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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
What kind of hardware do you run it on?
My main laptop was provided by work; it’s a Dell Lattitude E6510.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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):- vim
- Steam, ya gotta relax sometimes. Fuduntu has great steam support out of the box (yum -y install steam)
- VLC
- Chromium
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.
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.
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.
The Linux Setup - Katherine Noyes, Journalist
Katherine is involved in a lot of great Linux initiatives. I strongly recommend her Twitter feed, which usually has a few interesting links per day. Katherine is also another subject who says her setup is close to ideal, which is always nice, and impressive, to hear. Also, despite the fact that I might seem obsessed with Fuduntu, it’s just a coincidence that Katherine uses it.
You can find more of The Linux Setup here.
You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.
Who are you, and what do you do?
I’m Katherine Noyes, and I write about Linux and open source technology for The Linux Foundation’s Linux.com as well as PCWorld, LinuxInsider, and the brand-new Linux Advocates blog. On LinuxInsider I write the Linux Blog Safari, for which I assume the persona of “Linux Girl.” You may have noticed the new illustrations of Linux Girl on my Google+ and Twitter pages, as well as in the semiweekly column; I’m proud to say my daughter Elinore is the artist who did them!
Outside of the Linux world I also write about cool new business ideas for Springwise, occasional stories for TechNewsWorld’s Space section, and animal-related posts for Volunteer Guide, where I’m the Senior Editor of Animal Welfare — another passion of mine.
What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?
I currently run Fuduntu Linux on my main desktop PC. Until just recently I dual-booted Ubuntu and Windows 7, but I finally wiped Windows (hadn’t actually needed it for a long time) and installed Fuduntu, which came really highly recommended. I’m loving it so far. Meanwhile I also have a Samsung Chromebook and an Android phone. We have a bunch of other laptops in my family, but my 12-year-old son is constantly installing new distros on them (he got the Linux Diversity collection for Christmas), so I couldn’t tell you what’s on them at the moment. ;)
What software do you depend upon with this distribution?
I depend heavily on a small but powerful set of software for my work. Besides Fuduntu, that’s Chrome, which links all my stuff together; LibreOffice, where I do all my writing; GIMP for graphical images; tools like Drive and Shutter; and Firefox, which I still use and love. I was a Thunderbird user for many years, but now I’m trying to get used to the Web paradigm. I also use a VPN connection for my work with PCWorld.
What kind of hardware do you run it on?
My primary desktop is an Asus CM5570 desktop with a 2.6GHz E5300 Pentium dual-core processor and 6GB of RAM. In addition, however, I recently bought a Samsung Chromebook for extra flexibility.
What is your ideal Linux setup?
This may seem silly, but my needs are pretty limited, so I have to say my current setup is pretty close to my ideal setup – particularly now that I have a Chromebook as well. More speed is always nice, but beyond that I think my next plans will involve peripherals. More cloud storage may be in my future as well.
Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?
A screenshot of my current desktop is attached. It’s one of the defaults on Fuduntu, but I like it because it reminds me of Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. :)
Interview conducted February 3, 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 - Meg Ford, GNOME Developer
Meg’s setup reminds me a lot of Dave Neary’s: simple and taking advantage of stock tools, rather than reinventing the desktop experience. Of course, given Meg’s GNOME work, she actually gets to reinvent the desktop experience professionally, so it’s probably a less compelling need for her when she’s not developing. Also, Meg mentions Documents in her interview. I didn’t realize it was the default GNOME document manager, which I don’t usually use, but which seems to be a great dashboard which integrates local documents with cloud-hosted ones. It’s something I might explore down the line. It’s kind of funny how, like many Linux users, I have all of this interesting software installed and at my fingertips, yet I haven’t fully explored what’s available to me. It’s a nice problem to have.
You can find more of The Linux Setup here.
You can follow My Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.
Who are you, and what do you do?
I am a member of the GNOME foundation and an MS in Computer Science student. I contribute to GNOME’s Documents application, co-organize monthly Linux user group meetups and GNOME hackfests in Chicago, and help out with the Chicago Python Workshop. I’m working as a web developer while I complete my degree.
What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?
I’m running Fedora 18. I use the GNOME desktop environment.
What software do you depend upon with this distribution?
I run the current version of Documents from git master for managing and editing my Google and local docs and for developing and testing the software itself.
I use Pidgin for communicating on IRC, Tomboy for note taking, and GIMP and Inkscape for svg and picture editing.
I usually use Firefox (with HTTPS Everywhere, Ghostery, AdBlock, and GNOME 3 extensions) for browsing the web, and Google Chrome when I need smooth integration with Google services.
When I program for GNOME I use gedit and the terminal. For web development I use Bluefish. In school my primary language is Java, so I use Eclipse and JGrasp. I just started learning C this semester, and I’m going to try using Emacs. There’s a steep learning curve with Emacs, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to invest the time to learn it.
What kind of hardware do you run it on?
I have a Thinkpad T61.
What is your ideal Linux setup?
I think I work on GNOME in order to help create the “ideal” Linux. It’s really exciting to me to try out new features as they are built, and contribute to the vision and development happening in our community.
Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?
Interview conducted January 25, 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 us on Google+ here and subscribe to our feed here.
The Linux Setup - Dave Neary, Red Hat
Dave’s setup is pretty standard, but it makes sense when you read how he described his ideal Linux setup: “The less time I spend thinking about what my desktop is running, and the more time I spend doing stuff, the better.” That wonderfully summarizes how I think about Linux. I turned to it because it was customizable, which allowed me to make it run more effectively for me, but now I run it because it works well, without a lot of fiddling. The customization angle might be less important to me because I now have a handle on what I like and dislike in a desktop experience, or it could be that the desktops are getting better. Either way, this interview is another example of how Linux is a great path for anyone looking to have a machine that just works.
You can find more of The Linux Setup here.
You can follow us on Google+ here.
Who are you, and what do you do?
Dave Neary, Open Source and Standards, Red Hat. We’re a team of people working to make all the Open Source projects Red Hat works with better.
What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?
Fedora 17.
What software do you depend upon with this distribution?
I use Thunderbird for email, Firefox for web, Empathy for IM, XChat-gnome for IRC, LibreOffice for office productivity, Simple Scan for scanning, Shotwell for photo management, Gnote for note taking, and then terminal for other stuff.
What kind of hardware do you run it on?
A Lenovo Thinkpad X220. Nice and light for travel, with a dock and bigger screen for when I’m at home.
What is your ideal Linux setup?
Whatever works :-) There are some pet hates I have, which are more integration and polish issues than anything else.The less time I spend thinking about what my desktop is running, and the more time I spend doing stuff, the better.
Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?
Sure! (With extra blurring of email client window).
Interview conducted January 28, 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 us on Google+ here and subscribe to our feed here.
The Linux Setup - Mark Anderson, Teacher
I owe this interview to my wife, who spotted Mark at a meeting and immediately picked up that he was using Linux. She put me in touch with him and here we are with a great interview. Mark uses a lot of interesting software in a very smart way. For instance, you’ll see he uses a variety of feed readers, which is even more impressive, given that the interview took place before Google announced it was killing Google Reader. His thoughts on open sourcing curriculum development are also interesting, as is the workflow he’s developing.
You can find more of The Linux Setup here.
You can follow us on Google+ here.
Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Mark Anderson, and I am a currently a special education ELA teacher and coordinator at a public middle school in the Bronx. I write about education matters on my blog Schools as Ecosystems as well as on GothamSchools. I am a big fan of Linux-based systems and of the open source movement. I have written about the potential that open sourcing curriculum development holds in the field of education. You can also find me on Twitter @mandercorn.
What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?
On my main laptop, my trusty old Dell Inspiron B130, I run Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. On my old Acer Aspire One netbook, I just recently switched from Ubuntu to Peppermint Linux 3, which has injected much needed speed on that machine. It has become the tool I use for writing.
I also use an Asus Transformer TF101 running EOS, to keep up with newsfeeds, and a Google Nexus smartphone. I’m looking forward to giving Ubuntu for phones a spin when it is finally released.
What software do you depend upon with this distribution?
I do my lesson planning using Google Drive on Chrome. I’ve become pretty reliant on Google over the years, as it neatly centralizes my documents and lessons and allows me to share them easily. I originally sought to use LaTeX to open source curriculum, but found it way too technical for my abilities, so I now share my lessons for modification or reuse via Google.
I use Polly for Twitter when on my laptop, Lightread for feed reading, LibreOffice when I’m not using Google Drive, Spotify for Linux, and Dropbox to coordinate my files on my different platforms. On my netbook, I use GWoffice for writing and Chromium for browsing. On my Android tablet and phone, I use Tweetcaster, Pocket, Google Currents, Feedly, Press, and Pulse to read articles and skim for information. I like to utilize a diverse selection of feed readers because it seems like they each expose different sorts of information.
What kind of hardware do you run it on?
I’m using a Dell Inspiron B130 and an Acer Aspire One netbook as my main productivity machines.
What is your ideal Linux setup?
Eventually, when my old laptop finally gives up the ghost, I fantasize about getting a Dell XPS 13 and running Ubuntu on it.
Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?
Interview conducted January 26, 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 us on Google+ here and subscribe to our feed here.
