BillMal Your Lotus Pal

Regrettably, SkiLUG 2012 Is Cancelled, But There Is Good News...

Bill Malchisky — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:12:29 -0400

Due to a non-cooperative calendar, we are regrettably unable to provide the attention needed for this year's SkiLUG event and thus, I must cancel it at this time. I did speak with several people at Lotusphere about this as well; they understand and gave me their support. I appreciate having good friends in the Lotus Community. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in attending, speaking, and helping make the event rewarding. Additionally, I want to acknowledge New England Lotus User Group for partnering with us and LotusUserGroup.org for their interest in promoting our event. I also want to thank the team of volunteers who gave of themselves to assist me this year. Having stated that, there exists some good news...

We will be back in March of 2013! Yes, that is correct, we are just pausing the event for one year. Look for announcements throughout 2012 regarding exciting updates, the agenda, speakers, dates (of course), and the new location. Also, you can follow us on Twitter with the #SkiLUG hashtag and @skilug account too.

SkiLUG 2013 will be a winter LUG unlike any other in North America -- well, at least north of Florida.

Thanks for reading and we'll Ski Ya next year!

Have a great 2012.

--Bill

Lotusphere Opening General Session, In One Paragraph

Bill Malchisky — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0400

Today Lotusphere 2012 started with a new format for the opening session. IBM listened well to the feedback last year, and even handled the transition from guest speaker to next segment with humor. Alistair Rennie (@alistair_rennie) paid tribute to the IBM Champions then had Rob Novak (@LotusRockStar) appear on stage to help decide the $1000 question: "Demo or No Demo"; he chose well. Nice short segments, panels of one this year sprinkled in the OGS and after the demo -- key, plus Ron Sebastian back on stage, rather than taking from the back stage com center was welcomed, Brian Cheng (@quasifu) and Suzanne Livingston (@suzielivingston) did a great job with their demos as well. Saw another Sametime Unified Communications demo (fourth successive year +-).Witnessed a Notes and Domino reference with logos on the screen, then they demoed the Notes browser plug-in with Doc Link capability, so you can get to your internal apps seamlessly. Very cool technology. The nagging question for some was, "The demos are nice, but what is behind it?" I think IBM intentionally left that to the attendees to learn throughout the week. IBM Awards were sprinkled throughout the event, also allowing for short segments which helped to keep the audience engaged. And for those playing at home, yes, they went long once again. Dr. Burns from the Child's Hospital in Boston, MA gave a compelling customer story of collaborating with IBM. Alistair Rennie --- in a brilliant move --- dispelled a huge concern for many frequent attendees and partners: What will Lotusphere be called next year? He provided the name as Lotusphere2013 along with dates. Those that were concerned will get more out of the conference now. Overall, great job, IBM.

One bonus point made clear on Sunday, was that IBM is making Traveler HA (High Availability) only available with either DB2 or SQL Server rather than a nice simple Notes DB and native Domino clustering technology. So it appears if you want HA, you need to invoke software complexity for what should be a simple add-on. Takes out smaller shops from having enterprise caliber tools. Few people tweeted --- that I read --- appreciated this approach. Stay tuned for updates as they are known...

The Best (practices) Session on Compliance Hits Lotusphere Today (Monday)!

Bill Malchisky — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:27:50 -0400

Thrilled to be giving the only session on compliance in the Best Practices track. With scores of new regulations coming out of Washington and eDiscovery lawsuits climbing dramatically year-over-year, this session is quite timely. Join me today in the Swan Toucan, at 5:00 PM EST for an entertaining and information session to learn about the current trends and why you should take it seriously, lest your firm end up as a front page story for the wrong reasons.

Title: BP204 Smart Plays with Compliance
Abstract:
Straight from the pages of THE VIEW Journal series on Compliance and the Lotus Admin, comes an enhanced session on the subject for Lotusphere. What is your company’s e-discovery plan? Do you even have one or is it sorely in need of a facelift? Together we will review current trends in compliance and team structuring to achieve success.

Congratuations to IBM! Taking Top Honors Twice with Linux

Bill Malchisky — Fri, 2 Dec 2011 16:45:15 -0400

This week Linux Journal released their best of Linux Readers' Choice Awards 2011. The poll offers a winner and runner-up in 45 categories of products, ranging from various hardware to software segments. Examples include: Best Graphics Chipset, Best New Office Suite, Best Distribution, and Best Desktop Vendor.

For the Best Linux Server Vendor -- IBM took the top spot.
Having used the runner-up and their support, plus other vendors over the years, I can absolutely testify to the quality hardware that IBM servers provide and the unparalleled hardware support they offer their customers. They honestly make the best quality servers in the industry and fully support Linux on every platform -- for almost ten years. Well done and congratulations.

The second award is an indirect but positive acknowledgement
Best IDE -- Eclipse
IBM released the first version of Eclipse in 2001 and then help create the Eclipse Foundation as a vendor neutral not-for-profit steward to evolve the product in 2004. IBM is still involved and provides code to the open source project. As such, I felt it fitting to also acknowledge their accomplishments with this product too.

Keep up the great work with your Linux support!

The IBM logo is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

Excellent GIMP Learning Resource Collection

Bill Malchisky — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 07:30:00 -0400

Linux Today featured an abstract to a full article in the Ostatic blog covering some updated resources on GIMP -- the highly advanced and capable open source image editing tool. It's free and it's fantastic. But, with all of the included features, the learning curve can be quite daunting for many. The open source community responded with some pretty impressive documentation, which is getting better with each release.

The original resource comes from the source itself, GIMP
GIMP Documentation site and contains tutorials, translated guides, and a FAQ

Additional Sources
The one-page Ostatic article contains the links to some good information.

Don't Have GIMP?
Nice and easy... Linux will pull the file and install automatically with one command -- faster than surfing the web. Just open a terminal window, copy/paste the command and you are all set.

Ubuntu or Debian: apt-get install gimp
OpenSUSE: yast -i gimp or zypper in gimp --> depending on the distribution version.
Fedora: yum install gimp

"Why Does IBM Constantly Insist on Having Their Customers and Partners Perform Website Testing?"

Bill Malchisky — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:30:00 -0400

Well you probably guessed or even knew that the main product sites at Lotus and IBM have been recently updated to handle the new re-branded products. Unfortunately, the execution is missing some URL redirection, which leaves people like you the reader, to find the flaws and report them back to IBM -- for free. I will focus on one aspect of a greater issue for brevity purposes. Know that I have no problem providing substantiated feedback in a professional manner; but there are times when the issues found really insult the intellect of the target audience. These matters are resolved with some very basic testing in most cases. Of course, ibm.com is a massive site with scores of pages, so of course, dead links will appear occasionally. This post highlights a different situation. Ultimately, it leaves the end user to contact their IBM/Lotus BP (if they have one), contact IBM directly (expensive for both parties) or go to a competitor. If they really lack the desire to perform proper internal testing --- and I have zero information that they do, but providing a conjecture based perception here --- then they should hire partners and select customers to perform simple usability testing. Because in the end, the absence simply irks their partners and can deflate their customers' zeal, leaving us in the community, to help the customer find what they need. (But that point commences deviation into matters outside the intended scope of this post.)

Where I am Going With This Post?
A long time ago, in an internet far, far away, one could type lotus.com/ and you would get to the product page--quickly and easily. In fact, the main IBM site also did and does this well. Two of my favorite site conventions are ibm.com/servers and ibm.com/linux. As expected, one arrives at the main systems product page with the former, and the IBM Linux portal when using the latter link. With the re-branding of several Lotus products, many of the new expected URL conventions are counter-intuitive, if they work at all. Here is a table of my findings this evening. It is hardly an exhaustive list, but illustrates the point sufficiently.

UPDATE: As per the comments, I added eight more URLs to the table to illustrate their point. Yes, prefacing "www." before some of the URLs does yield different results.

Product	URL Shortcut	Results
Notes	Lotus.com/notes	Redirects to Lotus.com
	Ibm.com/notes	Redirects to the Lotus Notes product page on IBM.com
	Www.lotus.com/notes	Redirects to the Lotus Notes product page on IBM.com
Domino	Lotus.com/domino	Redirects to Lotus.com
	Ibm.com/domino	Redirects to the Lotus Domino product page on IBM.com
Sametime	Lotus.com/sametime	Redirects to Lotus.com
	Ibm.com/sametime	Redirects to the IBM Sametime product page
	Www.lotus.com/sametime	Redirects to the IBM Sametime product page
	Www.ibm.com/sametime	Redirects to the IBM Sametime product page
Quickr	Lotus.com/quickr	Redirects to Lotus.com
	Ibm.com/quickr	Our apologies… The page you requested cannot be displayed
	Www.lotus.com/quickr	Redirects to the Lotus Quickr product page on IBM.com
	Www.ibm.com/quickr	Our apologies… The page you requested cannot be displayed
Connections	Lotus.com/connections	Redirects to Lotus.com
	Ibm.com/connections	Our apologies… The page you requested cannot be displayed
	Www.lotus.com/connections	Redirects to the IBM Connections product page
	Www.ibm.com/connections	Our apologies… The page you requested cannot be displayed
Traveler	Lotus.com/traveler	Redirects to Lotus.com
	Ibm.com/traveler	Our apologies… The page you requested cannot be displayed
LotusLive	Lotus.com/lotuslive	Redirects to Lotus.com
	Ibm.com/lotuslive	Our apologies… The page you requested cannot be displayed
Support	Lotus.com/support	Redirects to Lotus.com -> click on Support in left pane -> IBM Support
	Ibm.com/support	Redirects to IBM Support page portal
	Www.lotus.com/support	Redirects to IBM Support page portal

Yes, some of the products that were Lotus originally, have been re-branded as IBM now. They are reachable via the IBM URL convention and that is all fine and well. The products that do redirect to Lotus.com are accessible under the Featured Product section in the rightmost column. But is this the correct approach?

Example 1: If a customer uses IBM Connections, seeks the main product page at ibm.com via redirection, they are unable to do so. Two options to solve: (1) they can either hunt for it on the main IBM site, (2) or go to Lotus and find it there. So, the IBM Connections product is accessible via Lotus.com but not via ibm.com. Fascinating.

Example 2: Lotus.com/Notes goes to Lotus, but the same convention on the IBM site takes one to the Notes product page -- which is the expected result, but on the Lotus side. This is a counter-intuitive web experience which creates frustration.

The table really highlights that the URL redirection table is missing some entries. If IBM is in a hybrid state for naming products, then add a few entries to ensure that your sales audience can find what they need easily. Very simple items for the proper administrator to create easily.

Solution
The customer is really not going to know at a moment's notice what product is owned by which division. What was Lotus yesterday may be IBM today or tomorrow. People refer to Lotus Quickr simply as "Quickr". It is surprising to me that when all of its sister products have ibm.com redirects due to re-branding, that Quickr does not. Allowing smarter, web savvy customers or partners an intuitive design with time-saving conventions is important and well, expected in today's market. So if the site user wants a particular product, take them directly to the respective product page. Simple.

I really no longer care what IBM names the products, just as long as they have a future. But whatever they do with this effort, the implementation should be common, complete and consistent. These URL shortcuts are also a feature that IBM has provided successfully previously. The competition understands this too and has done it well for years. Guess where hp.com/drivers takes you? Or how about microsoft.com/exchange? Thanks for reading. Enjoy your day.

Think You Know Lotus Traveler? Guess Again.

Bill Malchisky — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:00:00 -0400

Recently, I had the privilege to observe a couple of hours of Paul Mooney's mobile management seminar covering Lotus Traveler. Like many people covering such a topic, Paul went through the software requirements, hardware requirements, architecture decisions, plus recent patches and issues--ensuring currency. What I really liked was his emphasis on covering the vast arsenal of customizations that are possible with the product. This facet allows administrators the ability to lock-down and provide security for their environment. The most interesting component is that seemingly the best parts of Traveler are undocumented. Paul's session covers extensively, this facet well. It is quite extraordinary how much of what the Traveler product can do is so lacking any, let alone proper documentation. You would think IBM would provide some information in this regard, to better promote their great product and increase adoption, particularly with development... but I digress.

Now keep in-mind his session is not a pro-Traveler or anti-BES session. Quite the opposite. Paul carefully provides what the Traveler server can do well along with opportunities for improvement, and also where Research In Motion's (RIM) Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) excels. For example, one aspect mentioned there exist approximately 500 policies that a BES administrator can set to manage their mobile hardware and over 400 for the express version of their server product. Whereas the Lotus Traveler has only 100+ rules that can be applied. Additionally, BES is optimized for more users on each respective server, due to its longevity--allowing for finely tuned code. However, as most of you know, BES really only works with its own brand of hardware. So, there are points to consider with your mobile strategy and these are articulated with lucidity.

Unlike most sessions, Paul ensures that people expand their sphere of knowledge with hands-on configuration experience on mobile devices they typically do not use or know. He brings to the session an assortment of phones worthy of making any border customs agent think twice before letting him pass. One of the fun aspects of being a technical administrator in the modern era. (Fortunately, he passes through every time.)

The best part of this session is that you can bring Paul to your place of business and get your team up-to-speed on the deeper particulars of Traveler. He also offered this unique opportunity as the administration component for the IamLUG Tack It On event back in August 2011. Although intended for business, I am almost certain that if you wanted to bring Paul to your home and train your kids on Traveler that could be arranged as well: for a fee, of course. Besides his bag of mobile phones will keep your kids busy for hours.

You can contact Paul here or email him for further information on pricing and availability for this worthwhile session.

Netbook Performance Woes? Open Source Has An Answer

Bill Malchisky — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:15:00 -0400

What I love about the open source community is that they can quickly respond to industry/user demands in a small fraction of the time of their closed source counterparts. Here is a great example. Netbooks are useful devices, slightly less popular now with the advent of the tablet, but they are still selling and have their place. To that point, many of the operating systems that run on them tend to force users to make a decision between two mutually exclusive capabilities: features vs performance. You either lose a significant amount of features or everything seems like it takes eons to complete. How do you handle that? Linux.

Enter lubuntu, the Lightweight Ubuntu version running a smaller version of the X Window version 11 environment, or LXDE specifically (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment). Thus, you receive a full feature rich desktop environment with the quickness of a full desktop all on a smaller lighter form factor.

The main site has some nice screencasts covering some of the key features. Know that because it uses LXDE you get a desktop environment rather than the simplified netbook Unity variant.

Lifehacker did a nice review on lubuntu which has a few tech tips as well. You can find it here.

For more information, check out these sites:
Lubuntu Desktop Project Wiki
LXDE main site

Take it for a spin...

IBM Marketing Follow-up -- Attention Lotus BPs, Be Heard!

Bill Malchisky — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:00:00 -0400

Just wanted to alert you to the progress made with IBM marketing and also to an opportunity to provide feedback. IBM marketing is listening and are open to learning what is wrong with an eye towards fixing things. How long that will be and what that entails remains unknown currently. But, I am pleased to state that they are serious about understanding the core problem; I am serious about working to remove the disconnect between what senior management feels is happening and what we experience.

Brief Update
I am quite pleased with the positive feedback I received this summer from my post on IBM Marketing. Thank you again, one and all. While at IamLUG and MWLUG, I spoke to several partners from multiple continents, all supporting the position that the multi-faceted relationship between IBM and Lotus partners does need to improve. To IBM's credit, they expressed interest in making a difference therein. I met with three executives and they are listening. Of course a large ship does not change direction immediately, and I know that many have spoken over the years, only to stop providing certain types of feedback as few if any changes were ever implemented. In that regard, I am most empathetic and thank the ones that did reach out to me and have sought change before me. We definitely have several underlying issues that need to be either addressed or finalized with a direction: any direction, even no direction, but something so partners can plan and remove uncertainty within their business.

I had a great meeting with a VP of Sales at IBM on Friday, 7 October. Everyone with whom I have spoken appears sincere in wanting to learn what the core issues with their sales and marketing strategy beyond their larger customers where they work directly. Years ago, such feedback would just go to /dev/NULL and you would never hear about it every again.. The renewed approach experienced is reassuring. Talk is nice, but unless followed by action, it just wastes everyone's time. Thus, I am continually working with IBM in that regard. From the aforementioned meeting on Friday, the following feedback opportunity presented itself.

Feedback Request
This week, I will be attending the IBM Leadership Alliance (LA) in Massachusetts. In addition to several one-on-one executive meetings, covering marketing and sales in the SMB space, IBM asked me to collect feedback from partners in these areas. So, if you are a Lotus Business Partner and not attending LA , I want to hear from you.

Kindly provide feedback in one of two ways: 1) Create a comment to this blog post which will potentially allow for discussion amongst the readers; 2) for a bit of privacy, you can send me an e-mail to me here.

To keep the scope manageable, kindly provide specifics regarding pain points you feel from IBM Marketing that impact your business and what can they do to better help you with your customers? How can the relationship be improved? I know I covered what I would like to see in the areas of SMB marketing and sales in July, but what would you like to see changed? If you provided me this already, there is no need to be redundant. Just want to ensure that if someone chooses to be heard, you have a solid opportunity to do so.

Thank you for your interest and for reading. Let me know what's on your mind. I will present all the feedback received to IBM on Thursday, 13 October.

SkiLUG 2012 Registration is Open!

Bill Malchisky — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 04:15:00 -0400

Yes, SkiLUG 2012 --- The Skiquel --- is live. After several weeks of long nights with our team of quality Lotus community volunteers, we are pleased to get things moving.

Registration for attendees, speakers and sponsors is open. Take a look at http://skilug.org and sign-up.

Ski ya!

Lotusphere 2011 Content Available Now in Lotus Greenhouse

Bill Malchisky — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:33:26 -0400

Joyce Davis helped fight the good fight for the Lotus Community and we won. Today, her team released a significant quantity of Lotusphere 2011 content covering all tracks--with MP3 files in many cases. This allows the larger audience in the Lotus customer and partner space to benefit from the presented knowledge. The ability to access the information after the event is something where many have been vocal, and IBM listened--to their credit.

That's Great, But How Do I Access It?
Two things you need to do and you can use the benefit:
1) Go to this web site
2) Using your Greenhouse account, login; else create a free Greenhouse account first, then you will have access

Enjoy! This a great opportunity made available for the larger public. Be sure to take advantage of it so it can continue next year.

Devious Bank Fraud Malware Discovered

Bill Malchisky — Mon, 8 Aug 2011 14:41:28 -0400

Today, noted security blogger Krebs on Security posted a story coming out of Germany on a nasty Trojan horse affecting Windows users. If you access online accounts, or your family members do, then this post should be of interest to you.

The full story is located here, entitled, "Trojan Tricks Victims Into Transferring Funds"
There exists a decent two paragraph synopsis on a linking blog: Bruce Schneier's synopsis

Either way, be careful with financial accounts, keep your malware detection software updated, scan regularly, and if you can, use a Linux or Macintosh computer for your financial transactions, as this particular malware runs on Windows machines. You may know how to protect yourself, but many of our elder family members will not. This type of malware attack could definitely trick them with devastating financial consequences.

IBM Marketing Claims Another Victim

Bill Malchisky — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:57:59 -0400

Disclaimer: although accurate, the title is meant to provide a concise summation of this post's content. Despite the presence of ASWs in society, I choose instead to provide a factual experience with a polite opinionated perspective (wrapper) rather than actively creating a rift in the community. Thank you for understanding the difference.

Well today I received the news that a client of one year, who loved my services and stated as such in writing multiple times, informed me that they are moving to a hosted Microsoft solution. This surprised me as the reasons they provided for moving were all 100% false. Although at this time I can only infer conjecture, some of their words must have been provided by the competing non-IBM IT vendor. The talking points provided were not something I have ever seen in any Microsoft advertisement and hardly in the lexicon of the technology impaired customer. Although I am less concerned about losing a client --- it does happen and sometimes it can be welcomed --- it is the reason behind the decision which irks me. The overall message was that, "Lotus Notes is old news and we need something that can grow with our business." (Again false.) After several previous conversations with the owner, she went from loving her solution, to providing excitement with the Lotus Knows ad, to deep concern due to her "not seeing or hearing anything about Lotus. Should we still be on it?" in six months. Quite a turn-around, but then things tend to move fast in Gotham City. I did recharge her support and interest for an ND8.5 upgrade, then a month later she switched--dramatically. Facets of the note that are more concrete to me indicate that it was really my word against theirs on market success across the IBM software portfolio, and if what I was saying was true, why wasn't IBM supporting that position? Good point. Can't argue with that...there is little to none non-social business IBM marketing support for SMB opportunities.

Back to Basics: The Purpose Of Marketing
I attended a party this past weekend. While enjoying a wonderful conversation with two friends, I overheard this remark from the person sitting next to me. It resonated quite clearly with me. "Look, it's very simple. The purpose of marketing is to increase revenue. Got it?" If only a few IBM marketing executives would have heard that. Wishful thinking, but I know it may not do much in the end. The problem with the marketing approach we have seen is that IBM provides what they think we need, rather than what their customers need or expect. Yes, part of being innovative is to provide items that nobody has seen and move the market into that direction. That is quite cogent.

IBM stated on a recent community call that they are more focused on marketing overall solutions. Although useful, it obscures the underlying brands and is best served for larger enterprises. The same clients where IBM deals directly. For the smaller opportunities --- those where IBM does not interface directly themselves --- those sites care about the underlying technologies and if they will fit in with their existing products. If not, they need to know to address compatibility or migration costs beyond the initial solution. Smaller firms in this set of clients are completely focused on brands, despite what they owners claim they want. Sure the minutia is lost on business owners, just like enterprise executives, but these owners talk products with their clients. What they ask, "What are you using for e-mail?" What they do not hear, "An awesome collaboration solution that extends my business in new directions we didn't know we needed, but is completely useful." They will provide the product, if they know it. Sad, but true. So concentrating marketing on solutions for opportunity in the thousands of dollars versus millions of dollars or larger, will provide a complete disconnect with that customer base. Yes, that word is quite apropos here as well.

Marketing 101
Ironically, I attended a marketing class for small businesses this evening. One advantage of living in Fairfield County, CT is that there are plenty of retired Madison Avenue and Wall Street executives present that thoroughly enjoy providing knowledge voluntarily. The class was held by a gentleman who co-lead the Pepsi Challenge marketing campaign, plus a lady who lead the Laughing Cow Light campaign, doubling their profits overnight. The point here, is that they know how to market for large companies and get results.
The points they provided were quite useful to me. Three examples that are relevant to this post follow:

"It's not about you or what you want, it's about what your customer wants"
"It is easier to keep existing customers and difficult to get new business"
"You never want to sell against your distributors"

In looking at what the business partner community has experienced over the past several years and what we have been asking of IBM, it seems to me that IBM marketing is doing the exact opposite in all three cases. Of course, in the technology space, you need to grow, but not at the expense of your existing base. I personally have seen many major players in the technology arena vanish or become has-beens because they grew their business while burning bridges. Many strong executives will tell you, "The only business is new business." While true to a point, as you can saturate your future revenue potential from a static customer pool, you never want to open the door for your competitor and help them into your customer site. IBM is great at achieving revenue growth on the software side, but they --- in my humble opinion --- do so without regard for the existing customers with whom they just assume will always be there and just keep renewing. One's perception is one's reality and this statement is perceived from years of watching my customers complain to me, listening to other competent partners provide their perspectives at networking events, and casual conversations at Lotusphere. I completely understand that such a direct statement may not be indicative of everyone or their personal experience and thus, I can only speak to mine--with all due respect to IBM and any of their employees reading this post.

Social Business Marketing Versus Tried and True Mediums
Another interesting anecdote provided during the class was the recent story of the decision of the then VP of Marketing at Pepsi who chose to move the entire Pepsi brand campaign to social marketing and abandon broadcast networks (television) during the 2010 Super Bowl. The resulting effort was a loss of market share for them against their chief competitor, with a dramatic 9.8% share slide in the first half of 2010 alone. Ultimately, the VP of Marketing was terminated and broadcast advertising restored, despite early reports by Pepsi's CEO that the campaign was a success.

What they learned is that not all of your customers will be online. Despite that fact that the broadcast network viewership has been in steady decline, the ability to reach an audience is currently still unsurpassed from a marketing stand point. Now, I am not saying that IBM needs to be on TV all the time, but that moving too quickly to an all online environment in search of new business can cause you to lose existing customers. IBM's social business adoption is great for partners and innovative for larger firms that are starting to get it. For smaller firms that are not dealt with directly by IBM, well, not so much. None of my customers spend any reasonable time online for business other than web surfing. Who actually wants to visit a doctor that is tweeting during an examination? Change of this magnitude will take time. In IT we need to be well ahead of our customers, as that is one reason why they seek our assistance: we are experts in the field. We just need to be reminded that if you want new business, not everyone is excited about the social networking world as we might think.

The End Result
A customer that loved their offering on Notes decides to move to a hosted Exchange setup. Their justification premise is false, but the lack of customer needs-based marketing in their preferred medium is undeniable.

Of course this customer moving to an alternate solution will be completely unnoticed on IBM's bottom line, but it will affect my bottom line. A partnership entails shared risks and profits between the two companies. IBM marketing should allow both entities to share in profits. I have been an IBM Business Partner since 1999 and have enjoyed the experience immensely. I do a lot of work behind the scenes to help support the Lotus brand and have been recognized for my contributions as an IBM Champion--for which I am extremely grateful. Much of the training I received through the partner program is topnotch. In my estimation, IBM provides the best technical partner program in existence currently.

In the end though, the name of IBM carries far less weight in the SMB market than it did five and ten years ago. The desktop or non-server computer market has been sold-off, IBM halted their once lauded 24 month marketing campaign four months into the effort, after a big build-up with a special IdeaJam offering. Their entrance into the SMB space to compete against the MS SBS product proved quite popular with partners, particularly the 1200 Microsoft Solution Providers that signed-up to sell the Lotus solution...and then IBM killed it within a few years; surprising after a big presence at LS09, if I recall the year correctly. Why? Part of the reason was flawed advertising from my perspective. A side note: at LS11, you could not find the booth in the IBM Pavilion and although all of the IBMers in the product showcase pavilion knew Foundations was there and operating a manned booth, no one knew where it was (I asked six people). Part of the confusion was the obscure name change and no one in the IBM Pavilion knew what the displayed name equated. Then the product was all but terminated two months later.

So the presence aggregate equates that IBM is basically completely out of the SMB space, excepting Express offerings for servers (great idea) and software (great as well in many cases). Where does this leave the partners now? What software licenses partners do sell are renewed via IBM--as many partners are quite vocal (will not publish their names without checking first...professional courtesy and ethics prevail for me). Direction-wise, I am uncertain and I think IBM marketing is uncertain as well. An IBM executive states "A" at a conference or blog post, then another executive states "B" at another event, contradicting "A", or then "B" is revised later to better align with "A". Perception is reality and sans a lucid marketing message from IBM combined with omitting of input to our customers, or the partners themselves, we really have little idea of where the direction is headed and we must make strategic decisions without all the facts. Suboptimal in nature, but necessary as time moves onward along with the needs of the business. Our livelihood is at stake and I am finding that just using the expression "I'm an IBM Business Partner" matters less now in the software space, but has merit on the hardware side, where I am a reseller. Of course your experience may be different.

Concluding Thoughts
Interesting though, and am uncertain as to the underlying nature, there does seem to be an increased amount of IBM tapping the partner pool for assistance gratis to make their offerings better... Most of the people in the community are more than happy to help the brand we love so much and the products succeed. In the end, we do need something from IBM--beyond taking our feedback: they need to actually execute. Yes, yes, not all feedback is relevant, but IBM can at least say, what worked and what didn't when they ask again for another round of input. That shows the IBM contacts receiving the input actually valued the contributions provided and are doing something with it--rather than perpetually seeking feedback that never really fixes anything.

Hardly bitter, just concerned. I care and am passionate about the brand where I have made a major investment in time and knowledge over the past 18 years. Now things are changing in ways that introduce a lot of uncertainty, perhaps where it can be removed quite easily with some quality trusted communication. Overall, the marketing message is focused on only one market segment--albeit an import one from IBM's perspective. The support the smaller partners are getting is degrading--despite what IBM may realize or accept. Where it will land, I do not know. In the end, I have to seek out new opportunities like anyone in business. It is just a bit more challenging than it used to be, as it is really my word against what the customer hears and what IBM says to support my message. The past few years, the IBM message has been lacking and it is putting my rhetoric into question as IBM does not substantiate what I say. Therein lies a big part of the problem.

Again I am not writing this post to irritate anyone at IBM. Just provide a reminder that business decisions have consequences and those you entrust/enlist to assist you may be impacted, even if you are not. Thanks for reading this post. If you have any comments, please feel free to share them.

Mac OSX Lion Tech Tip: Fullscreen Support for Browsers and Cocoa Apps is Available!

Bill Malchisky — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:21:02 -0400

Currently, Lion's Fullscreen support is limited to Safari, iLife apps (e.g. GarageBand), and some of the standard Apple provided OSX tool at the moment. I prefer to have apps that do not take-up the full screen unless I specifically request it, as with document editing programs. That has been one of the benefits of the Mac environment and in one way what distinguished itself from Windows. What is the benefit of Safari full screen on a 27" monitor? Most Windows machines do not come with such a monitor by default, so iMacs have a clear advantage here. The difference with simply maximizing a window and getting Fullscreen support is that the application is designed to use all of the space on your monitor--in theory.

Having stated that, Apple is moving in this direction. At the current time, Chrome and Firefox are not enabled for Fullscreen mode. Additionally, Cocoa apps are not able to do so... till now!

Enter Maximizer. This is a SIMBL plugin providing Fullscreen support with Cocoa apps that are not currently supporting Fullscreen. Plus Chrome and Firefox support. Carbon apps are excluded currently. The application is in beta, so read the caveats on the page. Be mindful of the support email link on the page, as the developer wants to make it better. So if you see any anomalies, or worse, do send a note with the simple requested support info.

One great aspect of being in the tech space, individual developers creating solutions to fill a void in the marketplace...and much faster than larger enterprises ever could. Great to see such ingenuity.

Two quick notes:
1) If you are curious about Apple's hits and misses with Fullscreen support in Lion, here is a good article;
2) Recall from yesterday's post that Fullscreen does not allow for proper real estate management in a dual-head configuration, leaving the other display with a linen background; presuming Apple will address this in a future release.

Mac OSX Lion Install Tips, Insight, & Considerations

Bill Malchisky — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:25:57 -0400

Yes, the big news today is that Mac OSX Lion (10.7) is released. One of the best parts is the instant gratification of an on-line installation. Ubuntu has been offering this for over three years, so I am glad to see Apple finally catch-up in this regard. :)

But seriously, with so many new features, functions, and capabilities, invariably there are things that will be addressed in the first round of patches. Looking at this post may assist you deciding if you should upgrade now or wait a bit. Of course, your mileage may vary and may quite possibly you will have no issues. Having stated that, I spent part of the day and most of this evening discussing Lion installations and test builds with several friends. We removed issues due to hardware errors, and unsupported software, and the like... here is list of relevant pieces we compiled. Thus, I thought I would put together this post and share it with the community. Enjoy.

It should be noted that overall, things have been going well for most people, which is important. And of course, be certain you apply any patches for your existing OSX build before upgrading and have a backup of your data--just in-case (see also: bullet in VMware Fusion Insight)

Here are Some Noted Areas of Concern and Possible Solutions

Time Machine does not work currently with many external NAS devices. There are many posts on this, one here is from Vowe; ReadyNAS with Sparc chips here via Ben Poole; one here on a Western Digital NAS and comments on FreeNAS
ReadyNAS with Intel -- upgrade RAIDator 4.2.18 before installing Lion -- Release Notes and also cited here via Vowe
To open URLs Cmd-double-click is the new command, switched from Cmd-Shift-double-click
If you are unable to keyboard activate your dialog boxes with tab, or enter, for example, change the setting here: System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts
As you may have read already, dual head configurations running full-size apps only display a linen backdrop on the second screen, completely defeating the purpose of the dual-head piece
If you have transparency set on Terminal windows, items behind the terminal are blurred
When synching iCal to Mobileme, the Mobileme contacts were deleted; absolutely backup your data
We did notice one instance where Lion chose to resolve the hostname of a Linux server with the external IP versus he internal IP address; so if you are unable to connect to a server, particularly through your terminal window, here is a place to start
One person noticed on his MacBook Pro that many of his window settings were forgotten and his icons arrangement radically changed in the main HD window
If you dislike the thin scrollbars (similar to those with Ubuntu's Unity program manager) there is a desktop preference to change them
In Finder, the ~/Library directory is invisible. Two ways to resolve:
1. Finder, hold down the Option key, then click the GO menu to show the Library folder
2. Terminal window, type: chflags nohidden $HOME/Library --> courtesy of Parallels FAQ
If you install, check the build number: you should have build 11A511, which is the final build; there are reports that some users pulled build 11A494 and Apple changed the download package to the final. So if you are seeing issues check the build
"VMS offered the new OSX Versions feature back in 1984"
Citrix client is having problems with Lion at this time
Application compatibility is key. The new OS is 64-bit and thus, if your apps are 32-bit, you may have some issues after upgrading. Check for compatibility here; the list is pretty thorough, as it even had Lotus Notes listed!
UPDATE: If File Vault 2 is used, seems that Time Machine is required to be encrypted

Drobo Insight

The latest Drobo Dashboard is needed else the Drobo goes into a boot loop
Drobo Dashboard 2.0.3 is needed for Lion, and that time machine doesn't work on Drobos with Lion at this time
Time Machine has problems going to third party NAS's
"If your Time Machine has been set up to work with Drobo, Drobo S, DroboPro or Drobo model B800i before upgrading to Lion, you will be able to continue using Time Machine."
Recall that the Drobo "Check for Updates" feature has been broken for a long time, so if it says you are current, check their website
Otherwise, you might want to wait till the Time Machine aspect is resolved
Note: upgrading the Drobo Dashboard requires a reboot, so be sure to unmount, then turn your Drobo off before rebooting

VMware Fusion Insight

OSX Lion runs fine as a host OS under VMware 3.1.3
``Lion is not supported in Fusion 3.1.3 as a Guest OS, I apologize'' -- @VMwareFusion
Then continued, ``As the blog mentions, we're looking into that [Lion as a guest OS] for a future release. 3.1.3 only supports 10.6 and 10.5 Server as a Guest OS''
If you run VMware Fusion 2, then you are unable to run Lion, as that is an x64 OS and Fusion 2 can only run i386 flavors
Time Machine does not backup VM's or Fusion itself properly...so you must proceed with a non-Time Machine backup of your VM files with a different package, or just copying each VM to the external media of your choice; once finished, install Lion then reinstall Fusion

Parallels Insight

There's an update to parallels 4 so it will run with Lion as the host OS
Parallels has yet to comment on running Lion as a guest OS

Of Course, There Are Many Positives

Windows-style window capability; so you can resize a window from any edge now
The pause and resume feature is quite nice, but know that it is much faster when using an Ethernet connection, versus WiFi
You get to run Lion in two VMs on your desktop machine; just be certain to make a bootable disc (or with screen shots)
You can update every Mac in your home with one Lion purchase -- so the $30 cost is quite valuable; just make sure to burn the image to disk before you upgrade your first Mac as Lion will purge the installer once it completes
Observation, that previous that Spotlight indexing and Time Machine running a backup were mutually exclusive; in Lion, they are working together
In reading the user reports at Macintouch, most people are liking the upgrade

A Quick Note to Developers

Avoid the temptation to design your web pages based upon how they look on your Mac in full-size mode; most of us won't view them that way

Need a more detailed review?

Try Ars Technica 19-page review located here

Closing
And to end on a lighter note... as Maru has his own blog, and YouTube channel, it's about time he joined the ranks of the other famous felines in the Apple OSX release coterie. Perhaps a sneak peak cover for the next version of OSX. If you don't know who Maru is, click here then watch this.

Excited to be Speaking at IamLUG Again. Join the Community and Head to St. Louis!

Bill Malchisky — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:21:12 -0400

I am thrilled to be attending IamLUG for the third consecutive year. This time I will be providing two presentations and can't believe the event is less than two weeks away!

First is a deep-dive technical session on using Linux with your Lotus products --- server-side, specifically --- encompassing at least three key products. Titled simply enough, Lotus on Linux Report -- Technical Edition. As always, I gladly will entertain all your questions on life, Linux, and the pursuit of a Windows-free existence in the Lotus world. But that's not all! Tips and tricks to help your experience with Linux be better than ever. Who knows...there just might be some bonus swag as well.

Next, is a multi-faceted look at compliance for Lotus admins, entitled the eDiscovery Primer for Lotus Admins -- IamLUG Edition. This informative session is based upon my THE VIEW article recently published. Don't be fooled into thinking that such dry material will provide an uneventful session. On the contrary, it is tricked-out for IamLUG and is absolutely interactive. Whether you are in a regulated vertical or not, there are excellent tidbits to help keep you employed and your employer away from the harsh reporters, looking for a juicy story.

So are you ready for a great conference? Have you signed-up yet? If you haven't yet, are undecided, or just curious... IamLUG offers plenty excellent evening activities throughout the event. Heck, even GBS is sponsoring a free poker night! The best part of IamLUG is the price. The event is FREE. Great speakers---including 11 IBM Champions---covering a multitude of useful topics is primary of course. But you will find excellent networking activities, a wonderful location, with plenty of A/C. Yep, the air conditioning is primed to ensure you have a cool experience throughout the sessions.

See you in St. Louis!

Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04 -- Part V: Contrasting Unity with Gnome 3

Bill Malchisky — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:55:00 -0600

O.k. after a busy month I am glad to be back and posting the final segment of the Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04 series...the time also gave me the opportunity to really learn Ubuntu and scribe a better review for this post.

For those that have not upgraded to Ubuntu 11.04 or are curious, one major improvement is to the window manager--now called Unity. There are many enhancements, some of which I covered in previous posts in this series. But it is not based upon Gnome 3 which is also beautiful in its own right. Although, one of the strengths of Linux and UNIX is that you change window managers, customize them, write your own, and still get to your data. Although this is still true with Ubuntu's latest offering, it introduces a slippery slope.

For all the strengths that Ubuntu introduces and continues to provide, the fact that trying Gnome 3 creates a permanent change state, breaking Unity, which goes against the flexibility that is the hallmark of the AT&T socket based operating systems. Learning of this facet is a bit disheartening, as I am a big proponent of consistency and standards. Of course things change, but don't break one of the key competitive advantages of your product for eye candy.

Having stated that, I do feel that in the next release there will be a way to switch between Unity and Gnome 3. I will post the results of that either way.

How to Try Gnome 3
My suggestion is to do the upgrade to 11.04, as there is a lot of great enhancements there. Then, if you are using VMware, have the option for a dual-boot system (You can dual-boot Linux to Linux, doesn't have to be Windows on the PC), or a test box, setup the another configuration with Gnome 3 and try it for a while. If you prefer it to Unity, then switch on your primary machine/host OS and you will not be stuck with an undesirable configuration forcing a reinstall. If you don't like Gnome 3, then wipe or leave it for testing on the alternate machine -- no harm done.

One other option is the old reliable standby: live discs. Yes, you can try Gnome 3 without encroaching on your existing machine's OS. The downside here is the inability to store environment changes between sessions and if you want to switch between your original OS and the virtual OS, you will need to shutdown the system. I usually prefer live discs for administration and emergency recovery, but here is a decent use case for a short-term window. Also works with USB memory sticks.

Overall, it should not be this difficult to try different window managers, but knowing this tidbit up-front can save you a lot of frustration.

What Window Managers and Operating Environments Are Available
As you are unable to temporarily change to Gnome 3, Canonical --- the development firm creating Ubuntu --- did not leave you out in the code. You can actually switch to Gnome 2 and back to Unity quite easily; but this is like comparing the Windows 7 GUI to XP. Additionally, you can try Xfce, Ubuntu Classic (which is the menu name for Gnome 2), KDE, Unity 2D (for older hardware or low RAM quantity).

To install these desktop alternatives, type the following in a command window:
KDE -- $sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
Xfce -- $sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
Unity 2D -- $sudo apt-get update; sudo install unity-2d
Note: the "$" symbol indicates the prompt symbol for your user ID

Advantages and Opportunities with Unity
Beyond the tips provided, Unity does have its strengths and has received a lot of great press. Here's one example from a gentlemen who is trying Ubuntu Linux as his primary operating system for 30 days. What I like about the environment is that it is easy for novice and intermediate users to find files, applications, and run them. The GUI is clean, predictable in most cases and easy to navigate. Overall, the job they did was quite nice.

On the flip-side, the issues of Unity will really only be seen by power users or long-time loyalists of the product. For example, one of the great features introduced in the 9.x code stream was the desktop ability to remember your application layout and open windows when you shutdown. Thus, when you turned-on the system, Ubuntu would place you right back where you were--very effective and significantly faster than attempting a hibernation operation, especially when your train stop appears most unexpectedly. Reboots are fast and so effective, Gedit for example will open every document you had open previously, in the same order, and same place on the page for each. That's a serious capability and one I really enjoyed: huge time-saver. Ubuntu 11.04 not only did away with this feature, but it removed any capability to enable it as a feature. At this time, I have no idea why. For me, as a power user, this is a major loss of productivity when I am mobile and will shutdown and start my laptop several times a day.

Another aspect I dislike is that the installed applications are not tagged in a manner that I would consider intuitive. Thus, with the previous menu system, all of the tools you wanted to use were in-fact under the Tools menu. Nice and simple. So, in Ubuntu 11.04 you would think that if you type "tools" in the search dialog box off the upper-left corner, that all programs with the "tools" tag would appear. Not the case. In fact, the only way I could access programs that I new were there was to use their name. Now, many of software applications use names that are unfamiliar or used infrequently, but are important. If you do not know the name, you will have a challenging time finding the program. Of course the Ubuntu application catalog will show you all the installed programs on your system, but should you really need to go there every time you need to seek an application that you use infrequently but need? I can see this being a barrier to power users, but not necessarily to novice and intermediate users who only utilize a few applications.

Additionally, in certain file management windows, the user is unable to right click and select, "Create Folder" or "New Folder". In these scenarios, it is frustrating to be able to manage one's file system effectively. Finally, the menu bar for many applications appears at the top of the screen, akin to the Mac OS. This is handy and can allow for a more consistent end-user experience within the GUI. The issue is that if you enable window focus based upon hovering the mouse in a window, rather than clicking --- like in Windows --- you are unable to go from an application window to the menu bar without causing the menu system to change for the application windows or desktop passed along the way. The only work-arounds if you wan to keep window focus by hovering are to maximize your application window or learn the appropriate keyboard shortcuts, thereby bypassing the mouse.

Final Option
And if all else fails and you are still uncertain or dislike both...there is always Linux Mint. This Linux distro essentially creates a wrapper around Ubuntu, providing more applications, software channels, and makes Ubuntu easier. Yes, you did read that correctly. Try a live DVD and give it a go on your PC without damaging your host OS.

Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04 -- Part IV: Unity Tips and Tricks

Bill Malchisky — Thu, 19 May 2011 06:00:00 -0400

Here are a few tips on using the new desktop in Ubuntu to save time and a bit of frustration with the question, "Well how do I do now?" that you are sure to experience at some point. The post will cover a couple of points in each of these areas:

Mouse tricks
Keyboard shortcuts
Desktop Tips
Suggested Tools and Utilities

And since I've learned that in the first two days' posts within this series...the Domino blog template apparently can not handle multiple image files in a blog post. Thus, I will use them quite sparingly today, as I did yesterday as well. Though, I will keep searching for a solution. Here we go!

Unity Tips

Another pointer that is helpful is using the third or middle mouse button. If you only have a two button mouse, then clicking both buttons simultaneously should act as the third button (you can set this with mouse preferences as well). Either way, if you hover over the Launcher application icon of interest and click the middle button, you will then launch a brand new window for that application. It's that simple. Want multiple Chrome windows? Just middle click. Works for any application in the Launcher.
Know that to the left side of the respective icon, Unity adds an additional arrow head (triangle) for each application wind that you have open. So, if you are running Firefox, then click the middle button twice, you will have three arrow heads visible and tangent to the icon's left edge.
Finally, if the arrow head(s) next to an application icon are blue, the program is seeking your attention. An example, Adobe Acrobat informing you that an update is available.
Depressing the Windows key on your keyboard will launch the Ubuntu start panel (for lack of the proper jargon)
Unity runs on Compiz---a windowing manager layer---similar in how Adobe Air sits between programs like Tweetdeck and the operating system. So, to enhance or tweak your new environment, you need to install the Compiz Config Settings Manager (CCSM) --> Compiz Settings Manager; from there, just go to the launcher window type: ccsm and you are all set. This configuration utility allows for keyboard shortcuts, window behavior.

From my perspective, much of these configuration tools (including Ubuntu Tweak and Startup Manager mentioned below) should be available out of the box, and the need for a confident beginner through an expert user to be forced to find the names of these tools, then download them all so they can click one check box to alter a feature annoying them, is well a bit much. In Canonical's defense, Ubuntu 11.04 is really Unity 1.0, so they are working through the kinks and I presume in a literal sense, they will fix and release enhancements in the future.

Window Resizing
You can drag any window to the top edge to maximize, drag to the right edge to maximize vertically and fill the screen 50% horizontally, dragging a window to the left edger performs the compliment resizing. So, combined, you can easily look at multiple programs or documents easily. What they also do is overlay an rust colored shadow on all application windows so you can tell the effect of your actions before you release the left mouse button. Very smart. If I recall correctly, I think there was a Windows 7 commercial about the document resizing as well--which I consider a good thing, regardless of who coded it first.

Remote Access
Initially, the TSClient native to Ubuntu --- and a fine tool in my opinion --- was slated to be replaced with Remmina in 11.04. At this time, the latest version (0.93-stable) is the version available within the Ubuntu Software Center (USC) and is highly rated. Know that at this time it is neither patched nor updated by Canonical, so further updates may need to be applied independently of the USC and correlated Update Manager. If you are using RDP, VNC, NX, XDMCP, or SSH (and you do not want to run this from the command line), then give Remmina a try. Just type remmina in the USC's application search field and click Install

Useful Tools to Install
Try these applications to make the experience even better.

Transmission -- BitTorrent client
Ubuntu Tweak -- This is akin to the Windows XP Power Tools and is quite handy for Unity; previous versions I would say it is of little value, but with the new focus on non-power users, this tool is a gem.
An example of its capabilities includes the ability to heavily customize the login screen to your liking.

The software channel where this tool is located is not available by default. So, open a terminal window and type in three commands to enable the channel, get the channel's updates, and install. Remember: copy/paste is your friend:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

Startup Manager -- allows you to customize Grub (the boot manager); customize options and splash screens; Install via this simple command:

sudo apt-get install startupmanager

LinBerry -- decent package but rough in some spots, for synching Blackberry devices with your Ubuntu desktop; more details here
N.B. the project is non-English, so you may need your favorite Spanish-English translation method if you lack fluency during the setup process.
Note: Know that I have not used this product, but from the many forum posts I read, there seemed to be a growing sentiment that the project is moving in the right direction; thus its inclusion.
Alarm Clock -- handy program for reminders, counters, and alerts. Via the USC or command line: apt-get install alarm-clock
Skype Call Recorder -- the prerequisite is obvious, but it works with 11.04. Handy for client meetings or chats with your developer where after two hours of fruitless dialog, you final solved your problem. But as you are both strung-out on sugar and caffeine, you quickly forgot the collaborative brainchild you created. For not this tool recording your oral musing, you'd be deflated. ;)

That winds-up this installment for the Ubuntu 11.04 Upgrade series. More tomorrow...

Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04 -- Part III: Fixing What the Leading Edge Cuts

Bill Malchisky — Wed, 18 May 2011 06:00:00 -0400

Not only is the installation of Ubuntu 11.04 easy, but its new environment provides many nice enhancements. To make these a reality, well....sometimes one group of developers (i.e. the operating system team) can get ahead of another development group (i.e. an ISV). When this occurs, there exists a settlement period, during which, various levels of success exist, depending upon what you are using and how. You may never see some of the irksome events in any application that plague a colleague. That is the nature of computers. Ubuntu is no exception in this case. This installment looks at some of these facets, how to fix them and at a deeper level, why they occur.

Changing Application Window Scrollbars Is Just a Wafer Thin Change
One new innovation is overlay scrollbars. Here is the link to the project page. You will see them in all native applications. Applications like Firefox and Chrome omit this feature. The advantage is that the new scrollbar design saves screen space in the respective application window. However, as they are new, some programs will not work well with them initially and can crash. Why? Those programs are expecting a different widget in the windowing system. Change in anyway how a particularly widget functions, calling that widget can then cause problems. This is part of the reason much of the issues we see in Microsoft Windows will never get fixed--for if they were, thousands of programs will stop working; those applications have been built with their own bug fixes to shore-up Windows... but I digress.

The underlying cause is due to a gtk+ patch that only covered (patched) the gtk scrolled window and used by the overlay scrollbars, and omitted alternative GtkScrollbar class (native). Thus, creating an imbalance. Stating that, you are free to try different window managers---which provide different widget sets---and see how your results fare too. Example, trying Ubuntu Classic Desktop in lieu of Unity, if you prefer the feel of Gnome 2. When logging in, you can choose a window manager before accepting your password to commence authentication. One of the powerful capabilities of a well built object oriented network focused operating system.

Getting your Virtual Machines Working
ISVs will fix their applications for Unity in-time. Although I surmise perhaps not soon enough for some that want to use their applications immediately.

A good example here is VMware, which typically lags a new release of any operating system, as they have to test against OS kernels and insert their hooks. This is not a negative against VMware, but a positive as they are careful. But you should know that if your host OS in a VMware environment is Ubuntu 11.04, you will not get to your VMs easily. This is why on my primary laptop, I typically update the host based upon VMware Workstation's release schedule. However, they have released a patch to assist. Here's the link to get Ubuntu working with both the original released kernel 2.6.37 and updated kernel 2.6.38-8.

Here is a an excerpt from a post submitted by a VMware support forum moderator vanRijn, on 25 Mar 2011 regarding 11.04 kernel support in Workstation 7.1.3:
"It's not the X server changes that caused this, but rather the version of Gtk that just got put into 11.04. As the UI stack trace shows, it's a problem in Glib::OptionGroup. We have resolved the problem internally and this will be addressed in an upcoming release. Thanks for the bug report!"

Forum contributor, tsuther@i3bus… provided a VMware workstation patch and step-by-step guide here.

The alternative option is to upgrade to Workstation 7.1.4, where it is supposed to be fixed, but not really. The new scrollbars cause an issue. As a brute force workaround, you can remove the scrollbars via the instructions provided here.

Save these steps, because when VMware releases a fix, you can just reverse the process to reinstate the overlay scrollbars.
Also make sure you update VMware Tools in each VM when prompted.

In Part II of this series, I discussed the benefits of the History view in the Ubuntu Software Center. What the picture below shows is that the GUI installation tools and the command line set are linked to the installed applications. That is good and ensures integrity of the process.

General Desktop Usage and Thoughts
Back to the desktop... to move the Launcher icons, the previous process of right click -> Move is now changed. You just click, hold, and slide the icon laterally towards the screen center (off the bar) then insert it the target location on the Launcher bar. For the system icons (Applications, Files & Folders) they appear at the bottom of the launcher and can not be relocated to the top. So, if you want to use them, you have to keep moving the mouse to the far left corner. This GUI enhancement is inefficient and irks me. One of the reasons Windows has been traditionally charged with poor GUI design, is because the Start button has been historically in the bottom left corner. Apple's OS X and Linux improved here by having the menu and applications available on the top-half of the screen.

Years ago, I used a tool in Linux called the mousepedometer, a utility within the KDE application set. It is basically a pedometer for your mouse. Tried it for a business week with the menus on the top-half of the screen (Linux model) and bottom edge of the screen (Windows model). The results weren't even close. The amount real estate covered with the Windows model far exceeded my expectations--in the thousands of meters (long days). Since then, I always move the menus to the top edge of all work stations for efficiency purposes. Amazingly, doing this confuses many Windows users and they immediately drag the start button back to the bottom, complain, or call the Help Desk. But I digress...

The search capability hides the previously simple and well organized menu system Ubuntu offered. Now, users need to remember what the name of the software program is, or guess how it is tagged. If your interpretation of the desired tool is different than the developer's, you may have an installed application that you are unable to find easily and thus, may go underutilized or worse, replaced with something else.

For light users, I think the design is fine and may just be what many need to fully embrace the Linux desktop experience. Power users may be disenfranchised, but as we are a smaller unit of potential users, we are also smart enough to know we have options. I will have a post on this shortly.

Thanks for reading. More Linux goodness comes soon, I assure you.

Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04 -- Part II: Application Installation

Bill Malchisky — Tue, 17 May 2011 06:00:00 -0400

Update: Apparently, the utilized blog template is unable to handle mulltiple image files. Below I have unique images shots defining a chronoligical order through a process. Upon publising, some shots are missing, some are duplicated, while others appear out-of-order. I am uncertain why the template mangles images in such a horrible manner. Apologize for the poor graphic quality of this and yesterday's post....but the prose is sound. It would appear that the Domino blog template can only handle one (1) image per post. A travesty, if I do say so myself. Tomorrow I will only use grapics sparringly as I have wasted far too much time attempting to fix this. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

As I described the smooth upgrade process yesterday on my test box, my production laptop from Ubuntu 10.10 to 11.04, did not go smoothly--due to an error on my part, not their installation program. So, I needed to steamroll through a fresh installation, including remapping all of my partitions and logical volume groups. Not what I expected to do Sunday evening, time-wise, but I must say...wow, it was worth the effort.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, if you want a broader view of what's new in 11.04, click here. It includes hotspots for all of the different enhancements along with the Release Notes if you are curious. My posts on this subject cover lower level details and subtleties previously excluded in other coverage I read.

Launcher Insight
The design of Unity is fresh, clean, and well done. Subtle cues abound, ensuring that space is utilized carefully, ensuring that much of your real estate for applications is maximized. When you start an application from the Launcher, rather than drop a separate icon on a separate row of screen space for easy access, they just put a white arrow head (triangle) to the left of the respective icon (presuming a left justified Launcher panel) and you can see which applications are running. Just click the application again and the minimized program reappears. The program with current focus displays an opposing arrow head on the right edge of the respective Launcher icon. All nice and easy.

Application Installation
Application installation enhancements and integration through the window manager is where many of the improvements exist. Previously, one would just go to the Ubuntu Software Center, type in the name, and you can see if the Canonical approved version is there. If so, click to install and you are all set. Canonical will track updates and feed them to you whenever they are available. Be it third-party closed source ISV applications like Adobe Acrobat, third-part open source ISV applications, and any applications that Ubuntu is tracking. When you install an application unsupported by Ubuntu's software center, it will inform you that support is available via the Ubuntu community instead. Very helpful.

In Ubuntu 11.04, this process is significantly easier. For starters, if an application is available and you lack enablement or inclusion in your apt-get stream, the proper software channel is listed, provides a link to add it, and then lets you install it. Wow! What is even better, is that if you select More Info..., you can see application size, community reviews, corollary applications (e.g. extra fonts that you might be interested in using, or hooks into other programs) that can be installed with a simple click in a checkbox. All very easy, really.

What really impressed me, is where they extended this process. When you click on the Applications link in Launcher, you are presented with a program window where you can search for programs. Yes, most other desktop operating systems have this, and have for a while -- including Ubuntu. Where they excel here is that below the choices of Installed applications listed, they provide options of programs you might want to install, that match your search criteria. If so, click on that icon and that application is installed. Very nice touch. Try that with Windows!

Installing Adobe Acrobat From Within Ubuntu
To illustrate the ease of installation and some nice features, I will choose a useful and powerful program, then walk through the steps.

If you launch the Ubuntu Software Center and type Adobe in the search window, you are presented with three programs. A green circle with a check mark inside on an icon indicates the program is already installed. (e.g. Adobe Flash plugin)

Here are some screen shots showing the application installation process of Adobe Acrobat. I like that they also include the size to download and the install size. This allows users to decide when is the best time for the user to install a program. Nice touch.

Additionally, beyond the details and Add-ons, you can see reviews on the application and the median rating next to the program name. Once you install the application, you can also comment by creating a review.

The first time you install this program, you also get prompted to set it as the default viewer. For the types of PDF files I view, I definitely want to do so. Also, in 10.04 LTS, there is a known bug with the included open source viewer not displaying PDF files. You can download them, but when you open them, the page is blank. Before 10.04 LTS, Adobe's x64 Linux flavor lagged their other Acrobat offerings. With the popularity of Ubuntu and some Adobe's increased commitment to their product, version 9 is out and works great. Thus, I use this as my default PDF viewer. It quick and effective -- even in my browser as a plugin.

And when you are done, on the left side, in the Launcher, if you selected, "Add to Launcher" you will see this icon automatically appear.

Update Software History
One of the nice features with installing software through this portal is the history. Akin to the ACL history in Notes databases, one can view removals, installs, updates and know what is precisely happening---software-wise---on your system. A nice touch and very helpful.

The installed software link in the left navigation pane, makes it easy to find what programs are on your system.

Clicking on one entry makes it easy to learn more info, removal, or check reviews.

Last two points on the Ubuntu Software Center: (1) it includes improved support to collect/accept payment for licensing fees. Now, open source applications that also would like alert you to a suggested contribution, you can honor the request in a far easier manner than previously doing so; (2) when you launch the USC you will observe that at the top of the main window, the USC provides suggested software applications, based upon programs you used and what it thinks might be helpful. I know there are other criteria as well.

Window Manager Widget Changes
Using a omnipresent application in Firefox 4 for easy contrasting across operating systems, here are two selected screen shots.

First, when in a less than maximized state, the minimize, maximize, and close buttons exist in the upper right corner, as expected. The color scheme is softer with Unity, but everything else looks as expected.

When maximized, you see the Ubuntu logo in the upper left corner, which provides the program and file search feature. Also, you will see the close, minimize, and maximize buttons are now left justified, and with a slightly different order -- the close remains closest to the window edge.

Adobe Ups Their Linux Commitment
If you notice in the Adobe search results, that Adobe Flash plugin is installed. This is a huge enhancement for 11.04. Why? Previously, Adobe only offered an i386 version. With the increase in popularity of Ubuntu, this long-running issue is now fixed. I am very pleased with this.

Additionally when you install the Flash plugin, notice inside the Add-ons section there is a "Non-free TrueType fonts from XFree86" entry. If you want to run Lotus Notes, install this package. Notes is dependent upon this. Having the correct fonts available here and able to be installed with one click, saves you a lot of time later. Take advantage of this

Some nice visual changes are included with Unity. Some changes are unexpected and welcomed. More Linux goodness to come.

And onward to Part III, tomorrow...