Bring on the naked laptops

If we’re serious about using technology to empower users, people should have the choice to buy a laptop, tablet or smartphone without the software.

This is my new laptop. Observant readers will notice that this is a Chromebook running Ubuntu on it. As Linux fans know, Ubuntu and most other Linux distributions can be legally downloaded for free and installed on any computer. The only question is what computer you choose. For me, a Chromebook seemed like a good bet: they are cheap low-spec laptops, probably incapable of running Windows 7, but Ubuntu is a resource-light operating system and I use my desktop for anything resource-intensive. Chrome OS is heavily geared towards users of Google services, like GMail and Google Docs, but I’m installing my own software so that doesn’t matter. So, let’s buy a Chromebook and install Ubuntu. Simple, huh? Simple?

Hah, I wish! You have no idea how much blood, sweat and tears I’ve been through to get to what you can see in that photo. It all boils down to this thing on Chromebooks called secure boot (aka verified boot). Oh boy. This is something that, in theory, is meant to protect you from hackers up to no good – I have used the words “in theory” for a reason, but I’ll come back to that later. As far as Chromebooks are concerned, there is a way of switching off secure boot by going into “developer mode” (which isn’t advertised widely, but if the intention is to prevent people fiddling with settings who don’t know what they’re doing, that’s fair enough). Unfortunately, even in this mode, you still can’t boot from a CD/USB drive, which is the normal way of installing an operating system. Never mind, there’s an Ubuntu derivative out there called Chrubuntu, specially designed to be downloaded and installed from a command prompt in Chrome OS. Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.

Give penguins a chance

Would switching to open source software save public money? I don’t know, but we should at least try to find out.

The Windows logo versus the Linux mascot. A little-known but very bloody feud.

I know software testing is a very absorbing activity, but in between bouts of testing you might have noticed there’s a bit of a financial crisis going on. As tax rises, benefit cuts and axing public services don’t go down that well with the public, the government is keen to find less painful ways of saving money. This, in part, was the idea behind the Spending Challenge letters that went out to all public sector workers shortly after the 2010 election asking for ideas to save money. The ideas ranged from the pragmatic to the ridiculous, but one suggestion that caught my eye was to switch proprietary software for free open-source alternatives. This is not an unthinkable as you might expect; the Lib Dem manifesto said they’d look into this, and George Osborne himself is said to be interested.

I’ll be open and upfront here: I use Linux, LibreOffice (effectively the successor to OpenOffice) and other free open-source products wherever possible. It’s partly I don’t want to pay for software when free stuff does the job, and partly because I have problems with the way Microsoft uses its dominant position to make life difficult for people who use competitors’ products. But I don’t believe in imposing my views on other people, and I’ll help out with any IT problems whatever software they’re using. (Indeed, a software tester who doesn’t is a short-lived one.) I wouldn't push savings too much with a charity (Microsoft usually heavily discounts software for them). I’d also be hesitant to encourage a small business to switch to open-source when everyone they work with expects them to do all things Microsoft. The public sector does not have that problem – they mostly communicate with each other, and they’re big and ugly enough to insist anyone else works with their software if they wish – but any move away from Microsoft or any other proprietary software must save the public money, and not just be done to prove a point.

All hail the Ocelot

Linux and open source software isn’t for everyone. But it’s a good way to learn how software is developed and tested.

As well as preying on rodents and resting in trees, ocelots are surprisingly skilled in optimising recently-overhauled desktop environments.
(Photo: Danleo, Wikimedia Commons)

Yesterday (October 13^th) was an exciting day for many reasons. It marked the first anniversary of the completion of the rescues of the 33 Chilean miners. Classic 80s movies fans saw the return of Ghostbusters to the big screen. It was also the day to celebrate 65 years since the adoption of the constitution of the French Fourth Republic. All of these fascinating events, however, paled into insignificance against the most eagerly anticipated event of all, which is the release of Ubuntu 11.10, codenamed Oneiric Ocelot.

For those of you who don’t know what's so Oneiric about an Ocelot, I should explain what all the excitement is about. Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system, which works as an alternative to Windows, and this is their latest six-monthly upgrade. (If you want to know why you’d choose to name an operating system after a South American wildcat, this page should explain.) Like most Linux distributions, it’s free – and not just free to use (like Adobe Flash Player or Microsoft Word Viewer is). It’s free for anyone to copy, modify and redistribute, as long as any derivative you produce is also free to modify. Only a small number of Linux users actually modify software this way, but the fact this is possible has a huge influence on how Linux is developed. Windows fans argue Linux is just a mish-mash of cobbled-together software written in backrooms, whilst Linux fans argue that the open collaborative way Linux is developed is actually better than Microsoft’s work behind closed doors. Anyway, the arguments could go on for years, but this is a blog about software testing – anyone who wants to continue on this subject can read why Windows is better than Linux or why Linux is better than Windows.