Cooler Ubuntu with Jaunty Jackalope

Ubuntu 9.04

I have been a regular user of Ubuntu for the last 6 months(version 8.04 Hardy Heron).Being a command line user,i had been quite content with its features,not to mention the occasional (unexplained) freezes and the rather lacklusture media support.But along came Jaunty Jackalope,better known as Ubuntu 9.04(seriously guys who comes up with the names?).It just swept me off my feet.here’s what i really like about the new version..

Evolution-all featured up

Evolution is the email and groupware client in Ubuntu,much like Microsoft Outlook in Windows.For earlier versions of Ubuntu,the bone of contention had been the lack of compatibility between evolution and outlook express.if you wanted to import your outlook express profiles to linux,evolution had no answer and the only answer was to install thunderbird.

Evolution can now directly import Outlook PST (Personal Folders) files directly to Evolution. With this, you can bring your e-mail, contacts, appointments, tasks, everything from Outlook to Evolution. It also now has support for Microsoft Exchange’s MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) protocol, Outlook’s native protocol.

In other words, Evolution is now a complete and total Linux replacement for Outlook. If the only reason you’ve stuck with Windows is because of Outlook, you don’t have to stick with it anymore.

Ext4 Support

Version 9.04 comes with ext3 file system by default,however you can easily upgrade to ext4.I would strongly recommend it as ext4 is faster and more reilable than ext4 while having none of the stability problems of reiser FS.

Other improvements in 9.04 include faster boot up time,a new linux kernel(2.6.28-11.37) and lots of other goodies.Besides,it beats any WIndows system hands down on 1 thing atlleast-It’s free.

Don’t wait see for your self…download Ubuntu 9.04 now.

Gnome

Jaunty uses Gnome 2.26 which gives a nice integrated desktop,with several nice features.a particularly enticing feature was the integration of Brasero CD/DVD burner with improvements in audio and multiple monitors support.However the X-org server system(the base of the Graphical User Interface) is still buggy,but what do you expect from a new release?

Get Ubuntu

• Request an Ubuntu CD
• Download Ubuntu | Ubuntu
  download ubuntu here

Top 10 Softwares for Ubuntu

Looking to try something new on your Ubuntu machine?…Here’s a list of my top 10 recommended softwares to try out on your system.Get ready to spend your hours installing them and oh! ENJOY

(enable universe and multiverse repositories in your sources.list files to install)

1)VLC MEDIA PLAYER:plays all media file types, with it’s own codecs  (no need of additional codecs !!)

Open a terminal window and type in:

sudo apt-get install vlc

2)COMPIZ FUSION:Get some good eye candy for your computer and Show off to your friends.

to install:opne Menu->preferences->appearance->enable desktop effects

open a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install compiz-settings-manager

3)AMAROK:- music player with last.fm plugin and other cool stuff.

To install, open a terminal window and type:

sudo apt-get install amarok

4)BRIGHTSIDE:assigns custom commands to mouse gestures, that is, placing your pointer in various locations on the screen triggers actions you assign.

Ubuntu users can install Brightside with:

sudo apt-get install brightside

5)WINE:Some sort of emulator (but not an emulator ), of Windows, for Linux.

It lets you install Windows software on Ubuntu.

sudo apt-get install wine

6)DELUGE: The best torrent client i ever tried

sudo apt-get install deluge-torrent

7)AUTOMATRIX:streamlines the installation of tons of proprietary and open-source applications, scripts and utilities. Automatix helps transition tons of users to Linux by simplifying the installation of many notoriously difficult applications like: propriety codecs, drivers, Google Earth, Google Picasa, Adobe Reader 9.0, Real Player, Wine, VMWare Player and Server, and InnoTek’s VirtualBox.

get it from automatix homepage

8)SAMBA: What good is a Linux computer if it can’t interact with other computers on your network? Network utility Samba shares your files and folders with Windows computers on your network (and Mac computers that are configured to enable sharing with Windows).

install Samba with the following command:

sudo apt-get install samba

AVANT WINDOW NAVIGATOR: Changes the look of your panels.

to install

sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator

10)CHECKGMAIL:Checkgmail sits in your tray, notifies you when new email arrives, and gives you some extended features such as the option to open, mark as read, archive, report spam or delete your Gmail.

install Checkgmail with:

sudo apt-get install checkgmail

This list is based on my preference which is bound to change in a few days .

What is your favourite software?.If i have missed any software that you feel deserves a place in this list,leave a comment.

Top 10 reasons not to use Ubuntu

Here’s a hilarious post i found on Ubuntu,moving around on the net…ENJOY
I would give you ten reasons why you shouldn’t use Ubuntu so when your Ubuntu-loving friends tell you about it you can be armed with some reasons why you would rather use Windows.

1. I would give you ten reasons why you shouldn’t use Ubuntu so when your Ubuntu-loving friends tell you about it you can be armed with some reasons why you would rather use Windows.

1. You Don’t Try Before You Buy - We all want to believe all the propaganda from people selling us something we don’t need. So why would you want to be able to test-drive an operating system via liveCD before you install it. Tell ‘em you don’t need any guarantees either, you’ll take it as-is, sight unseen.

2. Installation of Software is Too Easy – With Ubuntu you only have to click on the Synaptic and click check boxes to add software. Then hit Apply. You probably will feel gypped when you have to go searching for software, unzip it, quite everything else you are running, and then install an .exe. Then when you are done run Windows Update (of course only using Internet Explorer) just to make sure everything is up to date.

3. Too Few Viruses/Too much security – Virus scanners give you a warm fuzzy feeling, they can also keep your computer from performing as fast as possible. Slowing down your performance keeps people’s expectations of you low. Without spy-ware and viruses slowing you down it’s a nuisance plus once you are logged in it’s not going to crash or be wiped out by viruses. Plus if you got too much work done you might get promoted or a raise. That would be a real pain trying to figure out how to spend the extra money.

4. No Expensive Office Suites - You know you like to pay $400+ dollars for Microsoft Office Professional. OpenOffice.org must be some kind of communist plot. Why save that money for your kids college or support education initiatives in the third-world when you can help fund Bill Gates’ humble lifestyle.

5. Optional Purchase Option – If an operating system is free it can’t be that good. You want to go through an activation process to make sure it’s a genuine operating system. That activation is a convenience put in place to make you feel more secure. You should be proud to volunteer your personal information and then be forced into an upgrade cycle that milks you out of hundreds of dollars every couple years. It makes perfect sense.

6. Too many Free Applications to Choose From – Why would you want choices you think it better just to be told what to do? You should browse the Microsoft catalog first, then go to your local Best Buy for an office suite, image editors, and other document authoring software. If you are tempted to chose one package over the other on your own ask the burnout sales guy who was smoking weed behind the dumpster an hour ago for his opinion. Why would you want to use Scribus, Nvu, GIMP, OpenOffice that can be downloaded for free when you drive your gas guzzling SUV to the store add some CO2 to the global warning, maybe even run down an endangered species in route.

7. Too Well Documented – You hate it when you can find easy-to-understand, search-able documentation. [I wanted to find out how to troubleshoot my wireless card so I went and looked at the http://help.ubuntu.com and there was at least three easy-to-read up-to-date documents to help me.] I know I really wanted to call someone named John who was being exploited in a third world country, have him read a script about how he would help me and watch him fail miserably then have him wish me a very good day as my system was in worse condition than before we started talking.

8. Excellent Free No Wait Technical Support – Speaking of support, why should I want to go to #Ubuntu on IRC where 1300 Ubuntu users are hanging out and offering their time to answer questions for free. It’s much more fun waiting on hold to hear John read his support script.

John (in an accent that is so thick you can hardly make out the words): Hello, this is John, “How may I be helping you.”You: My desktop isn’t displaying anything but a error message
John: I am sorry to hear that, what seems to be the problem.
You: My screen is displaying an error message.
John: I am very sorry to hear that, I would like you to reboot.
You: I just did.
John: I am very sorry to hear that, I would like you to reboot.
You: Really, why? I just rebooted.
John: I am very sorry to hear that, I would like you to reboot.
You: Can you just tell me problem that might cause that error?
John (long pause): Please hold I must get my supervisor….
You: What’s his name?
John: Frank
You: What’s his real name?
John:….Pradnesh

9. Too many Interface Choices – I know you like the choices in Windows you can buy many versions of Vista with slightly more functionality at much greater prices. When you use Ubuntu, you have too many choices. You have the option of using Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop environment, if you hate that you can use Kbuntu using the QT-based KDE environment. What if you work in an office don’t you want the same operating system that is used by third graders in their schools. After all let’s start children while they are young authoring painfully ineffective slide decks on PowerPoint. Why would you want them to use a custom version for schools like Edubuntu . It should be a law that you need a fast state of the art computer, why would you want an operating system that doesn’t require at least a gig of RAM and a wicked fast video card. In fact Ubuntu users with modest machines use Xbuntu to keep the resource requirements low. Once again you shouldn’t be allowed to compute if you can’t afford the latest and greatest computer. Computing is a privilege and poor people shouldn’t be allowed to access the Internet.

10. Too Much Eye Candy – You don’t want any cool eye-candy like rotating desktops transparency, woobly windows, and more. Why risk someone calling you a show-off when you start demonstrating your fancy desktop. Keep your profile low with Windows Vista, it looks just like everyone else’s desktop.
What are your views on Ubuntu?Do leave a reply

change Ubuntu boot screen with splashy

i was pretty bored with the simple yet not-so-cool boot screen of Ubuntu (to see what i am talking about click here).i wanted to change it .now there are 2 ways to change your boot screen.

1.install usplash and start-up manager.

2.install splashy.

but i wanted to go a step further…i did not want to be dependent on other theme sites for my boot screens,i wanted to create my own.this proved to be quite a pain with usplash,so i switched to splashy.it’s so simple to create your own splash screens with splashy.splashy is a boot splash program that does not require patching the linux kernel.it’s simple and easy to use.so go ahead and install it.

here’s how:

32-bit machine – libsplashyl_0.3.10-1_i386.deb, spalshy_0.3.10-1_i386.deb (i will be placing links for 64 bit machines soon)

In the terminal, type the following command to install the splashy-themes:

sudo apt-get install splashy-themes

now we will install gsplashy which is a GUI tool to create and set your boot screens

first install the dependencies

sudo apt-get install libglade2-dev libsplashy1-dev build-essential

download gsplashy to your desktop from here.

now compile the code

cd ~/Desktop/gsplashy0.1 (change the path if you have extracted gsplashy in another location)
./configure
make
make install

that’s it.you can start gsplashy by typing in a terminal

sudo gsplashy

this will pop up a window like this:

you have to specify boot skins for resume,shutdown,boot,hibernate and suspend.the picture should be a .png format.

for progress bar specify dimensions of X:250 Y:690width=512 height=15.feel free to experiment with all dimensions.

after installing a new theme do in a terminal

sudo update-initramfs –u

also change your vga settings:

gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

add vga=792 at end of line after splash.

that’s it..enjoy the new look of your ubuntu.

THE ABOVE METHOD MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU.IF SO,DO LET ME KNOW I WILL DO EVERYTHING TO HELP YOU.

DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT ON THIS.

Have you moved on to Ubuntu?

Warning:this article contains basic linux information.Experienced Linux users ignore this….Windows users pass this off at your on risk.

it has been quite a while since i moved on to ubuntu.i still have a small partition of windows XP on my system,but it’s still there like some sort of necessary evil,waiting for its time of Execution(removal).But what prompted me to make the switch,more importantly why should YOU?if you visit any forum on linux,the reasons they provide for switching is some crap about free software and open source,not to mention calling Microsoft Devil’s incarnation….sure i support free software ,but i don’t think that’s enough reason to trash your perfectly working Windows system and step into the realms of unknown.so WHY make the switch?

So here’s the practical deal,why YOU should move on to Ubuntu…….

1.IT’S FREE!!!

indeed the greatest reason to switch to ubuntu.it’s totally free,with all pre-installed softwares and stuff.you can

download the free copy from the Ubuntu site.if you feel really lazy or don’t have a Broadband connection,you can order your FREE ubuntu cd through the shipit program from here.

2.THEMES

you get a LOT of eye candy for ubuntu.sure Vista has aero,but that’s just a lame excuse for Beryl or the latest compiz-fusion.plus everything is soeasily set-up.you literally have to tick off an option to enable it!!no manual work done by you to set it up!!and the result?desktop cube,wobbly windows,flaming windows and loads other special effects to woo your friends.

3.IT’S SECURE

In Windows Vista, to change a setting requires a ridiculous amount of dialog boxes and passwords, in Ubuntu, you are never logged in as an administrator (root), you are logged in as a simple user, you can change options that are only applicable to your user area but for changing options that affect the system you are required to input the administrator password, one dialog and you’re in, simple and secure. There is also the added bonus that there are very few viruses for Linux, I haven’t ever come across one yet so you can feel safe, imagine not having any virus protection software installed in Windows, there is no need for it in Linux, freedom from the threat of losing all your data.

4.EASY INSTALLATION

Installing softwares and applications is just a breeze in Ubuntu.you simply have to tick off the right options in the software installer and presot!it gets installed for you.no browsing to get that software you always needed,not to mention it’s completely free!!

5.IT’S FUN

you get to learn a lot about your system.i mean, a lot of windows users are heavily dependent on their OS to do every thing for them.their knowledge of  their PC doesn’t extend beyond task manager.so to be a real Power User,you have to try linux.Windows is just too messy to experiment with.

Besides,you get the support of a strong and ever-growning community to help in even the most arcane needs.Good luck finding help on windows.:).

so,these are my top 5 reasons to go Ubuntu.hope i have given you enough reasons to get rid of that lame excuse for an OS you havein your system.

Boot Ubuntu live Cd in persistant mode

how many times have you wanted to personalise your live cd experience?wouldn’t it be nice if you could insert your live cd into any computer and access your dektop complete with your documents and settings?well you can–by booting in persistant mode you need your live cd and anUSB memory stick(pendrive). back up the data on your memory stick to your pen drive as you ‘re going to erase it.now while in linux,enter the following command:

sudo mkfs.ext3 -b 4096 -L casper-cow /dev/sda1

where /dev/sda1 refers to the path where your memoty stick is mounted.To know this path use the command

df -h

to see all mounted volumes.the above command will create an ext3 filesystem in you stick to store your data.

Now plug in your pen drive and boot up form the live cd.when the live cd menu appears,press f4 to access the other options menu and for options enter:

persistent

this will boot up the system in persistent mode.now any changes you make will be stored in the memory stick.change your desktop background and reboot in persistent mode.your back ground will still be set as you had specified.