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Surprise: This is not a blog item on Bodhi Linux, though a test drive of Bodhi will come soon. After thinking about the lack of Slackware-based distros he has used (and after finding the Wolvix sadly is no more), Larry the Free Software Guy is pleasantly surprised when he puts Salix through its paces.

"Hue and cry" is one thing at which the Linux and FOSS communities seem to excel. But while wailing and gnashing of teeth might be one of our hallmarks, so is our ability to overcome these missteps and make improvements on existing programs or fork them into new ones. With this in mind, Larry the Free Software Guy looks at the continuing repeated complaints about GNOME 3 -- as well as the seemingly endless "it ain't KDE 3.5" criticism aimed at KDE 4.x -- and finds that neither of these dead horses need to be beaten any longer.

There's been a lot of dying technology predicted lately. The death of the desktop. The death of the PC. The death of Windows. The death of the mouse... you name it, if it's desktop-connected, its demise been predicted in the last couple of months. While pundits have been firing off obituaries for desktop computers, we all need to be a little more careful with our language as the desktop won't fade into history.

On one hand, Jim Zemlin of the Linux Foundation is right in describing those who don't contribute back to Linux and FOSS as "idiots." On the other hand, how can Zemlin say that and then say that contributing back "doesn't matter?" Larry the Free Software Guy uses this dichotomy as a rallying point for a gut check: What are you doing for Linux and FOSS, and why (or why not)?

There's an 800-pound gorilla -- not Steve Ballmer, the other one -- sitting in the middle of Microsoft's living room. With their most recent SEC 10-K filing in which they write off Linux as a threat with the stroke of a pen, Microsoft has done the regulatory and marketplace equivalent of sticking their fingers in their ears, closing their eyes and shouting, “La, la, la — I can’t hear you.” While Microsoft tells federal regulators Linux is no longer a threat -- echoed by fanboys and fangirls everywhere -- back on the planet Earth, the reality is much different.

Dreamfish Community Tech, a digital cooperative in Nairobi, Kenya, gets a "Grant" -- Grant Bowman, that is -- as the Technologist in Residence this fall. A tireless FOSS advocate and a board member for Partimus in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bowman will be getting things rolling in Kenya for the next three months, and Larry the Free Software Guy makes him promise to put his return ticket in a safe place.

On a typical lazy Saturday, Larry the Free Software Guy spent the day putting Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot Alpha 3 through its paces. While expecting a typical alpha experience, he found that it behaved and performed far beyond how a normal alpha would at its stage of development. While there's still a lot wrong with Unity, Oneiric stands to be a release for the ages when it's done if this alpha is any indication, and perhaps its crowning accomplishment is that Larry the Free Software Guy gets a chance to say something nice about Ubuntu.

Amid the brouhaha around Linus Torvalds' unhappiness with GNOME 3, as well as the speculation that he may or may not be using Linux Mint, there's a glaring omission from the discussion. Specifically, Linus is one of us. Sure, he's the reason we're all here, but at the end of the day he's just another Linux user. After all, which of us hasn't changed distros or desktops, or posted our praise or displeasure on mailing lists or forums? Larry the Free Software Guy says we should afford Linus the same luxury of change which most of us seemingly take for granted.

How can you be stylish and support a great project that gets Linux-based computer labs in low-income schools? Larry the Free Software Guy says, "Stick it in your ear," and check out these Ubuntu earrings.

Lists: We all make ‘em and, judging by what appears on LXer.com, we all read ‘em. Not only this, a great majority of them are worthwhile and informative. Larry the Free Software Guy takes 10 of the best from the last few months and makes his own list.

SCALE 9X Call for Papers extended until Friday. Due to a large number of talks submitted in the final days of the submittal period, Southern California Linux Expo SCALE 9X organizers have decided to extend the deadline for the Call for Proposals until Friday, Dec. 17.

Larry the Free Software Guy knows that you slept through Latin class. So did he. But with the passing of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, LtFSG is reminded of the IBM "Prodigy" ad Wooden appeared in back in 2003, and takes a closer look to find FOSS's messages planted in the ad. Oh, and it translates roughly to "What's in the public domain should not be dominated," or something like that.

San Jose Mercury News business columnist Mike Cassidy thinks that maybe the answer for local schools facing daunting technology challenges lies with the penguins. You know, penguins — those who advocate free and open-source software, including Linux and the operating system's mascot, a penguin named Tux.

Larry the Free Software Guy suits up in Nomex and other fireproof clothing and, as a six-month-a-year KDE user, road-tests KDE-native programs against their non-KDE counterparts.

Larry the Free Software Guy would never let 2010 pass without a several timely forecasts. While this year lacks last year's inspiration, it would never stop him from making predictions like "2010 will absolutely, positively, without a doubt be the year of the Linux deskt . . . oh, never mind," and nine more.

Discussing in good faith the likeness and differences between distros, between desktop environments, and between FOSS programs is a vital part of uplifting the entire FOSS process. So why do some inisist on being rigid dogmatards whose only purpose is to argue meaningless points? Larry the Free Software Guy has one word for those who are so inclined: Stop.

2009 is the year of Linux. So is 2010 and 2011 and by 2012, the last pair of eyes will finally glaze over at the prospect. Zenwalk becomes Zenrun. Lindependence comes to Redmond. This and other predictions may or may not happen next year.

After Barack Obama's speech last night following his victory, CNN analyst Alex Castellanos -- a Republican pundit -- made a reference to "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" and implied that the new administration may bring an "open source" mentality to American government.

Recently, a Blog of Helios item made waves in places outside the Linux spectrum, bringing floods of support and comments from those outside our community. Over and over, the same question was asked: "What can we do to help?" Sitting in for Helios, Tom King has written a small guide that suggests answers to that question.

Why pay $650 for Adobe Photoshop when you can have 97 percent of the functionality of Photoshop for free? That's a question software developers and distributors plan on addressing at "Lindependence 2008," a free event in Felton starting July 13, which promoting the Linux operating system and other Free/Open Source Software.