I don't use FTP anymore to transfer files.. However today I *had* to. This is the day I realise that I still haven't found the perfect FTP client.

The LFTP problem:

Don't get me wrong, I like this program, however it's when I need to "get" recursively that I start to have to think.. is it "mirror" or "mirror -R" ? .. knowing that one of the options will delete stuff remotely I have taken the habit of simply not using this tool. It does seem completely stupid to have such an option when most people are used to the "-r" switch.. . why would "get file" become "get mirror directory/" ? So close yet, no. (And yes, I know, I can be that way : ] ).

The NCFTP issue:

hmm, well, it's actually the program I've used the most, it has bookmarks and stuff, uses the normal "-R" syntax, it also has some neat features useful when scripting. However it does not support any form of encryption, so it can only be considered private if used in 1855. Another issue I encountered today, is when I finally was going to recursively get a directory I got this new and neat error: tar: This does not look like a tar archive Yes, directories are not tar archives, thanks for the heads up.

Yet another FTP client, YAFC:

This one seems cool, I'm sure it's the best one for me EXCEPT (of course) that whoever develops this program does not seem to care about the users enough to leave a help file or something. There is a manual, but say you copy a file that already exists, you get a nice prompt: Overwrite? [yncauR, ? for help] And yes, the "?" has no effect (in my case at least). Even the "help" command does not work. So this could be the one, but I might never know. To be fair, I met this program only recently so maybe when we get to know each other better things will work out... .

The solution:

I think that the 3 developers need to get into some threesome and bring to this earth a decent, simple, functional command line GNU FTP client that works..

Microsoft has purchased Skype. Now I'm wondering what is going to happen to this software. I know its never been Free Software, however in it's early days it was directly available for GNU/Linux at a time where most other software vendors would not consider platforms other than windows and macos. Another thing is that I have to admit that it does work and it works well.

So what will happen next ? I predict they will first drop the GNU/Linux version. Then they will of course drop the p2p system and prefer a centralised method that will make it less efficient... Good side is that maybe more work, technical and promotional, might go into XMPP + Jingle (Jabber) and that would be cool. In the meantime, brb need to delete an account.

Humble Bundle is back and it's cooler than ever (because it's frozen). The idea is:

• Pay what you want
• Support charity
• DRM free

The really cool part is that it will run on the operating system that reasonable people prefer, GNU/Linux. The games will also run on the gaming OS, Windows and the show off OS, MacOS.

Go get your copies at Humblebundle.com. Also note, just like last time, it seems that GNU/Linux users are far more generous than the users of other operating systems... .. .

The other evening I attended a conference by RMS on Free Software and digital exclusion. The talk was interesting and motivating as usual, even though I already agree with 99.99% of what he had to say. There was one point however where in response to a question he said:

I could not help myself from noticing that even at a Free Software conference by RMS himself so many people were armed with computer-phones running one of the most (if not the most) restrictive operating systems known to human kind. And many of these people seemed to be big fans of Richard Stallman.

Today while writing this up I found an audio recording of the talk in mp3 format as well as a video... . in Flash format on Indymedia !! Really ? Yes really. The same on another site, although there is a an "alternative" OGV format.. Shouldn't it at least be the other way around ?

So tell me, how can I not be defeatist ? And what do RMS fans think when they take a picture of themselves with RMS using their Iphone ? Are they totally missing the point ? Which brings me to my first question.

The strongest point (most probably went unnoticed) in my humble IMHO was: If we encourage people to use Free Software by pointing at some kind of practical advantage and not talking about it as justice versus injustice we wont teach people to keep their Freedom. This is precisely the root of the Freedom issue, digital or analog.

• Richard Stallman's personal home page
• Free Software Foundation
• The GNU Project

And not just that, it's also won the "Outstanding Contribution to Open Source/ Linux/Free Software" award at this years Linux New Media Awards. We are all happy to finally have a Free Debian distribution, remember, if the hardware doesn't work with the Free kernel then you should change the hardware. : ]

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One more thing, I'd add the word "Ever" to the title, but I don't get to decide that sort of thing...

I have noticed lately in a few bug reports that oldstable, Lenny, seems to have fewer security issues than the new stable, Squeeze. The most common phrase in the latest security updates is:

In 2 days the new Debian Squeeze will become "stable". Yes, new stable. Wow right ?

Countdown PNG

There is something called the The Humble Indie Bundle #2 where you can buy a few video games for whatever price you want. These games work on MacOS, GNU/Linux and Windows, and do not have DRM though they are not Free.

Interestingly the sales statistics show that on average the GNU/Linux user will offer over two times as much of their money for the bundle.

Screenshot taken today, prices may vary with time as there are 4 more days to go.

Something is very wrong on the Internet, very. When people work on a server many tend to use a workstation, open a terminal and connect to the server and then open a browser to look for various information and eventually a file/package to download. What we would normally should do is find the link to the file we need, then go to the terminal where we are connected to our server and use something like wget to get the file downloaded where we actually need it to be... .. Well my friend, little by little those links are disappearing, you now need to have JavaScript activated to download source code from some of the biggest "open source code sharing lol" sites..

What can we do ? Create a mirror site whose sole purpose would be to contain wgettable links ? Or petition until they put normal transferable download URLs so we can get some work done and not have to transfer files one time to many. And yes, it is not even eco friendly as these bits of code need to be transferred at least twice before getting where they need to be.

What do you think ?

My obsession for finding a way to be social (yeah I know, "me, social ? WTF") and not to go too far against my principals. Anyway, you may have heard of some projects lately, some don't work, some somewhat work IF you can spare a complete server and have the latest browser on the market.. Well since about a week I have been trying out a project that I have started to grow fond of, Mistpark. It works with Php/MySQL and can hence be installed anywhere.

This uses the DFRN - Distributed Friends and Relations Network protocol, and one thing I really like is the distinction/separation between the protocol and the actual server/client software.. and it works..

So go install your node, play with it, report bugs, hack it, host nodes for your friends who do not have time/knowledge to do this on their own. Take the Internet back, piece by piece.

Now you can now subscribe to Mistpark users from GNU Social, StatusNet and Diaspora..

Finally Diaspora is ready, after 3 months and 200 000 dollars it is finally ready for pre pre alpha beta alpha testing. It seems they have kept it to the strict minimum, I mean no extra features, plugins or add-ons or fancy poking beer racing card games, I like that. So after installing about millions of software and then starting the server I logged in and found that basically nothing works, then some things did work, and then uploading photos did not and then with some browsers weird things happen. I think there has been alot of work on the interface.. . maybe that could be a problem.

This still led me to wonder what else has been going on, and after stumbling on jappix and appleseed I found the truth, of course, that is where my search should have started: GNU-Social. I am going to say that I did not see the benefit of projects like StatusNet until now. They have developed ways to connect nodes. Without having to open extra ports and install half of the internet and steal CPU.. This is like Diaspora but in Php/Mysql ! You can sign up, upload photos and connect with other instances of GNU-Social. So you don't have to build a dedicated (v)server just for this to reserve certain ports and block others etc (and keep your other systems clean), all you need is a basic LAMP setup.. . I like. (it's still in beta but it works.)

With all these open/free projects, some even a bit old, I do still think we can has cheeseburger one of these days.

/addon:
I just realised today why I was not getting anything from the mailing list I signed up to. Because the real mailing list is somewhere else, it's on.. google mailing lists !