Back to Mac OS X!

Ok, I tried to install Debian on my iBook for fun during the winter break and I am now back to Mac OS X. You know I actually feel that it gets better every time I reinstall it :P And I just found the OpenOffice.org port to Mac OS X. No longer has to start X before starting OpenOffice.org... Oh, the port is not called OpenOffice.org, instead it is name NeoOffice/J. I thought "J" was for "Japanese" but it is apparently not :D It actually stands for Java. Ya, it uses the Java environment instead of X so it runs almost natively on Mac OS X(the start up time is a bit long... but usable...)

Well, although it is never complete but I would like to write a report on the experience with Debian linux on the iBook(G4/800MHz/318MB RAM/HDD 30GB/ATI Radeon 9200(?) Mobility). It was overall an interesting experience for me. I thought I have learned quite a lot about linux before I started the installation but I was wrong. I spent quite some time on making the "sleep" function to work properly when the lid is close. I recompiled the kernel(2.6.9) after applying Ben's sleep patch #7(thanks Ben :D) and rebooted just to find out that it wouldn't boot correctly complaining that it couldn't find the modules. So I tried to tweak the kernel config in any ways that I know(in fact I don't know many...) but it still didn't work. After a few times of recompilation, I noticed that the default kernel that came with Sarge had some other files(initrd.img, System-Map) other than the kernel image. So I started to study the man page of mkinitrd and finally successfully installed the patch. And it works flawlessly ever since! :)

Other than the above issue, I also managed to get the video-out to work properly. I applied a patch to XFree86 and editted the config file but later I heard that you don't have to patch XFree to get it to work. But anyway this works well, too. There were other small tweaks that took place but I have forgotten most of them. The above 2 issues took the longest time for me.

As a conclusion, though you need to spend some time to configure it to work, most of the functions work as expected and it is fun to install linux on a Macintosh machine. Next time I would like to try out NetBSD but at the moment I will stick to Mac OS X for a while.

Thanks for reading. :)

p/s The only thing that isn't supported under linux is the built-in modem since it is a software-driven modem.

Test result... (not academical ones...)

I took a test on this site and got the following results. Take the test and if you are the "Warrior Soul" or the "Visionary Soul", tell me :D It said that you are the most compatible with me :P

http://www.blogthings.com/kindsoulquiz.html

Emm... I see.. there are many other tests, too except this one...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You Are an Old Soul

You are an experience soul who appreciates tradition.
Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone.
Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient.
A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people.

You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends
A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others.
Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone.
But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away.

Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Oooopppsss....

Now come to think of it, did I just violate the copyrights law by translating a part of a song? If you think I did I will take it down. Just tell me and don't sue me... (-_-!)

Found a good link!

You don't need to do the search for "Richard Stallman" anymore because I did it for you. Go here and read! (^ ^)

http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/

Happy reading.

Happiness that stay forever...

Be happy
Don't let your worries tie you down
Learn how to make your heart
As deep and as wide as ocean

Be happy
Don't try to figure out everything
Letting go is a must
To make happiness stay forever

- Translation of part of a song by Beyond -

The first time I listened to this song was when I was still in junior high school. My sister was(and still is, I guess) a great fan of a band from Hong Kong named Beyond. And this is one of their songs that I like the most. It has since then helped me through many down periods.

Someone may claim that, if you let go of everything, there will never be improvements. But I think the opposite way. Perhaps I am such a pessimist that letting go is the only way to calm me down, thus enabling me to concentrate better.

Recently I have been thinking about the copyrights law and reading a book written by Richard M. Stallman with the title "Free Software, Free Society". I really admire him because he can let go of many things just to uphold his own idea. For those who don't know, he is the man behind the free software movement. Take note that the "free" here doesn't mean "without a fee" as in "free beer", but "free" as in "freedom". They are different, ok? I think I will make mistakes if I try to explain the concepts here, so if you are interested please do a search for "Richard Stallman" and you will find out what kind of world he is trying to pursue.

Yawn~~~!(-_-)~~ Gnite.

Up and Down...

I was feeling quite happy last night, and even felt proud about myself since I have completed the compiler and it was approved by my TA(Teaching Assistant) that the compiler has passed all the prepared tests. What I have to do next is just to write the report and pass in. "Since I have been working quite hard these days, so I deserve one day off work", I said to myself and rested the whole night watching variety shows yesterday.

However, there is always down time following the up one. I got a piece of bad news today. The result of the mid-term test of the subject I am retaking(since I failed it last year... :( Do I have to explain this???) was out! And I have got a rather low mark :((( That means I have to aim for near 100 points in the final test... (x x)... >> Sigh <<

And whenever this kind of things happens, I tend to blame myself for many things, like not studying seriously, like spending my time on those foolish and meaningless things, like this and like that. It makes me feel really bad about myself. Is there any way to increase one's self-esteem? If you know one of them please let me know...

But don't worry about me. I will be OK again a few days later. This may be the only best thing about myself. Those some may refer it as "escaping from realities" :P But why not if realities really hurt you bad? OK again don't worry about me. I will be OK again tomorrow since I know there are many people who love me and support me no matter how lousy I am :D Am I right?

Come to think of it, I shouldn't let the bad overshadow the good. It is a fact that I've completed the compiler afterall :D

so see you.

Wow wow wow...

Wow I think I have been switched into the workaholic mode. I always think of work work work these few days. Stayed back in school late again today, testing my somehow-completed-but-should-be-full-with-bugs compiler. If everything goes as planned, I should be able to start writing the report this weekend ;D

However, another assignment, the experiment, didn't go as well as I expected. But since there are others who are struggling, too. I think I should be ok :)

Don't worry, be somehow happy...

Thinking of switching back to Slackware... Slackware... Slackware... By the way I am using Debian now...

Gnite.

Another hard coding day...

Phew... the compiler is a bit nearer to completion today. There is only one last feature I have to implement to get it into the next stage: the test phase. I think I will have some hard time again debugging this badly designed compiler :P But I think I should be able to pass in before the deadline :D Thanks to those who are supporting me, directly or indirectly :)

But there is another nightmare, the experiment. I have to design a pipelined processor in this experiment but I still haven't passed the first stage... Luckily the lecturers gave us extra time on it. See how I perform tomorrow.

Anyway, I think I will have some time to relax after completing these two assignments. Then I might format my computer again :P Oh, by the way I am running Debian Sarge now, on both my desktop and iBook G4. I really like it but I feel it is somehow slower than Slackware and FreeBSD. Perhaps it is because of the bloated desktop environments I am using. Although it is always said that linux can run on very old machines, it is not so true nowadays. If you would like to enjoy all the latest technologies, you might need a rather modern machine. FYI, I am running GNOME 2.8 and KDE 3.3 on an Athlon XP 1800+ box and I don't have much complaints about it :D

See you + Good night.

exit

Eyes strain...

Wow... I have been facing computers too much lately, for completing my compiler. The LOC(lines of code) of all the .c and .h files exceeds 4000 now. Heard from the lecturers that somebody has done the same thing with the LOC of 2000+. I don't know how they have done it but I think I am stupid. So I need to double the lines and the program is still not complete :P

Still wondering should I get a LCD monitor for the sake of my eyes. The price of the 17" seems attractive to me. But it may be a bit luxurious to have such a nice monitor. How should I get rid of the old large CRT if I decided to get one? Questions everywhere.

Anyway, after 31st of Jan I will be a bit more free. Since I should have completed all my reports and passed them up by the time... I hope :)

Getting busy...

School starts tomorrow. And this is how I spent this holiday according to my feeling(I didn't actually measure the time, ok):

50%: Configuring Debian on my desktop and iBook
30%: Going around and play
20%: School work, other activities

Althout I didn't manage to execute my plan to work on my school assignments in the holiday and will have a hard time in the following weeks, I think I have at least made it a meaningful holiday :D