Tuesday 29 April 2008 09:45
As regular readers of this blog know, a few months ago we switched to using Linux on our office systems. We're happy with the relative immunity to viruses and malware, and with not having eventually to upgrade to the appalling Windows Vista, but almost daily I find examples of how the Linux environment is under-developed or plain amateurish compared to Windows. Geeks who trumpet that Linux is superior to Windows just don't live in the real world. It's all too easy to see how many people who are tempted into trying Linux on their desktop eventually give up in frustration and go back to Windows. Read more...
Software no trackbacks § ¶
Friday 25 April 2008 11:09
There are times when I wish I had never started Tech-Pro Downloads. It's based on a commercial script that came with a database from the RegNow software distributor and receives updates from it, as well as manual submissions. But removing the dross and the spam from Chinese software developers with their third rate clones of DVD rippers and video converters takes a lot of time and is extremely tedious and boring, and editing the descriptions of the products that remain takes even more time that sometimes seems not worth the effort. But every now and then it brings to my attention a product that is really worth promoting, such as Live File Backup. Read more...
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Thursday 27 March 2008 10:51
I recently had an exchange of emails with the developer of a Linux program, in which I happened to mention that I was using a Xandros Linux distribution. Instead of a solution, I received several paragraphs including quotes from Wikipedia informing me that because Xandros had signed a patent deal with Microsoft, it would not be allowed to distribute software released under the GPL v3, and that "this would be a real show stopper for anyone trying to use the eeePC and
Xandros for serious Linux applications." Read more...
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Wednesday 19 March 2008 13:08
Eric Johnson, developer of Chef Recipe Software, writes in his blog that he has dumped payment processor SWREG and switched to PayPal and Google Checkout to take payments for his software. He found that SWREG was trying to sell something unrelated while taking payment for his product. To a customer, it would look as if Eric was selling this other product, which he was understandably unhappy about. Read more...
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Tuesday 04 March 2008 16:48
Microsoft lost the plot a long time ago in its quest to prevent piracy of its products. It expects users to jump through hoops and put up with intrusive "genuine Windows" checks to an extent that no other software vendor could get away with, solely because it has no real competition in the OS market. However, I hadn't realized the extent of the absurdity until I had to reactivate a copy of Windows Vista this afternoon. Read more...
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Thursday 07 February 2008 14:59
Yesterday I created my first Linux application. I copied the source files from the Windows box, compiled them, and there it was. It was that simple. The tool with which I accomplished this task was Lazarus, a cross-platform rapid application development system based on Free Pascal, which I have been using for several months now under Windows. Read more...
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Friday 01 February 2008 11:10
It might come as a surprise to some readers, but most of the software you find sold on the net sells no more than a few dozen copies a month. It doesn't make enough profit to be a full time living for its author, at least not if he lives in the USA or Western Europe. Yet more and more new software titles pour on to the market daily, making the slice of the cake they can expect to earn even thinner for existing authors. Read more...
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Tuesday 29 January 2008 10:03
Choice is good. Too much choice, though, can be a bit of a mixed blessing. When my wife Olga is in a restaurant, it takes her several minutes to decide what to order. It's as if her life depends on making the right decision. I don't make such a meal out of choosing what to eat (pardon the pun) but deciding what blog package to use is a bit more critical because once you have started to use it you're more or less stuck with it. And there are more blogging scripts to pick from than choices on even the most elaborate restaurant menu. Read more...
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