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20 Essential Tips Every Ubuntu User Should Know

Will Kraft — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0600

So you've read our Complete Beginner's Guide to Linux and have decided to adopt an open-source operating system--congratulations! But diving right into a new OS is daunting, even if it is as polished and stable as Ubuntu. That's OK though, because we're here to help. We've compiled a list of the 20 most important skills that every Ubuntu user should have. These tips, ranging from basic GUI manipulation to advanced system recovery, are essential to your Windows-free computing experience. Whether you've just installed Ubuntu for the first time or have been a Linux acolyte for years, you'll want to read our refresher. And if you have any tips you can't live without, we'd love to hear about them in the comments section!

Turn Your Audio Up to 11

The sound dialog menu has been a staple in every version of Ubuntu (and GNOME in general) for many years, but in 9.10 it has received a significant overhaul and no longer resembles a traditional mixer. Previously, the maximum volume of a system was determined by hardware and other factors and could not be easily exceeded on a system-wide level. This was sometimes a problem, since the maximum volume of a system could be well below what the hardware could actually deliver. In 9.10, the volume slider has been modified to boost audio up to roughly 150%, so it is now possible to compensate for any discrepancy. However, you should be careful with this feature—you could potentially damage your speakers if you exceed their limits. (Generally, the volume is too loud if there is distortion.)

Ubuntu 9.10 also features a new ability to choose between several different sound themes for various system events. This feature was present in older versions, but is greatly refined in 9.10.

Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

Ubuntu offers extensive keyboard shortcut functionality, including support for some of the keys on multimedia keyboards. These are often detected and appropriately bound out of the box, so there is no need to assign them manually. Keyboard shortcuts are managed through the appropriately named entry in the Preferences sub-menu. To create a new keyboard shortcut combination, scroll down to the desired action in the list and click on the existing combination. When the current entry switches to “new shortcut...” press the new key combination you want to use for that action. To cancel the change, left-click on “new shortcut...”.

Control Your System Remotely with Nautilus

Ubuntu features a powerful file manager called Nautilus that is closely integrated into GNOME. This tool allows you to work with local files in an intuitive interface, but it also has remote-connection capabilities comparable to what can be found in an FTP client. In addition to regular FTP access, it provides a graphical interface for SSH-based remote access to other Linux/Unix systems and support for browsing shared folders on Windows systems on the network.

This functionality is accessed through the “Connect to Server” option in Ubuntu's Places menu. The dialog box allows you to select a protocol, location, user name, (and password, if necessary) and port number. Once you have established a connection, the remote server will be accessible through a folder and can be used and unmounted like any type of storage media.

Customize Your UI with Desktop Compositing

If you have a video card (or even an onboard video chipset) you can turn on various desktop effects with a utility called Compiz Fusion. (We covered Compiz Fusion in depth in a previous article.) Although it is possible to fine-tune the performance of these desktop effects with Compiz-Config Settings Manager (CCSM), Ubuntu also features a built-in interface with several preset functions. This is located on a tab called Visual effects in the Appearance dialog (reached through the Preferences sub-menu under System). There are three preset options: none, normal (a moderate level of effects), and Extra (massive levels of eye candy). If you use CCSM instead, none of the presets will be selected.

Boot and Install Ubuntu from a USB Stick

Most people have several old low-capacity USB sticks lying around that they no longer use in favor of higher-capacity sticks that have become increasingly affordable. An ideal use for an older stick with a capacity of 1 GB or less is as a boot medium for a Linux distro. (At least 700 MB capacity is required.) If your BIOS supports USB booting, it is possible to create an installation stick for Ubuntu instead of a more traditional CD. USB sticks have the advantage of being reusable with later versions, so you won't eventually end up with a big pile of obsolete installation discs. USB sticks can also be used to store data files from the live session, using extra space that has been set aside for that purpose. (Files created during a normal liveCD session are usually destroyed at shutdown because a temporary ramdisk is used to store them.) External hard drives may be used to boot from as well, but USB sticks are much more practical for the purpose.

To create your own USB stick, open the USB Startup disk Creator in the administration sub-menu. You will need to provide an Ubuntu ISO or CD as a source medium, so make sure you have that on hand before you begin. The Disk Creator tool will not accept other distros (and you can't fool it by renaming any other ISO image to “ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso” or something to that effect), so you will still have to use UNetbootin to create USB sticks for non-Ubuntu distros.

Sweep Away Old Files

Although Linux systems do not routinely accumulate obsolete files, it still happens on installations that have been upgraded a few times. Sometimes, old software packages may be left behind during the Ubuntu upgrade process (although the upgrade utility has a stage where obsolete packages are removed) and Ubuntu has a utility called Computer Janitor that allows you to deal with them. This tool keeps a tally of all old and/or deprecated packages on your system and makes recommendations for removal. This tool is located in the Administration sub-menu.

Find the Right Hardware Drivers

Unlike many other distros, Ubuntu has a special utility called Hardware Drivers (sometimes called Restricted Drivers). This utility will search your system for any hardware that needs proprietary drivers to function under Linux and will make these drivers available for download if possible. The Hardware Drivers manager can handle various types of hardware, including Nvidia video cards/chipsets, Broadcom wireless, and more. The Hardware Drivers tool is located in the Administration sub-menu.

To activate a driver, highlight its entry in the list and click the Activate button. If there is more than one driver available for a device, you should choose the recommended version. The Hardware Drivers manager will then acquire and enable the driver for you. In most instances, a reboot is necessary before a driver becomes fully active.

Get NTFS Compatibility

The NTFS-Config tool auto-detects NTFS-based partitions and sets a new mount point for them in /media. To enable support for a device, check the box next to it when it is detected. Once mount points for all devices have been set, you are able to enable or disable write support on internal and external NTFS devices with one click. To enable NTFFS write support on your system, install ntfs-config: “sudo apt-get install ntfs-config”. From that point on, you can access it through the Administration sub-menu.

Manually Run Programs

Many times, you will need to run a program and it may not be in the Applications menu. Normally, you would have to open a terminal and launch the program from there, but there is an easier way. By pressing ALT and F2, you can initiate a Run dialog that allows you to launch a program (with any necessary switches/options) without having to bind it to a terminal.

By default, programs launched with this method run with your own account's permission levels, but it is possible to launch programs that need superuser permissions by running “gksu $program”. Gksu is a frontend for Sudo that allows temporary privilege escalation. You can also view a full list of programs (hidden by default) and populate the run dialog with them by clicking on the list entry. Both native and Wine programs will appear in the list.

Gksu has its own benefits as well. Although it defaults to root, running gksu by itself will produce a dialog that shows a list of ALL users and services. You may then launch a program from any account.

Handy Window Tricks

Ubuntu offers many options for working with open windows. Some require compositing to be enabled while others will still work on non-accelerated systems:

• To shade a window, (i.e. hide all but the title bar) ensure that compositing effects are enabled and move your pointer to the title bar. To hide a window, scroll up with your mouse wheel. To show the window again, scroll down.

• Sometimes, it is necessary to keep a window on top of the others even when it loses focus. To do this, right-click on the title bar and select the “Always On Top” checkbox. To restore normal behavior, clear the checkbox by clicking on it again.

• Since Ubuntu and most other distros have support for multiple desktops, (also called workspaces) it is convenient to allocate open programs between them to keep things from getting too crowded on your monitor. To move a program to a different desktop, right-click on the title bar and select either “Move to Workspace Left/Right” or “Move to Another Workspace”. Furthermore, it is possible to drag windows from one desktop to another using the mouse if certain compositing effects are enabled.

Import Documents from Windows

When you are setting up a dual-boot system with Ubuntu, it is possible to import your documents and settings (web browser favorites, etc.) During installation, Ubiquity (the Ubuntu installer) will detect any Windows partitions that exist on the system and will present you with an opportunity to migrate your settings to Ubuntu. By expanding the list, you are able to pick and choose which parts of the system to import (selecting the main checkbox will import all of them).

Encrypt Your Home Directory

Home directory encryption is a feature that was introduced in Ubuntu 9.04. During installation you have the option of checking a box in the setup utility that will cause your home directory to be encrypted automatically. This will help prevent your files from being compromised. Encryption/decryption is automatically handled behind the scenes, so you don't need to worry about securing your files manually. On the first boot after setting up an encrypted home directory, you will be prompted to learn the master password for your home directory. (To view it again, run the “encryptfs-unwrap-passphrase” command.) This master encryption password is automatically generated by Ubuntu and is NOT your login password. You will need this master password to recover your files if you are not able to boot normally, so store a hard copy of it in a safe place.

Dual Boot with Wubi

Although preparing a traditional dual-boot system is easier and safer than ever, Ubuntu has a completely zero-risk way of doing it, thanks to a tool called Wubi. Unlike a conventional tool that repartitions your system and replaces the bootloader (arguably the most dangerous parts of dual-booting), Wubu creates a virtual file-system that piggybacks on top of Windows. Wubi then reconfigures Windows' own bootloader to be able to boot into a normal Ubuntu environment. Unlike a LiveCD, a Wubi installation is fully functional apart from a few features such as hibernation. Furthermore, a Wubi installation can be completely uninstalled from within Windows like any other program, whereas a conventional dual-boot configuration cannot.

Modify Software Sources

Most software for Ubuntu is made available through online repositories. The available repositories are managed through a file in /etc/apt called sources.list. While it is possible to edit this file manually, (many experienced users prefer this method) newer users may be more comfortable with Ubuntu's Software Sources tool (located in the Administration sub-menu). This front end splits the various repositories listed in sources.list into categories to make them easier to identify and manage. The tool allows you to check/uncheck boxes for the official Ubuntu repositories and easily add GPG keys used for repository authentication.

Smooth Out Fonts

Ubuntu supports font anti-aliasing similar to Microsoft's ClearType. This feature (found as a tab on the appearance tool in the Preferences sub-menu) smoothes out screen fonts in Ubuntu, making them easier to read. There are several presets to choose from, each producing a different effect:

• None/Monochrome: Quite unsightly. There is no conceivable reason to use this, but it does allow you to disable anti-aliasing altogether.

• Best shapes: This focuses on presenting characters most accurately and with a moderate amount of anti-aliasing.

• Best contrast: This attempts to provide the best character contrast with less anti-aliasing. This generally looks similar to Best Shapes except at very large font sizes.

• Sub-Pixel Smoothing: This heavily anti-aliased mode is specifically designed for use with LCD displays. It produces the smoothest-looking type but tends to make fonts appear bolder than they would otherwise.

Install Packages Yourself

Ubuntu uses automated package management to handle most software installation and maintenance, so it is very seldom necessary to download and install packages yourself. If you ever have to do this, there is a front end that makes the process much easier than it would be otherwise. Once you have the package (deb) that you want to install, double-click on it from within Nautilus to bring up the Gdebi package installation tool. This tool will install the package for you and will also resolve dependencies.

Once a package has been installed, it can be further managed or removed with the regular package management system.

Restart the GUI

Although the GUI (Xorg) in Linux is quite resilient, there are still instances where it may crash (however, a crash will not bring the whole system down). In most cases if there is a problem, the GUI should restart by itself, but if all else fails it is possible to start it manually (assuming that your system is still configured correctly). To restart the GUI properly and return to the Ubuntu login screen, log into your account (if you have not already done so) and run “sudo gdm”.

Set Up Recovery Mode

Ubuntu's recovery mode (accessible through the GRUB menu) has several tools that are designed to help you recover from various problems. Each tool is presented in a list with a brief description of what it does. You can fix broken packages, get a root command prompt, attempt to repair a broken GUI system, etc.

Dual-boot systems will always show the GRUB menu to let you choose your operating system for that session, but single-boot systems will just load Ubuntu automatically. If the GRUB menu is not displayed on startup, press ESC quickly (and repeatedly, if necessary) immediately after power-on to force the GRUB list to display.

The Ubuntu GRUB menu also has the memtest86+ utility for RAM testing. If you often get random crashes or kernel panics, faulty memory may be the cause of the problem.

Turn on a Firewall

Even though Ubuntu does not need anti-virus and anti-malware utilities, a firewall is still beneficial because it allows you to fine-tune your network settings and limit which programs may communicate freely with the Internet. Linux has a firewall management tool called iptables, but it can be rather difficult to work with it directly. Fortunately, there is a tool called Firewall Builder that is capable of configuring iptables based on parameters you specify. The tool is far too complex to cover in a simple tip such as this, but it allows you to set firewall rules and manage device and service behavior. It is best used by network administrators who know what they are doing.

To install Firewall Builder, run “sudo apt-get install fwbuilder”.

Use Remote Desktop

Ubuntu offers extensive remote desktop functionality out of the box. Using the Vinagre tool, you can access other Linux boxes on your network through VNC. (Windows support is planned through RDP in future releases.) To launch Vinagre, run the Remote Desktop Viewer utility located in the Internet sub-menu of Applications. To configure how Vinagre can interact with your system, modify the Remote Desktop Preferences located in the Preferences sub-menu.

Play Windows Games in Ubuntu

Although the various Linux distributions have a wide variety of software available, you may have a few Windows programs that you may not be willing or able to part with. Although many people dual-boot or use virtual machines to get around this problem, there is yet another potential option that many people new to Linux may not have considered--- Wine. Wine stands out from the other options because it does not require a separate Windows license. Check out our Wine guide here!

Arkeia Software Offers Free Network Backup for Ubuntu Users

Paul Lilly — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:06:11 -0600

Linux certainly has its advantages, and if Ubuntu 8.04 LTS happens to be your distro of choice, you'll be able to take advantage of Arkeia Software's Network Backup version 8 at no cost, Arkeia announced.

"Arkeia Network Backup is a proven network backup solution with broad platform support and a robust enterprise feature-set," said Steve George, vice president of sales and product management, corporate services at Canonical. "With the Arkeia Network Backup Enterprise Edition for Ubuntu, Arkeia Software makes a significant commitment to the Ubuntu user community and supports Ubuntu’s ongoing growth in the enterprise."

The fully licensed backup solution can be downloaded from the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS repository by using the Synaptic Package Manager or by typing the "apt-get install arkeia" command. The license is not time limited and includes one backup server running on Ubuntu, up to 250GB capacity for backup to disk, support of any single drive, tape, or disk, and 2 client agents to backup different types of client machines, including Windows workstations and desktops, most Linux setups, Mac OS X, and BSD computers.

The Karmic Koala Makes Its Debut: Ubuntu 9.10 Now Available

Bart Salisbury — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:25:26 -0500

Making good on its promise, Canonical is right now pushing out the door version 9.10 of Ubuntu, the infamous “Karmic Koala.” Ubuntu is one of the more popular renditions of open source Linux, that small, but dedicated, niche in the operating system universe that follows the path less taken.

And quite the path it is. Renai LeMay, of Cnet News, judged the current version, 9.04, to be “as slick and beautiful as Mac OS X and Windows 7.” Version 9.10 builds on this, adding faster boot times, a better driver for Intel integrated graphics, build in cloud storage, and a Software Centre that permits better management of applications. Ubuntu offers a suite of office applications, plus games, music, video, photo, email and chat software. And, naturally, includes Mozilla’s Firefox 3.5 for browsing the web.

Ubuntu is at home on PC or Mac hardware, and comes in 32-bit. Ubuntu also comes in a server edition. And a netbook version, Kubuntu, is also available. Get everything you need to know about Ubuntu 9.10 from our guide.

Image Credit: Canonical

Everything You Need To Know about Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)

Will Kraft — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:30:00 -0500

On October 29, Canonical is set to release Ubuntu 9.10 (codenamed “Karmic Koala”), the newest installment in the Ubuntu product line. In anticipation of this release, we took the release candidate (RC) for a test drive. Ubuntu 9.10 RC comes on a LiveCD just like its predecessors and allows you to test a fully-functional installation of the operating system without installing it. The boot process looks very different from previous versions, especially since the old progress bar has been replaced with one that just moves from left to right while providing very little useful boot progress information. However, the boot process is still extremely fast compared to many other distros and you always have the option of disabling the boot splash screen if you want to see detailed boot information.

Additionally, the installation process now automatically sets your system time from an online time server and now includes a slideshow to introduce you to the features of Ubuntu as the system installs. And for the first time, Ubuntu now allows you to encrypt your home directory out of the box by providing a new option for it during the setup process.

A New Linux Kernel and GNOME

Ubuntu 9.04 comes with Linux kernel 2.6.31 and GNOME 2.28. There are lots of other under-the-hood changes that may not be immediately obvious. HAL (hardware extraction layer) is in the process of being deprecated, so this functionality is now handled by DeviceKit and Udev. The Intel graphics driver has been modified to fix some of the reported problems it had in 9.04.

AppArmor security software has been improved, and GRUB 2 is now the default bootloader for new installations. Existing installations will continue to use legacy GRUB since replacing the bootloader is risky business From 9.10 onward, ext4 will be the new default filesystem in new installations instead of ext3. Existing ext3-based installations will remain unchanged if you decide to upgrade from 9.04 since changing the filesystem would require a complete reformat.

Appearance Changes

Ubuntu 9.10 features significant appearance changes. The login screen has been drastically updated; names of users are now shown in a small box in the middle of the screen that is very similar to the OS X login screen. Those who prefer the old-style login screens will be disappointed to know that there is currently no easy way to replace the new login screen in the RC with themes similar to the ones found in previous versions of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu's standard brown “human” theme has also been modified, giving it a purplish tint and darkening it considerably from the bright pumpkin-orange appearance found in previous releases over the past few years. Ubuntu 9.10 uses new minimalistic icons in the system tray that look much better and are more consistent than the old ones (new icons are also found in the home directory). There are rumors that the default Ubuntu theme is going to get a makeover in 10.04 (the next long-term support release coming out next year) so 9.10 is probably the last version that will use the classic Ubuntu brown theme by default.

New Utilites

Furthermore, Ubuntu 9.10 includes several new utilities. One of the most prominent changes is Palimpsest, the new GNOME disk utility. It allows you to work with your hard disks and partitions in an easy-to-use interface similar to the Disk Utility found in OS X. It seems like GNOME in general is borrowing heavily from OS X these days, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Palimpsest is very powerful and more user-friendly than the Gparted utility which has been standard issue in Ubuntu for a long time.

9.10 also implements Ubuntu One and IBus (Intelligent Input Bus). Ubuntu One is a cloud computing solution from Canonical that offers 2GB of online storage for free and 50GB for US$10 per month. In addition to that, Ubuntu One allows you to synchronize your documents on the online service between one or more computers. Some Linux purists may not like a proprietary utility like Ubuntu One, but using it is entirely optional. IBus is a framework that makes it easier to work with different languages other than English. Ubuntu's old Add/Remove programs tool has been replaced with the Ubuntu Software Center, (previously called Ubuntu Software Store) a tool that splits available software into categories and provides detailed information about each program you may want to install.

In summary, current and prospective Ubuntu users should definitely upgrade to or check out 9.10.

Ubuntu and IBM Join Forces against Windows 7

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:17:00 -0500

IBM is hoping its latest war cry can somehow pierce the din that Windows 7 seems to be generating. In September, the company struck a partnership with Canonical, the UK-based sponsor of Ubuntu, which resulted in the launch of an Ubuntu-based desktop bundle in Africa.

The cloud- and Ubuntu-based software package, which is part of IBM’s Smart Work Initiative, will soon be debuting in the States. The Ubuntu-based desktop package includes IBM’s free Lotus Symphony productivity suite and Lotus Notes, which is a business email and collaboration solution.

The IBM Client for Smart Work will only arrive in the U.S. in 2010 despite IBM positioning it to rival Windows 7 – on the brink of launch - in the enterprise market. It will be available both as a run-of-the-mill desktop and as a virtualized desktop.

"If a company is a 'Windows shop,' at some point it will need to evaluate the significant costs of migrating its base to Microsoft's next desktop," said Bob Picciano, General Manager, IBM Lotus Software. IBM and chums are clearly targeting those businesses that are not too keen on Windows 7.

Maximum PC Primer: Lightweight Netbook Computing with Linux

Will Kraft — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:00:00 -0500

These days, netbooks have become a very popular alternative to conventional notebooks for mobile computing. Netbooks are lightweight, have great battery life, and are relatively inexpensive compared to full-sized notebooks. This makes them ideal for students or people on a budget. Of course, the lower cost and extended battery life does not come without a trade-off—many netbooks have lower system specs as well, which means that they are not designed for heavy-computing applications.

Although many netbooks now run Windows XP because of Microsoft's hurried entry into that market, many earlier models were built to run Linux. (For instance, the Asus Eee 700 Series ran Xandros, and the current models are offered with either Linux or Windows) And although most current netbooks are x86-based (running the Intel Atom CPU), the usage of ARM-based CPU chips is likely to increase in the future since ARM offers far superior energy efficiency over x86 and battery life has always been a major factor in mobile computing. ARM chips have been used successfully for some time in smartphones and music players, including the newest Zune HD. Since ARM is a different CPU architecture than x86, Windows will not work on ARM. Earlier this year, Microsoft's Steve Guggenheim said that the company currently has no plans to port Windows 7 to the ARM architecture. Therefore, any new wave of ARM-based netbooks will run Linux once again. Unlike Windows, most Linux distros can be compiled for ARM if you have the requisite skills for doing so.

Linux is an ideal choice for netbooks for multiple reasons in addition to CPU architecture. Netbooks generally have lower specs than most full-size notebooks (not to mention desktops) so they are ideal for lightweight applications like web browsing, document preparation, etc. Linux does these tasks very well without the bloat that Windows systems have to deal with from anti-malware utilities. This primer will help you set up and optimize Linux for your netbook.

The Operating System

While any Linux distro will work for your netbook with some degree of success, it is better to use one that is explicitly designed for that purpose. Many specialized distros (optimized for a specific hardware configuration) have sprung up for models like the Acer Aspire One, The Asus Eee, and several others while more generalized distros exist for all netbooks. Most netbook distros are based on Ubuntu, since Ubuntu is very well developed and has enjoyed unparalleled success on more conventional systems.

The first distro we should address is Ubuntu Netbook Remix, which is a trimmed-down variant of Ubuntu designed for netbooks. It is compatible with most netbooks makes and models on both x86 and ARM architecture. (mainline Ubuntu support for ARM is coming soon)

Easy Peasy is another Ubuntu-derived distro that ships with a few proprietary applications. (Skype instead of Ekiga)

Crunchbang is a scaled-down variant of Ubuntu that is especially good since it packs in plenty of software and has a very small memory footprint compared to standard Ubuntu. Crunchbang uses the OpenBox window manager; like on Fluxbox, most activity is done through right-clicking.

Eeebuntu is an Ubuntu derivative that has been designed specifically for the Asus EEE. Unlike Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Easy Peasy, CrunchBang, and Eeebuntu only support x86 at this time.

Standard Xubuntu is also a good choice for low-spec systems, including netbooks.

If you prefer a lightweight distro that is not based on Ubuntu, Slax is also an excellent choice to use on a netbook due to its small footprint; memory usage is seldom over 256 MB at any given time, so you will experience minimal swapping. (in fact, you can run Slax entirely in RAM—just watch your memory usage while doing so!) Based on conventional Slackware, Slax offers a nice slimmed-down KDE 3.5 and a nice modular package management design if you need to add more stuff.

Instead of the heavy OpenOffice.org office suite, Slax includes parts of the Koffice suite: Kword (not to be confused with kwrite, a lightweight text editor) Kspread, and Kpresent. These are excellent lightweight alternatives to OpenOffice.org, but are not practical for most lightweight netbook distros since you have to install most of KDE to make them work. However, they work quite well in this situation since KDE is already included in the distro.

Media is also handled quite well with Juk and Kplayer handling audio and video, respectively. However, you may want to add a more powerful player like VLC that can do both. This is not as painful as it sounds, since you can easily custom-build your own Slax remix by using a rather unique tool before you even download it. If you choose to build your own Slax, just keep your netbook's limitations in mind and don't get too carried away with adding packages since having more applications create a heavier system.

Although Slax is designed as a pure LiveCD distro like Knoppix, it is possible to install it. The process involves copying the Slax files to your netbook's hard drive and running the bootinst.sh script in Slax's /boot folder. If you run into snags while installing Slax, there are online guides that can help you get things sorted out. Once you install Slax, you may have to do some tinkering (installing firmware or ndiswrapper) to make certain wireless devices and webcams work properly. Also, you may need to make sure that your bootloader is configured correctly.

If you really want to go lightweight, you should check out Damn Small Linux. This miniature 50MB operating system packs in a full Linux experience in a footprint that is about as tiny as a full-featured Linux distro can get these days. DSL is a Live CD distro but can also be installed in accordance with the same precautions as Slax. In both cases, preparing Slax and DSL for netbook use is best left to more experienced users rather than beginners.

Conventional full-size distros like Debian and Mandriva have been known to work well on Netbooks as well. If you go that route, try to keep a small installation and memory footprint to minimize the burden on your system.

Regardless of the operating system you use, a major priority should be to reduce disk activity, especially swapping. (swap is the Linux equivalent to the Windows paging file) On solid state disks, swapping is actually detrimental; SSDs have a finite number of “writes” before they begin to lose data integrity and swapping is a very write-intensive process. The number of write cycles may range anywhere between 100,000 to five million writes. This may sound like a lot, (especially on USB flash drives that don't get written to very often) but it really isn't if you use your netbook on a regular basis. Therefore, it is imperative that you minimize swapping as much as possible to avoid artificially shortening the life of your SSD. If you disable swapping altogether, your system will spontaneously crash if you run out of memory, so it is best to set aside only a small permanent buffer of swap space to keep this from happening. (additional swap can be added at a moment’s notice through swap files) With that said, you can also use Linux successfully without any type of swap at all if you keep a vigilant eye on your RAM usage at all times.

This situation does not apply to the few netbooks that use conventional hard drives; since there is no finite number of writes with that technology, you are able to swap normally to your heart's content. However, excessive disk activity can drain the battery rather quickly whereas RAM usage does not, so it still pays to run as much of the system in memory as possible.

Preparing the Operating System

Since many netbooks lack optical drives, the usual method of downloading an ISO of your favorite distro and burning it to a CD/DVD to create the installation medium will not work. Instead, the best choice is to use a USB flash drive as your installation media. Since the ISO can't be “burned” to a USB stick the same way it can be burned to a disk, you will need to convert it.

UNetbootin is a nice utility for Windows and Linux that can take a conventional ISO image and install it to a USB flash drive. Alternatively, it can download and prepare a distro for you automatically. Once this has been done, you will be able to boot from the flash drive and install the operating system as you normally would. Using a flash drive has the added bonus of being more efficient; since you can overwrite the contents of the flash drive as needed, you won't eventually end up with a big pile of obsolete installation discs.

Lightweight Starter Software

Since the best course of action is to stay within the confines of your netbook's physical memory regardless of the type of disk you are using, it is best to use lightweight applications that have a smaller disk and memory footprint. Regardless of the hard drive type used, most netbooks have a fairly low amount of disk space compared to full-size notebooks or desktops. For instance, most models have an 8GB or 16GB SSD or a 160GB hard drive, which isn't very big compared to the 500 GB and 1TB (or larger) drives found on today's desktops and some high-end notebooks. Likewise, many netbooks have only 512 MB to 1GB memory. Therefore, it is best to regard your netbook as simply being a low-power system, much like an older computer. Because of this, it is often essential to use lightweight software that works well on such systems.

Choosing the right desktop environment can be a huge factor in the performance of your netbook. Conventional desktops like GNOME or KDE may overtax the system (unless they have been modified to be more lightweight than the standard build) and leave little free memory left for other applications. Most of the Ubuntu-based netbook operating systems like Easy Peasy, Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and Eeebuntu have a simplified launcher system that is easier to read and navigate on small compact screens. This special launcher has large icons and a tabbed interface system that turns the entire desktop into a program selection menu. The rationale behind this design is that display space is a premium on small netbook displays and it is pointless to waste most of the desktop space on a wallpaper image while forcing the user to navigate small menus.

If you prefer a more conventional interface, lightweight desktop environments like XFCE (used by Xubuntu) and LXDE (used by Knoppix 6 and one variant of EeeBuntu) are ideal for netbook systems and low-spec systems in general. Fluxbox and similar window managers also fit the netbook niche very well.

Smaller, lighter applications can often get the job done just as well as heavier ones. Since netbooks are frequently used as a companion to more powerful computers, you should load them with only as much software as you really need on a regular basis. For instance, many people only need a word processor and perhaps a spreadsheet for day-to-day use. Therefore, it makes sense to install only a word processor and spreadsheet as standalone programs if you only need those things instead of carrying around a full office suite that has things you may not need regularly (like presentation, drawing, and database software).

Abiword is an ideal lightweight word processor that supports OpenDocument Text, Word 2007, “classic” Microsoft Word DOC format, and much more. Its interface greatly resembles that of OpenOffice Writer or pre-2007 MS Word, so users familiar with those programs should not have a difficult time using Abiword. Abiword has passive (red underline) and active spellcheck. In addition to that, Abiword has a passive grammar check option, (suspected grammar errors are underlined in green) a feature that Writer lacks altogether. GNUmeric is a standalone spreadsheet that has some resemblance to Excel. It can import/write many different spreadsheet formats and even has support for graphs.

For more information on running Linux and lightweight computing, refer to our previous guides on the topic.

How to Run Windows Software (and Games) on Linux with Wine

Will Kraft — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Wine Overview

Wine is a program that allows you to run Microsoft Windows programs on Linux. Although it is emulator-like in appearance and by observation, Wine is not an emulator; in fact, the very name of Wine is an acronym for Wine is not an Emulator. A true emulator can emulate CPU architecture in addition to the actual software it is running. For instance, a program that could execute Intel x86-based Windows software on SPARC-based systems running the Solaris operating system would be a true emulator. However, Wine is actually a compatibility layer since both Windows and Wine run natively on x86 and no hardware emulation is required.

Wine works by recreating a miniature Windows installation in your home folder, (the .wine directory) complete with a virtual C:\ (drive_c) and registry. Contained within drive_c is a Program Files folder and a Windows folder complete with a system32 folder that has the most important Windows system files in it. Please note that these files are recreations of the Windows files of the same name rather than being the actual files that are included in a real Windows installation. In other words, the user32.dll file that comes with Wine is not the same file as the user32.dll that can be found in a real 32-bit Windows installation. Instead, each of the dll files in a Wine environment has been painstakingly reverse-engineered to match the functionality of the original as much as possible. Wine can also use actual Windows drivers if need be, but you must supply these yourself. Furthermore, Wine has its own implementation of the Windows registry with a knock-off of Regedit to configure it.

A compatibility layer like Wine is capable of translating Windows system calls to Linux system calls. Although it works as a translation layer, Wine runs in userland like any other program on Linux and has nothing to do with the Linux kernel. Everything a Windows binary does when you run it is funneled through Wine before being passed through to the rest of the Linux system. If the libraries needed by a Windows program are installed, this functionality allows the Windows software to run on Linux to some extent. This ultimately allows Wine to re-create the Windows API in a state that is somewhat similar to Windows XP. Some programs work better than others, but Wine is constantly improving and the list of fully compatible programs is always getting bigger. While Wine may run some programs adequately enough for production use, this will not be the case for every program you may need to use.

Although Wine strives to work as well as possible, it is not always a perfect solution for every problem. Wine's functionality is still determined on a per-program basis, and this may fluctuate drastically when you factor in certain variables that are determined based on your system configuration. WineHQ (the Wine developers' website) has a database of programs, with each entry assigned a rating based on how well it works on Wine. The ratings run from Platinum (works perfectly with no configuration required) on the high end to “Garbage” (does not work at all) on the low end. This rating may change from distro to distro, and may even fluctuate between distro versions; for instance, a hypothetical program may have a “Platinum” rating on Ubuntu 9.04, a “Gold” rating on Ubuntu 8.10, “Silver” on Gentoo, and a “Garbage” rating on any version of Mandriva. If the program you want to run has a “Garbage” rating, your only real choice is to dual-boot or use a virtual machine to run it. The good news is that once a program is in a usable state, it will probably stay that way in future versions of Wine unless you do something to break it.

Acquiring Wine

There are several ways to acquire Wine for any Linux distro. While most distros include a Wine binary somewhere in the main software repositories, the binary in question may be quite old and will not offer the best possible performance. With Wine, you should always use the latest version. Therefore, the best option is to acquire a Wine binary directly from WineHQ. For instance, Ubuntu users are able to add the WineHQ repository to their sources.list file. Binaries from WineHQ are updated regularly and are usually the latest stable version. However, not all distros have a separate WineHQ build. If your distro has a separate WineHQ repository, you should definitely use it, since this method allows you to keep your Wine installation up-to-date with the latest stable version without having to download and install packages manually every time there is an update.

For Ubuntu, add “deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt $version main”. ($version should be the nickname of your Ubuntu version, like hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, etc) to your /etc/apt/sources.list file. (you need to use sudo or root for this) Next, add the GPG key for the repository: “wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -” Finally, run “sudo apt-get update” and then “sudo apt-get install wine”.

For OpenSUSE, (We assume you are using 11.1) add the following repository through YaST's Repository Management tool: “http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine/openSUSE_11.1/” YaST will verify the repository and then install the key. Open the software installation tool in YaST and search for Wine. Choose the wine-snapshot package (make sure it comes from the WineHQ repository) and then install it.

Fedora users should just run “yum install wine” as root since that distro has no special repository for cutting-edge releases.
Likewise, Mandriva users should install the most recent version of Wine from the Mandriva software management tool.
Alternatively, you can always download the source from WineHQ and compile your own Wine binary-- you have to do it that way if you need to hack in extra functionality that does not come in the stock binaries. However, this is generally a last-resort option and is not beginner-friendly. If you customize Wine too much just to get one program running, it will probably break support for other programs. Furthermore, this method will not auto-update, so you will need to repeat the process every time a new version you want to update to comes out. Fortunately, the Wine build process follows the standard “./configure && make && make install” recipe, although it takes forever to compile.

Configuring Wine

Wine includes a powerful tool called winecfg that allows you to control how the system behaves. Winecfg appears as a Windows-style tabbed configuration window with options that allow you to to tweak the behaviors for Wine, including:

Drives -- this allows the drive system that Windows uses (e.g. C:\) to be bound to the appropriate directories in your Linux filesystem. (the drive_c directory) Windows software is then able to access the fake Windows installation in drive_c, which is often required for proper function.
Audio – This allows you to set and configure the audio driver that Wine should use.
Applications – Wine is able to mimic specific versions of Windows on a per-application basis. (useful for legacy software that does not work well under NT)
Libraries – This allows you to provide overrides for specific DLLs. You can choose to use to use the real Windows DLL (you must provide it yourself) or use the built-in Wine counterpart.
Graphics – This allows you to turn on Wine desktop, prevent mouse escaping in DirectX applications, and define hardware-provided shader support.
Desktop Integration – This allows you to install themes and control how specific user interface elements look.

Using Wine

Traditionally, Wine is invoked through a command-line interface. This is done by opening a terminal, navigating to the directory the executable file you wish to run is in, and then by invoking the executable by running “wine program.exe” (where program.exe is the name of the program you wish to run) As with everything else on Linux, Wine is case-sensitive, so Program.exe is not the same thing as “program.exe”. The terminal will then produce output that shows what Wine is doing while the program is running. This output is often critical for working around problems.

Furthermore, Wine has extensions that allow Windows binaries to be launched by double-clicking on them in Nautilus, just like in Windows. Although this is more convenient, it does not produce any helpful output like the more conventional method does.

Although Wine can mimic native Linux window decorations on Windows applications to make them look like the rest of your native Linux programs, some applications tend to work improperly when you run them in this way. (for instance, they can take over your display, change the screen resolution, and then fail to change it back when you exit) To limit how much a Windows program can affect the rest of the system, you can bind it to a floating virtual desktop in winecfg. When the Wine Desktop setting is enabled, all Wine programs you launch are confined to a Wine desktop window and cannot escape. They are then forced to run at a resolution you define (1024x768 is good, since the default 800x600 is a little too small) and have a plain Windows 9x-style window decoration. Wine is very good at keeping the Wine Desktop separate from everything else and even has countermeasures to keep the pointer from escaping when the desktop window has focus. Although the Wine desktop can be cumbersome for regular applications, it is often essential for games.

Gaming With Wine

Although recent versions of Wine work reasonably well with most general-purpose software, Wine is still very experimental when it comes to gaming. We cannot stress that enough. During our tests, we noticed that there is quite a bit of lag time between when a game first comes out and the time when Wine supports it well. (Wine is usually several years behind the curve) Therefore, Wine is great for occasional gamers who don't mind playing older titles, but those who want to play the newest and most demanding games when they first come out are much better off dual-booting if they want to play them on the PC instead of a console. Does this mean that Wine is bad or useless? Not at all. We're amazed that it works as well as it does, considering that everything that Wine can do has been painstakingly reverse-engineered by volunteers. In Wine's defense, support for DirectX and gaming in general is much better than it used to be. However, this is often not enough to play the latest titles.

We should also mention that there is an alternative to Wine called Cedega that is also designed to play Linux games. Wine and Cedega were originally the same project, but Cedega (then called WineX) split from Wine before Wine adopted the LGPL. This allowed Cedega to remain proprietary, and for a long time it offered better game support than Wine did. (Today, they are roughly equal in terms of DirectX support) However, Cedega still has better support for game copy protection mechanisms than Wine does. Cedega is technically open source in that a rather crippled version of the source code is available through CVS, but it is not free in the same sense that Wine is. In the same vein, another proprietary derivative of Wine called Crossover was specifically designed to run software like Microsoft Office, even though regular Wine can do this too.

Old games that use variants of the Quake 3 engine run flawlessly on Wine with no tweaking or configuration needed, games that came out a few years ago (like Half Life 2/other source engine games and Painkiller) work with some minor tweaking, but new releases (Like Fallout 3 or Crysis) may have significant problems or not work at all.

One of the largest problems that relate to gaming on Wine is that practically all games today enforce a CD-check mechanism that may not work properly. Wine supports SecuROM, but Safedisc and other measures have not been fully implemented. Once the CD-check problem has been dealt with, Wine is capable of running many (but not all) modern games that use DirectX 9.

Fortunately, there is a legitimate workaround to this problem. Valve's Steam distribution system works flawlessly with Wine. (a Gecko-based rendering engine replaces the Steam components that require Internet Explorer on Windows) Since the games on Steam do not come on physical discs and therefore lack CD-check mechanisms, quite a few of them will work to some extent if launched through the Steam interface. (however, this is not universally true, since the standalone version of a game may work whereas the steam version will not) Most video cards will work on Linux, (either through the NIVDIA or the ATI Catalyst drivers) and Wine is able to use them. Keep in mind that an inadequate video card can keep programs that would otherwise work from running properly. Onboard video is not a substitute for a decent graphics card in either Wine or Windows.

To test Steam's capabilities on Wine, we acquired and tested Half Life 2 (and other Source-engine Games) and Fallout 3 from Steam in addition to a standalone boxed version of Painkiller that we had available for testing. Here are the specs for the test machine we used:

64-bit AMD Phenom Triple-Core CPU running at 2.3 GHZ
4 GB system RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS with 512 MB of RAM (Driver Version 180)
Dual-boot Ubuntu 8.10 and Windows Vista
Wine 1.1.26

To minimize problems, we downloaded all Steam games and components (including the Steam client itself) to the Ubuntu partition so everything would be running on a native ext3 filesystem. We did this because FUSE utilities like ntfs-3g caused problems with Wine-related gaming in our early tests when we tried using the Wine installation that was already on the Vista partition. We later concluded that these problems were caused by issues in the games (Half-Life 2, specifically) rather than due to a deficiency in Wine, since many other applications from the Vista partition usually work well in Wine. We also disabled PulseAudio (for the entire system, not just for Wine) since many games do not work well with it; we had the sound drop off suddenly in many Source-engine based games when PulseAudio was in use. Instead, we recommend using ALSA (best choice) or even the legacy OSS driver.

Painkiller functioned beautifully, and we were able to crank the settings up as high as they would go. Everything worked, including the Bloom and HDR lighting effects. Game performance was very fluid and we did not experience any frame rate lag whatsoever. The only problem we encountered was that the boss maps took much longer to load than the others, but they worked just as well when they did.

Half Life 2 worked very well once we tweaked the game settings to optimize it for Wine. We chose to confine it to a Wine desktop (many games misbehave somewhat if you run them full screen) and we also disabled intro videos and allocated 512MB of extra swap space. Once we fixed the Pulseaudio bug, game performance was silky smooth, even with the settings maxed and 6x anti-aliasing enabled. The only bug we could find is that the flashlight caused flat white areas to appear on NPCs (non-player characters like zombies, combine soldiers, etc.) and various objects (crates, barrels, saw blades, etc.) when it shone on them, but this did not pose any real problem as far as gameplay was concerned.

We tested other source engine games (the various HL2 episodes and Portal) and they all worked. Half Life 2: Episode 1 ran as smooth as glass with Full HDR, even though there was no anti-aliasing support. The only glitch we could find was some strange static effects on the citadel core. (see screenshot) Episode 2 (the most demanding of the series in terms of system requirements) ran with minor frame rate issues and the cursor tended to wander off the screen a little bit. Although HL2:E2's bloom and HDR functions worked, we could not get any anti-aliasing here either. Lastly, we had to launch the game from a desktop shortcut to make it work properly. Portal had jerky gameplay, but the bloom and HDR functionality worked well and the game was playable. (no anti-aliasing)

Our experience with Fallout 3 was the complete opposite and was really frustrating. While it is possible to get Fallout 3 running on Linux at this time, (several people have done it, based on the screenshots at WineHQ and several Youtube videos) the methods to do so are not completely reliable. Furthermore, we can attest that these methods do not work with the Steam version, but might work on the standalone boxed version. At the moment, the most successful way to get Fallout 3 working is to download the Wine source code, patch better DirectX 9c support into it, and then recompile it. (Beware... replacing the standard Wine binary with this patched version can temporarily break other games that do work until the standard version is replaced) Unfortunately, our first attempt based on this method was unsuccessful.

Next, we tried PlayOnWine, which is an add-on for Wine that installs games and other applications via automated scripts, thereby eliminating much of the guesswork. Although this method allowed us to adapt the Steam version of Fallout 3 that we had, went on to patch Wine for us, installed DirectX 9c, and resolved many other dependencies, (like Microsoft's Windows Live Gaming system) Fallout 3 still wouldn't work. We spent two full days tinkering with Wine and Fallout 3, and we were not able to get past the main launcher interface to play the actual game. (Wine would crash every time we tried) Because of this experience, we must re-emphasize that gaming on Wine is still highly experimental and that games will only work if all of the multiple variables related to system configuration are set properly. In short, Wine has come a long way yet should still be regarded as being an alternative (not necessarily a replacement) for dual-booting or virtualization.

Penguin Bootable Linux USB Drive Loads Ubuntu and Benefits World Wildlife Fund

Paul Lilly — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:30:10 -0500

Active Media Products, makers of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Penguin and Panda USB drives, has added to its Penguin line with a bootable Linux USB (BLU) drive that the company says is compatible with Windows 7.

"These bootable Linux USB drives are handy for users who need flexibility in an OS, and will be an invaluable tool for disaster recovery and system maintenance," Active Media stated in a press release.

Designed in the likeness of an emperor penguin with "exacting detail," the new drives come in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities, each one pre-loaded with the full installation of Ubuntu Linux 9.0.4., which occupies about 700MB of space.

The drives are available now ranging in price from $13 (1GB) to $44 (16GB), with 5 percent of the retail price donated to World Wildlife Fund.

Image Credit: Active Media Products