Sucky teeth noises

[pyoor_excuse]

So, outside of attempting to ‘do’ the kitchen and my exciting and exotic literature search (Combine: ‘organ’ and ‘donation’ AND (‘premortem’ OR ‘antemortem’ OR ‘perimortem’) to hopefully yield useful results on treatment of people going for organ donation after an imminent death), I’ve been thinking about the ‘EntMac’.

Yes, this is a faintly computercentric post, so all those not after computercentricity look away now…

Essentially, the EntMac is going to run Ubuntu Linux. At least that’s the plan. What’s also ‘the plan’ is that it will run it using the 802.11b/g card in the machine as a bridge-type-affair (hopefully just about extending wireless to the garage). Originally I was intending to move the Router out there, but actually it’s probably better, if the linux box will let me do what I want, making it a bridge or a network extender would be, well, good. The problem with that is it’s not something I instantly know how to do, and thus comes under the ‘needs time’ problem. Still, that can be a longer term issue, because once it’s connected to the wired network I can at least access it from inside the house.

Which is important, because while the warm and potentially sometimes damp laundry room is no doubt not the ideal location for it, it is out of the way, heated (albeit minimally) and usually dry. It means I don’t have to have whirring server fans in the lounge*. The one teeny tiny inconvenience is that because the EntMac has decided that it doesn’t want to connect to the new router (for reasons that escape me, since the password’s the same, the network name’s the same, the IP block is the same, it’s set to DHCP, etc, etc. I can’t think of any reason why it now can’t connect) I need this to happen a bit more rapidly, because the laptop isn’t over endowed with space, and I was just thinking of moving some files onto the EntMac to clear some space off here. Only I can’t now. Because it won’t talk to the router**. And I can’t troubleshoot it because, well, I don’t have a monitor. Although I did locate the keyboard (well, a keyboard). And the trackball. So when I find a CD-R on which to burn Ubuntu*** and scrounge the monitor off John (which will be a ridiculously big monitor for a computer in a cupboard, but free is free :) ) I can install it. The batteries even claim they’re charging (unlike my sad little UniRoss ones which came out of the remote. They definitely don’t want to charge :( ).

Anyhow. So that’s that.

As a third side point, I’m trying Serviio. Anyone had any luck with it? For reasons I’m yet to understand it sat with nothing served (apart from empty directories) then suddenly had the music shared. But no video. I’m trying to work out if it’s just building a library and it’s taking a long time… or if it’s something else I need to fiddle with.

* Of course, we now have whirring fans in the kitchen (because the heaters in the kitchen are fanned), and at the moment, since the heating’s lacking radiators in the lounge and only 50% installed in the kitchen, well, it’s pretty much on continuously when the heating’s on.
** And for obscure reasons known only to it, the wired connection isn’t working either.
*** Irritatingly I saw one a few days ago and thought ‘Ah, a CD-R. That’ll be handy for when I want to do the Mac’. Now I have no idea where that was.

Originally published at Kates Journal. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[quercus.livejournal.com]

I've just burned a pair of Ubuntu 11.05s (32 & 64). Say an address and I'll stick them in the post.

The voice of bitter experience writes:
* Ubuntu "Unity" is vile. Keep the "classic" KDE
* If you want Gnome, you need 11.10 (I can burn this too) and use Gnome 3. I know little of this.
* "Ubuntu software centre" appears to be broken too. Keep using Synaptic.

OTOH, the tame geek said to use Debian anyway, not Ubuntu. But that would be an ecumenical matter.

[pyoor_excuse]

Little PM sent...

Tame Geek says to use Debian? Whyfor? Bear in mind that while I loved linux I was a user of the lizardy one (who's name currently escapes me) - and while I did occasionally build my own kernel, it wasn't a frequent event and I've not touched linux for...at least 5 years.

[quercus.livejournal.com]

Suse?

I was having trouble with a new from-scratch install this week, where I'd done the "obvious" and gone for the most recent LTS of Ubuntu (which I've used for the last few years) - hence having the disks already done. It fell over and wasted loads of time, not for OS reasons but I think mostly because the "software centre" seems unhelpful.

In a bit of a Flann O'Brien moment, I asked The Brother for advice. His view was based on avoiding bleeding edges even further and the fact that Debian worked for him without any such grief. OTOH, last time I touched Debian (a good few years ago) I built a working box, had another local expert install this new "Firefox" thing onto it for me, which ended in the box's entire hardware being dismantled and recycled as parts! Seems that Firefox was all Unified threads, my old kernel was Whitworth and the video board could only do metric. This business is all still a bit rubbish and I hate it. I just want to write apps on top of this drek.

This is why I collect piles of useless hardware, but increasingly pitch it in c0redump's direction. I have absolutely no patience for this sort of fiddling.

[pyoor_excuse]

Suse, yes.

See, I never really got on with Debian, although I never really looked that hard at it. SuSE was cuddly enough for me whilst giving me that I can go and get my keyboard dirty under the gui when I want joy. However, I'm not into that kind of joy anymore... so.

I do want something which I can setup and forget, apart from running security updates on now and then. I'd care more if it was a machine I was going to use all the time - but since it's going to sit in a cupboard and be poked remotely, then I'm not too interested in anything that needs fiddling with.

Nor anything I have to spend too much time on the command line with.

If I could afford another Mac to live in there, I quite definitely would.