wish List:

• Table number formatting off by default in Writer, this is one of the first things I change because of surprise and unwanted format recognition of numbers (especially dates) within table cells in Writer.

LibreOffice Wish List:

• Be creative and bold when releasing newly designed icon sets!
• Table formatting off by default in Writer (as above).
• Save option at install ODF (odt, ods) or MS Office (doc, xls) or “basic” (rtf, csv).
• Do away with StarWriter save formats, an overall simpler list would be much more friendly.
• For Windows installers please do away with the step of prompting where to extract the install folder–just hide it, drop it in “temp” or anything.  This is more than anything a waste of time, clicking and decision-making for novices.

xOffice 3.4 Wish List:

• Tabbed-toolbars and conditional menus– all optional.
• Deep development and GUI enhancements of Base.
• Are there multiple applications, or just one suite?
  • This means we need to clearly segment the applications more, for entry-level users to understand–even though they may all share the same foundation.
  • Or, we make them interwoven even more, in a very innovative and workable way.
• The styling that entered into Impress is great, spread it all through Writer and Calc also.  A LivePreview type feature would certainly be worth the code.