Non Linux Related – I’m in Vancouver!
I'm in Vancouver! I've been busy preparing for this trip that I haven't had a chance to update this blog with new posts. But do not despair, there will be more content coming up soon.
Here are a few things to look forward to:
- Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Mini Review and Survival Kit - We'll cover the basics of Ubuntu, address commonly asked questions, and provide a few tips and tricks.
- Stitching Photos together and creating Panoramic Views - I will show you how to create your own stunning panoramic views in a few simple steps.
- Linux Over Coffee - I'll be reaching out locally (Atlanta) and introducing Linux to beginners over coffee... more details soon!
And so much more... so stay tuned!
For now, I send my greetings from Beautiful British Columbia!
A Couple of Dolphin Tricks
Dolphin is the default file manager for the KDE desktop. There are a couple of features that are quite nifty and I often find myself using.
1. The Split View - Activate by simply pressing the F3.
The Split View allows you to easily organize files without having to open multiple instances of Dolphin. Split View can also be activated by going to View > Split
2. Show the Terminal Panel - Activate by pressing F4.
This makes quick work of the cd command to get you to the location where you need to go. As you can see in the screenshot above, the cd command is actually typed out for you. If you need to perform tasks using the terminal in a specific location, then the Terminal Panel will prove quite useful. The Terminal Panel can also be activated by going to View > Panels > Terminal.
Do you have any other quick tips to share? Let me know!
Let’s Talk Ubuntu
With the upcoming release of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin), I thought it would be good to talk about my experience with Ubuntu. There are things that I love(d) about this distribution. And there are things that have led me to "break-up" with this distro. I am eagerly awaiting the 12.04 release, and maybe... just maybe we can get back together again.
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron)
I decided to try Linux not because people were saying it was awesome, but because of the eye candy. When I saw the desktop cube animation and the magic lamp effect, I was compelled to give Linux a try. It was much like being attracted to a Ferrari initially because of the curvaceous lines and the signature red paint rather than the technical merits of the brand. Plus, I was tired of staring at good 'ol boring Windows XP.
Desktop Cube Animation
I knew of Red Hat Linux and OpenSUSE before. Then I read about Ubuntu - "Linux for Human Beings". It was founded by Mark Shuttleworth from South Africa and marketed to be beginner-friendly. I thought this would be a good distribution to get my feet wet in the world of Linux. It all started with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron). It was a bit of a learning curve since I was on my own. So it definitely took a few tries and re-installs to undo my mistakes and get everything right. After getting more comfortable with Ubuntu, I was hooked and was happily upgrading to the new releases. So here are a few things about Ubuntu that are worth pointing out:
Debian Roots
Ubuntu based on Debian. It is compatible with .deb packages and uses the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) to handle packages and system updates/upgrades. Debian was chosen because of the vast amount of packages available for installation. But Ubuntu is not compatible with Debian repositories. It has its own repositories. New Ubuntu releases are basically a snapshot of the Debian Unstable Branch (Sid). The codename Sid comes from the little boy named Sid in Toy Story that broke his toys. The Ubuntu developers then work out the bugs in the Debian Unstable packages and is then released.
Release Cycle
Ubuntu releases follow a six month cycle. Every 4th release is a Long-Term Support (LTS) version. LTS releases are supported for 3 years. Regular releases are supported until the next release comes out. You can upgrade from an existing LTS to the new LTS release. Or you can upgrade to the regular releases but this has to be sequential, you cannot skip versions when upgrading the regular releases. I love the naming of the releases e.g. Hardy Heron, Intrepid Ibex, Jaunty Jackalope, Karmic Koala, Lucid Lynx, Maverick Meerkat, etc.
Launchpad and the Personal Package Archive (PPA)
Because Ubuntu follows a six month release cycle, software packages don't typically get updated till the next release. Now six months may not sound like a long time but it can be long enough to see a new software release with significant bugs resolved or cool new features. PPAs were introduced to address this problem. For a more extensive overview of a PPA click here. PPAs basically allow users to maintain and keep software up to date. For example, the Mozilla Firefox PPA typically pushes a more updated version of Firefox compared to the version available in the standard Ubuntu repositories.
Unity
Unity is the new desktop interface that Ubuntu rolled out as a default in 11.10. It has now become the default interface for future releases and has received plenty of work to improve on its performance and functionality.
What I love(d) about Ubuntu
It definitely serves itself as a good first-timer distro. Although there is still a learning curve involved, I found it relatively easy to obtain information on how to work out problems. It is widely used so information is readily available on the web with a simple search. Also, there are plenty of websites dedicated to Ubuntu such as OMG-Ubuntu and WebUp8 that give excellent information, news and tips related to Ubuntu. Tombuntu was most helpful to me when I was starting out. Unfortunately, it hasn't stayed updated.
The Synaptic Package Manager and later the Ubuntu Software Center are excellent for managing software on your computer. It made it very easy to search for software to fulfill a particular need or complete a task. Because Ubuntu uses .deb packages, I could install other software that was available in .deb format. It was as easy as double-clicking to install.
The PPAs are a good way to install more up to date software that aren't available in the default Ubuntu repositories.
Ubuntu (especially the LTS versions) also receive excellent security updates. The LTS versions also tend to be exceptionally stable releases. I especially loved the 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) release with the refresh in aesthetics. However I did not mind the brown, earthy color scheme of pre-10.04 releases.
The Fallout, Why I don't use Ubuntu anymore
The six-month release cycle initially kept me excited for the new features made available in new releases. However upgrading is hardly ever smooth. There are always several things that would break. This forced me to do backups and perform fresh installs of Ubuntu every time there was a new release. Staying with the LTS version was definitely a more stable experience, but this led to another problem - outdated versions of software. You are stuck with the versions available in the LTS repositories. Aha! I can use PPAs to keep updated software! But now here's the rub. PPAs potentially pose a security issue. You have to trust the maintainer of the PPA and hope that he/she doesn't include any malicious script in the packages they maintain. Also, when a new version of Ubuntu is released, PPAs still aren't guaranteed to automatically work. It still takes time for the packages to be built for the current version of Ubuntu. As a result, I often found myself stuck with outdated software.
I really started to like KDE 4 especially when it started to improve. Unfortunately, Kubuntu was not a very good implementation of KDE. I got tired of having to fix things myself and find work-arounds. While this helped me become more proficient with Linux, it could also otherwise be considered a waste of time. And when 11.10 (Natty Narwhal) came out with a very buggy version of Unity, I had no choice but to seek solace elsewhere, namely PCLinuxOS. It might look a little rough aesthetically, but trust me, it's an excellent distro that works incredibly smooth. And a few tweaks here and there plus a nice wallpaper... simply beautiful.
Screenshot of my current KDE 4 desktop
Recently Ubuntu announced that the 12.04 release will be supported for 5 years instead of 3. And that they will make an attempt to keep software reasonably up to date. Now that seems promising but there is no way of knowing until the release comes out in late April. The current iteration of Unity is much better than when it made it's debut back in the 11.04 release. I understand the vision that Unity as an interface can, in the future, be implemented on mobile phones, tablets and even TVs. Still, I'm not quite sold on it. I'm used to the more traditional desktop interface approach that KDE 4 has. Maybe I am just becoming an old geezer.
So I keep my fingers crossed till the end of April. Hopefully, you've learned something in this post.
Linux explained… a bit more
Even as a somewhat long time Linux user, I still have a bit of a hard time explaining what Linux is to others.
We tend to use "Linux" to describe distributions, open-source operating systems, applications, mobile applications, platforms, etc. I feel that the word "Linux" is used interchangeably to describe a variety of things that it is easy to get lost and forget what Linux really is.
So I will attempt to clear things up a bit.
Linux is a kernel. Whilst the word "Linux" can be used to describe a variety of other things as outlined above, it is in essence a kernel.
"As it's name indicates, the operating system's kernel is the core that makes it function. The software kernel is what manages the computer's resources: It communicates with installed devices and applications, administrates the memory correctly, distributes processing time for all programs, communicates with storage devices for saving files, etc."
- GNU/Linux Basic - J. Lopez Sanchez, et. al.
I am still understanding the Linux world and I have found that the understanding 3 things below have helped me gained a better insight.
1. Understanding the History of Linux
It is always good to take a step back and learn about the roots of it all.
2. Understanding what Linux can do
This is a loaded question and one of the goals of this blog is to share with you the different things that you can do with Linux. For now, I've linked back to one of the past posts with a generic overview of what Linux can do for you.
3. Understanding how is it built or developed
I stumbled upon this short video clip from the Linux Foundation recently which gave me a much better insight of the Linux development.
I hope you learned something today and enjoyed reading this short post. I promise more content in the coming days/weeks.
How to Install Additional Icons and Desktop Themes in KDE 4
KDE 4 makes it very easy to install additional Icons and Desktop Themes. You may not like the default icons or the desktop theme. In this post, I will show you how to easily install additional Icon and Desktop Themes for KDE 4.
First, let's install additional Icons.
Open System Settings > Application Appearance > Icons (On the left navigation bar)
There are a couple of ways to install a new Icon theme. On the bottom left side of the Icons window there is a button called "Get New Themes..."
This is going to launch the add-on installer for Icon themes. The installer actually retrieves themes from KDE-look.org. From here it is as simple as clicking on the theme you want to install.
Sometimes this method doesn't work. If this is the case, then there is an alternative way of adding a new Icon theme.
1. Go to www.kde-look.org
2. Search for an Icon theme that you like.
3. Download the icon theme. This should be a .tar.gz file.
4. Open System Settings > Application Appearance > Icons (On the left navigation bar)
5. This time click on "Install Theme File..." button on the bottom right.
6. Navigate to where you downloaded the tar.gz file and install it.
To install additional Desktop Themes, the process is similar.
You can do this by going to System Settings > Application Appearance > Workspace Appearance > Desktop Theme (on the left navigation bar).
I am using KDE 4.6.5 and there is no option to install a theme from a file. I have not tested more recent KDE Plasma versions so I am not sure if this feature has been added.
Have fun customizing your KDE desktop!
DraftSight: Free Cross-Platform CAD Software
As an engineer, I'm always on the lookout for engineering software available for Linux. One of the main reasons why I (and the engineering industry in general) am still tied to Windows is the lack or absence of engineering tools on the Linux platform. I use AutoCAD by AutoDesk quite heavily in engineering design. AutoCAD also has become somewhat of a standard in the engineering industry. Unfortunately, AutoCAD has not been ported over to Linux, even as a paid version. I believe I am not alone when I say that there is an untapped market in the Linux community for robust engineering software such as AutoCAD.
But don't despair. There are 2D CAD programs available out there for Linux. The one I've played around with in particular is DraftSight from Dassault Systemes. It is still in Beta on the Linux platform, but it is stable enough to you through basic CAD. If you are an AutoCAD user, you will find that most of the keyboard shortcut commands remain similar. The user interface is also clean and the layout is good. This makes DraftSight an excellent tool to get your personal designs and projects drawn up properly. It is also excellent teaching and learning tool when it comes to CAD.
DraftSight also has excellent tutorials available, their own Youtube Channel and there are several DraftSight projects and how-to's available with a simple search on Youtube.
DraftSight should be installable via the package manager of your distribution, .deb package or rpm package.
If you don't like DraftSight, here is a list of other CAD software available on Linux.
Let your 3D Creativity Fly with Blender
Are you an aspiring 3D artist/animator? If you already have the hardware system requirements then you are set to get started on using Blender.
Blender is a cross-platform, free and open-source 3D content creation suite. It is rich with features that allow users to create 3D artwork, models, movies and even 3D game creation. The Blender website even has a great collection of tutorials to get the new users up to speed with the software. There are also plenty of sample movies available.
One of my favorites is definitely Sintel.
Just because software is free doesn't mean it is of poor quality and has little value. Blender is simply one of the many cool and awesome open-source software projects out there.
Xubuntu Inspired KDE Desktop
I was quite impressed with the setup of the Xubuntu 11.10 desktop that I decided to model my own desktop after it. 
I am running the latest version of PCLinuxOS with the KDE 4.6.5 desktop. The beauty of KDE 4 and Linux in general is that it gives you the capability to mold your desktop according to your own tastes. Linux is all about choice after all. Here's a screenshot of my Xubuntu inspired desktop.
Setting up the KDE desktop was quite simple. It's not all about aesthetics either, there is added functionality with the setup as well. If you like what you see, just follow the steps below.
Wallpaper - The Road to Nowhere
Desktop Theme/Workspace Appearance - Caledonia
Icons - KFaenza
The Top Panel
- Right-Click on an empty space on the desktop and create an empty panel.
- Add the following widgets to the panel.
- Application Launcher Menu
Rick-click on the icon and switch to classic menu style.
- Show Desktop
- Folder View
- Pager
- Smooth Tasks
Now we will edit the Smooth Tasks settings to give us better window management functionality.
General Settings.
I like to change the Sorting to the "Manually" option. This will allow you to move the task tabs if you want to rearrange their order.
Appearance Settings (Task Items Tab)
Check "Expand on Attention" and "Expand on Hover" to get the classical task tabs instead of small square/rectangular icons.
Appearance Settings (Tool Tip Tab)
Change Preview Style to "New".
I also increased the preview size.
Appearance Settings (Animation Tab)
Change the Frames per second to "60 fps" for a snappier and smoother windows tool tip preview
With these tweaks, you can get good window previews and easier task/window switching.
- yaWP (yet another Weather Plasmoid)
Check "Use compact panel layout" to get a nice small icon. You can also change the number of days for forecast. I set it to "0" to just get the current weather.
- System Tray
- Digital Clock
- Lock/Logout
Bottom Panel
The bottom panel is an applications shortcut panel.
Add an empty panel.
Add the applications that you want.
Add two spacers to center the icons.
To get more screen real-estate, set the bottom panel Visibility to "Windows can cover".
Conclusion
And there you have it. Remember that Linux is all about choice. Feel free to tweak and change the settings to your liking.
More Reasons to Try Linux
I've already covered why you should use/run Linux but don't just take my word for it. Josh Fox from Make Tech Easier gives you 7 more reasons that make Linux great.
Raspberry Pi: Delicious Linux Box for Just $25
Rumor has it that the much anticipated Raspberry Pi will be on sale in the next few days. According to their website, they have been hampered by a delay at the factory but there has been an assurance that the first batch will arrive in the next few days. So stay on the lookout for the sale to go online. I suspect that the initial batch won't be sitting too long on the shelf.
What is the Raspberry Pi and what is so special about it anyway?
"The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming." - Raspberry Pi Website
The best part is that it is only $25 ($35 for Model B variant).
I would love to get my hands on one and build a tiny but functional PC. Loaded with a Linux distro, I can connect the Raspberry Pi to my TV (through the HDMI connection) and serve up multimedia content as well as have the basic functionality of a micro desktop PC. At this time, I can only imagine the possibilities when coupled with a media center application like XBMC. I will definitely be watching the website closely and will keep my fingers crossed that I can get my hands on one very mouth-watering Raspberry Pi.