Why UBUNTU became so popular so quickly could be attributed to many things. First, Debian had been promising, but not delivering a new version. UBUNTU used the Debian core and added many new features. These features attracted Debian users. UBUNTU was not afraid of going cutting edge with their programming and the programmers coded a near flawless distro. Another reason that UBUNTU might have become so popular was their promise of a new distro every six months. They were true to that distribution schedule until 6.06 and they knew they were going to provide support and, after notifying the UBUNTU and Linux communities that they needed a bit more time to insure a stable distro, they moved their release date out six weeks. Still another reason that UBUNTU is so popular is that they will provide you with a free CD. I have had the occasion to receive some of the CDs and have been able to pass them on to new users that have become UBUNTU converts. ]]> In September, 2004, we wrote our first piece on a Linux distribution with a strange name, UBUNTU. Version 4.10 was code named “Warty Warthog” and aside from the chuckles associated with the name, UBUNTU was suddenly racing to the top of the chart on Distrowatch. Once it hit the top, it has remained and with the release of version 6.06 LTS (for Long Term Support) its popularity is sure to continue to grow.

Why UBUNTU became so popular so quickly could be attributed to many things. First, Debian had been promising, but not delivering a new version. UBUNTU used the Debian core and added many new features. These features attracted Debian users. UBUNTU was not afraid of going cutting edge with their programming and the programmers coded a near flawless distro. Another reason that UBUNTU might have become so popular was their promise of a new distro every six months. They were true to that distribution schedule until 6.06 and they knew they were going to provide support and, after notifying the UBUNTU and Linux communities that they needed a bit more time to insure a stable distro, they moved their release date out six weeks. Still another reason that UBUNTU is so popular is that they will provide you with a free CD. I have had the occasion to receive some of the CDs and have been able to pass them on to new users that have become UBUNTU converts.

While the entire base distribution is contained on one CD, there are thousands of additional pieces of software just a few clicks away.

Installation is easy, however lacks the beauty of a GUI! Rather, you will be prompted to answer such questions as; language, keyboard, time zone and of course, how to partition your drive for installation. I almost always select the entire drive and have never had a problem with UBUNTU building a partition system that is custom to the distro.

While you will be ask for a User Name and Password, many will find it unusual that you are not prompted for a ROOT Password. UBUNTU does not afford that opportunity. If you really are convinced that you need a ROOT Password, once the install is complete, open a console, enter: sudo passwd root (hit return and you will be prompted to enter your new UNIX password.) Problem solved!

The entire installation process, depending on the speed of your processor should take around 30 minutes.

UBUNTU uses GNOME 2.14.1 and includes OpenOffice 2.0.2, Firefox 1.5.0.4, Evolution and Thunderbird and the list continues to grow.

While Synaptic is probably the preferred method of adding programs, I discovered, while using UBUNTU 5.10 (Breezy Badger) a wonderful script written by a user that he had posted in the Ubuntu Forum The application AUTOMATIX handles many of the small features not covered by synaptic. Example would be the install of Java JRE. It also covers some non-free software. By the way, that is the method I used to install Java and Real Player for Linux. Both work perfectly.

Another source, although directly linked to synaptic, is the ADD/REMOVE feature. Here you can break down the vast program list in categories and find the program that is just right for you.

The appearance of UBUNTU is quite clean, however I must admit I am not a big fan of “Burnt Orange and Black” reminds me too much of my old school colors!!!

Dapper Drake, as version 6.06 is code named appears to be a little faster than previous releases. Hardware detection is excellent. When I checked my printer (an old HP) it took seconds to configure as the auto detection had found the printer and was just awaiting the command to set it up. An old sound card was properly configured and the list goes on.

While there is no perfect distribution for everyone, UBUNTU certainly comes close and with new releases every six months, users are assured of the latest in software.

UBUNTU jumped ahead of SUSE, RED HAT (now Fedora Core) and a host of other old time distributions (per the requests at Distrowatch) almost from its first release. While devotees worried about the slight delay with this version, the distributions reputation continues to grow. The development team promises that the software will always be free and that there will be a new distro every six months.

Simple to use and stable would describe UBUNTU in short phrases. Why not give it a try.

TUX is an on-line magazine that is designed for the Linux NOOB. The magazine, now in its 13th Issue has a lot of information that removes the mystery of many programs and in many occasions, provides tips to get more out of your computing experience.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the best part...IT'S FREE! Visit their site and begin enjoying TUX MAGAZINE on-line. ]]> New to Linux? Intermediate user? Need good information that is not buried in the middle of a 1200 page text? No matter how I say this it is going to sound like a sales pitch and it really isn’t, but it is a bit of advice. Try TUX MAGAZINE.

TUX is an on-line magazine that is designed for the Linux NOOB. The magazine, now in its 13th Issue has a lot of information that removes the mystery of many programs and in many occasions, provides tips to get more out of your computing experience.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the best part…IT’S FREE! Visit their site and begin enjoying TUX MAGAZINE on-line.

The problem, I was unable to get his Podcast to play. I had gone to the extreme of using VLC and knew that most of the problem was I hadn't really finished doing everything with the new distro I wanted to do.

Once on the phone, he reminded me of a GREAT MP3 command line program...MPG321. I checked and it had been installed with the distro. When I tried it, I had full command over the Podcast and it took seconds to launch. If you have never tried this program, here goes: ]]> From time to time we get caught up in the GUI world and forget that there are some powerful programs that run from command line.

I was reminded of this by my oldest Son during a recent bout of MP3 problems. Tony has been using Linux for years and when I walk myself into a corner, I have him on speed dial and my questions are quickly answered.

The problem, I was unable to get his Podcast to play. I had gone to the extreme of using VLC and knew that most of the problem was I hadn’t really finished doing everything with the new distro I wanted to do.

Once on the phone, he reminded me of a GREAT MP3 command line program…MPG321. I checked and it had been installed with the distro. When I tried it, I had full command over the Podcast and it took seconds to launch. If you have never tried this program, here goes:

Open a terminal and cd to the directory where your music or podcast resides.

/home/dave cd roadhouse

Display the programs or music in the directory.

/home/dave/roadhouse ls

Then launch your player.

mpg321 -v roadhouse61 (insert your program for roadhouse61)

In seconds you are listening to the music. Don’t need verbose, don’t include the -v.

Simple process. Powerful player. Command Line!

NOTE: Thanks to Tony Steidler-Dennison for letting us use his podcast as an example. If you like the Blues, check it out. THE ROADHOUSE.

You will be ask for your root password and you now have the controls in your hand. WARNING: Once you enter root, you have the potential of destroying anything in the distribution, so use the power wisely!

From time to time you will download a program and realize that you wanted version X and not version Y. Removing program X is quite simple: ]]> Based on the response I received on Some Basic Command Line” ’tis time for a little more. No, we aren’t going to try to make command line users out of you. Just give you a few tools you can use.
Entering “ROOT” from a console, simply type:

su

You will be ask for your root password and you now have the controls in your hand.
WARNING: Once you enter root, you have the potential of destroying anything in the distribution, so use the power wisely!

From time to time you will download a program and realize that you wanted version X and not version Y. Removing program X is quite simple:

rm program name

If you have an empty directory you would like to remove:

rmdir program name

How about making a new directory for a program you want to download?

mkdir (name of program)

Need a calendar?

cal
This shows the system calendar

cal -j
Displays the Julian calendar.

Date
Displays the system date.
By attaching -u, you will display Greenwich Mean Time.

All of these commands are basic. There are many more, some quite advanced but our goal here was to give you just a few of the basics.

Great hacking!

The vastly popular, Debian based distribution, that had promised a six-month development cycle made several minor changes, but NO noticeable major changes.

I must admit that I cheated on the down and install. I had been using the latest Beta for a couple of weeks and when the announcement came that 5.10 was official, I took advantage of a great Debian tool...APT! By opening a console, I used: sudo apt-get dist-upgrade. While it took some time, the beta became the official without a flaw. The end product was Version 5.10 without having to do a full install. (Durn, I like APT!) ]]> While not vastly different from Version 5.04, “Breezy Badger” hit the download mirrors right on schedule and UBUNTU version 5.10 was released.

The vastly popular, Debian based distribution, that had promised a six-month development cycle made several minor changes, but NO noticeable major changes.

I must admit that I cheated on the down and install. I had been using the latest Beta for a couple of weeks and when the announcement came that 5.10 was official, I took advantage of a great Debian tool…APT! By opening a console, I used: sudo apt-get dist-upgrade. While it took some time, the beta became the official without a flaw. The end product was Version 5.10 without having to do a full install. (Durn, I like APT!)

Had I done a full install from scratch, it would have involved one CD and a minimal amount of questions and the UBUNTU installer would have done its job, without flash and dash, just efficiency.

The default applications include; Firefox, Evolution, OpenOffice 2, Gaim, Gnomemeeting and GIMP as well as a number of productivity and entertainment applications. UBUNTU has two GUI package management tools, Synaptic and GNOME App Install. Most APT users are familiar with Synaptic, which is a GUI for APT. I had used Synaptic and cursed on one or two occasions, yet had not used the GNOME App tool. I must say it is simple and straight forward. Simply click on APPLICATIONS>ADD APPLICATIONS and the rest is point and click. Several repositories are used and I have been quite successful loading several programs. If you change your mind, there is an add/remove selection making removal as easy as install.

Now with several days of exclusive use of UBUNTU 5.10 “Breezy Badger” under my belt, I can say it is a very solid distribution.

While UBUNTU has been mostly referred to as a great desktop distribution, UBUNTU can also be installed as a Server! Though minimal, the server install will provide a good base for all the packages you might want to run including files, Web or even a mail server.

One area that continues to be a disappointment with all of the new distros is the on-going problems with Wi-Fi. While I am mostly wired in the lab, I do continue to look for a simple and effective system for reducing the amount of Cat 5!

Breezy Badger is one of the easiest Linux distros to install and will serve both newbies and experienced users well. It is available in x86, PowerPC and AMD64 versions with release support of 18 months. If you are not one to download, burn and install a distro, the fine folks at UBUNTU will send you a copy absolutely free.

While I am sure you will be pleased with this version, you could wait six months for the next release.

PUPPY ver 1.0.5, is well appointed with applications that could turn it into a dedicated desktop. Features like; Mozilla (navigator and composer), AbiWord and Gaim are just a few of the packages in this amazingly small package. If you prefer something a little heavier, how about CHUBBY PUPPY, which takes the distro to 91.4M. The fatter version has OpenOffice and Mozilla, but is missing AbiWord and Gnumeric, otherwise it's the same PUPPY, ]]> It’s been a while since we reviewed a live CD, but I have been bitten by one in recent days. PUPPY Linux is one of the best live CD releases I have seen. It’s fast, has an abundance of software and is only 53.6 M in size.

PUPPY ver 1.0.5, is well appointed with applications that could turn it into a dedicated desktop. Features like; Mozilla (navigator and composer), AbiWord and Gaim are just a few of the packages in this amazingly small package. If you prefer something a little heavier, how about CHUBBY PUPPY, which takes the distro to 91.4M. The fatter version has OpenOffice and Mozilla, but is missing AbiWord and Gnumeric, otherwise it’s the same PUPPY,

How difficult is it to administer PUPPY? The PUPPY crew have done an excellent job with the development of “DOTPUPPY”, a GUI aplication for downloading and installing “DOTPUP” packages. (Puppy has two package systems; DotPup and PupGet.)

In keeping with the Puppy terms, WAG (Wireless Access Gadget) has been developed and while it is still a work in progress WAG and bladehunter’s “Wifi-beta.pup” are both incredible.

Another feature many lap top users will find convenient, is the ability to create a Puppy Linux boot thumb drive by simply choosing the option “Install Puppy USB Card” under the setup menu. The script will give you a full set of instructions.

Puppy has a utility that will mount hard disks, CD/DVDs, floppies and other devices. In addition, the user can access their hard disk files via Puppy and create a stateless client to access a variety of operating systems.

Adding packages is as simple as it can get. Go to the start menu and chose “PupGet”. A green window will pop up. Chose the the Install or remove packages and a list of applications that you can add will pop up. The system will download and then, using the file manager the system will find the files and a simple click on the program will install. Once the new files are installed, you have to stop X windows in order for the new applications to become accessible. “ Ctrl-alt-backspace” will stop X windows and you can restart by typing “startx”.

My experience with PUPPY has been on two machines. A Sempron 2800+ with a 1G of RAM. On this system, running from the CD made it hard to believe I had not done a full install. Speed was excellent. The second machine was an old P133. While the system ran fairly quickly, there was a a quite a bit of difference, however PUPPY ran without flaw.

All this having been said, I think the folks at PUPPY have a winner and it is really worth the time of burning a small .iso and giving the PUPPY a walk!

It was important to me to get Debian 3.1, Sarge up and running because it is one of the most important releases to come out this year. If you think I am joking, consider all the distributions that are derived from Debian ; Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mepis, Linspire, Libranet, Xandros, Knoppix, DSL and the list goes on and on.

It was also important to the Linux community and more specifically the Debian community to get it right. The oft promised distro, the replacement for Debian Woody, had its release date moved back several times during the past three years before its final release. Was it worth it? From what I see YES. ]]> Well, my little Linux lab now has DEBIAN 3.1 up and running. While not the easiest install I have done, it was a less demanding install than some.

It was important to me to get Debian 3.1, Sarge up and running because it is one of the most important releases to come out this year. If you think I am joking, consider all the distributions that are derived from Debian ; Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mepis, Linspire, Libranet, Xandros, Knoppix, DSL and the list goes on and on.

It was also important to the Linux community and more specifically the Debian community to get it right. The oft promised distro, the replacement for Debian Woody, had its release date moved back several times during the past three years before its final release. Was it worth it? From what I see YES.

The Debian approach to Linux is different from most distros. The developers are under no pressure to rush a release and so can release the code when it is in a fit state. In fact, some of the software in Sarge is not the “latest cutting edge.” Stability being much more important than version XXX.XX!

While the list of supported architectures has not changed in comparison to Woody, Sarge supports no less than eleven systems. I should mention that the developers do not officially support AMD64, however there is an unofficial port.

OK, enough about about that, it’s time to give Sarge a boot and see what all the talk about a new installer is all about.

For openers, I used a DVD provided with the latest edition of LINUX MAGAZINE. It saved me countless hours of downloading and burning and for that I am forever grateful, as Sarge has some 15,000 programs!!!

I must admit, I was prepared for the worst. Many things I had read lead me to believe that I was going to be wishing I had never heard the word Debian! Not so!

Using the DVD, I booted and throughout the install process used mostly default settings. This had been recommended to me by a long time Debian user and his advice was well taken.

Debian Sarge found and configured all of my hardware without problems and I must admit that this lab computer is far from being the latest or fastest. Kernel configuration is 2.4-K7 (some of my other machines are running 2.6.XX), but this was the default selected by the installer.

While many old time Debian users have done their installs with floppies, I must say using a DVD was much friendlier.

The partitioning was a snap. Users can opt for all files on one partition. This is another default setting. Other options are Desktop or Multi-user workstation. If you prefer, Debian gives you the option of manual configuration, I chose default!

At this point, I must point out that the install had gone quite similar to one for UBUNTU. A couple of minor twists, but the basics were there. The basic packages are installed automatically and after the base system is installed and the system has done an initial boot, you can select where the remainder of your packages will come from; CD/DVD, HTTP, FTP, etc. Once the decision has been made, the installer again goes to work. Remember that Debian has the APT package manager as well as SYNAPTIC, so if you do your install and realize that you would like to have an uninstalled program included on your system, you are only a couple of clicks away.

When the install concluded, about an hour later, I was automatically taken to GNOME 2.8, which is the default windows manager. It was here that I realized that i needed to change resolution from 800×600. I have had trouble with my eyes, but this was a little too much. It was also at this point that I remembered reading in LINUX PRO MAGAZINE that they had experienced the same problem and the configuration required opening a console and going to root. OK…I can do that.

Give the dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 command.

After a short delay, the questions begin. I would suggest you know the type of card, any memory on board the card, etc before typing this command. While it only took a couple of minutes, I must admit I must have answered only half the questions correctly. That was quickly shown, when the ball mouse would not. OOPS! Guess that question about the mouse must have been answered incorrectly! Once again I went back to the terminal and went through the process, however this time I selected the correct answer (boy do I hate tests) and I once again had my ball mouse.

From this point on, everything is very straight forward. If there is a program that has not been installed that you feel a need for, simply click on System>Synaptic or System>Kpackage Manager.

While I mentioned booting directly into GNOME, if you check the session box in the sign-in screen, you can select KDE. This is version 3.3, but does perform very well with this distro.

For those unfamiliar with Debian based distros, updating and upgrading is a snap. Simply open a console, go to root and type:
apt-get update && apt-get upgrade and your system will be updated with the latest security patches and software.

Comparing Sarge with Woody, Linux has taken a giant leap forward. The current release opens the door for Desktop users, something many of the Debian off shoots have been doing for months. While some of the polish of the off shoots has not rubbed off on Sarge, the distro is solid, quick and ideal for someone that wants to do an install, get it set up and let it go.

Give Debian a try today, either by download or by watching for places where you can pick up either the DVD or the CDs or download the installation .iso, burn it to CD and install on-line.

Debian Sarge, a distro that will be around for a long time and something true Linux lovers should be proud of!

There are many intricate commands that you can use with this program, and I won't be discussing all of them. If you would like a full review of the program, check your man or info files for more information. Below I will discuss the basic and most commonly used commands with netstat. ]]> netstat – Linux Command to Display Networking Information
By Ken Dennis Platinum Quality Author

In linux, one of great commands for finding out information about your network connections is “netstat”. It provides you interface information, statistics, connections, and a lot of other really great information about your computer.

There are many intricate commands that you can use with this program, and I won’t be discussing all of them. If you would like a full review of the program, check your man or info files for more information. Below I will discuss the basic and most commonly used commands with netstat.

netstat -i (interface)

This command will give you an overview of networking on your PC. It will give you your local loopback (lo) and any network cards in your PC. This information is useful, so later you can specify a specific network interface card (NIC) that you wish to gain information on.

netstat

Using netstat alone, will give you some pretty good quick information. It gives you a list of active connections, the protocol that it is using, local and foreign address and the state of the connection. More often than not, you will not just use netstat by itself, most people add -a which gives you all listings, including ports that are actively listening.

netstat -s (statistics)

The statistics command gives you a load of great information about the data passing through your computer. It’s broken down in to several main categories, IP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, and TCPEXT. Basically this command gives you a quick summery of your total packets and different kinds of connections and activities. It will give you information on failed packets, malformed packets and much more.

netstat -ap (all and process information / pid)

This is really an excellent command for finding the bulk of the information you want in a hurry. The -a gives you a full listing of all listening and active connections, and the -p gives you the process information, process name, and the pid of the program. This of course helps you trouble shoot or kill a program should you require to do so. It’s also a handy way to find and kill pids that you might deem questionable by yours users.

netstat -c (continuous listing of command)

This is a pretty basic feature of the netstat command, all it does is continuously outputs the netstat data you requested over and over, every second. This is a neat little way to monitor your connections if you have a feeling something sneaky might be going on. Just leave a prompt open and running this command if you are in xwindows. Keep in mind the constant refresh will use up some processor time though.

netstat -e (extended listing)

This gives you just that little bit more information about your connections and processes. There isn’t a huge difference, the primary differences you will notice right off the bat are it shows the user running the command, and the inode of the program.

Ken Dennis Ken Dennis

Due to a firewall, I'm unable to use FTP on a non-standard port, from my work, however I am able to use SSH to connect to my home computer.

There are many different clients for Windows based systems for SSH connections, however I am fond of PuTTy myself. This document will give you a very brief overview of how to send files from your Windows PC, from a command prompt, to your UNIX style server. ]]> SSH (SCP) Send Files from Windows to your Linux Box
By: Ken Dennis
URL: http://KenDennis-RSS.homeip.net/

Not all of us have the luxury of working both at home and at work on a UNIX based system. However that doesn’t mean you can’t transfer files safely and securely between the two systems.

Due to a firewall, I’m unable to use FTP on a non-standard port, from my work, however I am able to use SSH to connect to my home computer.

There are many different clients for Windows based systems for SSH connections, however I am fond of PuTTy myself. This document will give you a very brief overview of how to send files from your Windows PC, from a command prompt, to your UNIX style server.

Once you have installed the PuTTy Client (full package not just the putty.exe), open a command prompt on your Windows PC (start menu > run > cmd).

You.re putty client may not be in your path, so change directory to where the program is installed, or copy the ‘pscp’ executable to your c:\ for ease of use.

Pscp is the SCP client that comes with the PuTTy package. Normally SCP is used for transferring files securely between UNIX based systems, but it’s been ported over with the windows based clients.

The following is an example of how to transfer a file using pscp:

C:\pscp -l yourname C:\Pictures\Pictures\*.jpg my.server.com:/home/yourname/tmp/

This will transfer all the jpg files from the Pictures directory one at a time to your server. After you hit enter the server should ask you for your password on that system before it continues. There are many additional options for you to use that will help you make things a bit quicker, like the recursive option, so all subdirectories will get moved also.

Some of the more important options are as follows:

-P 1234 Specifies port 1234 is open for SSH

-l yourname Specifies the username you want to login with

-r Specifies recursive transfer of all subdirectories

-v Specifies verbose mode

-q Specifies quiet mode, and will not display the little statistics bar during the transfer

-C Specifies compress is enabled

-pw yourpass Specifies your password, if you do not use this, it will prompt you instead.

This pretty much covers the basics of transferring files from windows to unix via SCP.