J_K9 @ Linux

Why Is Achieving Simplicity So Difficult?

Having spent the past five or so hours trying to connect my Ubuntu 7.04 laptop and Windows XP desktop to my Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles so that I can stream media from one to the other with almost no success, perhaps it is a little too easy for me to say this. I can imagine all the effort that went into coding the media centres for both consoles—that I will not dispute. But how on earth can they have made it so complex, so embedded in proprietary ways, that it just refuses to work no matter which media server I use?

I have tried just about every major UPnP media server available on the internet, from Open Source to Free Software to good old proprietary. I have tried Mediatomb, TVersity, TwonkyVision, Nero 7 MediaHome, Windows Media Player 11 and several others on all the Operating Systems they were compiled for (yes, including Mac OS X—I forgot to mention my ageing but powerful iMac G5). The only one I had some success with was Mediatomb; the others were completely useless and incompatible with the consoles.

Not only did I have problems at the server end, but the consoles were also playing up on me. My PS3 has decided that UPnP is “not available” and that my network is a “NAT Type 3″ ever since its last update, which essentially means that there’s no way in hell it’s going to find my server. Then there’s the Xbox, which struggles (and fails) to find even the media server created by its own owner, incorporated into Microsoft’s Windows Media Player 11.

I can’t help but think to myself: how pathetic is this? Are Sony and Microsoft so set in their ways that they cannot agree upon Open Standards to ensure simplicity and compatibility across a range of technologies included in their products? Is it too difficult to agree on some basic requirements for the implementation of these technologies to ensure that they do not differ too much, so that the end-user can truly have a “Plug and Play” experience?

I consider myself an advanced user and I was unsuccessful in my attempts to get this set-up working in my home network. If I was unable to do it, how can Sony and Microsoft possibly expect less experienced users to accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task?

I could go on for quite a bit ranting about how despicable this is, but then I’d just be wasting more time on these “home consoles” which Microsoft and Sony have so lovingly produced. The games and graphics are great, that I will admit—but if you’re going to add media centre functionality, make sure you do it right. Don’t give me some semi-working system which never will quite work as I’m made to believe it can (thank you, marketing departments—ever trustworthy).

Next time I want to stream videos to my TV, I’ll shove a network card into it with some software to output Ogg Theora files to the screen and I’ll transcode and stream videos to it on-the-fly from my PC. No UPnP, no proprietary formats or technologies, no unnecessary crap. Keep it simple and it will work reliably and with as little extra pain as possible.

Hey, that’s not too bad an idea… I better get working on a business plan!

And yes, I do know it’s not that simple to network-enable a TV

Open Source Project Management: Common Pitfalls

Many people have innovative ideas about projects they would like to implement but simply do not have the programming expertise to realise them. So, in order to produce the application and still guide its development, they turn to the Open Source community for help.

I am such a person. I have a lot of experience with web development, but when it comes to developing software for the desktop I am absolutely hopeless. The Open Source community, however, has many individuals—developers—who are willing to give up their free time to help a worthy cause and to build the codebase for such applications under the guidance of a project manager. This is advantageous for both parties because the project manager gets to realise his creative concept and the developers receive some fame and recognition for their work, particularly in the Open Source community. They may also be offered incentives such as a share of the donation money; a steady source of income out of gratitude for the work they have accomplished.

However, many Open Source projects fall apart before they see the light of day, mostly due to management reasons. You are receiving this directly from someone who has had an Open Source project disintegrate (by the name of HyperGet) and has had to pick up the pieces, so the common pitfalls listed below are frighteningly genuine and happen to the most motivated of project managers. They all, ultimately, result in developer dropout and thus the death or dormancy of the project.
Continue reading Open Source Project Management: Common Pitfalls…

The Big SMB Problem: Dropping Microsoft Office

Small and Medium-sized Businesses are usually quite keen to consider switching to Open Source IT solutions, and not without reason: Linux and other Open Source tools are mature—often with features that rival and exceed proprietary alternatives in terms of usage and implementation—proven to be secure, low-maintenance once set up and most important of all, free.
Continue reading The Big SMB Problem: Dropping Microsoft Office…