TuxJam

Andrew (aka mcnalu) and Kevie continue their neverending* tour of little-known Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) whilst dancing to the tune of Creative Commons music. We survey recent GNU/Linux (and other) distros on distrowatch.com and then Andrew recounts his first experiences as an attendee of Oggcamp. Kevie and Andrew then review 4MLinux which is a quadrapedal distro standing on legs of Maintenance, Media, Mini-server and Mystery. Kevie then discusses his experience of playing 4 color taxi which was his first ever bitcoin purchase. Finally, after thinking we had no feedback, we in fact had loads, including some in-person kind words from Alister Christman at Oggcamp. Please do get in touch and remember you can comment on this post.

*This show is not of infinite length.

Creative commons tracks played in this show:

• Make it right by The Quincey – crowdfunding a Vinyl release
• Waste my time by Now Endeavour
• Anything but everything by Color Out
• Baby runaway by Brene Wilson
• Scotch fisherman’s song for attracting seals by Aryeh Frankfurter

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Andrew (aka mcnalu) and Kevie throw off their slippers and discard their (bubble) pipes in their ongoing quest for little-known Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Creative Commons music. After the usual round-up of recent GNU/Linux (and other) distros on distrowatch.com Kevie describes his thoughts on his day-to-day experience of using the BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu phone for the last few months. Andrew and Kevie then review the no-frills web browser surf – recommended by chalkahlom – which turns out not to be quite as lightweight as you might expect, especially if you run it using tabbed. Andrew then discusses his experience of using the Android SimpleDo app on his phone since it was first reviewed on TuxJam some moons ago. Finally, there’s a brief round-up of feedback on past shows, including a few kind words. Feedback is much appreciated, even if critical. There are several ways to get in touch including commenting on this post – so don’t hold back!

Creative commons tracks played in this show:

• Where Were You by Silence is Sexy
• 2419 by Between Horizons
• D.i.p by Rattlesnake Train
• Bagpipe Tune From North Rada by Aryeh Frankfurter

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Kevie and Andrew (aka mcnalu) are back from our summer holiday (or vacation if you prefer) and keen to get stuck into the world of not-so-well-known free and open source (FOSS) software and Creative Commons music. We start off with our usual distrowatch round-up of new lesser-know GNU/linux distro releases, then move on to discuss experiences with NuTyX – a distro built from the ground up using Linux from Scratch (LFS). We then take a look at the ultra-lightweight web browser Dillo and consider whether its speed and no-frills approach is still useful in a web dominated by javascript (hint: for text content, yes). Kevie then goes on to discuss his experiences with python-based linux twitter client Polly. Finally we recall the early, heady days of summer when we met up with Dave Morris and Andrew Gregory for Podcrawl Glasgow.

 

Creative commons tracks played in this episode:

• Future Sun by Dumbo Gets Mad
• Burning Thunder by Lazer Lloyd
• The Following by Khelgar
• Possibilities by Jasmine Jordan
• Sunbeam Dream by Mokhov

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The scene could not have been better: TuxJam episode 42 recorded on Towel Day. In order to mark this huge event Kevie and Andrew take a look at TWO distros: Gnewsense and RiscOS, we were busy over the last month. We also take a look at SimpleDo and TripleCamel on the Android platform. Not forgetting the power users, Kevie takes a look at the CLI BitTorrent application rtorrent. As well as taking a look ahead to the upcoming Podcrawl Glasgow 2015 (check out the HPR Podcrawl Special), which is taking place in Andrew’s home city (yet oddly enough Kevie seems to be choosing the pubs?!?!?) All this combined with the usual array of creative commons music. The tracks included in this episode are:

• There is a Line by Tamara Laurel
• This is how we Stand by Mirva
• Adventure by Madelyniris
• Whisky In The Jar by Brigan
• Murmurations 1 by The Dimples

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After a wee Easter break, Kevie and Andrew (aka mcnalu) return to talk you through some lesser known Free and Open Source (FOSS) goodies interspersed with specially selected Creative Commons tracks. Distrowatch.com is dominated by Ubuntu-based distro releases at present, but we find a few obscure and interesting ones nonetheless. Kevie then reviews a newly invigorated Twidere which he finds much to his liking. Andrew then talks about one of the oldest examples of FOSS – older than even Linux – the venerable gnuplot, which, surprisingly, is not affiliated with the GNU project. Kevie then reviews Soundwaves which you may find useful for managing podcasts, even TuxJam perhaps.

If you’re interested in podcasts and a pubs (or even just pubs and hanging out with podcasters), please do put 10th July 2015 in your diary and join us for the Glasgow Podcrawl.

Creative commons tracks played:

• Adventure by madelyniris
• The Only Son by Grey Heron
• Empty Bed by Lyonn
• I’m Still Breathing by Kelly Allyn
• 2419 by Between Horizons
• Endsequence by Obsidian Shell

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Don’t let the title spook you, it’s not Game Over for TuxJam – it’s a reference to our main review. Andrew (aka mcnalu) returns from his sabbatical (i.e. he had man-flu) to join co-conspirator Kevie for another bout of less well-known FOSS software reviews laced with creative commons music. We start with our usual wander through distrowatch.com  and move on to discuss Sparky Linux – Game Over Edition. Next, Kevie reviews his experience with FireFox OS v2.1 on the ZTE Open phone, and then Andrew reviews the simple, non-GUI music player CMUS, as suggested by the esteemed chalkahlom. We were delighted to have a lot to talk about in our feedback section. Please keep it coming! We really value your thoughts.

Creative commons tracks played:

• Magnolia by Mark Preston
• This ain’t Hollywood by Silence is Sexy
• Prime Teen TV by Prime
• 14.24 by Antonio Lanza
• Savage Mixture by Shavolin Anton

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In a return to the original TuxJam format, Kevie takes a look at Ikey Doherty’s work on EvolveOS and the Budgie desktop. The Radio Tray applet goes down well with the radio loving host. Being involved with Linux and podcasting means that you become a frequent visitor to IRC, Kevie looks at two Android IRC: AiCiA and YAAIC. Along with the usual mix of Creative Commons music. The tracks included in this episode are:

• Out On The Road by Persson
• Detroit by Great White Buffalo
• Madly Deeply by Melanie Ungar
• Reclaim the Streets by Skankshot
• Don’t Spend Your Money In The Game by Lele Rambelli
• Before We Said Goodbye by Steve Raphael

Kevie’s HPR episodes:

• CD Rippers
• Success with Students

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Kevie and Andrew (aka McNalu) begin by reviewing a bumper crop of interesting distro releases listed on distrowatch.com. Kevie then gives us a revised opinion of some software he reviewed in previous episodes based on longer-term use, and blames Andrew for making him try the vector graphics application Karbon. The rest of the show is taken over with a review of the Debian-based Tanglu GNU/Linux distro, which has been around now for about a year. Kevie tries out both its Gnome and KDE variants, and Andrew, being a day-to-day KDE user, moves out of his comfort-zone to try Tanglu with Gnome 3. Andrew mentions a game he’s been playing – the splendidly titled Sir, You Are Being Hunted – and then explains why he has decided to take out a life membership of the magnatune.com music service, which he often uses as a source of creative commons-licensed music for TuxJam. We end with an appeal for more feedback as unusually we didn’t receive any for TuxJam 37 🙁 Your comments and suggestions for reviews and of music to play are very welcome!

Creative commons tracks played:

• Eye of the storm by Modern pitch
• Tumble mat by Sinkhole
• Alone (it’s not so bad) by I’m not left handed
• Just leave him by Jim Gaven
• The difference (calming down) by Mystic crock

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Andrew (aka mcnalu) and Kevie continue the TuxJam tradition of a special festive episode that brings you suggestions of gifts for geeks, or indeed gifts that might help bring out the inner-geek in a friend or family-member. Before we get to those, Kevie talks on his positive experience of self-proclaimed “lovely” linux distribution LXLE.

Gifts for Geeks

Stocking fillers (£0 to £20)

• Linux PC case badges
• 4 in 1 pen
• Titanium Spork
• Pacman bottle opener
• Adafruit GEMMA – wearable tech £5
• Learn to Solder book £4
• Raspberry Pi camera board

Mid-range (£20 to £150)

• Chromecast
• Matchstick (official site)
• R2D2 USB hub
• Turntable or Tape deck – Beware of cheapo USB ones – try your local charity/goodwill store instead!
• Flux Capacitor USB car charger
• Flux Capacitor Watch
• Linux Voice subscription
• Ogg compatible media player – Listen to Dave Morriss talk about his Audio player collection on HPR
• magnatune.com subscription 3 months = $45 STOP PRESS: free Christmas Magnatune album download just released.
• Raspberry Pi B+ starter kit

Top-end (£150 or more)

• Fuze – retro 8 bit computer kit powered by a Rasperberry Pi
• Chromebook or better yet, buy a laptop, remove its proprietary OS and install Linux and add a Linux Inside sticker
• Vega Smartwatch, a completely independent android smartwatch.
• Kindle Voyage
• Bose headphones/mobile speakers

Festive Creative Commons tracks played

• Silent night by Sleeping Sky
• Brrr, It’s frickin’s freezing outside by Mr & Mrs Smith
• A very Star Wars Christmas by Nerds with Guitars
• Winter Time by Chiefmonks
• Jingle Bells by Anup*

*If you liked this track, you can download it along with the Magnatune Christmas album for free.

Wishing you a Merry Christrmas and a Happy New Year from Kevie and Andrew!

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Kevie and Andrew (aka mcnalu) start off with a round up of recent releases of lesser-known distros on distrowatch.com. They review Neptune OS 4.2 which was released just after 4.1 was reviewed in TuxJam 35, and find only slight improvements on what was already a well-crafted linux distro. They’re then joined by Gordon aka ThistleWeb from our sibling podcast Crivins to talk about Trelby, a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) package for writing scripts and screenplays. If you’d like to know a bit more, give Gordon’s Hacker Public Radio (HPR) show on this topic a listen. Andrew (the complete graphics amateur) then reviews the vector graphics software Karbon and is quizzed by Kevie, who makes a living from teaching young folk to use graphics software. How Karbon compares to Inkspace, it’s main FOSS rival, is left for a future episode. Kevie then reviews streamripper, which, as the name suggests, is a tool for recording audio streams. We then review our feedback and pass on the invite to the HPR new year special show.

Creative commons tunes played in this episode were:

Rise by Rob Warren – suggested by Pete Daniels https://loadaverage.org/pete
David & Golliath by Wooden Legs – suggested by Tim Dobson https://twitter.com/tdobson
I’m Down, Down, Down by Yuvalain
Don’t Stop by Tradmark
Answer My Call by The Way I Am
All I Wanna Be Is Happy by A Beautiful Tomorrow

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