Holiday Projects

So on this long weekend in the US, I have a few technology projects I hope to work on:

Fix Girls' Computer

Their computer finally gave up the ghost a few weeks ago and they've been using one of my work computers while I figured out what to do. I picked up an AMD motherboard for cheap (US$120) from AscendTech.us, that included an AMD 6000+ cpu and 1gb of RAM. What it did not include was any kind of manual, which kind of upset me. I think it is an ECS MCP61SM-AM motherboard, which isn't even listed on the ECS web site. But I did figure it out enough to get it put into the case, only to find out the power supply only has a 20 pin plug, and the new ones require a 24 pin plug. So I ordered a new power supply and now it awaits final assembly. Not sure what OS I'l put on it. Maybe I'll go back to Qimo For Kids again.

Install New Linux

My current openSUSE installation is pretty old at this point. I did upgrade from 10.3 to 11.0 about a year ago, but since then I've managed to break it. An update was going too slow and eventually had to be abandoned, leaving it in a state where even the updater won't run. But it was time to start fresh anyway. Good timing, as Linux Format #126 reviewed the "best" KDE4 distros. Not surprisingly to me, their #1 pick was OpenSUSE 11.2. But I also thought the Sidux and Sabayon distros sounded interesting, so I wanted to spend some time with those before picking one.

Continue Linux From Scratch

I also need to get back on the Linux From Scratch project. I have the toolchain all built and backed up, and am ready to begin Chapter Six and actually build the real copy. I have gotten a little sidetracked in the whole package manager discussion, but I think I'll just ignore it for now and try an install. If I want to go further, then I'll think more on a package manager. But I have really been enjoying the heck out of getting into the real guts of a Linux install.

Work On Android

One new toy I haven't talked about is my G1 (Google) phone from T-Mobile. I have actually had it about 8 months now. I really like it and one reason I bought it was for its open source development model. I have a couple of interesting little projects for it ready to go, but just haven't found the time to pursue. I'm not a huge fan of Java programming, but I think I know enough to get something running.

So who knows how many, if any of the above projects I'll get to. Well, I have to do the first one so I can get my test computer back, and it promises to be a cold rainy day here in the US Northeast, so I think I can definitely get that done. As for the rest....?