Showing posts with label Linux. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Linux. Show all posts

Ubuntu 11.10: Oneiric Ocelot

Has Ubuntu changed the World with a Free Operating System? Well with Ubuntu 11.10 you Pretty Much have a Free Alternative to Windows 7. There Are features like Aero-snap, where as if you drag a window to the side of the screen it will maximize to 1/2 of the screen. It uses Unity for the default interface. It looks very promising. There are multiple different types of Ubuntu. Like Kubuntu, Ubuntu studio, and more. I would recommend Ubuntu for first time Linux users.
Download Ubuntu at Ubuntu.com
The latest Stable version of Ubuntu is 11.04. Wondering why there are always .04 or .10 on each? The major release version(11) is the year. The minor release version(10) is the month that it came out. All are released in April and October. Download the Beta today!
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Banshee To Replace Rhythmbox In Ubuntu 11.04 – More Mono!

The Ubuntu Developers Summit at Orlando, Florida is over and now we have the tentative list of the default applications that will ship with Ubuntu 11.04 “Natty Narwhal”. There are no major changes in the default applications – Firefox stays, Evolution is still preferred over Thunderbird etc. Of course the choice of Unity over GNOME Shell for the desktop is a big surprise but that is another thing.

A really surprising change is that the music player Rhythmbox will be replaced by Banshee. There is really nothing wrong with Rhythmbox – in fact it is much better than Banshee in my opinion. So, it is surprising that they have decided to ditch Rhythbox.

And Banshee has a little detail that will make a lot of people cringe – it is a mono application. In spite of Miguel de Icaza’s efforts, mono still remains one technology that a lot of people in the open-source community love to hate. With the inclusion of Banshee, Ubuntu has brought up the mono apps count to three – Tomboy Notes and gbrainy being the other two.

Before the official announcement, there are still some little details like CD space issues to be resolved. In any case, that should be resolved and the replacement of Rhythmbox by Banshee is almost certain.

The choice of Unity for the desktop did not please many people. With the inclusion of more mono apps that number should increase. Natty Narwhal should be an interesting release.

via techie-buzz
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How to choose the best Linux for you?

With all the many reasons to use Linux today, particularly in a business setting, it’s often a relatively easy decision to give Windows the boot. What can be more difficult, however, is deciding which of the hundreds of Linux distributions out there is best for you and your business.

Which one is right for you? 

 That depends on several key factors. Judging by popularity statistics, as tracked both by Distrowatch and in a recent study at LinuxTrends, Ubuntu is clearly the most popular distribution, or “distro.” There’s no denying that Ubuntu has many benefits for business users; at the same time, there are many, many other possibilities, each offering its own twist on Linux.

1. Skills
If you or the other people in your office have never used Linux before, you’ll probably want to stick with a distribution that’s better suited to beginning users. This is one of Ubuntu’s defining characteristics, but Fedora, Linux Mint, and business-friendly openSUSE can be good choices as well. Personally, I’d steer a brand-new user to either Ubuntu or Fedora.

Be sure to avoid alpha, beta and release candidate (RC) versions of the software, since they can sometimes be unstable. If, on the other hand, you consider yourself a power user, the more do-it-yourself distributions include Gentoo, Debian, Arch Linux and Slackware; or, with Linux From Scratch, you can even build your own distribution!

2. Focus
If your business is focused on a particular area of computing, it’s worth checking out all the many niche-specific Ubuntu versions, including EduBuntu and UbuntuScience.

3. Support
Each distro has its own online community, which is often the best place to get free yet comprehensive help when issues arise. Before you pick a distro, it can be a good idea to get a feel for the culture of its community by visiting the associated forums; some are innately more helpful than others.

If you’re not comfortable with getting support in this way, however, you may want to purchase a commercial Linux version with tech support from a vendor. Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (formerly known as Novell Linux Desktop) are typically among the top choices in the business category of Linux distros.

4. Hardware
One of Linux’s many virtues is that it can run beautifully well on older hardware, so–unlike with Windows–it’s not necessary to have the latest, cutting-edge machines. For those with very old hardware, Puppy Linux is typically a good choice. For resource-limited desktop systems, XUbuntu and Debian XFCE edition can be particularly useful.
Even with relatively modern machines, peripherals can also make a difference in the choice of a Linux distro. If you need to use a media card reader or a particular printer, for instance, it’s probably worth checking ahead of time whether the distros you’re considering have worked with it before. Among all the major distros out there, Ubuntu has probablydone the best job with hardware compatibility.


5. Software
Similarly, if there is an application your business just can’t do without, you should plan ahead to make sure you won’t have to, even for a minute. I’d recommend checking first to see if there’s an open source version of the software. If it’s proprietary-only, however, you’ll again want to check to make sure that others have succeeded in getting it running on the Linux distro you’re considering–chances are it will be fine, but it’s always better to know ahead of time.

If you’re still having trouble deciding on a Linux distro, there are a number of online “tests” to help guide your choice, and it can be worth checking them out. The best ones I’ve seen are the zegenie Studios Linux Distribution Chooser and polishlinux.org’s Distro chooser.

Whichever distro you pick, it’s a good idea to try it out first using a Live CD or Live USB–that way, if you decide it’s not for you, nothing was ever put on your system. If you do like it, it can be a good idea to start using it in dual-boot fashion, so that Windows is always there if you–or a must-have application–really needs it (though in most cases that won’t be necessary). I’d also recommend getting a book for reference; for Ubuntu users, for example, something like The Official Ubuntu Book can be a big help.

Always remember that choice is what Linux is all about. If the first distribution you pick doesn’t feel right, there are plenty more out there to try, and most won’t cost you a penny. Just try that in the proprietary world!
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Download Portable Ubuntu For Windows

Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you'll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools. Portable Ubuntu for Windows is a Ubuntu system running as a Windows application. This system is built with the Colinux Kernel, Xming X server and Pulseaudio server for Windows. You can carry it on your thumb drive.
Portable Ubuntu for Windows runs an entire Linux operating system as a Windows application.


Portable Ubuntu lets you seamlessly run Linux apps on your Windows desktop, Portable Ubuntu is a stand-alone package that runs a fairly standard (i.e. orange-colored, GNOME-based) version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. It just doesn't bother creating its own desktop, and puts all its windows inside your Windows's windows.

The coolest parts about Portable Ubuntu are:
  • It actually works.
  • It fits on a thumb drive (flash drive) and can run entirely from it.
  • It can work on, and save to, your Windows folders and files.
  • It's persistent, so changes you make and apps you install are carried around with you.
  • It's easily manageable from Windows, and works great on dual monitors.
  • You run Windows and Linux at the same time.
You do not need to shift at other computer to test your applications different for Linux and Windows.
Size: 438 MB

Download Portable Ubuntu
 
[sourceTechmynd]
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Navigating The File System And Simple Commands in Linux

NOTE: Only for the very fresh starters with Linux.
As we are doing the bare minimum these are the most often used commands:
cd = change directory
mkdir = make directory
rmdir = remove directory
rm = remove file
cp = copy
mv = move or rename
ls = lists directories and files
cat = show contents file

O.K. let's play:
Open an console on desktop 1, open the home directory by clicking on it on desktop 2 ( there you can see and verify the commands executed on desktop 1 )


CODE
$ mkdir One  ( without the $ ) ( makes a dir One in your home dir )
$ mkdir one  ( Linux is case sensitive so "One" and "one" are not the same ! )
$ cp tessst One  ( copies the file tessst, that we made in previous Tip, to dir One )
$ mv ssset one  ( moves the file ssset, that we made in previous Tip, to dir one )
$ mv one One   ( moves dir one in dir One )
$ cd One   ( see how the promt puts the current dir in in the prompt ) ( puts you in dir One )
$ ls  ( shows you what is inside One )
$ cat tessst  ( shows contents file tessst )
$ rm tessst  ( removes file tessst from One dir )
$ cd ..  ( puts you back in your home dir )
$ rm tessst  ( removes tessst from home dir )
$ rm -rf One  ( now all files and directories we played with are removed )

We have a look in the filesystem:

CODE
$ cd  /
$ ls
This shows you the directories in “/“ (root filesystem): /boot, /etc, /initrd, /lost+found, /opt, /root, /tmp, /var, /bin, /dev, /home, /lib, /mnt, /proc, /sbin, /usr.

CODE
$ cd /mnt
$ ls
This shows you the mounted devices, cdrom, cdrom2, floppy, (win_c)

CODE 
$ cd  ( Brings you back to your /home )
$ ls  ( What is in your home )
$ ls -a  ( What really is in home !!  The argument “-a” shows the hidden files. Hidden files start with “.” )
$ touch .tessst  ( Makes an empty hidden file called .tessst in /home )
$ ls  ( You don't see .tessst )
$ ls -a  ( You do see .tessst )
$ rm .tessst  ( Removes the hidden file .tessst )
$ ls -al  ( Shows you all the files in /home with their “permissions” more about that later. )

To know more about these commands and the arguments you can give them, see: "man cd" "man cp" "man mv" etc. etc.
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Linux Tips - Lost User Password

Now, just imagine, you have a sudden strike of growing old, and, you forgot your user password. I know it´s hard to figure, but weirder things happen !

The solution however is simple:
CODE
$ su
< root-password >
# passwd pkb
( if that is your username, don´t use mine )

Type in a new password ( you will likely get an error message, ignore it )
Type in the same password again !

Log out as root and log in as user with your new password !
( I said is was easy ! )

Next time we will attack the forgotten ROOT password ! A bit more complicated but it sure can be done.
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How to Install any Linux on a USB

There are so many reasons why having a Linux distribution on a USB drive can come in handy. From having a “rescue” OS on your keyring to being able to install a new distribution on your EeePC, a “thumb drive” Linux has many uses. But getting Linux onto a USB drive can’t be simple. Right? Wrong. There is a tool, UNetbootin, that makes installing Linux
on a USB drive simple.

UNetbootin can be used on either Linux or Windows. In this article, we’ll be illustrating it for Both.

Note: Not all USB installations will work on all machines. This can be an issue with your BIOS or your USB drive. If you install an OS that doesn’t work, try another. But after all that work, you might wind up with a machine that simply won’t boot from a USB drive. You have been warned.

Using UNetbootin with Linux

1. The first thing to do is download a copy of UNetbootin. For our purposes we’ll download the Linux universal install binary (named unetbootin-linux-299). Once that has finished you will need to issue the Following command in order to make the file executable.

chmod u+x unetbootin-linux29

2. Once the file is executable issue the following command (from the same directory unetbootin-linx-299 is stored) to see the application running.

su ./unetbootin-linux-299

3. But you’re not ready just yet. Depending upon your distribution, you might come across an error involving p7zip-full. This might be in your distribution’s repositories. If you use Mandriva you can install p7zip but you will not have the full package. If you use Ubuntu you can get p7zip-full with the following command

apt-get install p7zip-full

4. Before you run the application you will need to insert and mount your usb drive. Stick in your usb drive and then issue the following command to find out where your usb drive is located.

dmesg

5. Mount that and then issue the following command. When you issue the command you will see the UNetbootin window.

su ./unetbootin-linux-299

6. Once this window is up and running you are almost there. If you have very specific needs for your distribution you will most likely have an image file downloaded to use. If you do not you can select your distribution from the drop down list. First you select the distribution and then you select the version (or release). Note: Unless you have a very large USB drive you will most likely want to use a netinstall version of your distribution. If you do happen to have a large USB drive you can go ahead with a full distribution. If this usb drive is for rescue purposes, or just to have a version of Linux with you at all times, a distribution like PCLinuxOS Minime is a greate choice.

7. Once the process is done you will have two buttons to click, Reboot and Exit. Don’t bother with the Reboot button. Click the Exit button and UNetbootin will close. You can now unmount your drive and reboot your machine to see if the installation works.Note: When your machine boots you will need to make sure it first boots from the USB device.

Using UNebootin with Windows

1. Download UNetBootin for Windows.
2. Download your favorite Linux ISO (Don’t ask me from where just Google it).
3. Now Start the Unetbootin.
4. Click the Disk Image radio box and browse to select Linux ISO.
5. Now set your target USB drive and click OK to start the creation UNetbootin Live USB Creation from an ISO.
6. Once the UNetbootin installer has completed, click Reboot. Now UNetbootin installation is finished.
7. Set your system BIOS or boot menu to boot from the USB device and enjoy your favorite Live Linux on USB.
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Linux File System Explained For Beginners

For those of you coming from windows backgrounds, the way the Linux file system is laid out may seem confusing at first glance…. but that is where this article comes in !

The first thing you should know when working with Linux, is that everything is treated as either a file or directory. Yeap that's right, even hardware is considered a file by linux, and, speaking of hardware… all your hardware devices are located in the /dev directory, but more on that later.

Another thing that confuses windows users, is the fact that Linux dosen’t use drive letters to distinguish between different partitions and devices. that is to say in linux, the “root” of your file system is / whereas in windows it would most probably be C:\ . Drives in Linux are “mounted” to directories where their data can then be accessed, so for instance, if you needed to use your thumb drive, you would plug it into your computer, and then mount it using the “mount” command, which specifies the path to the device ( something like /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc ) and the directory to mount it to (usually /mnt or /media), then you can happily access your drive from the /mnt or /media folder.

Sounds strange right? well yes it does if you come from a windows environment, where the entire operating system is consolidated onto a single drive. However, with linux and the ability to mount devices as directories, it gives the end user much greater flexibility in splitting up their operating system over several drives or partitions.

to understand what I mean when I say that this approach in mounting drives grants flexibility, I must first explain the different folders in Linux and what they store.

Linux File System
The graphic above shows the Linux file system hierarchy, now will explain in a bit more detail what each folder contains.

/ this is the root folder, all other folders come under root.. think of it as C:\ in a Windows context.
/bin this folder contains all the user-essential binaries (programs) that are needed to administer and run your Linux system… delete this folder and your system is broken.

/boot as the name suggests, this folder contains configuration files and other necessary files that are needed by the bootloader

/dev this folder contains device files (remember, these files represent physical devices, so be careful when working with them)

/etc this folder contains all the configuration files used by the system, you can also start and stop services (daemons ) from here

/home this folder contains the home folders of all the normal (non – root ) users on the system .. think of it as my documents in windows


/lib this folder contains software libraries

/media this is a mount point for removable devices… this is where you would usually mount your thumb drives … etc

/mnt this is a temporary mount point

/opt this folder contains add on software (extra software)

/sbin this folder contains binaries that can only be run as the root user (“superuser”)


/tmp this folder contains temporary files that are erased upon reboot

/usr this folder and its subfolders contains user installed programs and utilities and libraries

/var this folder contains files that change alot (“Variable files”)

/root this folder contians the root user’s files

/proc this is a psuedo folder, that contains information about the linux kernel and hardware that is updated in realtime.


Now back to how mounting grants flexibility…

you see how the different folders all contain parts of the operating system? well we can actually mount a seperate hard drive for each of this folders. for example, your /home folder can be put on another harddrive than your / which means that you can easily recover your personal files if the harddrive on / fails because the harddrive mounted to your /home folder is seperate from the one that is mounted to your /.
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Linux Mint 10 Julia Release Candidate Released

The release candidate build of Linux Mint 10, codenamed Julia, is out. Linux Mint is an Ubuntu based distro that is noted for its simplicity and polished interface. Julia is based on the recently released Ubuntu 10.10, and introduces some subtle improvements to Mint 9, which saw the addition of a new software manager and an improved update tool.
Linux Mint 10 Julia
Possibly the biggest change in Julia is the new default skin. Mint has finally unveiled the metallic theme called Mint-X that was under development for the past several months.

Mint Menu, the signature element of Mint’s interface, has been improved as well. APT has been integrated with the menu and the search function is now aware of the packages installed on your computer, as well as packages available for installation. If the package you are looking for isn’t installed in your system, you can now directly install it from the Mint Menu. Wikipedia and Google search have also been added to the Mint Menu.

Other improvements include an updated software manager and update manager.

[ Download Linux Mint 10 Julia RC - x86 | x64 ]
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How to get Free ubuntu 10.10 CD (Maverick Meerkat)

The Ubuntu ShipIt program, which provides free Ubuntu Desktop and Server CD’s to users , is now taking order requests for free Ubuntu 10.10 desktop and server CD’s.

The ShipIt service can be used by users with low-bandwidth, intermittent internet connections or other reasons for being unable to download the latest Ubuntu release.
With requests now being accepted the order page duly notes: -
Note that delivery will take from six to ten weeks once it is sent.
Help ShipIt
The costs involved with providing access to Ubuntu for those unfortunate to get access to the swift and easy online downloads are great.
As such users should not take advantage of the ShipIt service unless otherwise unable to acquire an Ubuntu release.
The ‘Help ShipIt’ initiative allows users to help contribute to these costs, thus making Ubuntu accessible to people or communities who may not otherwise discover or use it.
More information on Help ShipIt and pre-orders for ShipIt CD’s head over to shipit.ubuntu.com
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Upgrading your Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Install to Ubuntu 10.10

Ubuntu 10.10 was released, and if you’re wondering how to upgrade your existing Ubuntu 10.04 install, here are couple of easy ways to do so.
  • Update manager
Ubuntu’s Update Manager should prompt you that a new distribution upgrade is available. If not, jus check if Ubuntu is configured to look for Long Term Support (LTS) releases only. To do this,
Click on System -> Admininstration -> Update Manager.
Next, click on Settings and change the “Show distribution releases” from “Long Term Support Releases only” to “Normal Releases

Hit close, and start Update Manager again, click on check and it should prompt you to update to the newer version.

  • Via the command line
If you’re a command line junkie, the best way to upgrade is to open the Terminal and type in
sudo do-release-upgrade
The automated script will ask you few questions and upgrade your existing install to Ubuntu 10.10. Enjoy the new release!
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How To Install Ubuntu 10.10 Inside Windows

Do you want to try the newest operating system for PCs? Ubuntu 10.10 has recently been released. Although many people would enjoy trying it, the need to make permanent changes to their computers may be stopping them.

There is a way to install Ubuntu 10.10 inside of Windows using the Wubi installer. If you decide you have no use for it, it can always be easily uninstalled later. Below, I’ll show you the details of a typical Wubi/Ubuntu installation.

First, you’ll need to download the correct Wubi file. The current Wubi at Ubuntu.com hasn’t been updated yet, so you’ll need to grab the file from a mirror location.

Try this one:  mirror.pnl.gov

Or this one:   mirror.anl.gov

If the download goes well, you’ll have a wubi.exe file to run. When you launch it, you should see a setup screen like the one shown below. It should show “Ubunutu-10.10” at the top.

You can choose the “Desktop Environment” using the pull-down menu. In it you’ll get a choice of different versions of Ubuntu, such as Ubuntu (Desktop), Ubuntu Netbook, Kubuntu, Kubuntu Netbook, Xubuntu or Mythbuntu.

The rest of the settings are fairly obvious, but I was a bit confused when I entered my password and got an error. I didn’t notice that I had to enter the password twice.

Once you hit the “Install” button, you should see this next image. The download is fairly large. It took about 25 minutes on my Internet connection.

Once it finishes, you’ll be prompted to reboot.

Once the reboot has started, you will now have a new boot option in your Windows boot menu. Just select Ubuntu and it will finish installing. Here you can see a short video showing you basically what you’ll see as Ubuntu finishes up.



If you need help, there’s plenty of help available at Ubunutu forums.

When you return to Windows, you can find a new folder at C:ubuntu, which contains the entire installation. This copy of Ubuntu can be uninstalled using the Add/Remove applet in Windows, or by launching the “uninstall-wubi.exe” file in the install folder as shown below.
[Image Credit:wubi-installer]
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Linux joins the OS advertising battle

The operating system war has been waging for a long time now, and the two big players in the field have taken on distinct identities. Windows users are stereotyped as being stiff upper lip power tie wearing formal individuals, as against Mac addicts with the casual clothes and the careless Seinfeld cut. Of course, Seinfeld switched loyalties in the recent $300 million advertising campaign for Vista that was summarily dropped.

The 1337 tree-huggers of the computer world have something to celebrate. When not trying to install codecs into their Linux systems, they can spend their time making the I-am-Linux video. The Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization hoping to spread the support for the open source operating system is planning to launch an advertising campaign made from these videos.

The brief for the video according to the official website is “in 60 seconds or less, showcase your take on I’m Linux. This should be why you love it and should inspire others to use it. The video can be an extensive production, a plain testimonial or as simple as a screen capture with a voice over. Be creative, be authentic and have fun.” The winner will be decided by a panel of judges and votes from the global nerd community. The contest will be open till March 15, and the winner gets free flight tickets to Tokyo and accommodation for the October 2009 Japan Linux Symposium.

We have a lot of questions. Are Mac or Windows machines allowed during the production of the video? Will judges prefer videos edited on Cinelerra instead of Final Cut Pro? Will the commercials actually be put to use over television networks? Whatever be the outcome, we can’t wait to get our hands on the rejects.
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10 Most Popular Ubuntu Sites On The Internet

1) Ubuntu.com - This is the official site of Ubuntu Linux. All Ubuntu enthusiasts should make this the starting point of their journey towards embracing Ubuntu. On this site, you can get the latest official news related to this project, place orders for your free Ubuntu Cd's and search or browse for a particular package for your version of Ubuntu among other things.

2) help.ubuntu.com - This is the official documentation site for Ubuntu Linux developed and maintained by the Ubuntu documentation project. This is the first place any Ubuntu user must go to get his problem solved. Here you can access various guides related to Ubuntu such as installation guide, server guide, packaging guide and so on in PDF format for offline reading.

3) wiki.ubuntu.com - This is a part of the official Ubuntu project and as you can see is a wiki. A wiki can be edited by anybody a good example of a wiki being the wikipedia project. On the Ubuntu wiki, you can get a wealth of information about configuring this distribution. First time visitors to this site may be interested in checking the Help Contents page. A section which is specially interesting is the Restricted Formats section which gives tips on getting support for proprietary file formats in Ubuntu.

4) ubuntuforums.org - This is a high traffic web forum where you can post queries you have and get your doubts clarified. You need to first register to post in this forum. But just searching this forum will throw up a wealth of information a.k.a the issues that others faced and the solutions to these issues.

5) ubuntuguide.org - This guide is not affiliated with the official Ubuntu project but claims to be an unofficial FAQ where you can find solutions to getting your problems solved in Ubuntu. This site takes a How-To approach in giving the answers. Though recently, this site has become a bit outdated as I ran into some problem while configuring Ubuntu Breezy according to their directions. Nevertheless a very good site.

6) Ubuntu Blog - This is a very good blog maintained by a Ubuntu enthusiast and as the name of the blog indicates, exclusively caters to all things related to the Ubuntu distribution. Here you can get latest news, links to popular sites and experiences of the blog author in getting things done in Ubuntu Linux.

7) Tech Period - Yes, you will find lots of information related to Ubuntu on this blog too. This blog contain  unique articles many of them providing insights into solving problems in Linux which also includes Ubuntu.

By including these 10 7 sites in your search, you can have an easier time in using and troubleshooting problems in Ubuntu Linux.

The three sites which were listed here have gone offline or are redundant. So now there are only 7 sites.
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Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat released

Every April and October, Ubuntu issues a new release of their operating system, with an interesting code name. Today Ubuntu released their next major version, codenamed "Maverick Meerkat", which just so happened to be released on 10/10/10 at 10:10 UTC.

With the new Ubuntu 10.10 release, comes a new font in the typeface family, bringing users Latin, Cyrillic and Greek with the choice of regular, italic, bold and bold italic styles and weights. Not only does this release ship with a new font, but Ubuntu has become the first ever operating system to ship with the new Indian Rupee Sign for their currency. Ubuntu will continue to work on Arabic, Hebrew and Monospace font support in future releases.

Ubuntu 10.10 brings an improved installer with a new design, making it easier to use and install updates and drivers.


What's new in this release?

  • The GNOME base platform has been updated to version 2.32, which includes dconf and gsettings API.
  • Evolution was updated to version 2.30, which operates much faster than previous versions.
  • F-Spot has now been replaced by Shotwell as the default photo manager.
  • Gwibber has been updated to use Twitters new OAuth, their new authentication system.
  • The sound menu has been enhanced to include music player controls.
  • Ubuntu One has received a big update with improved sign-up and sign-in integration, Nautilus enhancements for managing folder sync preferences, faster file transfer speeds and the ability to share links to music within the Ubuntu One Music Store.
  • New bootup screen.
Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop
Ubuntu 10.10 Software Center

The netbook edition of Ubuntu has a new interface, different from the desktop and server edition. Both the desktop and netbook editions come with the Social From The Start menu, allowing you to access Twitter, Facebook and Identi.ca. You can see and update all your accounts from a single window.
Kubuntu 10.10 comes with the latest version of the KDE software. KDE Platform, Workspace and Applications were all updated to 4.5.1. Kubuntu has merged both the Desktop and Netbook images into one image, featuring the Plasma Desktop and Plasma Netbook workspace. Many applications and settings received big updates, you can read more about the updates here.

Ubuntu Server Edition has been updated to the next major release of Eucalyptus 2.0. This release comes with numerous bug fixes, improved stability and better user management. Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition comes with Cloud support on Amazon EC2.

Ubuntu 10.10 is available in both 32bit and 64bit edition and available for free from Ubuntu.com.
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Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx - A Fresh Look At What Is On Offer

As many of you will know, Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx is officially being released today - perhaps has already been released as I am writing this. Ubuntu 10.04 is an Long Term Support (LTS) version. With the Long Term Support (LTS) version you get 3 years support on Ubuntu Desktop, and 5 years on Ubuntu Server.

Let's get a bird's eye view of what is on offer in this latest avatar namely Ubuntu 10.04 a.k.a Lucid Lynx.

New Features in Ubuntu 10.04

User Interface Design
  1. Ubuntu 10.04 sports brand new themes - Ambiance and Radiance.
  2. The Window minimize, maximize and close buttons have been shifted to the left.
  3. New Logos - Ubuntu 10.04 sports redesigned, aesthetically pleasing logos that reflect the precision and engineering that sits at the heart of the product.
  4. Icons, start up and login screens, and desktop backgrounds that are brand new.
A Redesigned Installer

Ubuntu 10.04 sports a far more user friendly installer. The installer now provides feedback on password strength and the option to encrypt the user's home directory.

Improved Startup Speed

With version 10.04, Ubuntu has moved to a new boot system called Plymouth.

Plymouth is an application that runs very early in the boot process (even before the root file system is mounted!) that provides a graphical boot animation while the boot process happens in the background. Ideally, the goal is to get rid of all flicker during startup.
This new system makes Ubuntu boot much faster.

Applications - New and Improved ones
  1. Simple Scan - An application that makes scanning documents quite simple.
  2. PiTiVi Movie Editor
  3. Gwiber - A microblogging client with support for Twitter, Identi.ca, StatusNet, Facebook, Flickr, Digg, FriendFeed, and Qaiku.
  4. Me Menu - A menu that resides in the top panel of your GNOME desktop and which provides one click access to all your social networking and chat accounts.
  5. Empathy - The default chat application sports new features one of them being support for Facebook chat.
  6. Nautilus - The default file manager, it has seen many minor enhancements, the most prominent being a split view mode which allows you to display the contents of two different folders within the same window.
However, GIMP is out of the default list of installed applications. No one is stopping you from installing it separately though.
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Desktop
iPhone and iPod Touch Support

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx (10.04) comes with limited support for iPhone and iPod Touch devices which is a good thing for the owners of these Apple products.

Now you can browse the contents of your iPhone and even play music residing on these devices from Ubuntu.

Ubuntu One - Cloud Storage

Ubuntu One - Cannonical's cloud storage service is seamlessly integrated in Ubuntu 10.04. Some of the integration features are listed below.
  • Sync any folder in your Home folder between computers.
  • Easily publish files online to share with others.
  • Synchronize your Firefox bookmarks to be available on multiple computers.
  • Synchronize your contacts residing in Evolution email client.
Ubuntu One Music Store

Buy DRM free music singles from the Ubuntu One Music store.

Ubuntu Software Center

Ubuntu Software Center allows you to install and manage your installed applications. In Ubuntu Lucid Lynx, it has seen lots of user friendly enhancements and has received a nice graphical overhaul.

Impressed already ? Then download Ubuntu 10.04 a.k.a Ubuntu Lucid Lynx from the Official Ubuntu website.
[Image Source : Ubuntu]
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What is Linux operating system ?

Linux

One of us may wonder: What is "Linux"?

The following items will be traded in the post and this is the introduction of a system known as Linux:

  1. Presentation of the steps through which the process of developing the operating system "Linux".
  2. List of the components of the operating system "Linux".
Linux is a free operating system based on the orders of UNIX, and is intended for personal computers and supports internet, and this system has evolved very quickly and got very popular.

And of the main reasons for the spread of this system, is the ability to get it for free from the Internet or on CD-ROM at nominal prices.

Of the great advantages of this system superior performance when it runs on all of the advanced equipment and those with modest specifications, and can work with devices that support 32-bit or based 64-bit.

Linux Kernel has been developed by a student in computer science in the city of Helsinki in Finland, named Linus Torvalds, and has emerged the first version of Linux in 1991 and bears the number 0.02. At that time, Linus was not satisfied with the reality of operating systems available in a timely manner, it was expensive and many problems, we decided to write a new operating system by following the design of the operating system UNIX (back of this regime in 1969).

The development a major achievement in Linux operating systems market, even then, the closed operating systems, in addition to being developed and owned by large companies, but Linux did not develop to be a commercial operating system, but on the contrary has been developed according to open-system development policy and that allow volunteers from anywhere in the world to contribute to the development of Linux, has been provided with the source code of the system free to anyone willing to contribute to the development. Since the emergence of the first version of Linux and to the present time is still a system is distributed free of charge.

He played the draft (GNU is Not UNIX (GNU)) a prominent role in the development of Linux, and summed up the task of this project is to provide a set of programs written for UNIX systems and their source code is distributed free of charge, and this project has emerged in 1983 as an attempt to instil the spirit of competition of new communities in the computer, and to overcome the obstacles caused by the ownership restrictions on programs and systems.

During the nineties of the twentieth century and to complete the Linux operating system is the integration of programs produced by the GNU project with the Linux Kernel, which led to the emergence of an integrated operating system.

Linus Torvalds when it became ready to release the operating system Linux, decided to make source code available through the b General Public License (GPL), which allows the distribution of free software, and modify with a commitment to providing free after the amendment, which means that users or developers are free to the amendment the program and sell him for financial return to the requirement to provide source code free of charge after adjustment for all other users, but Bjb point out that the copyright for the Linux Kernel is owned by Linus Torvalds and any change in the Kernel must approve it.

Types of Linux OS
We can deduce from the foregoing that there is no specific institution responsible for developing Linux, on the contrary, involved volunteers from everywhere via the Internet constantly in development, and view of this, any problems that might appear in the system can hardly pass a short time until you find the solutions have been pouring in from all place, this is a bug that appears in the system are overcome by faster than any other system, so the Linux user is advised that following the new rules of news from the Internet, where there is continuously updates and programs and every other place in the world.

Linux operating system consists of a set of classes, in addition to the Linux Kernel, it contains many of the programs and applications developed by users from all over the world.

Kernel provides basic services to the rest of the parts of the system, it interacts with the hardware directly to the control of memory management and provides necessary services for user programs.

Linux can deal with any Hardware and that he sometimes needs to modify the Kernel to be able to do so.

Many of the programs in which it is embedded Linux borrowed from the Berkeley softwareLinux also supports most of the properties of UNIX, and programs written for it. Distribution (BSD) and is an earlier version of UNIX,

When you enter a log in the Linux program called the shell runs automatically and provides the primary interface between the user and the operating system, offering shell Kernel protection system that works as a layer between the Kernel and the application or program that is running on the system, and provides the user environment in order to write and is implemented by using the Kernel, Kernel of the shell respond and respond in turn to the user, and so the user can run programs and access to files and managed through this shell. Several shells available for UNIX, but the most famous is the GNU Bourne Again Shell (bash). Can deal with the shell to enter commands in a sequential manner, or a file named shell script contains a set of commands, to be executed automatically when it runs.

Once you're on Linux, the players hardware device drivers (which are used to communicate with devices such as hard drives, etc.) are processed automatically, the Kernel then run some programs in the background without user intervention and called on these programs is the name of the Daemons and functions are carried out related to the system.

Although Linux is used on systems with a single user it has been originally designed for use in multi-user environments, and where is that Linux operating systems multitasking (ie more than one program can be run at the same time), this makes it an ideal system for networks , and especially as it supports the basic networking protocols, such as:

  1. Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), which allows communication over the Internet and use e-mail.
  2. UNIX-to-UNIX copy program (UUCP), which is used to transfer files and exchanged between the devices UNIX.
  3. Network File Systems (NFS).
  4. File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
Of the factors that contributed to the success of Linux is used for the X Windows system, which developed in 1984 and is a window system facilitates user interaction with the operating system through the graphical user interface instead of the black command prompt window, which gives the user a work environment similar to Baloyndoz, there are several versions of X Windows, but the best known is XFree86.

At the end of this post I would like to reassure new users who wants to discover the system that Linux can work on the device without affecting the systems that are working on, such as the various Windows versions, which means you can be running both Windows and Linux on the same machine without any problems.
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openSUSE 11.3 Released - Comes With Superior Support For Netbooks

openSUSE 11.3
openSUSE 11.3 - the latest version of Linux distribution from Novell has been released. One of the highlights of openSUSE 11.3 is its enhanced support for netbooks.

openSUSE 11.3 provides improved hardware support for netbook users. It also bundles with it two netbook desktop environments namely - KDE's "Plasma netbook workspace", and MeeGO - A visually rich netbook user interface developed by Intel and Nokia.

MeeGo on openSUSE 11.3 is code named Smeegol, and it brings many additional features like support for popular social networking sites Facebook, Digg, MySpace, and Flickr.

Improved smartphone support is another unique feature of openSUSE 11.3 release. If you own a Blackberry, iPhone or any cell phone running Android or Symbian OS, then you are in good hands as openSUSE will let you interact with all these devices.

Under the hood, openSUSE 11.3 runs Linux 2.6.34 kernel. Upstart and Grub 2 are also included but are optional.

Support for the experimental btrfs file system is another feature of this release.

On the desktop front again, openSUSE doesn't disappoint its users. It bundles all the latest and greatest desktops namely - GNOME 2.30.1, KDE SRC 4.4.4, LXDE 0.5.5 (A light weight desktop environment ideal for old computers), and XFCE 4.6.1.

openSUSE team has opted for an 8 month release cycle instead of the more common 6 month release cycle. The belief is that the extra 2 months they save will help them to close many more bugs and fine tune the system prior to each release.

ScreenShorts of openSUSE 11.3

openSUSE 11.3 Login Screen
openSUSE 11.3 Desktop
openSUSE 11.3 Search and Launch

Different flavors of openSUSE

openSUSE 11.3 is available as an all inclusive 4.7GB DVD image which contains a large collection of software for use on desktops and servers. Apart from that, you can also download desktop centric LiveCD images of GNOME and KDE respectively. Visit the openSUSE 11.3 download page to choose your download.

Novell also provides a service called SUSE Studio which allows you to build and download a customized version of Linux. Here you can mix and match all the packages you require and then download an image suitable for a USB stick, Live CD/DVD, Hard disk, Vmware, VirtualBox, or Xen. In other words, a custom distribution, with your own software and branding.

openSUSE education team has put together what they call the openSUSE-Edu Li-f-e. It is a customized Linux distribution geared towards education. It contains carefully selected softwares for students, educators as well as parents. The software selection encompasses everything required to make computers productive for either home or educational use.

Such as -
  • Educational software covering wide range of subjects such as IT, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, electronics etc catering to students right from preschool to research.
  • Software for graphic designers including GIMP, Inkscape, Blender and more.
  • Office applications to work on pdfs and any office formats including those of the latest Microsoft Office.
  • Java, C, C++, Perl, Python, LAMP stack, databases, IDEs ... everything that a student or developer will need to learn to program in Linux.
  • An easy implementation of Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) is also included on the DVD.
In other words, openSUSE team has put together a bonanza for Linux users in releasing openSUSE 11.3.
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Linux Tips - Lost ROOT Password

Yesterday we had forgotten our user password and disaster strikes again today we forgot the root password.

Note: First, disconnect your PC from the net, pull the cable out !

Step 1: For Redhat and Mandrake:

Then boot from your first install CD and as the very first screen comes up hit F2 and type:

rescue ( For RedHat "linux rescue" )

and the computer will boot in rescue mode.

It will show a few alternatives, select : ¨mount the existing partitions¨ and go to the shell/console prompt.

( Booting Mandrake in "failsafe" from the Lilo menu does the same )

Step 1: For SUSE:
Boot from your first install CD and press F1 at the first screen, then choose "Rescue System" from the menu and at the prompt type "root" ( you do not need a password )

Step 1: For other distro's

Boot from the first install CD ( or any Live CD like Knoppix ) and at the bootprompt type:

CODE
linux single
( For Knoppix: knoppix single )
And it will boot in "single user mode" and you will get an odd looking prompt like “sh-2.05b#

Alternative for step 1
Sure with most Live and Rescue CDs you can also just boot in the live version, mount the partition and, as root, make changes to the files indicated below:

Step 2

CODE
# cd /etc
( if you boot from knoppix first cd to the partition your lost-password-distro is on )

We need to change two files; ¨passwd¨ and ¨shadow¨:

CODE
# vi passwd

( opens the file )
< i > ( puts vi in insertmode )

This is the first line:

root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

Make it:

root::0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

So just get writ of the ¨x¨ do not touch the ¨:¨ ( colons )

Save the file:
Esc
ZZ

Second file to be changed:

CODE
# vi shadow
( open the file )
< i > ( insert mode )

The first line is a long scrambled line of characters, just make it:

root:::: ( four colons ! )

Save the file
Esc
ZZ

Now you can reboot your computer. Log in as normal user, open a console and type:

CODE
$ su
# passwd

And set the new root password !

Log out as root:
Ctrl+d

And the job is done !!

WARNING: Only after setting your new root password it is safe to connect your computer to the internet or local network again !!
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