Is Ubuntu a Trojan Horse?

[bob p]

Steve, I appreciate the endorsement.

I used to use Windows programs back in the day when you could buy a lifetime software license. But when the licensing paradigm changed from lifetime licenses to subscriptions & annual licenses, I got tired of having to continually shell out another $80 every year to re-purchase the same software packages over and over and over again.

For me the straw that broke the camel's back was Easy CD Creator. I was using it to burn audio CDs, and it was working fine. I used CD-Text to burn the track names onto the CD, so that CD-text compatible players could display the text as the CD was playing the music.

Then I got an upgrade notice that a new upgrade to Easy CD Creator was available for $80. Within a short time after the upgrade offer, my software mysteriously starting to malfunction -- it would mysteriously start failing to import the track titles into the music CDs I was burning. Of course, tech support said that the only way to fix the problem was to purchase the $80 version upgrade. It certainly seemed as if the software was using a time bomb to encourage users to upgrade. The second time this happened I walked away. It was at that time that I realized that the CD burning software in linux is FREE. So I started using linux just so I could burn CDs.

It seemed that every time that I turned around, I had to spend another $80 to upgrade another Windows software license. Instead of paying for a new OS every few years when I bought a new computer, I started having to pay for updated software license fees every year for most of the programs that I owned. Those $80 upgrades added up pretty fast. Eventually it got to the point where I decided that I wouldn't keep sending my money to the richest man on earth if there was another option available. So I started using Linux and I've never looked back.

I'm happy to say that the last pieces of MS software that I bought were XP and Office 97. Essentially, the only reason I even keep a Windows box around is so that I can run TurboTax. Around here, everything else gets done in linux.

[Steve Conner]

It was at that time that I realized that the CD burning software in linux is FREE. So I started using linux just so I could burn CDs.

This is a little known bonus, you can actually burn mastering grade audio CDs in Linux, with full control over gaps between tracks and so on. If you want gapless playback, you have to supply one big WAV file for the whole CD, and write the cue sheet yourself in a text editor, but it can be done.

Audio CD burning is handled by a command line program called "cdrdao" and the GUI programs are, AFAIK, just front ends to it that don't always implement all of its features. Well, that was the case last time I used it.

Easy CD Creator was the work of the devil for sure. :-(

[Steve A.]

This is a little known bonus, you can actually burn mastering grade audio CDs in Linux, with full control over gaps between tracks and so on. If you want gapless playback, you have to supply one big WAV file for the whole CD, and write the cue sheet yourself in a text editor, but it can be done.

Audio CD burning is handled by a command line program called "cdrdao" and the GUI programs are, AFAIK, just front ends to it that don't always implement all of its features. Well, that was the case last time I used it.

Easy CD Creator was the work of the devil for sure. :-(

So is that better than burning something with EAC (Exact Audio Copy) with or without a cue sheet? I think I used Easy CD Destroyer for 10 years for copying CDs before I learned about using EAC for secure rips. Anyone want a bunch of crappy disc copies?

My library is in FLAC format with proper tags so I can drag them onto the BURRRN window and have all of the names burned as CD text. I do have one section in my archives with Lame V0 MP3's I created from the FLAC files for loading my iPod or burning MP3 CD's which are really cool! Depending on the compression you use you can usually fit 9 or 10 albums on a single disc which I think is a lot easier that trying to cue up my damned iPod! I use the free edition of Express Burn to do that. I do use Nero for burning DVD and CD iso's and for creating DVD data discs. And creating compilations which can be saved (you can't do that with BURRRN or Express Burn).

I guess that Windows has native disc burning routines in its code but the natives are restless and I think I would like something a bit more sophisticated that I can trust...

Steve Ahola

[Steve Conner]

You only really notice if you have a lot of gapless CDs in your collection. DJ mix CDs, live bootlegs and so on. Most CD burning programs would struggle with copying those exactly, or creating one from scratch. There's a fundamental mismatch between computer music files, which are stored as one file per song on sector-based media, and CDs, which are one continuous spiral track like an old vinyl record, and it takes careful programming to deal with it, by a programmer who actually cares about these things.

Windows has native routines for burning data CDs and data DVDs. Well, "native" as in MS bought them from Roxio. As far as I know, they're actually descended from Easy CD Destroyer's "Drag To Disc" booby-trap, err, feature.

If you want to burn audio CDs natively in Windows, it's managed (mismanaged?!) by Windows Media Player. It likes to rip your CD, transcode it to WMA, then transcode it back when you burn a copy. (When I found out that the guy who fronted my last band was copying our demo CDs for distribution that way, I went a bit postal.)

I bought Sound Forge 9/CD Architect a while back when I was running a project studio. Then for some reason, I bought a Mac that I can't run it on.

[J M Fahey]

at the other end of the spectrum is the totally complacent DOS/Windows user who believes that Microsoft can do no wrong, and automatically trusts anyone who has anything to do with Microsoft.

Believe it or not, once upon a time there existed such an idyllical past.
We thought we were full beard Revolutionaries (á la Che Guevara) because we were beating Big Corporate Monster IBM in its own game, thanks to this cool guy Bill.
The we lost innocence.
Maybe it's starting to happen again.
Or maybe Mr Gates got bored after retirement and wants to play a little game somewhere else, just for kicks.
Just who owns Canonical stock?
I guess that's the Million Dollar Question.

[bob p]

You only really notice if you have a lot of gapless CDs in your collection.

its possible to rip an entire disc into a single FLAC file, instead of ripping it to individual tracks. i guess that's the read equivalent of disc-at-once writing.

[Steve A.]

You only really notice if you have a lot of gapless CDs in your collection.(

Between EAC and BURRRN for rips and burning, gaps are not a problem whether the source is albums or live shows. EAC lets you set the read and write offset, has test and copy functions to let you know if there were any errors, supports AccurateRip to check your rip with ones in their database- all of the bells and whistles that allow you to make accurate and secure rips. (dBpowerAmp has most of those features but does not generate cue sheets.)

But I know what you mean- back in the days when I only knew of Sleazy CD Creator and Nero it was a real hassle setting the gaps on my demos- and making copies identical to the original. For the ultimate control over the burn I would use EAC rather than BURRRN.

its possible to rip an entire disc into a single FLAC file, instead of ripping it to individual tracks. i guess that's the read equivalent of disc-at-once writing.

That is cool for burning but not that handy for just listening to on your computer. As I recall you do need to edit the CUE file changing references of WAV to FLAC (since the CUE file does not reflect external compression options). Still the idea of having one single FLAC for your archived library is pretty darn cool- you don't have to worry about individual songs getting misplaced or trashed. But then again if the one single FLAC file gets trashed you better have backups!

Steve Ahola

[Steve Conner]

EAC lets you set the read and write offset, has test and copy functions to let you know if there were any errors, supports AccurateRip to check your rip with ones in their database

... That is cool for burning but not that handy for just listening to on your computer.

All of those offsets and tests are just band-aids for the underlying problem. To be fair they are effective, and if you rip with EAC and use a MP3 player program that supports gapless playback, you hardly notice any more.

And like you pointed out, if you rip the whole disc to a single file, it solves the gap issue, but then the problem pops up somewhere else: you can't skip tracks any more, because there aren't any tracks.

Just who owns Canonical stock?

An interesting question... According to the Ubuntu forums:

Canonical is privately held and has no plans to go public. A quick web search will reveal multiple interviews where Mark Shuttleworth explains why.

The way I see it, there is no such thing as free software unless you wrote it yourself. (Or stole it.) If you don't pay for it up front, you can bet the makers have some sort of plan to extract money from you through the back door, if you pardon the expression.

[bob p]

An interesting question... According to the Ubuntu forums:


The way I see it, there is no such thing as free software unless you wrote it yourself. (Or stole it.) If you don't pay for it up front, you can bet the makers have some sort of plan to extract money from you through the back door, if you pardon the expression.

Steve, with that pun you are driving home my point.

[Steve A.]

All of those offsets and tests are just band-aids for the underlying problem. To be fair they are effective, and if you rip with EAC and use a MP3 player program that supports gapless playback, you hardly notice any more.

And like you pointed out, if you rip the whole disc to a single file, it solves the gap issue, but then the problem pops up somewhere else: you can't skip tracks any more, because there aren't any tracks.

So what is the underlying problem? If there is a problem I believe it is with the format of the audio CD which leaves much to be desired. When they created the standard I believe that they expected any errors to be smoothed over in playback.

And I still don't understand this gap issue you keep bringing up. EAC offers several choices on how to handle gaps; the defacto standard for audio pirates is tacking the gaps on the end of the previous track. If you want an exact copy of the original disc you can burn it with EAC using the CUE file, which will create the indices that other programs usually miss.

BTW if we are talking about quality audio I really don't see where MP3's would fit in at all. Except for the fact that when you save them a 2 second gap is automatically added to them. I know because I tried editing them out but they kept coming back.

The way I see it, there is no such thing as free software unless you wrote it yourself. (Or stole it.) If you don't pay for it up front, you can bet the makers have some sort of plan to extract money from you through the back door, if you pardon the expression.

You might want to check the user reviews on free anti-virus programs like AVAST. This program has disinfected and protected untold numbers of computers and for what it does, it does it very effectively, with a much smaller footprint than Norton and the other AV suites.

So what is the catch- how does AVAST make money off this? The free version is specifically for private non-commercial use. It is indeed a free sample which they hope will persuade users to upgrade to the premium version- but without nagging. You might click on a menu option and get a message that the feature is only available with the premium edition but that is about it.

One big advantage over Norton: you can actually turn it off when required to install particular programs (like Windows Service Packs). You can turn off some of Norton's features and get a big X across the icon in the notification area, but the kernel is still there. I found that you have to go into the Services menu and switch it off there- but guess what? It did not allow me to turn it off. I would click on "disabled" but every time I looked I found that it had already been "started". I ended up uninstalling Norton just so I could run the XP SP3 service pack! This is something I had been trying to do for over a year. When the service pack finally completed successfully I did not reinstall Norton but went with AVAST! instead.

There are other free AV programs that are pretty good. I never really cared much for AVG because it is always rubbing your nose in the fact that you are not a paid premium user. Kaspersky has gotten great reviews and like AVAST! it is a fully operational version with the hope that you will buy the premium version for your home or office.

These programs represent a new paradigm. Instead of offering a crippled version for free, or a limited time trial of the full version, these companies provide a fully functional program, but without all of the bells and whistles. They hope that you are so impressed with their product that you want to upgrade to the premium version.

There is so much crap out there from unscrupulous companies. Try googling for free file recovery or free virus scan. They will promise you the moon but when it finds the file you are looking for- or finds your computer infested with all sorts of malware- they are no longer your friendly buddy but a wheeling and dealing shark.

But I digest...

Steve Ahola