Sentana.Net – Journal

Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope – My First Impression April 27, 2009

Posted by rsentana in : computer, linux, open source , 1 comment so far

The latest Ubuntu version 9.04 code name Jaunty Jackalope (a very peculiar name, I might add) has just been released last week on April 23 ‘09. This release comes with some new features as stated in Ubuntu.com, so as with many other Linux enthusiasts, I download the ISO for desktop live CD, and install this version.

New Icon
First of all, the first difference that I notice is the CD icon logo. It has changed from the standard Ubuntu logo.

Wubi Installation
I decided rather than upgrading my previously running Intrepid Ibex to Jaunty Jackalope, I just simply reinstall the entire thing using Wubi like last time. Here are the steps of installing Jaunty using Wubi (still simple as before):

1. Wubi pop-up window to Install or Browse the CD

2. Some configuration parameters to set for the installation

3. Extracting the installation files in progress

4. It takes some time (but less that 10 min in my case)

5. After completion, it asked me to reboot the system

Login screen
Once the system is rebooted, it shows the login screen (which I can’t take a screen capture of). The new background look is much more polished than the usual. You can see the boot login screen from here.

Desktop
The desktop background is back to a dark brown motif instead of the coffee stain mark or other African theme from the previous release of Ubuntu. I like this one better, looks very clean and neat.

BTW, there’s also a new Dust theme that some of the users might find it better to look at than the standard Ubuntu Human theme.

Restricted Drivers
The first thing Jaunty did was to inform me that I may need restricted driver for my NVidia graphics adapter. There it shows up that there are two versions that are available for me to Activate, so I activated the recommended version.

After downloading the update & installation, it asked me to reboot the system.

Computer Janitor
Jaunty Jackalope comes with a new standard program called “Computer Janitor”. The main purpose of this program is to remove any third party software that are not in the repositories. Well, I’m not sure whether this is a good move from Canonical, but limiting what users can install seems to be rather constricting. I wish this will be flexible enough for people to install their own software without “Computer Janitor” treats them as trash.

The other standard things seems to be working well (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.). However, I found three components that are different from my earlier expectations:

1. Battery Life
Comparing between Vista and Jaunty, somehow Vista manage to get much longer battery life in my T61 than Jaunty. I sure hope that there’s a tweak somewhere in Jaunty that can lengthen the battery life.

Update 1 (04/29/09): There are some tips on how to extend the battery life in Ubuntu. The link is here.

2. Plugin Finders in Firefox
When browsing my own website, I was informed by Firefox that I am missing a plugin, and I let Firefox install it for me.


However, when I click Next, the system showed an error pop-up as follows:

And after clicking Close, it tells me that the plugin was successfully installed.

I know for sure that the installation failed, since the time was so fast to download (I know my bandwidth speed was not that fast). So I try to install the plugin manually.


Only after installing it manually, the adobe flash plugin was correctly installed.

I hope Canonical can take a good look at this issue and fix it right away. In the mean time, as long as I can install the plugins manually, I can tolerate the mishap.

3. Software Update
I just downloaded Jaunty on April 24 Indonesia time, which is only about half day after the public release of Jaunty by Canonical. Then I want to enable Universe/Multiverse repositories from the Software Sources, and to my surprise, they are already been turned on automatically.

That was a good surprise, actually. Then I updated my Software Source, and to my surprise (again), it shows that I already have updates available as the picture indicates.

This can either be a quick response by Canonical to update the repositories to keep the system updated, or that Jaunty is already outdated. I do hope it’s because Linux world is changing at a rapid speed that even a one-day old system is already outdated.

That’s pretty much my first impression of Jaunty, and I will update any more findings that I come to face with Jaunty as an update to this blog article.

Hidden Utilities in Ubuntu April 13, 2009

Posted by rsentana in : computer, linux, open source , add a comment

The original post is located here.

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Ubuntu has alot of good stuff, and some if it is never talked about. So just for you, I’ve compiled a list of Ubuntu goodies that you’ve probably never heard of.

Control Panel Center
Believe it or not, Ubuntu has a control panel [correction: actually, it is Gnome Control Panel, but a lot of newbies might think it is only inherent to Ubuntu]. Firstly, it’s just called the control center, and secondly it’s kinda hidden.

To enable it, right click the Ubuntu menu from your panel and click “Edit Menus”. A new window titled “Main Menu” should appear. From the left pane, click “System”. In the right pane, you should see the Preferences, Administration, and Control Center. Check the box next to control Center, and you now will be able to see it under the System menu.

Music Player Applet
The music player applet allows you to control your music player from your panel and gives you information about the current track. It has a wide range music support, so don’t worry if you’re using something a bit different from everyone else [except SongBird].

To install, open terminal and type: sudo apt-get install music-applet

File Browser Applet
This applet allows you to turn any directory into a menu on your panel. The menus will expand as long as you have folders, but it also will put a link at the top of each drop-down to open that folder. Multiple menus are also supported.

To install, open terminal and type: sudo apt-get install file-browser-applet

Mirage
Mirage is the equivelant of iTunes’ Genius, but it’s for Banshee. While this may not really be a “Ubuntu” secret, it certainly isn’t talked about too much (unless i haven’t notcied properly) and it is in the Ubuntu repos. It’s pretty simple to work with, and get. You just scan your library, then drag and drop a track into the playlist generator and then magically similar tracks will appear.

To install, open terminal and type: sudo apt-get install banshee-extension-mirage

OnBoard
This is an onscreen keyboard, and that’s all there really is to it, apart from the fact that you make your own layout.

If you want to enable this, right click the Ubuntu menu from your panel and click “Edit Menus”. From the left pane, click “Preferences”. Now in the right pane, scroll down to where there is an entry called “OnBoard” and check the empty checkbox next to it. Underneath it there is also the settings app for this program.

Also if you are looking for linux Handwriting Recognition, CellWriter has you covered.