Ubuntu 8.04 W2L final released

The Ubuntu 8.04 W2L edition has been build to accompany the second edition of Probleemloos overstappen op Linux, a Dutch book about migrating to Linux. The Ubuntu DVD aims at providing a panoramic overview of what Ubuntu has to offer as to desktop environments and a wide range of applications for audio, video, graphics, office, networking, software development, security and some games to waste time. As such it isn’t a new version of Ubuntu, but simply a fattened version of the original cd. Thus, it is also an easy install for software gluttons .

Using Reconstructor the vanilla Ubuntu 8.04.1 disk has been extended with:

1. Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu and UbuntuStudio (though without the rt kernel),
2. the software repositories of Medibuntu, Google, PlayOnLinux and Remastersys, and
3. the following list of packages (a straightforward sudo apt-get install):

ubuntu-restricted-extras sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin non-free-codecs mozilla-plugin-vlc mozilla-mplayer gnochm deskscribe easycrypt emacs gdesklets isomaster kiso kitchensync kmobiletools kpilot krusader multisync putty qemulator qink rar rsibreak spamassassin unison qemu-launcher zim celestia childsplay earth3d littlewizard stellarium dfo flickrfs gpsdrive kflickr pdfedit rawstudio ufraw xpdf googleearth prism-google-calendar prism-google-docs prism-google-groups prism-google-mail prism-google-reader prism-google-talk amaya amsn amule aria azureus blam gnome-blog blogtk linuxdcpp drivel emesene etherape prism-facebook prism-twitter prismstumbler filezilla firestarter gtwitter gwget idjc kmess knode logjam nzb pan seamonkey straw ttb xchat fbreader eqonomize glom gnucash gramps grisbi homebank koffice labyrinth openclipart semantik taskjuggler wine gnome-art gshare gtweakui workrave anjuta bluefish eclipse jedit kdevelop netbeans quanta freemind scite acidrip banshee bmpx easytag exaile vlc streamtuner noatun miro lastfm kstreamripper juk compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-kde dosemu gparted hubackup inkblot qgrubeditor kgrubeditor qtemu sbackup pysdm virtualbox-ose virtualbox-ose-modules-generic criawips istanbul yakuake p7zip seamonkey-chatzilla xaralx gtk-recordmydesktop krecordmydesktop recordmydesktop pitivi amarok likewise-open likewise-open-gui b43-fwcutter bcm43xx-fwcutter sun-java6-plugin wink kompozer vim-common vim-doc kmymoney2 remastersys avscan clamav clamav-freshclam clamtk klamav encfs cryptkeeper easycrypt rkhunter chkrootkit tripwire nmap nessus nessus-plugins nessusd zenmap playonlinux abiword-plugins displayconfig-gtk acroread acroread-escript acroread-plugins mozilla-acroread celestia-gnome celestia-kde language-pack-nl language-pack-nl-base language-pack-gnome-nl language-pack-gnome-nl-base language-support-nl language-support-translations-nl language-pack-kde-nl language-pack-kde-nl-base koffice-i18n-nl mozilla-firefox-locale-nl-nl thunderbird opera skype 3dchess adonthell adonthell-data boson boson-data circuslinux circuslinux-data extremetuxracer extremetuxracer-data frozen-bubble frozen-bubble-data hedgewars hedgewars-data lincity-ng lincity-ng-data planetpenguin-racer planetpenguin-racer-data planetpenguin-racer-extras supertux supertux-data supertux-data-stable supertuxkart-data torcs torcs-data torcs-data-cars torcs-data-tracks warzone2100 warzone2100-data wesnoth wesnoth-all gbrainy gnudoq neverball pingus warsow warsow-data warsow-server alien-arena alien-arena-data alien-arena-server sauerbraten sauerbraten-data sauerbraten-server

The book will go to market in the first week of October 2008. This is the disk that will accompany the book. It can be downloaded via bittorrent from LinuxTracker.

Ubuntu 8.04 W2L edition RC released

The Ubuntu 8.04 W2L edition has been build to accompany the second edition of Probleemloos overstappen op Linux, a Dutch book about migrating to Linux. The Ubuntu DVD aims at providing a panoramic overview of what Ubuntu has to offer as to desktop environments and a wide range of applications for audio, video, graphics, office, networking, software development and security. As such it isn’t a new version of Ubuntu, but simply a fattened version of the original cd. Thus, it is also an easy install for software gluttons.

Using Reconstructor the vanilla Ubuntu 8.04.1 disk has been extended with:

1. Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu and UbuntuStudio (though without the rt kernel),
2. the software repositories of Medibuntu, Google, PlayOnLinux and Remastersys, and
3. the following list of packages:

ubuntu-restricted-extras sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin non-free-codecs mozilla-plugin-vlc mozilla-mplayer gnochm deskscribe easycrypt emacs gdesklets isomaster kiso kitchensync kmobiletools kpilot krusader multisync putty qemulator qink rar rsibreak spamassassin unison qemu-launcher zim celestia childsplay earth3d littlewizard stellarium dfo flickrfs gpsdrive kflickr pdfedit rawstudio ufraw xpdf googleearth prism-google-calendar prism-google-docs prism-google-groups prism-google-mail prism-google-reader prism-google-talk amaya amsn amule aria azureus blam gnome-blog blogtk linuxdcpp drivel emesene etherape prism-facebook prism-twitter prismstumbler filezilla firestarter gtwitter gwget idjc kmess knode logjam nzb pan seamonkey straw ttb xchat fbreader eqonomize glom gnucash gramps grisbi homebank koffice labyrinth openclipart semantik taskjuggler wine gnome-art gshare gtweakui workrave anjuta bluefish eclipse jedit kdevelop netbeans quanta freemind scite acidrip banshee bmpx easytag exaile vlc streamtuner noatun miro lastfm kstreamripper juk compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-kde dosemu gparted hubackup inkblot qgrubeditor kgrubeditor qtemu sbackup pysdm virtualbox-ose virtualbox-ose-modules-generic criawips istanbul yakuake p7zip seamonkey-chatzilla xaralx gtk-recordmydesktop krecordmydesktop recordmydesktop amarok likewise-open likewise-open-gui b43-fwcutter bcm43xx-fwcutter sun-java6-plugin wink kompozer vim-common vim-doc kmymoney2 remastersys avscan clamav clamav-freshclam clamtk klamav encfs cryptkeeper easycrypt rkhunter chkrootkit tripwire nmap nessus nessus-plugins nessusd zenmap playonlinux abiword-plugins displayconfig-gtk acroread acroread-escript acroread-plugins mozilla-acroread celestia-gnome celestia-kde language-pack-nl language-pack-nl-base language-pack-gnome-nl language-pack-gnome-nl-base language-support-nl language-support-translations-nl language-pack-kde-nl language-pack-kde-nl-base koffice-i18n-nl mozilla-firefox-locale-nl-nl thunderbird opera

The book will go to market in the first week of October 2008. The DVD can be dowloaded from LinuxTracker, for which I am grateful. This is a final test candidate before the master disk is send to the publisher.

When 'supported' doesn't equal 'fully functional'

As your experience in Linux grows, you learn one thing: don’t buy new hardware or peripherals without checking whether it’s supported by your favorite distribution. It saves both money and disappointments. I wanted to buy a decent mediaplayer. To be honest, I am kind of cheap. I don’t feel the need to buy the latest Apple gadget at a premium price. I don’t need to buy a fashion- or geek statement, but simply want a device that does what it needs to do. And at a bargain price, of course (I’m Dutch ).

One of the players that had both positive reviews and a strong indication of Linux support was the Creative Zen Vision:M. You can use it under Amarok and Rhythmbox and Gnomad2 is your friend to load your music on the device. Once the decision was made, it became a simple bargain hunt (keywords: eBay, dollar exchange rate). I am now the proud owner of a great mediaplayer and I can assure you the positive reviews were not exaggerated.

I didn’t even think about using the Windows installation I have at hand for problematic programs, but happily plugged the device in my Ubuntu box. No problem. Rhythmbox recognized it, Amarok recognized it and Gnomad2 recognized it. I could move 20 Gb of MP3 files to the player without a problem and create new playlists.

Since the Vision:M also has video playback I wanted to put some movies on it as well. But how? Gnomad2 wouldn’t recognize them, nor would Amarok or Rhythmbox. Plus, there were some issues with the playlists. A couple of audiobooks wouldn’t appear in the proper order, even if the ID3 tags were correct.

Since I wanted to check for a firmware upgrade I rebooted into Windows and installed the programs that Creative makes available to organize your mediaplayer. What a difference! Gnomad2 wouldn’t allow files to be stored in separate folders, so I thought it was a “Vision:M thing”. It isn’t, it’s a Gnomad2 thing. I could create scores of playlists by simple right clicking a folder or selecting the files I wanted. Video- and moviefiles could be added through an easy and attractive interface. Then I noticed that the mediaplayer had some extra functions, like the ability to synchronize appointments, contacts and tasks with Outlook. And I wondered, why isn’t all this functionality available under Linux?

We should blame Creative first, I guess, for not offering a Linux native client or at least providing sufficient specifications for other developers to create such a program. But that is only part of the “blame”. Why does Gnomad2 support moving MP3 files to the device but not XVID files? Why doesn’t it allow for music files to be stored in it’s own folders? Why is it cumbersome to fine tune your playlists? The answer, no doubt, is that too few people asked for it or the developers didn’t care about it. The main function, storing MP3 files, is there and you can create custom playlists, but compared to the full Windows-based program it is Spartan at best.

I didn’t mention being able to synchronize Evolution’s appointments, contacts and tasks with the mediaplayer, because I know that would be a difficult one to implement. The whole thing did make me think. What would it take to have programs that not simply support the core functions, but provide full functionality? And I don’t mean ‘develop coding skills’. How could we encourage developers to unlock the potentials of peripheral devices via attractive, easy to use programs?

Maybe it should be a monetary incentive, specific funds filled with microcontributions from users that would directly benefit from such a program. If thousand owners of -in this case- a Vision:M mediaplayer would contribute 10 dollars, you would have a fund of $ 10.000. Would a developer or team of developers be willing to write the needed program for that money and release it under a free or open source license?

OpenOffice 3.0 beta available, install it on Ubuntu

The development of the next OpenOffice.org is progressing nicely. You can get your hands dirty on the beta2 RC1 release. As always, it isn’t recommended for a production machine, but this is your chance to contribute to a quality release by finding and reporting bugs. Maybe the list of new features can convince you.

When you download and unpack the package you are confronted with a new folder under which you can find the folder DEBS. This has a plethora of deb packages. Do you need to click them all, one by one? Fortunately not. This is what you to:

1. unpack the tar.gz file
2. open a Terminal and cd to the new folder
3. cd to the DEBS folder
4. now use: sudo dpkg -i *.deb
5. once finished you can launch the new OpenOffice 3.0 with /opt/openoffice.org3/program/soffice

For easy access you can create a new application launcher on your desktop or your menu panel.

It's Ubuntu testing time

Well, if you are not afraid to get your feet wet, your hands dirty and don’t mind the occassional quirk. The Alpha1 version of Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex should hit the servers soon.

IntrepidReleaseSchedule – Ubuntu Wiki

If you have been playing with Ubuntu for some time, following a complete cycle of bugfixing, feature adding (and removing) of being enamored and frustrated is a fine learning experience. It can only enhance your appreciation for the final release on October 30th.

Turning XP into Ubuntu

At work I still have to use Windows XP, so every chance I get to alter the look and feel into something more decent I take. Currently I am using the Crystal Clear Bricopack, but that could change quickly.

VivaLinux!, a Spanish website, showcases an Ubuntu Transformation Pack. If the screenshot even comes close to a real life Windows XP desktop, I am all for it.

The package can be downloaded from Rapidshare.

Ubuntu Nuggets – it's the little things that count

The first Ubuntu release hype is slowly passing away. It’s amazing to see Ubuntu-related articles rise to the top of social bookmarking sites, extolling the wonders of the new Hardy Heron. Too bad most of them stick to the obvious and fail to see the not-so-obvious-but-o-so-beneficial smaller improvements.

The repositories are packed with applications and tools. Hidden in the long lists are some real gems that provide GUI-tools for actions that used to require commandline interventions and hacking textbased configuration files.

Evolution – Synchronizing my iPaq

Yesterday I posted about moving away from Thunderbird in order to have a more integrated system for calendaring, e-mail, tasks and projects. One missing element was the ability to synchronize Evolution with my iPaq 3850. It was one of those experiments that I attempted over the last couple of years and which failed. However, I did gain some more experience with Linux and perhaps someone found a working solution. And there was someone. Jan Prinsloo wrote a solution for Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. That was the starting point for another attempt.

Evolution – Moving away from Thunderbird

I have been using Thunderbird for quite a while now. It’s a great e-mail client and the fact that you can use it on multiple platforms made it a winner for me. I carry a USB-drive around with Portable Thunderbird on it. A simple edit of the profiles.ini file is enough to point other Thunderbird installs (for instance on my laptop) to the folders on the USB drive. This is a perfect solution for people who need to multiboot and don’t want to keep track of two sets of mail folders. But… Thunderbird was starting to give me a few headaches.

What is wrong with Thunderbird?
For one, I began to have performance issues on my default desktop install of Thunderbird (which didn’t point to the USB drive). It was getting very slow and caused a complete freeze of my computer almost every day, necessitating a hard reboot. Removing the program (and the mail folders) and reinstalling it with a new set of accounts (2 Hotmail, 3 GMail, 1 Yahoo and 5 other POP3 accounts) didn’t solve the problem.

The second problem was the lack of a decent calendaring option. Yes, I tried the Lightning extension but that simply wasn’t enough. I need to be able to transfer e-mail to tasks or appointments without a problem, keep track of projects and create new tasks easily. Thunderbird does have it’s share of extensions, but in the end it wasn’t enough and couldn’t really come close to my experience with Microsoft Outlook.

Alternative I – Zimbra Desktop
One alternative I tried was the Zimbra Desktop. The program is still in beta and it looks promising. But where is the option to import a whole archive of e-mail messages from -for instance- Thunderbird? I would need to start anew and find another way of accessing the mail archives (which is more often than I would like, but that’s life). Apart from this, ZImbra is very slow. Even on my 3.2 Ghz dual core it takes ages to load and go from one function to the other.

Alternative II – Evolution
From here I went on to Evolution, the default suite in Ubuntu. Personally, I think it’s a boring program. The look and feel is anything but interesting. It’s no eye-candy. However, Evolution is complete with e-mail, calendaring, tasks, memo’s, journal and with options to connect to various groupware servers.

Importing e-mail from Thunderbird was a minor problem. I used these instructions and it went flawlessly. To keep it simple I moved all e-mail from the various accounts to one new folder called “temporary”. Then I used the import function in Evolution to go the mail folder and select the file “temporary”.

After that I added all accounts. Thunderbird allows you a choice between receiving all mail in the default box or create a subset of boxes for each account. Evolution doesn’t appear to have this option. The problem is easily solved by using “search folders”, virtual collection based on a set of criteria. After playing with those a couple of days I really like this option. It allows me to gather both incoming and outgoing mail into one virtual collection and keep track of discussions.

Evolution – Pro and Con
After using Evolution for a week I can draw some conclusions. I don’t have performance issues anymore and it is great to be able to continue working after receiving e-mail. The integration between e-mail, calendaring and tasks is what I need and it works.

Evolution has a plugin to synchronize your Pidgin contacts with Evolution, which a nice extra. What I don’t understand is the button “Configure” in the plugins window, since you can’t use it anyway. I tried clicking on it with all the plugins, but nothing. There is a strange bug with the noticifation. By default it tells me there a less new messages than are actually visible in Evolution.

The version on my desktop doesn’t support Google Calendar yet, but I expect the new version to be in Ubuntu 8.04 and that one has support for it.

Compared to Thunderbird, Evolution is performing much worse as to identifying spam. The Thunderbird spamfilter is phenomanal with a high degree of accuracy as to false positives and negatives. In Evolution you can choose either Bogofilter or Spamassassin, but neither seem to be able to recognize the spam messages well. I continue training the filter, but so far most spam messages appear in my inbox, where Thunderbird moved them to the junk box without needing my intervention.

On the plus side, Evolution makes it much easier to use various signatures for each of the e-mail accounts. Overall, the balance tips towards Evolution. If I could only find a good way to synchronize my iPaq 3850 with it, it would be perfect… almost.

Update: the problem with the iPaq is solved. The article about that is here.

A real life "granny" test – The Ubuntu Experiment

Maybe it is one of the most used arguments to convince people from “the other distribution” to wake up, shape up, get a life and move your behind over to “this distribution”: the “my granny uses it daily without a problem” argument. It is used so often that you wonder why Microsoft still has a 95% or more market share on the desktop.

The good thing is that right now there is a real life experiment going on where a young man is getting his mother to move away from Windows and over to Ubuntu. Why his mother and not his granny?

Why my mother?

My mother has recently been complaining about her Windows XP computer becoming too slow. To my great surprise and delight, when I jokingly suggested installing Ubuntu on her computer next to Windows, she agreed. She is the perfect test candidate as she is quite the average adult computer user, not a gamer and, well, my mother! This means I’m there to help her (I’m still in high school, so I live with my mother) whenever she encounters problems. Furthermore, I’m there to write down her experiences and problems so we can finally really see whether Ubuntu has become as good as or better than Windows.

Yes, Vincent is really involved in Xubuntu and definitely has a bias for open source software, but I know him as an honest and balanced writer with a clear eye for what is good and what is not. You can expect an honest account of his mother’s journey into Ubuntu.

Great initiative!