Things that go Wump in the Night..

A fresh start

I like many people have had various “identities” over time on the web. Since I registered Wump.com on my second day online, mine have invariably been centered on the word “wump” and derivatives thereof, but now, as I start a new blog which will act both as my personal and professional space, what to do?

I’ll tell you what - a new start!

It’s funny, but it feels liberating to pick up and recreate myself online, so I thought I’d blog about it.

While I will probably retain another persona, my new public facing Internet Identity is “gnoshme”. Why?

Unique

I just googled it - and got nothing. Nada. I own Moshme.com which was a candidate, but that brings up some arabic sites, so I’ll steer clear. Gnoshme it is.

Available

I’ve just registered:

• gnoshme.com
• digg user gnoshme
• del.icio.com account gnoshme
• that-very-same-thing@gmail.com
• Screen name that-very-same-thing on IM
• Twitter account
df
• ..and more

Interesting and different

Well at least I think so, and in a world where word of mouth is becoming increasingly irrelevant, that “difference” isn’t a big deal. Most people will know me by sight - online.

Next Steps

I’ll keep you in the loop. It will be interesting to see how long it takes Google to start picking things up.. and when I start getting spam. Stuff like that.

I’ll have to put my friends through the inconvenience of changing some references to me, but if if they won’t I can simply stop sending them Christmas cards and forget that the ever existed!

Breaking: Digg crashes under weight of I switched to Linux posts, but nobody spends enough time explaining why they did!.

If I had to hand tweak every application, if my system crashed every day, if I had to reinstall from scratch every 6 months, if I still needed a Windows machine for certain things, if it needed more powerful hardware, if it ran slower, and if I had to buy all new peripherals I would still choose something like Ubuntu* Linux over Windows XP or Vista.

The fact that NONE of these are the case should put things into perspective.

People don’t switch to Linux because they wake up bored one day and can’t think of anything else to do. They do it because regardless of the inconvenience, the time required, the unknowns, they have to do SOMETHING to improve their relationship with their PCs.

There are people out there who love Windows, but I think that most simply tolerate it. Tolerating Windows is what you do if you don’t have a Mac**. That’s just the way it is, and the unexplained disk activity, slow downs, crashes and viruses are just part of the deal.

You don’t “switch” to Linux, you ESCAPE Windows.

For those like me who sit every day in front of a Linux Desktop that they are proud of, switching is not an academic, nor sterile process. It’s an awakening into feelings of liberation, empowerment and even astonishment at working with a glorious OS that is free, and “the man” doesn’t have a piece of.

Do people switch to Linux from a Mac? Some do, but it’s often about principles than the nut and bolts. No, the vast majority of Linux Desktop adopters are Windows people who simply YEARN for change. The growth of Linux on the desktop is pure and simply evidence that many people DO NOT like, and are no longer willing to PUT UP WITH Windows.

There is a tipping point at which a Windows user will look for something else. Joe Average will probably buy a Mac, but the reason why many Linux Desktop users are geeks is because they are the people who have the perception that they can get Linux up and running.

The irony of the average Ubuntu User’s Profile

Ironically, the typical Ubuntu user is in some ways least suited to the OS. “Your granny” or other “normal” people who just surf the web, check their gmail account, skype, IM and do some basic document work is actually the perfect candidate for something like Ubuntu right now.

The Walmart and Sears $199 Ubuntu PCs are a perfectly positioned product, combining cheap hardware that adequately runs Linux with a the low tech savvy consumer. Likewise, something I’ll blog about soon is my Media Center based on a $329 Dell. I got it up and running in 40 minutes with Ubuntu including all the bells, whistles and codecs. No glitches, no problems, no tweaks, no issues. It just installed and worked.

It’s us geeks who want to take it to the limits that have to get under the hood, but that’s also why Windows wasn’t working out for us.

Fixing Linux issues is a doddle compared to fixing Windows issues

Seriously. To any Windows user who thumbs their nose at the need to get down and dirty with the Linux terminal, I say, “Well at least we CAN!”. What do you do when something mysteriously stops working in Windows?

• 1) Reboot
• 2) Reinstall application
• 3) Reboot
• 4) Reinstall associated applications
• 3) Reboot
• 4) Reinstall OS

Not exactly, but my point is that fixing an issue with something under Linux is a matter of using Google to find the fix, then some copy and pasting some commands from some helpful soul out there. This level of ease and visibility is simply unavailable for Windows.. sometimes you are just SOL.

Don’t tell me I’m wrong because that argument doesn’t stand up. I’ve used Windows heavily from it’s initial release through XP and I’m telling you that I had problems that made me want to throw it out the window.

Oh.. that’s because I’m dumb? SWEET! A dumb person who can’t even keep Windows running properly can install and fully maintain 5 functional bleeding edge Linux machines including desktops and web servers - SVN, Rails, LAMP, mongrel clusters, NFS and SSHFS all over the place and more eye candy than you can shake a stick at, not to mention a suite of productivity tools that could design and launch the space shuttle. Tell the world, you don’t have to be smarter than dumb to add printers, webcams, midi devices, drives or any other peripheral to a Linux box. WooHoo!

If you don’t get the point, feel free to come over and I’ll stick it in your ear.

Open Source Changes People

I didn’t get it at first.. I didn’t understand why people hovered on forums giving help and spent their time creating free stuff.

For years my income revolved around an online store that sold niche technology. I hooked up a developer community and a user community, and I took a cut of the sales. The site actually had a policy of “NO FREE STUFF”, so you can imagine, I didn’t “get” Open Source. For a long time I couldn’t understand how people monetized open source, and then realized that for many that is not the motivation for many people involved in the thousands of Open Source projects. I’m not sure that I understand it to this day - but I’m a part of it now. Giving is Receiving in many walks of life.

Don’t work in a cluttered, dingy office with no natural light

Good advice I think - probably no arguments there. Well nothing else that you interact with is an extension to your physical environment as much as your PC.

If you had a paranoid person looking over your shoulder all day interrupting you constantly to have you confirm every step you try to take, you’d likely kick the crap out of them. Why tolerate it from your PC, and even worse, why put so much trust in an operating system that NEEDS to be paranoid to stay healthy?

Sure, I sometimes have a fight with Linux, but I always know I’m going to win.. and I’m fighting for something I care about - not just tolerate. Creating an operating system environment that you love and that works FOR you is nurturing yourself at such a deep level that it’s almost life changing.

I would not be where I am today without Linux

Over dramatic? No. Expanding the horizons of my virtual work environment has expanded my entire business horizons.. I’ve expanded my desktop four fold alone.

Have you tried Rails development on Vista? It’s like pulling teeth. I just don’t think I’d have a Rails based business if my head was stuck in an XP box.. and for sure switching to Rails has changed the amount of enjoyment I have in my life.

Hosting? Yikes.

Look and Feel? My desktop looks just like Vista IF IT CRASHES. Yup. My FALLBACK look and feel is identical to Vista. My primary look and feel is like a Mac on steroids.

If you think Linux is for servers, you’re a few years behind. Last years Ubuntu out-of-the-box has all the UI bells and whistles of OSX Leopard and makes Vista look about as attractive as a turd on a beach.

So to summarize..

When technology is such a central part of our existence, why should we put up with something that does not enhance our lives?

It’s that simple! If you don’t LOVE your PC, do something about it. I’ve been using Linux long enough that I’m passed the stage of believing that everyone should use it, but I’m still squarely in the camp that XP and Vista are not good enough.

Switch to Linux, buy a Mac - I don’t care, but stop compromising. Raise your expectation to something above “tolerable”. Things are getting worse not better. The long awaited Vista has made “intolerable” so much more achievable for the average Joe, with it’s horrific hardware requirements, bad peripheral support and sub-XP levels of security.

Enough already!

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Additional Reading:

• Analyzing Microsofts OS by Linux standards

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*About Ubuntu. Yes, it’s the newbie of all newbie distributions. So what? It’s outgrowable? I don’t think so.

** I like Macs.. I’ll never bash them, but I just don’t NEED one. I don’t need to drop that kind of money to get something that I’m happy with.

Why choose Ruby on Rails?

There are many answers to that question. Why DO people choose Ruby on Rails over PHP, or Rails vs ASP? What makes Ruby on Rails BETTER?

I’ll probably write a few posts in this series, but for today I’ll document a new experience for me that has shown me that Ruby on Rails helps you create maintainable and supportable websites.

This weekend for the first time I’ve been using someone ELSES Rails application - this blog, Typo and it’s the first time that I’ve realized just how true it is that “opinionated software” creates ease.

Rails is described as “opinionated” because although there are many different ways to do the same thing in a development environment, Rails has decided that there is a RIGHT way to do things. Some of these opinions are boiled into the framework ( like how files are organized ) and some are simply rules - call them Rails coder etiquette ( like which files should have logic in them and which should not ).

Up front while learning Rails this can be a bit daunting. For example, after using MivaScript for years I easily picked up PHP because all I had to do was learn the PHP equivalent commands - the overall picture was pretty much the same. Rails, in contrast, with it’s Model / View / Controller structure, and relentlessly Object Oriented nature threw a ton of new concepts at me all at once. Worse still, I was a few years behind with styling methods, so had to go cold turkey on using Tables for page formatting at the same time. It was rough.

Now though, here’s the thing.. I can go to ANY Rails application and instantly work on it, because everything is where it should be. Likewise, if I get hit by a bus, any Rails guy can walk in and maintain my stuff. It’s amazing.

In contrast I’ve had to dig into some php recently and I’ll tell you what, the way a TYPICAL php application is put together offends me deeply!

So. To summarise, looking at this from both sides:

• It’s easy to jump into a foreign Rails application and know your way around
• If you have someone develop a Rails application for you ( as long as they are a decent coder ) you’ll end up with something that doesn’t tie you to them for an eternity.
• If you build a rails application, and bring someone else into the project you don’t have to do much explaining on your methodology
• Technical documentation can be limited to the “exceptions” to the rules

So, to the guys who I share an office with, I’m sorry guys, but I’m going to CONTINUE bugging you on a daily basis with those spontaneous “I LOVE RAILS” outbursts!

Click HERE to see what IE users see when they visit this blog

A crazy idea? Well is it? We as designers and integrators waste SO MUCH time dicking around with our customers’ sites to bend them around multiple quirks of various IE versions. When it comes to our OWN sites - well, why not just say, “screw it!” Don’t get me wrong, if this was a community site with a wide audience I wouldn’t dream of it, but it’s a blog - and the topics covered limit it’s appeal.

Let’s face it, how many Windows users ( or anyone else for that matter ) are going to be interested in the stuff that I post? On top of that, excuse the judgment, but how many Windows users who haven’t installed Firefox are likely to be part of my target audience?

Aside from that, I simply don’t care. I simply do not give a flying monkey if they can’t can’t get in. MY TIME is more important to me than their convenience.

So, how do you block visitors to your Typo blog that use IE?

Really easy, and you don’t even have to hack the application.. infact you CAN’T do it by hacking the application because of the way Typo caches pages. Instead the logic has to be in the views themselves in a way that they work on either a live page or a cache. JavaScript is the answer.

Just add a snipped of code to the layout page of your chosen theme. Looks like that is always ( ? ) /themes/THEMENAME/layouts/default.html.erb

<SCRIPT language="JavaScript">
<!--
var browserName=navigator.appName; 
if (browserName=="Microsoft Internet Explorer")
{
window.location="/no-ie/index.html";
 }

//-->
</SCRIPT>

That takes care of TRAPPING incoming Internet explorer browsers, and it displays instead

/public/no-ie/index.html

If you’d like to use my page, feel free to download it here