server or desktop posted by Keir Thomas @ Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:05:31 -0000

Keir Thomas — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:05:31 -0000

Hi Ronny. I haven’t tried but if you’ve installed the Ubuntu Server, it should be enough to simply install the ubuntu-desktop package. This is a metapackage that depends on all the Gnome desktop stuff. I might be wrong but there should be no need to change the repositories—-everything comes from the same repos with Ubuntu.

Let me know how you get on.

server or desktop posted by Ronny Klaeboe @ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:41:01 -0000

Ronny Klaeboe — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:41:01 -0000

I am setting up an Ubuntu server 8.04 LTS to run Ruby on Rails and expression engine—thanks to Ryan Irelan for his excellent set of screencasts.

However I would also like to install the Gnome desktop to have a more friendly environment to move around in. What do I do? Are there any strong reasons not to? (instability, security?).

Tip 41 Wicd works fine but no access to internet posted by Keir Thomas @ Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:42:03 -0000

Keir Thomas — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:42:03 -0000

Hi Anders.

I’m not quite sure what you’ve done so far. You’ve installed Windows drivers using Ndiswrapper? If so, it’s very probable they’re the cause of the problem. Try switching to a different version of the Windows drivers (uninstall the old ones first—see page 307 in the book). This often helps.

Ubuntu 8.10, due for release at the end of this month, includes much better wifi support, and it should make Ndiswrapper much less necessary. You can try upgrading to that. The release candidate will be available in a few days and that should be good enough for day-to-day use, and you can keep updating until the full release comes along.

Here’s the link:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10/

Tip 41 Wicd works fine but no access to internet posted by Anders Nehlin @ Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:31:13 -0000

Anders Nehlin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:31:13 -0000

Hi again,

I think I solved it for the moment…

The computer started as usual without any error message when I took out the wireless USB adapter and rebooted it. I put it back in after the start and now works the internet fine. Do you have any suggestion how to have the hardware present without having problems to start the computer? Thanks.

Best regards,
Anders

Tip 41 Wicd works fine but no access to internet posted by Anders Nehlin @ Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:10:36 -0000

Anders Nehlin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:10:36 -0000

Hi Keir,

I think I have solved it. I hope it is stable.

I did not mentioned that I uninstalled the ndiswrapper and the windows driver for the wireless USB adapter in order to check if that was the case, but it still worked without a driver. Strange (for me..). Anyway, I reinstalled ndiswrapper and the windows driver and now I got access to internet. Very nice.
But now I got another annoying problem. When I boot up the computer it takes several minutes and I got this error message before the computer starts:
“Some things, such as themes, sounds, or background settings may not work correctly.
The last error message was:
Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.
GNOME will still try to restart the Settings Daemon next time you log in.”

Any supporting suggestions? Thanks in advance

Best regards
Anders

Tip 41 Wicd works fine but no access to internet posted by Anders Nehlin @ Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:26:28 -0000

Anders Nehlin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:26:28 -0000

Hi Keir,

I just bought the pdf-version of your book and I found it very useful. I had some trouble installing the wireless internet to my pc using the Network Manager and ndiswrapper so I used your tip 41 “Use an Alternative Wifi Connection Manager”. Got a wireless Gigabyte USB adapter (GN-WB01GS) and a Belkin router.
I read and followed your instructions and it works fine except that I do not get access to internet with my wireless connection. The Wicd Manager tells me that the USB Adapter connects fine with the router and can see a fine signal (more than 50%), but I can not get access to internet. I get access with my wire.

Do you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Best regards,
Anders

server or desktop posted by craigbspengler @ Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:53:09 -0000

craigbspengler — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:53:09 -0000

Wow, Keir, thanks for the compliment—never thought of myself as a power user. Seriously, I said no more questions so just a small sample of opining. At year or more ago my techno-lady set up a network of about six or eight different distros and I always ended up frustrated with the G’s and comfortable with the K’s. Guess I like to know what’s going on under the hood (command lines and closer-to-the-metal, that stuff).

I like the headings list, an excellent approach; probably late for this edition but perhaps parallel columns for 2d with both G & K? Just a thought.

server or desktop posted by Keir Thomas @ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:09:53 -0000

Keir Thomas — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:09:53 -0000

Hi Craig. The book was written using Ubuntu as a base, so any tips that are desktop oriented are GNOME specific. What you say about KDE raises the interesting prospect of a version of the book focussed on Kubuntu but it seems to me that Kubuntu is really the “power user” version of Ubuntu. This is what I’ve picked up from years of reading Ubuntuforums.org and other sites. I’m not sure power users would be interested in a book like this (not that they won’t find it useful, but we’re talking about aiming books at viable audiences). I’m not sure what the split is between Ubuntu/Kubuntu users (or, for that matter, Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu). I’d like to find out.

The tips are in a random order in the book, with the idea being the reader can dip in and out. But there are no less than two tables of contents at the beginning. The first lists the tips in numerical order, and the second lists them under various headings (“Productivity”, “Multimedia” etc). We added this index late in the day so it doesn’t appear in the beta. And there’s also the keyword index at the back, as with any computer book.

server or desktop posted by craigbspengler @ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:40:53 -0000

craigbspengler — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:40:53 -0000

Thanks Keir—the TOC is impressive, not to mention enticing! I noticed references to Gnome; I have been a KDE afficionado for years and years now are the tips Gnome/KDE-agnostic, perhaps? Also, is there any categorization of the tips (e.g. network, display, printing, mail) by issues? After this I promise no more questions, just bucks!

Kindle editions of your books? posted by Keir Thomas @ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:27:20 -0000

Keir Thomas — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:27:20 -0000

I believe the Pragmatic head honchos are working hard on this, but there are some severe technical limitations. They’re requesting reader feedback on the way forward:

http://pragdave.pragprog.com/

and in particular

http://pragdave.blogs.pragprog.com/pragdave/2008/07/help-us-decide.html

That said, Ubuntu Kung Fu would probably convert better than most Pragmatic books because there’s no code, apart from some chains of commands. Maybe they should start their experiments with my book? :)

Kindle editions of your books? posted by Dave E Martin @ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:39:15 -0000

Dave E Martin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:39:15 -0000

Hm, i’d like to second this request. While its possible ~~- in a round-about sort of way -~~ to get a pdf onto a Kindle, its nicer if the book is directly formatted in kindle (or mobipocket) format directly. I find the kindle a very convenient way to carry around a reference librarI suppose you could replace stamping the name on every page with stamping it between every few paragraphs, or the beginnig of every chapter or something like that.

server or desktop posted by Keir Thomas @ Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:29:38 -0000

Keir Thomas — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:29:38 -0000

Hi Craig. The book focuses on typical Ubuntu users, which I guess means desktop users. But there are things server admins might find interesting—a lot of the tips are about efficient command-line usage, and I look at such things as setting up an FTP server at one point, as well as getting SAMBA working correctly. I also discuss setting up and using SSH/SFTP. Take a look at the table of contents:

http://media.pragprog.com/titles/ktuk/toc.pdf

Note that this is slightly out of date now, because the book is still in beta testing and being changed, but it’s mostly correct.

server or desktop posted by craigbspengler @ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:24:48 -0000

craigbspengler — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:24:48 -0000

Looks exciting!—is server info included or is this primarily a desktop-oriented book?

www.ubuntukungfu.org posted by Keir Thomas @ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:13:35 -0000

Keir Thomas — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:13:35 -0000

Just to let you know, www.ubuntukungfu.org has mutated a little bit into a community networking site that serves nothing but links to interesting Ubuntu tips. As far as I know this is unique, and should prove a useful resource for just about anybody using Ubuntu. Take a look!

www.ubuntukungfu.org posted by Keir Thomas @ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:38:22 -0000

Keir Thomas — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:38:22 -0000

Hi everybody. If you have a few moments, head over to www.ubuntukungfu.org. It’s in its early stages right now but I’m hoping it will become a thriving community dedicated to tips, tricks, hints, and hacks for Ubuntu.

It’s a bit quiet right now but I’m working as virtual barkeep, and will try my best to respond to queries. Of course, I also invite you to post any tips or tricks you’ve come across.

places book marks posted by Keir Thomas @ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:30:34 -0000

Keir Thomas — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:30:34 -0000

Hi Clayton. Yes, what you say is possible although I can’t find a way of directly converting a Nautilus bookmark into a link.

Just use the middle mouse button and click and drag the relevant folder to either the drawer applet, or to the desktop. The middle mouse button is the scroll wheel on most mice. If your mouse doesn’t have a scroll wheel then click and hold BOTH mouse buttons, but I’m not sure if this will always work—-it depends on how your computer is configured.

In the case of the desktop, when you let go of the button(s), select Link Here from the menu that appears. With the drawer, the shortcut will be automatically added, and no further clicking is necessary.

This works for all kinds of links—file system, shared network folders, FTP… If it’s accessible through Nautilus file browser, it can be linked in this way.

Incidentally, head over to www.ubuntukungfu.org, the official website of the book, where I’m hoping to build a dedicated Ubuntu tips community. It’s a bit quiet over there because the book is still young :) but I’m working as bar-keep and will try to answer all queries.

places book marks posted by Clayton Cottingham @ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:41:42 -0000

Clayton Cottingham — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:41:42 -0000

is there a way to make the places bookmarks a drawer on a panel?

or be able to make shortcuts of them on desktop?

Kindle editions of your books? posted by Aaron Kulbe @ Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:14:55 -0000

Aaron Kulbe — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:14:55 -0000

Dave/Andy,

Have you released any of your books in Kindle format? I saw this book announcement, and I’m interested in that book… and also recently bought a Kindle.

It rocks.
So does Ubuntu.
So do you guys.

Let me know. If you haven’t released any Kindle-format books… do you have any plans to?

Thanks,

Aaron K.

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