This guide intends to show how to successfully compile a fully featured svn mplayer with all the codecs and with the GUI player gmplayer. It is designed to work with the Ubuntu distros Feisty Faun, Gutsy Gibbon and Hardy Heron. Mplayer is a bit of a difficult one to compile so first make yourself a cup of tea and then get your keyboard ready!!

Note: This tutorial is intended for advanced users and more specifically for those who are keen to use the command line interface. It installs a pre-release version of mplayer that can at times be unstable and at times simply not compile. If this is really not what you are after perhaps you could try the very popular: Complete Streaming, Multimedia & Video How-to where Nathan will look after you

========================
Some Preparation
========================
Still with me? Good!! You have made a wise choice First to download some files in preparation for the upcoming work. By default Ubuntu does not come with compiling tools or subversion software but it is an easy matter to download these:

$ sudo apt-get install build-essential subversion

With the compiling tools in place next we set up the codec pack:

======================
Set up the Codecs
======================

The codecs are the heart and soul of mplayer and we will be downloading the 'full' pack, decompressing it and placing it in the appropriate location. You will note that throughout this walkthrough I will be using $HOME/Desktop as a base, feel free to adjust this to your own working habits:

$ cd $HOME
$ wget http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/all-20071007.tar.bz2
$ sudo mkdir -pv /usr/local/lib/codecs
$ tar xjvf all-20071007.tar.bz2
$ sudo cp -v $HOME/all-20071007/* /usr/local/lib/codecs

I should mention at this time that it is this codec pack that has caused a bit of discussion concerning copyright, only use it if the laws inyour country allow it. But now to set up the skin for mplayer:

=======================
Set up the Skin
=======================

For the gui Gmplayer to work we need to download and install a skin. For this walkthrough we will be using the 'standard' skin but there are many to choose from:

$ cd $HOME
$ mkdir -pv $HOME/.mplayer/skins/default
$ wget http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/skins/Blue-1.7.tar.bz2
$ tar xjvf Blue-1.7.tar.bz2
$ cp -Rv $HOME/Blue/* $HOME/.mplayer/skins/default

When all is up and running have a look at the mplayer web site which holds a multitude of other skins as well as instructions for making your own. But now to place a font for the On Screen Display (OSD):

=============================
Place a font for the OSD
=============================

mplayer will choke unless a font is sourced for the On Screen Display and subtitles. Traditionally this is in the form of a link:

$ sudo apt-get install ttf-bitstream-vera
$ ln -sv /usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-bitstream-vera/Vera.ttf ~/.mplayer/subfont.ttf

Feel free to choose your own font but this will certainly do to start with. I suspect this font is part of a default Ubuntu installation but I include directions for its installation anyway, just to be sure! Now to download the required development files:

====================================
Download the 'Development' Files
====================================

By default Ubuntu does not offer a particularly rich development environment so we need to download the required -dev files plus a few extra programs. I offer here 3 sets of downloads, one for Feisty Fawn, one for Gutsy Gibbon and one for Hardy Heron:

Development Files for Feisty Fawn

Do not be alarmed if the repository suggests other files as well, or informs you that you already have some of this impressive list. And certainly feel free to add your own:

$ sudo apt-get install avifile-divx-plugin avifile-xvid-plugin gawk \
ladspa-sdk liba52-0.7.4-dev libaa1-dev libartsc0-dev libasound2-dev \
libatk1.0-dev libaudiofile-dev libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libavifile-0.7-dev \
libc6-dev libcaca-dev libcairo2-dev libcdparanoia0-dev libdbus-glib-1-dev \
libdfb++-0.9-25 libdfb++-dev libdirectfb-0.9-25 libdirectfb-dev libdts-dev \
libdv-dev libdv4-dev libdvdnav-dev libdvdnav4 libdvdplay0 libdvdread-dev \
libdvdread3-dev libenca-dev libesd0-dev libexpat1-dev libfaac-dev libfaad2-dev \
libfame-0.9 libfame-dev libflac++-dev libflac-dev libfontconfig-dev \
libfontconfig1-dev libfreetype6-dev libfribidi-dev libgdk-pixbuf-dev \
libggi2-dev libggimisc2 libggimisc2-dev libggiwmh0 libggiwmh0-dev \
libglu1-mesa-dev libgtk2.0-dev libice-dev libjpeg62-dev liblame-dev \
liblivemedia-dev liblzo-dev libmad0-dev libmatroska-dev libmikmod2-dev \
libmp4v2-dev libmp4v2-dev libmpcdec-dev libogg-dev liboggflac++-dev \
liboggflac-dev libpango1.0-dev libpng12-dev libpng12-dev libpopt-dev \
libpostproc-dev libsdl1.2-dev libsmbclient-dev libspeex-dev libsvga1 \
libsvga1-dev libtheora-dev libungif4-dev libungif4g libvorbis-dev libx264-dev \
libxcursor-dev libxfixes-dev libxinerama-dev libxv-dev libxvidcore4 libxvidcore4-dev \
libxvmc-dev libxxf86dga-dev libxxf86vm-dev sharutils toolame ttf-bitstream-vera \
x11proto-fixes-dev x11proto-xinerama-dev xlibs-dev zlib1g-dev zlib1g-dev

This should be about 50 megs of files and will extend huge functionality to mplayer when it is compiled. You can skip over the Gutsy and Hardy dev files and go to the next section where we will download the svn source code.

Development Files for Gutsy Gibbon

Do not be alarmed if the repository suggests other files as well, or informs you that you already have some of this impressive list. And certainly feel free to add your own:

$ sudo apt-get install avifile-divx-plugin avifile-xvid-plugin gawk \
libxcursor-dev ladspa-sdk liba52-0.7.4 liba52-0.7.4-dev libaa1-dev libartsc0 \
libartsc0-dev libasound2-dev libatk1.0-dev libaudiofile-dev libavcodec1d libavcodec-dev \
libavformat1d libavformat-dev libavifile-0.7c2 libavifile-0.7-dev libavutil1d \
libavutil-dev libcaca-dev libcairo2-dev libcdparanoia0-dev libcucul-dev libdv4-dev \
libdirectfb-dev libdirectfb-extra libdbus-1-dev libdbus-glib-1-dev libdc1394-13 \
libdc1394-13-dev libdfb++-0.9-25 libdfb++-dev libdts-dev libdvdnav4 libdvdnav-dev \
libdvdread3 libdvdread-dev libebml0 libebml-dev libenca0 libenca-dev libesd0-dev \
libexpat1-dev libfaac0 libfaac-dev libfaad2-0 libfaad2-dev libfame-0.9 libfame-dev \
libflac++6 libflac-dev libflac++-dev libfontconfig1-dev libfontenc-dev libfreetype6-dev \
libfribidi-dev libgdk-pixbuf2 libgdk-pixbuf-dev libgii1 libgii1-dev libgii1-target-x \
libgl1-mesa-dev libglib1.2 libglib1.2-dev libglib2.0-dev libglu1-mesa-dev \
libglu1-xorg-dev libgsm1 libgsm1-dev libgtk1.2 libgtk1.2-common libgtk1.2-dev \
libgtk2.0-dev libice-dev libggi2 libggi2-dev libggimisc2 libggimisc2-dev libggiwmh0 \
libggiwmh0-dev libjpeg62-dev liblame0 liblame-dev liblivemedia-dev liblzo1 liblzo-dev \
liblzo2-2 liblzo2-dev libmad0 libmad0-dev libmatroska0 libmatroska-dev libmikmod2 \
libmikmod2-dev libmp4v2-0 libmp4v2-dev libmpcdec3 libmpcdec-dev libncurses5-dev \
libogg-dev libpango1.0-dev libpng12-dev libpopt-dev libpostproc1d libpostproc-dev \
libraw1394-dev libsdl1.2-dev libslang2-dev libsmbclient-dev libsm-dev libspeex-dev \
libsvga1 libsvga1-dev libsysfs-dev libtheora-dev libungif4-dev libungif4g \
libvorbis-dev libx11-dev libx264-54 libx264-dev libxau-dev libxcomposite-dev \
libxdamage-dev libxdmcp-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev libxfont-dev libxft-dev \
libxi-dev libxinerama-dev libxrandr-dev libxrender-dev libxsharp-dev libxv-dev \
libxvidcore4 libxvidcore4-dev libxvmc1 libxvmc-dev libxxf86dga-dev libxxf86vm-dev \
mesa-common-dev pnet-interpreter sharutils toolame ttf-bitstream-vera \
x11proto-composite-dev x11proto-core-dev x11proto-damage-dev \
x11proto-fixes-dev x11proto-fonts-dev x11proto-input-dev x11proto-kb-dev \
x11proto-randr-dev x11proto-render-dev x11proto-video-dev x11proto-xext-dev \
x11proto-xf86dga-dev x11proto-xf86vidmode-dev x11proto-xinerama-dev \
xlibs-static-dev xtrans-dev zlib1g-dev

This should be about 50 megs of files and will extend huge functionality to mplayer when it is compiled. You can skip over the Hardy dev files and prepare to download the svn mplayer.

Development Files for Hardy Heron

Do not be alarmed if the repository suggests other files as well, or informs you that you already have some of this impressive list. And certainly feel free to add your own:

$ sudo apt-get install comerr-dev ladspa-sdk libaa1-dev libarts1c2a libarts1-dev \
libartsc0 libartsc0-dev libasound2-dev libaudio2 libaudio-dev libaudiofile-dev \
libavahi-client-dev libavahi-common-dev libcaca-dev libcairo-directfb2 \
libcairo-directfb2-dev libcdio-dev libcdparanoia0-dev libcucul-dev libcupsys2-dev \
libdbus-1-dev libdirectfb-dev libdirectfb-extra libdts-dev libdv4-dev libenca0 \
libenca-dev libesd0-dev libfaac0 libfaac-dev libfreebob0 libfribidi-dev \
libgcrypt11-dev libggi2 libggi2-dev libggiwmh0 libggiwmh0-dev libgii1 libgii1-dev \
libgii1-target-x libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev libgnutls-dev libgnutlsxx13 \
libgpg-error-dev libgtk2.0-dev libgtk-directfb-2.0-0 libgtk-directfb-2.0-dev \
libjack0 libjack-dev libjpeg62-dev libkadm55 libkrb5-dev libladspa-ocaml \
libladspa-ocaml-dev liblame0 liblame-dev liblcms1-dev  \
liblivemedia-dev liblzo2-dev libmad0 libmad0-dev libmng-dev libmpcdec3 \
libmpcdec-dev libncurses5-dev libogg-dev libopenal-dev libopencdk10-dev \
libpng12-dev libpopt-dev libpulse-browse0 libpulse-dev libpulse-mainloop-glib0 \
libqt3-headers libqt3-mt libqt3-mt-dev libsdl1.2-dev libslang2-dev libsmbclient-dev \
libsmpeg0 libsmpeg-dev libspeex-dev libsvga1 libsvga1-dev libsysfs-dev libtasn1-3-dev \
libtheora-dev libtwolame0 libtwolame-dev libungif4-dev libungif4g libvorbis-dev \
libx11-dev libx264-57 libx264-dev libxcb-shm0 libxcb-shm0-dev libxcb-xv0 \
libxcb-xv0-dev libxcb-xvmc0 libxcb-xvmc0-dev libxext-dev libxi-dev libxinerama-dev \
libxmu-dev libxmu-headers libxss-dev libxt-dev libxv-dev libxvidcore4 libxvidcore4-dev \
libxvmc1 libxvmc-dev libxxf86dga-dev libxxf86vm-dev mesa-common-dev ocaml-base-nox \
ocaml-findlib ocaml-interp ocaml-nox qt3-dev-tools x11proto-core-dev \
x11proto-scrnsaver-dev x11proto-video-dev x11proto-xf86dga-dev \
x11proto-xf86vidmode-dev zlib1g-dev zlib1g-dev

This should be about 50 megs of files and will extend huge functionality to mplayer when it is compiled. Now to download the svn mplayer, after a quick word about the '-dev' files:

A Quick Word about the 'dev' Files

There is no magic about these lists of dev files and it is possible to alter then to suit your own purposes. There are 3 sets of files that you need:

1. X Window System development packages
2. GTK development packages
3. Specific needs development files

For example perhaps you would like to use Twolame audio encoding and find that it is not available for your copy of mplayer. Fire up your terminal and type in:

$ apt-cache search twolame | grep dev

and you then install the resulting files:

$ sudo apt-get install libtwolame-dev

as well as any other support files that apt suggests. You can then run ./configure and see if mplayer picks up the development file and extends the added functionality to mplayer. If so, compile again, if not try a different search. There is more than a little trial and error here, but this is how I have come up with the 3 huge lists seen above!

But now finally to the actual svn mplayer:

=================================
Download the svn mplayer
=================================

Finally after all of the preparation it is time to download the cutting edge mplayer from the subversion repository:

$ cd $HOME
$ svn checkout svn://svn.mplayerhq.hu/mplayer/trunk mplayer

And now you have the source code sitting on your Desktop! You can update this source code at any time in the following way:

$ cd $HOME/mplayer
$ svn update

and a newer version will update your code. I would advise you to do this every week or so and then recompile as I demonstrate below. Just be aware as well that sometimes an update will break mplayer. But now to compile the source code:

===============================================
Compiling and Installing the Source Code
===============================================

Now finally to actually compile the source code. If you wish to create a 'Debian' package full information can be seen on the mplayer web site but for this 'Howto' let us turn to the 'old fashioned' method of compiling. It can be a long process so might I suggest a cup of tea while waiting? The following commmands are needed:

$ cd $HOME/mplayer
$ ./configure --enable-gui --enable-menu
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo make clean

and the code will eventually be compiled and installed for you. To uninstall you simply do the following:

$ cd $HOME/mplayer
$ sudo make uninstall

and the program is gone. But would you actually ever really want to do that?

=============================
And in conclusion.....
=============================

And so you have successfully installed the svn mplayer! You can check the options available for you with the following commands:

1. mplayer -vo help : Video output available to mplayer
2. mplayer -ao help : Audio output available to mplayer
3. mplayer -vc help : Available video codecs
4. mplayer -ac help : Available audio codecs
5. mencoder -ovc help : Video encoding available to mencoder
6. mencoder -oac help : Audio encoding available to mencoder

Start both from the command line, the player with the command mplayer and the movie encoder with mencoder. (The gui gmplayer should appear on your menu.) And remember: "Have fun!".

Andrew

=======================
Some appendices
=======================

I have decided to assemble some extra information below the main 'Howto'. This is useful information but it is not essential to know:

1. Appendix 1: Building the HTML help files.
2. Appendix 2: Compiling against the svn x264.
3. Appendix 3: Adding amr support.
4. Appendix 4: Some patches of my own!

Actually the coolest stuff seems to be in the Appendices .

------------------------------------------------
Appendix 1: Building the HTML Help Files
------------------------------------------------

The svn mplayer comes with a huge number of help files in xml format covering about a dozen languages. It is an excellent idea spend a little time and effort to convert them to a single HTML file in English as I demonstrate here. First a few downloads:

$ sudo apt-get install docbook docbook-xsl

Then use the following commands to change to the appropriate directory, allow the configure process to find the relevant software and xls stylesheets and then generate a single HTML file in the English language:

$ cd $HOME/mplayer/DOCS/xml
$./configure
$ make html-single-en

The 600kb document can then be transferred to your Desktop as follows:

$ cp -v $HOME/mplayer/DOCS/HTML-single/en/MPlayer.html $HOME/Desktop/
$ cp -v $HOME/mplayer/DOCS/HTML-single/en/default.css $HOME/Desktop/

I would strongly suggest that the file should be read closely especially if you go to the mplayer-users list at any stage for advice as a little homework is usually expected before posting questions

--------------------------------------------------
Appendix 2: Compiling against the svn x264
--------------------------------------------------

If you wish to compile mplayer against the very latest release of x264 to optimise encoding (this will make no difference to decoding) you will need to follow these steps before compiling the svn mplayer:

First download a few utilities that may or may not already be on your system:

$ sudo apt-get install xmlto git-core gpac libgpac-dev libgpac0.4.4

Next download and compile the assembler required for optimal x264 compilation. I could not get x264 to recognise the repository offerings in any shape or form so I suggest that you compile your own as I did:

$ cd $HOME
$ wget http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/releases/yasm-0.7.0.tar.gz
$ tar xvf yasm-0.7.0.tar.gz
$ cd yasm-0.7.0
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ make clean

Next to download the x264 source code from the videolan git repository, the svn repository now being only a memory. First uninstall the repository x264 dev file that was used previously when compiling the svn mplayer and then download, compile and install the x264 source code:

$ cd $HOME
$ sudo apt-get remove libx264-dev
$ git clone git://git.videolan.org/x264.git
$ cd x264
$ ./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-shared --enable-pthread --enable-mp4-output
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ make clean

And finally compile the svn mplayer as before and the new x264 libraries should be picked up automagically. How easy is that! I would suggest the following steps as well so that when you wish to update x264 it can be done very simply. First set up an alias:

$ git config --global alias.up "pull --rebase"

and then you can update from the x264 directory as follows:

$ git up

Further details about how to manipulate the videolan git repository can be found at: http://wiki.videolan.org/Git and an example of x264 encoding can be seen at: The Matrix, MPlayer, Mencoder and Matroska. Don't forget that x264 can be used as standalone program as well. Simply run x264 --help to see the options available.

-------------------------------------
Appendix 3: Adding amr support
-------------------------------------

This describes the method to add amr support to your svn mplayer installation and is written especially for the father of 'the laughing girl'.

1. amr narrow band:

$ cd $HOME
$ wget http://ftp.penguin.cz/pub/users/utx/amr/amrnb-7.0.0.2.tar.bz2
$ tar xjvf amrnb-7.0.0.2.tar.bz2
$ cd amrnb-7.0.0.2
$ wget http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/26_series/26.104/26104-700.zip
$ ./configure  --prefix=/usr --enable-shared --disable-static
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo make clean

2. amr wide band:

$ cd $HOME
$ wget http://ftp.penguin.cz/pub/users/utx/amr/amrwb-7.0.0.3.tar.bz2
$ tar xjvf amrwb-7.0.0.3.tar.bz2
$ cd amrwb-7.0.0.3
$ wget http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/26_series/26.204/26204-700.zip
$ ./configure  --prefix=/usr --enable-shared --disable-static
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo make clean

With both installed you now need to recompile the svn mplayer source code. Mplayer will automatically pick up the amr libraries and allow their use in Mplayer. And all the best to the father of 'the laughing girl'!!

------------------------------------------
Appendix 4: Some patches of my own
------------------------------------------

Below are a couple of very small patches of my own that have been incorporated into the svn mplayer code.

1. Revision 26181 Add some more paths to find tools on Slackware 12. This allows users of Slackware 12 to build the xml docs with existing tools.
2. Revision 26306 This is a workaround for the problem of gmplayer being unable to open files with spaces in their names.
3. Revision 26754 This patch fixed a typo in install-gui target dependency in the makefile. The error was blocking the installation of the gmplayer.

It is not hard to do this. Have a look at the file DOCS/tech/patches.txt for information.

This will be my first posting about Ubuntu Linux, the OS that I use on three of my four PCs at home.

I have been an Ubuntu user for just over a year now.  I started with Feisty Fawn, and after upgrading once Gutsy Gibbon came out, I decided I never wanted to go through that pain again.  That was, until I discovered that you could move your /home folder and all of its contents to another hard drive.  I was thrilled.  This in of it self is actually the easy part.  Let's assume it is going on to its very own hard drive.  We'll call this drive sdb1.  First mount the drive (I'll skip all those steps and assume you already know how to do that.  If you don't, try here or google it.

sudo cp -r /home /mount/newdrive

Next, go and check to make sure all your files and directories have copied to the new drive.  DON'T Assume everything worked no problem.  If there's one thing I've learned from Ubuntu, its that you can't assume ANYTHING.

Next, we're going to move the current /home directory to a backup folder just in case.

sudo mkdir /old_home
sudo cp -r /home /old_home

Once your satisfied that you're ready you can delete the old /home folder and recreate it.

rm -rf /home
mkdir /home

Next we want to map the /home onto the new drive we do this in the fstab file.  We will want to add something onto the end.

First

sudo pico /etc/fstab                  (Yes, I use pico, because I think it sounds cute... you can use whatever editor you want)

Then add this:

/dev/sdb1          /home               ext3        relatime          0             2

Save and exit.  We can then test to make sure this has worked by typing:

sudo mount /home

Then go to your home directory and see if you can list your files.    If you can, give it a try and reboot.

That should work.  I hope I didn't leave out anything.

Next, how do we re-install linux, (or whatever) and then remap to that /home folder upon a new installation??

This step, wasn't so easy for me.  And I've done it three times now, and finally decided to write it down.  Thanks to the official IRC Support channel on irc.freenode.org in the #ubuntu chat room, I once again, have a working computer.

First - I have tested this with Hardy Heron, I have no reason to believe it shouldn't work on Gutsy Gibbon, or Feisty Fawn, but I haven't tested it, so if anyone knows this works on this, please let me know, and I'll mention it in this little guide.

During the installation phase it will ask you to partition your drives.  Choose MANUAL.

Then, choose the hard drive you want to have your OS and programs installed to.  I chose SDA1 (cause that was the first hard drive) and I chose the mount point of / and the file system of ext3

Then, I went to the second hard drive, and chose the mount point of /home and file system of ext3.

Then, I made sure I had enough swap space, and proceeded to install ubuntu.

After I was done however, I discovered that I could not login.  This was because something went wonky with the ownerships.  My friends in the #ubuntu room (especially unop) helped to get me going again.

Obviously we're going to use ME as the case study.

First type ALT F2 to get to the console, login... then

Is malocite your username?

echo $user

Yes, it was.  Am I part of the right groups?

groups; id

Yes I was.  Next Is this actually the right home directory?

grep -i $USER /etc/passwd

It was.  Now, we're going to set the ownership of the directory.

chown malocite:malocite /home/malocite; chomod -Rv 750 /home/malocite

And that should do her!  After that, I rebooted and was able to login to ubuntu no problem, and all of my home files were exactly as they were before.  The other great thing, was all my bookmarks, email, background prefs, settings, etc were also all exactly as they were before.

I hope this was helpful, please let me know, and PLEASE, if you see anything thats wrong, let me know so I can fix it.  This was my first attempt at such a guide, and I am sure it needs work :)

--malocite

Ubuntu hardy heron gutsy gibbon feisty fawn home folder Linux

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En mi casa hay una modesta compu. Procesador Intel Celeron 2.8GHz, con 512 de memoria. Estaba media mala. Se apagaba a cada rato y la llevé al taller. El técnico me dijo que la fuente de poder estaba mala y se la cambiamos.

Aproveché y le dije que me la diera formateada porque decidí instalarle software libre.

Ya conocía a Leo y me puse de acuerdo para verlo en San Jose y así conseguí mis primeros CD's con programas libres. Leo me dio el Open CD y 2 CD's de Ubuntu 7.10

Con una compu abrí el chat mientras en la otra evangelizaba a mi PC. Así la jugamos porque en realidad ni siquiera conocía GNU/Linux. No sabía nada...solo que quería aprender.

Todo salió bien, la instalación, el cambiar el idioma, el instalar nuevos programas...

Ese día y esa semana, fue cuando esta fiebre inició.

I have my drives set up to work independently as I sometimes take them out and test them on other pc's. I don't need all of them to be hooked up just to boot up one drive or OS. I just invoke the BIOS Boot Menu using F11 during POST and pick the one I want. Simple and easy for me.

I used my GParted Live CD to make the partitions the way they are now. See image below. Shrunk my NTFS I use as a windows back up sometimes. Next up was 2 Gigs of swap then an extended 60GB partition for my /home and 5 partitions for the Linux distributions I want to try. Looks nice and organized and most importantly - it works fine.

I got the torrent from LinuxMint.com and got some rest while waiting for it to finish. Burned it at the lowest possible speed using the simple CD writer in Linux Ubuntu 8.04, my primary distribution. I had some issues booting up the Live CD. I got an "(initramfs)" prompt instead of a regular desktop. Using the Compatibility Mode, I found out that it was some error with it not detecting the floppy and SCSI devices. I used the Live CD troubleshooting guide provided by nice people in the Mint Forums. Pressed F6 during splash, pressed tab, deleted "quiet splash--" and entered "all_generic_ide". That worked and let me into the Live environment. I liked what I saw, was curious and proceeded.

The installation was smooth. My first boot was met with the famous Grub Error 17 and 18. The reason being how the BIOS and the Live CD arranged the drives. In the Live CD, the usb drive was third and my BIOS read it as the first drive. The solution was to edit the menu.lst and change all references to (hd2,4) to (hd0,4), which is where my Mint is.

Tried again and here I am posting the results. Four more distributions to go. I've narrowed down my choices based on release date, number of packages and most important is the community or support. I did not include Linux Ubuntu since I'm already using that and it has its own hard drive in my pc. The list goes:

• ArchLinux - 10/07/2007 with 15,000 packages
• Debian - 04/08/2007 with 26,000 packages
• Fedora - 05/13/2008 with 8,000 packages
• Mandriva - 04/09/2008 with 16,000 packages
• Sabayon - 09/07/2007 with 12,000 packages
• Sidux - 04/12/2008 with 22,950 packages
• [Simply]MEPIS - 12/23/2007 with 20,000 packages

*data is based on http://en.wikipedia.org

I wanted the distribution to be recent, within the last year or 2 years, so I wouldn't be learning something that's at the end of its life cycle. I wanted as much packages as possible because... just because. I'm still a beginner and still have a lot to learn. Now I have not looked into the community or support sites for these distributions yet. Well, I went into Debian once but for after reading some threads, I felt unwelcome because of my choice of OS - Ubuntu. I will give it another go and keep an open mind.

That's about it for today. The rest is yet to be determined. Hopefully, I'll get more information in a few days and start installing a 2nd OS on my USB drive. Until then...

I have an NTFS partition in my WD Scorpio that I've already backed up into my Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron installation. I'm experiencing a lil sentimentality and hesitation in wiping it off the drive. There's still plenty of space though. I can shrink the NTFS and use the rest for swap, /home and an extended partition to house the distributions I would try.

I have another concern. These distributions usually have their own bootloader. Although I don't really use Grub that much as I use my hard drives independently by choosing which one to boot in the BIOS Boot Menu, that won't be possible in this planned drive. I guess I can pick only the ones that use Grub but I'm not sure how much variety that would give me. I'll have to look into that in the days that come. For now, looks like my partitions are set. Will try Mint first on my USB drive and go from there. Good luck to me.

(",)

I made the mistake of doing it with my XP drive still plugged in. My boot setup is that of two drives operating independently of each other with XP being the primary drive. Both XP and Ubuntu booted up as it should but the problem starts when you remove one drive. Grub error 17 comes up whenever that's the case. Next order of battle is to fix the windows MBR. Luckily, when things were working I was able to burn a way out. I went into Recovery Mode DOS and entered "fixmbr". Once that was done, XP booted up nice in its own independent way.

I then took off the XP drive, leaving only the Linux drive and booted up the LiveCD. Reinstalled Linux and of course take a nap. Grub is safe and sound only in the Linux drive. Everything works peachy. As in my last post, there are 2 main things I want working. My Conky and Compiz-Fusion settings aren't up and running yet. But I will be working on those next. In the next release of Ubuntu, I will attempt the upgrade first and the clean install will be the last option. I just have to remember removing the XP drive if I end up doing it again.

To summarize: If upgrading does not work, remove the XP drive before doing a clean install. I'm glad to have kept a record of the changes I have made. At least I have some sort of guide to put my settings back the way they were in 7.10. I have XP and Linux Ubuntu 8.04 running as planned. Spent a good deal of time but definitely another learning experience worth the effort.

Internet speed is not at optimum at the moment since someone is playing an online game on the other PC. But I'm not in any hurry. Plenty of time to watch, wait and write. Estimated time to finish is in approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes. I think I should be able to catch a nap before any "Yes or No" dialog boxes come up.

There are a few things I'm concerned about. I wonder if my compiz-fusion and conky settings will be saved. Or any other setting for that matter. They're supposed to be intact after an upgrade. I'll know for sure once this is complete. I haven't really done a full diagnostic on this since I installed Linux Ubuntu Feisty 7.04 last year. I have plenty of unallocated space in my hard drive and I'm thinking about trying out another Linux flavor. Which one is yet to be decided. For now, shuteye...

• Conservative
• OnDemand (cuando se solicite)
• Performance
• PowerSave

Se puede cambiar entre modos o incluso entre frecuencias (dentro de los estados soportados por la CPU) de una forma muy sencilla: Lo primero que debermos hacer será incluir (si aún no lo tenemos) el applet de Monitor de frecuencia de la CPU en la barra de Gnome; para ello hacemos click con el botón derecho en la barra superior de gnome y pulsamos Añadir al panel. Y luego buscamos y arrastramos el citado applet a la posición que deseemos. Si tenemos una CPU con dos o más cores (núcleos), podemos añadir varios applets y configurar cada uno para que monitorice un núcleo diferente ya que, en principio, podremos cambiar el modo de funcionamiento de cada core por separado.

En este momento el applet ya muestra la frecuencia del núcleo seleccionado, pero lo que nosotros queremos es poder modificarla. Para ello debemos darle permisos al applet, y esto lo hacemos reconfigurando el paquete de applets. Para ello, en un terminal escribimos:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets

Respondemos que SI en la pregunta para que establezca el flag de SUID del cpufreq-selector. Ahora podemos cambiar el modo o la frecuencia de cada core sin más que hacer click en el applet del microprocesador.

Por otro lado, es interesante que el equipo funcione en un modo específico según arranca según esté funcionando con baterías o enchufado a la corriente eléctrica. Para esto abrimos el editor de configuración de gnome (gconf-editor) y editamos las entradas de /apps/gnome-power-manager/cpufreq

• policy_ac contiene el estado de los núcleos que queremos cuando esté enchufado.
• policy_battery contiene el estado de los núcleos que queremos cuando esté utilizando la batería.

Para que esto funcione deberemos reiniciar la máquina.

I have try some solution from the web here and there.

The final working one is a hybrid. I don't know why.

Here it is.

First, run two command. (or three).

1. uname -r --> get something like 2.6.20-16-generic

2. sudo apt-get install build-essential

3. sudo apt-get install linux-headers-[2.6.20-16-generic] -->

put what you get from (1) inside [ ]

Then, click on your vmware menu VM->install VMware tools...

You should see a vmware CD mounted, it appears on your desktop.

open and copy that i385.rpm to your desktop.

extract it and go to this directory in your terminal.

The directory should be vmware-tools-distrib.

Then run the final command : ./vmware-install.pl

This is it.

You can now configure vmware tools using /usr/bin/vmware-toolbox

You have to keep this running if you want to have the auto 'jump' mouse feature.

That is no need to punch ctrl+alt anymore.

REMARK: If you are using 64bit OS like me, you should get the ia32-libs first.

vmware-tools don't have 64bit just like flash.

Anyway, my previous Xubuntu installation broke somehow and so can't update to 8.04. Now my only option is to go back to the only working installation disks I have, from version 6.10 Feisty Fawn. I really should just use Feisty, as it works beautifully and never gave me any trouble (and the computer I'll be running it on is a bit slow), but I'd like to fiddle with the Heron. So I'm installing 6.10, and then I'll update it, and then upgrade to 7, and then update that, and then upgrade it to 8.04. I imagine the process will take something along the lines of, oh, 500 years. But what can you do?

Also, apparently you can't buy single CDs from anywhere. You can get a $12 DVD from Amazon with all kinds of unnecessary bells and whistles or a pack of 20 from Canonical. Of course, I could also get the free CD, but that would take 6-10 weeks! I'd happily pay for a regular, old-fashioned alternate-install CD. That option is missing, and I imagine someone could make some money doing it.

but then I found out it is troublesome on 64bit ubuntu.

Here is the steps I follow on some tutorial online and it works.

First of all, you have to turn on some repository.

double click ./etc/apt/sources.list and turn on two Edgy repository.

And then run this command in terminal to get those 32bit libs

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk linux32 lib32asound2

and then install nspluginwrapper to wrap the 32bit flash plugin.

you can get it by adding repository from here http://www.janvitus.netsons.org/repository/

and then run this command

sudo apt-get install nspluginwrapper gsfonts-x11

Next, download Flash player from Adobe here.

untar it, moves the 2 files "libflashplayer.so" and "flashplayer.xpt" from that folder into the /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins

run the last command

nspluginwrapper -i /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so

copy the file which we have just generated npwrapper.libflashplayer.so from

/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins to /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox/plugins/

Now you can enjoy youtube on AMD64 bit Ubuntu. ^^

Muchos de estos discos solo se usaron pocas veces, si es que pasaron de las 2 veces. También que Ubuntu ya no me parece una Distro interesante, se ha vuelto muy pesado, incluso más lento que un Windows XP en estado aceptable.

El ritmo al que se mueve Ubuntu, una nueva versión cada 6 meses, me parece demasiado rápido... entregan un producto con bastantes bugs en los primeros días de vida; Ni hablar de caer en la trampa de actualizar a los pocos días que sale una nueva versión, te topas con servidores saturados, o te topas con molestos bugs de ultima hora.

En la casa estoy corriendo un Ubuntu 6.10 que fue actualizado a 7.04, y hasta hace unos pocos días a 7.10, todavía me encontré con problemas al actualizar como que al iniciar sesión solo funciona el Failsafe GNOME, supongo que algo relacionado con el ATi Driver. Podría reconfigurar Xorg o investigar cual es el problema, pero la verdad instalo más rápido un Windows XP en lo que encuentro una solución en los foros de Ubuntu.

A este punto ya no me importa en que fecha saldrá Ubuntu 8.04, me actualizaré cuando me vea forzado ha hacerlo, al ver las «mejoras» o cuando otra aplicación no me deje alternativa. Por ahora le estoy dando otro uso a los discos de ubuntu, reciclándolos :)

Einen sehr treffenden Brief hat Dirk Deimeke im Wiki von Ubuntu geschrieben.

Im April plane ich ein Upgrade auf Hardy Heron, ein Release mit Longtime Support und dem Mac OS Theme von mac4lin für meinen Desktop PC. Die Fortschritte und Probleme werde ich hier dokumentieren.

Sebenarnya Ubuntu yang Gutsy sudah saya peroleh dari Exanet dengan burning sendiri. Tapi nggak masalah. Dan cd kiriman tersebut saya bagi-bagikan ke teman-teman saya. Ternyata dengan spirit linux for human being saya telah berhasil mengajak satu teman untuk menggunakan linux. Senang rasanya bisa mengajak orang lain untuk berbuat kebaikan. Selama ini, saya dan teman saya sama-sama belajar untuk memahami dan mendalami linux khususnya ubuntu. Dan pada saat ini ada teman satu lagi yang bertanya-tanya tentang linux, dan ingin mencobanya untuk diinsatal di komputer. Terima kasih linux.

سنتكلم في سلسة مواضيع عن بعض توزيعات لينكس ... و ستقتصر المراجعات على التوزيعات التي اجربها شخصيا ...كل المراجعات ستكون مجربة على جهاز واحد هو لابتوب ار 400من شركة ال جي .. مواصفاته :-

المعالج : انتل كور 2 دو 2 جيجا

 2جيجا رام .. كرت شاشة راديون. 

المراجعة الاولى : توزيعة لينكس اوبونتو

الكود نيم : فيستي فون  

التنصيب: عملية التنصيب كانت سهلة و ممتازة و لا تحتاج لاي خبرة في تنصيب انظمة التشغيل . فقط ادخل الاسطوانة و اعد التشغيل و سيكون لديك خلال دقائق فقط نسخة تجريبية تعمل من على الاسطوانة ... هذه النسخة التجريبية ممتازة حيث انك ستعرف ما لك و ما عليك .. مثلا في حالتي تعرف الاوبنتو على كل الاجهزة و اهمها الوايرلس فكنت اتصفح الانترنت خلال عملية التنصيب !.

 الدرجة 10|10 

النظام و تعرفه على الاجهزة :-

 الاوبنتو ربما ميزته الكبيرة انه يتعرف على اغلب الاجهزة المشكلة التي كنا نعاني منها كثيرا ... و بالرغم من انه تعرف على الوايرلس و التوشباد و الصوت و غيرها ، لاحظت انه لم يتعرف على بعض الاشياء اهمها انه لم يتعرف على الدقة المناسبة للشاشة و احتجت ان انزل تعريف مناسب من موقع اي تي اي .. اضف الى انه لم يتعرف على الكاميرا و المايك المدمجين باللابتوب... عدا هذه النقاط فالنظام ممتاز في تعرفه على الاجهزة و اهمها الوايرلس التي تلعب دور حيوي في تنزيل الحزم المهمة و الترقيات . 

الدرجة 8|10 

الثبات :من ناحية الثبات فالحقيقة اني انبهرت بثبات الابنتو فقد جربت ان اشغل الكومبايز فشن و مؤثرات سطح المكتب و الافانت نفيجيتر و كلها شكليات ترهق النظام مــــــع سيرفر الاباتشي و قواعد البيانات و صفحات فايرفوكس و تشغيل الجيمب شوب و البليندر و قليل من سطر الاوامر مع بيرل و كان النظام يحدث قرابة 200 ميجا بايت و لم يتاثر الاداء و لا مقدار شعرة و خلال استخدامي للنظام لم تحدث لي مرة واحدة ان تنهار الواجهة الرسومية بل حتى البرامج لا اذكر انه يوجد برنامج توقف عن التشغيل .. و لكني لاحظت انه احيانا لا يخرج الاسطوانات او اليو اس بي بالشكل الامن ..

 الدرجة 9|10 

البرامج : من ناحية برامج التطوير و السيرفر فلا حاجة للكلام هنا كلها مجرد دقائق معدودة حتى كان الاباتشي يعمل مع قواعد البيانات و البي اتش بي و البيرل.و هناك برامج للبايثن و السي بلس بلس اعجبتني الحقيقة ..اما برامج التطبيقات المكتبية فكان ستار اوفس اكثر من كافي .. و برامج التعديل على الصور كانت لدي اربع برامج ممتازة اولها البيكاسا لتصفح الصور و الموثرات السريعة و الثاني الجمب شوب بديل الفوتوشوب و الثالث الساين بينت و الرابع اكزارا ...طبعا الاي ار سي و الماسنجرات كلها تعمل . الفيديو كان هناك الفي ال سي و طبعا هناك الكودكس جاهزة للتحميل ... و اما طريقة التنصيب في الاوبنتو فهي في الحقيقة ثورية و سهلة جدا ... اكتب اسم البرنامج ثم انقر على تركيب و انتهى الموضوع ...الالعاب في الحقيقة لا توجد العاب قوية كثيرة و ربما افضل تشغيل العاب الويندوز على  اللينكس ...

 الدرجة 8|10 

الانترنت: تصفح الانترنت في البداية لم يعجبني ربما لاني معتاد على الاكسبلورر و لكن بعدما ان قمت بتركيب خطوط الويندوز على اللينكس بدا كل شي طبيعيا .. و استخدمت ايضا الاوبيرا لاول مرة و كانت تجربة جميلة ... السكايب كان حاضرا و الفلاش يعمل و الجافا تعمل بعد ان قمت بتركيب حزمها .. هناك برامج كثيرة للاف تي بي ... و لكن لم ار برنامجا يوازي الدريم ويفر في تصميم الصفحات طبعا هناك البلوفيش و سكريم و لكن مستواهما بعيد جدا عن الدريم ويفر ، مما حداني لتشغيل الدريم ويفر و كان الاداء ممتاز نسبيا ..

الدرجة 8|10 

الواجهة الرسومية : اذا كنا نتحدث عن واجهة جينوم الافتراضية فلا شيء يذكر و لكن ما ان تقوم بتنصيب الكومبايز فشن او البي رل او الكيبا دوك و موثرات سطح المكتب مع تغيير الثيم يبدا المرح الحقيقي,,,

الدرجة 10|10 

الخلاصة : نظام جميل و ممتاز و مناسب لمن يريد الانتقال من الويندوز و سهل للغاية مع وجود برامج سهلة التركيب تفوق ال 13000 برنامج !اضف الى ذلك الثبات و الانسيابية ... جرب تشغيل النظام من على الاسطوانة و اذا تعرف النظام على اجهزتك فستكون محظوظــــــــــا جدا لانك ستدخل عالم لن تنساه ابدا .... 

الدرجة النهائية : 8.83  

Failed to fetch http://medibuntu.sos-sts.com/repo/dists/feisty/free/binary-i386/Packages.gz 302 Found
Failed to fetch http://medibuntu.sos-sts.com/repo/dists/feisty/non-free/binary-i386/Packages.gz 302 Found
Failed to fetch http://medibuntu.sos-sts.com/repo/dists/feisty/free/source/Sources.gz 302 Found
Failed to fetch http://medibuntu.sos-sts.com/repo/dists/feisty/non-free/source/Sources.gz 302 Found

I got the following error when I went to the Upgrade Manager and clicked on the button to upgrade my beautiful Feisty 7.04 Fawn to Gutsy 7.10 Gibbon. Thinking it has been a few months and an upgrade is in order. I changed servers several times but kept getting that same message. After searching for similar issues in the Ubuntu Forum, it turned out that I had 3rd party sources in the list. I commented them out by adding "#" at the beginning of their lines and I was on my merry way. It took about 5 hours to fetch all of the necessary files and a couple more to upgrade. Went smooth, no problems or error messages. And then my Feisty bid me goodbye and asked for a final reboot...

Hello Gutsy! First thing I noticed were the icons. They looked edgier and better in my imperfect vision. Next thing I noticed was... Where's my conky? Where's my 2 other unused desktop? Alas! I lost both in the midst of all the new and pretty things in my Linux box. On to the terminal I went and ran "conky".

Conky: can't open '/sys/bus/i2c/devices/9191-0290/temp1_input': No such file or directory
please check your device or remove this var from Conky

And this is what came up. A smart fella looked at the error message and suggested I comment out the temp line since that was giving me the error. Back on the terminal, I did "sudo gedit ~./conkyrc" gave my password and made the changes. For some reason the comment wasn't working so I just took the whole line out, saved it, hit Alt+F2 and entered "conky". Lo and behold, it came up with all the little details I cared about except the temperatures in my gutsy box.

It was still there and working, only something with the temperature line was off. So I scoured the good old Ubuntu Forum for some answers. With arguably the best community support (even beats paid ones!) on the web, I was not disappointed. After some posting back and forth, searching and experimenting, I finally found the key to my issue. One simple key word/command had to be replaced. Took out "i2c" and put "hwmon" in its place and there it was! My conky was running perfectly again with all the info I rely on to check my system. And like your usual infomercial..."And that's not all!"

While posting back and forth with one of the very many helpful people there, he gave me an idea to add my hard drive temperatures on conky as well. So I did and it worked like a charm. Not only do I have my conky back, I got something extra! This is Vness and I am a Ubuntu-holic!

Here's my final Linux Ubuntu 7.10 aka Gutsy Gibbon Conky code:
background yes
use_xft yes
xftfont HandelGotD:size=9
xftalpha 0.5
update_interval 1.0
total_run_times 0
own_window yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
double_buffer yes
minimum_size 200 5
maximum_width 200
draw_shades no
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders yes
default_color white
default_shade_color red
default_outline_color green
alignment top_right
gap_x 12
gap_y 48
no_buffers yes
uppercase no
cpu_avg_samples 2
override_utf8_locale no

TEXT
$sysname $kernel on $machine

Uptime $alignr $uptime
Load $alignr $loadavg

Hostname $alignr $nodename
eth0 $alignr ${addr eth0}
Mobo CPU Temp $alignr ${hwmon temp 1}C ${hwmon temp 2}C
HDDlinux $alignr /dev/hdb ${execi 300 nc localhost 7634 | cut -c53-54 ;}C
HDDwindows $alignr /dev/hda ${execi 300 nc localhost 7634 | cut -c27-28 ;}C

CPU $alignr ${cpu cpu0}%
${cpubar cpu0}

MEM $alignc $mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc%
$membar

/root $alignc ${fs_used /} / ${fs_size /} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /}%
${fs_bar /}

/disk $alignc ${fs_used /media/disk} / ${fs_size /media/disk} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /media/disk}%
${fs_bar /media/disk}

swap $alignc $swap / $swapmax $alignr $swapperc%
${swapbar}

$processes processes ($running_processes running)

${color white}Highest CPU:
${color de0b0b}${top name 1}${top_mem cpu 1}
${color white}${top name 2}${top cpu 2}
${top name 3}${top cpu 3}
${top name 4}${top cpu 4}
${top name 5}${top cpu 5}

${color white}Highest MEM:
${color de0b0b}${top_mem name 1}${top_mem mem 1}
${color white}${top_mem name 2}${top_mem mem 2}
${top_mem name 3}${top_mem mem 3}
${top_mem name 4}${top_mem mem 4}
${top_mem name 5}${top_mem mem 5}

${color}Networking:
Down:${color} $alignr ${downspeed eth0} k/s${color} ${offset 80}
$alignc ${downspeedgraph eth0 32,150 de0b0b de0b0b}
Up:${color} $alignr ${upspeed eth0} k/s ${offset 80}
$alignc ${upspeedgraph eth0 32,150 de0b0b de0b0b}

Questo è l'elenco delle versioni RC che hanno preceduto il rilascio della 0.5.8. Potete notare come la novità più importante riguarda sicuramente l'implementazione di un browser di navigazione anonima all'interno di Deluge. In questa versione è implementato all'interno del core, nelle versioni future sembra potrebbe essere convertito in plugin, in modo da poterne disabilitare il funzionamento senza dover riavviare.

Eccovi i changelog in cui ho evidenziato i bug più fastidiosi che sono stati corretti, e per l'appunto anche le nuove funzionalità:

Deluge 0.5.8 (29 December 2007)

• Fix handling of corrupt torrent files
• Fix having two instances of Deluge running on Ubuntu
• Fix problem relating to move torrent plugin not moving torrents before they get cleared

Deluge 0.5.8RC2 (25 December 2007)

• Change add torrent to ctrl+n
• Change notification plugin to not show the file list, but only the torrent name
• Allow removal of browser icon from toolbar
• Add buttons to browser to launch the main and footer frames into an external browser
• Fix removing torrents from deluge template of webui - vonck7
• Set the advanced webui template as default
• Cut down significantly on the memory usage of the blocklist plugin
• Fix some UPnP bugs
• Fix "New version" alert from freezing sometimes
• Prioritizes local peers over non-local ones when finding connect
• Wish everyone a happy holiday :)

Deluge 0.5.8RC1 (22 December 2007)

• Key bindings:
  ctrl+a adds a torrent
  ctrl+l adds a torrent via URL ctrl+p pauses torrent(s)
  ctrl+r resumes torrent(s)
  delete removes torrent(s)
• Fix total uploaded display bug
• Fix seeding ratio stop on finished torrents
• Fix zombie processes from occuring
• Fix saying goodbye to trackers
• Increase auto remove ratio to 100
• Fix problem on Windows with filenames that have special characters
• Fix saving of which columns to show
• Fix init script error on exotic systems
• Add web seed to Torrent Creator plugin
• TorrentSearch is now built-in
• Add internal anonymizing browser - Key bindings for that are as follows:
  ctrl+l focus on location bar
  ctrl+k focus on search bar
  ctrl+r refreshes current page
  ctrl+enter adds 'www.' and '.com' to url string
  shift+enter adds 'www.' and '.net' to url string

Consultate la pagina dei download per scaricare il sorgente o il pacchetto per la vostra architettura. Esistono i precompilati per Feisty, Gutsy e anche per la futura Hardy Heron ancora in fase alpha, che magari qualcuno sta già provando a testare.

Login to your account using GNOME desktop environment and take a new console.

1) Press ALT + F2 (run command)

2) type console and enter

It will open a new consle

3) type the command "desktop-effects" in the consle and press enter. It will open a window like below

4) Press on enable desktop effect button and you are done.

Enjoy the new style and let me know if issues :)

Thanks

Addì, 3 Frimaio CCXVI

Al posto di Panther, Tiger, Leopard di Apple che evocano animali di altera bellezza noi ci accontentiamo di un Facocero Verrucoso o al massimo di in Papero Signorile, vuoi mettere la simpatia?

Ogni 6 mesi viene rilasciata una nuova versione di Ubuntu e l'uscita è in contemporanea di una nuova versione di Gnome il desktop environment di default del Sistema Operativo, ogni releases è supportata con patch ed aggiornamenti per 18 mesi eccetto le versioni LTS (LTS, Long Term Support) che vengono aggiornate 3 anni per i desktop e 5 anni per i server.

Il numero di versione è basato sul mese ed anno di uscita così che la 5.04 Hoary Hedgehog venne rilasciata ad Aprile del 2005 mentre la 8.04 Hardy Heron uscirà ad Aprile del 2008.

Le versioni ufficiali di Ubuntu sono:

• Kubuntu, la versione di Ubuntu che usa l'ambiente desktop KDE invece di GNOME.
• Xubuntu, la versione leggera di Ubuntu basata sull'ambiente desktop XFCE.
• Edubuntu, Ubuntu con GNOME progettata per ambienti scolastici e per bambini.
• Gobuntu, Ubuntu privata di qualsiasi pacchetto proprietario, contenente quindi solo software libero. *Op.Cit. Wikipedia

Le non ufficiali sono :

• gNewSense: include solo software con licenze F/OSS.
• Ubuntu Studio: versione ottimizzata per l'uso, anche a livello professionale, di programmi multimediali.
• Ebuntu: utilizza l'ambiente Enlightenment.
• gOS: altra variante che utilizza l'ambiente desktop "Enlightenment E17".
• Fluxbuntu: utilizza l'ambiente Fluxbox.

• nUbuntu: include molti strumenti per la sicurezza di rete.
• Ubuntu Lite: utilizza l'ambiente IceWm.
• DevUbuntu: include software preconfigurato per lo sviluppo software e web e tanta documentazione.
• Ubuntu Christian Edition: include software a sfondo cristiano.
• Ubuntu Muslim Edition: include software a sfondo islamico.
• Ufficio Zero: è una distribuzione italiana pensata per l'ufficio.
• Ubuntu-FF: variante della versione 6.06 completamente in italiano con molti software inclusi per la programmazione.
• FUSS: versione dedicata al mondo della scuola e ai suoi servizi.
• Geubuntu: unisce GNOME ad Enlightenment, è veloce ed esteticamente molto gradevole.
• Goobuntu: variante prodotta da Google per usi interni all'azienda.

La variante Goobuntu non è mai stata pubblicata ed è stata studiata per uso interno aziendale di Google, questa scelta la dice lunga sulle performance e affidabilità di questo sistema operativo preferito da questa azienda ad Apple.

Since Xubuntu uses the same installer as Ubuntu and Edubuntu, Ubiquity, this guide also applies to them, and Kubuntu's installer is basically the same, so it also gives you an overview of what Kubuntu's installation looks like. Also, the installer has not changed since the previous version, 7.04 "Feisty Fawn", so it applies to that version too.

To start the installation, you just click the Install icon on the desktop once it is booted. However, I wanted to configure my internet connection first, because that way I would immediately be able to install language packs and whatnot. Note, though, that you can also complete the installation without internet connection.

In order to configure my wireless connection, I click the NetworkManager icon in the top right-hand side. It then pops up a list of detected wireless networks and has an entry listing my wired card.

Simply clicking the network I want to connect with, it prompts me for the passphrase. I can then click Login to Network and I am connected! It couldn't be easier :)

Now that my network connection is all set, I can start Ubiquity (the installation application, remember?). The first screen allows you to select a language and links to Ubuntu's release notes.

Clicking Forward brings us in the timezone selection screen, where we are presented with a map of the world.

Clicking the area on the map where you live zooms in the map making it easy to select your location.

Clicking Forward again presents us with a screen to select your keyboard layout. It includes many options, including many Dvorak ones (note to self: get to learn to type using Dvorak). An input field allows you to test the selected layout.

Yet again clicking Forward, a dialog box pops up telling the partitioner is being started.

When it has finished loading, you are presented with three partitioning options:

1. Guided, resizing your main hard drive using the freed up space to install Xubuntu.
2. Guided - use entire disk to wipe a whole hard drive and install Xubuntu on it.
3. Manual

I opted for Manual.

The reason for me to select Manual was because I wanted a separate partition for /home, which allows me to keep all documents and settings for all user accounts were I to reinstall Xubuntu (i.e. when a new version is released). Adding the required root (/) and swap partition I ended up with a total of three partitions.

Then we need to provide Xubuntu with some user information for the first user account.

And finally, just before the actual installation will start, you are presented with an overview of everything you have selected so you can check it.

However, before you commence the installation, be sure to click the Advanced button in the bottom right-hand side. It allows you to set the location of the boot loader if you wish to, and enables you to opt in for the "Package usage survey". If you check the checkbox, Xubuntu will send anonymous application usage data to a central Ubuntu server, so they can generate statistics about which applications are most popular. Not only does this enable the developers to improve the distribution in general, it also influences e.g. the ratings of applications you see in Add/Remove...

It will then start the installation, which will take a while.

Meanwhile, and this is an awesome feature, you can continue to use the system! You can browse the web using Firefox, heck, you can even install new applications for use during that session, all while the installation is progressing!

After a while you will be notified that the installation has finished, and that you should restart the computer to use it.

When you have restarted, with your internet connection configured, you will mostly be notified that updates are available.

I was also notified that I had the option to enable a restricted driver. This driver is not open source, but as I would like to try out Compiz Fusion (more on that in a later post) I wanted to install the driver.

Enabling the driver was very easy - just check the box and it will start the installation.

Once the installation completed, I was notified that I had to restart.

Clicking the notification gave me the option of deferring the restart to a later time, or to restart immediately.

That restart was the last restart I had to do since :)

All in all, Xubuntu's installation process is a breeze. The partitioning part might be a bit scary (but hey, we've got Wubi if it's too scary) but overall, it's very easy and even comfortable. Being able to use the system while it is installing is a feature that blows away every other operating system I'm aware of, apart from other Linux distributions :)