Why linux rocks

I recognize the fact that linux has it's flaws in comparison with the other operating systems, but I think I found something that is easier to do on a default linux install.  I was flying home and had a copy of a Science 2.0 panel video on my laptop. (Good video, you can see that here: http://www.vimeo.com/6077540).  But importantly is how I ended up 'watching it'.  Since it was just a panel, the video was rather pointless and I would have essentially had my whole laptop up running down its battery just so I could listen.  Thanks to ffmpeg, which is installed as a dependency for media programs, I was able to do this:

ffmpeg -i open-science.flv -f mp3 -ab 131072 -vn open-science.mp3

and harvest the audio out of the video.  From my previous experience on windows, doing tihs would have either been impossible or taken hours to find the right utility.  It just struck me as how simple it was to already have the right tool default on linux.  As a result, was able to take a video and listen to it on my mp3 player.  That's just cool.

Delorme Earthmate LT-40 and Linux

I just got the new Delorme Earthmate LT-40. It works pretty well, getting a location lock under windows much more quickly the old version I had (Earthmate USB predating the LT-20). I think it took ~ 5minutes from a completely cold start to get a differential GPS lock. I also noticed last night that it managed to get a 3D lock while I was sitting in my living room. Very impressive, as I only had it plugged in to test that I could actually see it, I didn't actually expect it to work. :)

However, it did not work for me under Linux using the 2.6.24 kernel. I plugged it in, it was recognized by the cypress_m8 usb-to-serial driver and the /dev/ttyUSB0 device was created. However, trying to cat this device resulted in no output. A bit of googling showed these threads relating to the Earthmate LT-20:

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-220821.html
http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-usb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/msg52237.html

A few posts to the linux-usb list and I was directed to this patch series:

Cypress_m8 Patch 1: Feature Buffer Fixes
Cypress_m8 Patch 2: Packet Format
Cypress_m8 Patch 3: Get Config Unsafe for LT-20
Cypress_m8 Patch 4: Null Check
Cypress_m8 Patch 5: Limit Baud Rate to <= 4800

Patch #3 is the important one here, but needs the first 2 to be applied easily. I've assembled them together into easily used diffs here. Those looking for a quick fix should simply comment out the call to

cypress_set_dead(port);

at line 408 (at least it is for 2.6.24) of the file drivers/usb/serial/cypress_m8.c.

Thanks go Mike Isely for writing the patches and directing me to them. This series of patches is slated to go into 2.6.26.

So for anyone looking to use their new Earthmate LT-40 (or even LT-20) under Linux, there is hope.