full circle magazine - issue #62

full circle magazine #62 1 contents ^

Full CircleTHE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY

ISSUE #62 - June 2012

Full Circle Magazine is neither affi l iated with, nor endorsed by, Canonical Ltd.

AAMMAATTEEUURR AASSTTRROONNOOMMYYLINUX TAKES TO THE SKIES


The articles contained in this magazine are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Al ike 3.0 Unported l icense.This means you can adapt, copy, distribute and transmit the articles but only under the fol lowing conditions: you must attributethe work to the original author in some way (at least a name, emai l or URL) and to this magazine by name ('Ful l Circle Magazine')

and the URL www.ful lcirclemagazine.org (but not attribute the article(s) in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). I fyou alter, transform, or bui ld upon this work, you must distribute the resulting work under the same, simi lar or a compatible l icense.Full Circle magazine is entirely independent of Canonical, the sponsor of the Ubuntu projects, and the views and opinions in themagazine should in no way be assumed to have Canonical endorsement.

Full CircleTHE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY

Amateur Astronomy - Pt1 p.14

LibreOffice - Part 15 p.11

Python - Part 34 p.08

GIMP - Beanstalk Pt3 p.17

HowTo Opinions

Q&A p.45

Ubuntu Games p.49

Ubuntu Women p.XX

Command & Conquer p.05

Inkscape - Part 2 p.18

Columns

Linux Labs p.23 Review p.35

I Think... p.43

My Opinion p.32

My Story p.30

Letters p.41

Audio Flux p.48Linux News p.04

Closing Windows p.26

BACK NEXT MONTH

Graphics

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EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL

Welcome to another issue of Full Circle!

We're back with more of the same *buntu goodness. This month, we have theusual Python and LibreOffice tutorials, with the addition of a two-part articleI've written on my latest endeavour, astronomy. Like any good Linux user, Iwanted to avoid Windows software where possible and, thankfully, it's been

easily possible. So, the first part of my How-To is a list of Linux astronomy applications.

Mark's Inkscape series continues with keyboard shortcuts for the basics, and my GIMPBeanstalk tutorial ends, but we have more GIMP tutorials coming. Don't worry!

If you need some music in the background while you work on this month’s tutorials, thenyou should read Nicola's Audio Flux article which recommends some free CreativeCommons tracks.

Even if you haven't been following the Closing Windows articles, you might find thismonth's article useful, since it discusses the various Linux equivalents to common Windowsapplications. We (my co-authors and I) tried to keep the article non-personal by listing theapps that come with that particular desktop rather than listing our personal favorites.

If you're a fan of Twitter, then you might want to look at Charles's Linux Labs article as itdeals with turning a spare machine into a Twitter display that'd be useful for a kiosk orsomething similar.

As ever, feel free to send in your articles and letters!

All the best, and keep in touch!Ronnie

[email protected]

This magazine was created using :

Full Circle PodcastReleased monthly, each episodecovers all the latest Ubuntu news,opinions, reviews, interviews andlistener feedback. The Side-Pod isa new addition, it's an extra(irregular) short-form podcastwhich is intended to be a branchof the main podcast. It'ssomewhere to put all the generaltechnology and non-Ubuntu stuffthat doesn’t fit in the mainpodcast.

Hosts:• Les Pounder• Tony Hughes• Jon Chamberlain• Oliver Clark

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mailto:[email protected]

http://www.scribus.net

http://www.gimp.org

http://www.libreoffice.org

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LLIINNUUXX NNEEWWSS

EPUB

Finally, we have mobile editionsof Full Circle on the downloadspage. At the moment, there areonly a couple of issues online,but we're hoping to have backissues online shortly. If you'veany problems with the epubfile/formatting, you can drop anemail to Jens at:[email protected]

Big thanks to Jens, and thebeta testers, for making them areality.

Google Currents

Google Currents has beenreleased worldwide, so install iton your Android/Apple devices,search for 'full circle' (in theapp) and add issues 55-60 toyour app. Or, you can click thelinks on the FCM downloadpage for those issues.

Canonical To UseEfilinux For UEFISecure Boot

Canonical will drop Grub 2in favour of Intel'sefilinux as its bootloaderin order to comply with

Microsoft's UEFI Secure Boot.

Following Red Hat announcingits plans to ensure that Fedora willnot fall afoul of Microsoft's UEFISecure Boot mechanism, Canonicalhas detailed how it plans onworking with Microsoft's 'securityfeature' [by] modify Intel's efilinuxbootloader to add a menuinterface.

For machines that comepreloaded with Ubuntu, Canonicalwill store the Ubuntu key infirmware. The company will requiremachines that have "Ubuntucertified" labels to have theUbuntu key stored in the UEFIsignature database.

Source: TheInquirer.net

Nvidia Stuffs Up HugeChinese Order

While Nvidia probablydoes not care toomuch about the onefingered protest

from Torvalds, it might be moremiffed that it has lost a huge orderfrom the Chinese government forthe same reason. The Chinesewanted to order ten million GPUsthat would work with its Longsoonprocessors and home-built, Linux-based OS.

Longsoon chips are MIPS-based,and Nvidia's Linux driver doesn'tsupport that architecture. For 10million GPUs, Nvidia should haveshared the driver source code toget the MIPS capable, but it seemsthat the company did not want todo that either claiming that itwould cost it millions to do that. Asa result the order was given to themore open source friendly AMD.Being stubborn cost Nvidia about$500 million.

Source: techeye.net

New Asus PC Comeswith Ubuntu

The new EeePC 1225C, [is]an 11.6-inch notebookdevice that features theall new Intel Atom Cedar

Trail dual-core CPU and Canonical'spopular Ubuntu Linux operatingsystem.

It's becoming increasinglycommon to see PCs preloaded withUbuntu, and it wasn't long ago thatI [PC Advisor] wrote about a fewnew examples from Linux-focusedvendor System76.

Asus, it should be noted, alreadyhas a Linux-friendly history, too;this time last year I was writingabout a MeeGo-based offering inits lineup, for example.

Now, this latest entry from Asusadds another compelling choice tothe mix.

Source: pcadvisor.co.uk



Before I begin with theactual article, I thought itmight be useful toaddress a question I got

via email. A reader was askingwhere best to place mywallpapers.sh script, and, in doingso, reminded me that I haven't everexplained how best to go aboutthis. My approach is to store all myscripts in a single folder (either afolder called “scripts,” or, if I wantto save some visual space in myhome folder, I'll call it .bin or.scripts so the folder is hidden).Make sure any script you placehere is executable (chmod +x), andthat they specify in the first linewhich interpreter is required(#!/bin/bash, #!/usr/env python,etc.) - otherwise calling it will notwork. Once that is done, you couldcreate a symbolic link to the scriptin /usr/bin with

sudo ln s /path/to/script

/usr/bin/script

However, this can becomplicated if you start removingscripts (it will leave broken links inyour /usr/bin directory). Another

method is to add the folder intoyour $PATH variable. This can bedone with

export PATH=$PATH:<folder>

(replace folder with the actualpath to the folder you created). Tomake it permanent, you can eitherplace it in your .bashrc, your .xinitrc(if you start your interface withstartx), or in any other script thatgets called when you log in. I'vehad some hit-and-miss experienceswith this, but generally/etc/environment works well.Since, however, the PATH iscreated in /etc/profile, you can alsosimply add the path to the scriptsfolder at the end of this path. Irecommend avoiding any files in/etc/, and instead organize all yourscripts within $HOME. This is dueto the problems that can arisewhen creating system-widesettings using files that not allusers can access. The problem isthat anything in $HOME isrestricted access wise to your useraccount. And now, on to the actualarticle.

The rest of my family hasrecently moved over to MacBooksfor mobile workstations, and, formost of them, keeping filesorganized is fairly easy. For one ofthem, the MacBook is the onlycomputer, and, for the other, it's awork machine where onlycompany-related files need to besynchronized. However, for thelatter person, whose PC runs bothArch Linux and Windows, it's alittle more complicated. At first, Ithought I'd use rsync in a customscript to synchronize the foldersone after the other, but, sincechanges may be made on eithermachine, I needed a robust methodto synchronize them (includingdeleted files). Rsync may be able todo this, but I have yet to get itworking at 100%. As such, I beganlooking at unison again, which hasresulted in me adopting it for mybackup needs as well. Below, Idescribe my method forconfiguring Unison (which isavailable from the universerepository).

From the Unison manual“Unison is a file-synchronization

tool for Unix and Windows. Itallows two replicas of a collectionof files and directories to be storedon different hosts (or differentdisks on the same host), modifiedseparately, and then brought up todate by propagating the changes ineach replica to the other.”

To synchronize across multiplemachines, the first thing you needto do is configure SSH on one ofthe machines (I did this on mymother’s PC, to minimize anypossible security holes whichwould arise from a laptop with SSHenabled in public networks). It isalso extremely important that youenable key-based logins on SSH.This is fairly easy with thefollowing two commands:

sshkeygen b 521 t ecdsa

C"$(id un)@$(hostname)

$(date –rfc3339=date)"

This creates the key. Follow theon-screen instructions. Keep inmind that entering a passphraserequires you to type this in whenyou use it – which defeats thepoint of a key-based login.

CCOOMMMMAANNDD && CCOONNQQUUEERRWritten by Lucas Westermann


scp ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa.pub

username@remote

server.org:~/.ssh/authorized_

keys

This will copy the file into theauthorized keys of the server,meaning that if you try ssh <IP>,without a username, it willautomatically log you in using thekey, without prompting for apassword. Note: If your version ofssh doesn't support ecdsa, rsa keysare fine too.

Now then, on to Unison. Theeasiest way to manage multiplesynchronization folders is to createmultiple profiles (.prf files). Sincethe options are all the same, I willcover only a single example. MyMusic sync profile looks like this:

# Unison preferences

label = Music sync

root = /home/lswest/Music

root =

ssh://user@IP//home/lswest/Mu

sic/Hyperion/

fastcheck = true

dontchmod = true

ignore = Name *.ini

ignore = Name *.jpg

ignore = Name *.jpeg

sshargs = C

From top to bottom, thesettings do the following:

label – assigns the name of theprofile, for the GUI's list of profiles.

root – These are thesender/receiver (in that order). Itshouldn't be possible to use morethan 2 roots, though I haven'ttested this.

fastcheck – I find that thisreduces the search timeimmensely. It is supposed to be thedefault for Unix systems, but itdoesn't hurt to be certain. The waythis works is that it reads a file'smodification times during the firstpass, so it can ignore any files thatweren't changed (meaning themodification times are the same aswhat was stored in the database).On the second pass. it generates afingerprint. and compares it to thelast contents to be synchronized.

dontchmod – Unison tries tokeep permissions the same, whichis fine for syncs with Linux/Unixsystems on either end, but foranything stored on NTFS (or with aWindows server), you will need toturn this off, to prevent dozens ofpermission warnings. Leaving thisoption isn't bad, as the permissionsettings simply fail, but it doesslow down the transfers.

ignore – This option tellsUnison what files to ignore. In mycase, I ignore all the .ini files thatWindows is so fond of creating(since my media is on an NTFS harddrive shared between Windowsand Arch on my PC), and any of thecover art, since I use a differentmethod in Linux.

sshargs – passes arguments tothe ssh session. The option “-C”tells SSH to compress any of theinformation being sent,theoretically reducing transfertime per file (I haven't tested tosee if this slows the entire processdown, since the files need to becompressed, but for my ratherlarge Music folder, it doesn't taketoo long to synchronize thechanges these days).

Keep in mind that the first run-through will take a while, sinceUnison has to assume every file isnew.

The first few times you runUnison, I highly recommendmanually checking the syncsettings for each file that pops up(options are: right to left, left toright, skip), to make sure you're notlosing/gaining any files you don'twant. Once you're satisfied with

how Unison is handling it, you canconfigure it to automaticallyaccept non-conflicting changes. Dothis by adding “auto = true” to the.prf file. You can also have Unisonaccept the non-conflictingchanges, while skipping anyconflicts with “batch = true”.Whether or not you can make thisa completely automatic process,I'm not sure. However, you canminimize the input that is requiredusing the above steps. To find outmore about Unison, check theFurther Reading section for a linkto the user manual. If you want tosimply mirror a folder in onedirection (i.e. copy it from onemachine to the next, withoutsynchronizing), then I would stillhighly recommend rsync instead,due to the fact that it doesn'trequire any input when runproperly. It's also extremely welldocumented in the manpage,making it quite easy to use. As afinal note, I want to point out thatboth Unison and Rsync work forlocal folders too, meaning you canuse it to create backups on a USBdrive as well. If you decide to runthese commands automatically ona schedule, I would recommendcreating a script to first check ifthe USB drive is connected, or tocheck that you have the correct

COMMAND & CONQUER


Lucas has learned all he knows fromrepeatedly breaking his system, thenhaving no other option but todiscover how to fix it. You can emailLucas at: [email protected].

remote IP address (or can ping therouter's IP). This is to avoid usingresources to run a command thatwill simply fail. It also avoidsopening SSH connections withcomputers that have the same IPbut aren't your intended target,which could lead to problemsdown the line.

I hope at least some of youhave found this interesting orhelpful. I'm going to continueexpanding my preferences files as Iget more comfortable with Unison,and will mention any further tips Idiscover as time goes on. Asalways, if you have any questions,suggestions, or comments, you canreach me via email [email protected]. If you dodecide to email me, please put“C&C”or “FCM” in the subject line,so that I don't overlook it.

Further Reading:

Unison Manual:http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/download/releases/stable/unison-manual.html#usingit

Ubuntu Wiki page on SSH keys:https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SSH/OpenSSH/Keys

COMMAND & CONQUER

CCOODDEEWWOORRDD

Solutions are on the second last page.

Every number in the codewords grid is 'code' for a letter of thealphabet. At the end you should have a different letter in eachnumbered box, and a word in English in each of the horizontaland vertical runs on the codeword grid.

puzzles are copyright, and kindly provided by,The Puzzle Club - www.thepuzzleclub.com



http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/download/releases/stable/unison-manual.html#usingit

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SSH/OpenSSH/Keys

http://www.thepuzzleclub.com


HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Greg D. Walters BBeeggiinnnniinngg PPyytthhoonn -- PPaarrtt 3344

This time, we’ll finish upusing SL4A. We’ll make alarger program and thensend it to the virtual

machine via ADB.

Let’s deal with our code first. Inthis, we’ll simply be trying outsome of the “widgets” that areavailable to us when using SL4A.Start on your desktop using yourfavorite editor.

Enter the code shown top rightand save it (but don’t try to run it)as “atest.py”.

The first line imports theandroid library. We create aninstance of it in the second line.Line 3 creates and displays a dialogbox with the title “Hello”, theprompt of “What’s your name?”, atext box for the user to enter theirname, and two buttons, “OK” and“Cancel”. Once the user presses“OK”, the response is returned inthe variable uname. The last line(so far) then says “Hello{username} from python onAndroid!”. This isn’t new, we didthis before. Now we’ll add more

code (above).

Save your code as atest1.py.We’ll be sending this to our virtualmachine after we discuss what itdoes.

Take a look at the first four lineswe just entered. We create an alerttype dialog asking “Would you liketo play a game?”. In the case of analert type dialog, there’s no textbox to enter anything. The nexttwo lines say to create two

buttons, one with the text “Yes”,which is a “positive” button, andone with the text “No”, a“negative” button. The positiveand negative buttons refer to theresponse returned - either“positive” or “negative”. The nextline then shows the dialog. Thenext seven lines wait for aresponse from the user.

We create a simple loop (whileTrue:) then wait for a response forup to 10 seconds by using the

droid.eventWait(value) call. Theresponse (either “positive” or“negative”) will be returned in -you guessed it - the responsevariable. If response has the nameof “dialog”, then we will break outof the loop and return theresponse. If nothing happensbefore the timeout occurs, wesimply break out of the loop. Theactual information returned in theresponse variable is something likethis (assuming the “positive” or“Yes” button is pressed)...

import android

droid = android.Android()

uname = droid.dialogGetInput("Hello","What's your name?")

droid.makeToast("Hello %s from python on Android!" % uname.result)

droid.dialogCreateAlert(uname.result,"Would you like to play a game?")

droid.dialogSetPositiveButtonText('Yes')

droid.dialogSetNegativeButtonText('No')

droid.dialogShow()

while True: #wait for events for up to 10 seconds...

response = droid.eventWait(10000).result

if response == None:

break

if response["name"] == "dialog":

break

droid.dialogDismiss()


HOWTO - BEGINNING PYTHON 34

{u’data’: {u’which’:

u’positive’}, u’name’:

u’dialog’, u’time’:

1339021661398000.0}

You can see that the value ispassed in the ‘data’ dictionary, thedialog key is in the ‘name’dictionary, and there is a ‘time’value that we don’t care abouthere.

Finally we dismiss the dialogbox.

Before we can send our code tothe virtual machine, we have tostart the virtual machine. Startyour Android emulator. Once itstarts up, notice that the title barhas four digits at the start of thetitle. This is the port that themachine is listening on. In my case(and probably yours) it’s 5554.

Now, let’s push it to our virtualmachine. Open a terminal windowand change to the folder you savedthe code in. Assuming you have setyour path to include the SDK, type

adb devices

This asks adb to show anydevices that are connected. Thiscan include not only the Android

emulator but also anysmartphones, tablets, or otherAndroid devices. You should seesomething like this...

List of devices attached

emulator5554 device

Now that we are sure that ourdevice is attached, we want topush the application to the device.The syntax is...

adb push source_filename

destination_path_and_filename

So, in my case it would be...

adb push atest1.py

/sdcard/sl4a/scripts/atest1.p

y

If everything works correctly,you’ll get a rather disappointingmessage similar to this...

11 KB/s (570 bytes in 0.046s)

Now, onthe Androidemulator,start SL4A.You shouldsee all of thepythonscripts, and,in there you

should see atest1.py. Tap(click) on ‘atest1.py’, andyou’ll see a popup dialog with6 icons. From left to right,they are “Run in a dialogwindow”, “Run outside of awindow”, “Edit”, “Save”,“Delete”, and “Open in an externaleditor”. Right now, tap (click) onthe far left icon “Run in a dialogwindow” so you can see whathappens.

You’ll see the first dialog askingfor your name. Enter something inthe box and tap (click) the ‘Ok’button. You’ll see the hellomessage. Next, you’ll see the alertdialog. Tap (click) on either buttonto dismiss the dialog. We aren’tlooking at the responses yet so itdoesn’t matter which one youchoose. Now we’ll add some morecode (top right).

I’m sure you can figure out that

this set of code simply checks theresponse, and, if it’s ‘None’ due toa timeout, we simply print “Timedout.” And, if it’s actually somethingwe want, then we assign the datato the variable rdialog. Now addthe next bit of code (below)...

This part of the code will look atthe data passed back by thebutton-press event. We check tosee if the response has a “which”key, and, if so, it’s a legitimatebutton press for us. We then checkto see if the result is a “positive”(‘Ok’ button) response. If so, we’llcreate another alert dialog, butthis time, we will add a list of itemsfor the user to choose from. In thiscase, we offer the user to select

if response==None:

print "Timed out."

else:

rdialog=response["data"]

if rdialog.has_key("which"):

result=rdialog["which"]

if result=="positive":

droid.dialogCreateAlert("Play a Game","Select a game to play")

droid.dialogSetItems(['Checkers','Chess','Hangman','Thermal

Nuclear War']) # 0,1,2,3

droid.dialogShow()

resp = droid.dialogGetResponse()


Greg is the owner of RainyDaySolutions, LLC, a consulting companyin Aurora, Colorado, and has beenprogramming since 1972. He enjoyscooking, hiking, music, and spendingtime with his family. His website iswww.thedesignatedgeek.net.

HOWTO - BEGINNING PYTHON 34from a list including Checkers,Chess, Hangman, and ThermalNuclear War, and we assign thevalues 0 to 3 to each item. (Is thisstarting to seem familiar? Yes, it’sfrom a movie.) We then display thedialog and wait for a response. Thepart of the response we areinterested in is in the form of adictionary. Assuming the usertapped (clicked) on Chess, theresulting response comes back likethis...

Result(id=12,

result={u’item’:1},

error=None)

In this case, we are reallyinterested in the result portion of

the returned data. The selection is#1 and is held in the ‘item’ key.Here’s the next part of the code(above right)...

Here we check to see if theresponse has the key “item”, and, ifso, assign it to the variable “sel”.Now we use an if/elif/else loop tocheck the values and deal withwhichever is selected. We use thedroid.makeToast function todisplay our response. Of course,you could add your own code here.Now for the last of the code(bottom right)...

As you can see, we simplyrespond to the other types ofbutton-presses here.

Save, push, and run theprogram.

As you can see, SL4A gives you

the ability to make “GUIfied”applications, but not full gui apps.This however, should not keep youfrom going forward and starting towrite your own programs forAndroid. Don’t expect to put theseup on the “market”. Most peoplereally want full GUI type apps. We’lllook at that next time. For moreinformation on using SL4A, simplydo a web search and you’ll find lotsof tutorials and more information.

By the way, you can pushdirectly to your smartphone ortablet in the same way.

As usual, the code has been putup on pastebin athttp://pastebin.com/REkFYcSU

See you next time.

if resp.result.has_key("item"):

sel = resp.result['item']

if sel == 0:

droid.makeToast("Enjoy your checkers game")

elif sel == 1:

droid.makeToast("I like Chess")

elif sel == 2:

droid.makeToast("Want to 'hang around' for a while?")

else:

droid.makeToast("The only way to win is not to play...")

elif result=="negative":

droid.makeToast("Sorry. See you later.")

elif rdialog.has_key("canceled"):

print "Sorry you can't make up your mind."

else:

print "unknown response=",response

print "Done"

http://www.thedesignatedgeek.net

http://pastebin.com/REkFYcSU


HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Elmer Perry LLiibbrreeOOffffiiccee PPtt1155:: IImmpprreessss

Impress is LibreOffice'spresentation program and isequivalent to MicrosoftOffice's Powerpoint. With

Impress, you can createprofessional visual presentationsthat include graphics, pictures,videos, audio, spreadsheets, andcharts. Impress has a presentationwizard that is very useful forsetting up a new presentation andgetting you started on the righttrack, and a main window thathelps break the process down intotasks.

The PresentationWizard

You can create a new blankpresentation by going to File >New > Presentation. However, tostart the presentation wizard, clickon File > Wizards > Presentation. Ifyou want to start with the wizardevery time you create a newpresentation, you can turn it on inthe settings. While in Impress, clickon Tools > Options > LibreOfficeImpress > General, and check“Start with wizard” under New

document.

The first screen of the wizard(right) lets you pick from an emptypresentation, a template, or openan existing presentation. If youselect “From template”, there aretwo default templates in Impress.Both come with predefined slides. Irecommend you have Previewchecked as it allows you to see avisual of your presentation as youcreate it in the wizard.

TIP: At any point in the wizard, youcan click the Create button tocreate a new presentation. Thisallows you to use only the parts ofthe wizard you need.

Click Next >> to move to thesecond screen of the wizard. Onthis screen you can pick from manydifferent backgrounds for yourpresentation. You can change thebackground for individual slideslater, but this will become the basicbackground for your presentation.You will also want to select theoutput medium for thepresentation - normally screen -but other options are availableshould you need them.

Click Next >> to move to the

third wizard screen. You can pick aslide transition for changing fromone slide to the next. There aremany different transitions tochoose from. When you select a


HOWTO - LIBREOFFICE Pt15: IMPRESStransition, you get a preview onthe effect in the preview window.You can also adjust the speed ofthe transition. You can change thetransition for individual slideslater, but the transition, along withthe background, is one of thethings that create consistency inyour presentation. On this screenyou can also pick the presentationtype. “Default” advances theelements and slides throughmouse clicks or the keyboard.“Automatic” allows you to set eachslide to advance after a certainamount of time. The choice willdepend on the presentation and isbeyond the scope of this article.

Click Next >> to move to thefourth wizard screen. Here you cangive a topic, company name (or

your name if your presentation isnot for a company), and the ideasbehind your presentation. Theinformation you use here will pluginto your opening slide.

Click Next >> to move to thefifth wizard screen. If you selecteda template on the first screen ofthe wizard, you can use this screento preview each of the slides afteryour changes. You can selectwhether a slide will be included inthe presentation or not. Check“Create summary” to create asummary of your slide.

SIDEBAR: You can always usethe << Back button to move backand change elements of yourpresentation.

Click on the Create button, and

Impress will create the slides foryour new presentation.

The Main Window

The main window for Impress(above) is divided into threesections, the Slide pane, theWorkspace pane, and the Taskspane. You can hide the Slide andTasks panes by clicking the X in theupper corner of each pane. Toshow the panes again use View >Slide Pane or View > Tasks Pane.Alternatively, you can use theHide/Show markers (circled in redin the image) to hide and show thepanes.

The Slide Pane

The Slide pane showsthumbnails of all the slides in yourpresentation in the order in whichthey will appear in thepresentation. In the Slide pane,you can add, delete, copy, paste,move, duplicate, rename, or hideslides. Clicking on a slide in theSlide pane places it in theWorkspace pane where you canchange and modify it.

The Workspace Pane

The Workspace pane is the mainwork area for editing slides. Youhave five tabs in the Workspacepane.

Normal View


Elmer Perry's history of working,and programming, computersinvolves an Apple IIE, adding someAmiga, a generous helping of DOSand Windows, a dash of Unix, andblend well with Linux and Ubuntu.

Normal View is where you makechanges to individual slides. Hereyou can add images, modify andadd text, animation effects, andmore.

Outline View

The outline view displays anoutline of all the text in thedefault text boxes on each slide.Each slide is numbered. You canuse the outline view to proof andchange the text on your slides, aswell as add text to the slides. Theslide names are not included in theoutline.

Notes View

You can use the Notes View toadd notes to individual slides. Youcan change the size of the notebox under the slide by clicking onthe border and dragging thehandles. The notes will not show inthe presentation, but you can printthem and use them during yourpresentation or as handouts.

Handout View

In Handout View, you can setuphow your handout of thepresentation will print. If you

select Layout in the Tasks pane,you can set the number of slidesthat show on each page of thehandout (up to 9 slides per page).You can also use this view todetermine what information willprint on the handouts.

Slide Sorter View

The Slide Sorter view worksmuch like the Slide pane but givesyou more space to work. You canadd, delete, move, copy, paste,duplicate, rename, and hide slides.You can also work with groups ofslides by selecting more than oneslide.

The Tasks Pane

The Tasks pane has fivesections. You expand a section byclicking on the section name. Youcan only expand one section at atime.

Master Pages

Here you define the page stylefor your presentation. Impresscontains many predefined masterpages you can use. You can modifythe look of a master page usingstyles. A single presentation cancontain more than one master

page, allowing you to use morethan one visual style in thepresentation.

Layouts

The prepackaged layouts areshown here. You can select alayout - and use it as it is or modifyit. Unfortunately, you cannot savecustom layouts to the layout lists.

Table Design

Standard table layouts areshown here. You always have theoption of changing the layout, andthe table will behave much like atable in Calc.

Custom Animation

With custom animations, youcan control when and howelements appear on the slides. Youhave many different options thathelp create the visual effects youneed as you give yourpresentation. Don't go overboardhere unless you have a goodreason. While animations can makeyour presentation visually pleasingand interesting, they can also makeyour presentation lookunprofessional and overwhelming.

On the other hand, if you need tomake an emphasis on a certainpoint, custom animations can helpyou accomplish such emphasis.

Slide Transition

The Slide Transition sectiongives you access to changing howone slide replaces the next. Youhave the choice of many differenttransitions as well as the speed ofthe transition. If you use automatictransition, you can also controlhow long the slide will display.

This has been a quick overviewto get you started working inImpress. I encourage you to beginto play with the different views,sections, and layouts to get a feelfor how they work and what youcan do with them. Next time wewill begin work on editing slides,adding text, and adding graphics toour slides.

HOWTO - LIBREOFFICE Pt15: IMPRESS


HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Ronnie Tucker

AAmmaatteeuurr AAssttrroonnoommyy PPtt11

With the once in alifetime opportunityto see Venuscrossing the Sun

having passed at the start of thismonth, I thought it would be quitetopical to write about free- andopen-source software, and my newhobby, astronomy.

Having recently taken aninterest in astronomy, I decidedthat my software should be freeand/or open source wherepossible. Thankfully, it seems thatLinux isn’t left short when it comesto astronomy applications.

Sky Maps

The one thing that Linux isn’tshort on is sky-mapping software.The idea behind these pieces ofsoftware is to load up a databaseof known stars, constellations,nebulae, etc, and show you wherethey are right now. Also, in most ofthese applications, you can fast-forward and rewind time. I quiteoften use the fast-forward featureto see where a particular

star/planet will be at a particulartime of night.

Quite probably the most widelyused is Stellarium(www.stellarium.org).

It’s very polished and has alovely plug-in system - whichincludes plug-ins to simulatetelescope viewing and a plug-in toremote control a motorized scope.Its only downside is that it won’trun on older machines/laptops.But, never fear.

Kstars (edu.kde.org/kstars) willrun on older hardware and, whilenot as fancy looking as Stellarium,and being KDE-based (which mightupset some purists out there), it’scertainly up for the job of showingyou stars and controlling yourtelescope. It also has some nicefeatures not in Stellarium - such asbeing able to right-click on stars,view images from the Internet, andadd notes/log entries. BothStellarium and Kstars are in mostrepositories.

A more technical looking

application is Aladin (ladin.u-strasbg.fr). I’ve used it only brieflywhile working through an OpenUniversity course, and, while itcertainly has some nicelayering/technical features, it iscertainly used by the professionalssince it can load the industrystandard FITS files. One thing Ihave to say, though, is that it isJava based, so you’ll need to haveJava installed on your system touse it. But, since it’s Java, you canactually use the application ontheir website without downloadingit.

Another equally scientific-looking (and tricky to use) app isXEphem(www.clearskyinstitute.com/xephem). It does need compiling fromsource, though, but, if you lookaround the Internet enough, you’llfind a pre-compiled RPM that youcan convert to DEB by using the‘Alien’ terminal command.

Space Simulator

A space simulator differs from asky map in that you can zoom out

http://www.stellarium.org

http://edu.kde.org/kstars

http://ladin.u-strasbg.fr

http://ladin.u-strasbg.fr

http://www.clearskyinstitute.com/xephem


HOWTO - AMATEUR ASTRONOMY Pt1into the milky way and see theplanets, their placements, andtheir orbits. Celestia(www.shatters.net/celestia) seemsto be the one that most peopleuse, and is in most repos.

But, like everything on Linux,there’s an alternative,OpenUniverse(www.openuniverse.org). Which,while looking nice, doesn’t seem tohave been updated in a while.

Image Stacking

These applications veer intoastrophotography. While mostpeople will use a DSLR cameraworth several hundred pounds, youcan get surprisingly good resultsusing a basic digital camera (even awebcam), hundreds of images, andsome nice software. Most folksswear by Registax, which is,unfortunately, Windows only, butI’ll come to that later since Linuxnative apps is what we really want.

While not the most userfriendly, AstroStack(www.astrostack.com) allows you

to ‘stack’ images (or frames from avideo if you buy the full version),

which it will combine into oneimage which should, in theory,have more detail in it. Its downsideis that it’s a bit slow as it’s writtenin Java.

Another step up the ladder ofcomplexity is ImageJ(imagej.nih.gov/ij). It’s primarilyused by scientists and, afterlooking at it briefly, I can see why.It’s certainly powerful (albeit thatit too is written in Java), but it’s

RegiStax(www.astronomie.be/registax/index.html)

Probably the most widelyused application in imagestacking, and, while it’s hugelycomplex, it can give someamazing results to whatinitially looks like hundreds ofblurry images, RegiStax 5 (and6) run quite flawlessly in Wine.

http://www.shatters.net/celestia

http://www.openuniverse.org

http://www.astronomie.be/registax/index.html

http://imagej.nih.gov/ij


really not all that user friendly.

AviStack (www.avistack.de) isanother image/video stacking toolwhich runs on Linux, but it requiresthe user to sign up for and installthe IDL VM, which, at over 200MB,turned me off right away. Manypeople swear by it, but they’reprobably Windows users who don’tneed the IDL VM (whatever it maybe).

wxAstroCapture(arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/) isn’t technically anapplication for stacking images,but for taking images to stack. Itrecognises and connects to mostwebcams allowing more advancedfeatures such as long exposures (ifsupported by your webcam) andimage/video capture. While itseems to have an active Yahoo!Group(http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/wxAstroCapture/), theapplication hasn’t been updatedsince the time of 10.x (and showsscreens from Kubuntu 8.x), but it’sstill a firm favorite.

Scope Control

These are applications which

have been recommended to me. Idon’t have a motorized telescope,so I can’t vouch for their userfriendliness, or lack of.

OpenPHD(code.google.com/p/open-phd-guiding)

Device Control Device(pygtkindiclient.sourceforge.net)

EQ Polar Alignment(code.google.com/p/eq-polar-alignment)

If you’d like to write a follow-uppiece to this about motorizedmounts, feel free!

Android

No article on astronomy wouldbe complete without mentioningseveral of the helpful Android appsthat are out there in the wild.

Sky Map (http://goo.gl/ryhaV)is pretty mucha pocket skymap. You canuse the GPSand/or internaltilt sensors inyour Androiddevice to showwhich staryou're holdingyour phone upto.

SkEye (http://goo.gl/KY5Xt) ispretty similarto Sky Map,but lets youscan acrossthe skywithoutwaving yourdevice aroundyour head,and can,according tothe creator, be

‘strapped to your OTA’ to be usedas a ‘PUSHTO guide’. Notsomething I’ve tried.

AstroPanel(http://goo.gl/HXS1a) is last, butnot least. It’s a small app that(when given your location) will giveyou a weather forecast for severaldays ahead with astronomicalinformation such as moon/generalvisibility and cloud cover.

Next month, I’ll discuss a quick wayof remote viewing your scope -which can also be used to remotelycontrol your webcam/telescopefrom a warm and cosy place.

Sources:Stargazers Lounge Forumhttp://stargazerslounge.com

HOWTO - AMATEUR ASTRONOMY Pt1

Ronnie is the founder, and editor, ofFull Circle, an official Ubuntumember, and part-time artist whosework can be seen at:http://ronnietucker.co.uk

http://www.avistack.de

http://arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/wxAstroCapture/

http://code.google.com/p/open-phd-guiding

http://pygtkindiclient.sourceforge.net

http://code.google.com/p/eq-polar-alignment

http://goo.gl/ryhaV

http://goo.gl/KY5Xt

http://goo.gl/HXS1a

http://stargazerslounge.com

http://ronnietucker.co.uk


Ronnie is the founder, and editor, ofFull Circle, an official Ubuntumember, and part-time artist whosework can be seen at:http://ronnietucker.co.uk

HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Ronnie Tucker GGIIMMPP -- TThhee BBeeaannssttaallkk PPtt33

We’re almost donewith the beanstalkimage, but I’d like toadd some random

bits and bobs to give it somepizzazz.

Sources:Moon:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1126941Stars:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1005288

YouTube Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZcoOx94ox8

Moonshine

Copy/paste the moon imageinto the beanstalk scene. I’mkeeping the moon layer at about150 wide and have flipped ithorizontally.

This time, in the dropdownmenu above the list of layers,choose ‘Screen’; the black in thelayer will vanish, and the moon willblend in nicely.

Although, a glow around itwouldn’t go amiss. We’ll cheat withthe glow and use a filter. ClickFilters > Artistic > Softglow. Movethe sliders until you get somethingpretty. I used a high brightness andglow radius.

The good thing about doing thisin a non-destructive manner is thatyou can change anything at anytime without having to completelyredo chunks of the image. I’mgoing to use an S-curve now on thetree as I think it needs to havebrighter highlights on it and that

hollow should be nice and dark.

One last thing is that I’m goingto add some stars to the sky, so it’stime to bring in the image of thestars: place the layer below themoon layer, and make it about 300pixels wide. This time though,make the layer mode ‘Lighten only’from the dropdown menu. The lastthing to do is give the stars a layermask that will fade them outmidway down the image.

Next month we’ll have a tutorialfrom Thomas Standiford onmaking your photo look retro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZcoOx94ox8

http://ronnietucker.co.uk

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1126941

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1005288

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZcoOx94ox8


HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Mark Crutch IInnkkssccaappee -- PPtt22

Last month, we learnedhow to draw ellipses usingthe Circle tool. But youmay have noticed that we

didn't actually draw any circles,despite the tool's name. You mayhave got close by adjusting anellipse by eye, but that's not quitethe same as drawing a perfectcircle. The secret to drawing aperfect circle is actually the secretto making the best use of Inkscapein general: you need to use thekeyboard.

Inkscape has a huge number ofkeyboard shortcuts and modifiers.Last month, I mentioned using thePlus and Minus keys to zoom in andout, but there are hundreds morelisted on the Inkscape Keys andMouse Reference – the URL is atthe end of this article, but you canalso get to it directly via the Helpmenu in Inkscape. Such a largenumber of shortcuts can beoverwhelming, so I'm just going tointroduce them a few at a time,starting with the CTRL and SHIFTkeys.

These keys serve different

purposes depending on whatyou're doing in Inkscape at thetime that you press them, but, verybroadly speaking, they usuallyhave the following effects:CTRL: Lock or snap some aspect ofthe operationSHIFT: Affect the center orstarting point for an operation

An “operation” in this caserefers to drawing, rotating,skewing, or otherwisemanipulating an object. Let’s lookat each of these keyboardmodifiers when used with ourCircles and Ellipses tool.

Select the Circle tool by clickingits icon, or by pressing the “e” key(for ellipse) or the F5 key. Nowhold down CTRL while you drag anellipse out onto the canvas. You'll

find that you can no longersmoothly adjust the width andheight of the ellipse, but ratherthat it snaps to fixed ratios of 1:1,1:2, 3:1, and so on. So the answerto the question of how to draw acircle is simply to hold down CTRLwhilst drawing an ellipse.

As well as locking the ratiowhen you first draw an object, theCTRL key can also be used to snapyour subsequent edits to definedvalues. Try selecting your ellipsewith the Circle tool active, then

move the small circular controlhandles (to turn your ellipse into asegment or arc) while holding theCTRL key. You'll find that thehandles snap to particular angles,defaulting to 15°. You can changethat value via the File > InkscapePreferences > Steps dialog, whereyou can choose from a selection ofother angles via a drop down list,although the default is a goodchoice for most uses.

Now try selecting anellipse using the Select


HOWTO - INKSCAPE Pt2tool (previous page, pointer icon),then clicking a second time toenable the rotation and skewinghandles. Hold down CTRL as yourotate your object, and you'll findthat the same snapping actionoccurs. It also happens forskewing, but that's a little lessobvious with an ellipse, so we'llcome back to that one a little later.

Click on the ellipse again toswitch back to the move and scalehandles. If you try dragging yourellipse around, you'll find that theCTRL key locks you to onlyhorizontal or vertical movements.Now, try resizing with the arrowhandles, and you'll discover thatthe CTRL key locks the aspect ratioof your ellipse – you can make itbigger and smaller, but it will keepthe same ratio of width to height.

If you use a mouse with awheel, then the CTRL key hasanother feature: hold it down asyou scroll the mouse wheel inorder to quickly zoom in and out ofyour document. While you'replaying with the mouse wheel, tryusing it to click and drag thecanvas around – a much faster wayto pan around your drawing thanusing the scroll bars.

Now let's consider the SHIFTkey. Try holding it down whiledrawing a new ellipse. Notice thatit's being drawn relative to thecenter of the ellipse, rather thanthe corner. One of the mostcommon uses for the SHIFT key inInkscape is to change the startingor reference point for anoperation.

Select an ellipse using theSelect tool, then hold SHIFT as youresize it with the arrow handles.Notice how the reference point foryour actions has switched to thecenter of the ellipse. Try pressingand releasing SHIFT while you're inthe middle of resizing the ellipse tomake it more obvious. You don'thave to press these modifiers rightat the start of an operation, youcan press and release them at anypoint. The only thing that mattersis whether they're pressed whenyou release the mouse button.

Click the ellipse to switch torotation mode, and hold SHIFTwhile you rotate or skew using thehandles. You should see the smallcross that indicates the rotationcenter jump to the opposite corneror side from the handle you'removing, and your ellipse will rotateor skew around that reference

point.

You can also combine the CTRLand SHIFT keys. Press both as youdraw with the Circle tool in orderto create a perfect circle drawn outfrom its center point, or while yourotate your ellipse to rotate it in15° steps around the oppositecorner from the rotation handle.

Let's finish this month with anew shape: there's only so muchyou can draw with circles andellipses so we'll create somerectangles and squares instead.

For this, we'll use theRectangle tool (shownleft. Press F4 or “r”). Start

by clicking on the button in thetoolbox, then drag your shape outon the drawing canvas, just asyou've been doing with ellipses.You should now have a nicerectangle:

Notice how your rectangle has

small square and circular handles,like those on the ellipses. The twosquare handles are used to adjustthe width and height. Hold SHIFTas you move them to constrainyour changes to just one directionor the other. The circle handle, likethat on an ellipse, is actually a pairof handles on top of one another.Move just one of them (or holdCTRL whilst moving either ofthem), and you'll get nicesymmetrically-rounded corners toyour rectangle – like a quarter of acircle. Move both of them andyou'll get an elliptically-roundedcorner instead. If you want to goback to perfect 90° corners, simplySHIFT-click one of the circularhandles, or use the button at theend of the Tool Control bar (justabove the canvas).


Mark has been using Linux since1994, and uses Inkscape to createtwo webcomics, 'The Greys' and'Monsters, Inked' which can both befound at:http://www.peppertop.com/

HOWTO - INKSCAPE Pt2

The CTRL and SHIFT keys workin a very similar way with theRectangle tool as they do with theCircle tool: hold down CTRL whileyou draw your rectangle toconstrain it to fixed ratios if youwant to create a perfect square, orhold down SHIFT if you want todraw from the center outwardsrather than corner to corner.

Of course you can change thecolor of the fill and stroke for yourrectangles – just as we did withellipses last month. You can alsouse the Select tool to move, resize,rotate, and skew them – and if youhold down CTRL while skewing arectangle, it's a lot more obviouswhat's happening than it is with anellipse.

Now that you can createrectangles and squares, why notenhance that snowman you drewlast month by adding a hat andpipe?

Useful Links:Keys and Mouse Reference:http://inkscape.org/doc/keys048.html

CCOODDEEWWOORRDD


Every number in the grid is 'code' for a letter of thealphabet. Thus the number '2' may correspond to theletter 'L', for instance. All - except the difficult codewordpuzzles - come with a few letters to start you off

Puzzles are copyright, and kindly provided by,The Puzzle Club - www.thepuzzleclub.com

http://www.peppertop.com/

http://inkscape.org/doc/keys048.html



HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Ronnie Tucker WWrriittee FFoorr FFuullll CCiirrccllee MMaaggaazziinnee

Guidelines

The single rule for anarticle is that it mustsomehow be linked toUbuntu or one of the

many derivatives of Ubuntu(Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc).

Write your article in whicheversoftware you choose. I wouldrecommend LibreOffice, butPLEASE SPELL AND GRAMMARCHECK IT!

Writing

There is no word limit forarticles, but be advised that longarticles may be split across severalissues. In your article, please placewhere you would like a particularimage to be. Please do not use anyformatting in your document.

Images

Images should be no wider than800 pixels, in JPG format, and uselow compression.

If you are writing a review,please follow these guidelines :

For a more detailed list of thestyle rules and common pitfallsplease refer to:https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMagazine/Style - in short: USspelling, no l33t speak and nosmilies.

When you are ready to submityour article please email it to:[email protected]

If you can't write articles, buthang out in Ubuntu Forums, sendus interesting forum threads thatwe could print.

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If your native language isn'tEnglish, don't worry. Write yourarticle, and the proof-readers willread it for you and correct anygrammatical or spelling errors. Notonly are you helping the magazineand the community, but we'll helpyou with your English!

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You don't need to be an expert to write anarticle - write about the games, applicationsand hardware that you use every day.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMagazine/Style

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LLIINNUUXX LLAABBWritten by Charles McColm

TTwweeeett SSccrreeeenn -- PPaarrtt 11

Hackerspaces areawesome! In our city,we’re lucky enough tohave a great

hackerspace, Kwartzlab. I’ve visitedKwartzlab a few times to check outsome of the cool equipment andprojects members were workingon: 3D printers, motherboardartwork, a large laser cutter, evenan icosahedron flight simulator.One of the simpler items aroundthe space that caught my eye was asmall picture frame that displayeda twitter feed of tweets that

include the @kwartzlab tag.

I thought it would beinteresting to have the same kindof device in our computer recyclingshop - displaying tweets includingour organization’s @ tag andtweets by other computerrefurbishers. I considered doingthis project with an Arduino andLCD, but it seemed more fitting touse one of the older notebooksdonated to our project. Aftersorting through a bunch ofnotebooks missing parts I

managed to build a functional IBMThinkpad R31. The R31 is a vastlyunderpowered notebook bytoday’s standards, but Thinkpadswere generally well-builtnotebooks. Our R31 had a Celeron1066MHz CPU and 128MB of RAM- which we bumped to 512MB. Anotebook with built-in wirelesswould have meant one less cable,but I chose the R31 because it wasone of the few notebooks insalvageable condition.

Because we wanted thenotebook to do one task, serve ourtwitter updates, choosing a leanOS was important. Lubuntuseemed a practical choice, it’scurrent, lightweight, and uses a

modern browser, Chromium, as itsdefault.

It was also a snap to installsince our project uses a PXE bootserver to deploy Ubuntu, Lubuntu,and Xubuntu images. All of ourLinux images are set to autologin,so I didn’t need to modify lxdm,but, for the sake of completeness,you can set an account toautologin in Lubuntu by findingthe following line in/etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf anduncommenting it, then insertingthe appropriate username:

#autologin=username

By default, most Linux


LINUX LAB - TWEET SCREEN: Pt1distributions are set up to display ascreen saver after a short period.This is a good practice for security,but not so great for our TwitScreen project. To disable thescreensaver, click the Lubuntubutton > Preferences >Screensaver, then select DisableScreen Saver from the Modedropdown option.

I thought that Midori might be atad lighter on memory thanChromium, but discovered when Iran cat /proc/meminfo | grepMemFree that Chromium wasslightly lighter. The load processfor Chromium also felt slightlyfaster, and, since Twit Screenshould act like an appliance andthe CPU is already slow, any extraspeed was beneficial.

The next step was figuring outhow to display live Twitter feeds ina cool manner. For that I foundCameron Adams’visibletweets.com. Visibletweetshas a couple of nice features I like,a choice of 3 types of animatedtweets, and, more importantly, youcan use Twitter search operators.Visibletweets also doesn’t requirea login. Since I already knew Iwanted to search for multiple tagsand twitter accounts, the OR

operator came in handy. As a test Ientered:@WorkingCentre OR @chaslinux

OR @kwartzlab OR “Computer

Recycling”

Tweets started to appearbeginning with ComputerRecycling tweets. At the moment Ityped in the search, one company’stweets kept coming up with thesame message in a really spam-likefashion. I learned that the minusoperator (NOT seemed moreappropriate but didn’t work) canbe used to limit results and youshouldn’t include the @ sign wheneliminating particular results froma twitter user, just -username. Myrevised test:

@WorkingCentre OR @chaslinux

OR @kwartzlab OR “Computer

Recycling” 60IT

This kept @60IT results fromshowing in the tweets. I alsonoticed that if I left off thequotation marks around“Computer Recycling”,visibletweets seemed to displayonly computer recycling tweets.Normally, it displays the mostrecent tweet. So, if you’re testingagainst multiple words, put themin quotation marks.

Next, I took note of the URLthat resulted when I typed in thequery - it wasn’t pretty:http://visibletweets.com/#query=%40WorkingCentre%20OR%20%4

0chaslinux%20OR%20%40kwartzlab%20OR%20%22Computer%20Recycling%22%20-60IT&animation=2

The idea is that just afterautologin, I’d start chromium infull-screen mode with the searchURL. LXDE does have someapplications that can be enabledjust after logging in by clicking theLXDE button > Preferences >Desktop Session Settings, but, outof the box, it doesn’t seem to havea graphical way of addingapplications to startup the wayGnome does. To start anapplication, its *.desktop file needsto be copied to~/.config/autostart. When Ichanged into the ~/.config folder, Inoticed there was no autostartfolder, so I made one.

At first I thought there was nochromium.desktop file until Iremembered the full filename ischromium browser, so I needed torun locate chromium-browser.desktop. I then copied thefile to the ~/.config/autostartdirectory:

cp

/usr/share/applications/chrom

iumbrowser.desktop


Charles is a step-father, husband,and Linux fan who runs a not-for-profit computer refurbishing project.When not breaking hardware/servershe maintains a blog athttp://www.charlesmccolm.com/.

LINUX LAB - TWEET SCREEN: Pt1~/.config/autostart

But, I also wanted it to startwith that nasty URL, so I changedinto the ~/.config/autostart folderand changed the line that read:

Exec=/usr/bin/chromium

browser %U

I replaced the %U with the longURL from visibletweets. When Ilogged out and logged back in,visibletweets now started with theoperators I wanted.

Nice, but I could still see LXDE’sinterface. As an appliance, Iwanted this to disappear. Thesolution, run chromium-browser infull-screen mode. Full-screen modeis known in chromium parlance askiosk mode, and starting in kioskmode was as simple as appending--kiosk to the end of ourarguments in the~/.config/autostart/chromium-browser.desktop file:

Exec=/usr/bin/chromium

browser <url> kiosk

Note that I’ve put <url> in placeof where that nasty URL goes.

With chromium loading the

website in full-screen on autologin,the last step on the software sideof things was to install SSH:

sudo aptget install ssh

Since the keyboard was goingto eventually be inaccessiblebehind the screen, I needed a wayto remotely administer the system(to apply updates, and perhapssetting the system up for otherfunctions at a later date), and SSHis my favoured method.

Several years ago I built asimilar system to displayphotographs. It was a successinitially, but I learned the hard waythat you have to be very carefulabout Electro Static Discharge

(ESD). My photobox worked well,but the back end stuck out of thephoto-frame. When I went toremove more components fromthe notebook I forgot to properlyground myself … and you probablyknow the rest of the story.

Next month: Tweet Screen - Part 2- Hacking the hardware

The Ubuntu Podcast covers allthe latest news and issues facingUbuntu Linux users and FreeSoftware fans in general. Theshow appeals to the newest userand the oldest coder. Ourdiscussions cover thedevelopment of Ubuntu butaren’t overly technical. We arelucky enough to have somegreat guests on the show, tellingus first hand about the latestexciting developments they areworking on, in a way that we canall understand! We also talkabout the Ubuntu communityand what it gets up to.

The show is presented bymembers of the UK’s UbuntuLinux community. Because it iscovered by the Ubuntu Code ofConduct it is suitable for all.

The show is broadcast live everyfortnight on a Tuesday evening(British time) and is available fordownload the following day.

podcast.ubuntu-uk.org

http://www.charlesmccolm.com/

http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/


CCLLOOSSIINNGG WWIINNDDOOWWSS **bbuunnttuu EEqquuiivvaalleennttss

Written by:Ronnie Tucker (KDE)Jan Mussche (Gnome)Elizabeth Krumbach (XFCE)Mark Boyajian (LXDE)David Tigue (Unity)

This month, rather thandiscuss an actualWindows feature, we’lllook at Linux equivalents

to Windows applications. Pleasebear in mind that, although anapplication may be listed as KDE,it will still run in Gnome, XFCE andLXDE (and vice versa), so don’tthink you’re limited by yourdesktop. So, let’s look atequivalents for Office (includingat least a word processor andspreadsheet), Media Player, ImageViewer, Document Viewer,Photoshop, Outlook Express,Internet Explorer, and the allimportant Solitaire.

Kubuntu

Since Kubuntu is KDE based, I’lllist the KDE equivalents of the

Windows applications listed above.

While most distros installLibreOffice (I’ll let someone elsetalk about it), KDE does have itsown Office suite called KOffice

which is made up of: KWord (wordprocessor), KCells (spreadsheet),and Showcase (presentations). Forplaying media, KDE comes withDragon Player, but the ever faithfulVLC can be installed with just a

couple of clicks. KDE’s imageviewer is called Gwenview. While Iwouldn’t recommend it for sortingyour family photos (digiKam is bestfor that), it’s fine for quicklyviewing and rotating images.Okular is the KDE document viewerand will display all your filesincluding PDFs. While there is GIMPto replace Photoshop, KDE doescome with a nice drawingapplication called Krita - which hasrecently undergone a completerevamp and is trying to emulatereal-world media. We artists canbut hope! Your emails can besent/received by Kmail, recentlyupdated to version two and part ofthe KDE Kontact suite of apps.Kmail even looks similar (in layout)to Outlook. While KDE’s filemanager (Dolphin) can, technicallyspeaking, be used as a browser,KDE comes with Rekonq. It’s OK asa quick/temporary browser, but I’drecommend installing Chrome ifyou’re serious about yourbrowsing.

Fear not office workers - you arealso looked after with KPatience.You can put that pack of playingcards away.


Gnome-shell/Unity

In Gnome, the standard webbrowser is Mozilla Firefox. Not abad choice, I might add. Especiallywith the use of extensions, you cangive the program a lot offunctionality. My favorite browserhowever is Google Chrome, alsoextendable with extensions.

The standard e-mail client inGnome is Evolution, adored bymany, hated by others. What can Isay, you can’t argue about taste.Evolution is a good email program -with everything an email programshould have, including a calendarfunction. When you use an Outlook

Exchange server at work, you caninstall an extra option in Evolutionso the program can very easilymake contact with that server, thusmaking it possible to read yourcompany emails at home. It’s calledEvolution Exchange, and it workswith Outlook Web Access - so it isimportant the email server hasthat enabled.

For listening to music and/orwatching movies, you can chooseeither Rhythmbox or Banshee. Nottypical in Gnome, but very popular,is VLC - which plays almosteverything audio/video.

The office program for Gnome

is LibreOffice. In a very short timeit has become a very good andpopular program. It contains allnecessary parts: word processor(Write), Spreadsheet (Calc),drawing program (Draw),presentation creator/viewer(Impress). One of the nice things inthe Linux office programs is theexport-to-PDF option. No hassle ofinstalling a pdf printer, or buyingan expensive option in MS Office;no, it’s just there and delivers highquality PDF files from yourdocuments.

Evince is the standard GnomePDF viewer. What can I say? It’s aprogram made for the job and it

does that job very well. For viewingpictures, use F-Spot. It’s small, it’ssimple, but it does what it issupposed to do: show pictures.

The photo-editing software forLinux is, of course, GIMP. No doubtabout it. It’s an extensive programwhich matches Photoshop(almost). Many things Photoshopcan do, GIMP can do as well,although sometimes with adifferent name for the function.

XFCE

Rather than shipping with a fulloffice suite, Xubuntu simplyprovides Gnome Office’s AbiWord

CLOSING WINDOWS


for word processing and Gnumericfor spreadsheets. Both of theseapplications have familiarinterfaces for word processing andspreadsheets, and offer supportfor the popular document formats.

The media player that comeswith Xubuntu is Parole, whichoffers the basic requirements of amedia player for playback - as wellas streaming and DVD supportwhen you have the correspondinglibraries installed. In addition tothis media player, gmusicbrowseris also included for indexing andplayback of your music collection.

The default image viewer isgThumb, which has the benefit ofnot only showing you a singleimage when you load it up, but alsoshowing you thumbnails of otherimages in the same directory,giving you a more comprehensive“image browser” experience.

Just like Gnome, Xubuntucomes with GIMP for imagemanipulation, and Evince forviewing of PDF files. Firefox andThunderbird are the web browserand email client of choice forXubuntu. Finally, it pulls fromGnome’s suite of games to offerAisleriot Solitaire, along with

FreeCell, Mahjongg, Mines, andSudoku.

LXDE

As already mentioned above,most Linux distributions supportapplications regardless of thedesktop environment (e.g. KDE,Gnome, LXDE, etc.) for which itwas specifically written. Lubuntu isno exception, and it will happilyrun such behemoths asLibreOffice, OpenOffice, GIMP, orDigikam, but since the larger, more“heavyweight” applications arediscussed in the context of thedistributions that are deliberatelydesigned for newer and morepowerful hardware (e.g. KDE,Gnome, Unity), this section willfocus on the “lightweight”applications that correlate witholder or less powerful hardwarethat is targeted by Lubuntu.

The default word processor inLubuntu is AbiWord. It is alightweight and very fastapplication! It is easy to use andsurprisingly capable, providing80% of what most people willwant/need in a word processor -including styles, backgrounds,embedded images, hyperlinks,

tables, and collaboration tools, toname just a few. The defaultspreadsheet application isGnumeric, which is a marvel ofconservation and functionality.Most users would not know thatthey were using a super-lightweight application because somuch functionality is provided inGnumeric; so much so that it’s noteven worth trying to enumeratethe features. In fact, many peoplewho are currently using the “bigboys” (Calc, MS Excel) might findthey prefer the simple, functional,and blazingly fast performance ofGnumeric for most if not all oftheir work. And yes, both AbiWordand Gnumeric can save to a widerange of file formats for dataporting, including (of course) MSfile formats, ODF, CSV, and LaTeX.

The default media playersinstalled with Lubuntu areAudacious (for audio) and GnomePlayer (audio/video). Don’t befooled by the extraordinarilysimple interfaces of each of theseapplications; they are both verypowerful and very good at whatthey do! Audacious is a fantasticaudio player capable of playing awide range of audio file types, CDs,and URLs. It provides versatileplaylists, a surprising number of

CLOSING WINDOWS


CLOSING WINDOWS

audio effects, and an audioequalizer. Gnome Player is a “full”media player capable of playingpretty much everything Audaciouscan play, plus DVDs, VCDs, and TV(analog and digital).

The default web browser inLubuntu is Chromium, the open-source version of Google’s Chromeweb browser. (Surprise! GoogleChrome is NOT open-source andtracks every move you make;Chromium doesn’t! [In case youwanted to know.]) Sylpheed is the

local eMail client and Osmo is a verynifty personal organizer featuringnotes, tasks, and a contactsdatabase, all with some surprising(and useful) features.

You’ll find Pidgin as your IMclient and xChat as your IRC client.For viewing images you haveGPicView; a more than capableimage viewer designed specificallyfor LXDE. Although there is nodocument viewer installed by

default, Evince and other viewingapps are readily available in therepositories.

“Lightweight” and “graphicseditor” seem to be an oxymoronwhen used together, but that’sexactly what you get with mtPaint.This program is certainly not in thesame league as GIMP and AdobePhotoshop, but, as with the otherlightweight applications you’ll findby default in Lubuntu, it willsurprise you! It has robust color,brush, and shape palettes,supports channels, overlays, layers,and masks, and has many visualeffects, drawing tools and view.

And yes, Lubuntu comes withgames; the default selection beingAce of Penguins, which is a set ofsolitaire games including Canfield,Freecell, Golf, Mastermind, Merlin,Minesweeper, Pegged, Solitaire,Spider, Taipei (with a level editor),and Thornq. And of course, thereare lots more games of all kinds inthe repositories, which are twomouse-clicks away from thedesktop.

Next month we’ll talk aboutsharing files and/or foldersthrough a network.

Coming Soon!

The Full CirclePodcast Returns!

It may be a new team ofpodcasters, but the formatwill be the same.

We'll be talking about FullCircle Magazine, news,reviews and interviews.

Your new team is:• Les Pounder• Tony Hughes• Jon Chamberlain• Oliver Clark

All are members of theBlackpool (UK) LUGhttp://blackpool.lug.org.uk

Keep an eye outfor our debutepisode, comingsoon.

http://blackpool.lug.org.uk


MMYY SSTTOORRYYWritten by Chris Rheinherren

Let me start off the storyhere with the past. I was,in the beginning, a diehardWindows user - not only

with desktop machines but alsowith servers. I have owned severalservers that were runningWindows NT, and later Windows2003 server, using IIS for the webserver software. I have usedWindows 3.x, 95, 98, 98 SE, ME,2000 and XP for my desktop OSsystems. Even when my serverswere networked to other servers, Iran Windows while the otherservers in the network wererunning on Linux.

I did defend Microsoft andWindows right and left - against allattacks on them by others whothought less of the company andthe operating systems it produced.But, even then I did from time totime dabble with Linux. Iattempted to install Redhat once,and failed at that - the install washighly complex, and it didn't workafterwards. So I returned toWindows. I wouldn’t try Linuxagain for several more years.

My second attempt at usingLinux was with Mepis, I had a thingfor the egyptian theme. It installedwonderfully, and I did it as a dual-boot option so I didn’t have to fullygive up my beloved Windows OSand applications that I loved somuch. But of course by this time Ihad already begun some techsupport for Linux servers at my job,and I was beginning to see thedifference. Needless to say, like a

n00b, I hosed my Linux system andwhen it came to having to reinstallfrom scratch, I again opted toshelve Linux and reclaim the harddrive space for Windows.

My third and final attempt cameshortly thereafter. At this point, Iwas using both Windows and MacOS X, but Mac OS X didn’t let meeasily install anything from sourcecode. The differences between

Darwin and other *nix systems wastoo great, and it would require toomuch editing of code. I was alsousing Windows less and less. Myserver had already been switchedfrom a Windows server to a Linuxone just a couple of years back.Cost was lower, and I had enoughinformation to know what I wasdoing. So I gave up Windows forLinux. installing Ubuntu Linux -again choosing a Debian variant asI did when I previously used Mepis.And, of course, my Linux serverwas running Debian itself. It wasfamiliar and even seemed friendlyto me.

This was about 3-4 years ago. Ihaven’t looked back since. I sold myMacbook - great resale value in aMac. And now I have replacedevery bit of software I used to useon Windows and Mac withsomething freely available in Linux.Most software is in the repositoryalready as a binary file. Some, ofcourse, I have installed from sourcewith little or no difficulty. And nowI constantly read more on thecommand-line and evangelize thesimplicity, ease, and low cost of


MY STORYLinux to anyone who will listen.And even to some who will not.

Linux provides everything that Ineed in an operating system forboth the desktop or serverenvironment. And at a fraction ofthe cost that Windows or Mac canoffer. Using a desktopenvironment, even someone whois totally used to Windows canmake the switch to Linux. In fact,even a person who is nottechnically inclined can do it. Linuxreally is easy to learn. It hasoptions for those power users, farmore options than Windows willever have, via the command-line.But that’s not necessary for ageneral user who is going to surfthe web, check email, and play

some games.

If you are considering Linux, Isuggest strongly in checking outthe site “Why Linux is better”located athttp://whylinuxisbetter.net - it hasa ton of information available onthat subject.

You can always ask me aboutLinux; I will be happy to show it toyou. I can even provide you with alive CD so you can try out Linuxwithout making any permanentchanges to your system. You will beamazed and wonder how Windowsor Apple are able to remain in thecomputer business with Linux outthere, and it is a rising force.

1166xx1166 SSUUDDOOKKUU


Numbers 0 to 9 and letters A to F are to be filled into the16x16 grid so that every row, every column, and every4x4 box contains 0 to 9 and A - F.

Puzzles are copyright, and kindly provided by,The Puzzle Club - www.thepuzzleclub.com

http://whylinuxisbetter.net



MMYY OOPPIINNIIOONNWritten by Mattias Nykkel

I am 79, retired, basically anelectronics-oriented person. Ihad my first computer in 1985,a Commodore Plus/4, with an

external floppy drive and a 9-needle dot-matrix printer - thatwere usable with C+/4 and the IBMtype computers as well. It isobvious that a monochromemonitor was used, or it could beused with a normal TV set. Being aHungarian, I had to use accentedcharacters, and the first thing todo was to replace the built-incharacter set with a matchingHungarian font set - both for theprinter and the monitor. Thanks tothe Peter Norton books and thebuilt in assembler program, as wellas the corresponding literature ofthe Commodore Machine, Iachieved the necessary knowledgeto do the job. It was necessary as Iworked after office-hours as atechnical translator into and fromEnglish and Spanish languages, andthe built-in word processingprogram was a great help for me.

Later, I got my first IBM 286machine (16 MHz processor, 2 MBRAM) and DOS 3.3. The same

happened, as I had to use theHungarian accented font set, and itwas my job to provide it both forthe keyboard and the monitor.Programmingin variousBASIC

languageswas a common taskfor me (being also a radioamateur), in helping to home-buildmy own receivers and transmittersrequired for my hobby. When thefirst Windows operating systemsbecame available, I ceasedprogramming, since it was a toocomplicated and time-consumingjob. However, from time to time Imade some BASIC programs - andconverted them into .com and .exeforms. At the beginning, I used theInternet through a dial-up phone

line, and only e-mail sending andreceiving was available (using Win3.1). The opening of the window tothe world happened when I got abroadband cable connection and

changed the operatingsystem to

Win 98,and afterwards toWindows XP. For curiosity, I testthe new beta Microsoft operatingsystems (Win 7, Win 8), but I hardlybelieve that I will like the Metrographic environment due to thereasons detailed below.

In 2002, I met first with a Linuxoperating system, Lindows, later

Linspire and, afterwards, I triedvarious Linux distributions (e.g:UHU, Knoppix, Suse, Fedora,Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu,Debian, etc.). Finally, I selected theone that was the best, the mostuser friendly, the easiest to useand install, and the fastest. It wasUbuntu.

I started with Ubuntu 6.04, thenall the following ones were triedand installed, including later theprevious distributions also (4.10,5.04). The best was 8.04.4, andfinally I stopped at 10.10.

The highest score was given byme to the 8.04 LTS due to its easeof installation (with Windows) withusing the "wubi.exe".

Any newcomer could easilyinstall it without the risk ofharming any existing operatingsystem(s).

The later distributionsabandoned this installation mode(in reality it happened at theintroduction of the 10.04distribution).


MY OPINIONThe second highest score was

given by me to the 10.04 LTS /10.10 that still used the ClassicLook Gnome environment.

The later distributionsabandoned the Classic LookGnome environment, andintroduced Unity - without anoption to choose the Classic Look.This facility would mean that userswould remain faithful to Ubuntu,while, without this facility, a lot ofpeople would choose anotherLinux version and abandon Ubuntu.

The reasons for my decision are:From the first encounter with

Ubuntu, I have recruited a lot ofUbuntu fans, spreading free-of-charge a large number of Live CDs,and teaching them how to use it.There are also among them a lot offirst-time computer users,including people over 80 years ofage. Even these old people (maleand female), on their own, coulduse Ubuntu for sending/receivinge-mails, browsing the Internet,watching videos, listening tomusic, using video or written onlychat, even downloading anduploading files, after 2 to 3 monthsof active use!!!! Thanks to Ubuntu8.04, 9.04, 10.04.

These people claimed the userfriendliness after updating thedistribution and seeing the Unityenvironment - in the crowded, big-size icon mass, it is laborious to

find the required program, or autility to adjust and/or set someparameter, even if the names are inABC order and written in lower-case. The selection of thecategories are well hidden, and it isvery slow to locate them. Tochange from one workplace toanother also takes a lot of time -until a window opens in the actualworkplace to show the selectionicons. In a desktop machine, withor without a touch-screen, all thesefacilities are hard to use, oruseless, and slow down the user’sexperience. This theme is notpractical at all in a productivebusiness environment. Even ifsome people temporarily like this

appearance, the serious computeruser will quickly lose his/herinterest in this laborious anddifficult approach.

The inexperienced users areafraid to install the newer Ubuntudistributions (to avoid risk to theiractual running systems). They willnot upgrade if they have an oldwindows already installed and theydo not have the necessarymoney/background to buy a newoperating system. ”Partitioning” ishard to use by unskilled people.

In Full Circle Magazine, issue 56.I have seen an article describinghow to re-establish the ClassicGnome Look. That is fine, but it isvery difficult to visit everyunskilled user and do the job forthem, one by one! Why can it notbe done only once, as part of the

development steps?

In sum, these business politicsdo not help to spread Ubuntuamong prospective users.

Finally, I have to say, I am happyto have discovered the wonders ofthe Ubuntu operating system, andnow I understand why somepeople cry if somebody takeshis/her toy!

I should like to express mycongratulations and gratitude tothe people involved in thedevelopment of Ubuntu, and wishthat their concept is compatiblewith the majority of the users,both the skilled and the unskilledones. To my greatest sorrow, it is alittle late for me to learnprogramming so deeply thatpermits me to participate with theUbuntu developers. I guess, I amhelping more if I continue torecruit and teach new Ubuntuusers.


http://www.ubuntu-user.com/subscribe-now/

http://www.ubuntu-user.com/subscribe-now/


RREEVVIIEEWWWritten by Art Schrekengost

The most often askedquestion when discussingUbuntu basics? How do Iadd programs? While I

could end the conversation withSynaptic or Ubuntu SoftwareCenter, the fact remains that thereare other avenues — some ofwhich are unknown to evenseasoned users.

Over time, I've created a partiallisting of websites, managers andsources I've found of interest.Undoubtedly, I've missed a coupleand ignored others (like rebrandedmanagers that are merely frontsfor another), but you'll get someidea of what exists.

Stars below the title indicatemy personal score out of five. Forthe purposes of this listing,Ubuntu refers to not only that OSbut any fork or variation basedupon it.

Ailurus

Named after a Chinese redpanda, Ailurus is an add-on(Ultimate Edition – UE, does have itas standard). Offers nearly 100programs but it can also clean junkfiles, list device information, editrepositories, and provide Linux tipsand tutorials. It can be found athttp://code.google.com/p/ailurusor in the getdeb repository.

Good: Offers systeminformation, along with helpfulhints and programs to add. Givesapt-get commands in programnotes should you go that route.Puts already installed programs atbottom of listings instead ofmixing with new ones. Installs tarfiles without having to extract,compile, etc.

Bad: Basically a GUI front endfor apt-get, so users do have towatch for questions that may popup when the terminal starts itswork (it's not a click-and-ignoresystem). Some links are dead oroutdated, and be wary of the junkfile removal system (it onceattempted to remove an activekernel from my system).

Alien/PackageConverter

Option for installing foreignpackages outside the deb arena,Alien is often passed over becauseit's a command line proposition.The addition of the PackageConverter GUI changed it from adifficult option to an easy-to-useprogram. Excels in taking variousfile packages from other formatssuch as tar, and converting them todeb. Alien is in the Ubunturepositories. Package Converter isavailable athttp://code.google.com/p/foxoman/.

Good: When it works, it canconvert foreign (non-deb) files tosomething Ubuntu can digest. Theworst it can do is refuse and nodamage is done in the process. Thisplaces Alien in the safe “neverknow until you try” category.

Bad: Seems to be a 50/50

proposition, with some filesrefusing to convert. Many userswho are turned off by thecommand-line interface areunaware of the GUI available withPackage Converter.

Alioth.Debian.org

Website that is a parking placefor Debian, Windows, and Macdevelopmental programs. Oftenhas a listing of 10 to 20 projectsavailable for download with manybeing either beta or final releases.

Good: You can find someunusual projects in here that mayeventually make it to themainstream.

Bad: Website speed ismeasured in minutes, andnavigation is largely a matter ofluck. Some projects may not beready for prime-time, so downloadanything with a great deal ofcaution.

IInnssttaalllliinngg SSooffttwwaarree

http://code.google.com/p/ailurus

http://code.google.com/p/foxoman/


REVIEW

Apt-Get

Command-line protocol for theretrieval of programs from theInternet. Requires nothing morethan a terminal and the ability totype “sudo apt-get install” plus aprogram name. Since all Ubuntuvariants come with a terminal, itcould be stated that apt-get isstandard equipment.

Good: Requires just a terminaland keyboard. Can also be used toremove programs no longerdesired, but see note below aboutexact names. For those desiringolder program versions over thecurrent, apt-get commands can bealtered for this.

Bad: Adds dependencies by thebushel, most of which aren'tnecessary. To avoid this you mustbe versed in the “sudo apt-getinstall –no-install-recommends”command line, something most arenot even aware of. Requires exactprogram name—and that may notbe what you think. Less effectiveas a method of uninstallingprograms (often leaves stray files

and dependencies), and users mustknow the difference betweenpurge and remove in this category.

Aptitude PackageManager

GUI front-end for apt-get,Aptitude goes one step further byallowing users to search withouthaving to dig through repositoriesor knowing exact program titles.Few know this exists—because it'stucked away in the System menu inthe Administration sub-category ifit's there. If not, get it from theUbuntu repositories.

Good: Allows for program,driver and codec searching withjust a partial name. Also doescomplete purging of installedprograms should something youadd be stubborn (unlike othermanagers that may leave residualfile traces). For those thinking itlooks a little familiar, Synaptic,Ubuntu Software Center, andAdept all have similar interfacesand borrow heavily from Aptitude.

Bad: If any of your repository

sources are slow to respond, it candrag Aptitude down (takes aninordinate amount of time to passover an unresponsive source).Canonical passes on it for theirUbuntu Software Center(naturally).

BodhiLinux.com

Main website for Ubuntu-basedBodhi Linux. You can't actuallydownload specific programswithout pulling a few tricks, butthis one is stellar in its listing ofprograms, alternatives, anddescriptions for both. Over 2GB oflisted programs and packages, andsome of the narratives are more in-depth than what the individualdevelopers provide.

Good: Comprehensive listing ofpackages and individual programsalong with alternatives.Descriptions are concise, andforums are well staffed should youhave more questions. Unlike otherOS-based sites that give a listingbut no way to download programs,this one provides all services.

Bad: Unless you're using Bodhi,you can't just download from thewebsite: you'll have to add therepository (debhttp://packages.bodhilinux.com/bodhi/) to another package handlerfor that duty. Due to .bod fileextension, even Bodhi users mustgo through Firefox or Midoribrowsers (nothing else works).

Dedoimedo.com

Devoted to providing Linuxinformation, along with programofferings, this site plays equallyacross all offerings, and it'spossible to find tutorials aboutSuse, Debian and Puppy Linux aswell as Ubuntu and variants. Foundathttp://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/new-cool-list-linux.html.

Good: Gives in-depth tutorialson how to install nearly any Linuxoffering, while throwing a fewprograms in the mix, too.

Bad: Confusing mishmash ofnew and old. You'll see an articlefor the newest version of Ubuntu,

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/new-cool-list-linux.html


REVIEWbut go to tutorials and it mentions“Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala is goingto be released soon” which makesthat part about 3 years out of date(not to mention offering Firefox3.1 from 2008). Finding programscan be a trick, and make sure whatyou choose is the current version.

DVDs

Since Canonical doesn't offerdownloads of its program library(at least not as a whole unit) youcan buy a copy at places like EBay,ElectroDisc, OSDisc orLinuxCD.org.

Good: No Internet connectionworries here, mate. Great for thosewithout reliable internet service.

Bad: You have to pay up to $30for this “free” software, and theaverage collection seems to rangefrom 8 to 12 DVDs, requiring a lotof swapping to access contents.Depending upon how radical thenext Ubuntu upgrade is, theselibraries could be outdated in aslittle as 6 months. If it's thestandard Ubuntu library, you've

already got it in Synaptic or UbuntuSoftware Center.

Eve Installer

Relatively unknown, thismanager/installer is fairly elusive,although it can be downloaded viahttp://apticon.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/eve-installer-0-9-3-51-3/(make sure you get the properversion – it's offered in bothEnglish and Spanish).

Good: Offers repositories andPPA sources along with a fewprograms. Although the programsare limited, the listing is still morethan Ubuntu Tweak and the like.Looks like a hybrid betweenUbuntu Tweak and Ailurus and thatisn't bad.

Bad: It's really a front forautomatically running terminal apt-get commands, so you can't justclick and forget (remain seated incase questions pop up). Currentlypegged for Ubuntu 11.x and Mint12—so those using earlier or laterversions should be careful.Unknown developer, so will it be

around long?

GDebi

GUI for installing deb filesdownloaded from websites andsources outside the repositories.Dumped from Ubuntu after 10.04,it can be added via Synaptic orUbuntu Software Center orthroughhttps://launchpad.net/gdebi. Greatif you're in the habit of grabbingdeb packages from online sources,GDebi doesn't list programs asmuch as offering a way to installthem without having to use themore bloated Ubuntu SoftwareCenter.

Good: Faster to install programsthan Ubuntu Software Center(USC) that replaced it, althoughthe gap seems to be lessening asCanonical updates USC.

Bad: Has a cruel streak of listingdependencies and then refusing toinstall them until yet anotherdependency is located (yet willoffer to install them alloccasionally). Largely ignored for

USC. Installs but not much else.

GetDeb.net

Both a website and a program.The site(www.getdeb.net/welcome)contains Debian programs but youhave to add it to your softwaresources. Offers almost 25 pages ofprograms, roughly 120 in all. Linkfor games goes to separate site,PlayDeb.net, that offers a likenumber of games.

Good: Installs programs with asingle click, and listing does offersome programs not found in theusual repositories (some datingback to 2009). Offers programwebsite links for those desiringadditional information beforecommitting. Attempting to installwhat you've got already halts theprocess before creating additionalproblems.

Bad: Site appears to have arandom update schedule, andanything after page 10 is almostguaranteed to be inactive. No clueas to file size until you opt for

http://apticon.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/eve-installer-0-9-3-51-3/

https://launchpad.net/gdebi

http://www.getdeb.net/welcome


REVIEWinstallation, and some aredeceptively large. Containsprograms that defected from debstandards to tar (thereby cancelinginstallation attempts).

Launchpad.net

Devoted to Ubuntu software,and appropriate given it iscurrently maintained by Ubuntudeveloper Canonical. Mainly aplace to keep and maintainsoftware projects—you can findeverything from completedprograms to those in alpha/betastages. Located athttps://launchpad.net.

Good: If it's Ubuntu related, it'sprobably here, including long-forgotten apps and libraries left tothe dustbin of time. This is wheremost people are directed to if theyare doing a Google search for aspecific Ubuntu program that is nolonger active.

Bad: A parking lot fordevelopment programs, there is notable of contents, per se, so planon playing hide-and-go-seek. Older

programs may come withdependencies no longer necessary,while those marked as beta orunstable may not work. Gearedmore to the developers than actualusers, many may find some of thelingo outside their realm ofknowledge.

LinuxAppFinder.com

Specializes in the listing ofLinux applications, but this sitealso comes with a listing of Linuxalternatives to Windows or OS Xprograms, and mixes free withcommercial.

Good: Wide range of programs,just about the whole of what youmight find in Synaptic and thensome. Has both free andcommercial applications for thosewho prefer those choices, andoffers alternatives for thoseswitching from Windows or Apple.Allows visitors to sign up forweekly emails that highlight newapplications just entered.

Bad: Some listings are merelylinks to other sites, especially

commercial applications. Can't tell32 from 64-bit processors so it's upto you to install the proper version.Allows unknown developers topark programs here—so knowwhat you're getting beforecommitting.

Muon Package Manager

The primary KDE packagemanager, about 90% of theincluded programs will work justfine in other shells. Relativelyunknown outside of KDE circles forsome reason. Can be found in theUbuntu repositories. Recentupdates have turned it into asoftware center, package managerand update manager.

Good: Can update installedprograms as well as the OS itself.Remove the titles and you'd swearit's Synaptic or Ubuntu SoftwareCenter at first glance. Offers agood selection of programs.Intuitive interface and nearly everyprogram has a rating up frontinstead of having to dig.

Bad: Also unknown outside of

KDE circles because many assumethese programs can't be runoutside that desktop (not true).Unfortunately, the 10% that won'twork can really gum up yoursystem. Mainly a 11.x and 12.xproposition; at this point it's nicebut Synaptic offers pretty muchthe same.

PlayDeb.net

Sister site to GetDeb.net,above, this one lists games—about100 spread out over 26 pages.Offers emulators for long extinctand modern gaming systems,although you'll have to cough upthe game ROM chips or code to runthem. You can link fromGetDeb.net, or go towww.playdeb.net/welcome.

Good: Offers some games notfound in repositories, along withwebsite links and videos.Narratives give what Ubuntuversions each game will work on —instead of finding out the hardway.

Bad: After the fifth page or so,

https://launchpad.net


REVIEWthe links are mainly dead, andsome won't install becausedevelopers defected to non-debstandards. No clue as to file size,and some are humongous. Hardlyinspires confidence by indicatingthey don't guarantee quality orcontent.

repogen.simplylinux.ch

Not a program manager orlisting agent, this site specializes increating PPA source lists that youcan copy and paste into anotherpackage manager. This, in turn,allows for programs to be listedand eventually downloaded. Go tohttp://repogen.simplylinux.ch/ foradditional information.

Good: Very comprehensivelisting of sources, just abouteverything is covered here fromthe well-known to the obscure.You merely click on what you want,and press Generate to create a PPAlisting that can be exported toyour manager of choice. Easyinterface that anybody canunderstand, and has a separatelink titled DebGen that will

generate Debian sources, most ofwhich can be used in Ubuntu. Youcan actually choose sources fromvarious countries (why, I don'tknow).

Bad: As with all PPA sources,some are dead out of the gate. Ihave no doubt a few of these areunstable or beta sources, so becareful what you download.

Softpedia.com

Mix of Windows, Mac and Linuxprograms, this site offers nearly900 Linux apps, some of whichdon't appear readily available viathe usual repositories or otherpackage managers.

Good: Wide mix of programs,and descriptions are better thanmost. Users reviews are oftenincluded, and those utilizingRSSOwl or other RSS readers canset up a feed that provides the top10 to 20 programs of the day.

Bad: Not everything is aprogram, and some links go to ads.No way of knowing if your program

is tar, deb or otherwise, so haveAlien at the ready. SometimesWindows and OS X programs gettossed in with Linux, so watch whatyou click.

SourceForge.net

Site offering roughly 650 Linuxprograms, this is a distant kin toSoftpedia, mentioned above, andhas programs for Windows, OS Xand various Linux alternatives. Oneof the few sites I know of whereLinux listings outnumber those forWindows.

Good: Good number ofprograms along with user ratingsand screenshots. Using theadvanced search function, you canseparate the expensive programsfrom the free offerings. Inadvanced mode, hovering over aprogram's title causes the area toexpand with more informationsuch as user rating, an in-depthdescription and last update status.

Bad: Unless you use advancedsearch options, pages are a mix ofWindows, OS X, and Linux

programs — with no indication ofOS limitations until you click on theheader. Page loading can betedious. Most of what I saw can beretrieved easier from alreadyexisting sources on your computer.

Synaptic PackageManager

Standard equipment upthrough Ubuntu 10.04, thismanager was replaced by UbuntuSoftware Center. Offers over30,000 programs, shells, driversand codecs, across a widespectrum: Gnome, KDE, Unity, e17,etc. If it's not already installed (goto System/Administration), you canget it from the Ubunturepositories. KDE version wascalled Adept, but that has beenreplaced by Muon.

Good: Terrific number ofprograms. Adding PPA sources canincrease that number greatly.Good search and filter options.Allows the option of using olderPPA sources for those preferringearlier or discontinued programs.

http://repogen.simplylinux.ch/


REVIEWBad: Installs outdated and/or

useless dependencies galore,sometimes hundreds of megabytesbeyond what the actual programcarries. May uninstall anotherprogram for the one you choose,so read the warning box that popsup before authorizing installation.Descriptions, especially for earlierprograms, can border on cryptic,and the screenshot function rarelyworks. Interface is getting old.

Ubuntu.com

What better website than thedevelopers sponsoring the OSyou're using? Just go tohttp://packages.ubuntu.com/.

Good: You can spend daysperusing the listings, and it hasactive collections back to HardyHeron, as well as current and betareleases. Ancient history buffs canfind releases going back to 2004(Warty Warthog). If it's here, it'ssafe.

Bad: Can get pokey, and visitingas a new Ubuntu version isreleased is just begging to test the

old adage “slow as molasses...”Often defeats itself by stating thesame programs are offeredthrough “proper” softwarechannels (such as USC, below, orSynaptic). Old programs may comewith dependencies no longernecessary.

Ubuntu SoftwareCenter/Centre (USC)

Now standard in Ubuntu, USCreplaces Synaptic as a manager,and GDebi as a package handler.Much like Synaptic, it offersroughly 35,000 packages, but thisfigure increases as users addsources (and can decrease if youtrim the fat). Some variants deleteit for Synaptic, but it can be added,oddly enough, via Synaptic. Oncecalled AppCenter. 12.04 versionhas an area just for periodicals ,including Full Circle Magazine.

Good: Allows users to perusethe program catalog whiledownloading others — unlikeSynaptic, which freezes outadditional activity during thatphase. Better descriptions than

what Synaptic offers, and, sinceeverything is geared to Ubuntu,you don't have to worry aboutcompiling, unpacking, etc.

Bad: Commercial and freeofferings are side-by-side, so watchwhat you click. Loads ofdependencies without regard tousefulness, and offers no way ofdeleting them. If the programsource is slow, it can jam the worksand the cancel button doesn'talways respond. If you don't haveUSC, be careful of the version youinstall, since so many are offered.

Ubuntu Tweak

Tweak is an add-on forUbuntu—with some like UE andSuper OS providing it as standard.Offers a handful of programs(maybe 30 to 40), but will alsoclean up junk files and deadkernels, add repositories, and canbe used to tweak desktop settings,at least in Gnome. Go to ubuntu-tweak.com for information.Although primarily a Gnomemanager, it'll work just fine on KDEand other shells, albeit with

reduced functions. Available fromthe getdeb repository as ubuntu-tweak.

Good: Pretty much does it all,and seems to excel in everything.Probably the best of the group,and undoubtedly one of the safestavenues for removing unnecessaryfiles and installation leftovers(better than BleachBit orComputer Janitor).

Bad: Miniscule program listing.Get the proper version for your OS(the main one at the website is for11.x and above, and loading it onearlier versions may causeproblems). Reduced functions inother than Gnome, and now thatCanonical is canceling that forUnity, what'll happen to Tweak?Before adding PPA sources, makesure you read the descriptionssince some are unstable or in beta.

http://packages.ubuntu.com/


LLEETTTTEERRSSEvery month we like to publish some of the emails we receive. If you would like tosubmit a letter for publication, compliment or complaint, please email it to:[email protected]. PLEASE NOTE: some letters may be edited for space.

HAM Radio articles,please

I am a HAM radio operator, andhave been one since 1974. Isure would like to see somereviews or articles on the

many HAM radio programsavailable in Linux. I have spoken tomany HAM's who use Linux andlove it. Three logging programs,APRS (Automatic PacketReporting), Igate, Digipeater, andsuch. I know hams would love tosee an article every now and then.

L. B. Little

Ronnie says: AnyHAM radio

operators out therewho'dlike to

write an article on Linuxsoftware?

My Desktop

Hey, just want you toknow that [my desktop]is by far the best part ofthe mag. Having peeps

show off their mods/themes is

awesome, and it would be nice tohave them available for download.You should have a contest to seewho can have the sickest theme!

Jason Gunther

CC Hits

Thanks for listing somegreat music sites. I justwanted to draw yourattention to a project I

run called CCHits.net. It's a sitewhich promotes CreativeCommons music, and its artists,and shows (both radio andpodcasts) which play it. The sitealso features daily, weekly andmonthly podcasts playing a trackeach day, reviewing those trackseach week, and playing a top-fortychart show each month. It's beenrunning for about a year and a halfwith (currently) over 600 internal(daily/weekly/monthly) shows, andnearly 150 externally listed shows.The site currently lists 644 tracks,but I'm always on the lookout formore great tracks.

It's run entirely by one guy - me!and the code is totally open source(it's at Gitorious.net) with open(CC-Zero) data - only usercredentials and API keys aremasked.

Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs

Promoting Ubuntu

I have thought for some timethat since the Linuxcommunity does not advertiseto the general public, that we

need some kind of bulletin that wecould print out and leave in variousplaces we visit during the normalcourse of our daily travels. It wouldtell about Full Circle Magazine,Ubuntu.com, Kubuntu.com, andother Linux links. We need to getthe word out. Even some bumperstickers may be in order. Maybeyou could stick something in FullCircle each month for us to printout and pass around.

Jim Bainter

Ronnie says: Anyone looking for

printable stuffshouldhave a look

at: http://spreadubuntu.org/it has

downloadable leaflets, booklets,

presentations, andsuch-like.

Podcast

Just a quick line to say howmuch I enjoyed and lookedforward to Robin Catlin'spodcasts (as I do with the

magazine, obviously). He will bemissed. I always thought hisviews/rants on Linux and Ubuntuwere spot-on (which means they

Join us on:

facebook.com/fullcirclemagazine

twitter.com/#!/fullcirclemag

linkedin.com/company/full-circle-magazine

ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=270

goo.gl/FRTMl


http://facebook.com/fullcirclemagazine

https://twitter.com/#!/fullcirclemag

http://linkedin.com/company/full-circle-magazine

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=270

http://goo.gl/FRTMl

http://CCHits.net

http://spreadubuntu.org/


LETTERSwere in line with my ownviews/rants, I guess). So cheersRobin - hope you put in some guestappearances on the new show.Good luck to Les Pounder and histeam!

Les Waters

Ronnie says: Yes, in case youmissedthe currentFullCircle Side-pod,

Robin andDave are handing the

main FullCircle Podcastoverto Les

Pounderandthe Blackpool LUGwho

are hoping to release a regular

monthlypodcastwith Robin and

Dave releasing a Side-podwhen

possible. Bestofluck to Les andco.!

Linux Mint & Tablets

I've been using Ubuntu forabout four years, and have aWindows machine for a coupleof programs, but have almost

managed to eliminate Windows byusing Wine. I also have an Asusnetbook with 2Gb of Ram and a250Gb hard disk which I use quite alot and got enticed to Linux Mint12. I installed Mint on my netbookand it even recognized the extratouch-pad button to turn it on andoff. Even Ubuntu didn't recognize

this button!

Now, regarding theUnity/Windows 8 tablet debacle, soclearly described in the FCM#60article by Art Schreckengost. I canunderstand why Canonical is goingthe Unity route as this is the wayWindows 8 seems to be heading. Itis aimed at tablet, touch-screencomputers and TVs. On severaltrips to computer and mobilephone shops I have had a look atsome non-Apple tablets on themarket. The tablets on sale are

very confusing as some have a USBport some don't, most havereduced storage capacity andmemory, some are cheap, but mostare very expensive, and assomeone who is a gadget freak thetablet is one thing I have notrushed out to buy. Why buy atablet, with reduced specs, whenyou can get a high spec netbook ata better price? In my opinion thetablet is not going to last in themarket.

Allan Hambidge My Sad Inbox

My inbox is looking ratherempty again folks. Surely youhave something on your mindthat you want to say. Doesn'tneed to be just about Ubuntu.It can be about any of theother *buntu's, in fact, it canbe about anything Linux.

Whether you've written anapp, need help withsomething, have a quick (non-technical) question, or justwant to show us somethingyou've done, this is the placefor it.

Send it to:[email protected]

FCM#61 WINNERS!

EdwardKilb

Josh Dollins

BorissRedkins

Dragan Ralic

Keith Bowerman

Congratulations! You shouldhear from the author, shortly.



PPUUZZZZLLEESSIf you would like to submit a puzzle for publication, pleaseemail it to: [email protected]. Solutions are onthe second last page of this issue. No peeking!

The solutions to all the puzzles are on thesecond last page of this issue. No peeking!

Across1 Trashes non-core binary files (4)3 Release anteater - left to sleep - then returns to cut down trees at home (8)9 Quantal month? (7)10 Note, man heard (and left) message (5)11 Means of communication for aerial exercise (5)12 The French exam is most recent (6)14 Permissions not left to superuser initially (6)16 To do list from, reportedly, a male - or a female? (6)19 See 2721 Topic from article applied to myself (5)24 Remember topless hot stuff? (5)25 Embarrassed interpreter hides in a shed (7)26 Annoyed after new Unity starts to unravel in alpha (8)27/19 Dishonestly earn 5s for 1d (4,6)

Down1 Queen on ship, right in front ahead of navigators (8)2 Fashionable North Atlantic terminal (5)4 Ladies, with 9s, upgrade these months (6)5 Visitor from east in blast (5)6 I sail on clumsily into meeting (7)7 Valueless countries up to 50:50 (4)8 Challenge in a class of its own? (6)13 Recklessly lend a car to get to appointments (8)15 Perform, not much, for some data (7)17 Apple contains meat? (6)18 Get away from shenanigans, having lost recent years (6)20 Extreme emails removed from criminal senders and geeks (5)22 More than one Eth0? This sets the scene! (5)23 Old boys go to university - nowadays this is global (4)

Crossword by Marlon Mann



Register Now & Save 20% with code FULLCIR

http://velocityconf.com


QQ&&AACompiled by Gord Campbell

If you have Ubuntu-related questions, email them to:[email protected], and Gord will answer them in a futureissue. Please include as much information as you can about your problem.

Q I have a high-end Nvidiagraphics card, andUbuntu 12.04 doesn't likeit at all.

A To boot, hold shift fromthe BIOS boot to get aGrub menu. Press "e" ongetting the Grub menu.

Using the arrow keys, navigate to,and delete, quiet and splash, andtype the word nomodeset in theirplace. Press Ctrl-x to boot.

Add this in Software Sources:ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates

Now you can install a laterversion of the video driver, whichworks for most systems.

Q I am using Ubuntu 12.04,64-bit. Skype sees that Ihave a webcam, but itdoesn't send images.

A Install the ia32-libs.Launch Skype with thiscommand:

bash c

'LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/i386

linux

gnu/libv4l/v4l1compat.so

skype'

It seems v4l1compat.so movesaround from version to version.

Q When I try to openSoftware Center, it opensand then closes before Iget a chance to use it.

A Run these commands:

sudo aptget update

sudo aptget upgrade

Q How do I set ShotwellNOT to start when Iinsert a disk, or SD card,or Flash drive with

pictures on it?

A If you're on Precise, thesetting is in SystemSettings > System >Details > Removable

Media.

Q My wacom tabletdoesn´t work in ubuntu12.04.

A Google: Wacom tablet

drivers launchpad

Download the .deb file, installit, and reboot.

Q I have a printer attachedto my Ubuntu desktop. Iwould like to print on itfrom my Windows

netbook.

A See this web page:https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NetworkPrintingWithUbuntu

Q How can I install Sopcast(peer-to-peer streaming,mostly Chinese, TV) in arecent Ubuntu?

A Add the following toyour software sources:ppa:ferramroberto/sopcast

After a reload, you can installsopcast.

Q Where are the log files inubuntu 12.04?

A (Thanks to cc7gir in theUbuntu Forums.)/var/log/syslog

Q My computer has aGeForce FX5200 videocard. Aptitude won'tinstall the nvidia-173

package.


https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NetworkPrintingWithUbuntu


Q & A

A (Thanks to papibie inthe Ubuntu Forums.)The oldest versions ofthe driver (173 and 93)

are not compatible with the newversions of Ubuntu; actually anyLinux distribution using an up-to-date version of Xorg. For now, Iwould recommend using thedefault open source driver, callednouveau. These days it is workingpretty well supporting Nvidiacards.

Q How can I create a list ofall the programs on myPC?

A Open Terminal andpaste this command:

dpkg l > Desktop/applist.txt

That will put a file on yourdesktop, listing all the "packages"on your computer, withdescriptions. The list is probably alot longer than you expected.

Q How to play .rm files inUbuntu 12.04 64-bit?

A Those are Real Mediafiles. Use Gnomemplayer. VLC mighthandle them.

Q When I tell my computerto shut down, it goesthrough all the motionsas if it will shut down, but

then it stays on.

A Add acpi=force in grubwith these commands:

gksudo gedit

/etc/default/grub

find the line which looks like this:GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

Change it to:GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi=forc

e"

save the file and exit, then run:

sudo updategrub

It won't help until after you

reboot.

Q How can I use anexternal monitor with myAsus netbook?

A Install Arandr. For moreinformation:http://www.ubuntugeek.com/arandr-a-simple-

visual-front-end-for-xrandr.html

Q How can I install TTFfonts in Ubuntu?

A There are two methodsat:http://www.wikihow.com/Install-TrueType-

Fonts-on-Ubuntu

Q Can I develop and runVisual Basic applicationsin Ubuntu?

A Yes. Seehttp://monodevelop.com/ (This was the biggestsurprise of the year for

me!)

Q My Sennheiser HD 201headphone works finewith Windows 7 and evenwith my Galaxy

smartphone. But when I use it inUbuntu, I can hardly hear anysound. The volume is very low.

A In ALSAmixer, changethe "Front", "Side" and"Center" levels. Eventhough the headphone

value stays at zero, theheadphones should work nicely.

Q Where should I putenvironment variables?

A See:https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnvironmentVariables#System-

wide_environment_variables

Put them in /etc/environment

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/arandr-a-simple-visual-front-end-for-xrandr.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Install-TrueType-Fonts-on-Ubuntu

http://monodevelop.com/

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnvironmentVariables#System-wide_environment_variables


After a long career in the computerindustry, including a stint as editor ofComputing Canada and ComputerDealer News, Gord is now more-or-less retired.

Q & A

Q I have a 70 GB SSD and alarge hard drive in mylaptop. I want to ensuremy personal data is

encrypted, but still take advantageof the speed of the SSD for loadingprograms. How should I set it up?

A During installation, putyour root partition (/) onthe SSD, and /home andswap on the hard drive.

Specify that you want /homeencrypted. Select a powerfulpassword, more than eightcharacters, with upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and othersymbols. A lot of the space on yourSSD will be wasted, but that's life.

Q Why does Ubuntu usethe Linux kernel insteadof the Linux-libre kernel?

A (Thanks to 3rdalbum inthe Ubuntu Forums) It'sbetter to enable peopleto use Linux, than to

prevent them from using Linux.

Tips and TechniquesIt's Mint

Spring of 2012 was time tochoose a new "primarycomputing environment"to use for the next few

years. For me, 64-bit Linux Mint 13with Cinnamon is the answer.

I was happy with Ubuntu 10.04,but 10.10 improved the support formy AMD Phenom II processor. Itwas my primary system until April10, 2012, when Canonical droppedsupport. (They could have at leastkept it going for the few days untilUbuntu 12.04 was released.) I hadan open partition, so I installedMint 12 with Cinnamon.

It works the way I work! All myhardware works, it took about 20seconds to install my printer. I canshare a folder and access sharedfolders. My video adaptor is wellsupported. There's a programmenu and a single panel at thebottom, so most of the screen real-estate is available. Conky works,

there's a weather applet, the dateis available in a pleasing format. Ituses Nautilus as its file manager. (Iwanted to like Kubuntu, but its filemanager made me crazy.) Thebuttons are where I like them.Menus are part of the program'swindow. Skype works (see above)and the Youtube HD extensionautomatically picks the resolution Iprefer.

When Mint 13 becameavailable, I installed it on mylaptop. Works nicely. (I also haveUbuntu 12.04 on the laptop, and itworks nicely, but not the way Iwork.) The desktop installationwent smoothly.

My "primary computingenvironment" is defined by wheremy real email is, and where I runMiro, my podcast catcher. I still useEvolution for email, and havebecome expert at backing it uphere, and restoring it there.Similarly, I export my webbookmarks here and import themthere. I'm chicken, so I still backupmy files before installing a newversion, even though I've never lostanything during installation.

Cinnamon is not perfect. I'verun into a couple of minor bugs,

but I could work around them. Iexpect it will only get better.

Even though I test newversions/distros frequently,moving to a new version is not myfavorite activity. Like Ubuntu12.04, Mint 13 is a long-termsupport release. It's possible I willuse it until 2016, when Ubuntu16.04 will go up against Mint 17. Bythen, I might even find acompelling reason to get a newcomputer. (My Phenom II is almostthree years old.) Or maybe, bythen, we will all be using tiny, low-power computers based on theARM architecture. Ain't changegreat?


AAUUDDIIOO FFLLUUXXWritten by Nicola Cappellini

The old saying, "you getwhat you pay for," is notalways true, and thesetracks are the proof.

Lee Roosevere

“Do what you can”http://bit.ly/9R3XZxLow-down funk for thoseconvinced it never went out ofstyle, mixed together by LeeRoosevere. You can hear othercreations of his onfreemusicarchive.org. I discoveredthis one on CCHits.net.

Nico Latinidade

“No mundo da flor”http://bit.ly/KfQgfnBorn in Argentina, raised in Italy,educated in England, and living inBrazil, how could we expect hismusic to be anything butspectacular? A rare case of a gentlevoice that you won't fall asleeplistening to. Download the albumfree at NicoLatinidade.com.

Artus Fochi

“Candombe lagrima”http://bit.ly/LD1rPvListen free on Soundcloud. Richguitar chords: check. Velvetyvocals: check. Clarinet solo: doublecheck.

OxTet

“New whack fling”http://bit.ly/LU27N3Moog-synth rock band with curiousgroove. One of the few groupsbrazen enough to venture intoserial 12-tone row land. Recordedlive, download the entire set fromSoundcloud.

Huun Huur Tu

“Chyraa Khoor”http://bit.ly/NssNZbFrom the Russia-Mongolia border,Tuvan band Huun Huur Tu weavesrich textures together with thecharacteristic throat-singing of theregion. The voice sings two notesat the same time, or maintains adrone with a whistle. Veryinteresting - download some oftheir music fromfreemusicarchive.org.

Next month: morerecommendations and a tutorial onsome neat things you can do withArdour.

Nicola is a freelance musician,translator, and web-whiz. He can beseen on the stage, behind the scenes,and in the zone - for whatever task isat hand.

http://bit.ly/9R3XZx

http://bit.ly/KfQgfn

http://bit.ly/LD1rPv

http://bit.ly/LU27N3

http://bit.ly/NssNZb

http://freemusicarchive.org


UUBBUUNNTTUU GGAAMMEESSWritten by Dougn Redhammer NNEEWWSS

Wasteland 2 - thecrowd-fundedkickstarter projecthas finally settled

on a game engine for the game -the two semi-finalists wereUnigine's game engine whichproduced Oil Rush, and Unity (notthe Ubuntu interface). Unigine wasoffered free-of-charge toWasteland 2 but it lost out to theUnity 3D Game engine as the finalchoice. Unlike Unigine, currentlythere is no Linux version of Unity3D engine. No official reason wasgiven why Unigine lost out to Unity

but conjecture is that it’s easier toimport assets into Unity 3D thanUnigine. Also, while Unigine wasoffered for free to use, supportwould cost extra, and thedevelopers would have no accessto the source code. On the otherhand, the source code of Unity3Dhas been given to the Wasteland 2developers to build a linux versionof the game engine. A list of Unitypowered games can be found here:http://unity3d.com/gallery/made-with-unity/game-list, I am familiaronly with Rochard and Ballastic

Next up, The ShadowrunProject has completedits kickstarter run -earning over 2 million in

crowdsource funding, and will havea Mac and Linux port of the gamefor sale, and releasing at the sametime as the windows version.

Finally, another Kickstarterproject: Legends ofEisenwaldhttp://www.kickstarter.co

m/projects/1684781151/legends-

of-eisenwald, this time a real-timestrategy action RPG. Thedevelopers have pledged to bringout Mac and Linux versions of theirgame if they successfully get to$100k. The project met its basicpledge amount of fifty thousanddollars, but didn’t quite make it tothe $100k - reaching only $83k. Wecan but hope that they’ll maybeuse the extra $33k for a Linuxversion.

http://unity3d.com/gallery/made-with-unity/game-list

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1684781151/legends-of-eisenwald


UUBBUUNNTTUU GGAAMMEESSWritten by Jennifer Roger CClloonnee WWoollff

Clone Wolf: Protector ispart 2D platformer andpart tower defense.Originally created in less

than 48 hours as a Ludum Daresubmission in 2011, JaroslavMeloun (aka Jarnik) has sinceexpanded it into a full game witheleven levels and ten bossesspanning five environments.

Story

You play as Wolf, a (bearded)carpenter who lost his family andentire village, inspiring him tobegin his journey to protectothers. Throughout his travels,Wolf meets plenty of helpfulcitizens who aid him during hisquest to defeat the monsters thatplague their villages. It is astraightforward story of a hero ona quest with plenty of comical bitsand classic references thrown in.The jokes are well timed and wellplaced, alluding to the classicswithout overt mockery or trite,which is refreshing to see.

Gameplay

For those familiar with theconcept and gameplay of Braid,getting used to the mechanics ofcloning Wolf will be a breeze.Other players may feel a littleclumsy trying to maneuvernumerous clones around for thefirst time, but the controls aresimple enough to get used toquickly.

You can use the cloning powersof the magical medallion to helpWolf to reach higher places,simultaneously fight incominghordes from both sides of thescreen, and target the weak pointsof the bosses that you encounter.Wolf’s wood-crafting skill is a nicetouch that allows you to rebuilddamaged houses and constructpalisades to keep your foes at bay.This works pretty well most of thetime, but there are moments whenyou’re better off hacking at the

enemy rather than trying to buildor rebuild.

Graphics

The game was built on the Flixelengine and runs via Flash whichprovides a (mostly) smooth, glitch-free experience on Ubuntu 12.04.During the first playthrough therewas an instance of unresponsivekeys in full-screen mode, but itseems to have been an isolatedincident.

The pixel style graphics areappropriately complemented by anice chiptune soundtrack byFuxoft. There isn’t a lot of variationto the environments other than afew changes in color scheme andminor details. But this isn’t a hugedeal as the pacing of the gamerequires you to focus oncontrolling your clones rather than

the scenery.

Overall, Clone Wolf: Protector isa clever hybrid of side-scrollingplatformer and tower defensegoodness - with a story that is asfun as the gameplay. Clone Wolf ispart of the Indie Underdog PackBundle, along with four otherDRM-free games for just $3.99.You can also purchase it on Desuraor direct from Jarnik’s site:http://www.jarnik.com/1062-clone-wolf-protector.

Pros:• fun, addictive gameplay• good graphics and soundtrack• humorous twist on a classic plotCons:• fairly short, can be completedquickly• environments lack some variety

Jennifer is a fine arts student fromthe Chicago-land area. You can findher on Google+ or follow@missjendie on Twitter.

http://www.jarnik.com/1062-clone-wolf-protector


Urban Terror is a multi-platform first personshooter for your homecomputer. It runs

natively in Windows, Mac OS X andLinux. This is how a game shouldbe designed. Open to gameplayers of any operating system,not just Windows.

And, like many games availableon Linux, Urban Terror is freelyavailable to all users. The websiteitself(http://www.urbanterror.info) isad-supported with banner ads andthey request that you do not blockthem. A minor request to be sureand one easily accepted bydisabling any ad-blocker for theirsite.

This is a multi-player gamebased on the Quake game engine.It is produced by FrozenSand,which does a good job living up toits motto of "fun over realism".Their website describes the gameas an unique combination ofrealism and fun, a Hollywoodtactical shooter. I would have toagree that it is indeed both an

enjoyable and addictive game.

After the game is first installedand run, a short tutorial demo isplayed. It really doesn't require anyinteraction from the player. It justruns through the basic defaultkeyboard and mouse commands.There are other commands thatare not mentioned in the tutorial -but are found throughout thewebsite, including tweaks and tipsthat can be found in the forums.

Once the tutorial is finished,you set your username, which canbe changed, as well as otherinformation about your in-gamecharacter: weapons, armor andextra equipment, plus whatevercolor you want added to yourdefault uniform to set you apart

from others.

Then it is on to a server. Thereare thousands of them - eachrunning different types of games,some are password protected. Youhave to be a member of a specificgame group (called clans) to joinand play on their servers. You alsohave the option of starting a localgame that can be played over aLAN, or even running a full serverthat would be added to the list.

Gameplay itself is set in one ofseveral maps which have their ownchallenges, including weatherconditions. There are severalmodes of play. The modes do notchange from round to round, butthe maps will. The various gamemodes provide several team-based

modes: Bomb & Defuse, Capture &Hold, Capture the Flag, Follow theLeader, Team Deathmatch & TeamSurvivor, and the non-team modeof Free-for-all.

With each round, respawningafter death may occur within theround or at the end of the rounddepending on the game mode. Themap will change at the end of theround as well. Depending on theplay mode, the rounds can betimed or until a specific eventoccurs. Then, of course, a winner orwinning team is declared.

Personally, I'm not much of acomputer gamer. I am an old-school paper and pencil gamer. So,when I find a computer game that Ilike, I tend to stay with it for sometime. I currently play on the pm(Pizza Militia) servers. Why? Well,because I connected to it once andsomeone was helpful to me as an00b playing the game. I do intendon setting up my own server in thenear future and hope to get afollowing going. If that happens Imay register an official clan withUrban Terror as well.

UUBBUUNNTTUU GGAAMMEESSWritten by Christopher Rheinherren UUrrbbaann TTeerrrroorr

http://www.urbanterror.info


MMYY DDEESSKKTTOOPP

I'm running Linux Mint 12 with the Cinnamon desktop on aGateway NV59C notebook computer. Specs: Intel Core i3 2.27GHzwith 4GB DDR3 RAM - 3.6 Usable, 320GB HDD and 128MBIntegrated Intel HD Graphics. I personally prefer dark themes, and,if this theme were in red, I would have it in red. But, the blue looksgreat too, on top of the black.

Cinnamon Theme: Dark Cold (http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/themes/view/16)GTK+ Theme: OMG-Dark (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/OMG_Suite?content=149294)Window Theme: OMG-Light (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/OMG_Suite?content=149294)Icon Theme: malys-uniblue (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/malys+-+uniblue?content=146392)

Devon Day

Your chance to show the world your desktop or PC. Email your screenshots andphotos to: [email protected] and include a brief paragraph about yourdesktop, your PC's specs and any other interesting tidbits about your setup.

This is my desktop: Linux Mint 12(Lisa) 32-bit running on an IntelCore 2 Duo 2.93GHz processor with2GB RAM and 500GB of disk space.

The shell theme is zukitwo shell.The dock below is awn dock, and Ialso added some screenlets on theright.

The desktop icons are custom. Iused to be an Ubuntu user butswitched to LM 12 recently.

Anuvab


http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/themes/view/16

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/OMG_Suite?content=149294

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/OMG_Suite?content=149294

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/malys+-+uniblue?content=146392


MY DESKTOP

Hello, I'm Moussa. I come from Côte d'Ivoire. I'd like to use thisopportunity to show you my desktop.

I’ve used Ubuntu since 2008, and I like it.

System specs:Ubuntu Oneiric Ocelot on Toshiba Satellite Pro M10, 32-bit IntelCentrino 1.6 GHz; 80 GB HDD, 512 MB RAM; graphics, NvidiaGeforce4 420 Go.

I like Ubuntu's philosophy and its slogan: ''Linuxforhumanbeings''.

Moussa

This is my desktop:

OS: Xubuntu 11.10Theme: Ambiance OrangeXfce LXDEIcons: Faenza-ambianceSystem monitor: Conky(customized)CPU: Intel Core i3 2330mRAM: 4GBHDD: 500GB

Webster Harewood


PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

16

X1

6S

UD

UK

OC

RO

SS

WO

RD

CO

DE

WO

RD

Codeword and 16x16 Suduko puzzles arecopyright, and kindly provided by, The PuzzleClub - www.thepuzzleclub.com



HHOOWW TTOO CCOONNTTRRIIBBUUTTEE

We are always looking for new articles to include in Full Circle. For articleguidelines, ideas, and for issue translation, please see our wiki:http://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMagazinePlease email your articles to: [email protected]

Full Circle Team

Editor - Ronnie [email protected] - Rob [email protected] Mgr - Robert [email protected] - Robin [email protected]

Editing & Proofreading

Mike KennedyLucas WestermannGord CampbellRobert OrsinoJosh HertelBert Jerred

Our thanks go to Canonical, the manytranslation teams around the worldand Thorsten Wilms for the FCM logo.

If you would like to submit news, email it to: [email protected]

Send your comments or Linux experiences to: [email protected]

Hardware/software reviews should be sent to: [email protected]

Questions for Q&A should go to: [email protected]

Desktop screens should be emailed to: [email protected]

... or you can visit our forum via: www.fullcirclemagazine.org

Deadline for FCM#63:Sunday 08th July 2012.

Release date for FCM#63:Friday 27th July 2012.FULL CIRCLE NEEDS YOU!

A magazine isn't a magazine without articles and Full Circle is no exception. We needyour Opinions, Desktops and Stories. We also need Reviews (games, apps &hardware), How-To articles (on any K/X/Ubuntu subject) and any questions, orsuggestions, you may have.Send them to: [email protected]

http://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMagazine

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=270












full circle magazine - issue #62

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