How to type in Japanese in OpenMandriva Lx 3.0

OpenMandriva Lx 3.0 comes with built in Japanese support via Fcitx, the Input Method Editor (IME).   You can see Fcitx on the task bar (it is a keyboard icon).  However, you cannot type in Japanese until you activate it.

Fcitx's icon

To activate Japanese IME in OpenMandriva Lx 3.0, you first need to get Anthy from the repos using OMCC.

/Once Anthy is installed, open the Fcitx configuration application by typing "input" on the search field of the KickOff menu:

Once there, deactivate the box "Only show current language."  This action will show all the available languages.  Locate entries for "Japanese" and select Anthy.  Click on the arrow pointing to the right to add Anthy as an alternative input method.

Then click "Apply" and "OK" to leave.  That is all.


On the task bar, locate the keyboard icon (Fcitx) and right click on it.  Follow the menu to select "Input Method" and select Anthy.

You will see that the keyboard icon changes to Anthy's icon.

Now you can type in Japanese on LibreOffice Writer.  :)

OpenMandriva Lx 3.0 on my laptop

Before anything else, let me just say upfront that this is not a technical review.  I am a non-technical Linux user, so what I say here comes exclusively from the perspective of someone who, without understanding much about what is under the hood, appreciates Linux for the smooth ride that it provides.

My previous OpenMandriva Lx 2014 install

My old OpenMandriva Lx 2014. x install was working perfectly: it made the ZaReason Strata laptop work efficiently.   It also looked beautiful, with the four different wallpapers on each workspace, the Ghost KDE theme, and the Cairo dock.  The only problem I had with this system was that I could never manage to make it type in Japanese (I tried SCIM and iBUS to no effect).

Using ROSA Image Writer, I copied the ISO to an USB drive and went to adventure land, installing OpenMandriva Lx 3.0 twice on the same machine, first keeping the home partition of my previous OpenMandriva  and then a clean install.

Now, after I installed OpenMandriva Lx 3.0, this is what I noticed:

1. The installation is fast!  I knew that some Linux OSs can install quickly (Mx took like 5 minutes), but I consider that completing all the process in less than 15 minutes is not bad at all.  And it was very simple, too.  The most complicated part was, as usual, partitioning, but that is because my  laptop is a heptaboot.
2. It is best to do a clean install.  Although it was convenient to have all the files

   

   Visual problems

   and most of the settings there after the installation, I noticed several visual problems with Firefox.  There were unreadable message windows and elements were not properly located. These problems disappeared after I performed a clean install, so they were caused probably by previous settings overlap.
3. With Plasma 5, you must say good-bye to certain aesthetic preferences.  We already know that the KDE team eliminated the possibility of having an independent wallpaper on each workspace, which is a big disappointment.  However, I also saw that the Ghost theme is not working.  Well, one must compromise here with Plasma 5.  You lose some, win some.  But what exactly have I won?
4. OpenMandriva now comes with Japanese input support.  Sort of.  There is a
   mysterious keyboard icon on the task bar.  It turns out that it is Fcitx, an IME. 
   
   With it, one can, in theory, input Japanese characters.  However, I have not managed to make it work, except with a virtual keyboard with kana symbols.  I tried to install iBus, but could not manage to make it work. UPDATE :  Fcitx works perfectly!  I just had to learn how to use it. Here is a tutorial I wrote to that effect.

I am keeping OpenMandriva Lx 3.0 for sure.  In general, I must say that I like the OS and, what I do not like about it is related to my very own Plasma 5 aversion instead of something particular to the OS.  I mean, the OS picked up the wi-fi with no problems, the sound works, effects are working, I saw no crashes, and speed feels good.  Kudos to the OpenMandriva team: their work is awesome.  Of course, I must test other areas; for instance, I need to assess how the OS works with games.  So, my next post will be about that, I guess. 

My new OpenMandriva Lx 3.0 desktop.  Yay!

The truth is out there... and so is OpenMandriva Lx 3.0!

The wait is over for those of us who appreciate the hard work of the developers at OpenMandriva: today, this blog announces that the new release is ready!

OpenMandriva Lx 3 comes with KDE Plasma 5.6.5, three launchers (Kickoff, Kicker, and a full screen one) and F2FS support for SDDs.

I am presently downloading the ISO to install it to my machine.  I really want  to see how the new release of this beautiful Linux distro behaves.

In the meantime, the brand new site of OpenMandriva has a download link and more info.

Congratulations to all those who participated to bring OpenMandriva Lx 3 unto the world!

My experiment with Insync

Some months ago, I decided to give the cloud a chance.  I have been very critical of cloud services because I know that major cloud service providers give you some free space in exchange of a bit of your soul.

Well, I may be exaggerating there, but they do capitalize on your information somehow and that, along with security concerns, kept me out of the cloud.

However, I decided that since I already own an Android phone, which connects me to Google drive, I could use the service to see how it worked.

Now, the idea of having cloud storage is to be able to synchronize my files and to be able to access them from my desktop, laptop, and phone. Connecting the desktop in my office would be great, too.

On Linux, one can use the console to do something like that.  However, since Google does not release a GUI client of Google Drive, I wanted to check a GUI version and the best one I found was Insync.

This is not a free service.  They offer you a 15 day trial and then, if you like what they do, you pay a plan and you can install the program in as many machines as you want.

So I tried out their service.

In my humble opinion, their program worked as a charm: the interface was intuitive, the synchronization of the single folder I selected was flawless, and the access from both Mageia and OpenMandriva was perfect from different machines. I was very impressed, but I was not considering to pay despite I found the pricing reasonable.  My problem was my own cloud aversion.

My initial thought was to uninstall the program once the trial period was over and move on with my life, once again forgetting about the cloud. However, something unexpected happened: after a week of using the program, I received an email from an Insync representative who identified herself as Janine. It was a short follow up message reminding me that, if I needed help, they were ready to support me.  One week later, she wrote another one reminding me of the end of the trial.

I must say that those emails were different from emails one regularly gets from a company.  They were professionally written but, besides being the most courteous messages I have received from a company in my life, they had this human flavor to them...

Even so, I did not upgrade.  I expected that to be the last I was going to hear from Insync, but I received one more email.  This one blew my mind.  It was Janine again offering more trial time or support if I did not upgrade on account of a problem or if the service failed meet my expectations.  If the problem was pricing, she also had an offer to cover for that.

With that email, this company made me feel like a valued customer.  I replied thanking for their awesome service and paid my Insync plus for consumers plan ($25).

Now I run the program from Mageia and OpenMandriva, both from desktop/laptops, and my "cloudophobia" is diminishing.  In fact, I have found the service very useful.

New Releases!

According to this post, the second beta of OpenMandriva Lx 3 is ready.

I am curious to see what the new release will bring.  Like I said before, I personally do not like Plasma 5, but we will see.

I did not know that K3b did not work with Plasma 5.  It is good that program is now available.


Oh, and there is a new AntiX in town, too!  Code Named Berta Cáceres, AntiX 16 is ready to be downloaded.

Windows 10 killed it; Linux saved it: A netbook that came back

I really admire people that invest their time and effort trying to help children overcome obstacles in life, like Ken Staks, who fixes computers to donate them to students.

I wish I could do that one day, but I lack the technical skills and knowledge to save hardware.  However, thanks to Linux, I discovered that machines that Windows claims are dead can be rescued.


A student of mine brought me an Acer Inspire One netbook that he really needs for his academic work.  The netbook has only 1GB RAM, so its original Windows XP OS was making it too slow.  Trusting Microsoft's words, he went ahead and tried to upgrade it to Windows 10.  Yes, that was a big mistake.

The tiny netbook, of course, was lost in what we can call the computer equivalent to a coma.  Apparently, he attempted to revert the process only to discover that the Windows 10 logo simply wanted to stay as the perpetual image on the screen.

So, I took the machine with me and ran the Mageia 5 i586 install DVD.  Apparently, Windows 10 butchered the MBR.  I had to wipe out everything.  The process was a bit slow thanks to the low specs of the netbook but, eventually, the install was complete and it was time to test the computer.

I had decided to use a LXDE DE assuming that it was going to be better.  However, the netbook would go into hibernation by itself after a minute of use.

With my own doubts, I attempted a KDE install next.  Despite it was a long process, the netbook came to life. Of course, the machine is a bit slow, but, with the exception of the webcam, everything seems to be fully operational.

My student can now use it.  Just on time, too.  The term is about to finish and there are essays to write.
 

Let's wait a bit longer

I recently learned that the guys at Openmandriva camp are working hard and are going to release a release candidate soon.

Mageia is doing the same.  That means that two of my favorite distros will have a new version to offer.

What makes me uneasy is KDE 5. I am not a big fan of this desktop environment.

Oh, and I read yesterday that PCLOS is releasing a new iso... also with KDE 5!  My reaction was that of Julius Caesar: "Et tu, PCLOS! Then, fall, Mechatotoro!"

But the PCLOS devs understand that not everyone is crazy about KDE 5, so they kindly and wisely state that "you can keep your KDE 4 if you want to because nobody is going to force you to use KDE 5."

That's good news.

There's nothing worse that being forced-fed something you do not want.  Ask Windows users about it; they have plenty of experience... :p

An experiment that became a six-year journey

Tomorrow is the sixth anniversary of this blog.

How would have thought that the bold decision that I made one day to keep Linux as the OS of the first netbook I bought was going to bring me this far?

I became a Linux user without any knowledge of this OS.  I installed it and made many mistakes, but I was determined to learn.

Six years already!

I kept this blog to record my steps along this journey.

What has changed since I started?

To begin with, I would say that Linux has become a lot easier to install. I mean, one needs less tinkering to have it ready for show-time.  For example, I installed yesterday OpenMandriva to a laptop that had an unusable Windows.  The distro picked up everything and, to my surprise, charged the battery, with Windows claimed was dead.

I hope I get enough material to post entries, hehe!

April is almost gone

This month brought several bittersweet surprises to me.

The first one was that I could see the slow death of Firefox OS on phones.  The marketplace lost two of the most significant apps: Loqui IM and OpenWapp, both which provided a way to  use Whatsapp on the platform.

The second one was the release of pre-release isos of Mageia 6 and OpenMandriva Lx 3.  I must say that both distros are doing a great job; the systems performed so well that they did not seem beta versions to me.

I did not like Plasma 5, though...  I am sure the KDE team is doing a great work, but I truly do not see what the point of this tablet-ready interface is.  After all, KDE missed the tablet train (the Vivaldi tablet never saw the light of the day) and tablets are already in decline...

Last, Yahoo's struggle seemed to have reached my mailbox with its readiness: messages urging me to connect a Hotmail account to my Yahoo account, hotmail-sent messages from my students went to the twilight zone...

Boy... some months do not come gently on us.

OpenMandriva Lx 3 is coming!

A new beta is available.

This release also includes plasma 5...

OK, I need to download the .iso to see how it behaves.

Mageia 6 is coming

After a while with no news about Mageia, it seems that Mageia 6 is on its way.

According to this article, a developer ISO has hit the mirrors. It is a 4 Gb install DVD, so I will download it tonight to give it a quick run.