My Linux Rig

Clementine: A Nice, Simple, Cross-Platform Way to Listen to Music

I have no idea when I started using Clementine. I thought it’s something I picked up from Xubuntu, but going through my notes, I was thinking of Exaile. But at some point, I decided I like Clementine as my music player.

I don’t play much music on my computer, so day-to-day, having a preferred music player didn’t have much impact on my life. However, a few weeks ago my wife got very sick of iTunes and wanted to find a replacement. I sent her this article and then started wondering which Linux music players had Windows ports. I discovered Banshee, Amarok, and Clementine all had Windows ports, so I recommended those to my wife (I just now realized Exaile has a Windows port, too).

Around the same time, I realized I needed a music player on a Windows machine, so I decided to try Clementine, which is when I discovered (or possibly rediscovered) it’s a very impressive piece of software.

For most people, the issue with iTunes is how big it is. Opening it can often feel like a huge, resource-intensive commitment (that and it always seems to require an update — even after you’ve just updated it). The beauty of Clementine is that it’s light and responsive. You open it and can play music right away. It does one thing well.

Clementine’s simplicity is what I love. It plays music. It’s easy to change songs. It does some nice, little things, too. It doesn’t just stop playing, but fades in and out of songs, which is kind of classy. On Windows, if you mouse over it on the taskbar, you get the play/pause/control buttons, so you don’t even need to click into the interface to do things.

It also has some built-in integration with some web-based services, like Last.FM. My OpenSUSE version is running 0.7.1, so I don’t have Google Drive, Spotify or GrooveShark integration, which is available in 1.1. I have those features available within Windows, but it doesn’t interest me, so I don’t miss it (or try and find a more recent version than lives in the OpenSUSE repos).

People seem a bit excited about the new GNOME default music player. I’ll definitely look at that, but I really like to just have a list of artists in one pane, and the songs in another. What’s even nicer about Clementine is you can drill down through individual songs on the left pane, with the main pane acting as a playlist. Playlists are retained across sessions, so you can pick up where you left off.

Most user interfaces favor complexity and customization. Too many tools are afraid to go simple. Clementine isn’t. It’s not robust, but that lack of robustness is a feature. Just point it to your music folder and let it go. It doesn’t matter if you’re on Linux, Windows or OS X. Or all three. Clementine lets you listen to music easily, without slowing your computer down. Sad to say, it’s a rare trait in many desktop music players.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.

The Linux Setup - Scott Caie, Funtoo Developer

It’s always reassuring to see a developer who uses his own product. Scott’s all over Funtoo, using it for everything from laptops (lots of laptops) to servers. His setup is optimized for speed, since his work requires a lot of processing power. I think it’s very interesting that he uses Firefox for his browser only when Chromium is unavailable due to a build. That’s a very specific usage case. I found Scott while I was looking into Funtoo, which seems like an interesting distro. Hearing from Scott only intrigues me more. Scott also mentions Daniel Robbins, the head of Funtoo, who comes from Gentoo. Daniel did an interview with the original Setup that you might enjoy.

You can find more of The Linux Setup here.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.

1. Who are you, and what do you do?

   My names Scott, or anak1n on the internet. I’m a freelance programmer and part of the Funtoo Core Team. I help bring packages to the main Portage Tree, as well as fix bugs, fix broken packages, help out in IRC, test out some new packages before they’re introduced to the Portage Tree, and I get to work with Daniel Robbins, who is one of my heroes. I really enjoy working with Funtoo, it’s a great distro and the whole philosophy really is, “Linux should be fun, too.” We’re currently talking about bringing the MATE desktop into the main Portage Tree instead of having it added via overlay (different tree), and I’m part of that. I would have to say right now my main responsibility with Funtoo is just helping out with IRC and fixing packages. The latest thing I’ve done would be getting the XChat builds fixed, by adding a patch that Gentoo never added. We fork some of our packages until it’s fixed in Gentoo’s tree.

2. What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?

   Everything I have right now is running Funtoo. Except for one server which is running Gentoo. So that’s, three Funtoo servers, two Funtoo laptops (one of them is dual-booted with Windows 7, though). It’s a reliable, customizable distro.

3. What software do you depend upon with this distribution?

   Funtoo is a fork of Gentoo with a more stable Portage Tree, that being said it’s pretty much built from scratch. A stage 3 install, and compile what you want/need. The main things I always compile though, are Tmux, X.org, Fluxbox, irssi for IRC, Pidgin for GoogleTalk and Facebook chat, Firefox to browse the web while Chromium builds (takes about 2-3 hours), and Konsole for my terminal emulator. I use Fluxbox as my main window manager because it’s lightweight and I can get work done without having to customize it much. It’s a small but useful WM that doesn’t use many resources so I can focus on building and testing new packages, instead of eye-candy.

4. What kind of hardware do you run it on?

   I’ve run Funtoo on tons of hardware — one time on an Acer Aspire netbook with a single core processor @ 1.0GHz. That was fun and took forever. But currently, the servers are all virtual servers, so 512MB of RAM with a dual core AMD processor, and then my laptops. One is an Asus X401A ultrabook, with 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB HDD, dual core Intel Pentium processor @ 2.3 GHz, and Intel integrated graphics (which work surprisingly well). Another working laptop is an Asus K45C laptop with 6GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB HDD, dual core Intel Pentium processer @ 2.2 GHz, and Intel integrated graphics. Another one is an Asus U50F which I’ve had for a few years that needs some work done. But it’s 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500GB HDD, dual core Intel i3 processor. I’m not sure what it’s clocked at though — I need to fix it first. All in all, I really like Asus computers.

5. What is your ideal Linux setup?

   I’d have to say as far as a server goes, something powerful enough to host a bunch of virtual servers so I can rent them out. I rent out a couple right now with the home server I have, but it’s not that great. As far as home-use computers, an Asus with at least 6GB of RAM, 500GB HDD, with a quad-core processor. The compilation times can be a pain sometimes, and I test out a lot of the new GCC builds that are brought into the Portage Tree, and when that happens you have to rebuild everything. I have 1,184 packages, which would take me 1-3 days on the laptop I mainly use. So just something portable but powerful.

6. Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?

   Of course!

Interview conducted April 20, 2013

The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here, follow me on Twitter here, and subscribe to the feed here.

The Linux Setup - Tríona O’Connell, Academic

Tríona’s setup is cool, in that a lot of academics, across platforms, use the same tools — things like R and Mendeley and LaTeX. What’s nice about Linux, though, is that these tools are always easily available in a central repository. This gives you a sense of freedom, in that you don’t feel trapped in a distribution or OS when you know the same tools you depend upon are just a click or command away. I’m also pleased to see an Xfce user checking in here. I still love GNOME, but the development process sometimes seems a bit rigid. Xfce is a great alternative that still doesn’t seem to get the attention it deserves.

You can find more of The Linux Setup here.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.

1. Who are you, and what do you do?

   I’m a PhD student in Dublin City University. Mostly I look at the sugars on the surface of cells using specialised detection proteins and expensive pieces of equipment. In my spare time I’m involved with my local hackerspace, TOG, where I like to evangelise about crochet and crafting in general. I also keep a cake blog and get involved in telling the public how awesome science is. I’m pretty busy!

2. What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?

   On my main laptop I run Linux Mint Debian Edition with Xfce as my preferred desktop manager. LMDE stopped supporting Xfce recently and I’m somewhat disappointed because I love LMDE and haven’t found an alternative to Xfce that I like. On the other laptops and nettops I use, I have Debian installed, as the rolling LMDE is less suitable for something you turn on every other month.

3. What software do you depend upon with this distribution?

   Mendeley and Kile are probably my most used bits of software after my browser and terminal. Mendeley allows me to keep on top of developments in my research area, and Kile is a great environment for writing LaTeX.

   For image analysis I use ImageJ which is a neat piece of software that the National Institutes of Health have released for getting data from microscope pictures. The GIMP is invaluable for labelling images and for making diagrams for describing how my science works. RStudio is a handy environment for doing statistics using R. Sadly, it doesn’t yet do ALL of my stats for me; I have to figure out what to tell R before it can do the calculations!

4. What kind of hardware do you run it on?

   My main laptop was provided by work; it’s a Dell Lattitude E6510.

5. What is your ideal Linux setup?

   My ideal setup isn’t far off what I have now. Maybe a lighter computer would be nice, as I carry the laptop EVERYWHERE as I’m so attached to everything on it.

6. Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?

   That’s our venus flytrap. It was living on a table outdoors last summer when I took the photo. You can tell it’s in good shape because the little mouths are more pink than green.

Interview conducted March 24, 2013

The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here, follow me on Twitter here, and subscribe to the feed here.

The Linux Setup - Gary Newell, EverydayLinuxUser.com

I take what some might call a perverse pleasure in interviewing distro hoppers, because they tend to be much more clinical about their setups. These questions can seem kind of strange if you’re using a new distribution every week. It was interesting to see how Gary makes a distinction between quick-booting distros, like Arch and CrunchBang, versus something bigger like Linux Mint, which Gary also seems to enjoy quite a bit. One skill distro hopping seems to cultivate is the ability to evaluate software by feature, rather than as a whole. As you read the interview, you’ll notice Gary comes at everything from a features perspective, rather than a distribution-centric one.

You can find more of The Linux Setup here.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.

1. Who are you, and what do you do?

   I am Gary Newell. I am a software developer living in Aberdeen, Scotland specialising in software for the oil and gas industry.

   I am also the author of www.everydaylinuxuser.com.

2. What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?

   I am really bad for distro hopping. I also use different machines for different purposes. On my most powerful PC, which is a Toshiba Satellite Pro, I run a 64-bit version of Linux Mint 14 with the Cinnamon desktop (see screenshot).

   On my netbook I am currently running SolusOS. I have another laptop that currently has Arch Linux on it. On another partition on the same laptop I had OpenSUSE up until last week, but now it is running Debian. I have been using Debian mainly for the past week in order to write a review later on this week.

   I find Linux Mint works really well on modern hardware.

3. What software do you depend upon with this distribution?

   Well I don’t really use all that much software. I don’t really do much software development at home. All I need in life is a decent browser and I find Chromium serves that purpose. A good screenshot tool is required for the blog. I do use Unetbootin wherever possible to create the bootable USB drives. GParted gets used quite a bit as well.

   My favourite piece of software is actually the FUSE Spectrum Emulator. I love retro gaming and the Spectrum holds a lot of nostalgia from my childhood.

4. What kind of hardware do you run it on?

   Linux Mint is running on a Toshiba Satellite Pro with an Intel I5 processor, 64 bit, 16GB RAM,

5. What is your ideal Linux setup?

   As I mentioned before I am a bit of a distro hopper. To be honest it depends on what I am doing at the time. If I want comfort, I use Linux Mint, but I am finding that to boot into something quickly, the Arch install is working really well. It really depends on the distributions that I have available at any given time. When I had Crunchbang installed, I used to go to that quite a bit if I wanted instant access to the internet without having to wait for my computer to boot.

6. Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?

Interview conducted April 14, 2013

The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here, follow me on Twitter here, and subscribe to the feed here.

Calvin Trillin Predicted Yelp Almost 30 Years Ago

This isn’t strictly Linux-related, but it’s pretty amazing. I’m reading Calvin Trillin’s The Tummy Trilogy, a great food book, and in the first part he has this incredible quote. Keep in mind the book was published in 1974:

“…I learned that one of the other guests, an investment banker named Anthony Lamport, could summon data on four hundred [restaurants] simply by strolling over to a computer terminal he had installed in a small office one flight above his bedroom and punching a few keys—having first dialed a special number in California on the telephone and placed the receiver next to what passes for the machine’s ear…I admit to having been intrigued by the idea of storing restaurant information in a computer. I could think of a few useful ways to arrange New York restaurants into the kinds of subgroups computers are always providing…”

Trillin and Lamport basically imagined Yelp 30 years before it launched.

I wonder what the OS of the mainframe was.

The Linux Setup - John Browning, Engadget

I’m always pleasantly surprised when any of the big tech blogs have a Linux guy. John’s done some interesting Linux work for Engadget, which is why I thought he’d make a good interview subject (his Engadget colleague, Terrence O’Brien, was great, too). For the record, John’s another Fuduntu user (Katherine Noyes, was last week), but if you check the date, you’ll see the interview was conducted a few months ago, before I become obsessed with Fuduntu. I think it just goes to show how Fuduntu was hitting a critical mass before the announced shutdown, and how a lot of people are probably anxious for the next iteration of the distro.

You can find more of The Linux Setup here.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.

1. Who are you, and what do you do?

   John Browning. I’m a systems programmer/engineer for a privately held software company that makes statistical software. I also contribute to Engadget.com in my spare time. At my day job I manage high performance clusters/grids running RedHat Enterprise Linux. I’m responsible for creating a lot of tooling and automation, mostly in Perl. I get to invent cool new ways of doing stuff. I’ve been playing with Conary as of late. I’ve been using Linux since I was a tween.

2. What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?

   Currently running Fuduntu at work and home. Fuduntu is a somewhat Fedora-based distribution with a default GNOME2 desktop environment. Fuduntu is geared for desktop use. I highly recommend folks check it out: http://www.fuduntu.org

3. What software do you depend upon with this distribution?

   I really like GNOME 2 as a desktop environment. Fubuntu is a great distro that utilizes true and updated GNOME 2. It’s a bit more stable than some of the MATE environments I’ve tried. That’s the main selling point of Fuduntu.

   Other software I use (that you can get on just about any distro):
   1. vim
   2. Steam, ya gotta relax sometimes. Fuduntu has great steam support out of the box (yum -y install steam)
   3. VLC
   4. Chromium

4. What kind of hardware do you run it on?

   At work: Core i7, 16GB Memory, Nvidia Tesla GPU. Dell brand.

   At home: A rather old homebuild PC AMD Phenom that’s getting upgraded soon. It has 4GB of memory.

5. What is your ideal Linux setup?

   Core i7 with 8MB Cache, 16GB of DDR3, and latest Nvidia GPU. I have to have dual monitors as well.

6. Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?

   A screenshot of my home environment:

Interview conducted February 27, 2013

The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.

You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here, follow me on Twitter here, and subscribe to the feed here.