Linux Format Magazine pointed out an excellent post regarding Gnome vs. KDE. I really liked the observations in the article.
From GNOME to KDE and back again: old computing habits are hard to break
New Beta Releases of Fedora and Ubuntu
Linux Format Magazine pointed out that Fedora has released a beta of Fedora 9 and Ubuntu has released Ubuntu 8.04.
These features caught my eye from the Fedora 9 Feature List:
- Firefox 3
- Update X Server
- Randr Support — hopefully, this should make plugging and unplugging my laptop into my monitor easier
- Fast X Start time — will my laptop boot faster?
They also pointed out that Open Office 2.4 has been released! Will it be in Fedora 9?
Java: Nimbus Look and Feel
In the announcement for Java 6 SE Update N b12, they mentioned a new Look and Feel called Nimbus. Here is a link with code that shows how to use it:
https://jdk6.dev.java.net/testNimbus.html
Here are some screenshots:
Installing Firefox 3 beta3
I mostly followed Ubuntu Geek’ instructions.
I made the backup of the profile directory:
sudo cp -R ~/.mozilla ~/.mozillabackup
I checked in Synpatic package manager and found that libstdc++5 was already installed.
I followed the link they provided for downloading the new version.
I extracted it as they suggested to the /opt directory:
sudo tar -C /opt -jxvf firefox-3.0b3.tar.bz2
For the plugins, I created the link that they suggested. Make sure you see that you have the right plugins directory — it looked like there could be various locations for the plugins.
cd /opt/firefox/plugins/
ls /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/* .
I found some information about controlling profiles, and so, I created a different profile for Firefox3. First, I created a copy for Firefox:
cp -r .mozilla .firefox3
/opt/firefox/firefox -P “firefox3”
The first time, it brought up the “Choose User Profile” dialog. So, I clicked on the Create Profile button and created a new profile by the name of firefox3. For the path, I chose $HOME/.firefox3/firefox/tgvjuj9r.default (the copy of my default profile).
Open Office 3.0
I just found this article from LXF about Open Office 3.0. It sounds very exciting — I can’t wait for it to come out. Here are they links they pointed out:
The presenter screen feature is one feature that I am really interested in:
JNode
I have run across a new operating system called JNode. What has caught my attention is that the operating system is written in Java. I am not sure it is ready for mainstream use, but I definitely want to play with it on VMWare to see if it is something I can use.
Websites:
To get started, download the iso from Sourceforge. The unzip the ISO with gunzip jnode-x86-0.2.6.iso.gz . Then, create a VMWare image that uses the iso file as the cdrom drive. Finally, boot the new OS.
When JNode boots by default, it only boots to a command prompt. To start the GUI, first run the garbage collection with “gc”. Then, run the command “startawt”.
Resources
How To: Scan a Hard Drive with Fedora 8 Live CD
I had downloaded the i386 version of the Fedora 8 Live CD. Since I already had it downloaded and burned to a CD, I decided to use this to scan a laptop’s drive for viruses. There is probably an easier way, but I thought this would be a good exercise.
Once booted, open a terminal and run the following commands:
su -
yum install gcc zlib zlib-devel make
Then, I downloaded clamav from the SourceForge website. The version I downloaded was 0.92rc2. Firefox automatically saves files to the Desktop, and so, I just let it do its thing.
Next, back in the terminal window, I compiled the program:
cd /home/fedora/Desktop
tar -xzvvf clamav*.tar.gz
cd clamav*
useradd clamav
./configure
make
make install
Then, I had to update the configuration files. You can do this from the terminal with:
freshclam
sed -e 's/^Example$/#Example/i' /usr/local/etc/freshclam.conf > freshclam.conf
mv -f freshclam.conf /usr/local/etc/freshclam.conf
sed -e 's/^Example$/#Example/i' /usr/local/etc/clamd.conf > clamd.conf
mv -f clamd.conf /usr/local/etc/clamd.conf
Next, download the most recent virus definitions.
freshclam
Finally, do your scan (You may need to mount it first).
clamscan /media/disk
Ndiswrapper on Ubuntu
Here is an excellent howto about installing Ndiswrapper on Ubuntu:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper
Linux Mac Crossover
I found an interesting article today about making Linux look like a Mac. The thing is that I don’t necessarily want to go all the way, but I would like to steal a few things from their side of the world.
Make Your Linux Desktop Look Like A Mac – Mac4Lin Project Documentation
The big thing that caught my eye was the AWM on page 3. I had trouble following the instructions though. These instructions worked a little better:
HOWTO: functional eye-candy with Avant-Window-Navigator and Affinity
Two Great Reviews
Today, I found two great reviews with a nice list of software to watch or install.
First, Linux Format Magazine published a posting announcing the releasing of Ubuntu 7.10, which included a review of the release:
http://lunapark6.com/ubuntu-710-gutsy-desktop-edition-review.html
Not only does the author describe his experience with installing the new version, but he also provides some nice ideas for software to install such as vlc, k3b, Kino, ardour, Google Earth & Desktop, VMWare Server, and MythTV.
Another article I found from Linux Format Magazine was about installing Slackware:
The Perfect Desktop — Slackware 12
This article also listed numerous software install ideas along with detailed explanations on how to install the system. The article also points out that the HowToForge also has other similar articles for other distributions. I haven’t tried it but the Linux Distribution Chooser sounded very interesting too.