Ubuntu Tutorials

Novell and Microsoft’s software patent agreement betrays the rest of the Free Software community, including the very people who wrote Novell’s own system, for Novell’s sole financial benefit. Join Bruce Perens in signing an open letter to Novell’s CEO Ron Hovsepian.

Sign the petition:
http://techp.org/petition/show/1

..or add your vote to Digg:
http://digg.com/linux_unix/Protest_the_Microsoft_Novell_Patent_Agreement_an_Open_Letter_to_Novell

This one is for all you other Tomboy fans out there. Tomboy 0.5.1 was released today with a few new features and fixes. Below are changes from the changelog:

Version 0.5.1

* New Managed D-Bus/DBusSharp (Sebastian Drage).

* Additional search interface improvements.

* More secure wrapper script to launch Tomboy.exe.

* Fix panel and TrayIcon resizing.

* Fix 1x1 pixel TrayIcon.

* Removed old tintin image.

Remember, the 0.5 series is the latest development release. 0.6 is planned for the next stable release, availalbe with next release of gnome.

I have also put together a quick .deb package for this release. This has only yet been tested on my machine, but should work fine for the rest of you. Use at your own risk, of course. Download Tomboy 0.5.1

technorati tags:tomboy, note-taking, gnome, 0.5.1

I recently posted about how to install Flashplayer 9 (beta) for Firefox. I wanted to follow this up with a few more detailed instructions, including how to fix the bug causing Firefox to crash when certain flash sites are loaded.

Install FlashPlayer for Firefox
To install the Firefox flashplugin use the following command (or see my previous post, How to install FlashPlayer 9 for Linux).

sudo aptitude install flashplugin-nonfree

sudo update-flashplugin

You can also try the Gnash (GNU Flash Player substitute) by installing the package:

sudo aptitude install libflash-mozplugin

You will need to restart Firefox for either of these to take effect.

Bugfix #1 – Flash causing Firefox to crash
Now, if you’re one of the unlucky souls that has trouble with Firefox crashing on Flash intensive (or non-intensive for that matter) websites you can try the below fixes for added stability. I have not had this problem on my personal machines, but this has worked on others machines.

sudo gedit /usr/bin/firefox

..and add this to the LAST LINE OF THE FILE:

export XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS=1

Bugfix #2 – Flash playing without audio
There is another bug that occasionally causes audio to crash within Flash related websites. You can also try the following to cure this bug as well.

Install the fix package using the following command:

sudo aptitude install alsa-oss

Afterwards replace FIREFOX_DSP=”" to FIREFOX_DSP=”aoss” by editing the file using the command:

sudo gedit /etc/firefox/firefoxrc

At this point you should have a stable and audible version of Firefox. If you do continue to experience bugs please report them to Malone.

technorati tags:flashplayer, ubuntu, beta, firefox, bugfix

I recently started learning Java and found that I needed the Java Development Kit to be able to develop or compile any Java programs. Below is a quick outline on how to install Sun’s Java Development Kit v5.0 for java development on Ubuntu 6.06.1 or 6.10 machines.

sudo aptitude install sun-java5-jdk

You will have to accept the license agreement to install the JDK. For more on this please see my previous post entitled: How to install Java Runtime Environment (JRE) which includes a link to the DLJ license terms.

You may also want to set Sun’s JDK as the default Java version on your machine. You can do so using the following command.

sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-1.5.0-sun

..and lastly you’ll need to move java-1.5.0-sun to the top of the JVMs offered within the file /etc/jvm. This needs to be done manually using:

sudo gedit /etc/jvm

Below is an example of my completed /etc/jvm file after following this tutorial. Yours should look similar:

# This file defines the default system JVM search order. Each
# JVM should list their JAVA_HOME compatible directory in this file.
# The default system JVM is the first one available from top to
# bottom.

/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun
/usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj
/usr/lib/jvm/ia32-java-1.5.0-sun
/usr

At this point, enjoy your new JDK powered machine and start developing!

technorati tags:java, JDK, sun, ubuntu, JVM

The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is required if you need to run any java-based applications on your Ubuntu machine. Many times this is required for certain websites and is always a good addition to your installed package base. To install the Java Runtime Environment including the plugin for Mozilla Firefox simply run the following command. (note: you will need to have additional repositories enabled. See How to add extra repositories.

sudo aptitude install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-bin

You will have to agree to the DLJ license terms to install this package. To find out more about the terms of the DLJ visit the DLJ FAQ.

This post is something that may be fairly basic for many of you, but extremely helpful for anyone new to using Ubuntu. In an attempt to be as comprehensive as I can with my tutorials I wanted to go back to the basics.

Ubuntu (and Debian) use a package management system called APT. This system uses a list of repositories to access updates and install programs specifically designed for your distribution and version. This system is generally more secure and more stable than other methods. Mainly for the reasons that access into these public repositories is kept very strict, and each package is thouroughly tested before it is included. Packages are also digitally signed for verification and security.
This tutorial will outline how to manually edit and update your repository source list to access whatever program you might need.

As usual, before editing any system file you will want to back it up. You should backup your sources.list file using the following command at a terminal:

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list-backup

Below is an example of a sources list for Ubuntu including main, restricted, security, universe and multiverse. This will give you access to everything in the official Ubuntu repositories (over 20,000 packages)

# Ubuntu supported packages
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy main restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-updates main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-security main restricted

# Ubuntu community supported packages
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-updates universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-security universe multiverse

To update your current sources.list to this expanded list (by default the universe and multiverse are not activated) run the following command:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

..and overwrite the contents of the existing file with the example above. Note: the example above does not include the “source” for these packages. Normal users generally don’t make use of the source for the packages. Unless you know you are going to be manually compiling and editing the source for the programs you don’t need to worry about it. If you do want the source simply add a duplicate line using the prefix deb-src instead of deb.
After you’ve made changes to your sources.list file you can update to the latest list using the command:

sudo aptitude update

At that point you can request any available updates using the command:

sudo aptitude upgrade

At this point the system will compare any current versions you have and install any upgrades that are available on the public repositories. Your system will automagically check for updates normally on a daily basis.
EDIT: To create a customized sources.list file based on your interests or needs you can visit the Source-O-Matic published by the Ubuntu Netherlands Team. (note: the source-o-matic currently only supports up to Dapper and NOT edgy.)

You may also be interested in my recent post, Seveas Repository.

technorati tags:APT, ubuntu, debian, sources.list, seveas, security, main, restricted, universe, multiverse

I’ve been using synergy for quite some time now. It allows you to share a single input (ie; mouse & keyboard) between multiple machines without the need for any type of switches or extra hardware.  Everything is done over the network.  This is great for situations where you might have two local desktops or, in my situation, where I bring my laptop into the office and then share the desktop keyboard and mouse between the two machines.  To setup synergy follow the steps below (this outlines steps for an all ubuntu network, or a mixed ubuntu and XP network.)

Installing Synergy

• sudo aptitude install synergy (ubuntu machine)
• Download Synergy (windows machine)

Configuring Synergy
After you have Synergy installed you simply need to configure the screens that you’d like to use.  Configuring synergy is fairly simple once you get an idea of how it works. Below is an example synergy.conf file that I use on my network. You should be able to pretty easily figure out your configuration based on that.

section: screens

notebook:

silverbox:

end

section: links

silverbox:

left = notebook
notebook:

right = silverbox

end

Let me break this down for you. The first half of this is the “section: screens” which defines the screens you want to use. You need to use the hostnames of your networked machines in this area. As you can see one of my screens is notebook, for my laptop, and the other is silverbox, for my desktop machine.

The second half is the “section: links” which maps where each screen should display. From the example you can see that to the left of silverbox is notebook and to the right of notebook is silverbox. Basically repeat this layout for all machines that you want setup. I have setup five machines on one network. Basically list the screens (hostnames) and then map where each screen shows on that map and you’re done. You can use right, left, up and down for your directional mapping. Pretty simple.

The windows setup is a little more complicated and I’m not sure I can explain it without screenshots (which I don’t have). If you’re using synergy with XP as the server you’re outside of the reach of this post. A simpler method might be to use Ubuntu as the host and simply click the option in synergy for XP “use another machines input: ” and enter the hostname or IP address there.

Running Synergy
Running Synergy is pretty simple as well. Based on your map (above), which is saved as synergy.conf on the “server” or “host” machine, you can easily get things going. Below are the commands for starting the server and the client.

Synergy Server
synergys –config .synergy.conf

Synergy Client

synergyc <ip.address.of.host>

Note the synergyS for server and synergyC for client.

Synergy Autostart

Once you get things setup the way you’d like you can simply add the appropriate command to your System > Preferences > Sessions > Startup Programs and it’ll auto load & connect each time you log into your profile.

Enjoy!

technorati tags:synergy, ubuntu, 6.06.1, 6.10, XP

I know I’m a little late on this news but I wanted to get it out there for anyone else that hadn’t been paying attention. Honestly, since the release of Firefox 2 I have switched back, but I’ve been missing some of the features of Flock so I took a look today and noticed there was an update. This release takes advantage of the Firefox 1.5.0.8 release. Personally I’m really waiting for Flock to catch up to the Firefox 2 release engine, but I’m sure that isn’t too far away. Again, below are the instructions for installing or upgrading Flock on your Ubuntu machine.

1. Download Flock 0.7.8 (Save to Desktop)
2. sudo tar -C /opt -xzvf flock-*.linux-i686.tar.gz

If this is a first-time installation you might want to see additional instructions for Flock on Ubuntu.

EDIT: .deb package available at link below release notes. use at your own risk.

Tomboy 0.5.0 was released this afternoon. It is a great little app for tracking notes, TODO lists, etc. I have been using it since it was included in Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) and really like the way it lets me organize the (many) things I have to do. Tomboy 0.5.0 release notes:

Version 0.5.0
* New note pinning in main menu.
* New integrated table of contents and search.
* New find bar for searching inside a single note.
* New Bugzilla plugin (David Trowbridge).
* New Tomboy icons (Jakub Steiner).
* Timestamped logging to ~/.tomboy.log.
* Export to HTML now uses Gtk.FileChooserDialog.
* Number of notes in main menu configurable in GConf.
* Removed old gtk-sharp dependency, uses gtk-sharp2 now.

I did create a .deb package for this release. If you’re brave and are willing to try an outside .deb package you can download it here: Tomboy 0.5.0 for Ubuntu.

Of course any program related bugs should be reported upstream to the developers. Only issues related to the .deb itself would come to me, but I make no guarantees about the product or package.

Tomboy is a great little app I found recently since upgrading to Ubuntu 6.10. It is a deskbar applet–something that resides on your taskbar for quick access to programs. I started using it because it very easily helps me track my TODO lists. It also allows for linking between notes (similar to web pages), linking to emails within Evolution, highlighting (similar to wiki), and a lot more. See a complete list in Tomboy News.

Installing Tomboy:
Below are a couple of steps to quickly install it on your gnome desktop. More information found at the Tomboy Website. As far as I can tell this requires Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft).

1. right-click on your taskbar
2. select “Add to Panel”
3. In the “Accessories” section select “Tomboy Notes”

Installing the Reminder Plugin
This plugin will allow you to include common date / time notes (as you normally might within any note) which the Reminder Plugin will then recognize and open that note on said date / time. To add the Reminder plugin follow the steps below.

1. Download the latest precompiled .dll file from the Tomboy Reminder site
2. cp ~/Desktop/tomboy-reminder.dll ~/.tomboy/Plugins/
3. OR right-click on the Tomboy icon & select “Open Plugins Folder”
4. copy the tomboy-reminder.dll into this folder (Not the “Default Plugins” folder)

NOTE: you must restart the panel for it to take effect the first time. In a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) type: ‘killall gnome-panel‘

Using the Reminder Plugin
To use this plugin simply write a note and when you want to be reminded for this note you have a few options.

1. put a “!” somewhere followed by a date at which Tomboy will show a popup with the note content at the specified date or time. OR
2. write “remind {date}”, “alert {date}” or “rappel {date}” within the note.

The date format is quite loose. You should be able to write any date / time format as you normally would in regular conversation. If not it should be a bug, please report such to the developers.

• 4th july
• 2006/11/15
• 5th
• 3 september 06
• next monday
• thursday
• 12am
• 23:35
• 10h
• 10h am
• 3 july at 12pm
• monday @ 2h pm

A few notes about the behavior of the note popup system

1. When a date is found the note will popup on that date starting at 00:00 and every 30min until the note / reminder is removed.
2. When a time is found the note will popup at the given time on the day you created the note, once.
3. When a date and time are found the note will popup at the given time, on the given date, only once.

Technorati Tags: tomboy, gnome, todo, reminder, note-taking