Linux Mint LXDE on Netbook Follow-Up

    Have been using Linux Mint LXDE on a Acer aspire one netbook with a half a gig of RAM, and it has been pleasant. Most of the time am running chromium and firefox with around 10 tabs open amongst them, and the little netbook keeps pushing with out any major slowdowns. It's quite responsive actually.

    Lately though have been doing java development on the netbook. Have installed eclipse and the android SDK, eclipse is versatile enough to be usable on the small screen of the netbook with out having a negative effect on the workflow. Of course using the android emulator could be an issue, one which I choose to avoid by just testing on a real android device.

    What really makes using the netbook for my development purposes possible, is libGDX. libGDX is a cross-platform library that allows you to simultaneously build for the desktop and for Android devices. With libGDX I can be doing little tests while at the desk and then do more in depth tests on the couch or in bed with an android device.

 Here is a video of a libGDX demo game


and here is the creator of libGDX showing a demo of the UI library


To get started developing with libGDX watch the video below to see how.



    Thanks for reading, and look forward to more details about libGDX as I get more into it and a detailed post about another java game engine called JMonkey.

Linux Mint on Netbook

    Was searching for the best Linux OS for a netbook (acer aspire one). Only have 512MB of RAM, so needed something lightweight yet still functional as a desktop. Tried Ubuntu 11, it worked fine, and was nice on the netbook, but was a little sluggish. I know there is specific OSes for netbooks like Jolicloud, and meego, but am going for a more traditional desktop, Linux Mint has been a good distro for me in the past, and is gaining in popularity do to people not liking the Unity user interface, and being based off of Ubuntu.

    Have installed and been using Linux Mint LXDE, and it is running smoothly, with all accessories working with no hassle. The "LXDE" is a desktop GUI, that will remind users of using the old Gnome, and is aimed for systems with low resources(ie...netbooks). While there is some differences it is straight forward and any linux user should feel comfortable using it.

The System requirements for Linux Mint LXDE:

• x86 processor - runs on Intel Atom (netbooks)
• 256 MB RAM
• 3 GB of disk space
• Graphics card capable of 800×600 resolution
• CD/DVD drive or USB port

    Currently just use the system to work on web development and keep up with the news. Use the Chromium and Firefox web browsers for pretty much everything, and have about twenty tabs open among the two and still have some free RAM, amazing!

    The Linux Mint team are currently working on version 12 of Linux Mint. Allot of users don't like Ubuntu's Unity UI, and others don't like Gnome 3. While there is still the option of KDE, which is great GUI and compilation of software, it is not for everyone. So for Linux Mint 12 they are taking Gnome 3 and making it more like Gnome 2, am excited to see how it turns out.

DJ Software

    Got a new client that is in the music industry and am excited about working with them. There main request  is to have software for being a DJ, and creating music is on agenda.

 The DJ software we are using is called Mixxx. As with all the software on this blog it run natively on many GNU/Linux distributions, but comes pre installed on Ubuntu Studio.

    Mixxx works with vinyl records and digital turntables, and it just wouldn't be useable if we couldn't use our turntables. It was really easy to get our specific turntable to work. We are using the Ion Discover DJ. It didn't work right away, and got it to work by opening the synaptic package manager and searching the phrase "USB MIDI" and installed the firmware package that came out of the result. After that Mixxx mix was able to see the turntable and we are able to tweak the setting to our liking.

     Will post an update on how it is working out for shows, and post it as a review of the software.

Web Development Tools

    Been doing allot of web development lately and would like to write about the free tools that I have been using. This article is written from a programmers prospective cover tools and methods used for designing. There is one major advantage to this over WSIWYG editors, and that is cleaner code is achievable leading to a faster web application.

    Actually have been working with ASP.NET MVC and Silverlight. They are a very powerful tool set, Silverlight is a Microsoft replacement for  Adobe's Flash Player. They have there own WYSIWYG editor that also doubles as the GUI designer for Windows 7 Phones. Again is a really great tool set for someone for a programmer, but expensive for indie or freelance developers (although Express Tools are free from Microsoft). I am working on a ASP.NET site for myself and one client, and am utilizing C# and making it a rich interactive experience with Silverlight rather then flash.

  For another client there website is hosted by a server run off a wind farm! Not relevant but cool either way. There site is hosted on a Debian GNU/Linux server and runs in PHP with mySQL databases. Am a huge fan of Debian GNU/Linux and it's derivatives like Ubuntu as they provide free alternatives to Microsoft. Apple computers and phones as well as the Androids and other things like the lottery machines at the gas station or the stock exchange all run code built on top of the Open Source GNU/Linux kernel.

The tools used for this project are:

• Opera - Web browser with added security and extra features for users and developers.
• FileZilla - Open Source FTP file transfer program.
• Notepad++ - Open Source Source Code Editor and Notepad replacement.
• Bluefish - Powerful Open Source Editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners.
• GIMP -  Open Source GNU Image Manipulation Program.

    This site was in place already and was made with a web based Content Management System. The site is being made to look more modern and have some other content like surveys and forms. I've been using these tools along a bunch of open source PHP scripts and apps.

Must cut this short and get back to work, please return for part 2 and we'll go into more detail about the Open Source Tools. Visit the site using Open Source, software at Go Evergreen and the app that's still under construction to send E cards at E Card from Evergreen.

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