zRaven in Linux review

Dear all
I've been contacted by the Zoundry, developers of Zoundry Writer and got notified that they've got zRaven into beta, so I might try it and run in Linux. Here's the quote:

Please note that Zoundry Blog Writer has finally be deprecated and replaced with a new version called Raven.

We're really striving to make it the best product we can, so we'd love it if anyone interested could give it a try and give us some feedback. Raven just went into public Beta testing this week.

We haven't tried getting Raven to work under Linux, so obviously your mileage may vary. However, I do think we have done a much better job with the UI this time around. :) Let us know what you think.

This is very cool to be contacted by them, so here we go. I've decided to play around with a new release. But I have to give the following notion: I've tryed zRaven before. When I performed a research about different blog editors for Linux, I've even tested some of them in Windows first, using VMWare image. And if I liked the program I would test it on Linux later. And that's how I got to run and test Zoundry Writer. And Raven was also one of them - I liked its interface and apparent simplicity.

So, first to my testing results: Raven runs and works in Linux under Wine. But there are some serious caveats, which I will go over now. To install Raven, you will need a pretty recent Wine installation. I did this in both 0.9.46 and 0.9.54 versions, but your mileage may vary. I think that it should work in most versions. The install is pretty straightforward: define your WINEPREFIX variable and run the installer.

The installer will run and Raven will be installed. But before you could run the program, some manual handling is required:

1. Install MSVCP71.dll. You can download it freely from the web. Just google it, unzip and copy to your SYSTEM and SYSTEM32 Wine folders.
   
2. Do the same with gdiplus.dll and shlwapi.dll files.
   
3. Now there's a need to hack around a little: run winecfg with the WINEPREFIX set to your WINE system folders. Go to a Libraries tab, and remove gdiplus and shlwapi from that list. This action is required to make Wine to use native Windows libraries, because its own do not implement all the necessary functions for GUI manipulations.
   

Now you should be able to run Raven. Just use "wine <path to Raven.exe>" command. Here are some shots for the proof that it works (here are the shots from Gentoo Linux, I've installed it also in Fedora but haven't tested yet):


So what does work? Mostly everything. Posting to multiple blogs, good editor, tags, offline editing, posting as drafts...

What doesn't work? At this moment, and I haven't resolved it yet - the right mouse click causes an exception and error. The program doesn't crash, I just can't use right click on the mouse and some toolbar buttons with multiple functions (like 'back' button in browsers). Which leads me to inability to use certain features (which at the moment I'm not even aware of).

Now, my impressions from using the program:
What I like: I like the interface. Its very slick and simple. It is convenient to write a post to a blog. I like that it supports major blogging platforms, and includes posting as draft and pinging different services.

What I don't like:
I don't really got the idea of separating tags, links and images and their representation in Raven. I'm just not yet comfortable with them, and plus that I cannot use the right click button on the mouse to learn other features, makes me uncomfortable.

I'm also not sure that opening a new window to edit the post is the best way to do the thing (I might have left it in the same main window and use tabbing feature).

I didn't like that only 32 out of my 146 posts were downloaded into Raven. I haven't found the setting which changes that and allows to download all the posts in blog.

What I really don't like or hate:
It's probably Wine's fault and not Raven's (well not all of it), but I have really bad problems with graphics and performance. I had similar problems with Zoundry Writer - which makes me believe that it has something to do with GUI framework used in Raven - and so it is originated within the program itself.

When I switch from the window of Raven to some other window and then back, it may take up to 5 seconds to redraw all the icons and window borders. The text typing is ok, but deleting and replacing it is PAINFULLY slow and makes the experience really unpleasant. Now the last but not least: XHTML formatting that Raven uses is the same as in all other blogging platforms. But Blogger is terrible in parsing this specific formatting, so some sort of tweaking will be needed after posting anyway.

So, did I like the Raven? Yes and no.
Yes because I like its interface better than Zoundry Writer. It's slicker and more beautiful and easier to navigate. Icons are more up to date. In short - it is better.
No, because I haven't been able to fully realize the application's potential due to problems both in Wine and the Raven itself. I don't really understand all the options in the program and I can't at the moment understand them because of technical issues.

So, what can I say about the program? I like it.
It can be ran in Linux. While it is still in beta, you may encounter some difficulties in using it, but it works and can be tested and played with.

What about me then? Am I going to use it? No.
At the moment, I've created working script, that takes a simple html (which is not really an html - just few markings such as 'title', 'italic' and 'bold' formatting) and posts it as draft on Blogger (If you decided to use the aforementioned script, and have problems - let me know, I'll try to help you out). I find it much more efficient, as I can create my posts anywhere in VI or Bluefish or OpenOffice Writer. I find it more useful because I work on the draft after all - and doing it my way takes less time and effort.

Now you can run the Zoundry Raven in Linux! Enjoy.

Have any questions? Feedback or suggestions? Ask them here!!

Zoundry Writer in Linux review

For a few days, I've been testing different blog editors and trying to find which one I would prefer to use. My requirements are simple at the moment. You can go over them in my previous post on the matter - BlogJet editor in Linux Review.

I've written 2 articles, in which I told that Linux Editors sucks (and that was my personal feeling after I tried more than 5 different editors and found all of them either not working or sucking big time on features), and also that I've decided to try running a Windows blog editors (yes!) using WINE and I have written another post on that.

So, I've found couple of editors that I succeeded to run in Linux. Here, I will talk about the second one, Zoundry. First, here's the screenshot of using this editor (click on the image to see in full size):

So, as you can see, I'm writing this post in Zoundry

So here's my good feelings about this editor:

• Setting accounts is very easy and very good.
  
• Writing is very easy. All the regular features work (Italic, Bold and Underscore) work as anticipated.
  
• Fetching my previous blog posts is very good and accurate
  
• Font usage is configurable and the default is very pleasant to my eyes.
• Easy switch between WYSIWYG and HTML modes
  
• Easy setup for pinging services after posting
  
• Easy publishing (with one button)
  
• Posting as draft and defining manually the time and date of the post!
  
• Tags with blogger and Technorati work!!
  
• Linking from the editor is very cool and one of the best features in it!!! It allows me to link to my previous posts by letting me choose from the list of posts. Linking to big list of predefined sites is very convenient:
  
• Inserting a merchant links is easy when you sign-up with Zoundry.

Now, the bad stuff

• Its final HTML code is very unclean. It introduces a lots of <p> tags, and Blogger parses them as white spaces.
  
• Interface is not so slick. I did use the editor in Windows XP as well, and it is still not that pretty, albeit functional.
  

Considering that a full version is a free software and it supports all the features I would like to have (except the GUI), here's the scores:

My rating (with 10 as best score):

• GUI and ease of use: 7
  
• Feature set (for my needs): 10
  
• Convenience (for my needs): 9
  

Total score (in my subjective opinion):

• for my needs (blogger): 9.5

So, would I use it? Absolutely :-)

At the moment, this is my editor of choice!

Any comments? Let me know :-)

Technorati : Gentoo, Linux, Microsoft, Wine, technology, windows

Related posts:

BlogJet in Linux Review
Running Zoundry and BlogJet under Wine
Linux Blogging Sucks

Powered by Zoundry

BlogJet editor in Linux review

For a few days, I've been testing different blog editors and trying to find which one I would prefer to use. My requirements are simple at the moment:

• Being able to publish to a blog platform I use at the moment. That's being Blogger (with a New Blogger [Google] API)
• Being able to publish in draft first. I don't mind to "touch" an entry before publishing, and doing so from Blogger's own web-based editor helps to "preview" the entry how will it really look like.
  
• Adding tags to the post. Labels, categories, tags - I don't care how would you call this, I want it working if my platform supports them (and it does).
  
  • as a subset, pinging to Technorati and/or other services and including their links in the posts is welcome albeit unnecessary requirement.
    
• Convenient linking to other things. For example, suggesting to use what I have at the moment in the clipboard cache is convenient, as it allows me to copy something in the browser, and then directly paste it in the editor. I would also welcome convenient linking to my own posts.
  
• Local storing of the drafts. This is invaluable. I write something, I don't trust the program - I want to save it as either text, html or xml files (or combination of these).
  
• Nice pleasant GUI is very needed. After all, I can use a notepad (gedit, vi, emacs - choose your own), but I don't. I like to work with nice and simple interfaces.
  

I've written 2 articles, in which I told that Linux Editors sucks (and that was my personal feeling after I tried more than 5 different editors and found all of them either not working or sucking big time on features), and also that I've decided to try running a Windows blog editors (yes!) using WINE and I have written another post on that.

So, I've found couple of editors that I succeeded to run in Linux. Here, I will talk about the first one, BlogJet. First, here's the screenshot of using this editor (click on the image to see in full size; I'm using Black Vista theme):

So, as you can see, even that this is not native application in Linux, it looks very slick and nice, simple and gorgeous interface. My Kudos to the Coding Robots team on that! And I'm writing this post in BlogJet.

Writing is very easy. Just start typing - and that's it. All the regular features work (Italic, Bold and Underscore) work as anticipated. The editor setting were very simple - it recognized my blogging platform and correctly fetched my previous blog posts.

Font usage is configurable and the default is very pleasant to my eyes.

More cool features: easy switch between WYSIWYG and HTML modes, easy setup for pinging services after posting, easy publishing (with one button), and word counting (I like this one a lot!!!), and boy its final HTML code is so nice and clean !!!But now to the bad stuff:

1. Tagging (labels, categories, whatever) - it doesn't work with Blogger at the moment. Yes, it is known misfeature, but I find it weird that only one type of platform is supported for the moment (that would be Wordpress if I'm not mistaken).
   
2. Draft posting is not supported with Blogger. Sigh…
3. Although I can get my recent posts list, I don't have convenient option of linking to them. Say, I'd select something, right-click on it and choose "Link to previous post…" and then get a list and select the post I want to link to. That would be great.
   
4. Right-click context menu is weird - it seems like it was not implemented at all and all I see it system-wide menu. Not good.
   

Considering that a full version is a commercial software and it doesn't support many of the features I would like to have, I'd say I would not buy this product at the moment.

My rating (with 10 as best score):

• GUI and ease of use: 10
• Feature set (for my needs): 5
  
• Convenience (for my needs): 7
  

Total score (in my subjective opinion):

• for my needs (blogger): 6.5
  
• for Wordpress users: 8.5
  

So, would I use it? Maybe, I haven't decided yet.

In next post I will review running Zoundry blog editor on Linux.

Comments are welcome.

Technorati : Gentoo, Linux, Microsoft, Wine, technology, windows

Running Zoundry and BlogJet blog editors under Wine

Hi all !

After I've written the Linux Sucks article, I started to think how can I still run any of the "good" (read Windows based) editors on Linux. And to tell you the truth, I've tried to run each and every one of those I found on different lists under WINE but to no avail.

But no more. I've successfully installed and can run in Zoundry Blog Editor, from which I post this entry.

Here's an install procedure (I use Gentoo, so I presume anyone who doesn't can adapt this to his/her own needs):

1. Install IES4Linux on my machine (it installs WINE as well, so I don't have to).
2. Run an Internet Explorer and try to browse. If you do so, then go over to Zoundry and download the Zoundry Blog Writer.
3. In the same Internet Explorer window, go to File->Open and open the file you've downloaded.
   
4. Install should start and install the application.
   
5. Install mfc42.dll - get it from any Windows XP installation or here (legality of this action is beyond this post. Check with your lawer just in case). Copy it to a <ie6 install folder>/drive_c/windows/system and system32. Regsvr32 it:



6. Zoundry should be installed now and run fine.
   

This is what you get when you're done:

Note1: when I installed Zoundry in default WINE folder ~/.wine, I had this when I tried to run it:
That's why I started to lookout for another way.

Note2:

I've tried the following apps using the same technique, but they still don't work:

• Ecto Windows Edition
  
• Zoundry Raven
  
• w.bloggar
  
• Chrysant Webstory
  
• Anconia RocketPost 2
  

And I've tried this and it did work:

• BlogJet (and wow, I like its editor so far even more than Zoundry, with the exception that it's not really free and that it doesn't support Blogger's labels):

This is to show you that I'm really in Linux (for all you non trusting folks):

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think :-)

Alex.

P.S. Does anyone knows how to force an application under WINE ( a game) to see a folder as it was a CDROM? I set it to do so, but it doesn't work. And I have no wish to burn a CD for that...Thanks

Technorati : Software, Wine

Powered by Zoundry

Linux Blogging Sucks

I want to tell you a story of a blogger who uses Linux as his main (and quite the only) operating system.

I started "blogging" about 2 years ago. I started using a Blogger as my platform, and I wasn't a massive writer - just a couple of articles here and there. But for the last year it happened that I manage more than one blog, and I do keep notes with me all the time and I write much more. Offline blogging became more important to me. As I know that "blogging" is widely used in Open Source community I recently started looking for a blog editor that would allow me to keep my notes offline (meaning without publishing) and post them when I'm ready.

As to my greatest surprise I haven't found even one that would be on par with my expectations (on that - later on).

Next, I realized that I'm not all that comfortable with web-based editors. Yes, they are almost the best editors there are (each one for its corresponding platform), but I would like better the normal editor, that I would write within, post from it and forget about the issue. And then, I listed for myself all the features I want from it:

• Supports New Blogger!!!! (come on, a "new" blogger is really not new for about a year; why is it still called a "new blogger" ??? )
  
• WYSIWYG editor and HTML editor
• Tags adding and synchronizing with my blog (New blogger does supports this)
• Being able to see me previous posts from the editor.
• Being able to link to my previous posts using comfortable interface
• Pinging Technorati and possibly FeedBurner (and others)
  
• Saving drafts
• Using links and pictures to insert into a post just as my blogging engine would (including formatting, etc)
• Lightweight
• Open Source
  

I'd like to thank the following people and resources for providing a list of editors to test:

1. Blogger
2. A-Z Bloglist
3. Every Flavour Beans
4. Bobrik (Ваня :-) ) from kernel panic in userspace (in russian)
   

Thank you all guys, you were my inspiration for writing this post.

From all the lists the are there, I've tried each and every single application to work with my new Blogger blogs. And to no avail. Each and every one of them suck. Most don't even connect to a blogger's blog server (and those apps are from Blogger's own list!!!). I find it weird, sad and very odd. Many blogging platforms were created using Open Source software, but still, there's no single editor in Linux that allows me to blog offline. I'm bitter.

You see, it is not an issue for me about being online or offline, and being able to post. Almost every time my computer is on, its online. It's just a matter of convenience. I like to workout things first, post them later. Besides, up until recently, Blogger didn't even allow to post drafts in order I wanted, only in order of creation. That's not good. I want to be able to decide when to post my entries.

I would think that a huge community of people in open source software would create a normal editor, which would work. Especially those who use Blogger. Please, don't think that I don't appreciate all the work done, I think Blogger is a great platform for its cause. I just want a simple blog editor that works. I tried Google Docs for the same purpose, and while it kinda works (not really convenient for me) - it is still a web application. I don't feel comfortable using it for blogging.

I'm writing this post using ScribeFire. To the date it is the best editor I've found, and even though - I don't trust it enough to post directly. I post as draft first, recheck and retouch with Blogger's web editor and then publish. This sucks.

Now, I have found the best for me editor. It is a Zoundry Writer but unfortunately, it only runs in Windows.

But no, I though. I'm clever. I will try and run a Windows Blog Editor under wine. Great idea, isn't it?

I have tried to run every single Windows editor from those lists using Wine. Nada. Nothing. Each and everyone of them fails.

So, the punchline: I love Linux. I use Linux all the time on 3 computers I have. I can blog from anywhere, using any browser. But I want to do it from an editor and such an editor is not available on Linux.

Unfortunately, Linux blogging sucks.

Powered by ScribeFire.

P.S. I hope that authors of aforementioned site do not mind me linking to them.

Update: I have succeeded to run Zoundry Blog Editor and BlogJet Editor in Linux under Wine. Take a look here:

• Running Zoundry and BlogJet Editors under Wine
  and
• BlogJet Editor in Linux Review
  

Blogging is Dumb, Stupid and Successful

Most blogs are dumb, even the successful ones. The ones about blogging. Everyone is looking for that next quick fix. Like a bunch of cyber junkies. Only our drug of choice is knowledge. It’s no ones fault. We are plagued by the seemingly easy success of others and can’t understand why we can’t be as successful.

Aren't we all blogging?

-A

read more | digg story

Getting things up

I'm going to try to get this blog up and running.

The thing that bothers me lately, is making money from blogging. There are so many things one can do and make money from them, its mind blowing. I'm going to do anything I can :-)

I've made a 7.50$ recently by reviewing other site. While it is nice option, I'd like to get it as high as this same amount per day. So it would be nice addition to my month salary.

Tell me what you think.

Technorati : money

Testing post

This blog is meant for testing different aspects of blogger.

The OLPC reviews review - the alternative standpoint

Dear reader,

I'd like to review all sorts of reviews that have appeared lately online.
I believe, that almost all of them are missing the point.

All these reviews show, or assess, what kind of computer system the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) is and how does it compare to other [known] computer systems.

So, the following components are being compared:

1. Hardware specs (specifications)
   
2. GUI (Graphical User Interface)
   
3. Applications choices

So, lets go over those components:

1. Hardware specs.

It is well known, that OLPC is nowhere in top 500 HPC systems list. But such a list is not its purpose. Say, if you build the system, and you require it to do the following:

• Surf the web
  
• Chat with other people (either text, voice or video)
  
• Write docs
  
• Read books/other electronic material (and especially in a direct light environment)
  
• Have a battery life as prolonged as possible
  
• Lightweight
  
• Have an alternative power source (alternative to standard power outlet which can be found in most homes in developed countries).
  

So, what specs would you need then? Do you need a computer system, that would be able to land a man on moon for that? (In fact, humankind has such systems for a long long time, and many of today's calculators are capable of necessary calculations. So this would be not really such a good of an example).

Well, considering that all aforementioned tasks are not computing-intensive (except maybe video/chat, which is not that intensive load on the system after all), you won't have to have state of the art machine. I remember being a student in late 90' and being able to surf the net, listen to music, read the books, write lab reports and chat on ICQ with my friends. And that was on Cyrix 120 MHz machine, with 500MB hard drive and lousy 1MB Cirrus Logic VGA chip.

And you know what? Yes, it was slow. I had my kernel (I used Red Hat 5.2 then) compiling in 48 minutes. Compare that to two minutes 20 seconds on today's computers. But still, it did everything I wanted it to do. And did it ok.

I even played really good games on it (at least I think they were good).

So, considering today's applications for surfing, chat, music and reading are not much different (even sometimes even more efficient than those 10 years ago), I believe 300Mhz machine would be up to the task.

2. GUI

Hm, If I were to choose my favorite complain, this would be it.

Many articles complain, how not native this interface to people or even seasoned computer users. The common misconception as I understand it, is the assumption, that OLPC is the first computer that child will have, and it should teach a kid to use a computer.

Wrong.

First and foremost, it is not about teaching children to work with a computer. It is about teaching. It means, that OLPC and especially its GUI should not be directly compared to any other computer system.

Compare it to other education materials instead.
That's what main issue is all about. These computers is education tool. They will be delivered instead of schoolbooks.

Now imagine the potential this thing has.

Reading books (huh, well, any book has this feature, right?)
Editing book which is allowed to be edited.
Writing you school work, and allowing a teacher to test it.
Chat with friends.
Surf the web.
Compose music
Play
Imagine and do your own.

So, I think, if the child is about to learn something new and exciting - she will. And all you grownups computer whiz-es, who can't figure out the interface -thats not the problem for them. For them its a game.

3. Applications

So, as much as what I said about GUI, I have to say about applications chosen.

First, let me tell you about an OS chosen.

It is Linux OS, based on Fedora Core (GNU/Linux for you zealots). If someone asks why wasn't Windows/Apple OS X chosen - it is very simple. It is not about money. It is not about technology (almost). Its not about politics.

It's about choice.

When you choose a Linux to build your product upon, you have the fullest control possible over final product, both technologically speaking and IP-(intellectual property) speaking. I mean, it is so easy to develop product, when you can change every bit of it for your liking. It is not possible with Windows/OS X.

Besides, technology-wise, the improvements made to different subsystems which comprise the standard distributions (such as kernel, X, Gnome, etc) are to benefit us all.

Second, the applications.

If one would review again the list of requirement, she would understand, that apps she needs are as follows:

• IM (including text, voice and video)
  
• Browser
  
• Book reader (supporting standard formats, such as PDF/RTF/text)
  
• Games
  
• Music player
  
• Document writer
  

So - chat application (with text, voice and video), browser based on xulrunner, reader (evince), games, music app and doc writer (abiword) - that is actually everything required for this work.

There are more.

But no scientific calculator (though it might be useful for older than 7 y.o kids). No shooter games.
Just tetris :-)

Now, to the rest of things.

• I like that OLPC has a screen, that can be read at direct sunlight. If it's for reading books, what else would you need?
  
• I like that OLPC will have longer work time than most other laptops out there.
  
• I like that it can be put to sleep in few seconds. I like that it can be awaken in few seconds.
  
• I like that it weights about 1.5kg
  
• I like that it has an alternative power source. It means that I'd never have to worry about power outlets around me.
  

So, all those comparing OLPC to conventional computer systems, are not comparing it to the comparable one. They expect OLPC to behave like a conventional computer system, and when it fails to comply they say all these negative things, such as its "stupid" or "unnecessary" or "why, oh God, you didn't put full fledged system on this laptop?".

All this because comparisons are basically flawed. They all compare OLPC to something it is not really made to be comparable with. One should try and compare it to something better for reaching that goal.

Try a printed book.