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!

Marcel's blog

Cloud Computing Class : Lesson 1

Wed, 05/11/2011 - 13:58 — wftl

Flying Penguins by Lemonade_Jo at http://www.openclipart.org/detail/125731 Welcome to Marcel's Cloud Computing Class, Lesson 1. Over the course of the next few posts, I'm going to teach you a thing or two about cloud computing [ insert appropriate smiley here ]. Seriously, I plan on giving you the basics, introducing you to various tools, frameworks, and technologies with the intention of turning you into a cloud computing guru. Or at the very least, someone who can manage their own cloud. I will, throughout this series of posts, start with the assumption that you do know something about computers, networks, and of course, Linux. So let's get started with the introduction.

Cloud computing brings with it the promise of manageable, quickly deployed, virtual machines in large networks. The idea is to take advantage of your existing hardware infrastructure (or someone else's) to deploy additional systems without deploying additional hardware. All it all, it seems like a gift from tech heaven. Of course, cloud computing carries a lot of hype along with the promise, including plenty of people sparring on whether cloud computing is inherently safe, unsafe, reliable, unreliable, oversold, or just plain evil. Hearing business people talk about cloud computing, however, makes you realize that whatever your perception of the reality concerning what is at the core, a technological issue based on virtualization, cloud computing is here to stay. Your job, as a systems administrator, is to find ways to deliver and work with the technology.

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Cooking With Android

Wed, 04/20/2011 - 15:13 — wftl

Way back a million years ago or so (early March), I asked the WFTL-LUG mailing list about Android tablets. Since then I've bought two tablets and I have, as you might expect, been trying out different applications to go with it. Since I expect to post a fair bit on the subject as I try software, buy new hardware (will likely happen), and otherwise muck about with Android, I've decided to spin off a site dedicated to my thoughts on the subject.

It's called Cooking With Android and you can find it here: http://cooking-with-android.com

First post (Taking Android to Dinner; First Date) just went up with more to come in the next few days, weeks, etc. Feel free to register, leave comments, make suggestions, etc.

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New Monthly Column. New Blog.

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 04:00 — wftl

Today, I start with yet another online presence. I have a new blog over at Ubuntu-User.com, a companion site to the new Ubuntu User magazine by the fine people who bring you the slick, shiny LinuxPro Magazine. The second issue of the quarterly Ubuntu User magazine, in which another new column of mine appears, is on store shelves now.

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2006 Pipe Down from Organized Crime

Wed, 03/04/2009 - 19:36 — wftl

This past weekend, a friend dropped in with an interesting bottle of wine she picked up while driving through the Niagara wine region. The 2006 Pipe Down is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Syrah, and 10% Petit Verdot, aged 16 months in French oak casks.

The Organized Crime Winery in Beamsville, Ontario, has such an interesting name, you must hear a little about its name and the origins thereof. It seems that in the early 1900s. there were two Mennonite congregations who fought over a rather liberal idea, to play music in the church. The liberal congregation acquired a small organ, an act that greatly irked the more conservative of these two congregations. The outrage was such that on night, the stricter, presumably more God-fearing group broke into the church belonging to those sinful, liberal-minded Mennonites, stole the organ, smashed it to bits, and threw the wreckage down an embankment into a stream below. Oh, the irony.

So, how was the wine? Pleasant. A little cherry and oakiness on the nose. It has a nice deep ruby colour, but it is nevertheless surprisingly light. That said, I would be more likely to recommend it with food than on its own though it is still a fairly nice drinking wine. Dry with a long finish. The cork has the words, "Thou Shalt Not Steal Music" written around its perimeter. You can visit the winery's Website by clicking here.

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