Ubuntu Hacks

Ravi writes "I recently got hold of a very nice book on Ubuntu called Ubuntu Hacks co-authored by three authors - Kyle Rankin, Jonathan Oxer and Bill Childers. This is the latest of the hack series of books published by O'Reilly. They have made available a rough cut version of the book online ahead of schedule which was how I got hold of the book but as of now you can also buy the book in print. Put in a nutshell, this book is a collection of around 100 tips and tricks which the authors choose to call hacks, which explain how to accomplish various tasks in Ubuntu Linux. The so called hacks range from down right ordinary to the other end of the spectrum of doing specialised things." Read on for the rest of Ravi's review. Ubuntu Hacks - Tips and Tools for Exploring, Using and Tuning Linux author Jonathan Oxer, Kyle Rankin and Bill Childers pages 447 publisher O'Reilly rating 9 reviewer Ravi ISBN 0-596-52720-9 summary This book contains around a 100 hacks in configuring various aspects of Ubuntu.

The book is divided into 10 chapters each containing a collection of hacks on a particular topic.

In the first chapter titled - Getting Started, the authors explains how to install Ubuntu on a Mac and Windows PC, moving data like mail from windows Outlook express to Ubuntu, setting up a printer and more. This chapter contains a total of 14 hacks. And my favorite hack is the one where the authors explains how to create a customized version of Ubuntu Live CD containing ones favourite applications.

The second chapter dwells on the topics related to customizing the Ubuntu desktop. Here the authors give tips to install Java, customize Ubuntu desktop, install additional window managers, synchronizing ones PDA and Pocket PC, just to name a few. This chapter contains around 27 tips. My favourite one here would be how to create PDF files by using the print command from any application in Ubuntu.

Ubuntu like other main stream GNU/Linux distributions is encumbered by the patent restrictions related to various popular multimedia file formats. The net result is one cannot play multimedia files like mp3, wmv or quick time in a default Ubuntu installation. In the chapter titled "Multimedia", one gets to know how to enable audio and video applications bundled with Ubuntu to play these restricted media files.Topics like CD ripping, playing encrypted DVDs and playing any media formats using the all time popular mplayer are also explained in simple detail. But the one hack which takes the prize is that which explains how to buy songs at the iTunes music store and download the music on Linux.

Laptop users have some advantages as well as disadvantages over people using the desktop. And considering that the number of laptop users are ever increasing, there is a need to explain how to configure and take care of ones laptop running Ubuntu - like prolonging the battery life, configuring the wireless card on the laptop, hibernating, setting up bluetooth connection and so on. The 4th chapter contains around 8 detailed tips which deals with these interesting topics related to a laptop. I really liked the tip explaining how to make ones laptop settings roam with ones network which could be quite useful for people who are always on the move.

Chapter five of this well structured book deals exclusively with configuring and fine tuning X11 - the X Windows System. Here one gets to know how to configure ones mouse the old fashioned way by editing the requisite section in the X configuration file.As an example, the authors elaborate on a special case of configuring a seven button mouse with a tilted scroll wheel to work properly in Ubuntu. This chapter additionally contain a slew of tips to configure different difficult to configure hardware like the touch pad, setting up dual head displays, installing and configuring Nvidia, ATI and Matrox proprietary graphics drivers to work in Ubuntu and more.

The next chapter titled "Package Management" has a collection of tips in managing packages. Over and above explaining how to install, remove and update packages using apt-get, synaptic and Adept, this chapter also contain tips on creating ones own Ubuntu package from source, cache packages locally from source and more. I especially found the hack where the authors explain how to create ones own Ubuntu package repository really informative.

The seventh chapter dwells exclusively on Security. Usually Ubuntu for the desktop comes with all the ports closed by default which makes it relatively secure. But in these times of cheap high speed Internet access when a home network is connected to the Internet at all times, it is always prudent to run a firewall on ones machine. In this chapter, the authors explain how to setup a robust firewall using iptables and firewallbuilder and then manage it from the Ubuntu desktop. But that is not all, there are tips on configuring SUDO to limit permissions to different users where one gets to know how to do it the command line way. But my favourite tip in this chapter is the one which explains how to encrypt the file system to protect important data. This chapter contains a total of six in-depth hacks all related to enhancing the security of the machine running Ubuntu.

Ubuntu developers have always persevered in providing easy to use front-ends for conducting the most common system administration tasks - be it creating additional user accounts or managing the services running on ones machine. But at times the user is forced to do system administration tasks the command line way. In this chapter titled "Administration", the authors explain for instance how to compile a kernel from source the Ubuntu way and also ways of installing multiple copies of one kernel version on the same machine which could be useful for testing purpose. There are tips for taking backups as well as restoring them. I found the hack titled "Rescuing an unbootable system" really useful. This hack is in fact a collection of tips where common rescue scenarios are elaborated. I found this chapter full of very useful tips as varied as ways of synchronizing files between different machines, mounting a remote filesystem and even a tip on creating videos by capturing what is done on the desktop which could be really useful when shared with others while seeking help on a particular error.

A virtual machine is a simulated computer-inside-another-computer, allowing one to boot an extra operating system inside the primary environment. The next chapter titled "Virtualization and Emulation" explains the different virtualization and emulation technologies available which allow one to run windows/Dos applications and games in Ubuntu, running Ubuntu inside Windows and so on. Here the authors gives in-depth step-by-step walkthroughs in configuring and running virtualization and emulation technologies such as Xen, VMWare server and Wine which imparts a lot of importance to this chapter.

The final chapter of this excellent book which is also the 10th chapter deals with setting up a small home/office server. Here one gets to know how to install and configure a Ubuntu server from scratch. All the topics like setting up quotas to control disk space usage among users, setting up an SSH server, configuring Apache web server, building an email server, DHCP server, DNS server and so on which are a part and parcel of an office server setup have been given due importance in this chapter.

All the ten chapters combined, there are a total of 100 tips (Oops! hacks) in this unique book which are based on the latest version of Ubuntu - Dapper Drake. What is worth noting is that one is not expected to read the book from cover-to-cover rather, you can flip to the hack you are interested in and carry on from there which makes this book a very good reference for setting up and configuring all things related to Ubuntu. At this point, one might have questions in ones mind whether many of the solutions listed in this book aren't already available on the net in popular Linux/Ubuntu forums. True, with some searching one might be able to get what one is looking for. But if you ask me, it is always nice to have something tangible in ones hands while reading instead of having to stare at the monitor for hours on end. More over, each and every tip in this book has been tested by the authors on the latest version of Ubuntu (Dapper Drake) and is guaranteed to work. In writing this book, it is clear that the authors have put in a lot of hard work in covering all facets of configuring this popular Linux distribution which makes this book a worth while buy.

You can purchase Ubuntu Hacks - Tips and Tools for Exploring, Using and Tuning Linux from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

Dead tree publications

[Afrosheen]

I totally agree with the author in that I like having a real book in my hands when I'm working on something new, difficult, etc. I don't think the value of a book can ever be underestimated.

Re:Dead tree publications

[Anonymous Coward]

O RLY?

Re:Dead tree publications

[Rob T Firefly]

Very true. Besides the intangible benefits of having the "real" book, with computer stuff it's always nice to have some hard copy reference material. There will always come a time when the problem you need to fix is keeping you from getting onto the damned Internet to find the fix for your problem.

Re:Dead tree publications

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think the value of a book can ever be underestimated.

I believe you mean "overestimated." Because this makes it sound like books are worthless...

Re:Dead tree publications

[Anonymous Coward]

I like having a real book in my hands when I'm working on something new, difficult, etc.

Exactly. Nothing better than having a book in your hands to read when taking a shit.

Re:Dead tree publications

[Anonymous Coward]

> I don't think the value of a book can ever be underestimated.

Underestimated. You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

Re:Dead tree publications

[Afrosheen]

Yay, my grammar troll bait caught two! I get a +4 cloak of haste now. Thanks guys!

Re:Dead tree publications

[Anonymous Coward]

I see you already got + 2 Boots of Revisionary Motivation. Unfortunately, I have an Amulet of Divination of Bullshit, and therefore pwned you already.

Re:Dead tree publications

[DittoBox]

I have to agree there. The reason isn't generally about having a hard copy (although it is nice to have when a system goes tits up) but rather that most tech books are written as page-by-page textbooks. This makes them far easier to follow and learn from than a manual. This is because manual's are generally for reference or very brief introductions to whatever you're trying to learn, they rarely help in actually grokking the subject.

Most of the time manual's simply outline what functions foo, bar and baz do seperately rarely giving you 'recipes' for using foo, bar and baz together.

Re:Dead tree publications

[Wescotte]

Exactly. Nothing better than having a book in your hands to read when taking a shit.

It also doubles as emergency TP!

This is a book report, not a review

[stratjakt]

n/t

Re:This is a book report, not a review

[Cal Paterson]

So? Time to get over yourself. I found it pretty useful.

There comes a point where you judge something on it's value rather than its definition. I couldn't give a flying fuck what slashdot calls it, and I'm not an Ubuntu user, but this looked like a pretty reasonable book for someone who was new.

Re:This is a book report, not a review

[Anonymous Coward]

This is what a book review SHOULD BE! I wish more of the articles on /. were this concise, informative, and thorough.

Re:This is a book report, not a review

[Anonymous Coward]

I bet your middle name is Kneejerk. He was talking about the review not being a review, you dumb sonovabitch. Not the book itself. Which, is also trash, because... Noobuntu? C'mon!

Re:This is a book report, not a review

[jessicalandy]

I think it is a great whatever you want to call it , but I think anyone could learn from this book, even the guy who says he knows it all. My first immpression of it was not favorable but I found after skimming a few chapters it has some great stuff.

One of the first hacks in the book..

[GonzoTech]

... tells a user how to post information on slashdot pertaining to the book itself. An advertisement hack, which is very similar to the wonderful people who write books on, "How to write a book and make a million dollars from it," collections.

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[sammyo]

I'd agree most any forum other than Slashdot. If a slashdoter is fooled by a link or
fails to do their own research they should be reading zdnet...

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[GonzoTech]

You mean I don't have to go to B&N? THANK GOD!

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[gregm]

Of course it could be because Amazon has patented the rather obvious idea of one-click shopping. That's why I don't buy from Amazon but that's probably not the case here.

G

other uses for one hack

[Red Flayer]

and even a tip on creating videos by capturing what is done on the desktop which could be really useful when shared with others while seeking help on a particular error.

Or could be very useful for showing $[RECENTEXWINDOWSUSERRELATIVE] what they did that was a no-no. Plus provide hundreds of chuckles to Linux maestros who get to laugh at the video of the silly user who smacked his system upside the head yet again.

distro fragmentation

[b17bmbr]

shouldn't most distro hacks be more applicable to any distro, or has linux become too fragmented? every distro has different ways to handle packages, and ubuntu's (synaptic) is a good front end to apt-get. I really like it far better than the rpm methods. however, most "hacks", such as installing LAMP, tuning perforamnce, file sharing, etc., should be mostly the same for all linux distros. I liked the Knoppix hacks from a while ago which was cool in that you could do things like build your own specialty live CD. Things like that are truly hacks. Configuring X or getting DVD's to play in ubuntu are hardly hacks. Ubunut is a great distro and I use it now instead of Fedora or Mandr*.

Re:distro fragmentation

[stinerman]

Generally, a "hack" on one distro will work on another if they are related. For instance, I'm pretty sure most of these would work with Debian with minor adjustments. Of course, many such adjustments will also work just fine with Fedora/etc. if you change "apt-get" to "yum" and "sudo" to "su -c".

In my experiences, one of the main factors tends to be package managment. Does the distro use .deb or .rpm?

Re:distro fragmentation

[Etyenne]

In my experiences, one of the main factors tends to be package managment. Does the distro use .deb or .rpm?

It does'nt make any difference. .deb and RPM are just package format; a way to carry files, meta-data and (de)installation scripts. Technically, they are both pretty close in term of functionnalities. The real difference between distro packaging is two-folds : high-level package manager (apt, yum, urpm, yast, emerge, etc), and quality of packaging.

The two main high-level package manager are apt and yum. Yum is serviceable, but slow (so is YaST). Apt is very fast, but quirky at times. I have a love-hate relationship with both. Functionnally, they are pretty similar.

Where Debian-derived usually spank the competition is quality of packaging. It's hard to beat the result of the Debian packaging policy and thorough QA. Compared to Debian, RedHat feel slapped together by amateur. And don't mention Mandriva, I will puke.

So in the end, RPM or .deb, it does'nt make any difference. Even the choice of high-level package management tools is really just a matter of taste at this point. What really make or break a distro is the amount and quality of work that have gone into brewing the distro.

Re:distro fragmentation

[Etyenne]

however, most "hacks", such as installing LAMP, tuning perforamnce, file sharing, etc., should be mostly the same for all linux distros.

Hummmm ... no. SysV init management, configuration files localisation (layout of /etc), default configuration of various subsystem, etc vary greatly between distro. Example : Apache configuration. In RedHat and friends, the default config is pretty vanilla, and reside in /etc/httpd. In Debian, it's in /etc/apache2, and the way virtual hosts configuration is managed (sites-available/sites-enabled symlinks) is pretty unique (and astucious).

Some people find the differences irritating and call that "fragmentation". Personnally, I think they are mostly superficial, and become clear once you know the fundation and rational behind the distro design. You need to know your tools, anyway.

Re:distro fragmentation

[b17bmbr]

I think you're right, most differences are superficial. where httpd.conf is kept is hardly a matter. I would love to see a single linux, or all of *nix including my OS X, agree on a single location. but since the source compiles the same, i guess it doesn't matter that much. as long as distros stay source compatible, then it probably won't matter too much.

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[NineNine]

Thanks, but I buy locally. I like the few independent bookstores that we have left.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[chrismcdirty]

You act like these types of books/articles don't exist for Windows. Look at digg on any given week. You'll likely see at least one "How to do $x in Windows to speed up $y" or "How to unlock $z in Windows" article.

Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm interested in how to buy music and play music from iTunes Music Store(ITMS) from within Linux. Is this for real or is this iTunes on Wine and a lot of pain?

I'm interested in the video recording as well. Is this desktop video application or is this Flash via VNC?

My interest is piqued but, not enough to spend $30 to find out that it's just Windows apps running on Wine. Can anyone elaborate?

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[Ash-Fox]

I'm interested in how to buy music and play music from iTunes Music Store(ITMS) from within Linux. Is this for real or is this iTunes on Wine and a lot of pain?

Use Firefox or Opera to buy music.

There is some software you can use (combined with VLC) to decrypt Apple's DRM files into raw AAC streams, and stick them into .mp4 containers.

However, why would you want to buy from iTunes when you can buy unencrypted (no DRM) high quality files from All of mp3? Which can come in higher quality.

If you want iTunes on Linux OS, you're better off using crossover office instead of Wine, here is the compatibility information.

I'm interested in the video recording as well. Is this desktop video application or is this Flash via VNC?

I use VLC for recording Video on Linux. As for Flash via VNC... What the hell is that about?

My interest is piqued but, not enough to spend $30 to find out that it's just Windows apps running on Wine.

Books take up too much room here, I'm not getting it either.

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[mindtriggerz]

DVD Jon has a program called Sharp(#) Musique that allows you to buy from the iTMS in Linux, and without DRM too. Unfortionatly, if you've used iTunes v6 it does not work for purchasing. However, there is a 3rd party patch floating arround that fixes this. #Musique is availible from http://nanocrew.net/

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[greg1104]

However, why would you want to buy from iTunes when you can buy unencrypted (no DRM) high quality files from All of mp3? Which can come in higher quality.

Because maybe I like buying from a source where there's some hope that royalties will make their way back to the artist? Also, by any definition I'd consider accurate, US citizens (as well as most other countries as far as I can tell) purchasing from allofmp3 are breaking the law, and from the latest reports I'm ont even sure what they're doing is legal even in Russia. The company knows all that and actively sells regardless. That makes them a bunch of criminals, and slacker ones at that. If Russian criminals want my money, they'll have to get the hard way like their friends do: by breaking into my computer or bank accounts.

The fact that you're actively funding criminal activity by doing it makes buying from allofmp3.com slightly worse than just pirating the music outright. I'd rather see people suck down music with P2P than take money out of our economy to give to them.

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[Ash-Fox]

Because maybe I like buying from a source where there's some hope that royalties will make their way back to the artist?

All of mp3 pays royalties back to the artist.

Also, by any definition I'd consider accurate, US citizens (as well as most other countries as far as I can tell) purchasing from allofmp3 are breaking the law, and from the latest reports I'm ont even sure what they're doing is legal even in Russia.

Why? Because you're buying non-DRM'd mp3s. I've looked up all of mp3's practices. They're not using any 'loop holes', like people claim in the law.

The company knows all that and actively sells regardless. That makes them a bunch of criminals, and slacker ones at that. If Russian criminals want my money, they'll have to get the hard way like their friends do: by breaking into my computer or bank accounts.

You sound racist.

The fact that you're actively funding criminal activity by doing it makes buying from allofmp3.com slightly worse than just pirating the music outright.

Please, go ahead and show me what's illegal about allofmp3, they're paying royalties just like every other online music site.

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[greg1104]

Please, go ahead and show me what's illegal about allofmp3, they're paying royalties just like every other online music site.

There is plenty of information on this topic at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allofmp3 and http://www.museekster.com/allofmp3faq.htm It's certainly possible to make a case for the site being legal, but doing so requires some assumptions that are so fundamentally wrong that I don't understand how people can defend them.

The position of the Russian ROMS system that collects royalties seems to be that their members can sell just about any music they want, and it's the copyright holder's job to make sure they collect their fair share of the royalties for it. Clearly this is backwards; they shouldn't sell anything until they've obtained those rights first. If they were properly licensing music so that US artists were compensated properly for it, that money would be returning to the US via organizatios like the IFPI. Their press release at http://www.pro-music.org/musiconline/news060602a.h tm says that's not happening, and summarizes things nicely with:

"The site claims to have a licence from ROMS, a Russian organisation that claims to be a collecting society. Yet ROMS has no rights from the record companies whatsoever to licence these pieces of music. ROMS and allofmp3.com are well aware that record companies have not granted authorisation for this service."

If you look at the Museekster link above, I think the Beatles/Metallica situation highlights best the problems with allofmp3. From that site: "under Russian law a collecting society like ROMS automatically has the right to license ANY intellectual property to Russian distributors, even if the author is not subject to Russian law." This is a good summary of what I've read in several places, and this situation is obviously nonsense. If I own the copyright on something, you can't just decide that it's OK to distribute it. Tell me how those two artists can possibly be compensated for their work properly when it's their position that no one in the entire world is even allowed to sell their works on-line. The only legal way to own the Beatles or Metallica music is to purchase their CDs (or LPs, 8-tracks, etc.), period. If you don't like that, don't listen to them. It obviously follows from this fact that anyone distributing those artist's music via other means is a criminal, no matter what lame "it's legal here!" nonsense they spew.

If you're already aware of all this, and consider yourself clean anyway, well good for you. I occasionally socialize with people who worked on Beatles albums and I like feeling comfortable when I talk to them. I don't pick their pockets when I see them, and I'm not real fond of thieves who do.

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[Ash-Fox]

Heh, I stand corrected. I guess the only real way of getting Non-DRM'd music that I can play without problems through the Internet is piracy.

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[poofyhairguy82]

The position of the Russian ROMS system that collects royalties seems to be that their members can sell just about any music they want, and it's the copyright holder's job to make sure they collect their fair share of the royalties for it. Clearly this is backwards; they shouldn't sell anything until they've obtained those rights first.

Each nation gets to decide how copyrights are treated in that nation. A U.S. copyright does not have international jurisdiction. The Russian government organization ROMS "obtained" the rights by simply saying that "we have the rights." When its your nation, you get to make the laws. You might call it backwards, and it probably is (a relic of a Soviet time). But that does not make it illegal (in Russia). Illegal means you are breaking a law.

If I own the copyright on something, you can't just decide that it's OK to distribute it.

Copyright applies to the law. Copyright without government backing is nothing. Therefore if your local government (aka your nation) decides not to recognize the copyright established in a foreign nation then that copyright has no force. It is meaningless. That work is not protected by government- it cannot be illegal to distribute something copyrighted anywhere if in that area copyright has no force. You try to act like copyright is some universal law. It is not.

Of course, if the Beatles and Metallica wouldn't act like such luddites and just allow me to buy music in a modern format, then I would have to find loopholes in other nation's copyright laws to get their stuff.

(And don't even try to tell me that because I'm an American then I can't use AllofMP3 legally. The law allows bringing back products you buy legally in foreign nations and that is exactly what I am doing. Russia allows me to have the cake and eat it too. Sorry if its not "proper" enough for you).

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[greg1104]

Copyright without government backing is nothing

I expect that economic forces will stomp out this abberation eventually. There is government backing for US copyrights--it just takes a while for its hand to be felt in cases like these, and is only really effective when the nation in question is fully integrated into the global economy. Russia is still working out some issues there.

And don't even try to tell me that because I'm an American then I can't use AllofMP3 legally. The law allows bringing back products you buy legally in foreign nations and that is exactly what I am doing. Russia allows me to have the cake and eat it too.

That's how some people choose to interpret those laws; as the references I pointed to comment on ad nauseum, whether the US import laws apply to electronic cases like this is certainly ambiguous. I think that stretching laws aimed at people bringing stuff back in a suitcase or shipping through the mail into downloads is just that, a stretch; I find the moral position very clear even if the legal one isn't. This will work its way out in the courts eventually, both here and in Russia. If instead you went to one of the Asian countries where DVD bootlegging is rampant because of weak copyright enforcement, bought some movie on the street, and brought the disc back in your suitcase, you'd probably get away with that too. Doesn't make it right. The main moral difference between that and buying from allofmp3 is that at least the ROMS system is trying to do the right thing sometimes, they just aren't succeeeding yet; I feel the way the site is advertised is deceptive as a result.

If you're happy with yourself giving money to borderline legal at best foreign sources and thumbing your nose at US and UK musicians because you've found a clever loophole no one has closed yet, by all means keep shopping there. I only have to keep my own conscience clean when I go to bed at night, knowing I paid for my Beatles and Metallica CDs and that the appropriate royalties went back to the artists. You clearly are informed on the issues involved here already and can make your own decision; I only bring all this up because there are so very many people who don't even know how tenuous the legal position of the site is and are only reading the sales side of the story.

Re:Ok. You Piqued My Interest.

[poofyhairguy82]

I expect that economic forces will stomp out this abberation eventually.

Sure. Just like piracy or terrorism. Russia soon will no longer be a safe haven at least...

I find the moral position very clear even if the legal one isn't.

Sure it might not be the fairest way to get music, but until the music gatekeepers decide to go light on the DRM (that keeps paid for online music off my Linux desktop) I will pay a little extra to actually get the music with some plausible deniability (something no P2P app has)....

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Penguin Programmer]

Have you tried Ubuntu? You absolutely do _not_ need any hacks to use it as a normal desktop system. In fact, I would venture to say that it's easier to install and configure than Windows XP is. Of course, most normal users never have to install and configure Windows because it comes with their computers, so maybe that is a moot point. Still, in the 60ish Ubuntu installs I've done (mostly at installfests for average Joe users with laptops), I've had very few Ubuntu installs that didn't detect and configure all the hardware on the machine correctly. Windows XP almost never detects new hardware on a machine correctly. The default Ubuntu setup is very clean and easy to use. It's _different_ from Windows (as it should be - Windows has an ass interface), but not harder to use.

The need-to-know-hacks-to-use-Linux argument no longer holds. It was completely valid when I started using Linux (circa 1998), but today it is 100% myth.

Regarding 101-things-to-do dept

[Valthan]

Shouldn't it be "100-things-to-do" dept since it has 100 "hacks"? Just an observation...

Re:Regarding 101-things-to-do dept

[drazaelb]

Things to do:

1. Buy the book.
2. Try Hack #1.
etc.

Re:Regarding 101-things-to-do dept

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps...

summary This book contains around a 100 hacks in configuring various aspects of Ubuntu.

and perhaps 101 is "around 100"?

Where's the icon?

[ABoerma]

Odd. This is the first story on Ubuntu I've seen without the Debian icon.

A better book on hacking would be:

[Anonymous Coward]

Ubuntu Hacks - Tips and Tools for Exploring, Using and Tuning Linux

This reminds me of another nice book I purchased recently:

A Dozen Hacks - Tips and Tools for Exploring, Using and Tuning Your Mom.

I found it very useful last night. Although I'm not sure these were really hacks so much as just interesting ways of doing things with your mom.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[amide_one]

In other words, "there's lots of cool stuff you can do if you know how, but it's not always immediately obvious how". So... you want it spelled out for you or what? Except... wait... that's just what's already been done in this book. Except... wait... apparently the simple fact that this book is potentially useful is "what's wrong with Linux". Linux should make it blindingly obvious how to handle the "special case of configuring a seven button mouse with a tilted scroll wheel to work properly". (Does Windows, yet?)

I haven't seen the book but I've used (K)ubuntu and most of the stuff sounds like information that's already pretty freely available -- for instance, "know how to enable audio and video applications bundled with Ubuntu to play these restricted media files" turns out to be covered very nicely on the Ubuntu support wiki. Dunno how much extra this book adds to that info, but the wiki already includes the "takes the prize" tip on how to get stuff from iTMS.

In other words -- don't complain that people are working hard to make it much easier for "non-techy" users to do "oridinary" tasks (like spelling).

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Anonymous Coward]

'Cause we all know posting to /. (or anywhere on the internets) is such a wonderful example of integrity, right?

Re:The Linux Flaw

[FinchWorld]

Unless theres a piece of hardware that doesn't work out of the box.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Braino420]

What about the Microsoft hacks? And yes, most of those books talk about "getting updated",installing drivers, web browsing and changing themes. Oh ya, there is even something included in there that isn't in the Ubuntu one: controlling spyware.
I think I've just been trolled.

Ubuntu Hacks

[drpimp]

Take Debian, hack it, yield Ubuntu.

Use ubuntuforums.org

[Bleeblah]

These sound like basic HOWTOs to me, instead of hacks. And if you need Ubuntu HOWTOs, look no further than www.ubuntuforums.org.

Re:Use ubuntuforums.org

[munpfazy]

These sound like basic HOWTOs to me, instead of hacks. And if you need Ubuntu HOWTOs, look no further than www.ubuntuforums.org.

Yup. Like so many other interesting concepts, the word hack has been all but destroyed by advertising-savvy editors.

It may be a great book, and I'm all in favor of people writing and reading books about linux. (Can't say I've ever bought any myself, since I've always been able to find more than enough information online, but I have no objection to them in principle.) But the title is just silly. It ought to be called something like "Using Ubantu Linux."

Installing Java and adding additional window managers is not a hack by any conceivable definition. You're selecting an existing tool and using it in *exactly* the way it was intended. If configuring X11 by editing the X11 config files as specified by the X11 man pages is a hack, then just about anything you do in the world must also be a hack.

"Hey man, check this out. I just hacked my brand new television."
"Oh yeah? What did you do to it?"
"I brought it home and plugged it in. Then I watched it!"
"Awesome hack! You should write a book."

Re:Use ubuntuforums.org

[chromatic]

Try Perl Hacks then. I don't use much as intended.

Not to be too pedantic about it, but...

[caudron]

...this is a book summary, not a book review.

I'm not saying it isn't useful, nor that it doesn't have a place on /., but it most certainly is not a book review. It's a reasonably helpful summary of contents.

Tom Caudron
http://tom.digitalelite.com/

Re:Not to be too pedantic about it, but...

[Cal Paterson]

Well, at least you got to plug your blog either way. Thank god for that.

I mean, if I hadn't discovered you blog (which is automatically linked as part of your user comment header, by the way; hows that for redundancy?) with it's gnome tips, funny pictures and flash animations (that obviously won't work on any real linux-users machine) I would have been seriously intellectually impoverished.

Either way, I think the word I'm looking for is thankyou.

Re:Not to be too pedantic about it, but...

[caudron]

Well, at least you got to plug your blog either way.

If my blog interests you, perhaps you'd also like to sign up for my Tom.DigitalElite.Com newsletter.

I also have Tom.DigitalElite.Com coffee mugs and t-shirts for the serious fan.

For the more sedate sophisticate such as yourself, I offer a Tom.DigitalElite.Com roasted java bean blend---smooth, satisfying, and oh so mmmmm, just like my blog.

At my blog, you'll find that sarcasm is but one of the many services I provide free of charge.

Act now, I'll throw in a free Tom.DigitalElite.Com "Lonely Fornication" baseball cap.

Tom Caudron
http://tom.digitalelite.com/

Re:Not to be too pedantic about it, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

What's your URL again?

Re:The Linux Flaw

[IamTheRealMike]

Such books exist for every mainstream OS. Including MacOS X.

Re:One..

[bzerodi]

IANAEM (english major) but I don't think it's entirely appropriate to use "one" in a case such as this.

Perhaps there's a Slackware Hacks book coming out ?

Re:The Linux Flaw

[tjwhaynes]

I love linux ... but sadly this statement sums up it's flaw ... in order to do oridinary tasks, you must know "hacks". Non-techy users just can't understand, let alone perform such "hacks".

Ah - so if "Ubuntu Hacks" gives a bad impression, what do you think of "Windows Annoyances" available from all good booksellers?

Cheers,
Toby Haynes

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[Anonymous Coward]

They're running an animated ad for microsofts anti-linux "get the facts" campaign, so I don't think that geek philosophy or politics enter into the equation at all - they're trying to squeeze out what little financial value this (once useful) site still has.

A Linux Zealot probably wrote that book.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your little dig proves nothing, except that even the Devil can quote Scripture.

But what version?

[Anonymous Coward]

I read the review, checked out the book web site, and looked at the Amazon.com site - nowhere, that I saw, did it mention the version of Ubuntu that it covers.

One would hope, but unfortunately, must assume (and you know what that means) that it is for the 6.06 version that was recently released.

Re:But what version?

[sarcasticfrench]

In the last paragraph of the review it says the hacks are for Ubuntu 6.06, aka Dapper Drake.

Ubuntu Hacks... thanks for the review!

[WildBill1941]

Thanks for the positive review of Ubuntu Hacks. As one of its authors, I'm very pleased to see that the book is well received so far. We geared the book for the Dapper Drake release, and doing that was no easy feat as it was a moving target the whole time. We'd write a hack, and then we'd have to continually revise things as the code changed and new features got rolled in. I believe I rewrote the Java hack at least three times, thanks to the fact that Sun relaxed their licensing.

At any rate; I'm very pleased to see that the book is well accepted. Thanks again for the good review. I'd like to add that we're going to continue to update things at the http://www.ubuntuhacks.com/ blog - there's no real content there at the moment, but as we think of new things or there are new developments in the Ubuntu world we'll keep that site up to date.

- Bill

Re:Ubuntu Hacks... thanks for the review!

[BroncoInCalifornia]

I will have to get a copy of the book. I met one of the authors when he was working on the book in a coffee shop in Gilroy CA. I am glad the book turned out well.

Re:Ubuntu Hacks... thanks for the review!

[WildBill1941]

Heh, that was me! Please, buy a copy! :)

Re:Ubuntu Hacks... thanks for the review!

[Dr. Brad]

I worked with Bill in one of his previous lives, and can vouch for his skills in teaching Ubuntu. He got me up, running, and addicted to this lovely distro a couple of years ago. He knows his stuff, and he's good at explaining it.

Take care,
brad

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[fak3r]

Yep, you, me and that other guy. Seriously, the next 10 years or so will tell if they survive, and I'm even more concerned about the mom and pop indie music shops; I can't buy stuff from Best Buy or Amazon and have the same experience.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Ash-Fox]

in order to do oridinary tasks, you must know "hacks".

I still can't figure out how to set programs like calc.exe under windows to stay ontop of others while using the other applications.

Non-techy users just can't understand, let alone perform such "hacks".

I'm a techie user and I still can't get Windows todo most of things I want.

Re:One..

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously though, who writes like that anymore?

People that write correctly, that's who.

Re:One..

[gardyloo]

Seriously though, who writes like that anymore?

People that write correctly, that's who.

      Ahem. People WHO write correctly, that's who.

That's UNencumbered to you

[PCM2]

Ubuntu like other main stream GNU/Linux distributions is encumbered by the patent restrictions related to various popular multimedia file formats.

Actually, what you mean to say is that Ubuntu is not encumbered by the patent restrictions on certain multimedia formats, because it does not include support for those formats.

Re:That's UNencumbered to you

[joshetc]

"encumbered - To hinder or impede the action or performance of"

Ubuntu IS encumbered by patent restrictions, unless you are trying to say ubuntu supports those formats out of the box? Nice try though..

Re:That's UNencumbered to you

[PCM2]

Ubuntu IS encumbered by patent restrictions, unless you are trying to say ubuntu supports those formats out of the box?

It doesn't support them out of the box. In fact, it doesn't support them at all. Therefore it is not encumbered by the patents covering those formats. As it stands, the Ubuntu developers don't have to worry in the slightest about what the holders of those patents want. It's not an issue.

On the other hand, if Ubuntu did support those formats out of the box, then it would be encumbered by the patents.

Perhaps the word you're looking for is hindered? But that presupposes that you believe not supporting those formats is a minus. Some people aren't hindered by that lack at all; they just use OGG, or whatever.

Re:That's UNencumbered to you

[joshetc]

according to the dictionary encumbered and hindered are completely interchangable

Now, the only reason these codecs arent supported is because of patents, right? How is that not encumbered? I'm sure everyone can agree they would be included by default had they been open codecs.

Re:That's UNencumbered to you

[PCM2]

Now, the only reason these codecs arent supported is because of patents, right? How is that not encumbered? I'm sure everyone can agree they would be included by default had they been open codecs.

That's right. The codecs are patent encumbered. Therefore Ubuntu, which does not include those codecs, is not.

You seem to be a little confused about Free Software and what it means. Think about it. The fact that the software bundled with Ubuntu is not patent encumbered is what makes Ubuntu 100 percent Free Software.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[williambbertram]

I've been using the current Ubuntu at home in a fairly complex environment, and the amount of normal computing tasks that require hacks seem minimal. There were a few thing that required some googline like installing JRE, pptp, and flash but on the whole it's workable. Photo management (simple red eye / crop / slideshow like Picassa, not photo editing with beefy complex apps like Gimp or Photoshop) is still a little rough. Even Picassa for Linux has some major issues to work out. I tried to print several very small .jpg, .gif, and .png files to two different printers and the print jobs were blown up to 300+MB in the spooler. GThumb doesn't have red eye, crop, or any tools like that. I tried several other photo management packages that were ok, but still not quite there. I guess my point is that Ubuntu is very useable, but some tasks are still going to be painful, and others will still require "hacks". This "hack" problem is not limited to Ubuntu though. I sold 10 PC's at a garage sale last year, 5 of which I KNOW are still running Ubuntu because I know the people. NONE of those people have called me with spyware, virus, or any of the goofy buggy shit you commonly see on Windows. People I know who use XP are CONSTANTLY bugging me with spyware, virus, broken MSI installers, windows updates that break something they're using, PC's that won't boot, cheap hardware with poorly written drivers causing BSOD's, you name it. My point is that Ubuntu still requires a few "hacks", but my Ubuntu users seem to require far less maintenance than my XP users. Maybe someone could write a hack for XP that makes less people call me to fix it!

Dapper Hacks, or Ubuntu in general?

[IANAAC]

I know I'll get modded down for this, but...

I really like Ubuntu, but since I upgraded to Dapper from Breezy, things that used to work flawlessly are now either a pain to get working or still impossible.

three useful hacks off the top of my head: USB scanning - broken in Dapper. Haven' t found a way to fix it yet. USB printing - broken in Dapper, but found an answer in the Ubuntu forums. Touchpad driver - broken in Dapper. Haven't found a way to enable sidebar scrolling.

Any hacks mentioned to get these simple things working again?

All these things worked out of the box with Breezy.

Re:Dapper Hacks, or Ubuntu in general?

[JamesGecko]

USB printing worked out of the box for me. I don't know what kind of printer you have, but my Grandfather's HL-1240 works great with Ubuntu. I didn't even have to download any additional drivers.

My Touchpad also was set up, no fuss. The side scrolls and tapping the bottom right corner actives a right click menu.

I suggest you file some bug reports. :-)

Re:Dapper Hacks, or Ubuntu in general?

[drinkypoo]

three useful hacks off the top of my head: USB scanning - broken in Dapper.

No it isn't. I have a Canon LiDE 20 (or was it 30?) that I got at fry's for $40. I plugged it in, and it worked. Actually, I had one, I broke the glass recently :(

Re:Dapper Hacks, or Ubuntu in general?

[IANAAC]

It has to do with Dapper's CUPS install. A well known problem. Google Dapper+CUPS and you'll see many complaints. FWIW, my printer is an HP PSC 2175, which worked beautifully in Breezy. Seems fresh installs don't suffer from this, only upgrades.

Same situation with Dapper+Touchpad. Again, a known problem. And it also worked flawlessly in Breezy.

Re:Dapper Hacks, or Ubuntu in general?

[balloonhead]

Ubutu broke your printer glass?

Take that, linux fanboys!

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Ash Vince]

There is a hack, its called Linux.

Or the alternative hack is a caller display system for your phone. That way when the windows users ring up you can ignore them, after all you know what they will want already.

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course it could be because Amazon has patented the rather obvious idea of one-click shopping. That's why I don't buy from Amazon but that's probably not the case here.

I don't believe it! You choose to pay more for a product just because the vendor's site has patented technology??? You are having a reeeeal bad time as a consumer, don't ya?

Why don't you simply suicide and avoid jeopardizing humanity's genetic reserve?

Re:The Linux Flaw

[frostoftheblack]

That's true. But I've tried a bunch of different Linux distros, and based on what I've tried, Ubuntu offers the best out-of-the-box functionality of all of them, as someone has posted. But you're right, it gets ugly when you have to manually install and configure hardware. Graphics cards, touchpads, and dare I say....wifi cards? A wifi card that is not automagically supported (cough, Broadcom-based prior to Ubuntu Dapper) is pretty difficult for someone who has no idea about Linux.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Penguin Programmer]

Of which I have encountered very few. I mean, I installed Ubuntu on my girlfriend's brand new HP laptop and even the volume control soft keys worked out of the box. There's hardly anything common that Ubuntu won't detect and configure, and chances are that if you're using something uncommon enough that it doesn't work, you have enough expertise to make it work anyway.

Compare to Windows XP where damn near _nothing_ works out of the box (note that I define out of the box as I plug it in and it works, not I plug it in, install drivers, reboot and it works).

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[Anonymous Coward]

This is off topic, but if you ever want to order something online from an independent try powells.com. They aren't as cheap as Amazon, but their service has always been excellent for me.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[hobo sapiens]

I think you and the OP are both right.

I am not a linux expert. Having never used Linux, I successfully installed Breezy Badger the first time, and sat there amazed as everything just worked. The install is _much_ easier than Windows. Everything just worked. I had a few updates to make, and they were downloaded and installed. It was easy and life was great. Or so I thought. Now to why I also agree with the OP...

Things were working well and I was loving ubuntu. Then I noticed that Firefox was still on 1.0.8. So I tried to upgrade. Well, to make a long story short, I could not find a way to do so without having to use the command line (and _not_ for a lack of trying). Then I tried to play a DVD only to find out Totem, the "DVD player", doesn't actually play DVDs. Again, more command line "magic" (remember, not a *nix expert) to get this to happen, or at best using Synaptic to find some a package (that wasn't there, btw). The I noticed that the web was slow and learned that I needed to disable IPv6. More "hacks" still.

Bottom line is that I still love ubuntu. I recently upgraded to Dapper and was amazed at how easy that was. And I enjoy learning how to do this stuff, that is, work with ubuntu using the CLI. While I don't mind having to do this, you KNOW average users aren't even going to know where to begin. I think this is one of the last real hurdles preventing Distros like ubuntu from being usable by the masses.

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[Anonymous Coward]

How is Powells any more "independent" than Amazon? Both Amazon.com and Powells have multiple large warehouses in various parts of the country, both sell most of their stock online, both get their special orders from the same providers... People think Powells is "independent" because they have a northwest hipster attitude about them, but they're really not any different from Amazon.

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[drinkypoo]

Local mass retail is a dying business model whether you realize it or not. Retail is going to be an extremely niche business as the world goes forward. It just doesn't make sense to store stock all over the country when it can be centralized and shipped as needed, for less energy input. I understand your desire to stop the clock, but it can't be done.

Re:One..

[jimmyfergus]

Actually, it's completely appropriate. It seems you, like the British aristocracy, don't understand how to use it. They say "one" when they mean a specific person, usually themselves, too, or at least they used to. In your post, "Such as one did", is nonsense.

It's sad that such useful usage has become passe, usually inappropriately replaced with 'you'. The aforementioned royalty and their hangers-on probably had a lot to do with its fall from grace.

Think about it - to express, for instance, that people should generally be polite, people now usually say "you should be polite", which strictly speaking arrogantly excludes the speaker. Much better to say "one should be polite" ...it's more polite ;).

But then, sadly, ignorant people think you are affected.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[hobo sapiens]

True, but these books don't usually have to have things like "How to upgrade Firefox" and "How to make your DVD software actually play DVDs". As annoying as Windows is, the stuff that requires "hacks" are normally things that the average user is not interested in anyhow. I like ubuntu, I use Dapper Drake and love it so far. However, to get Totem to actually play DVDs, for example, is beyond what a normal user is capable of doing. Try upgrading from Firefox 1.0.8 in Badger without using the CLI. Good luck with that. Not sure if Dapper fixed that, I guess we'll see when Firefox 1.5.5 comes out...

If only people would devote some time to the OSS community trying to fix stuff like this instead of vehemently refuting every /. that points these things out. Then /. posts decrying legitimate difficulties with Linux distros would not need to exist.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[drinkypoo]

On the other hand, finding the usual nonfree stuff is nonintuitive. You have to add repositories and install packages with obscure names to get a full set of codecs and whatnot. Of course, you can use EasyUbuntu (I think that's what it was called anyway) to get all that stuff done for you - but if you want flash, acrobat (necessary for some PDFs, and in any case, the included pdf viewer is garbage) microsoft fonts, and the like, there's some slightly hackish things you have to do.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Anonymous Coward]

For the most part I would agree with you that Ubuntu will install fairly flawlessly on most laptops and even desktops....enter the new Dell desktop systems with USB only for keyboard and mouse and the new Dell laptop system without PCMCIA and built in wireless and express cards and all of a sudden almost nothing works. I have installed Debian and Ubuntu several hundred times over on desktops and laptops and rarely experienced a problem until these new systems came out that pretty much are only supported by windows based drivers that are proprietary to Dell. Take for example the Dell Dimension E310 (3100), this system does not have any standard keyboard or mouse ports and offers only USB. There are postings on the web of how you can hook up a USB hub and use that to install Debian or Ubuntu and I did that and it worked fairly well and it also worked for FreeBSD but it should not have to be that way. Then take the Dell laptop B130, what a freakin nightmare to get the built in wireless to work with Linux. This laptop offers no PCMCIA and instead uses the expresscard technology in which not many cards are available if any at all. In order to get the internal wireless working, the user has to download some Dell provided broadcom drivers that can be installed through a series of modprobe and depmod commands but the success level is hit and miss. I got it working maybe once but when I rebooted the settings were gone and when I repeated the process it would not work again. If using just the onboard ethernet then this laptap works like a charm with Debian, Ubuntu, Suse and BSD but be prepared for a very long night if you want that wireless working. Here is a good one though, if you blow away the preconfigured XP install on this new laptop and then try and reinstall XP, it blue screens during the install every time and never succeeds!!

Re:The Linux Flaw

[drinkypoo]

Linux should make it blindingly obvious how to handle the "special case of configuring a seven button mouse with a tilted scroll wheel to work properly". (Does Windows, yet?)

In windows this functionality is provided by the driver; there are hooks to allow adding property pages to the mouse control panel. Windows itself only recognizes a small handful of mouse events; AFAIK they are positional (both differential and absolute) and some mouse buttons. I'm not sure if more than three buttons are directly supported, but the way it is normally handled is that you map the other buttons to keystrokes (or macros) and those keypresses are stuffed into the keyboard buffer (or similar) and they end up looking like any normal keypress.

Any device covered by DirectInput (anything with a windows input-class driver, like a mouse or keyboard device, or any USB HID input class device) is supported in DirectX games which use DirectInput (pretty much all of them.) Any button on any device is supported. In general they are just listed by number.

Linux SDL provides the same kind of functionality, but that's about as much as I know about the Linux support... But anyway, if you had an umpteen-button USB HID input-class mouse, it would definitely be supported on Windows. Buttons 1, 2, and 3 would be left, right, and middle, in that order. If the device defines a primary scrolling wheel, then those events will work as well.

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[hackstraw]

Slashdot's linking to B & N, supposedly because they get nice kickbacks, shows a disgusting disregard for us readers, considering that Amazon has it cheaper.

AFAIK, slashdot editors refuse to link to Amazon in protest of their "one click patent".

Re:One..

[Anonymous Coward]

But then, sadly, ignorant people think you are affected.

If they are truly ignorant, they think you are effected.

You're absolutely right...

[mangu]

in order to do oridinary[sic] tasks, you must know "hacks"

With MS-Windows you don't need to know any hacks. There are books about MS-Windows but they aren't about hacks.

BTW, doesn't your browser do spell checking? The one I use, in a standard Ubuntu installation without any hacks, shows your "oridinary" in red, it's easy to find typos that way.

Re:You're absolutely right...

[deevnil]

Well, there is this Oreilly Windows XP Hacks book...

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's probably because of higher referral rates from B&N. After all, even the GNU project stopped boycott Amazon years ago.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[xenocide2]

You're right. Instead you get "How to use firefox to access windows update from your pirated Windows install" or "How to schedule nightly defrags," or "how to optimize your internet settings." Not to mention that Sun's Java is now installable from multiverse / non-free (or will be eventually if the current Sun PR is to believed, I'm not sure where Debian + java currently stands).

Saying that nobody is busy addressing the "stuff like this" is a lie. The FSF and plenty of other OSS organizations join up to fight software patents, the primary cause that you can't play DVDs, listen to mp3s, or any other potentially patented function in the future with open source software legally. And plenty of other people are finding ways to work with existing patent holders to come to a workable agreement between them. For example, Fluendo recently worked with the MP3 people to join in on mp3 support. There's even more people working on alternatives to restricted software, like Vorbis and gcj. And there are people "trying to fix stuff like this," like Automatix or EasyUbunbtu; they just don't personally advertise on Slashdot where you might read it. I dislike that their solution is an addon program rather than solving the deficiencies within Ubuntu, but that's a personal opinion and there are at least some fixes that are justifiably unmergable with Ubuntu. So it is being solved, by a number of people, in a number of ways. It's just not done yet.

One of the biggest problems I see surrounding the Ubuntu support and help forums is that the "howto foo" authors are all heavily experienced in the command line, so where a GUI tool would suffice they instead jump to console. For you and I, synaptic may provide little value (perhaps that itself is a bug) over apt-get, but it represents a good improvement for the unindoctrinated. The things it does are generally unsurprising, and the features it directly presents to the users are very suitable for their needs (searching, upgrading, descriptions). Of course it isn't perfect yet, but it's far from unusable. I think if the howto authors spent some time using the GUI tools with a focus on their documentation, they'd be able to contribute some insightful advice to developers on improving it, sort of an "eat your own dogfood" scenario.

For the record Dapper is running 1.5.4. The main problem revolved around whether it was appropariate to break people's plugins or not. So far they've already pushed one upgrade to Firefox through, from 1.5.3 to 1.5.4. And it was always feasible to install firefox to your homedir (right click to extract, right click to run), if you were willing to take an adventure on plugins.

Agreed

[mnemonic_]

Though the same author wrote a book on Ninnle Linux (site may be down), which was excellent. I have no reason to doubt that his latest work on Ubuntu is of similar quality.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[drinkypoo]

WiFi is simply Linux's weakest link. I think we all know the reasons why this is true, so I'll skip that part of the conversation entirely... but the simple fact is that WiFi on linux is craptacular.

I have an Avaya card which is supported by the wavelan driver. Unfortunately that doesn't support scanning for APs, or acting as the master.

The book is outright wrong on several points

[Tetravus]

From the book:

The Dapper Drake release of Ubuntu Linux includes the new gnome-power-manager package, which enables ACPI sleep much like the system-tray power applet in Windows. Finally, sleep "just works" in Linux. The gnome-power-manager applet is configured to start automatically, and it lives in GNOME's panel notification area. If you right-click on the little battery icon, you'll see a menu pop up, as shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1. gnome-power-manager in action

This deceptively simple little application gives you a lot of control over your laptop's sleep behavior. If you click on Preferences, you'll see the Power Management Preferences dialog box shown in Figure 4-2. In this dialog's Sleep tab, you can configure different behavior depending on whether you're plugged into AC power or running on battery. One of the most interesting features is your ability to control the backlight brightness of your laptop's screen depending on the machine's power state. It happens to work out that a large consumer of power in a laptop is the screen's backlight, so being able to automatically turn down that lamp while on battery will help squeeze more runtime out of the system while it's unplugged.

Figure 4-2. The Sleep tab of gnome-power-manager

The Options tab (see Figure 4-3) is where you can set the default type of sleep you wish for the system to use, as well as what actions will engage the sleep mechanism. For this hack, the default sleep type is set to Suspend, which refers to ACPI sleep. (Hibernate [Hack #39]">Figure 4-3) is where you can set the default type of sleep you wish for the system to use, as well as what actions will engage the sleep mechanism. For this hack, the default sleep type is set to Suspend, which refers to ACPI sleep. (Hibernate [Hack #39] is a totally different type of sleep mechanism.) If you wish, under the Actions section of the dialog box, you can set the system to automatically sleep when the laptop lid is closed. This is a very handy feature if you're on the go: simply shut the lid and run off to your next appointment; then open the lid later, and the machine will wake up without any intervention.

Figure 4-3. gnome-power-manager's Options tab

The Advanced tab of the dialog (Figure 4-4) controls the notification icon's behavior. If you want the icon to appear only when you're charging or discharging, or you want to turn off the icon altogether, here's where you change those settings.

Figure 4-4. gnome-power-manager's Advanced dialog
When you have all your settings configured to your liking, simply click the Close button, and the dialog box will close, saving your configuration changes.

Testing ACPI Sleep

Your system is now ready for you to test sleep mode. Ensure that your system is running on battery; then simply shut the lid of the laptop and see what happens. You should hear the hard disk power down, and one of the power LEDs should indicate a power-state change by blinking or some other method. Hopefully, your machine went to sleep properly. Now you need to see if it wakes up correctly. Simply open the lid, and the computer should start waking up. When it's ready for use, you'll be prompted for your system password by gnome-screensaver. Enter your password, and your system should be in the exact same state as it was when you powered it off.

Thanks to the hard work of the Ubuntu developers, something that used to be extremely difficult to accomplish in Linux has been made very easy.

I followed the instructions above on my Toshiba Satellite that's running Ubuntu Dapper Drake and noticed a few things...
1. Those listings for figures don't display images in the Safari Online version of the book.
2. There is no "Sleep" tab on the power management tool.
3. There is no "Options" tab on the power management tool.
4. There is no "Advanced" tab on the power management tool.
Okay so those are minor quibbles, right? How about:
5. There are no instructions at all b

Re:The book is outright wrong on several points

[Fred_A]

But glib instructions like those in the Ubuntu Hacks book, that assume everything will "just work"

Sorry, but they did say "Hopefully". That's enough to have the courts didmiss the case. ;)

Apart from that the ACPI spec isn't apparently fully enabled or implemented in all machines. So the kernel might have been expecting something that wasn't there while the Windows driver was working around it. OTOH it is weird the the usual 4 second press on the power button didn't work, that is a bug somewhere (don't know if it's the kernel or the machine's BIOS). You did turn it of by pressing the power button for 4 seconds didn't you ?

Re:The book is outright wrong on several points

[Tetravus]

Yeah, I pushed and held the power button for at least 4 seconds before it went back to sleep.
Last night I ran a full apt-get update and noted that a new ACPI package was downloaded, so perhaps the problem has been addressed by the developers.

I realize that getting OS's to work on laptops is especially difficult and don't expect any Linux distro to actually support ACPI 'out of the box' for every laptop that exists. The fact that Ubuntu's live CD booted and ran respectably on my laptop was impressive enough to convince me to start agitating my employer to consider it as a viable alternative to Vista upgrades next year.

Looking back, I can see that my comments about the book are quite harsh but I'll stand by them as a counterweight to the initial review.

Re:The book is outright wrong on several points

[Fred_A]

I too know that getting a laptop to "just work" without help from the manufacturer is pretty much a lost cause. Despite my 10+ work with Linux I pretty much gave up on it (can't be bothered to spend hours getting crap to work when I need to get stuff done) and got an iBook for my luggable machine (not overly impressed with the system but it does "just work") and stick to the desktop with Linux where things are much simpler.

I agree they should have added a bold "this may not work" warning before the "how to get your laptop to sleep" section, along with recovery instructions. Since it's probably one of the areas that's the most difficult to get working if it doesn't work first time.

Anyway, since it so rarely "just works", I've come to the conclusion that either the ACPI spec is crap, or that nobody gives a damn about it during implementation. Either way it's not much help. Not much of a standard at any rate.

Re:One..

[cranos]

SHouldn't that be:

Ahem. People WHO write correctly, that's WHOM.

Re:One..

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's "that is who" ("that's who") because "is" takes no direct object, rather, it has a subject complement, e.g., "This is he," not *"This is him."

This post brought to you by the Grammatical Inquisition.

Re:Sick of B&N favoritism

[NineNine]

I'm afraid to say that both of you guys may be right... I might be naive in thinking that local retail can make it (I own an independent retail store, too!).

Re:One..

[Milton Waddams]

I actually think it's quite refreshing to read a well written and measured article on the web. So much stuff on the web seems to be written by the same people that graffiti public toilets.

Re:RestrictedFormats

[xerxesdaphat]

On the Ubuntu wiki's RestrictedFormats page there is information pertaining to getting stuff from iTMS: here

Re:The Linux Flaw

[srcosmo]

You're right, though Dapper has improved this somewhat. You still have to edit the repositories to get the goodies, but it can be done by clicking a few checkboxes within Synaptic. (No need to add brand-new sources or edit the config file by hand).

However, in order to get Flash player working for Firefox, I had to manually install it into /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox/plugins/. And I don't know if I've ever gotten the Acrobat plugin working properly...

Re:One..

[Bing Tsher E]

I agree, and am pleasantly surprised whenever I find such an article to read on 'the web.' This book review wasn't one, though.

The Good Old Books are better

[Bing Tsher E]

I prefer the classic old books on Unix. It should have a chapter on setting up your environment (i.e. .cshrc) and should cover all the important dotfiles. It should have a chapter on ed/ex/vi, preferrably one that starts with the ed commands and branches forward. It needs to have a roff chapter, since that was the first really useful application on Unix. Shell scripting is another must, and should start with /bin/sh and only after that is covered branch into any of the arcana of newer scripting.

When I first started involving myself with the freenixes, there wasn't anything else out there in printed documentation but ye olde Unix books and a few things newer things from O'Reilly (the _UNIX Power Tools_ book is excellent and will remain very very relevant for a long time, if we can fight off the GUI mess people seem to think that other people want). My favorite UNIX book is still one published by Osborne back in, I think, about 1983. It fulfills all the requirements I listed in the above paragraph.

Any book with screenshots in it is disallowed from consideration. If there MUST be illustrations, and there are cases where they are helpful, they should look like nothing more than what one can come up with using Xfig.

Re:One..

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, in British English it's more common to replace instances of "one" with sentences in the passive. It makes sentences clearer, avoids the appearance of being "affected", and is generally easier to understand. Thus, your example sentence would be "Politeness is good", or "It is better to be polite" etc depending on context.

And as for the British Aristocracy using "one" to refer to themselves, that's because no-one addresses them directly, including themselves. Even "your Majesty" is an indirect address, because it addresses their "Majesty" rather than them personally. I wonder when the last time someone addressed the queen as "Liz" was...

Re:One..

[Gryle]

Still, less expected than the Spanish Inquisition!

Re:One..

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought he was talking to Number One from Star Trek.

Re:One..

[Anonymous Coward]

Disclaimer: I have a bachelor's in Linguistics.

While it is fine to say 'one' when referring to a third person without referring to that person's gender, it has certainly gone out of common usage. Many actually feel that to use such phrasing is to show a certain amount of snobbery or pedanticism. In the reality of spoken English, we actually tend to use the third person plural (they, them) when we want to obscure the gender of the person in question (as opposed to using the traditional third person singular pronouns he/she, him/her, etc.), often to avoid the more akward "he or she." While this is not technically correct (if you're into prescriptivism), there's nothing actually wrong with it. The point of language is communication. As an English speaking society, we've decided on a certain set of rules, but nothing is stopping us from trampling all over those rules and rewriting them. It's happened many times before and doubtless it will continue--even to the point that we won't recognize our own language. Imagine what Chaucer or Shakespeare would think should he happen to find himself in modern company.

Re:One..

[gardyloo]

Imagine what Chaucer or Shakespeare would think should he happen to find himself in modern company.

    They would both think "RTFM".

Re:One..

[bursch-X]

I wonder when the last time someone addressed the queen as "Liz" was...

Supposedly 9 months before she gave birth to her son. Well, anyway I don't even recall what century that must have been. ;-)

Re:The Linux Flaw

[00lmz]

Have you tried Ubuntu? You absolutely do _not_ need any hacks to use it as a normal desktop system. In fact, I would venture to say that it's easier to install and configure than Windows XP is.

Of course, nowadays a "normal desktop system" is expected to play MP3 files "out of the box" :)

Re:The Linux Flaw

[lars_boegild_thomsen]

Do you mean to say that this is never the case on Windows?

I can't count the number of times I've had to edit the registry manually, copy some dll, install some weird application in order to do something perfectly ordinary.

The main difference as I see it is that most of these things are at least well documented on a Linux system. It might not be immediately obvious where to find the documentation, but it is out there somewhere. And to me that pretty much sums it up. Everybody run into problems with servers and networks. When I am faced with a problem on Linux I am ALWAYS - WITHOUT EXCEPTION - confident that it CAN be solved and that the information IS there - it's just a matter of how much I have to Google to find it. On Windows my general feeling would be: Well - if I am in luck someone had this problem and I might find a solution. If not - I'm fucked.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you tried Ubuntu? You absolutely do _not_ need any hacks to use it as a normal desktop system.

Yes - I tried it last week.

It doesn't support a WPA protected WiFi network by default. I still haven't figured out how to install it.

The maximum resolution supported by default is too low. No suitable resolution is available with the default driver. Attempting to install the nVidia driver trashed X completely.

Still this primitive ?

[Builder]

I've used Linux for about 10 years now, and recently helped move RH into an investment bank. But I stay away from it on the workstation these days, and this review is a good example of why...

And considering that the number of laptop users are ever increasing, there is a need to explain how to configure and take care of ones laptop running Ubuntu - like prolonging the battery life, configuring the wireless card on the laptop, hibernating, setting up bluetooth connection and so on

A need? Only if something, somewhere is broken. The only thing I need to know to run my powerbook is that occasionally I need to charge the battery. Configure the wireless card? No, it just works. Setup bluetooth? No, it just works. Hibernating? Dunno about that, but if I just close the lid the laptop goes to sleep.

Re:Still this primitive ?

[Billly Gates]

Try Ubuntu?

Its the best distro I have seen yet for a pc/notebook. I have a cheap laptop which I assumed would not work at all and I was very surprised that everything from the wifi card to even the 7 in one card reader worked and I didn't have tgo configure anything.

Ubuntu has a livecd so you can test it out without even installing it. Ubuntu is what Linux desperately needed as most distro's lost stability and focused more on the server.

Re:One..

[DataCannibal]

..or for those who like it in terms of case.

"Who" is only inflected to "whom" in the accusative and dative cases. In the nomanative it remains "who" and in the genetive it becomes "whose". THose who've learned german or latin will know that the verb "to be" always causes the nominative case.

N: That is who.
A: You hit whom?
D: To whom did you give the book?
G: Whose book is this?

tip: stop scanning your ass

[RMH101]

...and you won't break the glass on your next one

Re:tip: stop scanning your ass

[drinkypoo]

It's a like 1.3" thick USB-powered scanner. If I wanted to scan my ass, I could lay on my stomach, and put the scanner on my butt.

Re:One..

[DataCannibal]

Shakespeare says, "Well, Hey! nonny, nonny"

Chaucer says: " Alas, I may well wepe with syghes depe! "

Re:The Linux Flaw

[akepa]

I need my normal desktop system to play MP3's and other various media formats which Ubuntu would not play out of the box. I need it to print photos with my Canon Pixma IP5000, for which there are no Linux drivers. I need it to display at the correct resolution of 1680x1050 pixels on my widescreen monitor, instead of a stretched out 1024 x 768. So don't tell me that I don't need any hacks to use Ubuntu as a normal desktop system. If I hadn't already solved most of my Ubuntu problems by trawling the online forums, I'd definitely buy this book. I may buy it anyway as a handy reference.

Re:The Linux Flaw

[RyanG34]

In case one does have trouble installing or configuring Ubuntu, is there tech support and is it supported by many applications? I'm trying to set up a Linux server via Red Hat currently and I can't seem to authenticate through the Windows Active Directory after first logging into the Linux server. I'm attempting to do this in order for us to save money on buying 3rd party applications to complete the authentication. These are 2 very important issues I'm dealing with.

Get a room guys!

[Anonymous Coward]

Soo... which one of you is wearing the robe and wizard hat?

Too bad Unbuntu...

[Anonymous Coward]

...just doesn't work out of the box with WPA wireless authentication. You have to go through a tremendous pain in the ass process to get it where you can use WPA/WPA2 and not just WEP.

Tis a shame. I loaded a different flavor onto my laptop because of it. And Unbuntu looked pretty nice. Ah well.

And you guys complain about MS...

Re:The Linux Flaw

[Anonymous Coward]

"Linux should make it blindingly obvious how to handle the "special case of configuring a seven button mouse with a tilted scroll wheel to work properly".

Ummm, like this?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=183547&hi ghlight=tilt