Linux-2.6.11.x Has Broken usbnet

I just realized today that usbnet is broken in 2.6.11.6 when I tried to connect to my Zaurus 860. Some googling lead me to the kernel changelog in which it states that a fix for that “brokeness” went in on March 17, 2005. I tried using 2.6.12-rc2 and the usbnet does indeed work with that. Alsa seemed to not really work though, but it’s only rc2 so I’m sure they’ll get it ironed out. Anyway just a note to let you 860 users out there (*cough* weasel *cough*) know that it’s not your fault! 😉

Kmail? Evolution? Thunderbird? No. Mutt.

Evolution was great! Then I tried to upgrade it. Pure hell. Finally got it upgraded after hours of googling and moving/editing various configuration directories and files. Then it started crashing, so I switched to KMail. I remembered kmail from my first experiments with linux, and I thought it would be a good option for me since I didn’t mind installing all of kde just to use it (did I mention that evolution also has a zillion deps?)

Kmail was great! Then I tried to upgrade it. More hell. Some stupid error message about a pop service? Of course I assumed it was just a configuration issue, but even after moving my configs somewhere safe, the problems continued. So I tried thunderbird.

Thunderbird was ok. But the address book… well let’s just say it left me wanting more. The nntp support is nice, I must admit, however the overall feel was that it was lacking something. Maybe one day when sunbird is closer to “finished” I’ll try thunderbird again. If sunbird and thunderbird work well together, that is. So I tried slypheed…

Tried being the operative word. I wanted to use gtk2 so I used the development version of slypheed. Random crashes. Great. Maybe my luck? Or maybe a sign? *insert appropriate sound effect* Could there be a way to access all my mail accounts from anywhere, without having to install a million and one dependencies, and without all of the upgrade hell? So I am trying mutt.

So far I have mutt configured to connect to the ms exchange server in my office, and it works fine. I am still rtfm-ing to make the most use of the client (to set up multiple imap accounts, MIME handling, etc.) But I am very happy with mutt already. I’ll be able to use mutt via any of my shell accounts and see the same mail (well my IMAP mail anyway) and it also has a great command line mode that allows for easy sending of attachments (which is great for sending gzipped logs from a shell script!)

As I learn more I’ll be posting my findings here. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: Mutt ROCKS! It took no time at all to get my muttrc configured for all my IMAP accounts. I also have it set to use gqview to display images. I think I’m in love…..

Z4CK

The first paragraph of the foreward says it all: “It has been more than a year since I sat on a train, playing computer games on my Zaurus. Now, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that, but I felt there must be something else I could do, that was more productive. So, I thought I would write a book.”

What a cool idea! I bought this book because I think Kevin deserves some credit for putting his Zaurus to good use. Basically I had no preconceptions about his writing skills or story telling abilities. I had no idea what the book was about except that it was written on a Zaurus and was about a guy who had a Zaurus. That was enough for me;)

As it turns out, the story is actually quite good. There is a lot of real technology being used throughout (aside from the Zaurus), which keeps it interesting for those of use who know what things like nmap and nessus are. There is also a pinch of love story, and a healthy helping of “oh my god everything I thought I knew is a lie.”

Kevin is from Scotland and you can tell somewhat based on his spelling and grammar. No this is not a critical remark, but if you are American you might find it odd to see words like Kerb and Faeces [which would be curb and feces the way I was taught to spell]. For all I know Kevin might just be a horrible speller, but I don’t really care because the story is good. Honestly though, there were a lot of typos, which was somewhat annoying.

But with that aside, I love this book because Kevin inspired me to write my own on my Zaurus. So thanks a lot Kev! If I ever finish my book I’ll be sure to send you a copy!

I don’t have a rating scale yet, but on a scale of This book sucks ass to yeah it’s worth the few bucks I say this book is totally worth the few bucks! =)