Ubuntu Introduces Maverick Meerkat

Mark Shuttleworth introduced the next Ubuntu code name to follow Lucid Lynx on Friday of last week. It will be known as Maverick Meerkat. He stated that the mission to have free software on all shipping pc's is a Maverick idea and the since we are social as are the Meerkats, that more connectivity to our social world will be included in this release. He also talked about the new design track and server cloud track to be more fully revealed in Belgium this May during the Ubuntu Developer's Summit. I really enjoyed reading his analagies on the Meerkats and how he plans to introduce those qualities in Ubuntu and the community. I have to agree that bringing the social media together on the desktop will be an encouraging event. Just how they implement these changes will be on the top of everyone's must see list when the first public releases start showing up. Hold onto your hats this is going to be a fast and fun filled ride.

Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition: Covering 9.10 and 10.4 (5th Edition)

Beginning Ubuntu Linux, Fourth Edition

5 reasons why the Ubuntu-Yahoo deal is a win-win affair.

interesting article here on the Google to Yahoo switch. I have to agree that Canonical should pursue any lucrative income streams. These are the avenues that will keep Ubuntu in production and free to us end users. I used to be a long time Yahoo fan but gave the the nod some time ago when all my searches always fell on a product of some type to sell me. Not always relevant to the search even. That was some time ago and I'm willing to see if they have changed. I'll most likely still going to use the term Google it even if I do the search on Yahoo.

I am writing this post using Lucid Lynx on a live USB install. It is running perfectly on a Toshiba laptop running an Intel Centrino Duo. It failed to finish the boot on the oder HP laptop. We'll try again later.

5 reasons why the Ubuntu-Yahoo deal is a win-win affair.

Beta One Lucid Lynx Released

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx is fast approaching the final release. But for now the official beta one has been released and is ready for download. You can see the official announcement here or visit Distrowatch for a complete synopsis and breakdown. Read Canonical's technical release notes for the key differences between version 10.04 and earlier versions. You will also find download links on that page as well as bug reports. Well worth the visit if you plan on installing now or when the stable version is released. One of the more interesting changes I noticed was the change from Google to Yahoo as the default search in Mozilla Firefox. Does anyone know why?

The kernel gets pushed to 2.6.32 which is something I like. Running with the latest kernel is not something everyone likes to do until it is proven a bit longer. In my opinion why not, since Grub will give you the options of rolling back to earlier versions (providing you haven't uninstalled them).

Everything is not all a bed of roses and bugs are known to exists and more to be found. After all it is still a beta release. I plan on waiting to install when stable or later but it will be fun to take a live version for a spin. Let's hear what you think.
Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition: Covering 9.10 and 10.4 (5th Edition)

Update The Linux Kernel

One of the cool features of Linux is how the updates work. I'm going to talk about updates with Ubuntu but the same is true, methods might differ, for about all distros. I have the Update Manager set to notify when updates are available. The other night a kernel update was available to install version 2.6.31-20 generic. Throwing caution to the wind, I installed the kernel update with the Update Manager. In my setup I am using Grub as a boot manager and I have the added option of choosing more than one kernel to boot into. Windows will never give you that option after a service pack install ever. This is one aspect where Linux and Windows differ greatly.

A kernel update is a major update since it is the core of the operating system. If I were to do this in Windows it would be considered a service pack update and not easily reversed if something goes wrong. In Linux you can remove a kernel update as easily as installing it.
Service packs can be removed in Windows but it is time intensive and may leave the system unstable. Removing any unneeded kernel in Ubuntu is very easy using Synaptic Package Manager. A quick search for the Linux header or kernel and you will be able to mark the appropriate files for removal. Synaptic will do the rest including updating Grub. This can also be accomplished on the command line using apt-get remove but you will have to know the name of the packages you want to remove.

This is one of the key differences in Linux as opposed to Windows, that will keep me using Linux for a long long time.

Linux Unified Kernel: Linux Unified Kernel, Operating system, Kernel (computing), Application binary interface, Application software, Device driver, ... Windows, Linux, Architecture of Windows NT

Ubuntu Update Gone Bad?

Ubuntu, like most other distros, prompts you to install system updates. You can control the schedule using the Update Manager and set it for daily, every two days, per week or every two weeks. I prefer the weekly updates. There are other options as well but I will not be highlighting them at this time. Typically the defaults on most options will work for most users but they are fairly straightforward and do not need much explanation. Most of the time updates will install just fine. However once in a while the internet or your computer just doesn't cooperate. The update then gets hung and maybe the system will not even boot fully. It is times like this that a little knowledge of the command line will be very beneficial. If possible boot to the prompt and issue these commands:

sudo apt-get update 
(password)
apt-get upgrade -u

This will perform the rest of the update just as you were using the gui's Update Manager. It will be important to note that wireless users may or may not be connected, so it might be wise to connect via a cable if possible. Running the unfinished upgrade this way just may prevent a needless re-install of the OS. But you have /Home on a separate partition anyway, right?

Lucid Lynx Alpha 3 Has Been Released

If anyone is following the Ubuntu path, yesterday the release of Alpha 3 Lucid Lynx might get you excited. I'll admit to not trying it yet but may give it a go on a thumb drive soon. I am pretty happy with my current setup of Karmic Koala and not ready to introduce an alpha version to my laptop. Click here to read the offical press release from Canonical. For those so inclined to run Alpha images, remember that Alpha is still in testing phase and if bugs are encountered to report them in the bug tracker. Let's hear of your experiences in the comments.

Ubuntu Case Studies

I hear all the time from freinds and others that Linux just isn't making any strides in the desktop market. Well this link to Ubuntu Case Studies will definitely open some eyes as to whom in the corporate world is installing and using Ubuntu and why. From servers to desktops the stories are here and I found them quite interesting. How does the number 220,000 clients sound? In Andalusia Spain, Isotrol and Canonical's Premium Service Engineers were contracted to do just that, implement 220,000 clients for Andalusia's school systems. The list goes on for the spreading use of Ubuntu based systems. Ubuntu isn't the only distribution with case studies to be found either. Search any Linux distribution and you are sure to get results just as I did with Ubuntu. This is the top result from a Google search using these terms: case studies Linux. The open source movement is going in the right direction but we as end users can do our part by letting the various system admins we work for or who control our desktop, that we would like a choice and that choice is FOSS. Free and Open Source Software is the choice we as end users have the right to make and to use.

Download PDF Of Ubuntu User

Last spring the magazine Ubuntu User went on sale in national bookstores. Thye are now offering the first issue as a pdf file for free here. If you are a fan of Ubuntu or want to learn a bit more about it before taking the plunge, I suggest you visit this site and download your copy today. Ubuntu is currently my distro of choice and I am enjoying Karmic Koala. I have found it to be a very stable release for my equipment. This has been the first release that has fully supported my aging ATI Mobililty Radeon 320M. This hasn't always been the easiest graphics to get running properly but in this version I get some of the desktop effects more common to installations with more modern chipsets. The top cover story on this issue is "Jump to Jaunty" and I'm sure there will be much more useful and fun reading inside. It is time to read my copy now.

Installing yWriter5 In Ubuntu Karmic Koala

I happened upon the yWriter5 program and wanted to give it a try. But the Spacejock's instructions didn't work for me. I do admit to not following them completely as I'll explain. I followed the instructions given to unzip the files. Then I checked to see what version of Mono I had installed. Since I already had Mono 2.4, I skipped the step for installing Mono from source. This setup produced an error upon trying to launch the yWriter5. I used Google to find an answer and sure enough someone had solved this issue in the forums. The steps given in the forum were to uninstall and re-install Mono and add an install of the Visual Basic 2005 Runtime libraries. Once again I didn't quite follow the instructions given and went ahead and installed the Visual Basic 2005 Runtime libraries using Synaptic. I could now open and use yWriter5. This most likely worked because I already had the latest version of Mono installed. Evidently the Visual Basic 2005 Runtime library is not a dependency for all Mono related applications otherwise it would already have been installed. I hope this will help others to install and run yWriter5 easily.

For those interested in books that help you to write, on page 28 of this book the author plugs yWriter.

Ubuntu 9.10 Computer Janitor

I have been running Karmic Koala since it was beta 3. I was really interested in the Computer Janitor application located in the System|Administration menu. Since I have not yet developed a full knowledge of the Linux file system and how everything works, tools like this can be very helpful. I have questions such as, just what files can I get rid of and when is it safe to do so? But when I run the tool this is what I get.

I have been running Karmic since October and I did re-install once in December after I ruined my video trying to improve the drivers. So now I ask the question will Computer Janitor ever show items I can delete? I posted the same question in a Craigslist Linux forum and really didn't get the answers I wanted. I was however told of another program Bleach, that is in the Karmic Koala repositories and is more robust. I have installed Bleach and I used it once. There are several options that have deletable items and the program sports a preview option. I will have to try out more options and report the results later.

Does anyone else have any experience with  Computer Janitor, Bleach or other programs that do the same things? I would like to hear about them in the comments.