Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference by Keir Thomas

I definitely recommend that you pick up a copy of the book, Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference by Keir Thomas. The book is a valuable source to any Ubuntu Linux user regardless of your experience level with the operating system. You can even download a free complete PDF version of the book from the website at <http://www.ubuntupocketguide.com/> . The PDF version is nice, but we need to really support the open source movement with our dollars, so pick up a copy of the book. You can order the book online from Amazon.com by clicking here.

Ubuntu 9.04 has been released in the wild.

It is about that time to download the latest version of Ubuntu that has just been released. Head on over to <http://www.ubuntu.com> for more information about how to download the ISO files or order your very own Ubuntu install CDs for free. Check out what other people are saying about the latest version of Ubuntu that was released into the wild on April 24, 2008.

• First Look at Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope - Life Hacker
• Ubuntu 9.04 as slick as Windows 7, Mac OS X - CNET
• Jackalope gets jaunty with Ubuntu nip and tuck - The Register
• Windows 7 Leak Confirmed (vs) That Penguin - IT World Canada
  

For those of you who are already running Ubuntu 8.10, you can check out an article on Ubuntu Geek about how to upgrade from 8.10 to 9.04. Click here to read the excellent article from Ubuntu Geek now.

The Rise of Netbooks

Netbooks are taking the computer market over by storm. They are all the rage, and it seems the term "netbook" is the new buzz word that you hear about on CNN or see on tech websites like CNET <http://www.cnet.com> . What is a netbook? In very simple terms a netbook is a shrinked down cousin of the much bigger laptop that everyone has grown to love & hate (especially if your hard drive crashes and it is your only computer you have). Netbooks are the "Mini-Me" of laptops (see the YouTube clip below and check out the Austin Powers movies for more info).



Like Mini-Me, netbooks are pure genius in their concept and purpose for which they are designed to meet. Netbooks are primarily designed for emailing, surfing the web, and doing light word processing. You don't need a full blown laptop that will cost you upwards of $1000.00 to accomplish the tasks of checking your email, surfing the web, and doing word processing. Netbooks would make great computers for kids, students, people who do light traveling and still need to be connected to the Internet cloud, road warriors who are tired of lugging around back breaking laptops, and power desktop users who can't drag their fabled desktop PCs into the living room to surf the web while they are watching Lost, Heroes, or 24 on their 42" flat screen TVs. Netbooks are too cheap for laptop manufacturers not to make them, since they can flip a decent profit on a device that probably costs them pennies compared to the price the consumer will eventually have to pay for them.

I'll admit that a netbook would make a great addition to anyone's tech arsenal for numerous reasons. Take myself for example, I've used laptops over the years both at work on a professional basis, and on a personal basis. Laptops have their place, but I will always espouse the benefits of a desktop PC vs. a lapotp any day of the week if I'm making a point about which I'd use for my primary computer. But the desktop vs. laptop argument is a post for another day. Who hasn't wanted to check their email while sitting on the couch watching their favorite show? I know I've wanted to do that, but I don't want to drop $1000.00 to do that. I can use the exercise and I don't mind getting up to walk to my computer room to check my email if I really need to that. Netbooks make the Internet a more personal and mobile experience for a person especially when you have the ability to take it with you as long as you have a wifi connection around to jump online with. Even if you don't have wifi, there is still a benefit to being able to have a small computer with you that you can be productive on when the urge hits you. If I was taking a college class in a traditional brick & mortar classroom, I'd definitely want a netbook at my side just for the simple fact of being able to take notes & jump on the college/university LAN when the lecture hits the boring, sleep inducing spots that exist in all lectures. Overall, I think the concept of netbooks is great and I hope it is a niche that is around to stay. Netbooks represent the writing on the wall. The "wall" I allude to is the eventually advent of a true tablet computer. I'm sure the tech aliens over at Apple are working on something like a tablet computer. On a side bar, the folks at Apple seem to bring science fiction to life in amazing ways, just take a look at the iPhone <http://www.apple.com/iphone/> and I don't have to say anything else in that regards, back to netbooks though.

I think everyone was sleep at the wheel when ASUS dropped their netbook on the market which sparked the netbook revolution that we are now in the midst of. In typical Microsoft fashion, the storm troopers at Redmond and their mindless fanboys in the press have been spreading misleading articles about Windows dominance of the netbook market (click on the article links below:

• Microsoft Boasts Windows Netbook Success
• Microsoft: 96% Of Netbooks Run Windows
• Windows On Netbook PCs: A Year In Review

I don't buy many of the arguments in the 3 articles above that I referred you to because I believe that there are more Linux users out there than anyone accurately knows. At the most, the articles and others like them only present one side of a two sided argument. With over 10 years of experience of actively working in the Information Technology field on a professional basis, I can safely say that out of the box that Windows is not easier to use than Linux. For starters, to use just about any sort of peripheral in Windows, you have to have the associated driver for that device in order for the operating system to be able to communicate and interface with that peripheral, Windows plug-n-play is a well known myth in IT circles. Out of the box for Windows, means you can only surf the Internet and fire-up Wordpad if you need word processing. Linux on the other hand is an entirely different story. With Ubuntu <http://www.ubuntu.com>, my Linux distrobution of choice, you get a ton of applications out of the box like:

• Firefox - a much better and innovative web browser than Internet Explorer.
• Tons of free games.
• F-Spot - a photo manager.
• Gimp - a photo editor.
• Open Office - a full blown office productivity suite that includes words processing, spreadsheet, and power point applictions that really work and get the job done.
• Brasero - a professional CD/DVD burning application.
• Transmission - an awesome BitTorrent client.
• And rock solid security as soon as you press the power button.

There isn't enough room in this blog to list all the software that is freely available for Linux that is out there for the masses to not only just use, but to also tweak, customize, and perfect to their own specific tastes and needs. There are thousands of software applications that are no farther away than a very simple "sudo apt-get install XXX.deb" or search through the Synaptic Package Manager in Ubuntu. Let's just say that Linux is like legion, we are 10s of thousands deep & we are everywhere. Do you have a cell phone? Have you checked out the latest hollywood blockbuster? I have no doubts that you would be surprised to discover just how deep Linux runs within the world of technology. What do you think most Internet backbone servers run on?

• Are Linux netbooks really returned more than Windows models?
• Linux Netbook - Reveiws and articles about Linux based netbooks
• Linux to outnumber Windows on Netbooks by 2012
• Ubuntu 9.04 as slick as Windows 7, Mac OS X
  

Typical netbooks come with between 512MB to 1GB of RAM, an average video processor, an Intel Atom processor, and a decent size hard drive. These specifications alone would cause me to think of something other than Windows to run on a netbook. Have you every tried to run Windows XP on a computer with 512MB or 1GB of RAM? It isn't a pretty experience that I'd write home about if I wanted to brag about something. 1GB of RAM is the bare minimum to get decent performance out of Windows XP. I'm amazed at how people & OEMs have been duped by Microsoft into buying into the hype of netbooks that come pre-loaded with ancient Windows XP! Yes, most people do use Microsoft Windows, but that doesn't equate to Windows being the right operating system for the job. You can run Linux on just about anything due to its flexibility, low hardware requirements, and compatibility with a very broad range of computer hardware. Anything, as in the super small picotux - the smallest Linux computer in the world. The picotux 100 is the world's smallest Linux, only slightly larger (35mmx19mmx19mm) than a RJ-45 connector, see the picture below.

More information about the picotux 100 can be found here.

The hardware requirements for Ubuntu are meager when you compare them to what you need for Windows XP or Vista. Ubuntu or Kubuntu have the recommended minimum requirements of:

• 700 MHz x86 processor
• 384 MB of system memory (RAM)
• 8 GB of disk space
• Graphiccs card capable of 1024x768 resolution
• Sound card
• A network or Internet connection

More installation system requirements can be found here.

Linux is like the Jedi of Star Wars, and Microsoft is like the Sith. We know who wins the war eventually, but for now, Linux users need to band together whenever and wherever we can to spread the word about Linux and open source software. Ignorance about the advantages and power of Linux is something we must combat aggressively and whenever we get the chance to. Don't buy into the hype about Windows dominating the netbook market, because it simply isn't true. Linux gives users their powers back in regards to turning a mundane computer experience into an adventure of epic and informative proportions as you plunge into the world of using Linux. I believe in time that Linux will eventually overcome the suffocating dominance of Windows to finds its voice in the mainstream technology and computer circles and coexist with Microsoft on a more public level than it does now.

Total freedom is one of the true beauties and strengths of Linux & open source software, even though I'd be willing to pay for Ubuntu if I had to because it is well worth my dollars.

Have no doubts about it, if I ever get a netbook, it will definitely be running Ubuntu Remix, Ubuntu's Linux OS for netbooks!

Additional resources and information can be found below at the following links & videos.

• Ubuntu Remix
• Ubuntu
• Netbook entry @ Wikipedia
• Technology@Intel - Thoughts on Netbooks
• Battle of the Netbooks
  

Terminator - A Killer Application For Command Warfare (Work)!

The T-800 Terminator is menacing, fierce, and get's the job done. The goto workhorse for Skynet because, let's face it, The T-800 get's the job done and evil robots don't have much time to waste. Anyone who uses Linux on the regular knows that when it comes to getting the job done, nothing gets down like the terminal. What can't you do at the terminal? Yes, we live in the microwave age where everyone wants everything in 2 seconds, and we are spoiled with GUIs and Windows doing everything for us. But nothing is quite as good as getting down to the nitty gritty of the command line interface regardless of the operating system that you may be using. Although, I do highly recommend that you use Linux, Ubuntun (http://www.ubuntu.com) in particular for your casual and serious computing needs. Yes, you could forsake the terminal these days if you are a Linux user, and as for Windows, most people's eyes glaze over when you ask them about the command prompt, the usual response to the inquiry is "what's that?"

Terminator, is a cross-platform GPL terminal emulator. In simple terms, this is an alternative tool for access the terminal (aka command line interface, aka cli). This little applicaiton is very powerful. You have the normal features like cut & paste, and tab functionality. But Terminator shines in allowing you to split the terminal window into separate horizontal or vertical sections within the main terminal window. Please see the screenshots below.

1. This is a picture of Terminator, nothing much going on here.



2. Below is a picture of Terminator with 3 separate panes performing several task. In the top pane, I'm running the "top" command to view the running processes on my computer; in the bottom left pane, I'm running a "ping" to the default gateway address on my computer; in the bottom right pane, I just ran "sudo apt-get install traceroute" to install the traceroute application for use within the terminal.



This is one of the first applications that I install whenever I'm installing Ubuntu for the first time. You can get the application through a variety of ways.

*** Please note that drilldown means to clip through drop-down menus in a GUI (Graphical User Interface). Please see the wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_down for a more detailed explination of the term. ***

1. You can simply drilldown to Sysetm > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager to launch the Synaptic Package Manager application. And do a search for Terminator, then check the package to install the application. Below is a screenshot of the Synaptic Package Manager which provides a GUI for installing software packages (but it also has many other features which I will not discuss at this time).



2. You can also install Terminator from the command line by typing the following command:

sudo apt-get install terminator

If you have to use the terminal in Linux, then you definitely have to use Terminator as your terminal tool to navigate through the depths of your Linux system. I highly recommend this application, it is like a swiss army knife of tools to have if you are a Linux user. What are you waiting for, you need to sudo apt-get install terminator immediately!

To find out more information about Terminator, and using the terminal in Linux, visit the following links:

• Flipping the Linux switch: New users guide to the terminal by Download Squad - http://bit.ly/10jlQh
• Terminator - http://software.jessies.org/terminator/
• Linux Shortcuts and Commands - http://bit.ly/15Cx8i
  

How to run Windows XP in Ubuntu 8.10 using Sun xVM VirtualBox.

I eventually devised this solution out of my desire to use iTunes and Adobe Photoshop. I've been using Ubuntu as my primary operating system for about 9 months now, and I still have not found an alternative application that is better than iTunes and Adobe Photoshop Elements at what they each do. This is my guide to installing Windows XP in VirtualBox running in Ubuntu 8.10.

1. You need to have the Ubuntu installed on your computer. You can download the latest ISO of Ubuntu from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/.

2. Download and install VirtualBox. You can grab it from two places

• Sun Microsystems website @ http://www.sun.com/software/products/virtualbox/get.jsp
• VirtualBox website @ http://www.virtualbox.org/

3. Once you get VirtualBox installed, you should have the following window when you launch the application.



1. You need to have the Ubuntu installed on your computer. You can download the latest ISO of Ubuntu from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/.

2. Download and install VirtualBox. You can grab it from two places

• Sun Microsystems website @ http://www.sun.com/software/products/virtualbox/get.jsp
• VirtualBox website @ http://www.virtualbox.org/

3. Once you get VirtualBox installed, you should have the following window when you launch the application.



4. Select New. This will allow you to create a new virtual machine for the install of Windows XP. You will need to have a legal version of Windows XP to install as a guest OS.












5. Test001 is the new Virtual Machine that I created for the install of Windows XP.



6. In the "Details" tab, double click on the "CD/DVD-ROM" section to open it. You need to select the following:

• Mount CD/DVD Drive
• Host CD/DVD Drive
• Enable Passthrough

Mount CD/DVD Drive will allow your virtual machine to boot from the optical drive of your host computer which is how you will install Windows XP.

7. Insert your Windows XP CD into your computer and wait a few seconds for Ubuntu to detect the CD. Ignore any pop-ups you may receive about a Windows executable CD has been placed intot he computer.

8. Start your new Virtual Machine. It should boot directly from the host computer's optical drive that has the Windows XP CD install in it. Simply following the normal process of installing Windows XP. Once you are done installing Windows XP, reboot the Virtual Machine and you are in business.

Below are screenshots of the finished project. Double click on the screenshots to see the image in its original size.

• Showing off Internet Explorer running in guest OS Windows XP.
  

• Running iTunes within Windows XP guest OS inside VirtualBox in seemless mode.
  

Being able to run Windows as a guest OS within Ubuntu has resolved a lot of the outstanding issues that I had with Ubuntu and my desire to use some Windows applications within Ubuntu. I have successfully ran numerous programs within the guest OS without any problems to include Microsoft Office 2007, iTunes, Internet Explorer, DVD Cloner VI, Auto GK, Firefox, and ImgBurn. At this time, burning data and audio to the host computer's optical drive is not supported at all. I do not have any problems with playing sound from my guest OS on my host OS computer. I do not have any problems printing from my guest OS to the printer that I have connected to my host OS computer.