Tim Dobson's Blog

Is gNewSense suitable for those moving from something a completely non-free?

Should usability compromise digital freedom to win users over?

Matt Lee wrote:

> gNewSense 2.0 should be able to work on 99% of people's machines.

Getting webcams to work with GNU/Linux is generally a complete nightmare, as a result of different chipsets in the same model, and some working in a vastly different way to others.

However, I was elated a few days ago when I found that my 8 pound, generic, bottom of the range, unbranded webcam worked with GNU/Linux.

I intend to outline I have no idea whether the details of how I got it working. This is is intended to be helpful to someone trying to set their M6323 webcam up or a different Generic webcam, so I'll try and go into as much detail as possible.

My ageing laptop is somewhat trademarked:

For the record the sticker on the top right represents a sailing boat and stands for GDSC Glossop and District Sailing Club.
On the left of it is a sticker from the Free Software Foundation, in the top left is one from LUG Radio, between it and the Bad Vista sticker is a GPLv3 sticker. In the middle the GNU's head and the GNU + Linux sticker both represent GNU, whilst the sticker on the bottom right is from DefectiveByDesign.

What ever they tell you, you can never have enough stickers.

Is your laptop anything like as stickered as mine?

Do you know your permissions?


Moral: If you aren't a techie, you won't get it.

I have been using Last.fm for a long time now, but I have always avoided StumbleUpon because I have been lazy and presumed that I wouldn't want it.
Today I installed the Firefox extension to see what it was like.
To put it mildly, I was impressed. After telling it what I was into, it was able to give me websites that I thought were really interesting and useful, though there are some which I disagree with subtly - too subtly for it's preferences engine to understand.

Beware the flying goose… - One of the things that’s difficult for me about living in Germany is the total absence of spicy food. German cuisine is bland. The best they can think of to spice it up seems to be mustard or possibly a dab of horseradish. As someone who likes curries and chilli dishes this just doesn’t challenge the taste-buds enough.
While my Aunt, laments the lack of spicy food in Germany, I can report on my latest curry. As mentioned here I went for a curry last night (Friday) with a load of my sailing friends at The Bulls Head in Old Glossop.

The Bull is unique in being a typically English Pub, friendly and atmospheric, and having an excellent Indian Resturant attached. One the other main advantages for me being that, of course, it is in the close proximity of my home.