Sunday, March 29, 2009

Taking A Break - UPDATED

I've been writing this blog in my spare time for quite a while now and, of late, I've become a bit jaded by the constant process of installing/testing/fixing/re-installing of Linux distributions.

In a couple of weeks I'm due to take my family on a well-earned holiday to Florida - our first in a couple of years - so as of today I'm taking a break from updating the blog.

Hopefully, when I get back from the USA I'll be refreshed and re-invigorated and will dive back in to writing about Linux and the broader world of technology, but I have to admit that right now I'm feeling like this blog has run its natural course.

I'm still committed to Linux and Open Source software - all my PCs run nothing else and that will always be the case - but I just feel like it's time I did something else with what little spare time I get.

If anyone cares, then I hope you understand. I'll maybe see you back here some time in the future.

Best wishes to you all, Red Devil

UPDATE

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted on the blog. I've been doing a lot of thinking about whether to continue or not and, to be honest, I simply couldn't find the motivation, no matter how much I tried to sit down and plan some more Linux-related articles.

Instead, I've been spending some quality time with my wife and kids - we had a truly fantastic vacation in Florida - and I've started to learn to sketch and paint with watercolours, which has been fascinating and challenging as I've never really been an artistic type.

I've been getting out of the house a lot more to look at some of the amazing architecture and landscapes here in Scotland, and have tried sketching some of the buildings in Glasgow.

Anyway, I've decided that I'm not going to close this blog; instead, I'm going to expand it by writing not just about Linux/technology etc, but about anything and everything that interests me, whether it be art, literature, poetry, cinema, sport, politics, travel, family life - whatever takes my fancy, really.

I'm going to continue doing the odd Linux-related review/article, but probably not with as much frequency as I have in the past.

I hope those of you who have read my blog will maybe pop by again in the future; I can't guarantee the same focus on Linux/FOSS/technology but hopefully you'll still find something to interest you.

Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to all those people who were kind enough to leave comments when I made my drama-queen announcement that I was taking some time off - your words touched me a great deal.

Cheers for now,

Red Devil

Thursday, March 26, 2009

First Impressions: Igelle PC/Desktop 0.6.0

AFTER more than a decade of using Linux, it's not often that a Linux distribution appears on Distrowatch and I go: Who? What?

But that's exactly what happened when Igelle PC/Desktop 0.6.0 appeared on the new releases list recently, so my curiosity was piqued. Here's what I managed to find out about the project.

Igelle is an open source project based in The Philippines, with the aim of developing a portable Linux-based operating system designed to work on various devices and architectures, including laptops, desktops, mobile phones, mobile internet devices and netbooks.In its aim to work on any device that can run Linux, Igelle has been designed from the ground up to be cross-compiled and cross-configured and, to that end, a build tool was developed that enables the entire operating system to be cross-built for any target platform. This tool is called Melas.

Melas, however, isn't limited to building Igelle - it can be used to compile software packages on other platforms as well, and is also used to install software straight from source code.

While Igelle uses .Deb packages, it is not a derivative of any other distribution and nor does it use Debian's package management tools; it is built from scratch, all packages are compiled from upstream sources and it uses a lightweight package manager called Ige to install, remove and update software.

Intrigued? I was, and set about downloading the latest version of the live CD, Igelle PC/Desktop 0.6.0. Being a pre-1.0 release, this version comes with a health warning that there may be a few "quirks", which is putting it mildly if my experience of Igelle is anything to go by.

Firstly, let me run you through some of the highlights of this release:

Feature highlights:

* Distributed as a live CD that can be used without installation
* Can be installed to a local hard drive, flash memory, usb disk, or other storage media
* Lightweight graphical desktop that does not use much memory, and runs fast
* Developer tools are included in the standard install in order to easily install software from source code packages
* Standard desktop applications including calculator, text editor, image viewer, terminal, archive manager, image editor, image scanner, email client, web browser, pdf viewer, media player, music player
* Easily install other third-party applications such as Skype, Flash player and OpenOffice.org

Software highlights:

* Linux v2.6.27.19
* Glibc v2.8
* GCC v4.3.2
* Xorg X server v1.6.0
* Slim v1.3.1
* Barpanel v0.6.0
* Ige v0.4.3
* Melas v0.12.1
* PCManFM v0.5
* Igelle Connector v0.3.1
* Pulseaudio v0.9.14
Now, if you're paying attention, there should be a few items in those lists that raise some eyebrows - and what's not listed should too.

For example, you'll notice there's no sign of a recognisable desktop environment - no GNOME, no KDE, no XFCE, nothing - and that's because the Igelle team have developed their own lightweight desktop, which seems to work just fine.

I noticed while using the live CD on a couple of machines - including an ancient Compaq Presario with a 700Mhz Duron processor and just 500MB of RAM - that the system was remarkably responsive so those claims about not using much memory seem to hold true.

Igelle also uses BarPanel, a powerful desktop panel that is written in the Python programming language. BarPanel is extensible through plugins and is fully themeable.

Although it doesn't depend on desktop libraries, BarPanel will work within different desktop environments. If you want to know more, see the link at the end of this article.

Rather than having one central menu with sub-menus for each type of application, BarPanel is set up so that each of the icons on the panel launches its own contextual menuThe one aspect of BarPanel I didn't like was the fact that once you click on one of the panel icons, you must click on it again to 'unload' it.Looking back at that second list, you'll notice the Igelle Connector. This is Igelle's custom-made network manager and it worked perfectly well in setting up the wired LAN connection on my machine. Having said that, I was surprised that I needed to manually start the network as most live CDs do this automatically.When I tried Igelle with my Dell Latitude X1 laptop it reported, during the initial boot sequence, that the firmware required for the Intel/PRO wireless adaptor was missing, which is quite unusual - most distributions I've tried recently have had modules for the Intel card in their kernel.

Something else that appears to be missing from Igelle is support for accessing NTFS - I wasn't able to get any of my USB sticks recognised and had to reformat one to FAT 32 before I could copy files onto it.

In terms of default applications, Igelle's selection is modest but reasonably well chosen. There's Firefox (Gran Paradiso), Thunderbird (unbranded), Exaile, GIMP, PCManFM, XSane, GParted, Leafpad, LX Terminal, Brasero, Transmission, Grsync and a few other handy tools.

You'll notice that in that earlier list it mentions that you can easily install 3rd-party applications like Skype, Flash player and OpenOffice.org. None of these is included by default because of copyright/trademark issues, but there's a guide on the Igelle website on how to go about getting them. I haven't tried it myself but I have to say it doesn't look like the simplest method I've ever seen.While the live CD of Igelle works fine, I was curious to try a full install and decided to put Igelle's USB-install capabilities to the test. What I discovered, after a couple of failed attempts, is that Igelle's installer won't automatically mount the USB stick - you need to do it manually yourself.

Once you do that the installer and the GRUB installation goes about its business, although I have to say I've seen glaciers move faster. While trying the installation on a 5GB Seagate external USB drive I stopped checking after half an hour, but it got there eventually.

Except it didn't, because when I booted from the Seagate on my laptop, I got a kernel panic, with the system telling me it couldn't open /etc/fstab. The same thing happened after a couple of re-installs, so I have to say I'm far from impressed with the Igelle installer.Also, given the from-the-ground-up nature of this distro, there's absolutely no documentation included on the live CD to guide you through the Igelle way of doing things, and there's not that much on the website either.

And that, I'm afraid, is pretty much where my Igelle adventure ended. It was nice on the live desktop while it lasted but there's not really that much useful stuff on the live CD to make Igelle a serious contender, and the installer seems to be seriously flaky judging from my repeated attempts at getting it running from either a HDD or a USB drive.

Igelle links:

Download Igelle from: http://www.igelle.org/download#pcdesktop

Documentation: http://www.igelle.org/documentation

Melas (source compiler/package installer): http://melas.ossproject.org/

Ige package manager: http://www.ossproject.org/projects/ige

Barpanel: http://barpanel.ossproject.org/

Package archive: http://www.igelle.org/releases/igelle-pcdesktop-0.6.0/

Monday, March 23, 2009

Getting Amazon MP3 downloads in CrunchBang Linux

ALWAYS a bit slow on the uptake, I've recently discovered the joys of using the Amazon MP3 Downloads store in Linux.I guess the announcement last year that the Amazon MP3 Downloader is available for a variety of Linux platforms passed me by, and I owe my belated arrival at the store to a passing mention in the Linux Outlaws #82 podcast, where presenter Dan mentioned he uses the store.

Better late than never, I suppose, and I just wanted to report that I have the downloader working beautifully on my two CrunchBang Linux machines - my Dell laptop and my Fujitsu-Siemens desktop.

As well as the Ubuntu 8.10 version I downloaded (CrunchBang is based on Ubuntu 8.10), there are packages available for Debian 4, Fedora 9 and OpenSuse 11; some of these distributions are outdated but at least there's a reasonable Linux spectrum available.The site recommends that you install the downloader before you purchase any albums, so I did; I used a dpkg --install command from the terminal and got a message telling me three lib files were missing.

No problem, I fired up Synaptic, which duly reported that I had a broken package, then selected the 'Fix broken package' option from the menu and it downloaded and installed the lib files and completed the downloader install for me. This is probably a bit of a messy way of doing things, but it worked fine.

Once I'd added a downloader launcher to my Openbox menu, I fired it up and got the gui you see below:From here you can click on the link in the right corner to take you straight to the Amazon MP3 download website, and start searching for the songs you want.

The Amazon library isn't yet as extensive as iTunes, but the songs are all DRM-free and will play on any device of your choosing - even an iPod.

I should add that there are useful installation instructions on the site where you get the downloader application.

The first time you use the downloader it creates an Amazon MP3s folder in your Home directory into which your AMZ downloads are delivered, although you can change the destination if you wish. You’re prompted automatically to open the AMZ file using the MP3 Downloader, which then fetches the full album for you - and it works quickly, I might add.

The songs are in 256kbps bitrate, which is perfectly good enough for my requirements. I now have the songs I've bought playing on two PCs and my Nokia N96 mobile phone, and I'm very happy with both the songs and the service from Amazon.

I'm not going to mention MP3 pricing as it's such a subjective issue: How much do you want the song, what's it worth to you, how much are you happy paying... that kind of thing.

All I'll say is that I shall use Amazon's MP3 site again in the future, particularly now that it supports Linux so well.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Ill-Fated PCLinuxOS 2009.1 Experiment

I THINK I'm living proof that Charles Darwin might not have been as smart as he thought he was.

You see, I just don't learn; I haven't evolved beyond the stage of sitting on the floor, drooling happily to myself and wondering what will happen if I stick my wet pinkie into that little hole in the wall.

If you were being kind, you'd call it stupidly incurable curiosity; otherwise, you'd call me an eejit.

PCLinuxOS 2009.1 was running beautifully. The installation from the live CD had retained the wireless networking settings which meant I was instantly online via my Sitecom WL113 USB adaptor.

I had completed all my usual post-install multimedia checks - Apple trailers, YouTube videos, BBC streams, AVIs, MP3s, even a commercial DVD - and PCLOS 2009.1 had breezed through them without a hitch. I had the screenshots to prove it.I was feeling rather pleased; while I wasn't that keen on the new blue default look of PCLinuxOS (I prefer the darker theme of the 2007 version), I could live with it if it meant having such a stable, flexible and complete operating system.The machine I was using for my PCLOS experiment was the old Compaq Presario I keep for collecting dust and spiders in my home office: 700MHz Duron processor, 512MB of RAM, 20th Century Nvidia graphics, 10GB HDD, DVD drive, networking via the aforementioned Sitecom adaptor and an old Compaq CRT monitor which puts modern LCDs to shame with its crisp, colourful display.

Not by any stretch of the imagination could this be considered modern, cutting edge hardware; I'm sure that the whirring sound from the huge beige box means the hamster's wheel needs oiling.

So why, by all that's holy, did I think that switching on Compiz's 3D effects might be A Good Thing To Try?

This kind of curiosity frequently gets me in trouble: It's why, on many of the forums to which I subscribe, I have a signature which says: 'What happens if I click on this...?'

What happened in this particular instance was... well, nothing really.

As many of you will know, activating Compiz 3D effects requires the user to log out of the current session and then to log back in again. I did as requested, but the old machine struggled to render the screen on anything approaching a human timescale. As I said, 'eejit'.

I waited, the tides changed, an equinox passed, my children graduated, left home and married... ah hang it, this was never going to work.

By popping in the PCLOS live CD I managed to salvage the screenshots you have seen so far, and rather than start fiddling around trying to work out how to switch off Compiz, I decided to just run the installer again; I hadn't really done too much pre- my Compiz aberration, and the PCLOS installer (Mandriva's DrakLive) does its stuff quickly.

This version of PCLOS has been nearly two years in the making, which is a long time in technology terms. But PCLOS is one of those rolling release distributions - ie frequent updates keep its packages current, negating the need for the six-month release cycle approach of distros like Ubuntu.

Nonetheless, Texstar and the Ripper Gang have had plenty of time to iron out the kinks and present an up-to-date system.

2009.1 pushes PCLOS right back to the forefront of the Linux/FOSS world (interestingly, in the past couple of years, during its quiet time, PCLOS has remained firmly in the Distrowatch unofficial top ten - surely a testament to its enduring quality).

Anyway, here's that release announcement:

This release features kernel 2.6.26.8.tex3, KDE 3.5.10, Open Office 3.0, Firefox 3.0.7, Thunderbird 2.0.0.14, Ktorrent, Frostwire, Amarok, Flash, Java JRE, Compiz-Fusion 3D (Gah!) and much more. We decided to use KDE 3.5.10 as our default desktop as we could not achieve a similar functionality from KDE 4. We will however offer KDE 4 as an alternative desktop environment available from the repository once we stabilise it. PCLinuxOS is an rpm based distribution utilising apt-get with a Synaptic Software Manager frontend. In addition to the above PCLinuxOS comes with mklivecd GUI, a nice utility to build a custom live CD from your install. Install or remove what you want then remaster your own cd. Great for backups or to give to friends. PCLinuxOS is also known as as rolling release distribution. What that means is you install once and update it when new applications become available from our repository.
So, if you want the latest KDE/Plasma tomfoolery, look elsewhere or wait for it to hit the PCLOS repository when, and only when, the Ripper Gang are convinced it's stable enough (and we already know these guys can out-wait glacial erosion!).

If, by the way, you are of a GNOME persuasion, the community-driven PCLOS-GNOME project is also now available. It features Gnome 2.24.3, Mozilla Firefox 3.0.7, Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.17, Gnome office apps, Brasero, Gnome Power Manager, Exaile music jukebox and more.

I would say that the PCLOS developers have just about got away with it with 2009.1. By "just", I mean that the long, long wait has been worth it - but if they had left it much longer, well...

Seriously though, 2009.1 is a terrific distribution, containing all that's good about PCLOS - excellent hardware support (even for rodent-powered machines), a top class control centre, up-to-date packages, easy installation and configuration, 3D for those who want it and can use it.One new feature I noticed during the installation stage was the option to remove all unnecessary graphics card drivers to avoid any possible X conflicts later - it works well and left my machine with the 'nvidia' driver listed in Xorg.conf, which appears to work fine with my old Nvidia graphics chip.

Another welcome new feature is the desktop Utilities folder containing shortcut links to tools for handling: Live Remasters; Live USB installs; Boot repairs; Setting Date & Time; Setup Language; Setup Network; Setup Sound card; and a Synaptic Repair Tool.

Finally, when your system is booting into the KDE desktop, watch out for the icons representing the history of PCLOS releases that load as each stage completes - not very useful, but a lovely touch.

I would happily recommend PCLinuxOS 2009.1 to new and old Linux users alike. PCLOS has a large repository of great (RPM) packages, a thriving, friendly community and a development team who really know how to put together a top class product, even if they do take their time about it.

The first time you launch Firefox in 2009.1, you're taken to a customised PCLinuxOS page which has a title in the window border which says: "PCLinuxOS 2009.1 - The distro-hopper-stopper".

Cocky? I don't think so. PCLOS 2009.1 really is that good.

Useful links:
Home page: http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Get PCLOS 2009.1 here: http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_ionfiles&Itemid=28
User forum: http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26
Wiki documentation: http://docs.pclinuxos.com/Main_Page

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Well said, that woman!

I couldn't have put this any better myself.. no, really, I couldn't

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Review: Zenwalk 6.0, A Sprint And A Stumble

THE first real connection I made at an emotional level with a Linux distribution was with Zenwalk, back in its version 2.0 days, and it was that connection which persuaded me to make my first (modest) cash donation to an Open Source project.

Why did Zenwalk strike such a chord? Hard to say, but it was something about the spirit of the project and its determination to forge its own path which appealed to me, that and the approachability of its main man, Jean-Philippe Guillemin (aka Hyperion).

'Its own path' included a custom-built package management system, Netpkg, the emerging XFCE desktop environment (faster and lighter memory footprint than KDE and GNOME), and a Slackware foundation.

That final point about Slackware is equally hard to rationalise: Why does anyone love a distribution that evolves at a glacial pace, traditionally has been bloody hard to install and configure, and refuses to bow to current trends?

Maybe it's exactly because of all those things, and more - there's something appealing about doing things the hard way then basking in a self-satisfied glow when everything works just how you want it; that's why so many people love Arch Linux too.

Anyway, I'm waffling, back to Zenwalk and its latest incarnation, version 6.0.

So many major changes went into version 6.0 that the Zenwalk team skipped some version numbers and went straight from 5.4 beta 1 to a full 6.0.

Foremost among those changes are:

Integration of the new XFCE 4.6

Replacement of Gnome Office with a lightweight, optimized version of Openoffice 3.0.1

Kernel 2.6.28.7 with gspca (supports many USB webcams)

Wicd becomes the main network configuration tool - and it works a treat, as I'll explain

New Netpkg with orphan dependencies and "offline operation" support

New Zenpanel with integrated Disk Manager, Wifi and Wired Network Manager

Faster boot via tuned init scripts

A simplified installer

There are other, less structural changes, such as replacing MPlayer (it's still in the repository) with Totem movie player, introducing the excellent Exaile jukebox player and some nice, professional-looking artwork.

Let me tackle the things which leapt out at me when I installed Zenwalk on my old Compaq Presario desktop system (700MHz AMD Duron, 512MB RAM, Sitecom WL113 USB wi-fi adaptor, DVD drive, Compaq CRT monitor).

Zenwalk has always been a fast distribution with low system requirements so I had no qualms about using the old Compaq, and I was proved to be right as 6.0 ran perfectly well and rapidly on it.

The new installation routine is still very reminiscent of the old Slackware ncurses-style install, but it's definitely faster, what with no package selection to trouble you, and especially if you do what I did and hand over the whole HDD to Zenwalk.

Zenwalk still uses Lilo to handle your boot requirements - I have grave reservations about Lilo and wonder why Zenwalk is one of so few distributions still favouring it over GRUB.

Post-install stuff includes checking some licence boxes - for GNU, Adobe, and Intel firmware - adding root and user details, and a brief wait while X configuration takes you to a graphical login, then you/re into the nice new Zenwalk 6.0 desktop.From here my first task was to get wicd to handle my wireless network connection: The Sitecom adaptor I was using contains a zd1211 chipset which is more often than not these days recognised by pretty much every distribution and Zenwalk was no exception, which pleased me immensely.There's a well-worn Linux forum debate about which is better at handling networking, wicd or Network Manager. I'm on the fence with this one: I think they both do a perfectly good job and neither has ever given me any serious problems.

Zenwalk is one of those distributions which takes the one-tool-per-task route when it comes to selecting applications, which I prefer to having menu stuffed with programs I'll never use.

Among the major items in 6.0 are:

Media - Brasero; Exaile; ISO master; Totem
Office - OpenOffice.org 3.0 (tailored ot only include Writer, Calc, Impress and Draw - the other elements are on the repo); Orage; Xsane
Graphics - Evince; GIMP; gThumb
Network - Icedove; Iceweasel; Pidgin; Transmission; gFTP
Development - Geany; Hex Editor
General - Thunar; Mousepad; xTerm

Also in the menu are Systen Tools for handling Cups Webconf, Default Printer, Grsync backup tool, Htop, LSHW, Ndiswrapper config, Netpkg and Network Manager. I really like the new Zenwalk Control Panel where a lot of the 'big ticket' system administration is handled.The last time I reviewed Zenwalk (http://reddevil62-techhead.blogspot.com/2008/06/getting-to-grips-with-netpkg-in-zenwalk.html) I was somewhat critical of Netpkg, Zenwalk's package management tool. I said at the time:

"It does its job supremely well.. but it's not yet supremely easy to use."
The thing that concerned me the most was that, although the updated version contained useful pop-up messages which told the user what each section of Netpkg did, there was little guidance on the order in which each section was to be used and so new users might find themselves stumbling around loading mirrors they didn't need and checking boxes willy nilly just to get some packages to display.

Well, I have to say that Netpkg in version 6.0 seems to be an improvement. For example, when you first launch it a pop-up tells you that there is no database loaded and asks you to select a mirror from the drop-down menu at the top of the window (TIP If you want stable, select ANY of the 'current' mirrors - they all have the same packages).It's then just a case of clicking on one of the four checkboxes on the right - Not Installed; Installed; Modified; Orphans - to display what is/isn't on your system.

Once you've found the package you want from the much simpler, categorised sections, you click the Install icon and then get a pop-up window in which Netpkg tells you that package's dependencies, and asks you if you just want to install the package or its dependencies as well - I still find this odd; why wouldn't you want its dependencies?

As you can see from the screenshots below, I installed the Conky desktop monitoring tool (which didn't get its own menu icon added but ran fine from the Run Command tool) and Frozen Bubble (which did get its own launch icon, under a new Games section).The next time you relaunch Netpkg you will also get an alert, warning you to refresh your mirror to include any new packages that might have been added - that's a nice touch.

Zenwalk handles multimedia pretty well out of the box - MP3s, CDs, YouTube, Apple trailers and .AVI movies all played without a hitch, but I got a "source plugin required" error message from Totem when I tried to watch a commercial DVD.USB sticks are automounted and their contents displayed in Thunar and there's a nice onscreen display warning you when it's safe/not safe to remove them.

XFCE 4.6 seems to be a very nice, stable desktop environment with all the easy configuration/tweaking options even the most demanding user could ever want and I like Zenwalk's implementation of it, with cool themes and nice wallpapers.

So generally, by this stage, I've got a lovely warm feeling about Zenwalk 6.0 - it comes with great software, a fast installation routine even new users could handle, an improved package manager and a fast, stable desktop environment.

And then I rebooted and it all went horribly pear-shaped. Pear-shaped as in:
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS Unable to mount root FS on unknown block
Normally, when getting this error message, I would expect the bootloader configuration file to be corrupted in some way - ie not properly pointing to the required boot files - and I would use a live CD, such as GParted Magic, to access the installed system, mount its root partition and manually edit the lilo.conf file to make sure everything was correct.

In this instance, however, GParted Magic repeatedly failed to mount the Zenwalk root partition (/dev/sda1) on the correct mountpoint (/media/sda1), so I have been unable to use the system ever since.

This troubles me, mostly re-confirming my dislike of Lilo as a choice of bootloader, but also because up until this point I was really enjoying Zenwalk 6.0, and this glitch has spoiled that sense of enjoyment.

I have posted a topic on the Zenwalk forum about the problem and, as of writing, am still awaiting any suggestions.

FOOTNOTE: It's only fair that I point out that, within just a couple of hours of me posting my query on the Zenwalk forum, Hyperion had gone to the trouble of recompiling the latest kernel and making it available for downloading.

While I haven't yet had time to try out his solution (I'm posting this from my work - don't tell the boss!), I'm not a bit surprised by this amazingly quick response from JP, who always seems to go the extra yard to make sure Zenwalk users get the best possible service.

If that's not enough to tempt you to try Zenwalk 6.0, I don't know what is.

Finally, here are some useful links regarding packages, kernel upgrades, kernel panics etc that I found on the Zenwalk Wiki:

How to upgrade the kernel with Netpkg

How to safely upgrade from Zenwalk 5.2 to 6.0

Guide to Zenwalk package management

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Qimo, Linux 4 Kids

WHAT is a good age to introduce children to Linux/Free Open Source Software?

My children are nine, and they regularly use FOSS without actually realising it or, I suspect, caring.

All they care about is being to replicate the presentations they did on their school computers at home; the school uses Microsoft software, at home we use OpenOffice.org and they are able to save their presentations in a format which will be accessible when they take them to show their teacher.

My daughter (the artistic one) could probably fill several hard drives with her initally simple Tuxpaint images and increasingly complex Inkscape vector drawings.

My son (the gamer) loves to play World of Goo, the cross-platform, DRM and region coding-free, physics-based platform game.

They are already more comfortable using a computer at the age of nine than I was at the age of 19, and that's both right and proper. In fact, I wish I had started their computer education at an even earlier age.

So, if you have a pre-school child sat at home making big crayony drawings on your walls, why not introduce them to Qimo 1.0?

Qimo is an Ubuntu-based Linux operating system, using the XFCE desktop environment and targeted primarily at very small children - aged three years and above.

It is produced by Florida-based QuinnCo, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to getting computers into the homes of low-income and special-needs children.

Qimo (pronounced 'kim-oh') comes pre-installed with free and open source games that are both educational and entertaining, with many more educational titles available for download from Ubuntu's repository.

The interface to Qimo has been designed to be easy to navigate by the youngest of users, with over-sized shortcuts to games lining the bottom of the screen.It comes, as does its parent distribution, as an installable live CD so you can try it on your family PC for hardware compatibility before you install it to the hard drive. I ran it on an old Compaq Presario (700MHz Duron processor, 512MB RAM, Sitecome WL113 wireless adaptor (zd1211 chipset), 15inch Compaq CRT) and it ran somewhat slowly in live mode but much better once I installed it to the HDD.

The installation is simple and straightforward, as are all Ubuntu-based installations, particularly if you are happy for Qimo to take over the whole hard disk.

As this is an Ubuntu-based distro, I don't plan on covering every last cough and spit about hardware detection/configuration etc - everything worked as I expected, even the Sitecom wi-fi adaptor.

More importantly, what's in here for your beloved rugrats?

Well, the main games/applications listed along the bottom of the screen and accessible by slightly ugly, bitmapped icons include:

GCompris - an extensive collection of visual games with an educational under-pinning for kids aged from two

Childsplay - Python-based games, like using Pacman to spell words

Tuxpaint - lots of shapes and styles for creative minds

Tuxmath - learning math through fun, simple addition/subtraction-style gamesTuxtype - fun penguin games to get kids familiar with the keyboard layout

EToys - colourfully-animated projects covering modelling, painting and basic scriptingAll the usual Ubuntu system administration tools and accessories are included in the Qimo menu - Firefox is there, as are Transmission, Pidgin, Thunderbird, GPaint, Music Player and Movie Player, plus you have the backup of the extensive Ubuntu repository being just a short Synaptic download away.

I have a couple of observations - I'm reluctant to call them criticisms when dealing with such a noble project - about the organisation of the Qimo desktop.

Firstly, why isn't there are large, child-friendly desktop link to the Home folder? How is a child to know that their beloved drawings are being saved into a folder which they access through the Thunar file manager, found in the Accessories menu? Why not have a whopping big desktop icon point straight to it, called 'My Dead Brilliant Stuff' or something?

Further, why, when you launch Thunar for the first time, does it display all those .config files which are normally Hidden? That's just asking for trouble from inquisitive little minds.

I also think the distribution could benefit from a little guidance on how to use the XFCE desktop because, while I like it and have used it a lot in the past, it's not as instantly user-friendly as, say, GNOME, KDE or even Windows.

I really like Qimo as a project; it has the interests of children at heart and particular those who might be disadvantaged in some way, so it's worthy of support for those reasons alone.

But there's also the basis for a very good distribution here; with a little fine tuning and perhaps a few small usability tweaks it could have a very bright future indeed.

QuinnCo also seem like an organisation worthy of support, too, whether it be a helping hand with Qimo programming or donations of old equipment for them to recycle and redistribute to the needy.

FOOTNOTE: Due to being in a rush to get this short article posted - I had a lot of family duties to take care of - I allowed a factual mistake to creep in regarding the desktop environment Qimo uses (it's XFCE, not GNOME). Apologies for that, the error has been rectified. Red Devil