Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Christmas Printables

'Tis the Season, said by today's Google Doodle and it is real close to be jolly and celebrate Christmas. Christmas is not just for a particular group of people as some may believe, it is a time to remember the Lord and be Thankful for all that you have got. It is a message which resonates through all groups of people.

Santa Claus, the fat man with dazzling glowing white mustache and beard and wearing all red (or blue) with some white, giving gifts to children, has become synonymous with Christmas. I do not know the history or myth of Santa Claus one bit. But I do know that Christmas is a time of Giving and we all can be Santa Claus to children and others.

And, the Internet is filled with lots of Santa Claus that have shared Printable and other Craft material for free especially for Christmas. I am listing a few here:

Nativity Set:
http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/free-printable-christmas-nativity.html

Paper Dolls:
http://krokotak.com/2012/11/christmas-themed-paper-dolls/

Houses:
http://printcolorfun.com/786/house-cutout-craft/

Christmas Tree:
http://www.funezcrafts.com/Easy-Christmas-Crafts-Folded-Paper-Christmas-Tree.html

Religious Symbols:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Religious_symbols-4x4.svg

Desktop Wallpaper:
http://hdw.eweb4.com/out/713883.html

Merry Christmas !!

And a Happy New Year !!

Best Learning Resources on the Python Computer Language

Sharing some Free Learning Resources on the Python Computer Language:

1. Python Tutorials on the Full Circle Magazine:
The Full Circle Magazine consists of a series on learning Python and they have recently released a compilation of all python articles till FCM#102. You can download this edition from this link: http://fullcirclemagazine.org/2016/01/01/python-collection-vol-1/

2. The Coder's Apprentice - Learning Programming with Python 3:

Another great free to download book for computer language beginners. Download this book from http://www.spronck.net/pythonbook/

3. Invent With Python

The http://inventwithpython.com website hosts links to the books by 'Al Sweigart'.

3.1 Automate the Boring Stuff with Python:

In this book you learn how to use Python in real life scenarios. This book is free to read at https://automatetheboringstuff.com

3.2 Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python

Book by the same author on programming games with Python. Read for free/download at http://inventwithpython.com/chapters/

3.3 Making Games with Python & Pygame

A sequel for the above book. Read for free/download at: http://inventwithpython.com/pygame/chapters/

3.4 Hacking Secret Ciphers with Python

Learn how ciphers work in this book. Read for free/download at: http://inventwithpython.com/hacking/chapters/

Get ready for Square(ish) Displays on Smartphones

Foldable smart phones are the next iteration in display technology. The latest news from the Apple camp is on a patent showing a foldable iPhone. Of course such gimmicks were seen earlier also by the likes of Samsung and many mockups by others too.

But now that the need and the market for bigger displays is on the rise, we can see the requirements for a foldable display. Smart phones of 5 inches have become the norm while 5.5 inches are the 'Max/Plus' companion of each smart phone. This trend will be taken even further by this years end when Oppo R9s series of phones will be released. The Oppo R9s is the base model with the size of 5.5 inches while the Oppo R9s Plus will be 6 inches.

So, there is definitely a trend to go larger. But the 'Bar' design can be used normally with one hand or even by using two hands at only so much size. Even the 5 inches models are hard to operate by just one hand and the 5.5 inches required you to use two hands to operate.

The solution is foldable displays. Now, foldable displays do sound a good solution to get bigger displays but they also pose a problem. What would the user use/see when the hold their phone. A phone of such a design will require additional screen(s) on the fold that will be facing the user. Also, the 16:9 ratio results in nearly a square when folded.

What is the most comfortable width our hand can hold without getting uncomfortable. Lets look at some of the prevailing sizes (considering only the display size and not the additional bezel):

(All sizes are in inches, bezel-less, and considers the Bar-Portrait 16:9 view)

Diagonal Size	Width of the Phone	Height of the Phone
4.0	2.0	3.5
4.5	2.2	3.9
5.0	2.5	4.4
5.5	2.7	4.8
5.7	2.8	5.0
6.0	2.9	5.2
6.4	3.2	5.6
6.8	3.3	5.9
7.0	3.4	6.1
8.0	3.9	7.0

In my opinion the most that we can hold for longer periods is around 3 inches and not more. Also, the average shirt's pocket is also around that size.

Also, we would fold the phone by its height in terms of the 'Bar/Portrait' view. This means we would kind off letting go of the Portrait view and use the phone only in the 'Landscape' view. Even when folded the display would be held such that opening the fold will show the 'Landscape' view.

So, if we consider 3 inches (width) to be the folded size and obviously the opened size will be 6 inches (width), what sort of dimensions are we looking at. Lets calculate. Remember that we now use the 'Landscape' 16:9 view.

Width when Folded	Width of the Phone	Height of the Phone	Diagonal Size
3.00	6.00	3.38	6.88

The above is the best dimensions.

Lets also consider the widths of today's phones and how would they translate in a foldable design:

Width when Folded	Width of the Phone	Height of the Phone	Diagonal Size
1.96	3.92	2.21	4.50
2.20	4.40	2.48	5.05
2.45	4.90	2.76	5.62
2.69	5.38	3.03	6.17
2.79	5.58	3.14	6.40
2.94	5.88	3.31	6.75
3.15	6.30	3.54	7.23
3.33	6.66	3.75	7.64
3.43	6.86	3.86	7.87
3.92	7.84	4.41	9.00

Lets also see the diagonal sizes when the phones will be folded:

Width when Folded	Height when folded	Diagonal Size
3.00	3.38	4.52

Width when Folded	Height when folded	Diagonal Size
1.96	2.21	2.95
2.20	2.48	3.31
2.45	2.76	3.69
2.69	3.03	4.05
2.79	3.14	4.20
2.94	3.31	4.43
3.15	3.54	4.74
3.33	3.75	5.01
3.43	3.86	5.16
3.92	4.41	5.90

In addition, when folded the display ratio is 1.125 which is very close to being a Square.

Hmm, so, will the folded design be worth it. At only one fold, as we can see above, the ideal size would result in only a 6.88 inch screen when opened. Isn't this size already available. There are many 7 inch voice calling tablets available and >6 inches phablets too.

In conclusion, I think we would require a triple fold or a roll design to get the most of such a design. Hmm, need to brush up on an Origami lesson.

Running the latest Internet Explorer in Linux

Microsoft loves Linux. Hmm, this is the phrase that Microsoft wants you to eat but I cannot digest these words. There are many things that Microsoft is doing recently that may make you think that their words are genuine, like opening some code of their dot net language, implementing the Ubuntu shell in Windows, and some more things.

But, what I gather from all this is that Microsoft wants you to become locked into their technology and then before you know it, they will remove all these open code or make some new version whose code will be closed. Beware of Microsoft's tactics and stay clear of their intentions.

Most developers have zeroed in on Chrome/Firefox for testing their code, but for some reasons, some clients demand that the code should be compatible with the proprietary Internet Explorer. If you develop on Linux, you will be in a difficult situation, since no version of Internet Explorer runs fluently in Linux. Some old versions do run under WINE, but that would be too older versions. For newer versions, i.e. IE 8+ there is no way to install these directly in Linux.

So what are your options: To buy a Windows PC / To buy a Windows license to run in a VM.
Hmm, both are costly options. What to do? I have recently been made known of a new tool, ievms (https://github.com/xdissent/ievms). What this ievms script does is that it fetches the Microsoft provided VMs for your specified IE version and installs the specified VM in Linux. You can then boot into this VM and use the required IE and other software in the VM. But, there is a caveat, the VM will work only for a set number of days. I think its around 60 days (need to check it out once more). Then after the expire period, you are required to re-download the VMs (need to check this out too).

The github website (https://github.com/xdissent/ievms) has the instructions to use this script. First, you are required to install VirtualBox and then you can use this script.

An example from the github page:
To install specific IE versions (IE7, IE9 and EDGE only for example) use:

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xdissent/ievms/master/ievms.sh | env IEVMS_VERSIONS="7 9 EDGE" bash

Also, do note that the size of the VMs are quite large. From the github page:

A full ievms install will require approximately 69G:
Servo:.ievms xdissent$ du -ch *
 11G    IE10 - Win7-disk1.vmdk
 22M    IE10-Windows6.1-x86-en-us.exe
 11G    IE11 - Win7-disk1.vmdk
 28M    IE11-Windows6.1-x86-en-us.exe
1.5G    IE6 - WinXP-disk1.vmdk
724M    IE6 - WinXP.ova
717M    IE6_WinXP.zip
1.6G    IE7 - WinXP-disk1.vmdk
 15M    IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu.exe
1.6G    IE8 - WinXP-disk1.vmdk
 16M    IE8-WindowsXP-x86-ENU.exe
 11G    IE9 - Win7-disk1.vmdk
4.7G    IE9 - Win7.ova
4.7G    IE9_Win7.zip
 10G    MSEdge - Win10-disk1.vmdk
5.1G    MSEdge - Win10.ova
5.0G    MSEdge_Win10.zip
3.4M    ievms-control-0.3.0.iso
4.6M    lsar
4.5M    unar
4.1M    unar1.5.zip
 69G    total

Its better to use Chrome/Firefox, but if you do need IE for various reasons, then I think this ievms script will help.

Bluffs and Tall Stories in the Open Source ecosystem

Just wait until x.x is released, then we would be able to use so and so features.
We are working on so and so feature which will make things simpler.
Within this time frame these features would be integrated in our product.

How many times have I heard these sort of "promises", "commitments", "assurances" and then when the time comes there is not a single word mentioning these. Even the news outlets which cover open source seem to forget these "claims".

I will highlight some of these tall stories:

First I would like to mention is 'Theme' support in Calligra Office Suite. This is not a "claim" as such, may be just a random thought that a person put up. Anyways, the author, Jarosław Staniek, had put up an article which mentioned that this 'Theme' support could be added in one of the open source Office Suite. The article is at: 'Fruits of CSS2: Shared Themes' https://blogs.kde.org/2011/12/14/fruits-css2-shared-themes

This article is dated 14 December 2011. and talks about Shared Themes, which is somewhat like the theme support in MS Office 2007 onwards and even mentions that this sort of theme support is present even in Apple iWork 2005.

So, if we consider the 2005 time line, open source Office Suites do not have this feature for the last 11 years. And, there is no vision to bring this feature either. Hmm, so we are more than a decade behind the proprietary Office Suites. And, with no vision for the future we would even be two decades behind and then go into the forgettable history.

Second: On 24 January 2012, on Mark Shuttleworth's blog, there is an article which highlights that speech will be one of the most exciting way to interact with your computer. And, he says "I have a feeling this will be a lot of fun in the next two years :)" - that means in January 2014. Well, its September 2016 now and no word on the status of speech integration in Ubuntu. You can view the article at: http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/939
Also, there is an article on the CMU Sphinx website highlighting that their technology will be used. You can view this at: http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/2013/06/pocketsphinx-will-be-used-in-ubuntu-unity-8/

There will definitely be more tall stories if you dig more. But, I found these two to be the most needed features required now to make a difference. If these two features is added in the next couple of years then the open source ecosystem would definitely be at par with the proprietary systems.

But, as it is now, these are mere statements with nothing substantial going on, no updates, not even a question being asked.

Lets Speculate RHEL 7.x release dates - Part 2

Important Note: The below is just hypothetical. Please do not think anything otherwise.

So, its obviously gone past mid-August 2016, the date/period which I thought would bring in the new RHEL 7.3 release. But, in August 2016, instead of a full release we just got a 7.3 Beta and that too on the 25th.

So, how much more time till RHEL 7.3 releases. Let's look at the last six Betas to Full Releases.

Release Number	Beta Date	Full release Date	Difference in Days
RHEL 5.11	9-Jul-2014	16-Sep-2014	69
RHEL 6.6	12-Aug-2014	14-Oct-2014	63
RHEL 7.1	12-Dec-2014	6-Mar-2015	84
RHEL 6.7	5-May-2015	22-Jul-2015	78
RHEL 7.2	2-Sep-2015	19-Nov-2015	78
RHEL 6.8	15-Mar-2016	10-May-2016	56
		Average Days:	71
RHEL 7.3	25-Aug-2016	4-Nov-2016

As per the average days between the betas and full releases, the release date for RHEL 7.3 will be 4 November 2016. Also, if we consider only the RHEL 7 series, then the difference is (84 + 78) / 2 = 81 days. This will further the release date to 14 November 2016.

Even if we consider 4-Nov-2016, the difference between the 7.2 and 7.3 release will be 351 days (or 361 days considering the latter date). This is the second largest difference between two update releases in RHEL history. The largest being RHEL 4.8 to RHEL 4.9 -> 638 days. There RHEL 4.9 was the last RHEL 4 release and must be considered as a one-off rather than a norm.

Where does this do for the future releases. I think that RHEL will follow this new bigger time lines for two reasons. First being delays in getting their targeted stability/features, and Second being more long support periods. As we had seen in my last post, the total lifespan of a RHEL release is not going anywhere forward of around 8 years.

Edit (4 November 2016): RHEL 7.3 finally released yesterday, 3 November 2016. Very close to the calculated prediction stated above.

What is important in a Phone?

Recently there was a big launch event for the new iPhone, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The price range for the new phones is from INR 60,000 to somewhere in the range of INR 90,000. Hmm, so does a phone really justify this sort of price? I am skeptical. Do we really need all the features? Do we use all the features?

So, for INR 90,000 you do not get FM Radio, you do not get 3.5 mm jack, you do not get NFC, you do not get a card slot. I also think that you cannot attach a pen drive to a iPhone.

So, what do you get?

• Two cameras on the back. Hmm, so till now weren't we clicking photos with one camera? Is this just for image stabilization. Or, does this click some augmented reality photos, or 3D videos. I have not yet seen anything mentioned along those lines. So, the two cameras are just for clearer pictures. Cannot this be accomplished with OIS or just plain quick autofocus?
• Apple Pay. Is Apple Pay available in India? I guess not. Another wasteful feature.
• Fingerprint scanner. I think even a INR 7,000 phone has a Fingerprint scanner.
• Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes. Remember, this is called water resistant and not water proof. This means that the phone cannot be operated under water, it can just withstand being submerged in water for up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. Do you really want to take your phone for a swim? What I would like is just a spill resistant phone that will protect it from accidental liquid spills.

For me the most important features and specifications are (apart from the usual ones :)

• RAM >= 2 GB
• Internal Memory >= 32 GB
• 3.5 mm jack
• Fingerprint
• NFC
• FM Radio
• Optional - OIS, since todays quick autofocus and shutter speeds are adequate
• Optional - Spill resistance

So, which phone released in 2016 can give me most of these without costing me a fortune. A quick search using the gsmarena website gave me 22 results without the optionals. 7 results with optional OIS. 1 result for IP5x (Spill resistance) without OIS. 1 result for IP6x (Water resistance) and OIS.

The 22 results are:

• LG V20
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
• Sony Xperia X
• Sony Xperia X Compact
• LG G5
• Samsung Galaxy C7
• Samsung Galaxy C5
• Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016)
• Motorola Moto Z Play
• Lenevo P2
• HTC One A9s
• Lenevo Vibe P1 Turbo
• ZTE nubia Z11
• LG Stylus 2 Plus
• Samsung Galaxy S7 active
• vivo Xplay5 Elite
• LG G5 SE
• vivo Xplay5
• LG X mach
• LeEco Le Max
• Vodafone Smart Platinum 7
• BQ Aquaris X5 Plus

The 7 results with OIS are:

• LG V20
• LG G5
• Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016)
• ZTE nubia Z11
• Samsung Galaxy S7 active
• LG G5 SE
• LeEco Le Max

The result for IP5x (Spill resistance) without OIS is Motorola Moto Z Play.

The result for IP6x (Water resistance) and OIS is Samsung Galaxy S7 active.

Now, I am more tilted towards the Motorola Moto Z Play. It ticks off most of what I think is required in a smart phone. The phone compensates for the lack of OIS by having Phase Detection and Laser Autofocus.

The price for this phone listed on various sources is within INR 30,000. So for half of iPhone price you get a very similar phone.

For the adventurous the Samsumg Galaxy S7 active is better. It is IP68 certified (dust proof and water resistant over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes), and it is MIL-STD-810G certified (salt, dust, humidity, rain, vibration, solar radiation, transport and thermal shock resistant) The price for this phone is still less than iPhone, it is around INR 55,000.

For the budget conscience, the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note is the best option at the price of around INR 11,000.

Linux Mint is Totally Worth It - Tips to make it even better

So, after my disastrous diversions in trying out "new" and "latest" I have come back to the very trusty Linux Mint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit OS.

What have I learned from the past misdirection? Well, firstly "new" doesn't mean "best". Now, some may require this "new" for some niche hardware enablement or to try out a latest feature but if you are a normal user or want your system to just work without doing troubleshooting all the time, then tested and proven software is the best. For me, this is Linux Mint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit.

My Notebook is the HP 15-AC040TU 15.6-inch Laptop (Pentium 3825U / 4 GB RAM / 500 GB HDD / FreeDOS / Intel HD Graphics).

All hardware is recognized and the driver installation is very easy. Just a small problem of the bluetooth driver is there. A manual install is required for my notebook's bluetooth driver: Broadcom 43412. This particular bluetooth adapter does not have a opensource driver and you are required to follow the instructions mentioned at this website: http://askubuntu.com/questions/632336/bluetooth-broadcom-43142-isnt-working-on-ubuntu

Just follow the instructions there to get the bluetooth adapter working. For Linux Mint 17.3, even if you have installed and use the latest Linux Kernel like I do, presently it is 4.4.0-31, still you only require to follow the default instructions and not follow the instructions for the 4.4 kernel series. I think this is because Linux Mint 17.3 came with the 3.19 kernel version. I cannot think of any other reason.

Also, there some things you would want to add to get a better experience with Linux Mint 17.3.

First is the brightness remembrance thing. Linux Mint 17.3 does not remember the brightness level after a restart. To fix this just do:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nrbrtx/sysvinit-backlight
sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install sysvinit-backlight

Then, we require support for h265 (hevc), to do this do:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:strukturag/libde265

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-libde265

sudo apt-get install gstreamer1.0-libde265

sudo apt-get install vlc-plugin-libde265

Next, install redshift, do:

sudo apt-get install redshift-gtk

You will have to create the config file manually since automatic recognition does not work in Linux Mint 17.3. To do this follow the instructions on this website: http://jonls.dk/redshift/

Next, install Thermald:

sudo install thermald

Then, install TLP:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install tlp

You will have to manually start TLP every time, to do this do:

sudo tlp start

Install the latest kernel using the Update Manager. I am using the latest one (don't know if it is the latest till now) 4.4.0-31.

Install Steam using the Software Manager.

Get some games from GOG.com. If you are within the requirements of the game you could very well use PlayOnLinux to play the game.

Install PlayOnLinux:

To do this first install wine:i386: sudo apt-get install wine:i386

Then:

wget -q "http://deb.playonlinux.com/public.gpg" -O- | sudo apt-key add -

sudo wget http://deb.playonlinux.com/playonlinux_trusty.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install playonlinux

Install SoftMaker FreeOffice from: http://www.freeoffice.com/en/

You can use the template mentioned on my blog post: http://aajkyakiya.blogspot.in/2016/07/making-softmaker-freeoffice-textmaker.html to make the documents look like Word 2007.

Install Google Chrome from: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html

Install Crosscore, Roboto, fonts:

sudo apt-get install fonts-croscore fonts-crosextra-caladea fonts-crosextra-carlito fonts-roboto

The Crosscore fonts give you alternatives for the most common Windows fonts. You get Arimo (sans-serif), Tinos (serif) and Cousine (monospace). These fonts are metrically compatible with Monotype Corporation’s Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New. And Carlito (which matches Microsoft's Calibri) and Caladea (matching Cambria).

You can also use the very good software Send Anywhere to send and receive files. Get this from https://send-anywhere.com/web/page/download

For educational apps: you can take tips on the apps mentioned at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide

Intel hates Pentium and Ubuntu Unity hates WINE gamers

Linux Mint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit edition was the OS on my HP Notebook. This OS is stable, does its job, does not pose any problems and is user friendly. But, this stability requires the Linux Mint OS to have old and proved software. This resulted in my Gen 8 Pentium to not have the latest and up to par performance which it could if it had newer software. That is what I thought and boy was I wrong.

On the https://mesamatrix.net website, the latest mesa 12.0.1 advertises latest OpenGL compatibility with Intel Gen8+ graphics. So, I was under the impression that this would also mean the Intel Pentium that have Gen8, i.e. Intel Broadwell graphics like my 3825U. But, this is not the case.

I had changed my OS from the very stable Linux Mint to the latest Ubuntu 16.04.1 release. The Ubuntu Unity release. Thinking that the base edition would offer more latest and stable versions than the spins. I then added the Padoka ppa and the Wine DRI ppa.

The drivers, Mesa, xorg, and more that is available from the Padoka PPA does not even provide Mesa 12.0.1, after upgrading the Mesa was still at 11.2 and OpenGL support at 3.0. Which was a let down. Then I purged the Padoka ppa and added the Oibaf ppa. This gave me the latest mesa alright, but still the supported opengl version is 3.0. So, Intel has just given the code for the Core i processors and has conveniently forgot the Pentium of the Broadwell architecture.

Intel hates Pentium. This is what I gather from my very frustrating experience.

So, I thought okay this may at least prove a decent performer for my games that I run under WINE. The game I tried is the GOG version of Neverwinter Nights 2. This game installed correctly using the Wine DRI ppa version of WINE. And, with the Oibaf mesa. I use the excellent PlayOnLinux software to manage the installation. This is another excellent piece of software. I would describe this in my later posts.

So, I launched the game. But it crashed. After fiddling around I got to the problem. I had enabled the Gallium Nine option in the wine configuration. But later I got to know that this only works well with Nvidia and AMD gpus and not with Intel gpus. So, another bummer. Another wasted effort and bandwidth for getting the latest and greatest. After de-selecting this option, the game opened.

Then another problem, I was not able to alt-tab from the game in fullscreen. The only option was to hard reset the notebook, since after pressing the alt-tab keys, the game would not respond. Then I searched the internet for this problem and came across many other such problems, all relating to Ubuntu Unity. There was one shortcut that worked, The minimize shortcut. This minimized the game, but after opening it again, it would freeze again. So no way of going forward but to hard reset the notebook.

Then, what I thought was to install the Xubuntu-desktop in my Ubuntu installation. The download was an okay ~250MB. After going into the Xubuntu session, I launched the game and was able to alt-tab without much problem.

So, Ubuntu Unity hates WINE gamers. Again, from my personal experience.

Now, I am stuck. I wanted the latest and got burned. What are my options. To go back to Linux Mint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit edition. Or to install the Linux Mint 18 Xfce 64-bit edition. Or to go for the Xubuntu 16.04.1 edition. Lets see. Maybe I would try CentOS 7.3 instead.

What would be better?

LinuxMint, is it really worth it?

Well, after my previous post on delaying LinuxMint update, and after stating that my new notebook exclusively runs LinuxMint, and that I have many games (through Steam and PlayOnLinux) installed on my notebook, I got a wake up call when I learned that LinuxMint 17.3 uses Mesa 10.5.9, which is an old release.

LinuxMint 17.3 is super solid, with no crashes, with no problems whatsoever, but I would like a newer version of Mesa to expose the processors's graphics capability. Also, there is no easy way of upgrading Mesa like you have for installing new kernels in LinuxMint.

I think this is a big gap especially for me because I would like to have the best possible frame rates for the games and which my quite limited hardware is capable of. I would not like to wait over a year to use my hardware to its full capability.

Of course, if you are looking for rock solid stability, I can guarantee that LinuxMint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit version will give you the most stable system I have encountered. I would even say that it is better or at least equal with the stability of CentOS. But, if you want to use the latest and newest features at the moment they are available, then you will have to look elsewhere.

So, I am now looking at the recently released Ubuntu 16.04.1 64-bit Unity edition. Why the Unity edition, because there are some quite serious bugs still in the Xfce (Xubuntu) edition. The main is the no cursor on Intel graphics when suspend and resume. And, I have Intel graphics only. So, with only this bug, Xubuntu becomes a big no-no for me.

The Padoka (https://launchpad.net/~paulo-miguel-dias/+archive/ubuntu/mesa) or the Oibaf (https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/ubuntu/graphics-drivers/) PPAs will provide for the latest and newest Mesa graphics for Intel. The Padoka PPA provides an even more cutting edge version of Mesa than the Oibaf PPA.
Also, the Wine + Gallium Nine (https://launchpad.net/~commendsarnex/+archive/ubuntu/winedri3) PPA will provide the enhanced Wine compatibility layer for Windows games running on DirectX 9. This Wine PPA requires one of the Padoka or Oibaf Mesa.

And also when Ubuntu 16.04.2 arrives, it will bring most, if not all, of the very current Mesa, Linux Kernel, and X.Org stack with it. So, when 16.04.2 arrives, I wont be needing the Mesa PPAs and can easily purge them before upgrading the hardware compatibility stack.

In my opinion, this current Ubuntu LTS 16.04 series is becoming a very good, in-the-now release that supports current generation hardware. Even its derivate LinuxMint has become a product for people who are running on old/previous generation hardware.

Delay your upgrade to LinuxMint 18

I use LinuxMint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit version as the only OS on my notebook. My notebook is an entry level HP notebook, the HP HP 15-AC040TU 15.6-inch Laptop (Pentium 3825U/4GB/500GB/FreeDOS/Intel HD Graphics), Sparkling Black.

I had bought this notebook for INR 19,699 from the Amazon India website. As you can see in the notebook description above, the processor, Intel® Pentium® Processor 3825U (2M Cache, 1.90 GHz) is a Broadwell microarchitecture CPU with Intel Gen8 graphics.
For more information on this microarchitecture refer the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadwell_(microarchitecture)

The notebook had two partitions and the FreeDOS OS installed. Before the delivery was made, I had researched a bit on the best Linux Distro around and settled on the LinuxMint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit version and had the install DVD ready.

The installation was a breeze and I required the Ethernet connection to install the proprietary device drivers for the WIFI to work. But the Bluetooth just wont work. I thought that maybe the Linux kernel 3.19 that is used in LinuxMint 17.3 was not capable of using the Bluetooth, so I tried using the latest kernels available through the system update utility. But, these did not solve the Bluetooth problem.

Then I searched for something that would help me. The websites that I looked at told me to first find out the make of the Bluetooth component. I did that and it was the Broadcom 43142. Now, many broadcom components are supported by the open source drivers, but this series was not and required the proprietary drivers from Broadcom to work.

After some extensive searching I found this web page: http://askubuntu.com/questions/632336/bluetooth-broadcom-43142-isnt-working-on-ubuntu. Jackpot. I found the way to enable the Bluetooth component. The instructions on the web page did the trick and now the Bluetooth component works.

After setting up the OS I started using the notebook. The notebook boots up pretty fast, the suspend and resume functions flawlessly, the system resource usage is quite low and the system is fast. After some weeks of use I had installed the required software, games, and had accumulated many files and folders on the notebook. I am a big fan of the classic RPG games, well not that classic, but these are the good ones. Like, King's Bounty the Legend, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dragon Age Origins. I have bought these from the GOG website. Dragon Age Origins is now on GOG, and I bought it maybe on the fist day of its availability on GOG. I also have many steam games, like Torchlight 2, Loren the Amazon Princess, Lords of Xulima, and many more. Basically, I got most of my steam games from the Humble Bundles but I have bought some on steam itself like Torchlight 2, Lords of Xulima, Titan Quest, and many more. Well Titan Quest is not yet available for Linux but there was some positive replies by one of its developers to bring this little gem on Linux, so I maybe bought it the second or third day of that developer's reply.
Most of these games are not natively supported on Linux, so I had to take help of the PlayOnLinux software. Installing games through PlayOnLinux is a breeze and not at all complicated, and the games work quite good without any major problems. Maybe I will talk about this in a different post.

So, I have my notebook set as per my requirements and once your system works the way you want it to, why to change. Well, for one, you will get a better graphics stack with the newer OS version. That is true, but by how much will the experience be enhanced. At this moment the LinuxMint 18 distro gives you Mesa 10.2 and the one that is already in use by LinuxMint 17.3 is Mesa 10.1.3. So, you are still stuck with the OpenGL 3.0 experience and not the full OpenGL 4.3 that is exposed by the Pentium 3825U processor. Therefore, It just wont make that much of an impact on the graphics performance. And all the games that I have installed still works good on my present setup.

But, the Mesa 12.1 release has changed this. The new release supports the OpenGL 4.5 version and exposes the full OpenGL 4.3 capability of my Pentium 3825U processor. This Mesa could be included in Ubuntu 16.10 release and therefore in the 16.04.2 release. Now, the 16.04.2 release will be used (In my opinion) for the LinuxMint 18.1 release. And this is when I would suggest the current gen users to make the jump. When will LinuxMint 18.1 be released? Well, it will be after 16.04.2 and this will be released at around Feb 2017. So, you are looking at around June-July 2017 for the LinuxMint 18.1 release. Yes, that sounds about the right time period.

Why only for the new gen users? Well, because Mesa 12.1 exposes the newer OpenGL only for Intel Gen8+ graphics. For older graphics, you will have to wait even more.
For older gen users, or for users that use the proprietary nvidia drivers, you can make the switch anytime you like.

For the current gen, Gen8+ users, I would suggest to wait it out if your systems are working as per your requirement and upgrade when LinuxMint 18.1 is released at around June-July 2017.

MI Notebook Alternatives

Recently there were two notebooks unveiled by MI. And, going through the pre-launch buzz, these notebooks should have been using some Linux distro - whether a MI grown distro or an already established distro. There are good Chinese origin distros like deepin and Ubuntu Kylin. But, they chose to use a proprietary OS. Maybe it was for some strategic move or something, but I would have liked if they would have at least given a choice.

The higher end one has a Skylake Core i5 6200 processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 13.3" Full HD display, Geforce 940MX graphics card, 256GB SSD. Price of CNY 4,999. That is around INR 50,343.

The lower end one has a Core M3 processor, 4GB RAM, 28GB SSD, 12.5" Full HD display, no graphics card, and even fewer ports. The price is CNY 3,499. This is around INR 35,235.

Also, I am not sold for the looks that result in limited ports/usability. You would need to purchase more peripherals - like usb hubs, usb ethernet adapters, etc., just to use your notebook. And, in the proprietary OS notebooks, you have more competition.

Lets see what alternatives/competition we can find:

At the higher end, with similar specifications that of the MI higher end notebook, I could only find one notebook. The HP HP Pavilion Notebook - 15-ab521tx (HP Part Code: T0Z72PA). But the price goes up by > INR 10K. The price of this HP laptop on the hpshopping.in website is INR 62,190. You do get the HP original bag and 1 year onsite warranty in that price.
The link to the HP laptop -> http://www.hpshopping.in/HP_Pavilion_Notebook_-_15-ab521tx

You also get 3 offers (well, practically 2 since you have to select one from the first two).
1. You can pay an additional INR 999 to get either one of these two:
>>> Total 3 Years Onsite Warranty Worth Rs.5999 + Reliance Burglary & Theft Insurance + McAfee Internet Security Worth Rs. 1999 + HP Black S6500 Bluetooth Speaker Worth Rs. 1999
or
>>> Total 3 Years Onsite Warranty Worth Rs.5999 + Reliance Burglary & Theft Insurance + McAfee Internet Security Worth Rs. 1999 + HP H2800 wired Headset Worth Rs. 1999
2. You can pay INR 1,999 for the HP External 1TB HDD Worth Rs. 4999

There are other offers also on the product page.

The specifications for HP HP Pavilion Notebook - 15-ab521tx (HP Part Code: T0Z72PA):

Operating system	Windows 10 Home 64
Processor	Intel® Core™ i5-6200U with Intel® HD Graphics 520 (2.3 GHz, 3 MB cache, 2 cores)
Memory, standard	8 GB DDR3L-1600 SDRAM (1 x 8 GB)
Hard drive description	1 TB 5400 rpm SATA
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce 940M (4 GB DDR3L dedicated)
Optical drive	SuperMulti DVD burner
Display	15.6" diagonal FHD anti-glare LED-backlit (1920 x 1080)
Expansion slots	1 multi-format SD media card reader
Network interface	Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN
Wireless	802.11b/g/n (1x1) and Bluetooth® 4.0 combo
Ports	2 USB 3.0; 1 USB 2.0; 1 HDMI; 1 RJ-45; 1 headphone/microphone combo
Pointing device	HP Imagepad with multi-touch gesture support
Keyboard	Island-style keyboard with integrated numeric keypad
Audio features	B&O PLAY with 2 speakers
Power supply type	65 W EM AC power adapter
Battery type	4-cell, 41 Wh Li-ion
Security management	Kensington MicroSaver lock slot; Power-on password; Accepts third-party security lock devices
Weight	Starting at 2.09 kg
Minimum dimensions (W x D x H)	38.45 x 26.11 x 2.52 cm
Warranty	1-year limited parts and labour
Pre-installed software	CyberLink YouCam; CyberLink PowerDirector; CyberLink PhotoDirector; Adobe® Shockwave® Player; CyberLink Power Media Player; User Guide documentation; iPass; Evernote; Dropbox

I found a few other notebooks from various brands in the price range of INR 47K to INR 59K, but these had shortcomings, like less display resolution or inferior graphics card or inferior processor. Therefore I am not including these in my alternatives.

Currently, in the higher end, there is no competition for the MI notebook. The MI notebook wins hands down against all other brands in the ~INR 50K price range.

The lower end of the MI notebook presents some challenges. You can find many notebooks in the INR 35K range, but the market/demographic that the MI notebook targets is quite unique. Mainly the display size of 12.5" is quite unique in itself. In this form there are mainly 2-in-1/detachable designs. Mostly tablets with keyboards.

Why would I want to type with a keyboard on a tablet? Or, use a mouse/trackpad on a tablet. This seems just not right. Why not have a 14", 15", or 17" tablet and fill that gap instead of just attaching a keyboard to a tablet. I believe there would be more demand for a larger tablet than the demand for a smaller notebook.

Or, maybe this (MI notebook) is a tablet that I cannot touch. That makes this more problematic. On such a tiny screen how would I be able to work on a spreadsheet? Maybe some can, but I cannot. I like my notebook to be at least 14" size (or at the minimum of 13.3" size that the higher end MI notebook has).

So, if this is just a regular non-touch, non-convertible, non-2-in-1 notebook, then I would be comparing this with a regular notebook and not with some niche designs.

I would be using the HP brand for the comparison, since there would be a lot more devices to list here than I could. I will list just two devices.

The first one is HP Notebook - 15-ba001ax (HP Part Code: W6T51PA). At a glance this notebook has:
AMD Quad-Core A8-7410 APU Processor | Windows 10 Home | 4GB RAM/ 1TB HDD | 15.6" HD SVA display | 2GB Graphics Card | DTS Studio Sound™; Dual speakers.

Plus, you get the HP Original bag and 1 Year Onsite Warranty.

In addition, you get the INR 999 offer (same as the higher model that I have described above). By paying the additional INR 999 you can get either of these two:
>>> Total 3 Years Onsite Warranty Worth Rs.5999 + Reliance Burglary & Theft Insurance + McAfee Internet Security Worth Rs. 1999 + HP Black S6500 Bluetooth Speaker Worth Rs. 1999
or
>>> Total 3 Years Onsite Warranty Worth Rs.5999 + Reliance Burglary & Theft Insurance + McAfee Internet Security Worth Rs. 1999 + HP H2800 wired Headset Worth Rs. 1999

There are more offers on the product page. But, the offer for the external 1TB HDD is missing here.

The specifications are:

Operating system	Windows 10 Home 64
Processor	AMD Quad-Core A8-7410 APU (2.2 GHz, up to 2.5 GHz, 2 MB cache)
Memory, standard	4 GB DDR3L-1600 SDRAM (1 x 4 GB)
Hard drive description	1 TB 5400 rpm SATA
Graphics	AMD Radeon™ R5 M430 Graphics (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)
Optical drive	SuperMulti DVD burner
Display	15.6" diagonal HD SVA BrightView WLED-backlit (1366 x 768)
Network interface	Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN
Wireless	802.11b/g/n (1x1) and Bluetooth® 4.0 combo (Miracast compatible)
Expansion slots	1 multi-format SD media card reader
Ports	1 HDMI; 1 headphone/microphone combo; 2 USB 2.0; 1 USB 3.0; 1 RJ-45
Webcam	HP TrueVision HD Webcam (front-facing) with integrated digital microphone
Pointing device	Touchpad with multi-touch gesture support
Keyboard	Full-size island-style keyboard with integrated numeric keypad
Audio features	Dual speakers; DTS Studio Sound™
Power supply type	65 W EM AC power adapter
Security management	Kensington MicroSaver lock slot; Power-on password; Accepts third-party security lock devices; Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
Weight	2.19 kg
Minimum dimensions (W x D x H)	38.43 x 25.46 x 2.43 cm
Warranty	1-year limited parts and labour
Pre-installed software	Adobe® Shockwave® Player; CyberLink PowerDirector; User Guide documentation; Dropbox; TripAdvisor; CyberLink Power Media Player

All in all, the HP Notebook - 15-ba001ax (HP Part Code: W6T51PA) is a very good option for its price of INR 33,690 as stated on its product page: http://www.hpshopping.in/HP_Notebook_-_15-ba001ax

The second device is a little costly but with Intel Skylake Core i3 processor, the HP 15-ac635TU Notebook_Laptop (HP Part Code: T9G22PA). At a glance this notebook has: Intel® Core™ i3-6100U Processor | Windows 10 Home | 4GB RAM / 1TB HDD | 15.6" FHD anti-glare LED-backlit (1920 x 1080) | DTS Studio Sound™; Dual speakers.

Plus, you get the HP Original bag and 1 Year Onsite Warranty.
In addition, you get the INR 999 offer (same as the one described above).
There are more offers on the product page. Even here, for this product, the offer for the external 1TB HDD is missing.

The specifications are:

Operating system	Windows 10 Home 64
Processor	Intel® Core™ i3-6100U with Intel® HD Graphics 520 (2.3 GHz, 3 MB cache, 2 cores)
Memory, standard	4 GB DDR3L SDRAM (1 x 4 GB)
Hard drive description	1 TB 5400 rpm SATA
Graphics	Intel® HD Graphics 520
Optical drive	SuperMulti DVD burner
Display	15.6" diagonal FHD anti-glare LED-backlit (1920 x 1080)
Wireless	802.11b/g/n (1x1) and Bluetooth® 4.0 combo
Expansion slots	1 multi-format SD media card reader
Network interface	Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN
Ports	1 USB 3.0; 2 USB 2.0; 1 HDMI; 1 RJ-45; 1 headphone/microphone combo
Webcam	HP TrueVision HD Webcam (front-facing) with integrated digital microphone
Keyboard	Island-style keyboard with integrated numeric keypad
Pointing device	Touchpad with multi-touch gesture support
Audio features	DTS Studio Sound™; Dual speakers
Battery type	4-cell, 41 Wh Li-ion
Power supply type	65 W EM AC power adapter
Security management	Kensington MicroSaver lock slot; Power-on password; Accepts third-party security lock devices
Weight	Starting at 2.19 kg
Minimum dimensions (W x D x H)	38.43 x 25.46 x 2.43 cm
Warranty	1-year limited parts and labour
Pre-installed software	CyberLink YouCam; CyberLink PhotoDirector; Adobe® Shockwave® Player; CyberLink Power Media Player; User Guide documentation; iPass; Evernote; Dropbox

The HP 15-ac635TU Notebook_Laptop (HP Part Code: T9G22PA) is a little costly than the one described above, at INR 38,190 (product page: http://www.hpshopping.in/HP_15-ac635TU_Notebook_Laptop)

You can get a lot many options in the ~INR 35K range. But if you require a niche product of 12.5" screen size with limited ports/usability then sure you can get the MI notebook. But, if you want a device on which you can view/create more freely (again, this is my opinion, yours may differ) then I would suggest to go for a regular notebook.