Recent blog entries for inri

nymia: Re: GNU/Linux; I simply call the OS I'm running GNU. I don't find it more necessary to point out the kernel than to point out the web browsers (lynx, moz). GNU is a project to build a free OS, as are the BSDs; RMS probably doesn't recommend calling it GNU b/c people would give him shit about not crediting Linux. GNU/Linux and GNU/Hurd is basically a compromise between the ``correct'' name of GNU and the ``common'' name of Linux.

An alternative would be to just call it RedHat 6.1 (not RedHat LINUX 6.1), since the distros gather all the components and present the product, which is rather similar to how car makers work (the vast bulk of cars are simply assembled components).

• GTK+: Got a patch accepted/applied that improves submenu navigation (i.e., makes it Mac-like). This was (really) exciting in that: it was the first substantive patch that I've made to GTK, and it was looked over and worked on/improved by others; and it'll actually help lots of GTK/GNOME users in a minor way. It kinda came alive... Also, a previous GTK patch (converting int to boolean in many places, for language binders) was incomplete, as pointed out to me by someone writing Java bindings (though I suppose the rest of the patch was useful, so they only had a few bugs to point out). New patch to plug the holes easily done.
• Advogato: Wow! Some people have certified me as apprentice (which is exactly what I am, and will probably stay for a long while, seeing as hacking isn't my vocation). Also, added myself to GTK and Dr Genius projects. Advogato needs a <proj> tag.
• Life: Still in MI. 11 days (max) to go. Mom and brother didn't figure out I was away for a week. Just went to Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival. Jazz bagpipes and conchshell (among other instruments). Mmmm... Also, saw an exhibit on Ottoman art, mostly for the calligraphy (okay, I'm into Turkey lately ;-), and met the translator of Letters In Gold, the catalog of a gorgeous exhibit on calligraphy that I saw at Harvard's Sackler Museum. Calligraphy is an art that gets much more respect in the Islamic world and CJK than in Europe/America; more's the pity, as it can be very beautiful. Also, Spike and Mike's Classic Festival of Animation 2000. Funny, as usual. Lots of young (20s) viewers. With higher bandwidth and micropayments (say, 10-25 cents for a short), short animation could be quite commercially viable in 3-5 years or so.
• Mom: Currently dating a pastor (who apparently didn't read the ten commandments, seeing as he's married and all). In fact, the same pastor who buried my dad (well, presided over the viewing of the corpse in that peculiarly american tradition (wonder if my mom read The American Way of Death, (expose on the US death, er, funeral industry) which I gave her while dad was dying to help her plan a funeral/alternatives) (probably not)). Though she hasn't told me. Came home day before yesterday and his car was in the driveway. Came in, started watching a movie (to give him time to escape, as I don't want a confrontation with mom). Mom comes down and starts watching it with me (Chinatown -- pretty good Hollywood updated noir), not explaining which visitor she saw fit to entertain in her bedroom.
• Previous item: I kinda wonder how suitable person material is on advogato, though I suppose these are diary entries.
• Mozilla: M17 started crashing on me, so I'm back to nightly builds.

Okay, just got back to MI (where I was born/raised) from visiting friend in NYC for a week, a trip which followed closely on the return from 6 weeks in europe/mideast: 2.5 weeks in europe burying my dad (er, his ashes) (in Norway, where he was born 76 years ago) (in his father's grave, by an old wooden church in Mosjoen) and hanging out with mom and sven (my younger brother (20 v. 22 for me), only sibling, and constant reference when I wish to specify a ``typical american boy'' (or pretender to that title)), preceded by 3.5 weeks in yistrael and tu"rkiye. Tip: the mideast is not a good place to spend your summer. In fact, switzerland was full of rich arabs (mostly saudis) escaping the heat. I also developed a new appreciation for the miracle of air-conditioning.

So vacation was hot, hot, kinda dull (old rocks don't do it for me anymore -- petra and kapadokya were okay, but not as spectacular as one might hope) (though nature was pretty at kapadokya and in wadi rum), and really lonely. Which was followed by: squirm under mom's thumb, be kept up at night by sven watching bad movies on tv (what he gets out of his fourth viewing of The Substitute that he didn't get from the second is beyond me), desperately looking for real food and internet access (the former consisting of vietnamese in Oslo and south asian in London, the former mostly for email and jabber to communicate with eunice (the person whom I was to visit in NYC, and who is deaf, so e-communicating is a must (and cheaper than international phone rates anyways)), and reading The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James) in the British countryside (i.e., sticks).

Mozilla M17 is really nice, and I'm using it now. If you haven't used it in a few months, give it another look.

Now to get back to work on improving GTK's menus (menu navigation, then overlong menus/menu scrolling).