Jan
31
Seamless Window Integration - Preview
Filed Under virtualization | 8 Comments
I’ve got a tutorial in the works that I’m really excited about. If you use virtualization much you might want to come back for this one. I’ll outline how to setup and run seamless window integration using VirtualBox for your virtualized applications. I’m not sure how I’ve missed using this for so long, I just hadn’t heard of it. If you’ve been using this already please hold you comments (and hopefully tips) until tomorrow so we get all the ‘how-to’ in one place. Thanks.
The reaction from one of our LoCo members was entertaining:
01:02 < tonedevf> Zelut: that's hella bitchin'
Until the tutorial is done (it’ll post tomorrow) here is a screenshot teaser.
I post tutorials very regularly on this site. You may want to consider subscribing to the RSS feed. Or if you'd prefer these tips sent to your inbox you can use Email Subscriptions.
Jan
31
Many of you know that I’m a dvorak user. Yeah, I use that funny keyboard layout that makes others want to pull their hair out (or punch my lights out!) anytime they sit down to use my machine. It has been just over a year now and I can’t imagine switching back to qwerty. For more information on this funny layout called dvorak, check out the DVZine.org website.
One question that I get all the time is “How do I switch they keyboard mapping?”, which I thought I would answer here.
Change per Session
To change the keyboard mapping on a per-session basis (it will revert once you logout), is by using the setxkbmap utility. To switch to dvorak using setxkbmap, you would type:
setxkbmap dvorak
To switch back to qwerty layout (try) type:
setxkbmap us
System Wide
To make these changes system wide, assuming you’re using Ubuntu, you can use the following:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup
This will re-install the console-tools package, which will remap your keyboard layout if you select something different. You’ll likely want to select all the default options, other than toggling between US and Dvorak.
Disclaimer: if you set your mapping to Dvorak and can’t switch back its not my fault ;). Visit the DVzine website for a key mapping for help.
Jan
30
OpenID re-activated
Filed Under Wordpress | 5 Comments
After a few updates on the plugin that I’m using and a bit more testing I have re-activated the OpenID plugin for Wordpress. If you’re an OpenID user please let me know if you run into any issues. I have tested with my identity and it seems to be working well enough..
If you haven’t yet started using OpenID you may want to take a look at:
Jan
29
Ubuntu Folding IRC Channel
Filed Under Folding | 2 Comments
A few of us from the Ubuntu Folding Team setup an IRC channel today for support and discussion of folding. If you’d like to join us drop by in #ubuntu-folding (freenode).
You can find support for folding.sh (my application) if I’m around, or discuss other methods for running the distributed computing client.
Links:
Jan
29
Medibuntu : The Only 3rd Party Repo I Use
Filed Under automatix | 9 Comments
I am generally very wary of suggesting the use of 3rd party repositories. I rarely, if ever, use them myself, even if it’ll make installing an application a bit simpler. The bottom line for this is that I want my machine to be as supported as it can be, so I generally only use the official Ubuntu repositories (main restricted universe multiverse). Adding this repository will add unsupported packages to your system, but it is considered far more trusted than other repositories.
Medibuntu is the one repository that I find I can suggest to people, and this solves most all of the non-free issues people have. Everything from DVD playback to non-free codecs–even Google Earth!
A breakdown of what is available via Medibuntu:
- Non-Free Media Codecs (w32codecs, libdvdcss, etc)
- Acroread
- Google Earth
- RealPlayer
- Skype
- Popular Media Players without stripped codecs (amarok, xmms, mplayer, kaffeine, k3b)
Adding the Medibuntu Repo
To add the Medibuntu repository we’ll need to grab the sources.list available there. Note: the following is for Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy”. Replace gutsy.list with feisty.list, etc for your version:
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/gutsy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
We’ll also need the key in order to validate the packages as they come in:
wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update
Installing Packages
So the heavy lifting is now done, now for a few examples of adding some of these codecs or applications.
To install DVD playback use:
sudo aptitude install libdvdcss2
To install non-free codec support:
sudo aptitude install w32codecs
(w64codecs for 64bit, ppc-codecs for PPC architecture)
More documentation is available at the Ubuntu Community Medibuntu Wiki.
Installation via apturl
If you’ve added the repository in the above step you can now install any of the below by clicking on the link. These will install from the Medibuntu repository ONLY if you’ve configured them as above. These packages are not distributed or downloaded from my servers:
Adobe Reader - Adobe’s PDF Reader
Adobe Reader Plugins - Ability to complete fillable forms
Adobe Mozilla Plugin - Adobe Plugin for Firefox, Galeon, Konqueror
Google Earth - Google Earth : Explore, Search and Discover
Win32 Codecs - nonfree media playback (wma, realplayer, quicktime)
Amarok - The popular media player + mp3/mp4 integration
Skype - VOIP with Skype
ffmpeg - Multimedia player, server and encoder (mp3,mp4,h264,amr support)
Ubuntu Restricted Extras
You may also want to read my previous, Installing Ubuntu Restricted Extras for a wider list of the packages that are not installed by default.
Disclaimer: These are not in base Ubuntu for a reason. Either they are patent encumbered or not free software.
Patent and copyright laws operate differently depending on which country you are in. Please obtain legal advice if you are unsure whether a particular patent or restriction applies to a media format you wish to use in your country.
Jan
24
Ubuntu Live : Call For Paper… Suggestions
Filed Under Community | 6 Comments
I attended Ubuntu Live last year and I really enjoyed it! I met a lot of great people there and I decided last year that I’d be back the next, and also that I’d submit a paper for presentation this year. I meant to last year but at the last minute decided against it (which I’ve been kicking myself for since.)
The call for papers will end on February 4th, and I can’t decide what I want to present on. I’ve got a few ideas, but I thought I’d just drop a line out and see what suggestions you all might have.
Ideas I’ve been considering:
- LTS Tutorials - Using Ubuntu in Enterprise
- Community Participation - Building Ubuntu Worldwide
- Moving to Ubuntu - How To Transition From Another Distribution
If you were to attend Ubuntu Live, what type of presentation would you like to see?
Jan
21
The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Ubuntu 6.06.2 LTS, the second maintenance release of “Dapper Drake”. This release includes updated Server installation CDs for the i386 and amd64 architectures.
About Ubuntu
————
Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and servers, with a fast and easy install and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is available from a global network of mirrors with just a few clicks.
Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support
To Get Ubuntu 6.06.2 LTS
————————
Download it here:
About Ubuntu 6.06.2 LTS
———————–
This is the second maintenance release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, which continues to be supported with maintenance updates and security fixes until June 2009 on desktops and June 2011 on servers. This maintenance release focuses on improving hardware support for popular server platforms, including updated server installation media.
Over 600 post-release updates have been integrated, so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation, and a number of bugs in the installation system have been corrected. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 6.06 LTS.
See http://www.ubuntu.com/usn for a list of Ubuntu security updates. As of 2008-01-10, all updates affecting packages on the CD have been applied.
A summary of notable updates follows. See https://bugs.launchpad.net
Server updates
————–
Hardware-independent installer fixes:
- Configuring LVM with using RAID partitions as physical volumes works now. (#22899)
- An occasional indefinite hang during installation on multiprocessor systems has been fixed. (#62986)
Installation on HP ProLiant DL3xx server platforms:
- Detection of the DAC960 RAID controller (#31035)
- Detection of HP Virtual Keyboard (#55495)
- Detection of Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5708 (#73647)
- Installation of Lilo with the HP/Compaq SmartArray RAID controller (#103291)
Installation on Dell PowerEdge server platforms:
- Detection of I2O-based hardware RAID controllers, such as the Adaptec 2xxx series (#22220)
- Detection and handling of PERC/MegaRaid controllers (#32752, #55138, #56854)
Desktop Updates
—————
- Fix polling of CD-ROMs which previously caused problems like failed hibernation, failed hotswapping CD drives, and lockups. (#58953)
- Fix the Gnome printer notification icon and other printing client programs getting stuck in an endless loop, consuming 100% CPU resources. (#44196)
General Updates
—————
- Handling of proxy disabling (Acquire::http::Proxy “false”) in apt configuration (#47044)
- NFS mounts on 64 bit platforms (#89801)
- Printing of documents with certain international characters in the title (#57445)
Helping Shape Ubuntu
——————–
If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at
If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but aren’t sure, try asking on the #ubuntu channel on IRC.FreeNode.net, on the Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums:
http://lists.ubuntu.com
/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/
More Information
—————-
You can find out more about Ubuntu on our website:
Jan
21
Shell Shortcuts
Filed Under Linux | 9 Comments
I was tearing away this morning configuring something in the shell. My wife peaks over my shoulder and says “How do you do that?!” I have a nice laugh and there was born an idea for my next post. This post outlines
some basic shell shortcuts. note: these use the default shell bindings, based on emacs.
Shell Shortcuts
First lets start with some simple stuff.
Clearing the screen. I still see a lot of people using the old ‘clear’ command to do that. A shorter method is:
ctrl-l
Exiting the shell or logging out. I’m sure the most common way to exit your terminal session is using the ‘exit’ command. This can also be done with:
ctrl-d
Searching the history. I’m guessing you’re familiar with using the up/down arrow keys for finding previous run commands. Did you know you can search through your history too, helping avoid hitting up a hundred times.
ctrl-r + command
The above will find the most recent match. If you’d like to go further back hit the key sequense again and it’ll toggle through matches of ‘command’ deeper into your history.
Using the previous argument. This is one of my favorites, and really can save some typing and monotony. You can drop in previously used arguments to your current commands with:
esc-. or alt-.
These are all that came to me off the top of my head. What other shortcuts do you use for the default shell? I’ll have a future post about set -o vi, so if you’ve got tips for that hold them for now.
You also might be interested in an earlier post on using copy and paste within the terminal.
Jan
20
There was some discussion the other day in #ubuntu-us about some people having issues using the default repository for fetching updates. I mentioned that they might want to use a local repository mirror instead. I’m lucky enough to have an ISP that mirrors Ubuntu repositories (Xmission ftw!!). You may not be so lucky, but there is an option to try and select a closer, faster repository.
Software Source Location
Just the other day I blogged about enabling or disabling repository components with the Software Sources tool. This tool also allows us to select the closest, fastest responding mirror. Open that tool again via “System > Admin > Software Sources”. To select an alternate repository location we’ll select the button just below the repository components that says “Download From:”, and select “Other”.
From this point we have two options. We can manually select a different repository mirror location or we can have it “Select Best Server”. It should be noted that manually selecting a local repository may not mean it is actually the fastest repository. “Select Best Server” will try communicating with each available repository mirror and automagically select the fastest one for you.
If you ever have trouble with that mirror in the future, simply try that option again and see if it offers you something different.
You might also reference Tombuntu for a similar outline written last fall including screenshots.
Jan
19
Packaging Request For Folding
Filed Under Folding | 5 Comments
If you’ve followed this blog over the last six months you probably know I’ve been developing a little piece of software that facilitates in installing (and MUCH more!) the Folding @ Home distributed computing project on Linux machines. I’ve had a great lot of fun writing and developing this software, and based on the number of emails I’ve received on the topic many of you have found it useful as well.
I would very much like to see this packaged and available in time for Ubuntu 8.04 in the Ubuntu repositories, but I’d even settle for dropping it in my PPA on Launchpad. The only problem is I can’t seem to wrap my poor head around package creation. I’ve tried and tried, and I’ll keep trying but in the meantime I’d really appreciate a volunteer stepping in and throwing it together for me. Perhaps even documenting for me how it would be done so I could continue to handle it in the future.
If you’re up for it please contact me and let me know. The current stable is 0.6.1 available here.
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