Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat alpha 2 released

Ubuntu 10.10 has been making all the right noises recently and they have launched their latest alpha offering of the 10.10 version.

Its still in alpha 2, so dont expect things to work out of the box and dont expect it to be overly stable. Its currently for testing purposes only so just be careful.

Regular users stick to the latest stable version, i.e. Ubuntu 10.04

Here's the download link: http://www.cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/10.10/alpha-2

To see what changes have been made, including now archived changes check out this link: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/maverick-changes

Ubuntu 10.04 - Post installation tips

Okay so you have installed 10.04 and you are ready to set it up and run your favourite softwares. But wait! Have you installed all the necessary plugins and extra stuff that you might need for a 'hassle-free' experience? After all who wants to see a "Plugins missing" message now and then?

So, here are a few post installation tips an suggestions.

1. Install Restricted Extras

Ubuntu Restricted Extras is a package which is the sort of one in all media solution for Ubuntu. You will be able to use media files of all types of formats (other than open source formats).

How do you install it? Well its simple. Type the following in the Terminal (it dwonloaded more than a 130 MB of data, so stick to that cup of coffee):

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

I would also recommend installing VLC Media Player as its frankly, the most 'comprehensive' media players I've come across.

2. Install Medibuntu repositories:

Sometimes there are formats or processes which require additional libraries. For these you need to install Medibuntu repository. Its as easy as copying and pasting a single line. Type (copy/paste) the following in the Terminal:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/`lsb_release -cs`.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list && sudo apt-get -q update && sudo apt-get --yes -q --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get -q update

3. GIMP

Remember in 10.04, GIMP's gone from the default installation, so make sure you install GIMP from the Ubuntu Software Center. Simply search for it in the Software Center and install. As simple as that.

4. Twitter Client

Gwibber has been chosen as the default Twitter client in 10.04. Somehow I never got it to work, hence my personal favourite and recommendation would be Pino. Its a sleek, super light-weight and most importantly a functional twitter client. Here's how you install it. Type the following in the Terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vala-team/ppa

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:troorl/pino

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install pino

Well other than that everything else's pretty much fine. More as I discover. Stay tuned.

Its the big day

Its indeed the big day. Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx LTS will be released today amidst much fanfare and hype. I am a self confessed Ubuntu fan and like everyone else, I'm very excited about this release. 10.04 marks a paradigm change for Ubuntu as a brand as well as for the user interface of this most popular Linux OS. Although some of the changes havent been welcome, the positives have far overridden them.

Okay, now for some real insight. Frankly speaking 9.10 was very buggy when it came out. And some of the bugs even persist to this day. I hope Ubuntu 10.04 doesnt tread that path and consolidates Ubuntu's name as a stable user friendly OS. A lot has already been said about the release hence it would be boring for you, the reader, to go through all that if I were to repeat those.

Finally, these are instructions about the download:

How to Download:

Go to www.ubuntu.com and download the appropriate file. It will be a .iso file. Then burn it to a CD.

How to Install:

A detailed step by step pictorial (with screenshots) illustration of the entire installation procedure has been provided in the following link:

http://explore-ubuntu.blogspot.com/2010/03/ubuntu-1004-beta1-closer-look.html

Ubuntu 10.04 Release Candidate

The final pre release version of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, the Release Candidate is now available for download.

How to download:

Upgrading (if you already have Ubuntu installed):

If you want to upgrade from your current installation to Ubuntu 9.10 beta1, press Alt+F2 and type the following:

update-manager -d

Update Manager will show you the following: New distribution release ‘10.04′ is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

Downloading (if you want a fresh install or want to use the beta release as a Live CD) :

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04/ (Ubuntu Desktop, Netbook and Server)
http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04/rc/(Ubuntu Server for UEC and EC2)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/10.04/ (Kubuntu Desktop and Netbook Remix)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/lucid/rc/(Xubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/lucid/rc/ (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/lucid/rc/ (Mythbuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/lucid/rc/ (Ubuntu Studio)

Local mirrors are also available:

Africa

• http://bw.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Botswana)
• http://ls.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Lesotho)
• http://mz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Mozambique)
• http://na.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Namibia)
• http://sz.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Swaziland)
• http://ubuntu.mirror.ac.za/ubuntu-release/ (South Africa)

Asia

• http://ftp.mtu.ru/pub/ubuntu/releases/ (Russian Federation)
• http://mirror.yandex.ru/ubuntu-releases/ (Russian Federation)
• http://ubuntu.mirrors.isu.net.sa/releases/ (Saudi Arabia)
• http://ubuntutym2.u-toyama.ac.jp/ubuntu/ (Japan)
• http://ftp.linux.org.tr/ubuntu-releases/ (Turkey)
• http://ftp.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp/pub/linux/ubuntu/releases/ (Japan)

Europe

• http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/ubuntu-releases/ (Ireland)
• http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/ubuntu-cdimage/ (Switzerland)
• http://ubuntu.mirror.tudos.de/ubuntu-releases/ (Germany)
• http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/ (Sweden)
• http://ubuntu.ipacct.com/releases/ (Bulgaria)
• http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/ (Netherlands)

North America

• http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs/ (United States)
• http://archaea.its.sfu.ca/mirror/ubuntu-releases/ (Canada)
• http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/ubuntu-releases/ (Canada)
• http://ubuntu.cs.utah.edu/releases/ (United States)
• http://ubuntu-releases.cs.umn.edu/ (United States)
• http://www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/ (United States)

Oceania/Australia

• http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/ (New Zealand)
• http://mirror.ihug.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/ (New Zealand)
• http://ubuntu-releases.optus.net/ (Australia)

South America

• http://ubuntu.c3sl.ufpr.br/releases/ (Brazil)
• http://espelhos.edugraf.ufsc.br/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)
• http://www.las.ic.unicamp.br/pub/ubuntu-releases/ (Brazil)

The official stable release of Ubuntu 10.04 will be available from 29th April, 2010.

Lucid Lynx 10.04 beta2 released

Beta 2 of the new Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 is now available for testing and download. Its a beta release and may contain bugs.

How to download:

Upgrading (if you already have Ubuntu installed)

If you want to upgrade from your current installation to Ubuntu 9.10 beta1, press Alt+F2 and type the following:

update-manager -d

Update Manager will show you the following: New distribution release ‘10.04′ is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.


Downloading (if you want a fresh install or want to use the beta release as a Live CD) :

Copy paste the link of your choice, based on your location, on your browser to download.

Africa:

* http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (South Africa)

Asia:

* http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/Linux/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Japan)
* http://ubuntu.qualitynet.net/releases/10.04 (Kuwait)
* http://releases.ubuntu.mnosi.org/10.04 (Mongolia)
* http://mirror.yandex.ru/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Russian Federation)
* http://tw.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Taiwan)

Europe:

* http://ubuntu.ipacct.com/releases/10.04 (Bulgaria)
* http://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/MIRRORS/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Czech Republic)
* http://ubuntu.trumpetti.atm.tut.fi/releases/10.04 (Finland)
* http://ubuntu.univ-nantes.fr/ubuntu-cd/10.04 (France)
* http://ubuntu.mirror.tudos.de/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Germany)
* http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Great Britain)
* http://speglar.simnet.is/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Iceland)
* http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Ireland)
* http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04 (Netherlands)
* http://no.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Norway)
* http://ftp.wcss.pl/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Poland)
* http://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/ubuntu/10.04 (Portugal)
* http://ubuntu.cica.es/releases/10.04 (Spain)
* http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Sweden)
* http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/ubuntu-cdimage/10.04 (Switzerland)

North America:

* http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (Canada)
* http://mirrors.ipinfodb.com/ubuntu/releases/10.04 (Canada)
* http://ubuntu-cd.mirror.iweb.ca/10.04 (Canada)
* http://mirrors.gigenet.com/ubuntu/10.04 (United States)
* http://mirrors.login.com/ubuntu-iso/10.04 (United States)
* http://ubuntu.media.mit.edu/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (United States)
* http://ubuntu.mirrors.tds.net/pub/releases/10.04 (United States)
* http://www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (United States)

Oceania/Australia:

* http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/10.04 (New Zealand)

South America:

* http://ubuntu-cd.innova-red.net/10.04 (Argentina)
* http://ubuntu.c3sl.ufpr.br/releases/10.04 (Brazil)

Rest of the world:

*http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04 (Great Britain)

Ubuntu 10.04 beta1 - a closer look (part 2)

(For Part 1 of post, click on this link: Ubuntu 10.04 beta1 a closer look - part 1)

This discussion is based on Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop Edition (64 bit version). You can download the latest beta releases, instructions here: Lucid Lynx Beta Released

I was so far using Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala). Yesterday I tried to "upgrade" it to Ubuntu 10.04 beta1. I have since then come across lots and lots of obstacles, features, tweaks etc. I will try and discuss as many I can.

First things first, be very careful about upgrading. The upgrading process itself worked fine for me, however problems started when I restarted my PC after the upgrade (the upgrade manager had downloaded around 2GB of data from the Ubuntu servers). The Appearances panel stopped working due to a DBus error and unfortunately the network applet stopped working as well (aka it broke). I was left in the lurch because I couldnt connect to the internet and do an upgrade. And neither could I browse the web for solutions. The only way out was to use the spare live CDs I had (a lesson for all here, dont throw away your live CDs, they can come in very handy sometimes) and search for solutions. I found none across the web. Maybe people werent facing the problems I was facing, maybe they didnt care to post it. Anyway, I didnt find any solutions, thats the point.

So being left with absolutely no other option but to format and do a fresh install, I backed up my data and did that. (Frankly, this time around, I thought the upgrade would work for me, but clearly it was not to be. Its official now, I'm very unlucky when it comes to upgrading. I would also advise anyone running 9.10 to hold his horses. Dont upgrade right now, wait till the final stable release comes out. And even if you want to experience 10.04, try it from the live CD or do a fresh install.) It took a lot of time (backing up all the data and then installing) but I guess it was worth all that. The installation went ahead smoothly and it brought me straight to the Ubuntu 10.04 desktop. Tell you what, the Ambience theme looks better than it does in the pictures. I dont think I'll be changing themes very soon.

Packages:

All the packages in the repositories have been updated and currently more often than not its the latest version. Chromium (the open-source counterpart of Google Chrome) has been added to the repositories now, so you can now directly install it from the Ubuntu Software Center. (However if you want the very latest versions of Chromium you should add its repositories. A complete guide to do that is given here: Install Chromium Browser)



Now this latest version concept is really good when it comes to most softwares but not when it comes to Wine. The latest version of Wine is installed by default which is 1.1.41. However I have always found 1.1.31 to be the best version for playing games etc. Most of the games I have dont run well on the latest version of Wine. I still havent figured out a way to roll back to the previous release as the "Force version" option on synaptic isnt working for Wine. I will post a solution as soon as I find out.
(How do you install Wine? Its pretty easy: How to Install Wine)



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SOLUTION : A temporary solution has been found thanks to Ubuntuforums. You can download the relevant package from Launchpad. The previous 'stable' version of Wine was 1.1.31, you can download the 32 bit version from this page and the 64 bit version from this page. Tip: Remove the installed version of Wine before you install these versions to avoid complications.

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Saddest part? Compiz. Sorry, it just is the saddest part about 10.04. You will have to install Compiz as you usually would from the Ubuntu software center (See here for more info: Getting Compiz to work on Ubuntu). The burn effect isnt available anymore! (Is there an emoticon for crying out loud?)
And the cube isnt really that magnificent anymore. The 'jutting out' effect of windows while rotating the cube is absolutely gone, vanished. A small tip here, if you cant add 4 workspaces from compiz (in order to enable the cube), try right-clicking on the workspace and then Preferences and then select the number of columns as 4. But I hope the compiz developers will figure out a solution soon.

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SOLUTION : If you have this problem where you cant see Compiz Animations Add-on, install this package - compiz-fusion-plugins-extra from the synaptic or from the terminal:

sudo apt-get install compiz-fusion-plugins-extra

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Other than these small glitches, everything works perfectly and I think Canonical has done a great job in aggregating all these softwares. Kudos.

Drivers:

Impressive is an understatement. Ubuntu 10.04 has the very very latest Nvidia drivers now (version 195.x.x) and thats just great. This version works perfectly and installing them is an absolute joy. Simply go to System > Administration > Hardware Drivers and select the recommended drivers. Activate it and it will download and install. Restart you computer and you're done.

Interface:

Stunning is the word. Please stop complaining. The interface is simply breathtaking, every since inch of space has been utilised to perfection. And although I dont quite like the buttons on the left (you can shift it back to the right: Moving buttons), I think I can forgive the developers and designers simply because the rest of the interface is really awesome. IMs, facebook, gmail chats etc. were never easier and this just is so breathtakingly refreshing.

So far so good. I will keep you posted on anything relevant I come across. Ciao!

Ubuntu 10.04 Beta1 - A closer look

The following images will explain the installation procedure of Ubuntu 10.04 Beta1. The images are in exact order of their appearance:





























Changes and Additions:



The default theme (Ambience). Notice the maximize, minimize, close buttons which have been on the left hand side. Just a bit of info though, changing the theme WONT change the alignment of the buttons (to change the alignment you will have to edit it through gconf-editor. For more info and detailed instructions on how to do this, take a look at this post : Moving Buttons)





GNOME Menu:



No substantial change in Accessories.



Some useless boring games (sorry) have been removed, and gbrainy, a new game has been added.


GIMP removed (sadly).



Gwibber has been added here. Unfortunately I never got it to work, neither in 9.10 nor in this 10.04 beta1. Still needs some work Gwibber.



Expected list of applications here in the Office section.


Pitivi has been added. Its a very basic no-frills video editor. But works fine.



Universal Access menu now is included in the default install. The onBoard thing is an on-screen keyboard. Very cool.


Preferences menu. Messaging and VoIP has been added.


Administration menu. There's now a Startup Disk Creator.


These are completely new elements which have been added. Very sleek and more importantly integrates perfectly with the interface.


The volume bar is now really user-friendly.







The new look Ubuntu Software Center.


Firefox with its new Yahoo! homepage for Ubuntu 10.04.


Rhythmbox (hold you breath, I'm getting to Ubuntu One Music Store):


And finally tadaaaa! Ubuntu One Music Store!



WARNING though, its very buggy right now. Many of the stuff dont work, but you should file bug reports or post your comments on existing ones to help the developers come up with a solution before the final stable version releases.

Generally the orange-aubergine looks quite charming. (Stop saying it looks gay! lol) The interface now looks really smooth and elegant.

There has been a lot of changes in this edition. Some of them good, some of them...well, you get it. But overall, this is a very important release which firmly establishes Ubuntu as not just the leading Linux OS, but also a growing mainstream OS.

Moving buttons

A lot has been said about the Maximize, Minimize and Close buttons being on the left hand side of the title bar in Lucid Lynx, Ubuntu 10.04. The change has already been made in the beta1 which was released a few days back (For more info: Lucid Lynx beta released and Ubuntu becomes stunningly beautiful) See the pic below:



Now if you are uncomfortable with this, you can easily change it back to the right hand side. (Even if you arent using Lucid Lynx beta maybe you can move the buttons to the left and see how you like it! If you dont you can obviously change it back.) Here's how you do it:

1. Press Alt + F2 on you keyboard. In the window which opens up, type gconf-editor and press enter.



2. In the Configuration Editor window, go to apps>metacity>general



3. As you can see, it has a button_layout option. This is where you will do all your tweaks. To edit the button layout you will have to double click on the "maximize,minimize,close:" option.

Now before you change anything, let me just explain the basics, so that it becomes comfy to tweak with ease. Okay, so the default button layout if you are using Ubuntu 10.04 is "maximize,minimize,close:". (If you're using 9.10, the button layout will be ":maximize,minimize,close".) Now here's the thing. Maximize, Minimize and Close stand for each of the respective buttons and the ":" after that stands for the rest of the space on the title bar.

So basically, if you type ":maximize,minimize,close" the space will shift to the left and hence the buttons will be on the right.




My favorite pattern is ":minimize,maximize,close". You can now tweak it to suit your needs. As you see, it couldnt be any easier.

Now, when you are done editing, simply press enter and you can notice the changes.