Is s ue #2 - June 2007

ful
lcircl
e
TH E IND E PE ND E NT M AG AZ INE FO R TH E U BU NTU CO M M U NITY

LINSPIRE & M ICROSOFT

LINSPIRE SIGNS FOR PATENT PROTECTION

'S N E X T
WH O
REVIEW : H OW TO : INSTALL:
SYSTEM 76 LAPTO P UBUNTU O N A M AC M INI STEP-BY-STEP INSTALL
FRO M GETTING TH E BO X BASIC INSTALL O F VPN O F K UBUNTU 7.04 :
TO BO O TING UBUNTU UBUNTU FO R GRANDM A! FEISTY FAW N
ful
lcircl
e m agaz ine is not affil
iate d w ith or e ndors e d by CanonicalLtd.
 ful
lcircl
e
Ne w s p.03
y update of w h at's going on in th e w orl
Your m onth l d of
Linux and O pe n Source Softw are

Fl
avour of th e M onth - K ubuntu p.06
Th is m onth Robe rt Clips h am s h ow s us a s te p-by-s te p
STEP- BY- STEP INSTALL P.06
ins tal
lation of K ubuntu Linux 7.04

H ow -To
Ubuntu on th e M ac M ini p.09
Ubuntu for Grandm a p.12
VirtualPrivate Ne tw ork ing p.16
Scribus - Part 2 p.17
Re vie w - Sys te m 76 Laptop p.20 P.17 P.16
Th ink ing of buying a laptop?Sys te m 76 s uppl
ie s q ual
ity
l
aptops pre -ins tall
e d w ith Ubuntu!

Inte rvie w - GRAM PS p.24 P12 P.20

M y Story - 6 M onth s w ith Ubuntu p.29
Figh ting to l
ive w ith Linux afte r ye ars of W indow s us e .

Ubuntu Youth p.31

Le tte rs p.33
Q& A p.35
M y De s k top & M y PC p.36
P.09 P.24
Sh ow us your m e an-m ach ine !

Th e Top 5 p.37
Andre w M in pre s e nts h is Top5 W idge ts

H ow to Contribute p.39
W ant to h e l
p fil
lfuture is s ue s ?H e re are th e de tail
s

Al lte xt and im age s containe d in th is m agaz ine are re l e as e d unde r th e Cre ative Com m ons
Attribution-By-Sh are Al ik e 3.0 Unporte d l ice ns e . Th is m e ans you can adapt, copy, dis tribute and
trans m it th e articl e s but onl y unde r th e fol low ing conditions : You m us t attribute th e w ork to th e
originalauth or in s om e w ay (at l e as t a nam e , e m ailor url ) and to th is m agaz ine by nam e (ful l
circl e ) and th e urlw w w .ful lcircl
e m agaz ine .org (but not attribute th e articl e (s ) in any w ay th at
s ugge s ts th at th e y e ndors e you or your us e of th e w ork ). And If you al te r, trans form , or build upon
th is w ork , you m us t dis tribute th e re s ulting w ork unde r th e s am e , s im il ar or a com patibl e lice ns e .

2
 ED ITO RIA L

You m ay notice a fe w ch ange s in th e de s ign th is m onth (h e

s ays w ith a h e al th y dos e of s arcas m ). W e re ce ive d q uite a
bit of fe e dback , both good and bad, on th e de s ign of is s ue
one . W ith th is is s ue w e h ope to addre s s th os e probl ems.
W e al s o w is h to apol ogis e for th e gram m aticale rrors w h ich
sl ippe d th rough l as t m onth . No one pe rs on is to bl am e ,
m is tak e s h appe n and w e 'l lk e e p an e ye out for th e m th is
is s ue .

O th e r th an s om e s m al lniggle s , is s ue #1 w as a roaring
s ucce s s . O ur s e rve r m anage d to h ol d up to 'th e Digg e ffe ct'
and s e rve d in e xce s s of 15,000 dow nl oads w ith in th e firs t
24h ours of re l e as e tim e .

W h at de ligh ts do w e h ave for you th is is s ue ?W e l

l, w e h ave
tutorial s on VirtualPrivate Ne tw ork ing (VPN), ins tal l
ing
Ubuntu on a M ac, h ow one m an conve rte d h is 80 ye ar-ol d
Grandm oth e r into an Ubuntu us e r (!) and an e xce l le nt
aptop. And, of cours e , s o
re vie w of a Sys te m 76 Darte r l
m uch m ore !

Re m e m be r: if you w ant to h ave your s ay about th e

m agaz ine com e and vis it us in our m onth l y, al
lw e l
com e ,
m e e ting. Se e th e l
as t page of th is is s ue for date s and tim e s .

Al
lth e be s t,
Ronnie
Editor

Th ank s to : linuxge e k e ry for th e w e bs ite and .org nam e , m yk al Re born,

uk ubuntu and m rm onday for th e ful lcircl e logo. UbuntuForum s .org for l e tting us
s pam th e ir forum w h ile organis ing al lth is . Th e Ubuntu M ark e ting Te am for
hel ping us prom ote and dis tribute th is m agaz ine . And above al l; th e Ubuntu
com m unity - as a w h ol e - for be ing one big, h e l pfulh appy, fam il y.

Th is m agaz ine w as cre ate d us ing :

3
 NEW S
Ubuntu Not Signing M icros oft
Pate nt De al
Ubuntu founde r M ark
Sh uttle w orth , h as m ade it cl e ar
th at Ubuntu is n't inte re s te d in
form ing a de alw ith M icros oft al ong
th e l
ine s of th os e re ce ntl y re ach e d
by Lins pire , Xandros and Nove l l.
"W e h ave de cl ine d to dis cus s any
agre e m e nt w ith M icros oft unde r
th e th re at of uns pe cifie d pate nt
infringe m e nts ," Sh uttle w orth s aid
in a bl og pos t on Saturday.
H is re m ark s fol low s pe cul
ation in
th e pre s s th at, foll
ow ing Lins pire 's
agre e m e nt w ith M icros oft l
as t
w e e k , Lins pire partne r Ubuntu
m igh t fol low s uit.
H ow e ve r, as w ith re ce nt M icros oft
agre e m e nts w ith Nove l land
Xandros , anoth e r as pe ct of th e
de alh as be e n rais ing h ack l e s in
th e ope n s ource com m unity - th e
purch as e by Lins pire of prote ction
from pate nt l aw s uits .
M icros oft s ays Linux infringe s a
num be r of its pate nts , and th at
Linux com panie s s h oul d s ign up to
pate nt l ice ns ing de al
s.
Sh uttl e w orth s aid M icros oft's
inte ll
e ctualprope rty argum e nts are
not val id, and th at in any cas e an
agre e m e nt offe ring prote ction from
th e m w oul d be no re albarrie r to
litigation.
h ttp://w w w .te ch w orl
d.com
4
Taiw an Firm to Launch Ope n
Source M obile Ph one
Th e NEO19 73, from Firs t
Inte rnationalCom pute r (FIC), is
planne d as th e firs t of a s e rie s of
ph one s bas e d around th e
Ope nM ok o pl atform .
W ill
iam Lai, of O pe nM ok o's
com m unity de ve l opm e nt
de partm e nt, s aid th at th e 2.5G
touch -s cre e n ph one w il lbe
avail abl e onl ine from O pe nM ok o
price d at US$350. Th e ph one is
e xpe cte d to be re ady in
Se pte m be r.
O pe nM ok o w as s e t up by FIC to
de ve lop th e ope n s ource pl atform
for th e ph one . FIC is m ak ing
h ardw are s pe cifications avail abl e
to s oftw are de ve lope rs and is
w ork ing clos e l
y w ith th e m .
Th e ph one com m unicate s on
GSM (Gl obalSys te m for M obil e
com m unications ) ne tw ork s and
s e nds data us ing GPRS (Ge ne ral
Pack e t Radio Se rvice ), offe ring
data rate s of around 60 k bps to
80 k bps .
Expe cte d fe ature s incl ude a 266
M H z Sam s ung CPU, 64 M B of
Flas h m e m ory, 128 M B of DRAM ,
Blue tooth , W iFi, GPS (gl obal
pos itioning s ys te m ), 3-D graph ics
acce l e ration and m otion s e ns ing
acce l e rom e te rs .
h ttp://w w w .l
inuxins ide r.com
 NEW S
Re dH at Ne xt To Sign Pate nt De al
?
"W e 'd love to do th e s am e de alw ith
Re d H at," s aid Tom Robe rts on,
ge ne ralm anage r of corporate
inte rope rabil ity and s tandards at
M icros oft. "W e 're al w ays ope n to
talk ing w ith th e m ."
Th at s e ntim e nt h as not s o far be e n
e ch oe d by Re d H at's . Th e com pany
h as s aid it's not inte re s te d in a de al
. publ ic. Th e com pute rs , w h ich are al l
Re d H at s pok e s w om an Le igh Day
s aid th at is s til
lth e cas e .
"W e continue to be l ie ve th at ope n
s ource and th e innovation it
re pre s e nts s h oul
d not be s ubje ct to an
uns ubs tantiate d tax th at l ack s
trans pare ncy," s h e s aid.
Stil l
, s om e w onde r - as M icros oft l
ine s
up th e oth e r Linux duck s in a ne at
littl
e row - if Re d H at m igh t be ne xt,
and rum ours s ugge s t a pact m igh t be
im m ine nt.
h ttp://w w w .com pute rw orl
duk .com
Ubuntu H om e Se rve r Edition
A ne w h om e s e rve r dis tribution of
Ubuntu is in de ve l opm e nt. Nam e d
Ubuntu H om e Se rve r, it is com pe ting
agains t W indow s H om e Se rve r
w h ich is curre ntly in be ta. Ubuntu
H om e Se rve r is s til
lin pl anning and
de ve lopm e nt s tage s and as ye t th e re
is no re le as e date pl anne d.
De ve lope rs are ne e de d s o if you
th ink you can h e l
p pl e as e vis it
w w w .ubuntuh om e s e rve r.org to ge t
m ore de tails.
Ve ne zue l
an Gove rnm e nt to s e l
l
Linux- bas e d Com pute rs
Th e Ve ne z ue l an gove rnm e nt h as
official l
yl aunch e d th e Bol ivarian
Com pute r initiative , a proje ct th at
aim s to m as s produce l ow -cos t
Linux-bas e d l aptop and de s k top
com pute rs for us e in gove rnm e nt
program s and e ve ntuals al e to th e
be ing m anufacture d in Ve ne z ue l a in
th e s tate of Fal con, w e re de ve l ope d
by Ve ne z ue l a's M inis try of Ligh t,
Indus try, and Com m e rce in
col laboration w ith th e H ong K ong-
bas e d Ins pur Group.
Pricing range s from $405 to $1,400
for various m ode l s de pe nding on th e
h ardw are configuration. "Th e price
of oth e r s im il
ar brands is $9 30, and
th e price of our com pute r is $69 0,
al m os t 40 pe rce nt l e s s ," s ays
Ve ne z ue lan pre s ide nt H ugo Ch ave z ,
de s cribing one particul ar m ode l
.
"But, in addition, it h as an adde d
val ue , give n th at it com e s w ith ope n-
s ource s oftw are and a th re e ye ar
guarante e , w h ile oth e r brands onl y
offe r one ye ar."
Ve ne z ue l a is n't th e firs t country in
South Am e rica to pus h adoption of
Linux and ope n s ource s oftw are .
Th e Linux ope rating s ys te m is
w ide ly us e d in Braz il , w h e re an
e nth us ias tic gove rnm e nt te ch nol ogy
m inis te r once e xpre s s e d a de s ire to
cre ate a "contine nt of ope n s ource ."
h ttp://ars te ch nica.com
5
 FLAVO UR O FTH E M O NTH
W ritte n by Robe rt Cl
ips h am

Las t m onth w e s h ow e d you h ow s im pl

e it w as to ins tal
lUbuntu, and th is m onth w e w il
ldo th e s am e
w ith K ubuntu. K ubuntu is th e s am e ope rating s ys te m as Ubuntu, but w ith s om e obvious diffe re nce s .

Th e firs t th ing you w il lnotice , look ing at ch oos e th e "Ch e ck Dis k " option, th e n
th e s cre e n s h ots , is th e l
ack of brow n in ch oos e "Start or Ins tal lK ubuntu." O nce
K ubuntus de faul t de s k top. Th is is th e bl
ue bar (be l ow ) h as finis h e d rock ing,
be caus e K ubuntu us e s a diffe re nt us e r you w illbe s h ow n a s pl as h s cre e n te lling
inte rface . Th e us e r inte rface is h ow you you w h at is loading.
inte ract w ith your com pute r; th is coul d be
us ing a te rm inalor k ons ol e , typing in
com m ands w h ich your com pute r w il l
re s pond to; or it coul d be a graph ical
inte rface , lik e you s e e in K ubuntu/Ubuntu.

K ubuntu (above l
e ft) and Ubuntu (above righ t)

Th e us e r inte rface s h e re are th e K

de s k top e nvironm e nt – K DE – and th e
GNU O bje ct M ode lEnvironm e nt –
GNO M E. You s h oul d try both , to s e e
w h ich you pre fe r. If you can't de icide ,
don't w orry, both can re s ide h appil y s ide You w il lth e n arrive at th e K ubuntu
by s ide on th e s am e com pute r. de s k top (be l ow righ t), and you w il lh ave a
fullope rating s ys te m w ith s e ve ralope n
Ins tal
ling
s ource appl ications to w ork w ith , including:
O nce you h ave done al lof th e bas ic
Ful lO ffice s uite
th ings m e ntione d in l
as t m onth s 'Fl
avour
Ins tant M e s s aging
of th e M onth ', you can be gin ins talling
W e b brow s e r
K ubuntu. Start
and IRC cl ie nt
by pl acing th e
CD in your O nce you h ave
drive , and finis h e d pl
aying,
re s tarting your you can cl ick th e "Ins tal l
" icon on th e
com pute r. At th e de s k top, to s tart ins tal
ling K ubuntu.
m e nu (righ t)

6
Th e firs t th ing th e ins tal
le r w il
las k is w h at
your pre fe rre d l anguage is :

O n th e ne xt s cre e n, you w il lbe as k e d if

you w oul dl ik e to im port any s e ttings from
Ch oos e it, and cl ick ne xt to continue . It anoth e r us e r, on a w indow s partition for
th e n as k s w h e re you are from , s o it can e xam pl e . You can trans fe r al lyour
s e t th e tim e , and m ak e s ure you ge t th e docum e nts , your de s k top back ground e tc.
fas te s t update s pos s ibl e. If th e s e tup can not de te ct any us e rs , it
w illgive you a s cre e n as k ing for your
O nce it k now s w h e re you are , it w il las k de tail s (be l ow ), s o you can l og on w h e n it
you your k e yboard l ayout (be l ow ), s o th at is ins tal le d. K e e p you pas s w ord s afe !
w h e n you pre s s a k e y on your k e yboard,
it w il
lput th e righ t l
e tte r on th e s cre e n.
Th e m ain k e ys th at coul d caus e probl ems
are “ and @ . If th e s e are s w itch e d, you
h ave s e l
e cte d th e w rong l ayout.

Th e finals te p te l
ls you al lyour s e ttings ,
s o you can go back and ch ange th e m if
ne ce s s ary (be l
ow righ t).
Th e ins talle r w il
lnow as k you h ow you Th e re are al so
w ouldl ik e to partition your h ard drive . s om e advance d
Th e de faul t option (Re s iz e partition) is s e ttings , but if
us ually fine , it w il
ls pl
it your h ard drive you are uns ure in
into tw o ch unk s , one for W indow s and w h at you are
one for K ubuntu. doing, don't
ch ange th e m .

7
Finis h by cl ick ing th e "Ins tal l
" button,
w h ich w il
lfinal is e your s e ttings , and
ins tallK ubuntu.

You can th e n l
og in (above ) w ith th e
us e rnam e and pas s w ord, you ch os e
e arlie r.

If allw e nt w e l
l, th e n you w il
lnow h ave a
dualboot s ys te m w ith K ubuntu and your
oth e r ope rating s ys te m .

You can update K ubuntu by cl ick ing

th e th e update icon (righ t) in th e
W h e n th e ins tal
lation is com ple te , cl
ick bottom righ t of your tas k bar. Ente r
O K , and th e n us e th e K m e nu to l ogout, your pas s w ord and fol low th e
and re s tart. ins tructions to m ak e s ure your
s ys te m is up to date .

If you h ave any probl e m s , you can as k in

#ubuntu on ch at.fre e node .ne t, or on
w w w .ubuntuforum s .org.
K ubuntu (be l
ow )

8
 H O W - TO
W ritte n by Dark m as te r3

Th is is a ve ry s h ort Quick -Start Guide and re vie w for ins tal ling Ubuntu Fe is ty Faw n on an Inte lM ac
M ini. Fe is ty is th e firs t Ubuntu dis tro to inte grate s om e bl e e ding e dge proprie tary drive rs and a ve ry
us e fulRe s tricte d Drive rs M anage r, s o, th e ins tal l
ation is s traigh t aw ay if you fol l
ow th is guide . You
don't ne e d any com pute r abil ity to ach ie ve a pe rfe ct re s ult. H ope you e njoy it.

H ardw are Spe cs a) Th e BootCam p

Icon (le ft)
Firs t of al
l, th e h ardw are s pe cs of th e Inte l
M ac M ini I ow n and us e d for th is b) H e re 's th e
ins tall
ation: BootCam p s cre e n
(be l ow ) in w h ich
Inte lM ac M ini you can s e t th e
1.66Gh z Inte lCore Duo s iz e of e ach
512M B m e m ory partition. You
60GB h ard drive ch oos e h ow big
e ach partition s h ould be but re m e m be r
If you h ave a m ore pow e rfulve rs ion of th is th at Linux can ins talls oftw are onl y in its
m ach ine , don't w orry, it'l
lw ork jus t th e ow n partition, s o, m ak e it big and
s am e . continue ! Now l e ave BootCam p w h e re it
is and jum p to th e ne xt s te p.
Pre re q uis ite s

To ins tal
lFe is ty Faw n on an Inte lM ac
M ini you w il
lne e d to dow nl
oad th e
foll
ow ing s oftw are :

Ubuntu Fe is ty Faw n (Inte lX86) from :

h ttp://w w w .ubuntu.com /ge tubuntu/dow nl
oad

BootCam p for O SX from :

h ttp://w w w .appl
e .com /m acos x/bootcam p/

Starting th e re alw ork

And now l
e t’s s tart w ork ing: 2) Burn Ubuntu Fe is ty’s ISO im age (Us ing
th e “ Dis k Util
ity” al re ady pre s e nt in O SX,
1) Ins tal lBootCam p, run it and s pl it your Appl ications – > Util itie s ), ins e rt it into th e
H D in 2 parts . Th e partition inte nde d for dis c drive . Afte r h aving burnt th e ISO ,
W indow s w il lbe th e one w e ’l lus e to ins tal
l re turn to BootCam p. Ignore th e "Start
Fe is ty. Ins tallation" button. O f cours e , w e don't
h ave to ins tal lW indow s , s o, ins e rt th e
Le t's s e e s om e il
lus trate d s te ps to partition
Ubuntu Fe is ty CD into th e drive and cl ick
your dis c:
on th e Re s tart M ac O SX Button.

9
 Th is ne w partition w illbe th e one us e d as
root, your m ain Linux partition. As s ign to it
th is s ym bol“ /” and form at it as e xt3. Now
cre ate a ne w partition from th e re m aining
fre e s pace and ch oos e to us e it as
“ s w ap”. W e ’re al
ls e t. Start Ins tal
lation
and configure it as you w is h .

6) Re boot and re m e m be r: e ve ry tim e you

w ant to run Ubuntu Linux, you’l lh ave to
k e e p th e al
t k e y pre s s e d during boot and
ch oos e “ W indow s ” (Ye s , re al ly) from th e
boot m e nù th at ope ns .
3) K e e p th e "Al t" k e y pre s s e d th e
m om e nt you l is te n th e clas s ic M ac booting
s ound. A booting m e nu w il lappe ar,
ch oos e CD-RO M . Th e Fe is ty Live CD
M e nu appe ars . You’l lprobabl y be unable
to us e th e k e yboard in th is m e nu, don’t
w orry, jus t w ait. Afte r s om e s e conds ,
Ubuntu Live CD w il ls tart loading and
you’l lbe tak e n into th e Ubuntu Fe is ty
de s k top.

4) W ow ! Th e w ire l e s s card w ork s w ith th e

ne w pre -ins tal le d re s tricte d drive rs ! Th e
Th e guide is al m os t ove r and you’ve got
re s tricte d drive rs m anage r w arns you
Ubuntu ins tal le d on your M ac M ini! Th e
about th e fact th at th e s e drive rs are not
h arde s t th ing is … afte r s e ve raldays of
ope ns ource : do you re al ly care ?
us ing Ubuntu you’l lw ant to de dicate th e
Pe rs onal l
y, I’d l ove O S drive rs to e xis t for
e ntire M ac's drive to Linux!!
any h ardw are but it is not l ik e th at, s o, I
pre fe r productivity ove r re nouncing on th e FinalTuning
us e of re s tricte d drive rs . Th e Inte l3D
graph ic card, obvious l y, w ork s out th e box In your Inte lM ac M ini you've got one of
w ith th e buil t in O pe n Source vide o drive r. th e be s t 3D cards around for th e Linux
Eve ryth ing is pe rfe ct th e n! Le t’s ins tal l w orl d. An Inte lVide o Card. It is not s ure l y
Ubuntu. as bl e e ding e dge and pow e rfulas an
Nvidia or an ATI, but, h e y... th e drive r is
5) Doubl e click on th e Ins tal lIcon on th e ope n s ource , you'l lne ve r h ave probl ems
de s k top and ins tallUbuntu as norm al . w ith it and it is s upe r fas t w ith Linux. So, if
Ch oos e to e dit th e partitions m anual ly. you l ik e fire w ork s , l
e t's burn s om e . If you
Th is part is m uch s im pl e r now th an in any lik e Com piz (Ve ry bas ic e ffe cts ), you can
pre ce de nt Ubuntu ve rs ion, I’m ve ry gl ad s im pl y activate it us ing th e ne w Fe is ty
of th at. Locate th e fat32 partition, de l e te it, De s k top Effe cts :
it w illbe conve rte d to fre e s pace . Now
cre ate a ne w partition from th e e m pty Sys te m - - > Pre fe re nce s - - > De s k top
s pace , but re m e m be r to l e ave at l
e as t 600 Effe cts
M B e m pty to cre ate th e Sw ap partition.

10
 on th e "be ryl
-m anage r" icon, s e l
e ct
W indow s De corator - - > M e tacity, righ t
cl
ick on th e "be ryl
-m anage r" icon again
and e xit. Now you can activate De s k top
Effe cts again.

Turn it on and h e re you go. You'l ljus t

h ave w obbl ing w indow s and th e rotating
Cube . If you pre fe r to h ave tons of m ore 5) Enjoy your s upe r fas t 3D de s k top on a
e ffe cts and productivity functional ity, as M ac M ini w ith out any s ignificant e ffort!
wel las th ous ands of us e l e s s but
w onde rfule ye candy (To s h ow off Ubuntu
to your frie nds and h ave th e m s aying a
big: "W O W !"), you ne e d Be ryl . So, firs t of
al lturn off th e de s k top e ffe cts and th e n:

1) Be rylis in th e officialre pos itorie s now ,

so le t’s ge t it! Run Synaptic, s e arch for
Be ryland ins tal lal
lth at you w is h ! I
re com m e nd e ve ry e xtra plugin pack age
you find :)

2) Sys te m – > Pre fe re nce s – > Se s s ions .

Click on ne w : w rite dow n Be rylin nam e
and “ be ryl-m anage r” (W ith out q uote s ) in
Com m and. Th at’s it!

3) W ith out re s tarting, Al

t+ F2. Ente r "be ryl-
m anage r" and pre s s Re turn. Th e Be ryl
tray icon appe ars and it's running! W O W !
O nce you re s tart th e s ys te m , Be rylw il
lbe
loade d autom atical l
y.

4) Re m e m be r th at if you pre fe r, you can

run Com piz ins te ad of Be ryl . Don’t try to
run Com piz w h il e Be ryl ’s running. To run
Com piz , as w e s aid, Sys te m – >
Pre fe re nce s – > De s k top Effe cts . Enabl e Apple 's M ac M ini is s m al
l y form e d and it
, pe rfe ctl
w obbl e and e nabl e cube . Ne ve r do it can run Ubuntu! W h at m ore coul d you as k for?
w h il
e Be rylis running. To s w itch back to
Com piz , jus t purge "be ryl -m anage r" aw ay
from th e "Se s s ion M anage r", righ t cl ick

11
 H O W - TO UBUNTU FO R
W ritte n by K nigh tw is e G RA ND M A
Th e y s ay it's for ge e k s , th e y s ay its for ne rds , th e y s ay its for th os e w h os e pink ie finge r h as th e im print
of th e e nte r k e y tattooe d on it. W e s ay its for your grandm oth e r ! Ye s m y frie nds , I k id you not, for al l
of th os e w h o are afraid to dip th e ir l ittl
e toe into th e gre at Linux Lak e l e t us re as s ure you: if your
grandm oth e r can do it, s o can you. Be fore w e s tart, l e t m e clarify: w e are not tal k ing about turning
your Linux m ach ine into a cl us te re d databas e s e rve r w ith SQL, PH P, Apach e , Sam ba and w h at-h ave -
you. W e are tal k ing about th e advantage s of us ing Linux ... as a de s k top.

W h y th is e xpe rim e nt. gam ing trip s om e fifte e n ye ars ago w h e n

s h e s w ipe d a h and-cons ol e Te tris gam e
I h ave be e n toying around w ith Linux from one of h e r grandch il dre n. An al lnigh t-
s ince 19 9 9 , i've s e e n th e firs t de s k top gam ing rus h th at nigh t got h e r h ook e d on
ve rs ions e vol ve and i've s e e n th e Linux th e s e littl
e h and h e l d gam ing cons ol es.
O S grow in s tre ngth on th e de s k top. Las t Som e tw o ye ars ago, s h e got a s e cond-
ye ar I found out about Ubuntu Linux and h and w orn-dow n IBM Th ink pad l aptop
h ave be e n doing s e ve ralarticl e s and running W indow s 9 5 for running s om e
podcas ts on th e us e of Ubuntu as a s im pl e gam e s l ik e ... s urpris e , s urpris e ...
de s k top s ys te m . I am by no m e ans a Te tris and s tuff. So w h e n s h e cal ledme
Linux z e al ot; no pingu-pim ping for m e ! las t w e e k in a panic be caus e s h e
Drop m e in th e Linux com m and l ine and accide ntal ly de l
e te d s om e s h ortcuts and
I'm as l os t as Dirty H arry in a nails al on. I "coul d not ge t h e r gam e s to w ork
do, h ow e ve r, h ave a ph il os oph y about anym ore " band in h e r de s pair, w as e ve n
com pute r us e . I th ink te ch nol ogy s h oul d s ugge s ting buying h e rs e l f a brand ne w
be s afe and s im pl e and th at a com pute r laptop... it w as tim e to jum p in.
s h oul d w ork for you and not th e oth e r
w ay around. Linux h as al w ays be e n s e e n
as too h ard and too com pl icate d. So it
w as tim e for a l ittl
e e xpe rim e nt. Coul d we
put toge th e r a Linux de s k top s ys te m th at
w as s im pl e to us e , s afe from virus e s ,
s pam , and us e r m is tak e s , and h ad a l ot
of s oftw are to offe r. Coul d w e buil da
Linux box th at your grandm a coul d us e ?
Wel l
,l e ts s e e .

Ste p one : Find a grandm oth e r.

M y fiancée 's fam il y is pre tty te ch s avvy,

h e r dad is a com pute r w iz z , h e r m oth e r is Granda M e m e (above )
on M SN m e s s e nge r al lday, h e r s is te rs Ste p Tw o : Find a l
aptop
live online and h e r grandm oth e r ... is righ t
up th e al le y. Its not th at th e y are al l Finding a l aptop for cybe r-granny w as not
com pute r fre ak s out th e re , th e y al
ljus t allth at h ard. M y fiancée 's dad h ad an ol
d
h ave an ope n m ind tow ards te ch nol ogy. Com paq l aptop lying around th at w as no
Good ol d granny s tarte d out on h e r l
onge r in active duty. W ith an 800 M h z

12
Proce s s or and 256 m e g of ram it h ad
be e n s e t out to pas ture be caus e of a
de fe ctive PCM CIA s l ot on th e
m oth e rboard. Appare ntl y, force fe e ding a
PCM CIA card ups ide dow n into its s l ot
doe s not bode w e l lfor th e laptop. So it no
longe r h ad w ire le s s capabil ity and s ince
th e fam il y h ad bough t a ne w l aptop .. it
w as jus t l aying around. O ne dis carde d
laptop, one grandm a in ne e d .. Ch e q ue
pl e as e !
Ste p Th re e : Som e body ge t m e a pe nguin.
W ith our laptop s e cure d unde r our arm it
w as tim e to brow s e th rough s om e
avail able ope rating s ys te m s to h e l
p “ La
m am a” out. Th e ne e ds to be m e t w e re :
A) Be s im pl
e to us e .
B) B s afe from m al
lw are , virus e s , and
us e r-boo-boo's .
C) O ffe r e nough fre e s oftw are to avoid
h aving to tak e out a l oan to ge t s tarte d.
Th is k ind of rule d out W indow s XP Pro
righ t off th e bat. Se ve ralLinux
dis tributions offe re d th e m s e l
ve s up but
Ubuntu took th e cak e .
So it w as tim e to l e tloos e th e be as t.
Dow nl oading a s tandard ISO im age from
th e 5.10 ve rs ion w as about 20 m inute s '
w ork and th e w h ol e ins tallation proce s s
took about an h our. Th e s im pl e
ins tall
ation onl y both e re d us w ith th e
country s e ttings , k e yboard l ayout and a
us e r nam e . No probl e m th e re . W e l
e t it
h ave th e e ntire h ard dis k at its dis pos al
s o w e did not h ave s om e boot l oade r
cl ogging up th e s tartup proce s s . Th e ide a
h e re w as "e as y as firing up a toas te r."
W h e n th e bongos rum bl e d to announce
th e firs t s ucce s s fulbootup w e w e nt
s traigh t to th e Synaptic pack age m anage r
and s tarte d adding gam e s to our
ins tallation. Ubuntu com e s w ith s om e
gam e s in th e s tandard configuration, but
w h e n you l ook in th e pack age m anage r
its lik e uncove ring th e los t is l
and of
Arcadia. Som e gam e s are action bas e d ,
al ot of th e m are brain-bre ak e rs ; ide alfor
our te s t s ubje ct. W e loade d th e dis tro up
w ith s om e 100 gam e s and th at w as th at.
Now w h at do you do w h e n you've be at
Te tris for th e 500th tim e and can't s e e
anoth e r pol ygon for th e re s t of th e
e ve ning?You w atch a m ovie righ t?
Unfortunate l y m os t Linux dis tributions
com e w ith out s upport for pl aying m pe g2
(DVD) and m p3 s upport. W ith th e l ate s t
Ubuntu w e can e as il y ins tal
lal lth e vide o
playing goodie s you coul d e ve r w ant. Jus t
ope n a m e dia fil e and Ubuntu 7.04 w il l
as k you if you w ant to ins tal lth e goodie s .
Ste p Four: Se ns e s om e s im pl
icity.
Now . its no good to h ave a com pl icate d
s ys te m for our s upe r granny, is it?Tim e
to s im plify th e w h ol
e de al
.
Ste p one : Autom atic Login. In th e s e ttings
m e nu you can ch oos e th e AUTO LO GIN
fe ature . Th is m ak e s s ure our l ittl
e laptop
boots up s traigh t into th e us e r's de s k top.
No l ogin/pas s w ord com binations but h e y...
its not l ik e s h e 's typing up m e m o's for th e
Pe ntagon.
Ste p tw o: Coul d i s e e th e m e nu ple as e ?
Th ank s to th e Gnom e de s k top th e m e nu
is pre tty s im ple as it is , but a l ot of
options on th e m e nu w e re jus t not
ne e de d. So w e adde d th e gam e s m e nu,
th e DVD and CD pl aye r icon and th e
s h utdow n icon to th e m ain m e nu bar and
re m ove d e ve ryth ing e l s e . Ne xt up th e
m e nu bar w as s e t at th e bottom of th e
s cre e n and th e bar you s e e be l ow w as
s e t up top. I le ft an icon for th e m ain
“ s tart” m e nu th e re s o I coul d acce s s all
th e oth e r program s and s e ttings if ne e de d.
Ste p th re e : Expl
aining h ow it w ork s O k
Gran, h e re is h ow it w ork s . Pre s s th e bl
ue
13
button to s tart up th e com pute r. W ait until
you h e ar th e m us ic. Th e n you h ave four
buttons on th e bottom on th e s cre e n. O ne
w illgive you a m e nu w ith ALL th e gam e s .
If you w ant to pl ay a m ovie , jus t pop in a
DVD and cl ick on th e s e cond button w ith
th e little fil
m re e lon it. W ant to pl ay s om e
m us ic?Pop in th e m us ic CD and cl ick on
th e little CD. And to s h ut dow n th e s ys te m
jus t cl ick on th e littl
e door th e re .

Now w ith com pute rs com ing m ore

Th at's it, h al
f-an-h our l
ate r Granny w as
traine d on us ing th e com pute r, h ad a ton
of gam e s to ch oos e from , coul d pl ay
m ovie s and m us ic CDs and w as abl e to
boot up and s h utdow n h e r s ys te m w ith out
e ve r h aving to w orry about pre s s ing th e
w rong button. W h o s aid Linux w as h ard?
Concl
us ion.
Ne e dl e s s to s ay, Nana w as th ril le d. Sh e
h ad a s tabl e and s e cure ope rating s ys te m
and did not h ave to w orry about pre s s ing
th e w rong buttons be caus e q uite frank l
th e re w e re none . A grin as w ide as th e
Brook l yn bridge s pre ad acros s h e r face
w h e n s h e s aw th e e ntire s e l
e ction of
gam e s s h e coul d play and not h ave to
w orry about bre ak ing anyth ing in th e
proce s s . “ Th is is m uch e as ie r th an th e
pre vious one ” s h e utte re d, cas ting a
w ayw ard gl ance to h e r ol d W indow s
com pute r.
abundant in our e ve ryday l ive s , it's
naturalth at e ve rybody w ants one ,
incl uding e ve ryone in your fam il y. But as
th e fam il y com pute r-ge e k (and
profe s s ionalIT cons ul tant) it w oul d jus t
turn into a nigh tm are providing s upport
for e ve ryone . So us ing a s im pl ifie d
Ubuntu ins tal l
ation doe s k e e p cal l
s about
virus e s , brok e n ope rating s ys te m s and
s pyw are aw ay. Eve n if s h e de cide d to go
onl ine , I w ould jus t h ave to add th e
Fire fox and Pidgin (form e rl y k now n as
Gaim ) buttons to h e r m e nu bar, give h e r
a cras h cours e in ch at 'n' s urf and s h e
w oul d be on h e r w ay. No h igh
m ainte nance on th is ope rating s ys te m .
W h e n h andl e d righ t it can be a s im pl er
and s afe r ope rating s ys te m to pl ant dow n
in th e s oilof an ine xpe rie nce d us e r. O K ,
you can't ins tal lal lth e CDs you s e e in
th e s h op, but Linux com e s w ith al lth e s e
goodie s buil t in. Th is w ay you e ve n s ave
y...
m one y! So th e q ue s tion is : h ave you
s e e n your granny l ate ly?

I'l
lbe k e e ping tabs on our cybe r-granny
ove r th e ne xt fe w w e e k s to s e e h ow s h e
ge ts al ong w ith h e r ne w s ys te m .

14
Re m e m be r to vis it w w w .ful
lcircl
e m agazine .org for al ate s t ful
lth e l lcircl
e ne w s .

And re gis te r w ith our bl

og to re ce ive an e m aile ve ry tim e w e l
aunch a ne w is s ue !

W h y not re gis te r at
Ubuntu Forum s and
participate in th e
com m unity? Ubuntu is a com pl e te Linux-
bas e d ope rating s ys te m , fre e l
y avail able w ith
both com m unity and profe s s ionals upport.By
joining Ubuntu Forum s , you can participate in
our active and grow ing com m unity.
Re gis te ring on our forum ge ts you acce s s to
pos ting ne w m e s s age s , ge t s upport, us e
private m e s s aging, dow nl oad im age s from our
gal l
e ry and m uch m uch m ore !

15
 H O W - TO VIRTUA LPRIVATE
W ritte n by M ark (ak a M ous e cl
one ) NETW O RK ING
I h ave be e n us ing Ubuntu s ince 6.06. I h ave s e t-up conne ctions on 6.06 us ing pptp-config, on 6.10
us ing k vpnc, and now on 7.04 w ith ne tw ork -m anage r-pptp. 7.04's s e t-up, by far, h as be e n th e e as ie s t
w ay of doing th ings . M y onl
y w is h w as th at th is cam e pre -ins tal
le d. Le t's ge t to th e m e at s h al
lw e ?

Th e foll lh ave th is s e t In th e e nd you s h oul

ow ing com m ands w il d h ave s om e th ing
up righ t aw ay. th at look s l
ik e th is :

I k now pe opl e
s udo apt-ge t ins tal
lne tw ork -m anage r-pptp are agains t it,
but I w oul d
re com m e nd
You s h ould now s e e VPN unde r th e re s tarting at
apple t. Cl e t -> VPN
ick on th e ne tw ork appl th is point. If
conne ctions - > Configure VPN. you ins is t on
s taying
conne cte d th e fol l
ow ing s h oul d ge t th e
s e tting in th e appl
e t in th e s ys tray

NOTE: e ach of th e com m ands be l ow

s h ould be on one l ine e ach , no Ente r until
afte r you've type d th e w ord 're s tart'

s udo /e tc/dbus -
1/e ve nt.d/25Ne tw ork M anage r re s tart

s udo /e tc/dbus -
1/e ve nt.d/26Ne tw ork M anage rDis patch e r
re s tart

Afte rw ard you w il

lh ave :

Th is h as by
far be e n th e
e as ie s t s e t-
up th at I
h ave gone
th ough . It is s im pl e . Th e one th ing th at I
ick th e Add button
Cl
th ink th at Ubuntu s h oul d h ave done w as
W al k th ough th e w iz ard. M ak e s ure you to auto-ins tal lth is pack age . Th e n again, I
configure your options corre ctl y. I h ave us e VPNs and not e ve ry h om e us e r of
h ad th e nm -appl e t cras h on m e for not Ubuntu w il lus e VPNs s o m aybe it is good
configuring th e route w ith th e /24 or th at th e y l
e ft it out, l e s s bul k for th e
/[ne tw ork ] afte r it. ave rage h om e us e r.

16
 H O W - TO
W ritte n by Ronnie Tuck e r
PART 2

Las t m onth w e cre ate d a ne w docum e nt, adde d s om e fille r te xt th e n w e nt on to add col um ns and al so
l
ink th e colum ns toge th e r to h ave our te xt autom atical
ly flow from one col um n to th e ne xt. Th is m onth
w e w il
lfocus on adding im age s to our docum e nt.

Firs t th e te ch nicalbit: JPG im age s us e To pl ace an im age into th e

com pre s s ion to k e e p th e fil e s iz e s m al l. docum e nt w e cl ick th e
W h il e th is m ay s e e m l ik e a good ide a at Ins e rt Im age Fram e button:
firs t, it com e s at a cos t: your im age s m ay
s h ow "artifacts ." Artifacts are s m al l And draw out a box, jus t l
ik e w e did l
as t
s q uare s you s om e tim e s s e e in im age s -- m onth for a te xt box:
m ainl y on w e b page s w h ich ofte n us e
h igh l y com pre s s e d im age s - and w h il e
th is m ay l ook good on a w e b page , it
look s bad in a docum e nt, e s pe cial ly if it's
to be profe s s ional ly printe d. GIF im age s ,
on th e oth e r h and, h ave a l im ite d col our
pal e tte . W h il
e th is m ay be good for a tw o-
col our l ogo it's not s o good w h e n you try
and drop a ful l
-col our im age to 256
col ours , s o I s ugge s t you us e PNG
im age s . Do not fal linto th e trap of s im pl y
conve rting a bad q ual ity JPG/GIF to a
PNG; th is w on't re pair th e im age . Al w ays
s tart w ith th e be s t-q ual ity im age you can To ch os e an im age , righ t cl
ick on th e
find. im age fram e and ch oos e Ge t Im age :

So, w ith out furth e r ado, le t's l

oad up our
te xt docum e nt from l as t m onth .

A fil e dial ogue box w il lappe ar and from

th e re you ch oos e w h ich im age you w ant
to ins e rt into th e im age fram e and cl
ick
th e O pe n button:

17
 But now th e im age is too big, tim e to
re duce its s iz e . In th e Prope rtie s w indow
click th e Im age tab.

Th is s h ow s th e
pos ition and s iz e of
th e im age , but l e t's
not gue s s s iz e s .
Le t's re s iz e in th e
docum e nt its e l f.
Se l e ct th e Scal e to
O K , th e re 's a proble m ... as you can s e e Fram e Siz e option.
from th e s cre e n above , th e im age is badl y Th is w il lal l
ow us to
croppe d in th at w e can onl y s e e a s m al
l re s iz e th e im age by
portion of th e im age . W e ne e d to m ak e a re s iz ing th e im age
de cis ion h e re . Do w e m ak e th e im age fram e . Be s ure to
fram e th e s am e s iz e as th e original h ave Proportional
im age ?O r do w e re s iz e th e im age to th e tick e d as th is w il l
im age fram e ?For de m ons tration s top us from s tre tch ing th e im age out of
purpos e s w e 'l ldo both . proportion.
Firs t, to m ak e th e im age fram e th e s am e Cl
ick th e im age fram e and re s iz e it.
s iz e as th e originalim age w e coul d drag
out th e im age fram e box. Eas ie r s tillis to
righ t click on th e im age fram e and ch oos e
Adjus t Fram e to Im age :

18
And of cours e you can m ove th e im age Edit Sh ape and a ne w w indow w il
lappe ar.
fram e to pos ition th e im age w h e re you
ple as e . Don't panic! W e are n't going to us e m os t
of th is w indow , but notice th at your im age
Th e only proble m w e h ave now is th e fram e now h as a bl ue outl ine . In th is ne w
im age obs curing th e te xt be h ind it. w indow , tick th e Edit Contour option, our
blue outl ine now h as a bl ue bl ob on e ith e r
Sol ution: h ave th e te xt fl
ow around th e corne r, le ft cl
ick and drag th os e bl ue
im age . bl obs , you'l ls e e
th e contour l ine
To do th is , s e l
e ct th e im age fram e and in m ove and your
your Prope rtie s w indow , s e l e ct th e Sh ape te xt w ith it. Pl ay
tab. Th e Sh ape tab is ne w to us but al l around w ith th is
w e w ant to do for now is s e l e ct th e Te xt contour l ine to
Flow s Around Fram e option. ge t th e te xt to
your l ik ing.
Th e re w e go!
Th e im age now W h e n you're
dis place s th e te xt done , cl ick th e
around it's Edit Contour
e dge s ! Try option again to
m oving th e turn it off and
im age fram e on click End Editing
th e page and to cl os e th at
you'l ls e e th e te xt w indow .
update its e l f
autom atical ly.
Jus t lik e m agic!

And th at's pre tty m uch al

lyou ne e d to
k now about im age s !
Th e onl y probl e m w e 're s til
lle ft w ith is
th at th e te xt is a bit too cl os e to th e righ t
s ide of th e im age . Th is is e as il y fixe d. Ne xt m onth w e 'l llook at te xt. W e re al
ly
don't w ant to h ave to s e l e ct paragraph s of
W ith th e im age fram e s til
ls e l
e cte d and in te xt and appl y a font type or s iz e ove r and
th e Sh ape tab (in th e Prope rtie s w indow ) ove r again, s o w e can cre ate Paragraph
we sel e ct Us e Contour Line . Ne xt cl ick s tyl
e s , but th at's for ne xt m onth .

19
 REVIEW SYSTEM 76
W ritte n by Al
an M .H ood D A RTER LA PTO P
For th e pas t s ix m onth s , I h ave be e n re ading at th e Ubuntu Forum s about Sys te m 76, a com pany th at
pre -ins tal
ls th e Ubuntu ope rating s ys te m on l aptop and de s k top s ys te m s . An opportunity aros e to
purch as e a Sys te m 76 com pute r afte r I de cide d th at m y pare nts curre nt l aptop, a Com paq Pre s ario
(AM D 1.5 Gh z , 512 M b, ATI graph ics , 20 Gb h ard dis k ) running Ubuntu 6.06, ne e de d to be re pl ace d.
A Darte r s e e m e d l
ik e a pe rfe ct fit as it is l
igh tw e igh t, s tyl
is h , and runs a fam il
iar ope rating s ys te m .

Darte r Com pone nt Se l

e ction and Orde ring
Sys te m 76 Darte r Laptop Spe cifications
I didn't orde r th e de faul t Darte r from CPU - Inte lCore 2 Duo: Core 2 Duo T7200
Sys te m 76. Ins te ad, I upgrade d th e Darte r 2.0GH z 4M B 667F
w ith a fas te r proce s s or, m ore RAM , and
RAM - 1.5 GB DDR2 667 M H z (1 x 1 GB + 1
large r h ard drive capacity (s e e box righ t). x 512 M B)
Th e s ys te m w as orde re d on Friday, April
H ard Drive - 80 GB 5400 RPM *
20, 2007. O rde ring w as s im pl e and
s traigh tforw ard th rough th e Sys te m 76 Graph ics - Inte lGM A 9 50 224 M B Inte grate d
w e bs ite (w w w .s ys te m 76.com ) and s h ortl y Graph ics
afte r I s ubm itte d th e orde r, I re ce ive d an Scre e n - 13.3” W ide s cre e n W XGA
e m ailth at th e Darte r w oul d s h ip in five (1280X800)
bus ine s s days . Sys te m 76 k e pt th e ir w ord Sound - Inte lH igh De finition Audio
and it s h ippe d on tim e . Be caus e I
Ne tw ork ing -10/100(LAN)
sel e cte d a s h ipping addre s s th at diffe re d
from th e bil l
ing addre s s , I h ad to ve rify W ire l
e s s - Inte l802.11 abg & Bl
ue tooth
th at th e s h ipping addre s s w as corre ct. I Card Re ade r - 4 in 1 Card Re ade r
s pok e to Carlat Sys te m 76 and h e m ade CD ROM Drive - CD R, CD RW , DVD R and
s ure th at th e orde r w e nt to m anufacturing DVD DL
th e s am e day. If th at w as n't e nough , Carl
Expans ion - PCI Expre s s Card Sl
ot (34/54)
w as k ind e nough to upgrade m y s h ipping
from ground to 2-day at no ch arge . Ports - VGA, 3x USB 2.0, M ic In, H e adph one
O ut, Fire W ire 139 4B, S-Vide o
Righ t on Batte ry - 6 Ce l
lLith ium Ion
s ch e dul e, Dim e ns ions - 12.4" x 8.9 " x 1.24" (W x D x H )
th e
s ys te m W e igh t - 4.3 l
bs
arrive d on * Upgrade d com pone nt
M onday,
April30,
2007.
W h e n th e
Fig.1
Darte r
arrive d, I
w as tak e n a l ittl
e bit by s urpris e by th e
box in w h ich it w as s h ippe d. Th e box h ad
noth ing on th e outs ide e xce pt for th e s h ip-
to s tick e r (Fig.1). Th e oth e r notabl e ite m

20
about th e m ach ine w as its s m al le r th an h as good tactil e fe e l . Th e k e ys on th e
e xpe cte d s iz e (note th e 8.5”x11” s h e e t of k e yboard are s urpris ingl yl arge w h ich w ill
pape r in th e picture ). Th e com pone nts pl e as e us e rs w ith w ide finge rs . Th e tw o
w e re pack e d tigh t w ith cardboard ins e rts pl as tic s il
ve r buttons of th e m ous e pad
(no pack ing pe anuts , pape r, or oth e r fe e la bit too cl ick y th ough . Th e s ys te m
e nvironm e ntal l
y unfrie ndl y m ate rials ), and runs q uie t, w h ich w il lbe ve ry pl e as ing to
th e laptop its e lf w as pack e d in a s m al ler m y m om as th e fan on h e r l aptop is
box ins ide th e s h ipping box. Incl ude d in nois y. Th e onl y s ignificant nois e th at th e
th e s h ipm e nt w e re th e Darte r laptop, s ys te m m ak e s is w h e n th e h ard drive
batte ry, tw o CDs (m anualand W indow s be com e s active . I l ik e th e button th at
Drive rs ), carrying cas e , Inte lCore 2 Duo re le as e s th e lid, it is s e cure ye t e as y to
pam ph l e t, pow e r cord, pow e r trans form e r, pus h . O ve ral l
, de s pite th e l ow q ual ity
an ins truction s h e e t and a th ank you l e tte r s pe ak e rs , I give th e q ual ity of th e Darte r
(Fig.2). Th e carrying cas e fe e l s wel l h igh m ark s .
padde d, good q ual ity, and h as num e rous
pock e ts . H ardw are Com patibil ity
H ardw are th at W ork s Out- of- Th e Box

Th e out-of-th e -box e xpe rie nce h as be e n

q uite good, but not pe rfe ct. Th e top four
com pone nts (w ire l e s s , graph ics ch ip,
dis pl ay, and m ous e pad) w e re of th e m os t
conce rn be caus e th e s e com pone nts te nd
to give us e rs , incl uding m ys e l f, th e m os t
troubl e w h e n ins talling Ubuntu on a
cus tom buil t m ach ine . I jus t about fe l love r
afte r I turne d th e Darte r on for th e firs t
tim e and th e ne tw ork m anage r
im m e diate l y de te cte d th e w ire less
ne tw ork s in m y are a. Eq ual ly im pre s s ive
w as th e fact th at 3D vide o w as w ork ing
Fig.2 w ith out inte rve ntion, w h ich m e ant s e tting
up De s k top Effe cts w as s im pl e . I w as
Qual
ity pl e as e d to find th at th e Inte lGM A 9 50
ch ips e t to be pow e rfule nough for
I h ave us e d l aptops th at w e re h igh q ual ity De s k top Effe cts (Com piz or Be ryl ). I w as
w ork h ors e s , as w e llas th os e th at fe l t e q ual ly ple as e d to find th at th e dis pl ay
ch e ap th row aw ay m ach ine s . So, h ow w as w ork ing e xactl y as adve rtis e d
doe s th e Sys te m 76 Darte r com pare ? (re s olution of 1280x800) righ t out of th e
Quite w e l lactual l
y. Th e lid is pl as tic but box (z e ro inte rve ntion on m y part).
not fl im s y. Th e h inge th at attach e s th e l id
to th e bas e is s turdy. Th e s pe ak e rs are H ardw are th at Partial
ly W ork s
tinny and not ove rl yl oud, e ve n w h e n
s ound is s e t to th e m axim um l e ve l. For Th e re w e re s om e h ardw are com patibil ity
norm alus e in a re l ative l
y q uie t room , th e is s ue s w ith th e Darte r. Som e of th e m
s ound l e ve l, w h e n m axe d, is pl e nty l oud w e re fixe d afte r a drive r update , but not
e nough , h ow e ve r if th e s ound ne e ds to be al l. Th e de vice s th at w e re initial l
y partially
incre as e d, th e n de dicate d s pe ak e rs w il ldo functional , and late r fixe d, w e re th e optical
th e trick . Th e k e yboard is not cl ick y, but, it drive and m icroph one . W h e n th e s ys te m

21
firs t arrive d th e re w e re oth e r probl e m s as Prope rl y w ork ing pow e r m anage m e nt h as
wel l, th e Darte r w oul d fre e z e up w h ich be e n an is s ue w ith Linux dis tributions for
w as trace d to ins e rting a non-bl ank CD s om e tim e and, adm itte dl y, re s ol
ving th e
dis k into th e opticaldrive th e CPU w oul d is s ue is com pl e x. I w as h oping th at th is
s pik e e ve ry fe w s e conds (Fig. 3). Th e w oul d be a non-is s ue by orde ring a
m icroph one jack al s o didn't w ork at firs t. Darte r, but unfortunate l y, th e Darte r is not
Afte r cons ul ting w ith Sys te m 76 te ch nical im m une to pow e r m anage m e nt troubl es.
s upport by e m ail , ph one , and th e forum , a
fix coul d not be provide d im m e diate l y, but Se rvice and Support
th e probl e m s w e re re s ol ve d w ith a drive r
Sys te m 76 s e rvice h as be e n ve ry good,
update a fe w w e e k s l ate r.
be ginning w ith purch as ing al lth e w ay to
re s ol ving h ardw are is s ue s . Be caus e m y
orde r didn't go im m e diate l y to
m anufacturing, Carlat Sys te m 76
upgrade d th e s h ipping to 2-day air w ith out
additionalcos t. I contacte d Sys te m 76
te ch nicals upport us ing e m ail , ph one and
Fig.3 th e forum s . Sys te m 76 re s ponde d to al l
th re e form s of com m unication in a tim e l y
Tw o h ardw are com pone nts th at re m ain m anne r. Re s pons e s to m y te ch s upport
partial ly functionalare th e k e yboard Fn e m ailw e re re ce ive d w ith in 24 h ours .
k e ys and th e 4-in-1 card re ade r. Not al lof W h e n I cal le d th e ir te ch s upport ph one
th e Fn k e ys w ork on th e Darte r, s uch as num be r, I didn't ge t th rough to a pe rs on
th e tw o Fn k e ys for dim m ing/brigh te ning im m e diate l y. H ow e ve r, I w as not put on
th e s cre e n and th e LCD/M onitor s w itch e r. h ol d, but rath e r, I w as ins tructe d to l e ave
Th e Fn k e y th at puts th e s ys te m in a m e s s age . A Sys te m 76 te ch s upport
s us pe nd m ode w il lactivate s us pe nd; re pre s e ntative (Tom ) cal le d w ith in an h our
h ow e ve r, th e s ys te m w il lnot aw ak e n from or tw o and w e dis cus s e d th e h ardw are
s us pe nd m ode . Al lof th e oth e r Fn k e ys is s ue s de s cribe d above at l e ngth and th e
(i.e ., w ire l e s s , m ail
, w e b brow s e r, LCD be s t cours e of action. Sys te m 76 te ch
bl ank , m ous e pad on/off, and vol um e ) s upport w as jus t as re s pons ive to forum
w ork prope rl y. Th e 4-in-1 card re ade r pos ts , i.e ., w ith in 24 h ours . I w as
w ork s w ith SD cards , but not w ith particul arl y im pre s s e d w ith th is forum
M e m ory Stick Pro (Sony products ) or re pl y m e s s age “ Dang it! I th ough t I h ad it
M ul tim e dia Cards (M M C). Be caus e nail e d th e re .” - th om as aaron (Sys te m 76
de vice s th at us e th e s e re m ovabl e m e dia Support Re pre s e ntative ).
can conne ct to th e Darte r via a USB
Com m e nts from Tw o W indow s - Onl
y Us e rs
dongl e , and SD cards are s o pre val e nt,
th is is l ik e ly to be a m inor annoyance for During th e tim e I w as w riting th is re vie w
m os t us e rs . articl e , I h ad an opportunity to s h are th e
Darte r w ith tw o W indow s us e rs th at h ad
H ardw are th at Doe s Not W ork
ne ve r us e d a Linux dis tribution. Th e firs t
Th e pow e r m anage m e nt fe ature s of th e W indow s us e r w as a frie nd th at cam e to
Darte r are not ve ry good. Th e onl y pow e r vis it and is a W indow s Pow e r Us e r
s aving fe ature th at w ork s re liabl y is (W PU). I offe re d m y frie nd th e Darte r to
bl ank ing th e s cre e n, s ince ne ith e r us e for th e Inte rne t, ch e ck ing w e b-bas e d
s us pe nd nor h ibe rnate w ork w e l le nough . e m ail , and w h ate ve r e l
s e h e ne e de d. H e

22
acce pte d th e offe r and us e d th e Darte r Afte r us ing th e Darte r for th e pas t five
ove r th e w e e k e nd. H e m ade s e ve ral w e e k s , I concl ude th at th e Darte r w oul d
com m e nts about th e m ach ine th at s tood be an e xce l l
e nt laptop for anyone
out. w anting a l aptop for w e b s urfing, e m ail ,
office w ork , e tc. It is fas t and h as pl e nty
H e re m ark e d th at th e Darte r is re s pons ive , of graph ics pow e r to run De s k top Effe cts .
fas t, and q uie t. H e al s o m e ntione d th at M y w orrie s about th e Inte lGM A 9 50 not
th e gray l e tte ring on th e k e ys of th e be ing pow e rfule nough to run fancy 3D
k e yboard w as too l igh t re s ulting in a de s k top e ffe cts (Com piz or Be ryl ) h ave
difficul t tim e in pe ck ing at th e k e ys w ith vanis h e d com pl e te l
y. Th e pow e r of th is
h is inde x finge rs (Fig. 4). Be caus e I am a Darte r not onl y m ak e s its e l
f appare nt w ith
touch typis t, I h adn't cons ide re d th at th is running 3D e ye candy, but al s o for
coul d be an is s ue for s om e us e rs . Th e running e ve ry day appl ications , w h ich
Darte r be cam e particul arl
y us e fulto h im launch w ith in s e conds . Th e e ntire s ys te m
for te s ting h is tw o USB th um b drive s afte r is ve ry nim bl e and re s pons ive . Th e Darte r
w e w e nt gol fing and h is pul l-cart rolled al s o is im pre s s ive w ith its ligh t w e igh t,
into a pond. H e found th at th e Darte r low nois e , and l arge k e ys on th e
s e rve d h im w e l lin te s ting th e th um b k e yboard.
drive s th e ne xt day.
Be caus e I didn't h ave to w orry about
com patibil ity is s ue s w ith s e ve ralh ardw are
com pone nts th at typical ly pl ague us e rs
th at do a s e l f-ins tallon a l aptop, orde ring
th e Darte r w ith Ubuntu Fe is ty Faw n
(7.04) pre -ins tal l
e d h as m y m ade l ife
s im ple r. Som e h ardw are is s ue s w e re s til l
pre s e nt initial ly, m os t of w h ich w e re
re s olve d by re porting th e h ardw are is s ue
and w aiting for a drive r update . Al th ough
Darte r h ardw are com patibil ity is n't
Fig.4 flaw le s s , it is pre tty darn cl os e and th e
fe w th at re m ain (i.e ., Fn k e ys , 4-in-1 card
Th e s e cond W indow s us e r w as a co- re ade r, and pow e r m anage m e nt), are
w ork e r and not a W PU. H e agre e d to tak e m inor for th is re vie w e r.
th e Darte r h om e for an e ve ning afte r I tol d
h im about th e coole ye -candy. H e Sum m ary: th e Darte r w ith th e Inte lCore 2 Duo
T7200 CPU and 1.5 Gb RAM is a gre at
re turne d th e ne xt day and th e firs t th ing
pe rform ing s ys te m , w h ich is s im pl
e to us e th ank s
h e m e ntione d w as th e 3D cube . Th e cube to th e Ubuntu Fe is ty Faw n ope rating s ys te m .
re ally s tood out as a us e fulfe ature

be caus e of th e pe rce ive d val ue of h aving
additionalw ork s pace s . H e s aid th at h e
h ad no probl e m in cre ating an O pe n
O ffice W rite r docum e nt and s aving it.
O ve ral l, h e found th e s ys te m to be e as y
to us e . Sim il ar to th e W PU, m y co-w ork e r
w as al s o im pre s s e d w ith th e s pe e d of th e
Darte r and its pe rform ance .
Concl
us ion and Rating
4/5
Sys te m runs , h ardw are th at did not w ork w e re n't
s h ow s toppe rs , s om e s ys te m configuration w as
ne ce s s ary th at re q uire d bas ic com pute r k now l
e dge
AlH ood l ive s in M inne s ota, USA. An avid te ch
e nth us ias t, h e h as be e n us ing Linux s ince 2000,
w ith Core lLinux. Alh as al s o e xpe rie nce w ith
M andriva, Xandros , and Ubuntu dis tro's . In addition
to ope n s ource com puting, h e is a h us band, a fath e r
of tw o, and e njoys s pe nding tim e outdoors .

23
 INTERVIEW G RA M PS
Inte rvie w e d by Adrian Re a D EVELO PER
Don Al lingh am is th e le ad de ve l ope r for th e GRAM PS ge ne al ogy s oftw are . H e re w e put Don unde r th e
s potl
igh t and as k h im th e q ue s tions th at you, th e re ade rs , s e nt in from our ful lcircle pre vie w is s ue .
If you w ant to l
e arn m ore about GRAM PS pl e as e s e e is s ue #1 of ful lcircl e for our in de pth re vie w .

So Don, w h at's your back ground w ith training. I le arne d program m ing from
com pute rs and program m ing? e xpe rie nce , w ork ing w ith oth e r pe opl
e , and
re ading book s .
I've be e n invol ve d w ith com pute rs and
program m ing s ince th e e arl y 80's . I But afte r 20 ye ars , I s til
lcons ide r m ys e l
f to
s tarte d w riting program s in col l
e ge for be l
e arning.
VAX/VM S and Unix s ys te m s us ing
Fortran, Pas caland C. M y firs t job out of W h at gave you th e ins piration to cre ate a
col le ge w as de ve l oping s oftw are us e d in ge ne al
ogy program ?
th e de s ign of VLSI ch ips . For about th e
pas t 13 ye ars , I h ave be e n out of Th e ins piration for GRAM PS cam e from
s oftw are de ve l opm e nt, de s igning VLSI m y fath e r. H e w as re s e arch ing th e fam il y
ch ips . tre e , but h e w as h aving cons ide rabl e
troubl e w ith W indow s and th e ge ne al ogy
Since l e aving s oftw are e ngine e ring, m os t program h e h ad be e n us ing. H e w as n't
of m y program m ing h as be e n in h ardw are abl e to conve rt to Linux untilh e h ad a
de s cription language s (incl uding Ve ril og w ork ing ge ne al ogy program . So, figuring it
and Sys te m Ve ril og) and s cripting w oul d be e as ie r to w rite a ge ne al ogy
l
anguage s (s uch as Pe rland Pyth on). program th an to try to fix W indow s , I
s tarte d w ork ing on a program . Afte r I h ad
About s ix ye ars ago, I s tarte d th e s om e th ing th at w as bas ical l
y w ork ing, h e
GRAM PS proje ct and h ave be e n invol ve d convince d m e to re l e as e it.
in Pyth on coding e ve r s ince .
H ow long did it tak e you to cre ate th e firs t
Is GRAM PS th e firs t pie ce of s oftw are you s tabl
e ve rs ion of GRAM PS?
h ave w ork e d on?
Wel l,al ot de pe nds on w h at you m e an by
GRAM PS is th e firs t Fre e Softw are "s tabl e ". It took al
m os t th re e ye ars to
program th at I h ave w ork e d on. re le as e th e 1.0 ve rs ion, but pe opl e w e re
us ing it ve ry s ucce s s full
y for a l ong tim e
Earl y in m y care e r, I de ve lope d be fore th at. Th e firs t re l
e as e , ve rs ion
s pe cial
iz e d s oftw are for th e de ve l
opm e nt 0.0.1, took about tw o m onth s to put
of VLSI de s igns . toge th e r.
H ow did you l e arn to program and h ow W h at advantage s doe s GRAM PS h ave ove r
long did it tak e ? oth e r ge ne al
ogy s oftw are ?
I'm pre tty m uch a s e lf-taugh t program m e r. In th e true Fre e Softw are s tyle , GRAM PS
O th e r th an a col
le ge cours e in Fortran m ak e s s ure th at you ow n your data. M os t
and anoth e r in Pas cal , I h ad no re alform al program s l ock your data into th e ir ow n,

24
proprie tary form at. At th is point, you are at H ow do you find s o m uch tim e for a
th e m e rcy of th e program for acce s s to product th at obvious ly give s you gre at
your data. pride , but no financialre turn?

W h il
e m os t ge ne alogy program s can Wel l
, I h ave a ve ry unde rs tanding fam il y.
e xport GEDCO M , th e y us ual l
y do a poor M y w ife h as gone back to col l
e ge , s o I
job of e xport. Th is is due to GEDCO M ne e d to h ave s om e th ing to do w h il
e sh e
be ing an inade q uate form at, and w ork s on h e r h om e w ork :-)
program s de ve l oping th e ir ow n,
incom patibl e e xte ntions . Quite ofte n, s om e M y abil ity to w ork on GRAM PS varie s
of your data is not e xporte d, m ak ing it ove r tim e , de pe nding on w ork h ours and
im pos s ibl
e to trans fe r allof your data to fam ily tim e . Us ually, w h e n I ge t too bus y,
anoth e r program . oth e r de ve lope rs can h e l p tak e up th e
slack .
GRAM PS w il le xport to GEDCO M , but it
w il
lal s o e xport to an XM L file th at Each re l e as e of GRAM PS h as a nam e
contains al ldata in th e databas e . W e tak e n from l ine s in th e M onty Pyth on
e ve n provide an XM L DTD. s h ow s cript, w as th e re a particular re as on
for ch oos ing M onty Pyth on?
H ow w oul d you
rate th e s ucce s s M any on th e
of GRAM PS, and de ve l opm e nt te am
w h e re w oul d you are fans of M onty
lik e to s e e it Pyth on. Since
going? Are th e re GRAM PS is
any s pe cific w ritte n in th e
ch ange s in Pyth on l anguage ,
GRAM PS you it jus t s e e m e d
w oul dl ik e to appropriate . And
de ve l op? you h ave to adm it,
"M onty Pyth on and
Al ot de pe nds on th e H ol y Grail " h as
your de finition of s ucce s s . GRAM PS is a to be one of th e funnie s t m ovie s of al l
pre tty obs cure program com pare d to tim e .
Fire fox or Evol ution. H ow e ve r, if you
cons ide r th e "targe t m ark e t," GRAM PS is GRAM PS is a pow e rfuldatabas e but h as
wel lk now n in th e Linux ge ne al ogy be e n ge tting m ore com pl icate d for ne w
com m unity. us e rs .H ow do you bal ance s im pl icity and
us e abil ity for ne w us e rs w ith th e de m ands
But m y de finition of s ucce s s w oul d be - "Is of databas e inte grity and functional ity for
th e program w h at you e xpe cte d it to be ?" s e as one d data h andl ing ge ne al ogis ts ?
And I w oul d h ave to s ay th at GRAM PS
h as far e xce e de d any of m y e xpe ctations . W e h ave cre ate d a fictional"Aunt M arth a"
GRAM PS is m aturing, and th e fe ature s e t w h o w e us e as our targe t audie nce .
is s e ttling dow n. Th is w illal low us to Eve ryone h as an Aunt M arth a in th e ir
s pe nd l e s s tim e on databas e and GUI fam ily. Sh e is th e com pute r us e r w h o
is s ue s and m ore tim e on re port ge ne ration doe s n't k now a l ot about com pute rs , and
and data anal ys is . re ally doe s n't w ant to k now m ore . Sh e
jus t w ants to us e a fe w th ings on h e r

25
com pute r w ith out h aving to inve s t a l
ot of
tim e .
Eve ry fe ature th at w e add goe s th rough
th e "Aunt M arth a Te s t". W e as k ours e l ve s
if Aunt M arth a coul d re as onabl y be
e xpe cte d to unde rs tand th e fe ature . If th e
ans w e r is "no", th e n w e h ave to as k if th e
fe ature s h ould be incl ude d, if th e re is a
w ay to s im plify th e probl e m s o th at s h e
coul d unde rs tand it, or if w e coul d h andl e
th e fe ature in s uch a w ay th at s h e w oul d
not h ave to w orry about it.
In th e GNO M E tradition, w e try to offe r
re as onabl e de faul ts . M any tim e s th is is
e nough to h andl e com pl e x is s ue s . For
m os t pe opl e , th e de faul t ope ration is jus t
w h at th e y w ant, and th e y ne ve r h ave to
w orry about anyth ing be yond th at.
Do you h ave a pre fe rre d Linux Dis tro to
w ork in?
Al lth e m ach ine s in m y h ous e (s ix at l
as t
count) are running Ubuntu. M y s e rve r
runs 6.06 LTS, and th e re s t are running
7.04. I've be e n running Ubuntu s ince th e
re l
e as e of 4.10.
H ow do you cope w ith producing s o m any
trans l
ations into oth e r form ats for oth e r
Linux dis tro's ?
For l anguage s : w e h ave a good te am of
trans lators on th e proje ct. GRAM PS is a
rath e r difficult program to trans l ate , s ince
it ge ne rate s te xt bas e d re ports . Th e
trans lators put in an am az ing am ount of
w ork to provide trans l ations .
For pack aging: th e officialre l e as e out of
th e GRAM PS proje ct s ource code , not
any particul ar ins tall
ation pack age for any
dis tribution. W e h ave vol unte e rs to
pack age th e program for diffe re nt
dis tributions , s uch as Ubuntu, De bian,
Fe dora, SuSE, and e ve n W indow s .
GRAM PS h as be e n porte d not onl
y to
26
various Linux dis tros but to M ac and
W indow s variants .H ow do you fe e labout
your program , be ing e xpande d for oth e r
dis tros ?
GRAM PS is re l e as e d unde r th e GPL. Th is
allow s pe opl e to port it to w h ate ve r
platform th e y de s ire . W h il e I pe rs onal
ly
h ave no inte re s t in e ith e r M ac or
W indow s , I s e e noth ing w rong w ith th e s e
ports .
Th at be ing s aid, I h ave notice d a ge ne ral
diffe re nce be tw e e n Linux us e rs and
W indow s us e rs . Linux us e rs are m ore
lik e l
y to inte rpre t "Fre e Softw are " in te rm s
of "Fre e as in s pe e ch ." Th e y are m ore
lik e l
y to participate in th e proje ct and h e l p
us im prove th e program . W indow s us e rs
are m ore l ik e l
y to inte rpre t "Fre e s oftw are "
as "Fre e as in be e r," l ook ing for a
program th at doe s n't cos t anyth ing. As a
re s ult, th e y do not te nd to participate as
m uch .
Are th e re m any difficul tie s adapting th e
s ys te m for diffe re nt culture s and
language s , w h e n th e fam il y re fe re nce s are
diffe re nt acros s th e w orl d?
M uch of th e com pl e xity in de ve l oping
GRAM PS com e s from atte m pting to
h andl e al lth e variations around th e w orl d.
For e xam pl e , s om e th ing as s im pl e as a
nam e , is in re al ity, ve ry com pl e x. In s om e
cul ture s , a nam e is dis pl aye d in th e
form at of Give nNam e Fam il yNam e , in
oth e rs , it is dis pl aye d as Fam il yNam e
Give nNam e . Som e cul ture s us e
patronym ic nam e s , oth e r don't. To
prope rl y h andl e nam e s , w e h ad to
de ve lop a h igh l y fle xibl e s ys te m w h ich
allow s us e rs to cus tom iz e h ow th e y w ant
to dis pl ay nam e s .
In oth e r cas e s , w e 've h ad to de ve l op
s pe cializ e d code for diffe re nt l ocal e s . An
e xam pl e of th is w oul d be th e Re l ations h ip
Cal culator. In m any Engl is h s pe ak ing
are as , th e re is a fine granul arity of M os t com m e rcials ys te m s h ave cl os e d
re l
ations h ips be tw e e n cous ins . You w il
l form ats . W e do not try to re ve rs e
find te rm inol ogy s uch as "s e cond cous in e ngine e r th e s e form ats . Th e re are q uite a
once re m ove d". O th e r cul ture s do not fe w program s out th e re w ith q uite a fe w
m ak e th at dis tiction, but w illins te ad diffe re nt form ats . It is not practicalto try
diffe re ntiate be tw e e n a m ale and a fe m al
e to h andl e e ach re vis ion of e ach
cous in. proprie tary form at.

H ow do you m anage a te am of de ve l ope rs , W e w oul d pre fe r a s tandard ge ne al ogy

acros s th e w orl
d to produce a coh e s ion in form at th e re s ol ve s th e de ficie ncie s of
de ve l
oping a s ingle product? GEDCO M . Unfortunate l y, th is doe s not
e xis t. In th e pas t, w e trie d to ge t oth e r
O ur IRC ch anne l(#gram ps on proje cts inte re s te d in w ork ing tow ards a
irc.fre e node .ne t) h as be e n k e y in com m on inte rch ange form at, but w e found
com m unication be tw e e n de ve l ope rs and littl
e inte re s t.
us e rs . W h ile diffe ring tim e z one s can m ak e
th e IRC ch anne la You h ave s pe nt a
bit difficul t at tim e s , s ignificant
it offe rs m any proportion of your
be ne fits . Not onl y tim e de ve l oping
are w e abl e to ge t GRAM PS, w h ich is
good dis cus s ions lice ns e d unde r GPL.
going on in re al Do you e ve r fe e l
tim e , w e al s o h ave your code , e ve n if
a ch ance to ge t to us e d w ith in th e
k now e ach oth e r. l
ice nce , coul d be
O nce you ge t to de ve lope d and
k now e ach oth e r, it prom ote d by
be com e s m uch anoth e r te am ,
e as ie r to w ork toge th e r. cal l
ing it a ne w nam e and tak ing th e
s potligh t aw ay?
An im portant th ing for any proje ct is to
m ak e s ure th at you put as ide your e go, I'm not conce rne d about th is at al l
. If
and w ork tow ards a conce ns us . Us ual ly, a s om e one e l s e coul d tak e th e code and
bit of dis cus s ion and a bit of com prom is e im prove it, w h ile adh e ring to th e GPL,
produce s a be tte r ide a in th e e nd. th e n m ore pow e r to th e m . Th is onl y
be ne fits th e us e r. Afte r al
l, th is is w h at
H ow difficult is it w ork ing w ith oth e r Fre e Softw are is al labout.
form ats s uch as GEDCOM and oth e r
ge ne al
ogicalprogram s w h e n conve rs ion Th is w oul
d not be unl ik e th e
into GRAM PS is re q ue s te d? De bian/Ubuntu re l ations h ip or th e
Ubuntu/Lins pire re lations h ip.
Th e cl os e s t th ing to a s tandard form at in
ge ne al ogy is GEDCO M . But as an Do you h ave a s trate gy to re cruit m ore
inte rch ange form at, it is ve ry poor. Th e de ve l
ope rs ?
form at w as de s igne d by th e LDS Ch urch
to h andl e th e ne e ds of th e LDS Ch urch . Eve n th ough w e ne e d additionalh e l p, I
H ow e ve r, th e re are q uite a fe w th ings th at don't active l
y re cruit de ve l
ope rs . Se ve ral
GEDCO M cannot h andl e. ye ars ago, w e atte m pte d a bounty

27
program , w ith no s ucce s s . Th is h as l ed to th e m as s e s , you can ge t an ide a of th e
m e to be l ie ve th at a pe rs on h as to be s e l
f- k ind of s oftw are th at Linux is m is s ing.
m otivate d to be a val uabl e contributor to About a th ird of th e s oftw are cons is ts of
a proje ct. gam e s . Anoth e r th ird cons is ts of virus
ch e ck e rs , fire w al
ls , anti-s pyw are , and
On th e s ys te m as a w h ol
e , th e program oth e r s ys te m util itie s . Th e re m aining th ird
de ve l
ope rs and com m unity, w h at w oul d is th e inte re s ting s e t. Th is cate gory
you s ay your s tre ngth s and w e ak ne s s e s cons is ts of ge ne al ogy program s , gre e ting
are ? card program s , re cipe program s ,
lands cape and h om e de s ign program s ,
I w oul
d s ay th at our s tre ngth s are a good and s im il ar program s . And re gardl e s s of
code arch ite cture and a good com m unity. w h at you th ink of th e s e s tore s , th e y do
k now th e ir cus tom e r bas e and w h at th at
O ur bigge s t w e ak ne s s is a l
ack of
cus tom e r bas e de s ire s .
de ve l
ope rs . GRAM PS is a com pl icate d
program , and re q uire s a l ot of s upport. Part of th e re as on th at GRAM PS w as
Quite fre q ue ntly, th e s upport de m ands cre ate d w as to h e l
p fil
lth is void. M y
are ove rw h e l
m ing. pe rs onalopinion is th at if Linux w ants to
attract a w ide r bas e of us e rs it ne e ds to
M uch tal k h as be e n m ade about th e
w ide n th e type s of program s th at it offe rs .
s tre ngth of th e Ubuntu/Linux de s k top
now , e s pe cially com pare d w ith th e W h at program s and de ve l
opm e nt s ys te m s
com m e rcialW indow s Vis ta.Do your fam il y do you us e to produce GRAM PS?
us e Linux or is it h ard to prom ote it in a
curre ntl y W indow s dom inate d GRAM PS is buil t us ing Pyth on, PyGTK ,
e nvironm e nt? and Gl ade . As far as de ve l
opm e nt, about
th e onl
y toolI us e is Em acs .
I h ave us e d Linux e xcl us ive l
y for about
s e ve n or e igh t ye ars now . M y w ife and And final
ly, w h at advice w oul
d you give to
s on both run Linux, re ve rting to W indow s a budding program m e r?
onl y for s pe cific program s (AutoCad and
iTune s ). M ak e s ure you are program m ing be caus e
you e njoy program m ing. Be w il ling to put
Linux w oul d be e as ie r to prom ote to your as ide your e go, and l is te n to oth e rs . Not
ave rage W indow s us e r if a w ide r range of onl y w il
lyou l e arn m ore , you w il lal so
program s w e re offe re d. Linux h as m ore dis cove r th at th e ide as of oth e rs can
th an its s h are of m us ic pl aye rs , IRC re all
y im prove your proje ct.
program s , and RSS aggre gators . But
th e s e are n't th e program s th at appe alto M any th ank s to Don for tak ing th e tim e
your ave rage Aunt M arth a, and untilLinux to s it unde r th e s potl
igh t and be gril
le d!
de ve l ops a w ide r range of s oftw are , it is
going to h ave a l im ite d appe al.

If you w al
k into a s tore th at s e l
ls s oftw are

Ne xt m onth s inte rvie w e e w il

lbe none oth e r th an Col
in W ats on, Ins talle r Te am Le ade r,
Ubuntu Com m unity CouncilM e m be r and Line M anage r for h al f th e dis tro te am !

Pl in to: q ue s tions @ ful

e as e e m ailyour q ue s tions for Col lcircl
e m agazine .org

28
 M Y STO RY SIX M O NTH S
W ritte n by M att H oy O N PURE LINUX
Today, Th urs day 22nd Fe b, 2007 m ark s s ix m onth s from th e day I form atte d m y h ard drive , and l
e ft
m ys e l
f w ith pure l
inux. It w as a GRUB e rror th at s tarte d it al
lon 22nd Se pt, 2006.

I h ad a W indow s XP and Ubuntu Dappe r
Drak e (6.06 LTS) dualboot s ys te m , pre tty
s im pl
is tic. Th e m ajority of m y h ard drive
w as give n to XP, as I’d onl y be e n us ing
Linux for around a m onth . Anyw ay, you
can re ad in ful lw h at h appe ne d h e re , but
bas ical ly s om e s im ple fiddling around as
root le ft m e in a pos ition th at, as I k now
today w as ve ry, ve ry e as y to fix. But, of
cours e be ing ne w to Linux I pl aye d
around futh e r, de s troye d m y XP partition
and de cide d to form at. Upon cl e aning m y
h ard drive , Ubuntu be cam e m y Prim ary
O pe rating Sys te m and to th is day, I
h ave n’t l ook e d back .
Th e dis tribution I’ve be e n us ing for th e
be s t part of th e s e pas t s ix m onth s is
Ubuntu, “ Linux for h um an be ings ”. I
s tarte d back th e n w ith Ubuntu 6.06,
Dappe r Drak e and h ave s ince upgrade d
to 6.10 Edgy Eft. Ubuntu is bas e d on
De bian, and is avail abl e to us e w ith
GNO M E (Ubuntu), K DE (K ubuntu) and
XfCE (Xubuntu). I us e GNO M E be caus e I
lik e th e m inim al is m and l ook s of GNO M E,
and pre fe r it’s l ayout to K DE. Both K DE
and XfCE are al s o avail abl e on m y
s ys te m (pre s e nte d w ith a m e nu at l og in)
but I ch oos e not to us e th e m . I’d
re com m e nd Ubuntu to anyone l ook ing to
try out Linux. It’s com pl e tl
e y fre e , unl
ik e
s om e oth e r popul ar dis tributions , and h as
a gre at us e r bas e w il l
ing to s upport you,
as w e l las pre m ium s upport avail able from
profe s s ional s if re q uire d. To find out m ore
on Ubuntu, h e ad to th e Ubuntu page at
M BH oy.com , or Ubuntu.com .
I’ve got al lm y h ardw are w ork ing, printe r,
w e bcam , ph one , Pock e tPC, iPod, e tc,
w h ich is q uite an ach e ive m e nt as
h ardw are s upport is us ual ly th e one th ing
th at k e e ps pe opl e from conve rting
com pl e tl
e y to Linux. iPod s upport w as
e as y. I jus t com pil e d th e l ate s t ve rs ion of
libgpod, and ins tal le d am aroK 1.4.5 ove r
th at. To ge t th e printe r w ork ing, I h ad to
s w ap printe rs w ith s om e one , I’m afraid to
s ay. Le xm ark is too s tingy to de ve l op
Linux drive rs for th e ir al l-in-one (printe r,
s canne r, fax) range , s o I h ad to s w ap for
a s tandard Z 601, w h ich is printe r onl y.
Ph one s upport w as probabl y th e e as ie s t
and invol ve d s yncing via bl ue tooth ,
w h e re as Pock e tPC is a ve ry h it and m is s
de vice th at fe w pe opl e h ave m anage d to
ge t w ork ing, w ith it be ing W indow s M obil e
bas e d. Bas ical ly I jus t trick e d s ync into
th ink ing m y De l lAxim X3 w as s om e form
of iPaq , and com pil e d num e rous drive rs
and pie ce s of s oftw are re l e vant to th at.
Th e re s ul t w as pl ugging it in and h aving
one cl ick s ync w ith Pock e tPC, bril liant.
Som e pie ce s of s oftw are I’m l ik ing at th e
m om e nt are am aroK , K ope te , Fire fox,
Th unde rbird, Vive , gFTP, VM W are ,
M ul tis ync and m any, m any m ore . am aroK
is , q uite frank l y, th e be s t pie ce of s oftw are
th at h as e ve r grace d m y s cre e n. It’s w orth
conve rtng to Linux for am aroK al one , it
re al ly is a trul y aw e s om e m e dia pl aye r,
can’t faul t it. It al
so l e ts m e put th ings on
m y iPod, s o it’s us e d cons tantl y for
pl aying, purch as ing and iPodding m y
m us ic. K ope te is M SN M e s s e nge r for

29
K DE. It h as s om e nice e ffe cts and l e ts m e
ch at to m y frie nds , nice . Fire fox and
Th unde rbird are pure e s s e ntial s , s o m uch
s o th at th e y com e ins tal l
e d in Ubuntu.
Vive h as be e n m e ntione d be fore h e re , it’s
th e s ingle fas te s t DVD rippe r I’ve e ve r
s e e n, l
ove it. gFTP l e ts m e put fil e s on th e
M BH oy.com s e rve r, VM W are l e ts m e run
oth e r ope rating s ys te m s ins ide m y Ubuntu
de s k top and M ul tis ync s yncs w ith m y
Pock e tPC. Bril liant l ine up, s om e w orth
trying out if you’re a l inux us e r, or l ook ing
into if you’re th ink ing of conve rting.
In concl us ion, I’d s ay m y tim e w ith Linux
h as be e n both re w arding and e xciting. I’ve
le arne d m any ne w s k il ls and be com e a
part of w h at is e as il y one of th e m os t
frie ndlie s t and large s t com m unity bas e d
proje cts w orl dw ide . Be fore conve rting I
h ad m y w orrie s , partl y w h y I k e pt m y XP
partition for th e firs t m onth . Dipping m y
toe into Linux w as n’t e nough , I didn’t h ave
th e m ind s e t or th e m otive to ge t th ings
w ork ing, but once it w as m y onl y option
and I w as force d to m ak e th e s e th ings
w ork , I re al is e d jus t h ow inte re s ting and
fun it w as not onl y to re s e arch and ge t
th e s e th ings w ork ing m ys e l f, but to s e e
th e re s ul ts and s h are th e m w ith in a
com m unity. O f cours e , m y am az ing s e t up
th at is dualm onitor (17inch m onitor on
de s k , 26inch m onitor m ounte d on w al lto
th e righ t), 2.1 Cre ative Labs s pe ak e r
s ys te m , iPod, Bl ue tooth Ph one ,
Pock e tPC, W ire l e s s K e yboard/M ous e and
s o m uch m ore w oul dn’t al lbe h e re today
if it w as n’t for th e w e al th of Linux
inform ation and h appy, h e l pfulpe opl e on
th e inte rne t, w h ich h as h e l pe d m e s o
m uch w ith m y s ix m onth journe y. (M os t of
w h ich , I h ave to s ay w as at
Ubuntuforum s , a s ite you s im pl y can’t
afford not to vis it as a as piring Ubuntu
us e r, or e ve n a ful l-tim e linux ge nius ).
Try it out today, Linux is fre e and m e and
th ous ands of oth e rs are h e re to h e l
p you
w ith anyth ing you ne e d. I h igh l
y
re ccom e nd it, m y journe y s o far
h as be e n a brilliant one , and I
k now it’s onl y jus t be gun.

Ubuntu is a com m unity de ve l ope d ope rating s ys te m th at is pe rfe ct for l

aptops ,
de s k tops and s e rve rs .W h e th e r you us e it at h om e , at s ch oolor at w ork Ubuntu
contains al lth e appl ications you'l le ve r ne e d, from w ord proce s s ing and e m ail
appl ications , to w e b s e rve r s oftw are and program m ing tool s.

Ubuntu is and al w ays w il

lbe fre e of ch arge .You do not pay any l ice ns ing fe e s .
You can dow nl oad, us e and s h are Ubuntu w ith your frie nds , fam il
y, s ch oolor
bus ine s s for abs olute l
y noth ing.

30
 UBUNTU YO UTH
W ritte n by Sam ue lBarre tt

Th e future of O pe n Source is in th e Young Pe opl e of today, th at's w h y th is corne r of th e m agaz ine is

for young pe opl e or s im pl
y th os e w h o are young at h e art.

OK , I've ins tal

le d Ubuntu, but now w h at? is anoth e r re vol
utionary appl ication from
M oz il
la allow ing you to fe tch and s tore
You h ave ins tal le d Ubuntu, your s itting your e m ails in one s im ple and e as y to
th e re adm iring your tal e nt of actual l
y re ach location.
ge tting it to w ork nice l y on your m ach ine ,
th e n you s udde nl y re alis e th at you
h ave n't got your favourite program or th e
program s ins tal le d are a bit dul l.Wel lal
l
th at is about to ch ange ! In th is m onth 's
articl e w e are going to be cove ring th e
m os t e xciting and fun program s avail abl
e
to l inux.

Fl
ock
M oz il
la Th unde rbird is avail
abl
e from :
Fl ock is a s ocialw b 2.0 brow s e r offe ring Synaptic/Apt-Ge t
th e ability to e as il
y s h are ph otos , s tay up
to date w ith your favourite s ite s and Audacity
s e arch th e w e b w ith its pow e rfulinbuil t
s e arch tool . Bas e d on M oz il l
a Fire fox, Audacity is a fre e audio re corde r and
Fl ock is s ure to pl e as e ! e ditor th at allow s you to re cord l
ive audio,
cre ate and e dit your ow n podcas ts and
cre ate m ul ti-track re cordings .

Fl
ock is avail
abl
e from :
h ttp://w w w .ge tde b.ne t/app.ph p?nam e =Fl
ock

Audacity is avail
abl
e from : Synaptic/Apt-
Th unde rbird Ge t

W e bm ailis tak ing th e w orl

d by s torm , but De m ocracy Pl
aye r
w oul dn't it be nice if you could ch e ck all
De m ocracy is a vide o pl aye r w ith a
your e m ailaccounts in one pl ace ?W ith
diffe re nce . De m ocracy offe rs th e abil
ity to
M oz il
la Th unde rbird you can! Th unde rbird

31
s ubs cribe to Inte rne t s h ow s via RSS fe e d,
s e arch YouTube , Googl e Vide o and
Yah oo! Vide o and e as il y dow nl oad
BitTorre nt file s w ith th e abil ity to w atch
th e m in th e s am e appl ication.

XCh at is avail
abl
e from : Synaptic/Apt-Ge t

Pidgin

Pidgin is a ins tant

m e s s aging cl ie nt for
De m ocracy Pl
aye r is avail
abl
e from : Linux w h ich al low s you
Synaptic/Apt-Ge t to conne ct AIM , ICQ,
Jabbe r/XM PP, M SN
Songbird M e s s e nge r, Yah oo!,
Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu,
Songbird is a digitaljuk e box and w e b IRC, Nove l lGroupW is e
brow s e r m as h -up. Songbird al low s you to M e s s e nge r, QQ, Lotus
s ubs cribe to your favourite podcas ts /radio Sam e tim e , SILC,
s h ow s , brow s e th e w e b l
is ting allplayable SIM PLE, and Z e ph yr. Pidgin h as th e
audio fil e s on th e page and organis e and abil ity to login to s e ve ralaccounts at
s can your com pute r for audio fil es. once , trans fe r fil e s , s e nd nudge s and
ch ange your buddy icon.

Pidgin is avail
abl
e from :
h ttp://w w w .ge tde b.ne t/app.ph p?nam e =Pidgin

Ink s cape

Ink s cape is a ope n s ource ve ctor

graph ics e ditor s im ilar to Adobe Il l
us trator.
W ith its s im ple -to-us e inte rface , Ink s cape
is s ure to s h ow th e cre ative s ide of you.

Songbird is avail
abl
e from :
h ttp://w w w .ge tde b.ne t/app.ph p?nam e =Songbird

XCh at

XCh at is an IRC (Inte rne t Re l ay Ch at)

clie nt for Linux. XCh at allow s you to join
m ul tiple IRC ch at room s and s e rve rs , tal
k
publ icly and private ly and m os t
im portantl y, all
ow s you to join us at
#ful lcircle m agaz ine and #ubuntu-youth on
irc.fre e node .ne t
Ink s cape is avail
abl
e from : Synaptic/Apt-
Ge t
32
 LETTERS
Eve ry m onth w e l ik e to publ is h s om e of th e e m ail
s w e re ce ive . If you w oul dlik e to s ubm it a le tte r for
publ ication, e ve n if it's a com pl im e nt or com plaint, pl
e as e e m ailit to: le tte rs @ fullcircle m agaz ine .org.
PLEASE NOTE: s om e l e tte rs m ay be e dite d for s pace re as ons .

Th ank s ve ry m uch to you and e ve ryone
w h o contribute d to th is proje ct. I h ave n't
finis h e d re ading it ye t, but th e conte nt I
h ave s e e n s o far is of e xce l le nt q ual
ity
and I'm ve ry pl e as e d to s e e it com ing
toge th e r.
Gre at job on th e m agaz ine . I'm not
curre ntly a Linux us e r, but h ope to be
s oon. I found th e m agaz ine to h ave a
gre at m ix of articl e s , and it w as n't w ay
ove r m y h e ad, lik e s o m uch Linux s tuff
I've re ad.

M att Z im m e rm an W onde rfulpre m ie re is s ue . I'm l

ook ing
forw ard to future is s ue s .

I am a fairl y ne w Linux us e r and I w oul d
l
ik e to th ank you for putting out th is
m agaz ine . I k now it probabl y tak e s a l ot
of h ard w ork and I appre ciate it. I l ik e h ow
you h ave s om e th ing for e ve ryone , th e
noobs and th e m ore advance d us e rs .
Pl e as e continue to cre ate th is w onde rful
m agaz ine .
FaDe 420
Le e Sch w abe
I jus t re ad you #1 is s ue and I l ove d e ve ry
bit of it. Re ally inform ative , nice l ook ing,
com pl e te and inte re s ting, I'l
lde finitl
y be a
re gul ar re ade r.
I us e GNU/Linux (Ubuntu from day 1) for
about a ye ar now , and I us e it as m y
prim ary O S s ince about 2 m onth s . Your
m agaz ine is lik e candy to m e .

I ve ry m uch e njoye d re ading Ful

lCircl
e K e e p on th e good w ork , you're doing al
l
M agaz ine Is s ue #1. th is for a good re as on.

H ow e ve r, I w ouldl ik e to be abl e to print it Joh n from M ontre al

, PQ
out s o I can re ad it, s o I th ink any l ink s
you put in articl e s s h ould als o h ave th e
urlprinte d as w e l l
, not jus t a "find it h e re "
link titl
e . Th ank you, and I l ook forw ard to Th is m agaz ine is abs ol ute l
y incre dibl e. I
future is s ue s ! s tum bl e d onto th is w h il
e brow s ing th e
w e b and w as h igh l y intrigue d by it as I
M ack Rich ards am a re l ative l
y ne w K ubuntu us e r (Dappe r
Drak e w as m y firs t dis tro). Th e h ow tos
Editor: W e 'l
ldo our be s t to try and incl ude are nice and ve ry inform ative . Pl e as e
ful lURL's w h e re pos s ibl
e , but s om e tim e s k e e p up th e good w ork .
th e l
ong URL's e ith e r tak e up too m uch
s pace or w oul d be a nigh tm are to h ave Garry Butl
er
you type in! But w e 'llk e e p it in m ind!

33
Afte r us ing Ubuntu for a fe w m onth s I'm
am az e d at h ow m uch I acce pte d as
norm alope rating proce dure unde r
W indow s . Now , w h e n I us e W indow s at
w ork I h ave no patie nce for th e cons tant
slow dow ns , cras h e s , bl
ue s cre e ns , and
fatale rrors th at is th e norm for W indow s .
Th ank s again and k e e p up th e good w ork .
Ste ve Goodm an
Editor: Th os e are jus t a fe w of th e e m ail
w e re ce ive d afte r th e re l
e as e of is s ue #0.
M ys e l f and al lth os e invol ve d w ant to
th ank you al lfor th e good w is h e s and
articl e s you've be e n s e nding in. K e e p
th os e article s and s torie s com ing!
I w ant to te l lyou about s om e th ing th at
coul d be inte re s ting for a future articl e:
fe is ty faw n is not com patibl e w ith nvidia
G80 cards (8800 gts and gtx). If you
look ing for inte rne t you w il ls e e th at a lot
of pe opl e ins tal lth e prope rty and
re pos itory drive rs and onl y ge t a bl ack
s cre e n. It w oul d be nice if you anal yz e
th e probl e m and tal k about in your
m agaz ine .
Die go Giao
Editor: Anyone e l s e out th e re h aving G80
probl e m s ?Re m e m be r: you can us e
Launch Pad to fil e bug re ports . Be s ure to
s ubm it your bug re ports be caus e if no-
one k now s about your bug, it'l lce rtainl
y
ne ve r ge t fixe d!
I jus t w ante d to com pl im e nt you on th e
m agaz ine . I found it to be ve ry w e l l
th ough t out and e xe cute d. I didn't k now
about Gram ps and am pl anning on
w ork ing on a fam il y tre e proje ct. I am
34
gl ad I re ad th e m agaz ine to l
e arn about
th is program .
M ich ae lNaugh ton
Editor: Th ank you M ich ae l . I'm s ure you'l
l
find GRAM PS to be e xactl y w h at your
look ing for. I've us e d it in th e pas t for part
of m y ow n fam il y tre e , and it w as a joy to
us e . Ch e ck th is is s ue for our e xcl us ive
inte rvie w w ith Don, th e l e ad de ve lope r of
th e GRAM PS s oftw are .
s
It w as a pl e as ure re ading th e firs t is s ue of
ful lcircle , but I w oul dlik e to com m e nt on
th e 'top 5 l inux gam e s ' article ... I've trie d
m os t of l inux gam e s and h ave ne ve r
found a gam e th at is be tte r th an
Tre m ul ous (w w w .tre m ul ous .ne t) and
h ttp://e n.w ik ipe dia.org/w ik i/Tre m ul ous
for m ore info.
Ve rb
Editor: Th ank s Ve rb. Tre m ul ous doe s
inde e d l ook pre tty s pe cialand ve ry
pol is h e d. W e 'llge t s om e one from th e
te am on th e cas e to give it a te s t run and
h ope ful ly re vie w it in a future is s ue . Be tte r
s til
l; anyone out th e re w ant to w rite an in-
de pth re vie w of Tre m ul ous ?
Above : Tre m ul
ous in al
lits 3D gl
ory!
 Q& A
W ritte n by Robe rt Cl
ips h am

If you h ave an Ubuntu re l ate d q ue s tion w h ich ne e ds ans w e ring, e m ailit to us h e re at

q ue s tions @ ful
lcircl
e m agazine .org, and w e 'llpas s th e m on to Robe rt for ans w e ring in a future is s ue .
Pl e as e include as m uch inform ation as you can about your probl em.

Is it pos s ibl
e for m e to ch ange m y us e rnam e and pas s w ord I us e to l
og into Ubuntu?
Can I do th is w ith out cre ating a ne w account?

You can ch ange al lyour l og-in de tail

s s im pl y by going to Sys te m > Adm inis tration >
Us e rs and Groups and s e l e cting your nam e . You can ch ange e ve ryth ing to do w ith
your account th e re . In K ubuntu go to th e K M e nu > Sys te m Se ttings > Us e r
M anage m e nt > Adm inis trator m ode , s e l
e ct your us e r and go to m odify.

h ttp://ubuntuforum s .org/s h ow th re ad.ph p?p=2845188

Se ve ralof m y 3D appl ications run ve ry s l

ow , and I don't k now if Ope nGLis ins tal l
e d.
Th e re doe s n't appe ar to be a pack age cal le d ope nglin Synaptic.Any ide as w h ich
pack age s ins tal l/m aintain Ope nGL?

O pe nGL s upport is incl

ude d w ith th e 3D graph ics card drive rs for your graph ics card. If
you h ave an ATI or nVidia card, you can find th e drive rs in th e re s tricte d drive rs
m anage r (Sys te m > Adm inis tration > Re s tricte d Drive rs M anage r).

h ttp://w w w .ope ngl

.org/

Ubuntu s e e m s to h ave a coole nough cl e an look to it, but is th e re a w ay to cus tom ize
it to l
ook as /m ore vis ual l
y attractive as /th an Vis ta?

Com piz is pre -ins talle d on Ubuntu, jus t go to Sys te m >Pre fe re nce s >De s k top e ffe cts ,
th e n cl
ick e nabl
e . If you w ant a m ore cus tom is able look , you can us e be ryl(w w w .be ryl -
proje ct.org) and us e th e m e s from w w w .gnom e -l
ook .org or w w w .k de -l
ook .org.

h ttp://ubuntuforum s .org/s h ow th re ad.ph p?t=439 230

H ow do I ins tal
lUbuntu Studio?

Go to Applications > Add/Re m ove ... Th e n s e arch for ubuntu s tudio. Ins tal
lit l
ik e you
w oul
d any oth e r program .

h ttp://ubuntuforum s .org/s h ow th re ad.ph p?t=439 717

35
 M Y D ESK TO P
W ritte n by Rob K e rfia

Th is is your ch ance to s h ow th e w orld your fancy de s k top or PC. Pl e as e e m ailyour s cre e ns h ots and
ph otos to: m is c@ ful
lcircl
e m agazine .org. Pl e as e incl ude a brie f paragraph of te xt about your de s k top,
your PC's s pe cifications or any oth e r inte re s ting tidbits about your de s k top or PC.

Wel l
, th is is m y de s k top. It's w h e re m os t of th e
w ork on th e Ful lCircl e M agaz ine w e bs ite h appe ns .
I'm running Ubuntu 7.04 (w ith a patch e d k e rne l ).
Th e de s k top is jus t Be rylw ith th e XFCE 4 Pane l--
no GNO M E, no K DE.
It's q uite fas t and l
igh tw e igh t. Th e th e m e is Ubuntu
Studio (you can ge t it from th e ir re pos itorie s . Th e re
are ins tructions at ubuntus tudio.org). Th e Em e ral d
th e m e is Sk y.
Allof th is is running on a 17 inch M acBook Pro w ith
a 2.33GH z Inte lCore 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM and a
256M B ATI M obil ity Rade on X1600.

M Y PC
W ritte n by Danie lCoh e n

AM D Ath lon 2800+ 1.84 GH z, nVidia Ge Force 5200 FX,

2GB DDR RAM , DVD- RW , Logite ch X- 230 2.1 Spe ak e rs
Saite k Gam e r's K e yboard, OpticalM ous e 3000, W acom Vol
ito
2, h da1 = 120gb, h db1 = 80gb, h dc1 = 250gb.
Cus tom is ations include : Fan control l
e r, 4 UV fans , 3 (1 dud)
UV s tripligh ts (2 bl
ue , 1 purpl
e ), h arddrive cool e rs and m onitors .
W h e n I got it, it w as a l ow -e nd PC w h ich re al l
y w as n't - and
s til
lis n't - gre at at pl aying gam e s . But w h at m ak e s it s pe cialto
m e is th at it w as th e firs t com pute r th at I buil t m ys e l
f, around 3
ye ars ago. W h e n you buil d your ow n PC th e re are al lth e
probl ems,l ik e th e fan not fitting ne xt to th e w h oppe r graph ics
card, but in th e e nd it is m uch m ore s atis factory, not to m e ntion
ch e ape r! I gue s s I l ik e com paring it to De l l's and appre ciating
h ow m uch nice r a cus tom buil t PC look s w ith al lth e gl ow ing
and th e s h inyne s s .
It's curre ntly q uad-booting (ye s q uad-booting) W indow s XP,
Ubuntu 7.04, Fe dora 7 and W indow s Vis ta (w h ich I w on in a
com pe tition, oth e rw is e it w ouldn't be on th e re ). I us e w indow s
for any gam e s th at don't run in w ine , but apart from th at it's
Linux al lth e w ay. Luck il y al lparts of m y PC w ork in Ubuntu
and Fe dora jus t fine .

36
 TO P5 W ID G ETS/A PPLETS
W ritte n by Andre w M in

Each m onth , Andre w w il lbring you a Top5 l is t of obs cure gam e s , appl ications or w h ate ve r e l
s e th at h e
can s cratch from th e de pth s of th e Inte rne t! If you h ave ide as for l is ts , ple as e e m ailth e m to us h e re
at: m is c@ ful
lcircl
e m agazine .org and w e 'llpas s your ide as on to Andre w .

K Note s

H om e page : h ttp://pim .k de .org/com pone nts /k note s .ph p

O ne of th e be s t w ays to ge t th ings done is to us e

s tick y note s . M y bigge s t probl e m w ith th e m is th at
I'm al w ays at th e com pute r, s o I don't s e e th e m .
Th at's w h y I us e K Note s , a virtuals tick y note s
program for GNU/Linux us e rs . Jus t type Al t-Sh ift-N
to cre ate a ne w note (or righ t-cl ick on th e K Note s
icon and cl ick “ Ne w Note ”). You can s e t al arm s , s e nd note s to oth e r com pute rs
(if th e y us e K Note s as w e ll
), e m ailnote s , print note s , s ave note s to te xt files,
ch ange th e col ors and fonts , h ide note s , k e e p th e m above or be l ow al lw indow s ,
cre ate note s from th e cl ipboard (Al t-Sh ift-C), s e arch note s , and m uch m ore . As
an adde d bonus , it w il ls h ow up in K ontact (th e K DE PIM s uite ) unde r th e Note s
s e ction.

If you us e K ubuntu, K Note s is pre -ins tall

e d. Al
loth e r Ubuntu us e rs can ins tal
lth e
k note s pack age from th e re pos itorie s .

Side Candy Ne tw ork

H om e page : h ttp://w w w .gde s k l

e ts .org/

Side Candy Ne tw ork h as a s im pl e job,

and it doe s it w e l l
. Al lit doe s is re port
inform ation on your Inte rne t conne ction.
It w il
ls h ow your de vice (w h ich you can
ch ange in th e configuration), your IP
addre s s , and th e upl oad and dow nl oad
s pe e ds . Eve ryth ing th at you ne e d to k now about your Inte rne t is pack e d into a
tiny w idge t th at tak e s up virtual ly no s pace . It's one of th os e l
ittl
e tool
s th at is
forge ttabl e but inval uabl e.

To ins tal lSide Candy Ne tw ork , you'l lne e d gDe s k le ts (a GNO M E w idge t e ngine )
ins tal
le d (th e gDe s k l
e ts pack age in th e Ubuntu unive rs e re pos itory). O pe n
gDe s k le ts , navigate to th e Sys te m /Ne t s e ction, and doubl e -cl
ick on Side Candy
Ne tw ork .

37
 Quote of th e Day

H om e page : h ttp://w w w .gde s k l

e ts .org/?q =de s k l
e t/vie w /181
Quote of th e Day pul ls q uote s from m ul tiple s ource s and dis pl
ays
th e m in a w idge t on your de s k top. It s upports back grounds ,
re s iz ing, and doe s its job w e ll. Now you can q uote s ayings by
e ve ryone from Confucious (“ Ignorance is th e nigh t of th e m ind,
but a nigh t w ith out m oon and s tar”) to Juan Ram ón Jim éne z (“ If
th e y give you rul e d pape r, w rite th e oth e r w ay”).
Quote of th e Day is anoth e r gDe s k l e ts w idge t. H ow e ve r, unlik e Side Candy Ne tw ork , Quote of
th e Day is n't ins tal l
e d w ith gDe s k le ts . You ne e d to dow nl oad th e Quote of th e Day arch ive from
its s ite . Th e n, ope n gDe s k le ts , cl
ick Fil e > Ins tallPack age ... brow s e to th e arch ive you
dow nl oade d, th e n doubl e cl ick on Quote of th e Day.

l
iq uid w e ath e r+ +

H om e page : h ttp://l
iq uidw e ath e r.ne t/
W e ath e r re porting is one of th e m os t popul ar us e s for w idge ts .
Liq uid w e ath e r + + (ak a l w p) doe s a fine job of re porting th e
w e ath e r from th re e w e ath e r fore cas ting s e rvice s (W e ath e r.com ,
Accuw e ath e r, and th e BBC). But m ore th an jus t give th e curre nt
w e ath e r conditions , it w illal s o ge ne rate a five day w e ath e r re port,
s h ow w ind s pe e d and dire ction, vis ibil ity, UV, e arth q uak e s ,
w e bcam s , e m ailor print curre nt conditions and/or 5 day fore cas t (Re portLab re q uire d), give
re ports on m ul tiple citie s and s upports s k inning.
To ins talll iq uid w e ath e r+ + , you ne e d Supe rK aram ba (a w idge t e ngine for K DE us e rs , avail abl e
in Ubuntu unive rs e re pos itory). You'l lals o ne e d to h ave Im age M agick (im age m agick in th e
Ubuntu re pos itorie s ) and PyQt ins tal le d. O nce al lth e re q uire m e nts are m e t, dow nl
oad th e .s k z
fil
e from th e l w p s ite and doubl e click it (or ope n Supe rK aram ba, cl ick O pe n LocalTh e m e , and
ch oos e th e file you dow nl oade d).

Buil
dAM on

H om e page : h ttp://k de -l
ook .org/conte nt/s h ow .ph p/Buil
dAM on+ -
Build+ Your+ O w n+ Sys te m + M onitor?conte nt=53736
No w idge t articl e is com ple te w ith out m e ntioning a s ys te m m onitor
(a m onitor th at re ports CPU us age , m e m ory us age , H DD
te m pe rature , and oth e r s ys te m inform ation). H ow e ve r, it is virtual ly
im pos s ible to ch oos e w h ich one to us e . Afte r al l, s om e pe opl e th ink
th at ce rtain re s ource s are m ore im portant th an oth e rs (I pe rs onal ly
lik e to k now h ow m uch RAM I h ave fre e , w h il e oth e rs m igh t be m ore inte re s te d in a h ard drive
us age m onitor). Th at's w h y I l ove Buil dAM on. Ins te ad of offe ring jus t one w idge t, it provide s
you w ith tons of s e ns ors , gauge s , and graph s , and l e ts you cus tom iz e it according to your ne e ds
(th e re is a bunch of us e fulcom m e nts in th e code , s o e ve n pe opl e w h o don't k now h ow to
program w il lfe e lat h om e ). It fe ature s s e ns ors for s ys te m inform ation (us e rnam e , h os tnam e ,
k e rne l, uptim e , e tc), CPU us age , CPU (and GPU) te m pe rature , H DD te m pe rature , fan s pe e d,
m e m ory us age , dis k us age , W l an s ignall e ve l
, gate w ay te xt, h ard dis k SM ART info, re ports on
th e us e rs logge d in, h as ne tw ork graph s , and m uch m ore .
To run Buil dAM on, you'l lne e d Supe rK aram ba. Th e n, dow nl oad and e xtract th e Buil dAM on
tar.gz , ope n one of th e e xam pl e .th e m e s , and s tart e diting. To run your cre ation, doubl e cl ick on
th e .th e m e fil
e (or ope n Supe rK aram ba, cl ick O pe n LocalTh e m e , and ch oos e th e .th e m e ).

38
 H O W TO CO NTRIBUTE
W e are al
w ays l
ook ing for ne w articl
e s to incl
ude in ful
lcircl
e.

For article guide l ine s , ide as , and for is s ue trans l e as e s e e our w ik i :

ation, pl
h ttp://w ik i.ubuntu.com /UbuntuM agazine

Pl e s to : articl
e as e e m ailyour articl e s @ ful
lcircl
e m agazine .org

If you w oul
dlik e to s ubm it ne w s , e m ailit to : ne w s @ ful
lcircl
e m agazine .org

Se nd your com m e nts or Linux e xpe rie nce s to : l

e tte rs @ ful
lcircl
e m agazine .org

d be s e nt to : re vie w s @ ful
H ardw are /s oftw are re vie w s s h oul lcircl
e m agazine .org

d go to : q ue s tions @ ful
Que s tions for future inte rvie w s s h oul lcircl
e m agazine .org

Lis ts and de s k top/pc ph otos s h oul e d to : m is c@ ful

d be e m ail lcircl
e m agazine .org

If you h ave q ue s tions , you can vis it our forum : w w w .ful

lcircl
e m agazine .org

Inform ation

Editor W e bm as te r Com m 's M anage r

Ronnie Tuck e r Rob K e rfia Robe rt Cl
ips h am

M e e tings

Contributors m e e tings : Saturday 7th , 14th , 21s t and 28th Jul

y @ 1600 UTC

Ge ne ralm e e ting (al

lw e l
com e ) : Saturday 14th Jul
y @ 1700 UTC

M e e tings tak e pl ace in th e IRC ch anne l#ful lcircle m agazine , w h ich is on th e

irc.fre e node .ne t s e rve r. O r you can us e our w e bIRC page w h ich w il lallow you to
inte ract w ith th e IRC ch anne lfrom w ith in your w e b brow s e r.

De adl
ine for Is s ue #3 is Sunday 15th Jul
y.

Proje cte d re l
e as e date for is s ue #3 is Friday 27th Jul
y.

39