poltr1 | Entries tagged with linux

(Yes, there are such things. But they are fewer in number than Windows annoyances.)

After installing Ubuntu Linux from the distro CD-R, there are still some things that need to be done. Part of it is due to the omission of proprietary drivers and such. Computer neophytes aren't going to know how to do these tweaks, or want to do them. They want things to work out-of-the-box. And because of that, I can't recommend Ubuntu to those people at this time. Sometimes, with running Ubuntu, you need to DIY (do it yourself).

And starting in 11.04 (Natty Narwhal), the standard GUI has been switched from Gnome to Unity. I hated Unity at first, because it was different from Gnome. But as I use it more, it's not that much different from Gnome. But there are still some things with Unity that I'd like to tweak. This I'll save for a later post.

( Some how-tos for the things I had to tweak. Linux command-line wizardry follows. )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: The Weather Channel

After using Ubuntu Linux on one desktop and two laptops for several months, I find that I can do most of eveything I need to do in Ubuntu. Three notable exceptions I've found so far:

1) Using a PCMCIA modem on a laptop. Linux and PCMCIA modems don't get along very well. Primarily because most PCMCIA modems are Winmodems, which use part of the Windows operating system to perform its tasks. If I'm at a place that has only dial-up (such as my mom's place in Buffalo), I have to boot up in Windows.
2) Websites that require Internet Explorer. There are some websites out there, presumably developed using Microsoft products, that don't support Firefox. (Shame on them.) And Microsoft isn't going to develop a version of IE for Linux anytime soon.
3) Windows-only apps. I haven't tried installing or running TurboTax via Wine.

I intend to keep using Ubuntu as my primary operating system for the foreseeable future.

P.S. Ubuntu 10.04 -- aka Lucid Lynx -- is scheduled to be released on April 29.

This past month, I've used Ubuntu Linux almost exclusively. There have only been a few times where I've needed to use Windows or Windows-based apps. One was to download some videos from YouTube.* Another was to rip a CD.

One major disadvantage of Ubuntu Linux is that I've found is that many laptop modems don't work with it. That's because many PCMCIA modems are really winmodems, using the OS to perform some of the functions that a normal modem would use. This would impair my ability to use a Linux laptop or PC in places where I don't have a network available, such as my mother's house.

Other than that, I intend to keep using Ubuntu Linux whenever and wherever I can.

*I know I can download videos using youtube-dl. But it doesn't give the .flv file a nice name. I've been looking for PyTube but the website that it's supposedly on is no longer available. [Updated 22:15] I found a copy of PyTube at http://www.marcosrodriguez.me/pytube/.

Three months ago, a member of my church gave me a Gateway MA3 laptop that needed fixing. The connection to the power supply was broken, or appeared to be broken. I couldn't fix it; I couldn't get the plastic cover off. I took it to the local laptop repair place and they said that this was a common problem with that model, and that it would take $150 to repair. After consulting with the laptop owner, I kept it for spare parts.

Last month,

athenawindsong gave me her old Compaq Presario M2000 laptop, after experiencing a BSOD caused by a disk crash. Thankfully, she was able to salvage her data, with the help of her local Geek Squad. But the Windows OS was damaged, and she didn't have the CD as it was a pre-installed system. After this bad experience with Windows, she chose to get a Mac.

And so, I took the hard drive out of the Gateway, placed it in the Compaq, and installed a copy of Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (aka "Karmic Koala"). And voila -- a new laptop for me to use. I just installed LogJam (an LJ client for Linux) and am posting with it now.

I seem to have "the knack" with old hardware. Now if I can only make that talent and skill pay off.

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Matt Bianco, "Half A Minute"

I've been doing a fair amount of Linux work in the past few days, both at home and at a volunteer organization I belong to.

As some of you may already know, version 9.10 of Ubuntu Linux -- codenamed "Karmic Koala" -- was released to the public last week. I installed it on my desktop. This system can now dual-boot Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu Linux, just like my laptop.

( What apps run under Linux? )

I would say a good 75% of what I regularly do can be done using Ubuntu Linux and a few apps: Firefox, Thunderbird, a text editor, and OpenOffice.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Depeche Mode, "Peace"

One of the things I can do with my laptop is to set up what's called a LAMP server -- Linux OS, Apache web server, MySQL database, and Perl scripting language. I'd like to do this for the practical experience. Other than these 4 items, are there any other components which I should install under Linux? (I'm running Ubuntu 8.04.2 on the laptop.)

[Updated 16:35] According to this article, it looks like I need to be running the *server* version of Ubuntu, not the desktop version. Frak.

Current Mood: geeky

Some time ago, I installed Ubuntu Linux 7.10 on my laptop computer, with the intention of eventually replacing Windows as its principal operating system. I ran into two hurdles: neither the modem card or my wireless card would work with Ubuntu. I've since upgraded to 8.04, but that's as far as I went with it.

Tonight, after doing an update on Windows and rebooting, I didn't select Windows and the GRUB boot manager rebooted to Ubuntu. Thanks to my DSL connection (which is done via my LAN card), I have access to the Internet from Ubuntu. I downloaded and installed 117 updates, with another 251 on the way. I'll save them for tomorrow night. I'm too old to be pulling all-nighters.

Now that I have Internet access from Ubuntu, what cool programs and/or widgets should I download? I'd like to get some codecs so I can play some media files.

Current Mood: accomplished

After being unable to use the modem and network cards with my "new" laptop (a Dell Latitude CPx), I thought I wouldn't be able to successfully run Linux on a notebook or laptop computer. (To recap the problems I was having, I couldn't connect to the internet using either a PCMCIA modem card or wireless network card.)

This past weekend, during some housecleaning, I found the copy of Windows XP Professional I bought last year. (This was bought with a deep student discount, as I was taking a class at Sinclair at the time. I refuse to pay full price for average software for the average user.) Tonight, I installed it and it appears to be working fine. And as evidenced by this post, I can connect with my modem card.

In the next few days, I will be installing some more hardware and software, getting the latest patches, and migrating software and files from the old laptop ("tardis Mk II", a Dell Latitude XPi CD). I intend to install OpenOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird on the new laptop ("tardis Mk III", the Dell Latitude CPx J).

I'm not completely giving up on Linux, though. My last employer scrapped a Gateway 4000-E desktop because the hard drive went bad. So I put dibs on it, took it home, put in a new hard drive, and installed Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). It appears to work great. I still need to install the network and video drivers. Maybe I can install MySQL and Samba on there.

To the Linux geeks out there, thank you for all the help you've given me over the last couple of months.

Shout-outs: Happy birthday

uk_kay_kay!

Current Mood: accomplished

I just noticed that the post I made a few hours ago is dated March 19, 4:50pm -- the time and date of the system clock at the time I posted. That obviously wasn't right, and it's been fixed.

I went to Panera for dinner, with the Linux laptop in tow. I was able to detect their wireless internet, but I couldn't connect to it. I tried several times. I think there's something more I need to do before it will work. (At home, I can detect my neighbors' wireless connections, and all but one have them locked down.)

As for the boycott, I sort of participated. I read the posts of the people who chose not to participate, but I didn't start responding until about 4 pm. Plus today's posts are the first I made since Monday.

( My test results and observations from the past week. )

Current Music: NCAA College Basketball

I'm posting this from the new laptop, on which I installed Ubuntu Linux 7.10. I still haven't figured out how to get the PCMCIA modem to work. But they were throwing out a USRobotics Sportster 33.6 FAxmodem at work. And so I thought about using it for the interim. A little twiddling with wvdial, and editing the configuration file, and I'm online.

Now to go to my favorite wi-fi hangout and test the network card.

Current Mood: accomplished

While I'm waiting for my project to rebuild, I think I'll mention my latest computer project: looking at Linux.

( I've known about Linux for years. Finally I'm doing something with it. )

Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: Bjork, "New World"

.....which flavor and/or version should I go with?

I'm currently running a dual-boot Win95B/Mandrake Linux 8.2 on my testbed system, which I call "slave" (after one of the computers in Blake's 7). Slave is a trash-picked Gateway Pentium-II 400 Mhz with 192 Mb of RAM. After adding a few spare parts -- video card, hard drives, network card -- it's become a working system, although I hardly use it. I use it so infreqently that I forgot my screen-saver password when it's running Linux, and I have to reboot it.

Last year at this time, I was intrigued with Linspire 5.0. I've often thought that if there was a decent version of Linux on the desktop, it would provide Windows with some serious competition. This past year, I've been hearing nice things about Xandros and Ubuntu. Add a copy of OpenOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird, and that would cover nearly all the bases.

Another advantage of the flavors of Linux is that I can freely distribute the OS. If I decide to get rid of my testbed, or any other old system, I can install the OS and then give the machine to someone. That's a lot harder to do with Windows.

So, for those of you who have worked with these flavors of Linux, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences. Ditto that for the KDE and Gnome desktop environments.