Ubuntu is my default OS

In my last post, I described initial comments after upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala. Since I wanted  ext 4 file system for my Ubuntu OS, I did a clean install. After the clean install, I ensured that all my peripheries worked properly. This time, I did not have to struggle to make my graphics card and webcam to work. It was breezy. I used hardware driver item in the menu of System>Administration menu list. It loaded driver automatically after detecting my graphics card. My webcam worked automatically, since gspca driver was loaded by default. Hardware configurations were done by few clicks.

Now, I had to install all my required apps. As usual for any new install in Ubuntu, I installed restricted extras. This ensured that all media files worked in Ubuntu. Later, I installed the following apps either through Ubuntu Software Center (earlier it was "ADd/Remove application") or Synaptic Package Manager.

                 Google Earth                                                             GnuCash

          

                     Blender                                                                 VirtualBox  

          

                  Google Chrome                                                         Ubuntu One

          

                         Skype

Since Google Chrome was not in Ubuntu Repository, I went to Chromium site and downloaded Google Chrome Web Browser (dev channel) and installed it. Just a click on the deb file was enough to take care of installation including dependencies check and updating repository. It was like clicking exe file in Windows. I see Ubuntu and Linux in general becoming more and more user friendly. Since Google has released beta version of Google Chrome, one can install Google Chrome through Synaptic Package Manager.

Later, I added my web developing tool package LAMP (Linux, Apache server, MySql, PHP). Earlier, I had to type commands for installation of Apache web server, MySql data server and php language pack. Now, it is made simple by entering a single command. If you need more details about this, please click here.

Now, my Ubuntu system is back to its productive self. As I said in my previous post, Ubuntu is now faster in start up, loading apps and closing. My time spend in Ubuntu has increased to more than 70% of my total PC time. I enjoy Ubuntu more than Windows due to its speed.

Upgraded to Jaunty Jackalope

Though I have upgraded my Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex to Jaunty Jackalope by April 2008, I could write on this experience only now. It is better to be late than never.

Let me list out my experiences on the upgrade:

1. This time around, I did upgrade instead of installing anew.
2. The up-gradation was smooth without any unintended incidence.
3. My third-party repository sources got erased.
4. Unsupported applications got removed.
5. My network manager worked without any hitch this time, which was a source of pain during my early up-gradations.
6. As usual, my video card drivers did not work. However, the hardware drivers function under system/administration worked fine. It provided a suitable NVidia driver and installed without any hitch.
7. Alas! My PC sound was not working. After some reasearch in the net, I was informed that the new sound application "Pulse Audio" needs to be installed. This is a new application in Jaunty Jackalope. This application did not install automatically during installation. After installation of this application, my PC started sounding.
8. I had to reinstall Google Earth, since it was removed during my up-gradation.
9. As usual, my creative webcam stopped working after up-gradation. I tried reinstalling ov51x-jpeg driver. It does not work. I may have committed some mistakes while reinstalling. I may have to correct this problem later.
10. Now, Jaunty Jackalope is working fine, excepting for web cam glitch.

Overall, Ubuntu is becoming less and less painful while upgrading. Ubuntu still operates well in my, more than five year old, PC. It is almost friendly like Windows and as stable as Windows, if not more. I started loving Ubuntu more as I upgrade.

Technorati Tags: Jaunty Jackalope, Ubuntu, Ubuntu, upgrade, windows

Ubuntu 8.10 – Intrepid Ibex

It has been quite long, since I posted my blogs. It is not that I did not have any new experience with my Ubuntu.I had few interesting and some unpleasant experiences. I will recount them here. My last blog was posted when I was using a stable version of Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04). I had three issues that required some digging to resolve them. However, the last issue could not be resolved. All these issues were related to drivers of my PC components.

• Wireless Network connection: I have a wireless router at home and my desktop has a wireless network adapter. There is still no Linux driver for this component due to manufacturer’s restrictions. There is a workaround. By installing ndiswrapper software, one can convert Windows driver file to work in Ubuntu Linux. This is the link that gives instructions on the work around. This work around worked in my PC properly.
• Accelerated graphics card: My PC has GeForce4 MX 440 graphics card. Here too, the generic driver was not enough for the card to work properly. Then, after some research, I found that EnVy software was the solution. I downloaded the software and installed it. After installation, the software took care of installation of suitable driver. The card worked after this action.
• Creative Live Webcam: This webcam also did not work at all. I did a lot of search and found few solutions, but they also did not work. I gave up on this at last. My Ubuntu did not have a working webcam. Please note that this webcam was working properly in Windows XP.

Everything was well with my Hardy Heron. As an inquisitive person, I decided one day to try the developer version of Intrepid Ibex. I set up my Ubuntu to auto-upgrade to latest alpha and beta releases of Intrepid Ibex. Few updates worked fine without any problem. Alas! After few updates (which were happening every other day), one update hanged. I had to power-off my PC. After shut off, my Ubuntu refused to boot at all. I had to either reload stable Hardy Heron or beta version of Intrepid. Since stable version of Intrepid Ibex release was only few weeks away, I decided to wait for the release of stable version.

I downloaded the stable version of Intrepid Ibex, when it became available. The fresh installation was very smooth, partly due to improvements in Intrepid Ibex and partly due to guidance from my earlier blog about Ubuntu installation. The three issues noted above were resolved after installation, but easily.

• Wireless Network connection: The instructions and the required debian packages were saved in a removable device. I was thoughtful to save them for the rainy days. I installed ndiswrapper and the proper driver. Wireless connection started working without much labor.
• Accelerated graphics card: This posed some difficulty. Envy was not available for Intrepid Ibex. I had to include restricted extras package in the repository. Then I had to install nvidia-glx-96 package through synaptic package manager. Now, graphics card is working. I can enjoy the games and advanced desktop effects. It took some effort and time to make this work, but the worth the effort.
• Creative Live Webcam: The happiest experience was with this. I did not do anything. It started working automatically. Developers of Intrepid Ibex have done something for it. Hurrah!

Now, I have a stable Intrepid ibex. I am slowly loading required additional applications. I have first added Google Mail offline as my first additional application. I am a fan of Google, but most of the Google applications do not work in Linux. Gmail offline and Google Earth are the exceptions. My experiences with Ubuntu is becoming more and more enjoyable.

Internet Explorer in Ubuntu Hardy Heron

In my previous post, I was wondering whether to go in for a clean install after the final release of Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron). I decided not to do clean install, since I had installed many applications and configured them to suit my needs. It would be laborious to reinstall all applications and reconfigure them again. Further, I have to work around again in resolving bugs reported in my previous post. I am happy just updating to the stable version. I have added quite a few applications by now. I would list and discuss them in my future blogs.

Since I have a dual boot system with Windows XP and Ubuntu as alternative operating systems, I was using Windows and Internet Explorer combination for the sites that do not open properly in other browsers. I also used this combination to acquire some data from the net to Microsoft Excel. Data acquisition does not work well with FireFox and OpenOffice combination as of now.

I wanted to use Internet Explorer in Ubuntu so that I can stick with only one Operating System. I found that ie4linux is the software that would allow me to use internet Explorer in Linux (Ubuntu). I required both Wine and Cabextract applications before installing ie4linux. Cabextract was found in my system already and I installed Wine. Then I installed ie4linux.

I had a hiccup during installation of ie4linux. ie4linux could not download a dll file from the net. I had to manually copy it from my Windows system files. Installation was completed after copying this dll file to ie4linux folder.

Though this software provided both versions of ie6 and ie7(beta), ie7(beta) does not work at all. Even in ie6, the screen flickers a lot, when flash files are used to open a site. It is also slow. Though I am happy that I am able to open Internet Explorer in Ubuntu, the surfing experience is not pleasant.

I am back to using Internet Explorer in Windows XP.

FireFox 3 beta 1

Once Mozilla announced release of FireFox 3 Beta I was impatient to use the latest beta release. I checked up the net and found that Ubuntu repository has FireFox 3 application. I also noticed that it could be added through Synaptic Package Manager. I added application FireFox 3 through Synaptic Package Manager. The installation was smooth. Alas! When I opened the browser, it was alpha 8. The repository did not have Beta 1. I was working with alpha (browser named "Grand Paradiso") for some time. Till the time of this writing, repository did not provide beta 1. My patience ran out and decided to install directly without repository. I downloaded the tar.gz2 file of beta 1 directly from Mozilla site. Unpacked it. Now, I am able to run the application by clicking the executable FireFox file through file browser. It is cumbersome to open file browser and start beta 1, but it is better than not having it. The screen-shot attached here will show that I am using beta 1. At one time, I was using three versions of FireFox. They were; - stable 2.0.0.10, 3.0 alpha 8 and 3.0 beta 1. I removed alpha 8 later. Obviously, Beta 1 is the most used browser by me now.

My impressions of Beta 1:

• The first thing I noticed is that it is fast in loading web pages as well as files. It could be felt visibly. Application also loads fast. The reason could be that none of my add-ons work with Beta 1. I am sure on this.
  
• The address bar provide more suggestions from surfing history as I type a word. It provides the address as well as the page title. This additional information helps to easily identify the web site one is looking for.
• The release note informs that there are many security enhancements. I am not qualified to discuss them.
• I like the page information module. It allows media files to be saved from the web site. It is more helpful to a budding web developer like me. I am providing a screen-shot of what I am talking about. The Permission tab facilitates blocking pop-ups, cookies and file downloads for individual sites. Security tab provides access to password manager. I feel a bit more secured than earlier. It may be short lived, until I notice some report of new vulnerabilities.
  

Overall, I like the new beta 1. I had a few crashes while trying tab functions. I may have to catalog them and report as bugs.

Advanced desktop effects in Ubuntu

I saw some of the screen shots of Microsoft Vista desktop effects. I was fascinated by them. After installing Ubuntu 7.10, I read some articles saying that CompizFusion could provide similar visual effects. I installed CompizFusion in Ubuntu and it is working. My PC is more than four years old and I had installed a latest video card of that time. My video card is "nVidia's GeForce4 MX 440 AGP 8x". This card is capable of rendering 3D graphics. The screen at the left shows the setting window of desktop effects. To access this window, click System->Preferences->Advanced Desktop Effects Settings.

I am giving below some of the effects I could create in my desktop. "cube" effect does not work in my PC. I am looking at a possible solution. I have tried many of the effects and their performances seem to be satisfying.

















































A word of caution. My PC some times freezes when these effects are enabled. So, I enable desktop effects setting only when I try exploring them. To enable this setting, click System->Preferences->Appearance. A window will appear. Select "Visual Effects" tab in that window. Select "Extra" in the selected page. This will enable the special effects. If "none" is chosen, special effects will be disabled.

Open Source is demonstrating that they are catching up with other proprietary software!

Repositories in Ubuntu

The concept of repository and updating system files and application files automatically is welcome to an user like me. In window updates, only the system files are updated and not loaded applications. It is hard to keep a track of all applications and update them manually. Some applications have their own auto-update functions, but they are few in numbers. So, I like the concept of auto updating from repositories that keep a track of loaded application updates. Another convenience is that the updates do not require all the files of the applications to be downloaded. Only revised files are downloaded and replaced. The third convenience is the installation part. It is done automatically, without a need to refer to installation instructions of each application. Repository concept is originally from Linux and it is well integrated in Ubuntu.

Ubuntu has its own repository for system files, KDE applications and some basic applications like OpenOffice. One can add other repositories, which are unsupported by Ubuntu. There would always be warning of possible malicious software, when we add third party applications from other repositories. The user has to ascertain the genuineness of a repository before adding. I am attaching a picture showing third party software repositories that were added in my PC. I have not added all applications from these repositories. Some applications have similar functionalities. I do not want to consume memory without adding value. I add applications as and when needed.

These repositories check software updates in the background and inform the availability of updates. All we need to do is click the update (apply changes) button. Downloading of the update files and installation of them are done automatically. It is a huge task saver.

There are a lot of repositories that are not written in English. It would be difficult to add these repositories without knowing the details. One of my repositories, in fact, is in French. I use translate menu of Google Toolbar in FireFox to translate in English and read the details. This is again a big help.

I am also on the look out for new repositories that have new applications, but are not in my current repositories. Open Source has really taken off to challenge proprietary software.

Upgraded to Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)

I loaded Ubuntu 7.04 in my desktop a few weeks back only and started exploring it. I was lucky to see an upgrade to 7.10 last week. Immediately, I tried upgrading it. After a few tries, I could accomplish it. The upgrade download was direct and not through bit torrent. Sometimes, the download speed became slow and had to abort the download. It took nearly 8 hours to complete the download and installation, excluding my aborted attempts. 1068 files were downloaded for the upgrade. The installation was smooth.

One positive thing that happened was on Google Earth. IN Ubuntu 7.04, it was not working. When I installed Google Earth, I did not press "Quit" and instead pressed "OK" in the installation dialog window. The Ubuntu support document specifically said "not to do this". In a hurry, I did this mistake. I was logged out every time, I launched Google Earth in Ubuntu 7.04. I wanted to uninstall and was looking in the net for a neat uninstall procedure. In the mean time, I upgraded Ubuntu to 7.10. To my surprise, Google Earth started working automatically under Ubuntu 7.10.

I find a lot of applications added in 7.10 repository. I had Automatix2 repository in my earlier version of Ubuntu. This did not work after upgrade. I had to uninstall it and install the one suitable for Ubuntu 7.10. This also works now.

Ubuntu 7.10 seems to be faster than 7.04. I can not be sure of it, since it is not based on any verifiable data. Installation and usage of 7.10 was smooth so far. All my loaded applications and configurations were intact, excepting Automatix2, of course.

I connected my web cam through usb port. Ubuntu immediately recognized it as a drive and started downloading all pictures. It was only a temporary drive. I copied required pictures into my PC.

I am having some difficulties in media players. I will write about them after solving the issues on hand.

A blog on my Ubuntu experiences

I have been posting my Ubuntu experiences in my other blog site, where I cover a variety of subjects. As I started posting more of my experiences with Ubuntu, I realized that creating a new blog site is proper. I am providing links below of my previous posts that have relevance to Ubuntu. Though it is only two months since I started experimenting with Ubuntu, it was quite eventful one and exciting. It was also my first experience with Linux. There are more posts to come, as I explore Ubuntu.

1. Another step towards Open Source Operating System
2. My first experiences with Ubuntu 7.04 (Fiesty Fawn)

PS:

1. I am still writing this post through Windows OS. I encountered tag problems using Blogger site with FireFox and Ubuntu. I have to explore further to provide details. Probably, next post subject may be on it.
2. This site was created using standard template available in Blogger.com. I tweaked HTML code at three places to get the present view. I am testing the waer before plunging in.