The real question we need to ask ourselves about the government of FOSS

With all the hullabaloo around Ubuntu these days, everybody has an opinion and a poll. Linux Journal just asked their users if FOSS is a democracy. I think they are asking the wrong question. Democracy, republic, meritocracy, aristocracy, none of it matters as long as the developers know what their users want, and are able to make that happen. So my question is:

In a conflict, should open source developers listen to their users, or rely on their 'better judgement'?

If you were in Mark Shuttleworth's shoes, what would your response have been?

Chrome OS is valuable

Today's Joy of Tech cartoon perfectly illustrates the value of Google Chrome OS. People fear the cloud because they don't own the hardware where their data is stored. The value of having that data stored by Google is that they have multiple datastores all over the world that retain a copy of your stuff. Can you do that with your hardware?

Google's Chrome Extension Library is one step closer

Chromium and Chrome Dev: Google's hosted Chrome Extension Library now has a landing page instead of a redirect to chrome.google.com or just google.com.

This appears to be new this morning, though links to this page appeared in the New Tab Page of both Chromium and the Chrome Dev Branch a few days ago. I thought it odd that Google would start putting out links to a page that didn't exist yet, but they seem to be rectifying that quickly.

Another thing I noticed is that the site is secured. Obviously they are taking the security of extension installing very seriously, just like Mozilla.

Of course there has been a great collection of Chrome/Chromium extensions over at ChromeExtensions.org for a while now. It seems there are a few new extensions added every day. My favorites:

• Google RSS Reader: Gives you a nice easy way to preview and subscribe to feeds in Google Reader
• Google Wave Checker: Notifies you of new Waves
• Gmail Checker: Notifies you of new Gmails
• Bit.ly Shorten Url: Quick access to shorten the url of the page you are currently on.

Windows 7

Windows 7 recognized almost all of my hardware! Almost as good as Ubuntu with only 5 times the bloat.

I installed Windows 7 on my laptop on Sunday. I was pleased to see that I didn't need to install WiFi or NIC or VGA drivers. I did have to install my Realtek audio drivers and Synaptic touchpad drivers, which I would think would be obvious drivers to include. Also, Windows 7 had no problem connecting to my HP OfficeJet 6500.

All this is great, and it blows XP out of the water. However Ubuntu has been doing this well since at least Gutsy. With Feisty, everything but my card reader worked. Since Gutsy, ALL of my hardware works out of the box.

I think Microsoft has done a great job with Windows 7, and I really hope they overcome the stigma they earned with Vista. So far, I am enjoying my Windows 7 experience. It's snappier than Vista was, and prettier than XP. My favorite part is the new taskbar that replaces Quick Launch. Absolutely brilliant design.

With Gnome-Do, Ubutnu still takes the cake in my opinion though.

Chrome on Linux!

Since my last post was a million years old, and Chrome on Linux was brand spanking new, I thought it would be nice to post an update. I didn't land the Google Summer of Code spot working on Chrome for Linux that I wanted. Although, since school is year-round for me, and I took an extra consulting gig this summer, it probably worked out for the best.

Whoever did get that spot seems to have done some great work though. I've been using Chrome on Ubuntu for several months now, and it gets better every day! It is super fast, pretty stable, and I can even watch YouTube now.

Shortly after the announcement of Chrome OS, I was discussing Google's new move with a group of local IT professionals. They were not as excited as I was. Most are Microsofties. Even the guy who introduced me to Google Apps didn't think much of Chrome OS. For me though, it is not so much that I'm excited about Chrome OS itself, but rather what it means for Chrome. If Google is going to be remotely successful with Chrome OS, they will have to:

• Make Chrome work like a dream on Linux
• Make all of their web services work correctly in Chrome
• Bring Google Voice and Video to Linux

Since I am a Google junkie, having all of their products working on my Linux desktop will make my day.

Chrome on Linux

I have been a Chrome user since I first heard about it shortly after it was released in beta. I have watched it grow and become a beautiful and incredibly usable piece of quality software. However, since I spend most of my time in Kubuntu Linux, I am unable to use Chrome for my day to day browsing. I like Firefox, but I miss the screen real estate and the speed I get from Chrome.

A couple of days ago I came across instructions for installing a pre-alpha build of Chromium on Ubuntu, and I decided to give it a try. Even though many features do not work, I was pleased with how well it did function overall. It is fast, and hasn't crashed on me yet. Granted, I haven't pressed it too hard.

Upon starting this build of Chromium, one is greeted with a somewhat unfriendly warning that this should not be used, and should not be blogged about. Since sending in bugs and blogging are not helpful, the only thing that is helpful is contributing to the project.

Being a Computer Science student, a Linux user, and a Chrome enthusiast, and a Google evangelist, I decided that I would apply to the Google Summer of Code program this year and try to work on Chromium for Linux. Although I cannot hope to singlehandedly port Chromium to Linux since it a monumental task, I would like to do my part while learning more about the technologies involved.

What Gmail Labs features do you really use?

I check Gmail Labs regularly to see what new features are available. Sometimes the things one can do with a Gmail account are just silly, like Email Addict. If I need a fifteen minute break from email, I can take one without Gmail's help. There are a few Labs features I find indispensible though, and here is my must-have list:

Tasks

I have been waiting for this for so long! I adopted tasks as soon as it was available. It would be nice if it were always visible like contacts and labels, but I can live with the pop out. Nested task lists let me organize tasks into projects. There is just something satisfying about checking of a completed item.

Right-side chat and Right-side labels

I love distributing the screen real estate because it just makes sense when you are using a wide screen monitor, especially a laptop with a measly 800 vertical pixels.

Default Reply to all

Ugh! How many times have I replied to a group and wondered why only one person responded? Too many. The problem is that I just start typing in the quick reply box and hit send before my brain has time to intervene. Defaulting to reply to all reduces the amount of thinking I have to do.

Text messaging in chat

It seems I always remember what I wanted to tell a friend just after they log out. Sending them a quick text without picking up my phone is just great. Plus it is perfect for getting the last word in an argument.

Title tweaks

I'm really bad about opening way too many tabs. Being able to see exactly what is open with a glance eases my tab confusion.

Google Calendar gadget

Who doesn't want to see their calendar in a short and sweet agenda format when they're emailing and chatting? It is great for quickly checking my appointments before agreeing to a lunch meeting that might run long.

Google Docs gadget

Granted, I don't use Google Docs as efficiently as I should. Even when I'm working in Kubuntu I use Microsoft Office 2007. I am one of those weird people who like the ribbon interface. I also do not like the behavior of the enter button in Google Spreadsheets. Anyway, I frequently write simple how-to docs and share them with my users with Google Docs. Having those quickly available for reference is useful at least once a week.

A pretty slim list considering all that is offered. I like to keep things as simple as I can and still have the functionality I need to get my job done.

What labs feature do you think is too useful to do without?