Chef Marcel at your service! Food, Wine, and Linux may seem like a strange combination, but combining three passions can be a wonderful thing. I'm Marcel Gagné. Those of you who read Cooking with Linux, the multi-award-winning column that appeared monthly in Linux Journal magazine for 10 years, likely agree. With the help of my faithful waiter, François, Restaurant Chez Marcel serves up the finest in Linux and open source software paired with exceptional wines.

In that same spirit, this site features great Linux and Open Source software, ongoing wine tasting reports, recipes, and the occasional restaurant review. If you came here looking to read past Cooking with Linux columns, you'll find newer releases on the front page, a comprehensive list here and under the "CWL, The Column" menu link to the left. A votre santé! Bon appétit!

Cooking with Linux

Linux, Thunderbird, and the BlackBerry; A Love Story (Cooking with Linux)

Fri, 07/17/2009 - 14:39 — wftl

Thinking about keeping our various devices in sync with our Linux systems can be the source of nightmares for many. After all, asking for an open source solution that can keep millions of smart phones, cell phones, email clients, contact databases, and calendars on the same planet, never mind the same page, seems akin to asking for the moon. To which Chez Marcel would like to ask, "Would you like a nice rich Merlot with that moon?"

Excuse me, François, but what are you doing? Are you sending text messages while you should be getting ready for the restaurant to open? You aren't? Well, if you aren't texting, what are you doing hunched over that cell phone? Quoi? You have three cell phones that you are typing into. My apologies, mon ami, but now I really have no idea what you are doing. Ah, I see . . . trying to update your contact list and calendars and you can't think of a way to do that with you Linux system. But three phones? One is your BlackBerry and the other two phones belong to your aunt and your mother. Sigh . . . Tech support for the family on restaurant time, François. What am I going to do with you? Put those phones down and I'll show you a better way to synchronize all those contacts. Quickly! I can see our guests arriving even now.

Tags:

You Look Marvelous On The Web!

Fri, 07/18/2008 - 10:28 — wftl

Looking good is easy for our regular guests. True enough. However, looking good on the Web takes a little more work, which doesn't mean it can't be a lot of fun. With a little help from your Linux system, your smile will shine online!

Yes, François, I think it would be great to add a gallery of our regular guests on the restaurant's Website, but I do have a couple of concerns. First and foremost, I really don't think you should call it a "Rogue's Gallery". Second, why on Earth are you coding HTML by hand. This is going to take you forever and our guests will be here momentarily. Lucky for you, tonight's menu has some great free software for your Linux system that will make creating that gallery a breeze. Later, though. I can see our guests arriving as we speak. Good evening and welocome one and all to Chez Marcel! Your tables are ready as are we to serve you. My faithful waiter, François, will fetch your wine while I introduce you to tonight's featured Linux software. François, to the wine cellar. Vite! In the South wing, you'll find a case of 2003 Sariza from Bulgaria. The Sariza is a great medium-bodied red wine that I'm sure you'll enjoy. I must tell you that François had an excellent idea that involved creating a Web photo gallery. Before I show you how easy it can be to create such a gallery, I need to tell you about a package you'll need to have on your system, a package which will let you do all sorts of magical things with images.

Tags: