James Galvin

Today my boss introduced me to Freevo - an open source home theatre system for linux, written in Python. Record your TV shows and save them for later, accessible via the web interface if you’re at work and you forgot that The Return of Howard the Duck is on. A localised and accurate TV guide is provided on the system by XMLTV.

Play mp3’s, dvd’s, divx, and whatever else your average media centre does. Maybe install it on a modded Xbox for the ultimate entertainment system. I like the sound of Freevo, I think I will have to give it a bash.

Ubuntu has launched version 6.06 today. Evaluating the test releases was not really an option for me, since it takes about three weeks for me to download an ISO, so I am looking forward to getting Dapper this weekend. I haven’t been so excited about an OS since I got Windows 95 for my 486. Hope there’ll be nothing like this this time around.

For anyone who uses Razer Copperhead and has at some point been frustrated by Razer’s lack of support for Linux users: here is a new (unofficial) tool for controlling the mouse in Linux - upgrading the firmware, switching profiles, etc.. It has a command line version and a gtk version, and it is very handy.

Macros linked to this on IRC - Shelley The Republican has outraged hundreds of gullible people with an article on how Linux is a threat to American freedom, a backlash by Europeans jealous of America’s lead in technology. This is clearly an elaborate parody site in my opinion, and very entertaining at that (have a read of some of the other articles). Lots of people still believe it to be genuine, citing Shelley’s republican team as proof of this, but I cannot see past it being a wind-up in the tradition of is your son a computer hacker?

Finally, remember to include Linux users in your prayers tonight. As individuals we may not be able to change people’s minds, but the Bible teaches that God can make any sinner repent.

With Breezy running on three of my systems here, I was a bit surprised to find this post on the Ubuntu security forum; root password in plain text in a file that is readable by all users, on a standard installation. I am amazed that nobody has spotted this before - surely there has been some paranoid user who has searched for his password in case he accidentally left it in plaintext somewhere. Now is a good time to update your system, and change your password while you’re at it.