1. Download the fixed meanwhile library (64 bit only) from here.
2. Install it using pacman:

pacman -U meanwhile-1.0.2-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz

3. Install the Arch Build System:

pacman -S abs

4. Run abs so that it can build a repository tree (kinda like portage in Gentoo):

sudo abs

5. Copy the pidgin directory of abs to /tmp:

cp -r /var/abs/extra/pidgin /tmp

6. Go to /tmp and open the pidgin PKGBUILD in nano:

cd /tmp/pidgin
nano PKGBUILD

7. Go to the “build()” section and make sure you remove “–disable-meanwhile” from the configure options. The line should look like this:

./configure –prefix=/usr –sysconfdir=/etc –disable-schemas-install \

8. Make the package:

makepkg

9. Install it:

pacman -U pidgin-2.5.3-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz

That’s it! Now you should have sametime support in Pidgin Remember though, you will always have to compile pidgin yourself whenever a newer pidgin version hits the Arch repos.

P.S. For those of you who want to compile a fixed meanwhile on i686 (32 bit) system, follow the instructions here.

Archlinux just released Kernel 2.6.28 into it’s [core] repo a few days back, and since then im in a dillema whether i should switch to EXT4, or be content with my current filesystem, JFS. Switching to EXT4 means that I will have to re-install Arch, once the new installer CD with EXT4 support comes in (which should be soon). And configuring Arch _exactly_ the same way as it is right now will be almost impossible! I mean with all the small tweaks and configuration changes i’ve done over one year now! Will be a HUGE task! And nowdays, i really dont have time to mess with something that’s working absolutely the way i want it to work.

Oh and yeah, while roaming around in Arch forums, i found this. It certainly does not give me a good feeling about EXT4! Therefore, im thinking ill wait for a while before jumping on the EXT4 bandwagon. But that leaves me with one thing less to mess around with But then again, i guess its OK, since KDE 4.2 is just around the corner and im hearing lots of good things about it! THAT can be my next test subject

I tried out the Alpha on Archlinux. It was working great with much more stability and lesser CPU usage, but unfortunately, it crashes Firefox for me, when i open Gmail. So, i have gone back to Flash 10 x86 + Nspluginwrapper for now. Will keep trying it as and when they release newer versions.

Download Flash 10 x64 Alpha.

Edit: The plugin works perfectly for me now! Not crashing the browser anymore

So lets see.. What all is new.. On the linux front, i’ve migrated from Ubuntu to Arch Linux, which according to me, is the BEST distro out there! I love the fact how everything “just works” and how i have the latest software all the time. The best part is that its a rolling release, meaning no more waiting for updates or adding third party repos for new stuff. I evaluated Debian and Gentoo, before moving to Arch. Debian always had some or the other problem. It wasnt just stable enough for me. And Gentoo on the other hand was too time consuming and crude. Arch is gonna stay on my PC for a long, long time!

Also, i got a new phone. The Nokia N82, which again, is an awesome phone, but since im sure you might have heard a lot about it already, ill not talk about it here

Other than that, my life’s been pretty much the same.. (Yeah, i know im boring )

On the work front, im getting to work on some awesome stuff, so am pretty much satisfied there.

So that’s pretty much it! Ill try to be regular here, and post any interesting stuff that i come across

/bin      /system/executables

/boot     /system/boot

/dev      /system/devices

/etc      /system/config

/lib      /system/libraries

/home     /users

/media    /storage

/mnt      /storage

/proc     /system/processes

/root     /users/Administrator

/sbin     /system/executables/admin

/tmp      /system/temporary

/usr      /system/applications

Well, that’s just plain stupid if you ask me.. It will create unnecessary confusion and difference between various linux distributions! I think Ubuntu should strive to be “User Friendly” not “Idiot Friendly”. We dont want another case of the Windows do we?

What do you guys think?

 If you’re a Linux enthusiast like me, you’ve probably tried to convert a few people over to Linux from another operating system. Even though you succeed many times, there are always a few ‘geniuses’ out there who need some real persuading to switch over to Linux.

So here are some quick and simple things about Linux you can point out to your potential convert.

1. Linux helps you get rid of viruses, worms, and other computer infections.

Although it is possible to get infected even with Linux (malware is mainly written for Windows), its system architecture, based on a server-client relationship makes it difficult for a virus to do any damage. See this post.

2. Linux is fast and will stay fast

Vista is a huge resource hog. XP isn’t too humble either. If you use Windows for a longer time and install lots of different programs, your computer becomes bloated with trash data, consequently becoming slower. With Linux, even a major distro won’t demand more than 256 RAM to run passably with all the bling and a maximum of 2 GB of space. And it won’t get slower.

3. Linux is easier to use than Windows. Using the Terminal is not necessary in most cases.

What could be easier than opening a package manager, selecting the software you want, and letting Linux download it for you? I hate it when people complain about how Linux’ hardware support bites. They probably aren’t aware of the fact that Linux supports more devices than Vista. I should know, I had my share of problems with three different versions of Windows with lots of pieces of hardware. Ndiswrapper-gui is fool-proof and you know it! You can’t expect a new user will know how to solve every issue.

4. Linux is free as in free beer AND as in free speech. Cost does NOT define the value of Free Software!

All of the major Linux distributions are free of cost. Yes, that’s zero dollars. Ain’t it great to have a whole operating system and not be afraid you’ll get fined? You can choose from a multitude of great open source apps which come under the GPL license, too. No need to worry about the

5. Your porn collection is safe with Linux

Don’t laugh. I’m not a big fan of porn, but it has a big market share on the Internet. On Linux, (which is trojan, virus etc. free), every user gets a password, and you can see the source code so you know that FBI isn’t checking you out, like on Windows.

6. Thousands of Windows-only applications (even Photoshop CS3) and games work with Linux through WINE just as fast. You can also find good alternative open source software.

The Linux experience may be a bit different for a user who needs some Windows-only software, because there is no good equivalent for it on Linux. There’s always WINE though. It’s a compatibility layer which can install Windows programs on your Linux Box, even games like Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament, Half-Life 2…

Search open source alternatives

Search the Wine application DB

7. Linux looks better than Windows Vista or Mac OS X

It’s a simple as this: Linux has got Compiz Fusion and a very nice default theme, normally. You can imitate ANY effect other operating system boast with. If a Mac user still thinks his Mac OS X or Vista look better, don’t worry. You can make Linux look exactly like it in under 15 minutes.

8. Linux is fun

People always tell me this. And why? Linux users have the power to expand their system for free, they are free to modify the system exactly to their needs. You learn something new this way every day with Linux and if you do things right it can reward you with the desired results.

9. You can help improve Linux

There are lots of jokes made about ‘teh 1337 powerz of communityz’!!! Sadly, they exist mostly because they don’t know any good arguments against community. In open source, you can actually speak to the actual developers, help translate, develop and improve the software you are using right now while not helping others make wads of cash.

10. Linux makes you give your computer a name

It’s possible on every OS, basically, but Linux demands you do it! Sheer coolness.

Taken from here.

Steps to add the repository:

1. Open Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal)

2. Type “gksu  gedit /etc/apt/sources.list”

3. Go to the end of the file and add the following onto a new line:

## Latest Pidgin/Rhythmbox
deb http://www.telemail.fi/mlind/ubuntu gutsy main

4. Save the file and close Gedit.

5. Add the public key so that apt does not complain about any authentication errors (type into terminal):

wget http://www.telemail.fi/mlind/ubuntu/937215FF.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

6. Update your system (type in terminal)

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

7. Voila! You should now have the latest Pidgin and Rhythmbox!

Changelog:

New audio/video options

• H.264/HE-AAC codec support
  Flash Player 9 Update 3 includes H.264 video and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio codec support that opens up a broad ecosystem and selection of standards-based video — up to HD quality — that developers can leverage in their applications. Supporting a subset of MPEG-4 Part 12 (container) and Part 10 (H.264), including baseline, main and high profiles, Flash Player can play back existing MP4, M4A, MOV, MP4V, 3GP and 3G2 content.

Improved Performance

• Multi-core support
  Speed the rendering of vectors, bitmaps, filters and video, including true 1080p video, with new multi-core support that takes advantage of up to 4 CPUs.
• Hardware scaling
  Improve the performance and quality of full-screen video through the use of hardware scaling.
• Multi-threaded video decoding
  The VP6 video codec now runs in a separate thread on multi-core systems, enabling true 1080p video. In addition, the responsiveness and decode blockiness of the VP6 codec is improved with this change.
• Image scaling
  A new algorithm for scaling bitmap images enhances the quality and rendering performance of downscaled images.
• Flash Player cache
  The Flash Player cache enables common components, such as the Flex Framework, to be cached locally and then used by any SWF from any domain. Use of the Flash Player cache can significantly reduce SWF file sizes and speed application download times.
• Flash Media Server buffering
  The stream buffer is maintained while a stream is paused.

Universal Reach

• Full screen mode for Linux
  Full screen mode with hardware scaling is now supported in Linux.
• Accessibility support for the plugin
  Flash Player 9 update 3 adds support for Microsoft’s Active Accessibility (MSAA) API to the plugin, enabling consistent support across plugin-based and Internet Explorer browsers.
• Mac Os X Leopard support
  Flash Player 9 update 3 now supports the Mac OS X Leopard operating system.

Fixed in this version:

• On Linux, modal dialogs displayed by Flash Player stay in front of browser windows but do not prevent interaction with the browser as they should. (191331)
• On Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7 Protected Mode may prompt users with security warnings when attempting to view Flash content after installing the Flash Player 9 (9.0.45.0) ActiveX control. Security warnings may also appear for users who choose to install the Google Toolbar from the Flash Player Download Center on adobe.com as part of the player installation process. This was fixed in an Internet Explorer update in June 2007.
• On certain SUSE 9.2 installations using the standalone player only, trying to Open a browser from the standalone player with SeaMonkey open will cause the player to hang. (193383)
• On Linux, networking operations in the standalone player are currently slow. (193158)
• On Linux, when the mouse is hovering over Flash content, keyboard input is not sent to the browser. (194265)
• Full-screen mode is not supported in the Opera Browser on Macintosh systems. (189140)
• Full-screen mode is now supported on Linux.
• Invoking document.write(..) method of JavaScript using ExternalInterface or FSCommand hangs Safari on next page load. This issue has been reported to Apple. (167996)
• The Mozilla Plugin Finder Service will not install Flash Player 9.0.20.0 on Intel-based Macs using double-byte language modes. Users may either install from the Adobe Player Download Center or use the Plugin Finder Service in non-double-byte language modes. (180719)
• The plugin version of Flash Player does not fire flash.events.Event.RENDER when wmode is set as transparent. (198515)
• Full-screen can be used when wmode is set (202290)
• Passing large amounts of XML through External Interface is significantly faster (206828)
• ExternalInterface now works with HTML objects that contain dots within the object name (199614)

Here is the list of security updates.

• Gnome 2.19.90
• Graphical Configuration tool for X Server
• A new plugin manager for Firefox, which allows to choose readily used plugins such as flash, adblock, beagle plugin etc
• A new printing system, with a default PDF printer being installed by default

I once tried Gutsy when it was tribe 2. Lots of things didn’t work, or were buggy at that time, so i went back to feisty then. But now i’ve been using Gutsy since tribe 4 and its been as stable as feisty! So all those people who like to stay on the edge, do try it out, as its completely usable!

Download mirrors:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Ubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Xubuntu)

Get it here.