Elementary OS Freya - Part 3 Viber running on 32 bit Linux

Viber for Windows running in ElementaryOS Freya on my Dual Monitor system with ViberStart and ViberKill added to Docky **  Wallpaper - Henning Island Whitsundays QLD

 
It had to happen!  I use Viber a hell of a lot and while the Viber people have released the 64 bit packages for Linux, it is a pain to get it working on 32 bit Linux.  Since I had already made Viber for Windows run on Mint, I decided to see if it would run in Elementary.  The good news was, it did.  The bad news I suppose is that I need to post the method here and bore people with details.

In the past I had used WINE to install Viber and it used to run, but somewhere in a recent release of either Linux or Viber for Window, the excutable would install, the come up with errors every time it ran.

A couple of weeks ago however I remembered PlayOnLinux and decided to see if it was good for more than games.  It is in pretty well all repositories, so I just installed it and opened it.

So here is a rather lengthy diatribe on getting it set up.  There are no messy configurations to do and no extra dll files and stuff to find as I had to in Wine.  You simply follow what is written here and it should all work.

Where you see the path /home/YOUR-USER-NAME/.PlayOnLinux/  Simply change 'YOUR-USER-NAME' to whatever is the username for that home folder. 

So an example if your logged in user is robert would be to change:

/home/YOUR-USER-NAME/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/_/drive_c/users/YOUR-USER-NAME/Local Settings/Application Data/Viber/Viber.exe

to :
/home/robert/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/_/drive_c/users/robert/Local Settings/Application Data/Viber/Viber.exe

ANOTHER WARNING that will be mentioned again below. 

When you get to either entering a command in a Terminal to start Viber, watch out for spaces and backslashes in the path.  If they are not in the right place - it won't work!

OK  HERE GOES:

Install PlayOnLinux

Download Viber for Windows.
Install the ViberSetup.exe or Viber.exe (whatever whatever it was called) using PlayOnLinux.


Open PlayOnLinux.  It was in the Applications Menu, Games, PlayOnLinux.

On the right, choose Install a Program.
When the Install Menu opens, look at the bottom and click on Install a non-listed program.  (If you don't see an option to Install a non-listed program, open and close a few of the Install options.  It will turn up at the bottom of one of them eventually as a line of text link)

The Manual Installation dialog will open, click Next
If you have NOT used PlayOnLinux before, click on install a program in a new virtual drive
Type in a name for your new virtual drive WITH NO SPACES

Now, Mr Intelligence here forgot to type in a name, so I ended up with a virtual drive called "_" 

NOTE !!!  Don't skip typing in a NAME for the virtual drive.    

Click Next and Follow the rest of the prompts


Yep, so my drive is in a folder called 'underscore'.
In the examples below I used 'NAME-OF-VIRTUAL-DRIVE'  to represent whatever you call your PlayOnLinux virtual drive when asked.

You should be asked if you want to Use another version of Wine. Configure Wine or Install some libraries.  You can skip this and click Next.

Once you get through this stuff you should be asked to Please select the install file to run.
Click Browse and find the installation file wherever you downloaded it. 
In my case, in a folder called Software Downloaded/Viber
Click the Viber.exe file and wait.

It 'SHOULD" install to the following directory - but it could take some finding. 
Do a search for Viber.exe in your file manager and you should find it in something like this below  NOTE the dot before PlayOnLinux - it is a Hidden Folder so if you go looking for it, select Show Hidden Files in your File Manager:  

/home/YOUR-USER-NAME/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/NAME-OF-VIRTUAL-DRIVE/drive_c/users/YOUR-USER-NAME/Local\ Settings/Application\ Data/Viber/Viber.exe

Find executable and open with PlayOnLinux and SAVE the association Always Open This Type etc..
Once it has opened, you will be asked to provide your phone number.  A pin code will be sent to your mobile.
Enter the pn and Viber should open.  If you already have Viber on a device, you shoudl see your contacts.
Once you verify it is working, close Viber and close PlayOnLinux.

NOTE playonlinux Terminal command is in LOWER case, even though the folder name is mixed upper and lower case.



Then use this command in a terminal to start Viber. 

playonlinux /home/YOUR-USER-NAME/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/NAME-OF-VIRTUAL-DRIVE/drive_c/users/ross/Local\ Settings/Application\ Data/Viber/Viber.exe

Viber for Windows does not like to shut down in Linux so I Kill Viber with this (I made an executable script).
In my Mint 17 if I don;t kill Viber Process after I close the actual Viber Program, my monitors shut down and they don't want to start again.
---------------
!#/bin/bash
   # a simple script to kill the processes in memory at the same time as killing Viber for Windows
   # By Ross Devitt
   # Kills Wine version of Viber.
   # I found I need it because Viber causes monitor power save mode to cut in and shuts doem my screens.
pkill Viber.exe     # Kills Viber
pkill playonlinux   # Kills PlayOnLinux
pkill python        # Kills Python to stop PlayOnLinux restarting itself over and over
pkill explorer.exe  # Kills the Windows bits
 
---------------

Once that is done you should be able to use the command in a script, a link or a launcher.
I opened my /home/me/Desktop folder and Right Clicked in the folder and created a 'Link ro Application'
then I just pasted this into the Command box on the Application tab:

playonlinux /home/YOUR-USER-NAME/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/NAME-OF-VIRTUAL-DRIVE/drive_c/users/YOUR-USER-NAME/Local\ Settings/Application\ Data/Viber/Viber.exe

Next I changed the icon for the Viber icon and put VIBER in the Name field.  I left the Work path empty.

I hope this helps a few people who want to use Viber in 32 bit Elementary OS Freya or otehr 32 bit Linux Distros.



Remember - there IS a working 64 bit Viber for Linux, but it is a pig to set up in 32 bit distros.

This post might seem to have too much detail, but it is easy to miss things so there are lots of reminders in there.

Have fun with ElementaryOS and Viber.


RossD.

Elementary OS Freya - Part 2

Elementary OS Freya across 2 monitors using Docky instead of Plank
Wallpaper - Henning Island - Whitsundays Queensland Australia

After installing Elementary OS on my multimedia computer on Sunday, then yesterday deciding I liked it enough to try it on my main desktop, I'm already finding the experience enlightening.  Docky is installed and available on either screen.

There doesn't seem to be a way to extend the panel at the top across the right screen, but that is not an issue.  Simply opening settings, clicking on 'Display' and clicking the star in the top left of one the screens shown will swap that screen to become the primary monitor.

The main advantage I can see for using Plank as the dock is that it uses far less memory than Docky, but it is simply not as configurable or versatile.

My initial plan was to use Freya to test and swap back to XFCE for regular tasks until I had set up things like my Brother printers and scanners, along with configuring my VPN.  But all that was achieved in such a short time, I just forgot to open XFCE once I had repaired GRUB after the Elementary installation.

Which I suppose might be the topic for another post.  Because Freya wrecked my GRUB configuration and it was annoying to fix.  If it happens to you, do a search for a tool called     '   grub-customizer   '      and there's a link I will dig up to help manually edit /etc/default/grub.   It was pretty straight forward, and was caused my my manual partitioning because I have several operating systems installed.  If I had to guess, I  think I probably accidentally installed GRUB to the wrong MBR.

I mentioned earlier that I first installed Elementary OS on my multimedia computer.  This is a five year old Lenovo AMD computer that was leftover when I closed my computer businesses following serious injuries in an accident in 2004.  I was left with a lot of fairly expensive equipment that was too good to throw away but not good enough to sell.

Five years on, the junk heap has become a source of all sorts of innovation.  Connected to a cheap ($190 - Chinese) TV, I could ditch the video player and adding my old Logitech speakers I suddenly had cinema sound.  Now with the National Broadband Network connected at 25mbps/5mbps I have streaming YouTube whenever I want it on a 32 inch TV.

I had tried several different Linux distros and desktops but Freya is the first I have really liked for this purpose.  On the Multimedia sustem I have left Plank as the dock simply 'because' it uses minimal memory.

Elementary OS Freya - Part 1

I've just started using a new Linux Distro that impressed me so much I have installed it as my secondary OS.  However, I seem to be using it far more than my primary one.

I've enjoyed KDE for years, with my current favourite being the Mint variety,  and I love the way I can set it up in so many ways with themes and tools.  But I also run XFCE because it is faster and very configurable once you get to know it.

But Elementary OS is in a class of its own when it comes to simple.  It installs pretty well as a bar bones OS, but in a beautifully themed way.  I have to admit it screwed up my GRUB menu and I will make a separate post on how to fix that, because I've had that happen often enough with side by side installations of other distros. 

Elementary OS Freya is available here:  http://elementary.io/  and the first thing to do after installation is to open a terminal and issue the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mpstark/elementary-tweaks-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install elementary-tweaks

That will add a means to configure various parts of Freya because Elementary takes minimal to new lows.   Now when you open the Settings Menu there will be an entry in the top row (personal) called tweaks.

I added LibreOffice, Openshot, Firefox, PlayOnLinux, Dolphin, OpenVPN and the Gnome configuration too for openvpn, VLC, SMPlayer, Geeqie, Xsane, Gimp, Xara Extreme, ImageMagick and a few other odd dthings I use in my day to day life that I can't remember for the moment.

One interesting thing about Elementary OS Freya was that it found a heap of software already on my system and put it in the menu under 'Other'.  That is not too unusual, most other distros do that.  What I didn;t expect was for quite a lot of them to actually start, without having to install them, while others did not.  So for example, Shape Collage showed in the menu but did not start, but one of the best Drag and Drop website editors ever, QNEWB did run.

Installing my VPN provider onto OpenVPN took all of 2 minutes to add one server.  I have yet to add the other 20 or so.

I have a two monitor system with one being a Samsung TV connected to the DVI out, and the other a VGA LED monitor connected to VGA out.  Freya picked up both and configured them without any input from me.

The desktop is clean and simple and one thing it lacks is the ability to extend the dock or the panel across two screens, or even to have a separate panel or dock on each monitor.  Easy fixed:       sudo apt-get install docky 

In System Settings > Applications  a simple couple of mouse clicks made Dolphin my default File manager and Firefox my default Browser.  Then I did the same to make LibreOffice my default Text Editor.  I realised Geary was my only real option for email, but I use Gmail, so I installed Gnome Gmail from the Software Centre an set that as Email Default.

Ok, Enough form the moment.  Part 2 will be in the next few days I think.

Cheers,

RossD

FTP uploads and downloads in LINUX the Easy way

Something many Linux users either don't know, or forget is that years ago we didn't have fancy specialised programs to manage file transfers across a network.  We either did it from the command line or later, within a file browser.  But once the Internet came of age, specialised programs proliferated.

In Linux, one of the most popular is FileZilla.  It makes managing websites easy and is great to use.  But once in a while I am on another computer that does not have Filezilla or another similar program.  Now, it is easy to log into my server using a web browser to download files, and it is also possible to use a browser to upload files,  But what about editing them?

Here's the trick, for relatively new Linux users.  Your ordinary every day file manager, Dolphin, Thunar, Nautilus (or whatever it is called now) and the others, can access your web server anywhere in the world as long as you know your login ID and password.

Now, if as I do, you have a dual monitor setup you have a distinct advantage, because you can open the local files you are working on in a window on one screen and the folder you are working on at the remote server in another screen.  Of course, you can also split the file manager window itself, or tile yoour file managers on one screen.  I just find it convenient to keep the server on one screen and the local computer on another screen.

Although I use Mint 17 XFCE at present on my main computer I have made Dolphin (the file manager from KDE) my default file manager.  I just prefer the way it looks and feels.  So I will use Dolphin as my example.  Other file managers may have different keyboard short cuts but the commands will be in a menu somewhere.

I open Dolphin to my local working directory with the files for the website I am working on.  There are always two directories (folders) for any currently active web site.  One has an exact copy of the website as it is, once it is proven to be working correctly.  The other is my 'working' folder, where I make and test changes before I upload.

So I open the /home/my websites/current website working/  folder in Dolphin.  These are my local files.

Then I open a new Dolphin window.  In this new window I can either use the View menu to find 'Location bar > Editable location, or I can hit the F6 key.  Either will open an 'address bar' in Dolphin.  In that window I type Without The Quotes:
'ftp://mywebsitename.com'
A few moments late a dialog will ask for my Login and Password.  Enter those correctly and you now have access to your server just as if it was on your local computer.

Drag and drop between both open windows or a split window in your file browser works exactly as it does on your own computer.
You can click on an image in your file manager's server window and it will open in your default image viewer.  Right click a html file and select open with, to edit the file in your text editor.

Now, a word of WARNING here.  Editing files directly on a server is NEVER a good idea.  I only mention it because it is possible.

But for simply uploading and downloading files and for quickly viewing images to make sure they are correct it is great.
One other thing.  File Preview will work.  So unlike most FTP programs, if you use your browser for your FTP work, you can see the images in the folders on the server as thumbnails.

Ross Devitt

Viber on 32 bit Linux in 2015

Viber is available for Linux in 64 bit Deb and RPM packages, but not in 32 bit.  There are some work arounds for running the 64 bit packages in 32 bit, but I can never get the things to run.

I tried installing the Windows exe file using Wine, but that failed as well.  At the time of writing, 11th April 2015, Viber is at about V5.1.something.  This is what I did to get it runnng on Mint 17 XFCE 4.12.  I have not tested it with video or voice, as I didn;t have an active web cam.  But I did test it in chat, and it was fine.  I don't use a cam, so I cannot help there.

This is long winded, but it should work.  Watch for the 'backslash and space' in any Windows (Wine) paths where folder names have spaces.  Miss one and nothing works.  If Viber won;t run, chances are you got one wrong, so step throud using cd folder and ls each one as you go until you fine one that won;t open.  Then check if there's a space.  Remember Windows is a BACK slash and a Space.
So: /Folder/Another Folder/Application  would be written in a command or script as:   /Folder/Another\ Folder/Application

OK  Here Goes:
Install PlayOnLinux

Download Viber for Windows.
Install the ViberSetup.exe or Viber.exe (whatever whatever it was called) using PlayOnLinux.

Now that's not as easy as it sounds, but on Mint 17 XFCE 4.12 this is what I think I did:

Open PlayOnLinux.  It was in Menu, Games, PlayOnLinux.
On the right, choose Install a Program.
When the Install Menu opens, look at the bottom and click on Install a non-listed program
The Manual Installation dialog will open, click Next
If you have NOT used PlayOnLinux before, click on install a program in a new virtual drive
Type in a name for your new virtual drive WITH NO SPACES
Click Next and Follow the rest of the prompts
Now, Mr Intelligence here forgot to type in a name, so I ended up with a virtual drive called "_"
Yep, my drive is in a folder called 'underscore'.
You should be asked if you want to Use another version of Wine. Configure Wine or Install some libraries.
I messed around configuring Wine, but I suspect I may not have had to.
Once you get through this stuff you shoud be asked to Please select the install file to run.
Click Browse and find the installation file wherever you downloaded it. 
In my case, in a folder called Software Downladed/Viber
Click the Viber.exe file and wait.

It 'SHOULD" install to the following directory - but it could take some finding. 
Do a searh for Viber.exe in your file manager and you should fine it in something like this below:  

/home/ross/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/_/drive_c/users/ross/Local Settings/Application Data/Viber/Viber.exe

Find executable and open with PlayOnLinux and SAVE the association Always Open This Type etc..
Once it has opened, you will be asked to provide your phone number.  A pin code will be sent to your mobile.
Enter the pn and Viber should open.  If you already have Viber on a device, you shoudl see your contacts.
Once you veryfy it is working, close Viber and close PlayOnLinux.

Then use this command in a terminal to start Viber.  NOTE playonlinx Terminal command is in LOWER case.

playonlinux /home/ross/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/_/drive_c/users/ross/Local\ Settings/Application\ Data/Viber/Viber.exe

Viber for Windows does not like to shut down in Linux so I Kill Viber with this (I made an executable script).
In my Mint 17 if I don;t kill Viber Process after I close the actual Viber Program, my monitors shut down and they don't want to start again.
---------------
#!/bin/bash
pkill Viber.exe
# Kills Wine version of Viber.
# Needed for now because Viber causes monitor power save mode to cut in.
---------------

I tried adding pkill playonlinux, but while it kills the process it doesn't seem to close the PlayOnLinux window :-(

Once that is done you should be able to use the command in a script, a link or a launcher.
I opened my /home/me/Desktop folder and Right Clicked in the folder and created a 'Link ro Application'
then I just pasted this into the Command box on the Application tab:
playonlinux /home/ross/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/_/drive_c/users/ross/Local\ Settings/Application\ Data/Viber/Viber.exe

Next I changed the icon for the Viber icon and put VIBER in the Name field.  I left the Work path empty.

I hope this helps a few people who want to use Viber in 32 bit Linux.

RossD.

Linux Mint 17 Thrashing Hard Drives

I noticed a few times that I would be working on my computer, leave for a while and when I come back every thign is slow and jerky.  Firefox stops scrolling,  Videos are suddenly jerky.  Programs took forever to open and trying to edit a video was pointless.

The give away was that the hard drive light was continually on.  As a test I left it running to see how long it took to stop.  It was still thrashing the hard drive 11 hours later !!!!

It took ages to find the problem, but eventually I noticed that whenever this was happening a program called gvfs-metadata was running.

Eventually I took a chance and went into synaptic and deleted everythign with gvfs in its name.

My system is great now, but...   Every now and again I notice the problem again.  It seems some Gnome applications install it.  The last one was Nautilus.  Now if I notice this happening I simply go back into Synaptic and delete anything with gvfs in the name.

Such a simple solution to such an annoying problem.

Linux Mint 17 Breaking stuff

As much as I love Linux Mint, I've noticed in the recent releases there are some annoying problems.  In short, mint is becoming more and more like Windows used to be.

First off was my favourite Mint flavour - KDE.  It was running perfectly but when I decided to update to version 17 it killed my computer.  Screwed things up so badly nothing would boot.  I'm cautious, and tend to keep the old version in a partition until the new version is tested and running nicely.  But after a few weeks, suddenly one morning the system refused to boot.  So I chose the previous version in GRUB and it refused also.

The Live DVD worked, so I did a fresh install and it still would not boot, nor would the older version still installed.

So I installed XFCE and have used it ever since.  But Mint 17 XFCE has its own little glitches.

For one thing I opened Mint 17 Updater and saw the option to update from Mint 17 Quiana to Mint 17.1 Rebecca.  So I clicked on it, then on the next popup I clicked 'Continue' and it took me to a link that suggested it would display release notes.  So I clicked the link and Firefox opened.  At my home page.  I tried again - and had two instances of Firefox open at my home page.  So I gave up and pressed continue again.  The text on the button greyed out - and that's all that happened.

Another thing that is kind of cute but bloody annoying - is that if I right click on the desktop, I cannot change the desktop wallpaper.  Well, that is, unless I set it to change through different wallpapers and then uncheck that when I reach one I like.  It used to work, then one day it just decided not to.  It will not let me change the folder the wallpapers are in.

Those are just a couple of Mint 17 glitches.  Mint 16 worked fine.  Mint 17 just keeps getting worse.  But once these stupid problems are fixed - and one thing about Mint is, if you wait a few releases they are always found and fixed - It will still be the best all purpose distro out there!

SMPLAYER and Mint 17 XFCE

This post is just a reminder that I must write about smplayer.
How munch it seems to have improved.
My latest experience with it.
The YouTube plug in and what it means for downloading to watch offline.
Streaming performance while watching online.

I'll try to write this some time in the next couple of days.

Changing my LINUX preference again. MINT 17 XFCE

I've been using Linux for almost 20 years now and I often become rather complacent and forget to keep up with new developments in available programs. 

While I frequently swap between 'types' of a particular Linux distribution, and occasionally between distributions themselves, I have pretty well settled on Mint these days.  And after KDE became unstable enough to lose a lot of my stuff, I decided to play around once more with the light weight XFCE and LXDE variants of MINT 17.

Now I have discovered serious problems with LXDE and it looks like I will be settling on XFCE until a KDE returns to some sort of stability.

Now XFCE has its own particular set of problems but most of them can be overcome.  Things like miniscule thumbnails can be fixed by making Dolphin and Konqueror your file manager of choice.

Once you do that however, you lose desktop integration for things like auto mounted file systems simply appearing on the desktop.  Not to worry.  They will appear in the 'Places' pane in Dolphin and clicking on them opens them.  If you like to 'Safely remove' a drive, something I still do, then simply right click the drive in 'Places' and choose to Safely Remove it.

You also lose the working Trash Can.  But again, right clicking 'Trash' in Places lets you Empty Trash.  And if there is stuff in the Trash Can it should have a little red marker next to the Trash icon in Places.

Docky, if you use it, will probably stop working after you use Synaptic.  Googling it shows it is a common complaint.  I created a transparent panel on the right edge of my screen, which auto hides.  In it I put a launcher for Docky.  Now, after using Synaptic or Software manager, I simply click the icon in that panel and Docky loads again.  Saves messing around opening menus and it is hidden unless I need it anyway.

After I got rid of GNOME stuff like nautilus, I found the Desktop Settings Wallpaper manager would not let me select files any more.  It will let me select and open folders, just won;t let me select the files in a folder.

For now I have got around that by using the wallpaper changer.  It remembered the last folder I used, so all I do is drop a few images into that folder and set it to change every 3 seconds.  As soon as the picture I want comes up I cancel changing.

Most other things are working.  Dual monitors and the like.  Networking and VPN were ok to set up and downloads over NBN are in the order of 3 MB per second.  Sometimes using VPN and the right servers I can get sustained downloads of more than 5MB/s which equates to getting 40 out of my 25/5 connection.

More Command Line Magic in Linux

A friend was watching me do something the other day and saw me click a couple of icons that opened documents in their applications.  I was asked how.

I have a few things that need to be run every day.  Like a diary and a spreadsheet for example.  Now I know I can open a terminal and type:

lowriter   then press enter and get a blank LibreOffice Writer document.  The same works for the commands lodraw  and localc.

I just take it a little further and enter something like this in a terminal:

lowriter '/home/user/Name Of Folder/Name of Document.odt'
Will open a document directly in writer.

I use variations on this for things I need to do daily (created a launcher).
I also have something similar in bash scripts for automating working with ImageMagick and LibreDraw together.

Various other programs can be started the same way. 
firefox google.com     should open google in firefox for example.

Linux or Ubuntu or Mint and Google Earth. Won't zoom in. Can't connect to server error. Graphics Card Error

First - the title of the post.  It has got to the point now where Ubuntu and Mint are almost synonymous with Linux.  Sorry to any dedicated Linux fanatics who stumble upon this post. 

For years I've had a problem where Google Earth would be working perfectly in Linux then suddenly start doing weird stuff.

For example it would begin to load and crash, then would refuse to load again until the process was manually killed.  Then when it did load again it might say it could not connect to the server.

Or it would begin to zoom in on an area then suddenly stop loading any more detailed zoom levels.

Sometimes it would display an error saying my graphics card was incapable of running Google Earth - which was ridiculous when I had earlier had almost good enough resolution to read a newspaper from the sky.  And when Google Maps in my browser worked fine, within its own limits.

I tried searching for information and there were all sorts of suggestions, many from Google itself.  Most involved downloading and reinstalling the program.  Some involved clearing the cache.

Clearing the cache inside GoogleEarth was a lost cause.  Crashed the program.  But I had a look in /home/my-account-name/.googleearth
Inside that folder there's a cache file.  Messing with that eventually fixed stuff.

I also discovered the .googleearth folder is created fresh whenever it is not present and Google Earth is run.

So the quick and dirty fix is to simply:
Open your home folder.
Turn ON Show Hidden Files.
Find the folder called   .googleearth
DELETE it.
Start Google Earth.

If all went well, you now have Google Earth running again and zooming in to detailed levels.
You will have lost all your placemarks and personal notes.   But at least the program runs.

The long and painful approach is to make a copy of the .googleearth  folder and then in the original, delete cache.

If that doesn't work you then need to go through and play with every folder and file until you find the problem one.

Personally I would rather just redo all my placemarkers :-)

2014 - The end of the year, the Internet and my preferred LINUX Distros

It is November already and we've had an interesting year.  Not a great year for writing with my health still in a mess and deteriorating despite everything I do to try to stay on top of things, but still interesting.

One of the biggest changes was the introduction of a partial version of the National Broadband Network in Australia.  It is unfortunate that the incoming government decided to strip away much of the infrastructure innovation, but fortunate that we even got what was left - a mix of the old and new ideas. 

Anyway, after close to two months on the new system I am convinced that even at lower speeds the Internet just got useful.  We lost our privacy but gained function.  The televisions in the house where I live are simple LED types, High Definition, but not smart.  However, connect them to, in one case, a WD LIVE box (cheap enough at OfficeWorks) and in the other case, a ChromeCast, as well as connecting them as monitors to a couple of old computers and a television is turned into a great entertainment system, far exceeding anything offered by Austar or Foxtel.

A monthly subscription to a movie network online at a price a fraction of some of the alternatives means an amazing number of movies out there to watch at any time.  Add to that the stuff available on YouTube legally these days, by virtue of adverts inserted strategically.  It is fascinating stuff and far better than most of the free to air TV can offer.

Of course, this all comes down to accessibility.  At last count in this house there were three tablets, three smart phones, five laptops and two desktop computers all able to access the Internet.  An NBN account with modest speed and unlimited data was definitely a good decision.

On another topic, I've been involved with a number of Linux distros as they have been developed over the years since I first converted to Red Hat in 1997.  Some distros I tried and liked, others not so much.  Some were excellent at certain things and not so good in other ways. 

Over the last few years I have used Linux Mint and Zorin OS for different things.  For normal day to day work I prefer Mint KDE.  Clem has got it almost right, though the latest version, Mint 17, is a bit flaky.  For some reason the Mint team has screwed up the graphics capabilities and the multimedia.  Also with Mint, networking is really crappy.  I had to mess with it over and over and never quite got it to do what I wanted.

So when it came to creating a home multimedia centre, I went back to the latest release of Zorin OS, version 9.  There are a lot of things I don;t like about Zorin,  I hate the themes, I really dislike that it is so difficult to set up and change things that should be simple, and are simple in Mint KDE.  But aside from the ugly window design and the crappy customization experience, it does have the slickest, sweetest network configuration.  Zorin's file manager is just plain ugly.  It recognized my external USB hard drives as CD/DVD drives and will not allow opening them in file manager as part of the right click menu.

But unlike Mint 17 KDE, Zorin plays multimedia videos in pretty well all formats.  And it also comes with ImageMagick in the repository, which means graphics can be manipulated from the command line or from bash scripts.  Sadly trying to do this in Mint is a painful process, and Mint doesn't even have ImageMagick in it repository.  It does have something called GraphicsMagick, which is like a poor substitute and fraught with errors whenever I have tried to use it for actual work.

Installing ImageMagick in Zorin is simply a matter of clickin it in the software centre,  IN Mint it sometimes takes half a dozen attempts to get rid of the rubbish they have installed, and get ImageMagick installed and up and running.

Zorin OS 9 has played every video format I have tried it with so far in either its installed video player, or VLC, which I had to install.  Once in a while a broken flv will throw an error but it still plays.  Mint 17 on the other hand is forever forcing me into player roulette.   At one time I had six different players installed just so I could get most formats to play.  Zorin played all the wmv files that choked Mint 17.

I think the next thing to try with Zorin OS 9 is to install XBMC and see if it works well as a more dedicated multimedia centre.

So when it came to