GooBuntoo: Google and Ubuntu Collide

OK...  I give the f@$# up!

Right, like that'll ever happen.

If you're reading this blog, it is not because I'm a famous celebrity, a high paid tech guru, or some fashionably famous "who's-it" wining and dining you with my two seconds of fame.  Nope, you've had a problem with Google Docs or Google Cloud Printing on Ubuntu.

If you are looking for solutions to these or other "GooBuntoo" problems check out the articles I've posted to the GooBuntoo Blog.

If you're interested in understanding the whys and wherefores of this blog, then, read on.

Read Me

GooBuntoo... Get it?  Google and Ubuntu...  Together.   No one ever paid a dime to Google for a single web search.  It's a totally free service to the end user - you and I.  Never mind all the other free services they give up - free maps, searchable news, email, cloud drive, Google Docs, cloud printing....   The list goes on.   Free, free, free.  Period.  I guess philanthropy has been around for a long time - maybe, the desire to give is something deeply engrained within each of us - I really don't know.  Nevertheless, the measure of greatness applied to what Google gives can't simply be added and subtracted by an actuary or accountant.  Google CEO, Eric Schmidt talks about how free is better than cheap.  He doesn't call it philanthropic but, I do.  What they're doing is part genius, part planning, part risk.  If the risk they are taking pays off - if they are able to reinvent the great American capitalist landscape - then, our children's children will be "googling" us two short generations from now.

As of this writing, Google stock is worth $680 per share.  You can see how they're doing today by clicking here.  Yep, all that dough changing hands everyday while Google gives the bulk of its product line away for free.  I think they're going to be around for a while.

Ubuntu, much less well known, is an Open Source system software initiative started by a guy in South Africa which was made possible because of another guy in Finland who now lives in America.  Complicated?  Not really.  In a nutshell, Ubuntu is a very capable system which can replace Microsoft Windows or Apple's OS X.  In all it's sweet imperfection, I have to say; I love the fact it is free, open and robust.  Still, I dislike the fact that it is still sort of rough around the edges.  Those rough edges are mostly related to closed commercial interests.  Nevertheless, I truly appreciate and understand the gargantuan nature of the task at hand.  Replace Windows?  Replace OS X?  Are you kidding me?  I kid you not.  I really think these guys are going to do it.

Ok, with that out of the way, I just have to say, It's a no-brainer.  GooBuntoo is the future.  At least, it is for me.  These are two organizations which are catering directly to me.  They  both are providing me with a product I both want and value - free of charge.  I use their products and services everyday - together.  So do my kids.  There are hurdles ahead.  I know this.  I've jumped a lot of them, so far.  But, nothing insurmountable...  So far, so good.  And, I think, its all do-able.  So, I'm going to try.  And, I'm going to help.  That's what this blog is all about.  

Future Imperfect

The irony is; I'm an Apple guy.  My brother works for Apple.  I come from an Apple family and, I have successfully indoctrinated my children into the high-expectation software-land of OS X.  I've witnessed the sad-goings-on of many of my friends in the Windows world, beleaguered by XP, Vista and Seven.  So, why, you ask, would I jump the OS X ship and not even try to leap for Seven?  I must be out of my mind.  

Actually, I don't think so.  I think, I'm just thinking differently, now.

I have generations of perfectly good Mac hardware piling up.  It all works fine, just like the day it came off the assembly line.  But, the problem is....  Apple will no longer support it.  They will not update the older OS structures and refuse to compile an adequate port of Java for pre 64-bit machines.  So, that leaves me with getting new Mac hardware for a new generation of systems, right?  In an ideal world, yes.  Actually, what I meant to say was:  In their ideal world.   Apple would have me buy a new generation of machine every 2-3 years.  At their price point, they're out of their collective mind.  

But, my problem isn't just with Apple.  It's with Adobe, too - the makers of Flash.  They don't want to support the aging mac platforms, either.  Neither, does Oracle which provides the world with Java.  Even Google Chrome dropped support for some of my speedy pre-Intel G5's and, forget Mozilla Foundation's open source Firefox for those machines as well.  The fact that I can install an updated supported version of Windows XP, Adobe Flash and Java 7 on an ancient 2003 Intel PC but cannot do the equivalent with my 2005 OS X based G5 really irks me.  All because Apple abandoned me and my pokey G5's - for perfectly legitimate commercial reasons.  I get it.  I really do.  But, I have this feeling  this new generation is trying to quietly tell us that is the old way of doing things.

Move Along

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not anti-Apple and I'm not whining.  I'm just disappointed in how purely commercial interests have imagineered  their own high-tech future ending.  You get the idea, right?  The commercial wars have laid waste to the idea of platform longevity and sustainability.  Without these two key elements firmly in place, system  viability in my house is questionable.  I think the Mac and Windows future is a future with less of my involvement.  

Oracle Java finally reaches the Mac
but only for the newer Intel Macs

An example of what I am talking about is how the closed commercial structure has slowed the growth of quality software development across all platforms.  Apple provides Mac users with an OS X version of Java.  Basically, Oracle produces the official Java then, Apple tailors it for seamless integration into OS X.  The result: Java updates on the Mac have been highly specialized and have taken forever to reach the end user.  Due to the high costs of development in the software industry, neither Apple or Oracle are jumping to take the legacy machine bull by the horns and wrestle this ugly monster to the ground.   Everyone in the industry knows this is the only real solution to the problem - Apple knows it, Oracle knows it, Sun knew it before Oracle - but, its only just happening now - alas, only for 64 bit Intel Macs running Lion or later.  In this particular case commercial costs have outweighed the product benefit to the people through further development and distribution.  Yuk.

I think, GooBuntoo is in my future.  Ubuntu and Google both have hit a chord within their core constituency and the harmony is sweeter than ever before.  Organized support for the community - not community support - seem to be the key.  If I have a problem with Ubuntu or Google on Linux, I can usually find another individual with the same problem and, in some cases, a solution or a work-around to brighten my day.  People helping people.  Unpaid people helping other un-paying people.  Ten years ago, I would have called that weird.  Fifteen years ago, I would have called it impossible.  Now, I'm not sure but, it already seems to be happening and, that, I find amazing.

And, do you want to know the really, really weird thing?  If I combine what I like to call GooBuntoo with this, for $35 you get Raspberry GooBuntoo Pi.  Oh, boy.  

Well, that's one for another day.

Patrick Flaherty is an Architect, Writer, Psuedo-Software Developer, Big-Time Problem-Solver and a Tech-Sci Guy who likes spending lots of time in front of computers, making them go.

Learn More

Read all about Ubuntu here.  Learn about, download and install Ubuntu from their official website.

Google and Google Products are worth taking a look at, if you haven't already.

Oracle Java for your 64 bit Intel Mac running Lion or later is available here.

Patrick Flaherty          Copyright 2012          All Rights Reserved