Tsikbal: from my perspective

On this day and age, is easy to forget what people want from form public transit services is actually good and reliable service. While having things like charging ports and free WiFi are nice perks to have, they are nice extras to have once users have a reliable public transportation service. People still need to move easily within the city they live, and the public transit is the most efficient way to do so on medium to long distances on urban areas. For most people, I include myself in, public transportation is the best way to move around most of the time. Actually, with a public transportation service that was reliable most people would not need to have a car at all. Urban areas need a reliable public transit more than they need more cars on the road, in order to improve quality of life within cities. We need mass transit that we can count will arrive on time, its affordable and dependable. Lets face it, most people could be better served by a public transit than a car for...

As this article at Wired, some miss CD's, vinyl or cassettes out of nostalgia sake. Specially people, who like me, grew up owing music on the medium having them around is somewhat satisfying. Yet, even younger generations seem to appreciate at least having some MP3 files handy. The thing is, streaming services while being handy way to discovering or accessing music, won't entirely supplant other formats. One of the most important roadblocks, are some right holders simply won't release their music to streaming services. Also there is the fact that people want to have some of their music available in a way that streaming services like Spotify or Apple music wont allow. There are several legal, technical, and sentimental issues that prevent streaming services ever to supplant owning music in the format of your choice. But, it makes it the perfect way to complement it. I used to say I wouldn't have a use for streaming services, yet I found Spotify a nice way t...

When I read that Linux desktop just passed the 2% market share , I had mixed feelings. On one hand, it means that more people are using a Linux distro on their computers. On the other hand, Linux is not as widely used as Windows or OS X. Yet, the fact that Linux has increased it's market share is something to at least to be happy about. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage is actually a bit higher since a large number of installations go unnoticed. Specially since the number of times Linux distros is used to have an idea of how wide the user based is. That number is not all that reliable, since one download could mean several installations on multiple machines. As such, any market share information should always be taken with a grain of salt. But, I feel happy that Linux gets more widely deployed Because this means that more people will be likely to actually used a Linux distro, and see for themselves that Linux can be at least as user friendly a...

If there were any doubts that open-source software is the way to go, the fact that Microsoft just released version 1.0 of .NET Core should go a long dispelling this idea. .NET Core is a open-source cross platform implementation of Microsoft's .NET Framework development environment that runs on OS X and Linux. While it isn't the same thing as Microsoft open-sourcing Windows, its a sign that open-source software is here to stay and its making inroads with a lot more users that many are willing to admit. Not that long ago, Microsoft was an enemy of everything open-source. Now, its embracing it in order to stay relevant. Let's face it, open-source software has never been the problem that Microsoft made it to be, but rather a solution for developers and users for a whole host of problems. Most importantly, it give credence to the idea that open-source software is a valid development tool. This helps both developers and users, since it gives both a better and faste...

Smartphones are one area where I'd like to see more OSes to choose from, that can be used by more OEM. Another thing, is that while apps are relatively easy to keep updated, the OS itself is a whole different story if you're on Android. While I prefer Android over iOS, one of the main things I have against Android and in favor of iOS is the ease of keeping the OS updated. Other than that, Android is by far the mobile OS for me. Yet, I'd like to see a wider selection of mobile OSes and apps that would run on your OS of choice easily. The only reason against this is not a technical one, but because companies prefer to have you locked in on their ecosystem. While that is good for them, is bad for the user. While I don't see hundreds of different OSes, there is space for more than Android and iOS. For one thing, more mobile OSes based on Linux would be great. That would help making the point to create a common standard to create apps that run on them, since all...

A few days ago I shared some of my thoughts about the state of SteamOS, and gaming on Linux in general. While on both counts things aren't as good as I would like, they are in good standing. There is a healthy selection of titles, mainly indie ones. While there is a need for more AAA titles on SteamOS, and the Linux client, to make them more appealing to mainstream gamers that new games are added continuously is encouraging. The other important question, is hardware support for the SteamOS. While most SteamOS capable machines are built by Valve, there some other vendors who also make Steam machines. The OS can be installed by the user like other Linux distros as well, giving user ever more options where they want to run the OS. But, there is some great news that could give us hope for the future of SteamOS gaming on Linux in general. Dell announced that its introducing new Alienware based on the OS. These means that users can have access to well know gaming ...

After about six years of using Ubuntu, or Linux Mint, on my personal laptop I simply don't see myself coming back to Windows. All of my needs are covered my Ubuntu or Linux Mint, and both OSes are FLOSS software which is important for me. At work I use Windows 7, and when I compare it to Ubuntu or Linux Mint it just doesn't hold for long. There is nothing I can't do at least as well on Windows as I can do on either Ubuntu or Linux Mint. While all three OSes are quite good, Ubuntu just takes the cake in my case. To be honest, if I could use Ubuntu at work I would have asked the IT department to set me up with an Ubuntu machine. The only thing that prevents me to do so, is that we use SAP and it only runs on Windows. For a year now they have been testing running SAP on Windows 10, and so far the only thing preventing us to make the jump is budget concerns. Ubuntu is far from perfect, but its the Linux distro that fits my computing needs. Linux Mint is a close sec...

When Valve announced SteamOS , I was really excited about it. Since its based on Debian , it meant that a serious gaming OS was coming to the Linux side. And if all went right, it meant that at least some publisher might offer their games on other Linux distros in time. As such, when I read on Extremetech site that Steam's machines sales have been abysmal , I can't help to feel somewhat sad and disappointed. Though I disagree that the games offered for SteamOS are indie is a bad thing, it would help to have more AAA titles available. Personally, I enjoy far more indie games than I do AAA games. The same goes for many of my friends, we feel that indie games offer something more than AAA games do. Yet I do see the need to at least attract some AAA titles to make the platform more widely appealing, specially to new users or those who prefer AAA games. To be honest, I'd love nothing more that see SteamOS go mainstream. But, I wouldn't mind seeing it going as ...

Nowadays that information is at the fingertips of so many people, it's hard to believe that it's still not accessible to everyone. There is still a significant large groups of people who don't have access to the Internet, or to other information technologies, with all the benefits that come with having such an access. We still have some way to go before we can say we have a 100% coverage, but as a whole we are getting closer. There some power groups that fear that everyone has access to modern communication technologies for various reasons. Still, we need to have everyone aboard, if we want want to truly change things. We need to give everyone access to participate at least on the subjects that are interest each individual at any time. Those who fear universal access to modern the modern technologies aren't just government, some corporations and politicians don't have people freely exchanging information and views about them. Not only because of profits...

I've been using Spotify for about a year and a half now, mainly when I didn't want to listen to the music I've at my hard drive. Also, when I want to explore new artists or tracks. Yet, for the last couple of months now I've been using Spotify's Android app heavily. I use it at work, to give me some music the I like to have as background, and it gives a wider variety of music than radio would. And though I've my music collection on my smartphone, I prefer Spotify for when I just want music I love at the background. Having my whole music collection and Spotify at my device sure has changed my music listening habits while I'm on the go. I used to mainly use Spotify and the fm radio app, but since I got a micro-SD card capacity enough to store all my media on it I virtually stop using the fm radio app. I jump between the music app and Spotify depending on my mood, where I am or with who. Though I've Spotify on my laptop, I find myself using it...

Nokia used to be my favorite mobile phone manufacturer for several years, since I liked the devices themselves and Symbian was my favorite smartphone OS. When Nokia made the deal with Microsoft to produce only smartphones using Windows Phone OS, since Android seemed to be a better option. With time, Nokia's choice became its downfall, since Android along with Apple's iOS have become the dominant smartphones OSes. Yet, it seem that Nokia's has licensed to bring back the brand to the smartphone arena. The new smartphones and tables will come with Android, which it makes sense. The only misgiving I've, is that the market is already somewhat crowed. As such, the devices they bring have to be the right mix of quality and price to be able to take hold. Personally, I'm happy and interested to see what offering they bring to the market. If they continue with the good quality of the smartphones produced under Nokia's brand, powered by Android, it should...