Ubuntu Tutorials

First let me start of by saying that if you haven’t yet taken the plunge to use vi/vim you really should.  This editor will take you to levels of efficiency that you’ve only dreamed of, and probably beyond.  Seriously, take the time to teach yourself some vim tips.

You might want to read a few of my previous posts on vim.

How to pwn your text files with vim

Find and replace with vim

Vim : the ultimate editor

..and for those that want something more, let’s talk a bit about the +[num] and +/{pat} options when launching vim.  These options will let you begin editing on a certain line number (+[num]) or at an instance of a certain pattern (+/{pat}).  Let me show you a few examples.

If you’d like to begin editing a file on line 45 you could launch vim using a command such as:

vim file +45

If you’d like to begin editing at the last line in the file you could use +[num] without assigning a value:

vim file +

This option is really helpful for things such as trying to fix code or fixing syntax errors in configuration files.  If the log displays the line number you could jump right to the line as you open the file.  …and you thought the :[num] option was convenient!

vim file +185, vim file +2, vim file +823, etc.. simple ways to begin editing at a certain point.

The +/{pat} option lets you begin editing at the first occurrence of a certain pattern.  This means instead of opening the file and beginning your search function you can use the search as you open vim.  Some examples:

vim +/foo, vim +/bar, vim +/baz

You can use the :help search-pattern within vim to see available search patterns.

Anyway, I thought I would share this little tidbit of vim-awesomeness today.  Hopefully I can continue to do a vim tip of the week.  Would the faithful readers like that?  Would you like more advanced vim options? Simpler tutorials? Are you happy with gedit and kate and don’t even want to bother?  Let me know, I’ll do my best to help.

This evening I went with my wife and some friends for a nite on the town.  We spent a little time at the SLC Jazz Festival (still going tomorrow, and worth the trip!), we got some dinner and then stopped into the theatre to see Michael Moore’s “SiCKO”.  I just want to take a minute and tell you that you should go see this film!

I know, I know.  You’re probably thinking that you’ve seen a Michael Moore film in the past and, well, you didn’t have any plans to see another.  Or, maybe you love his films.  Whatever your feelings about Michael Moore you should see this film.  At the least it is a well told story, and at the best it outlines the government corruption and shambles of a health care system we have in the US.

I don’t know if the medical school Hippocratic oath has changed, but apparently it only applies if you have health care.  And even then only applies if they can’t find some way to get out of it!  The healthcare insurance industry is the biggest scam on the planet!

He outlines stories of insurance companies outright letting people die to save money, asking a man to choose which finger he would like reattached after an accident because he can’t afford to reattach both, and outrageous accounts of our heroes of 9/11 being left out to die.. all for lack of medical insurance.

…and then nearly identical accounts of medical problems in Canada, the UK and even Cuba where people were taken care of and actually treated like human beings.  Can any of our readers in those countries verify the healthcare system in those places?  Can you really walk into any hospital and get the medical care you need for no cost?

Again, particularly if you are in the US you should go see this film.  Get angry. Open your eyes.

Ohh, and to all the US health insurance companies, owners, employees and corrupt government officials that let this happen: There is a special place in hell for you. Enjoy.

I have gone a little longer than I had planned without posting so I’m here to drop a quick update on what is in the works…

First, I’m leaving for Boston for the week in a few hours.  If there are any fellow Ubuntu users that would like to meet up for dinner or something Mon – Thur let me know (email or drop a comment).  I’d love to get some suggestions on good eateries and have some good dinner company.

Second, version 0.2 of the Folding @ Home automation project will be due out Tuesday.  Look for that if you’re interested in helping the folding project or have had trouble with my original script.  I have worked out quite a few bugs in this release.

Third, if all goes well I hope to have my “Installing Ubuntu on a Macbook” tutorial complete.  It is very comprehensive, borrows from many sources and (hopefully) should become a one-stop-shop for all Ubuntu-on-Macbook needs.  Fingers crossed I can get it out this week.  It has been a few weeks in the making.

Off to get ready for the trip.  See ya’ll on the other side…

Screen.  What can I say about it?  It’s not very well known to many people I mention it to but its one of those programs that you just can’t stop using once you’ve started.  Yes, I use screen on a regular daily basis and it’s really easy to use.

I know someone who says the only reason they invented X was so that you could use more virtual terminals.  I think the real solution behind great command line multitasking is screen!

Here are some basic usage tips.  To start a command line based program within a virtual ‘screen’ prefix that command with screen, such as:

screen irssi

Once that has loaded you can detach the virtual screen for later use by pressing ctrl-a d.  To reattach that screen type screen -r (or, if the screen was somehow not completely detached previously you would use screen -dr).

Now, ok, I can start applications within screen and detach them.. that’s cool I guess but couldn’t I just background the process or something similar?  I suppose so, but here is where it gets interesting.

Create a new screen instance within screen with ctrl-a c.  Do this as many times as you might need, based on the number of apps you’re using.  To later switch between these screens use ctrl-a 0-9, ctrl-a n,p (for next or previous) or to see a visual list, use ctrl-a “.

To close a screen you no longer need you can simply type exit which will take you to the next screen or exit screen completely if it is the last one.

In my setup I’m running irssi, mutt, bash and snownews within screen 0-3 over ssh to a private server at home.  On my local machine I load screen for rtorrent and an irssi notification script.  Once I get them both going I ctrl-a d, close gnome-terminal and don’t bother with those apps until I need something. At that point I screen -r and there they are again, right back where I left them.. and having continued that whole time.  Like I said, easy multitasking on the command line.

Do you have any magic screen tips to share with the crowd?  You know where the comments go.

I just spent the evening having dinner with some folks from the Georgia (US) Team.  I had a great time and I think Georgia has some great folks on the team.  It was a small turnout but worth the time and talk.  I’m sure this team will continue to grow and become approved before we know it.

If you live in Georgia and want to help Ubuntu grow be sure to check out their Local Team.  Get together with other people in your area, coordinate Ubuntu meetings and make the world a better place   Isn’t that what it’s all about.

For more info about the Georgia Team:

Wiki

Mailing List

Launchpad

Thanks again guys.  I’m sure we’ll meet up again soon and I’m sure you’ll have a lot more to report.

Look at the random number I came up with today

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

Just a quick word before I head out to celebrate but I wanted to announce that, after a few weeks of hard study, I have successfully passed the RedHat Certified Engineer exam.  I am very relieved to have that done and out of the way!

I’ve been getting some friendly jabbing from the community so far that I’ve done the RH exam and not the Ubuntu certification, but I’m happy to have done this!

I’ll see everyone back tomorrow at the Utah Team Release Party for Feisty.  It’s going to rock.. and now I have two things to celebrate!

P.S.  I hope everyone is still seeding those Feisty ISOs!

Quick note that I’ll be transferring this domain to another host today so if you see downtime or things are acting funny it’ll most likely be due to the DNS transfer.  I should be back up and running soon.  ..I just couldn’t refuse the deal at BlueHost for hosting multiple sites for cheap.

Here I am popping up again from the seemingly dead.  I’m not dead, just have a lot more on my plate right now.  I do promise (if there is anyone out there that still believes me) that I’ll get back to blogging real soon.  Just as soon as I finish the RHCE test and can slow down the studying a bit!

So, as a quick update, I did pass the RedHat Certified Technician exam last week.  Thanks goes to all of you that wished me good luck.  I appreciate it.  Next week (Fri the 20th) I will be taking the RedHat Certified Engineer exam.  This one is apparently quite a bit more intense so I’m doing all I can to be confident for this’n.  Wish me luck and hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have one more certification under my belt.

In hopes of having something to celebrate I also want to remind everyone about the Feisty Release Party that the Ubuntu Utah team is putting on this year.  Considering the development team chose an awkward Thursday for release our party will be on a more feasible day, Sat the 21st.  This should be a lot of fun and I hope to see all Ubuntu users at the party.

Sat, April 21st. 6:00pm – 9:00pm at the Orbit Cafe.  (200S 540W, SLC).  I will be sending out some more details to the list soon.  Mark your calendar for an Ubuntu Celebration!

In any event, it’s back to studying in the morning so I’d better get to bed.  No rest until I’m RHCE… then I can get back to some of my business as usual.

Well I want to apologize for my continued lack of posting this past week.  I’m in New Jersey (sorry NJ team, if I weren’t so slammed I’d come meet up with you!) taking the RedHat 133 course in preparation for the RHCT exam tomorrow.  I’m, of course, hoping for the best.  So far I don’t see anything that I’m *really* worried about, but as always a test does a good amount to make someone nervous.

I’ve done my studying, I’m going to study even more tonite… which means I better get going.  I hope to have some good news tomorrow.  I’ll let you know.