Linux and Open Source Blog

Category Archives: debian/ubuntu based

Install Apple Safari Browser On Ubuntu Linux 7.10 With PlayOnLinux

Posted on by Posted in applications/software, browsers, debian/ubuntu based, guides, how to, mac/osx .

Version 1.0
Author: Falko Timme <ft [at] falkotimme [dot] com>
Last edited 01/18/2008

This guide explains how you can install Apple’s Safari browser on Ubuntu 7.10. As there is no Linux version of Safari, we will run it under Wine. We will use a tool called PlayOnLinux to install Safari under Wine. With PlayOnLinux you can install lots of Windows games and some Windows applications (such as Office 2003, IE6, MS Money, etc.) on Linux. Installing Safari on Linux is good for people such as web designers who have switched to Linux but still need to test their web sites in other browsers.

I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

1 Installing PlayOnLinux

Open Firefox and go to http://www.playonlinux.com/en/download.html. Click on the link reading Click here for the .deb package:

In the Firefox download dialogue, select Open with GDebi Package Installer (default):

Click to enlarge

Continue reading →

Install and Configure TrueCrypt With GUI On Ubuntu 7.10

Posted on by Posted in applications/software, debian/ubuntu based, guides, how to, howtoforge, security .

Version 1.0
Author: Oliver Meyer <o [dot] meyer [at] projektfarm [dot] de>
Last edited 12/18/2007

This document describes how to set up TrueCrypt with GUI on Ubuntu 7.10. TrueCrypt is a free open-source encryption software for desktop usage.

This howto is a practical guide without any warranty – it doesn’t cover the theoretical backgrounds. There are many ways to set up such a system – this is the way I chose.

Continue reading →

Enlightenment on Ubuntu

Posted on by Posted in debian/ubuntu based, desktop environments, review/preview/tests .

Many Linux distributions try to be visually appealing. Some use Beryl-Compiz for cool 3-D effects on resource-laden boxes, while others turn to desktops like Enligtenment for a little bit of gloss at the expense of functionality. Geubuntu is a new distro that combines the best of those two worlds, equipping Enlightenment with bits from GNOME and Xfce on top of Ubuntu.

Geubuntu 7.10 “Luna Nuova” is only the second release of the distro, which seems to trace Ubuntu’s release cycle. As the version number suggests, Geubuntu 7.10 is based on Ubuntu 7.10, from which it borrows the kernel and user conveniences like the restricted-drivers management utility.

Geubuntu is an installable live CD, but it can also be installed on top of an existing Ubuntu distro by installing specific packages from the Geubuntu mirror. Currently there’s only a 32-bit ISO available. To run Geubuntu on 64-bit hardware you’ll have to take the longer route of first installing a 64-bit version of Ubuntu and then getting Geubuntu packages that are compiled for 64-bit platforms.

Continue reading →

Configure OpenLDAP + Samba Domain Controller On Ubuntu 7.10

Posted on by Posted in debian/ubuntu based, guides, how to, howtoforge .

Preface

This document is a step by step guide for configuring Ubuntu 7.10 as a Samba Domain Controller with an LDAP backend (OpenLDAP). The point is to configure a server that can be comparable, from a central authentication point of view, to a Windows Server 2003 Domain Controller. The end result will be a server with an LDAP directory for storing user, group, and computer accounts. A Windows XP Professional SP2 workstation will be able to join the domain once properly configured. Please note that you do not have a fully comparable Windows domain controller at this time. Do not kid yourself, this guide only gets you a server with LDAP authentication. Of course this can be expanded to include slave servers to spread out authentication over multiple networks. Please also note that it took me approximately two and a half weeks to compile this information and get it working. The same functionality can be had in Windows in less than four hours (and this includes operating system installation). In my humble opinion the open source community will need to work on this side of Linux in order for it to be a true alternative to Windows.

Continue reading →

Mythbuntu 7.10 is now available!

Posted on by Posted in debian/ubuntu based, linux/unix/os distros .

Mythbuntu is an Ubuntu derivative focused upon setting up a standalone MythTV system similar to Knoppmyth or Mythdora. Currently, it is a recognized as a community supported project by Canonical. Mythbuntu can be used to install a stand alone Frontend, Backend, or combination machines. Unlike similar projects, Mythbuntu keeps close ties with Ubuntu and all development is given back to the Ubuntu Community. This allows easy conversions from a standard desktop to a Mythbuntu machine and vice versa. The development cycle of Mythbuntu closely follows that of Ubuntu, releasing every six months shortly after Ubuntu releases.

Desktop

Mythbuntu uses the XFCE4 desktop. All unnecessary applications such as OpenOffice, Evolution, and a full Gnome desktop are not installed for a Mythbuntu installation. At any time, a user may choose to install ubuntu-desktop, kubuntu-desktop, or xubuntu-desktop and add a full desktop onto their installation. This is done via the Mythbuntu Control Centre.

Mythbuntu-Control-Centre

The Mythbuntu Control Centre is a GUI used to configure the system. From here you can select what kind of system (Backend, Frontend, Both) you want. You can also install different desktops such as ubuntu-desktop and kubuntu-desktop. Install Plugins, configure MySQL, set passwords, install proprietary drivers, proprietary codecs, setup remote controls, and a range of other bells and whistles all from one convenient program.

Live Frontend

A Mythbuntu CD can also be used as a live frontend. This is great if you want to turn a laptop or desktop into a quick frontend or quickly test hardware compatibility. The live frontend provides a GUI to mount network shares, configure a remote, hostname, location of your master backend and a place to save settings. All settings can be saved directly back to a flash drive for easy portability.

How to build the Perfect Server – with Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu 7.10)

Posted on by Posted in applications/software, debian/ubuntu based, guides, how to, servers .

This tutorial shows how to set up a Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu 7.10) based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable), Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Courier POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. This tutorial is written for the 32-bit version of Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon, but should apply to the 64-bit version with very little modifications as well.

I will use the following software:

  • Web Server: Apache 2.2
  • Database Server: MySQL 5.0
  • Mail Server: Postfix
  • DNS Server: BIND9
  • FTP Server: proftpd
  • POP3/IMAP: I will use Maildir format and therefore install Courier-POP3/Courier-IMAP.
  • Webalizer for web site statistics

In the end you should have a system that works reliably, and if you like you can install the free webhosting control panel ISPConfig (i.e., ISPConfig runs on it out of the box).

I want to say first that this is not the only way of setting up such a system. There are many ways of achieving this goal but this is the way I take. I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

1 Requirements

To install such a system you will need the following:

2 Preliminary Note

In this tutorial I use the hostname server1.example.com with the IP address 192.168.0.100 and the gateway 192.168.0.1. These settings might differ for you, so you have to replace them where appropriate.

3 The Base System

Insert your Ubuntu install CD into your system and boot from it. Select Install to the hard disk:

The installation starts, and first you have to choose your language:

Then select your location:

Choose a keyboard layout (you will be asked to press a few keys, and the installer will try to detect your keyboard layout based on the keys you pressed):

The installer checks the installation CD, your hardware, and configures the network with DHCP if there is a DHCP server in the network:

Continue reading →

7 reasons why Ubuntu is so successful

Posted on by Posted in debian/ubuntu based, linux/unix/os distros, quotes & thoughts .

Most people like it, many others don’t, the fact is that Ubuntu is the king of Linux distributions right now – and for some very good reasons. Below I will attempt to identify those reasons that made Ubuntu the most popular distribution and explain why its success was “inevitable”.

1) A good start: Ubuntu started with a strong background. It wasn’t “yet another” distribution, it was a distribution that had a vision and enough people and money behind it to support that vision.

2) Easy and straightforward installation: From the text-based installer of the first few versions, to the point&click installer of today, ubuntu always had a very straightforward and simple installation. Every step of the installer was explained in a short, yet clear manner that made it easy for everyone to follow the steps of the installation proccedure (almost) regardless of their experience with computers.

3) ShipIt: Sharing “official” CD’s with the Ubuntu logo increased the trust of users towards the distribution and made it much easier for users on slow connections to try it. People could now give away several CD’s to their friends and coworkers which made the general adoption of Linux much faster.

4) Synaptic: If you ask a first-time Ubuntu user to tell you what impressed them most, chances are that the answer will be “synaptic”. Indeed, this application brought APT much closer to the average user and made program installation in Linux a lot easier. Users didn’t have to search for RPMs or worry that they might needed to deal with dependancies, compile from source etc, synaptic solved everything using a very simple interface. When the first versions of Ubuntu came out, the only thing that could be compared to the flexibility and ease of use of APT and Synaptic was Fedora’s YUM, but unfortunately at that time Fedora didn’t have a good front-end for YUM (although Synaptic could be used with YUM, it was not nearly as easy to set up as synaptic and Ubuntu were).

5) Ubuntu forums/Community: The Ubuntu community was, and still is one of the most important factors that promote the growth of Ubuntu. The forums are very active and old users are very friendly and patient towards newcomers. Maybe it has to do with the philosophy of “Ubuntu”…

6) User promotion: Ubuntu is based heavily on the promotion it receives from it’s users. Nearly every person who uses Ubuntu today has beed advised to try it by someone else who had tried it before them and so on. This, combined with the strong influence of Ubuntu to the internet forums related to GNU/Linux, has led to a major increase in it’s adoption .

7) Fragmented competitors: When Ubuntu started it’s “march to glory” there were three “big” distributions, SuSE, Mandriva, and Fedora. Debian and Slackware were popular but were not very appealling to newbies (Debian still had a text based installer…). All of the “big three” were not at their best when Ubuntu came out and started gathering users. SuSE had recently been bought by Novell and was still undergoing internal reconstructions, Mandriva has in the middle of a severe financial crisis, and Fedora was just at FC2 which wasn’t nearly as easy as it now is. This “fragmentation” (or “decay of the distribution maket” if you like) helped many users make the decision to switch to Ubuntu.

There are definately many other reasons why Ubuntu managed to get to the top, and stay there, but making a complete analysis is not within the purposes of this post. Highlighting some of the points that made Ubuntu what it is today, is.

Till next time, keep drinking coffee

5 Ground Rules for upgrading Ubuntu Desktop Edition

Posted on by Posted in debian/ubuntu based, guides, linux/unix/os distros, tips .
  1. Never use apt-get or aptitude.
    Use update-manager instead (see how to below). Update-manager fixes common errors, removes old artwork, etc.
  2. Don’t use any critical applications when upgrading.
    Of course you can browse and such, but the system can’t upgrade all the
    packages at the same time so if you’re running packages that have
    dependencies you might get version conflicts and in the worst case a
    program can crash and you lose work.
  3. Take your time.
    • Upgrading can easily take up to 2 hours depending on your internet connection and computer performance.
    • Take into account that some programs might need some extra attention after the upgrade.
  4. Preferably have another PC with internet close by.
    It’s no must but this way you can always search the internet to find
    solutions for any problems that you might encounter. A live CD is also
    an option.
  5. Read guides.
    They will show you common pitfalls. Learn from other people’s mistakes.

 

Dell Preps for Next Linux Desktop Release

Posted on by Posted in debian/ubuntu based, desktop & laptop pc, hardware, linux/unix/os distros, news .

A major desktop Linux upgrade is set to be released on October 18. Michael Dell is expected to personally use it. And the PC giant will pre-load it on selected desktops and notebooks. Buzz about this next Linux release — dubbed Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon — is growing across the web. But what exactly does Gutsy Gibbon (aka Ubuntu 7.10) offer to desktop customers and solutions providers? Here’s a look.

Canonical (the company that develops Ubuntu) has outlined a long-term road map for the operating system. During the UbuntuLive conference back in July, Canonical CTO Matt Zimmerman said Ubuntu 7.10 would feature several core enhancements for desktop and server users. On the desktop, 7.10 will support:

  • a 3D interface out of the box
  • multi-monitor configuration
  • laptop power profiling
  • more details still to come

On the server, 7.10 will offer:

  • Turn-key web administration
  • One-step server recipes
  • Proactive security with AppArmor, an increasingly popular open source security option
  • “desktop” type simplicity

So, what does that mean to Ubuntu resellers and customers? Quite a lot. Ubuntu moved from niche status into the spotlight when Michael Dell himself began running the operating system.

If Ubuntu 7.1o continues that positive buzz, it could help desktop Linux to gradually become a mainstream operating system. But don’t expect that to happen overnight. In an exclusive TechIQ interview with Dell’s Linux gurus last month, the company indicated that it would take a slow-and-steady approach to Ubuntu. Translation: Don’t expect Dell to throw marketing dollars at Ubuntu PCs just yet.

I do not expect that to happen for at least another year because Dell doesn’t want to over promise and under deliver to frustrated Windows users and small business owners who are seeking alternatives.

In the meantime, the countdown to Ubuntu 7.10 continues. And the buzz surrounding Ubuntu 7.1 will only grow louder as the upgrade’s October 18 launch date approaches.

Ubuntu project is now shipping free ubuntu 7.10 CD (Code name: Gutsy Gibbon)