Issue99 en PDF

Full Circle
THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY

ISSUE #99 - July 201 5
BOOK REVIEW
M EI ZU M X4 & B Q AQ U ARI S E5
THE TWO NEW UBUNTU PHONES REVIEWED
full circle magazine #99 1
Fu ll Ci rcle M a g a zi n e i s n e i th e r a ffi li a te d wi th , n o r e n d o rse d b y, Ca n o n i ca l Ltd . contents ^
LaTeX
HowTo
p.1 3
Full Circle
THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY
Linux News p.04
LibreOffice p.1 5 Command & Conquer p.1 1 Arduino p.25 Chrome Cult p.27
... p.XX Linux Labs p.31 Ubuntu Phones p.36 Review p.37
Programming JavaScript p.1 8 My Story p.45 Letters p.46 Tuxidermy p.47
Inkscape p.21 Q&A p.48 Install TAILS to USB p.51 Ubuntu Games p.54
Graphics
The articles contained in this magazine are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
This means you can adapt, copy, distribute and transmit the articles but only under the following conditions: you must attribute
the work to the original author in some way (at least a name, email or URL) and to this magazine by name ('Full Circle Magazine')
and the URL www.fullcirclemagazine.org (but not attribute the article(s) in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). If
you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you must distribute the resulting work under the same, similar or a compatible license.
Full Circle magazine is entirely independent of Canonical, the sponsor of the Ubuntu projects, and the views and opinions in the
magazine should in no way be assumed to fullhave
circleCanonical
magazineendorsement.
#99 2 contents ^
ED I TO RI AL
This magazine was created using :
WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FULL CIRCLE.

N o Python again this month, I'm afraid, as Greg is feeling a bit under the weather, but he
will be back for next month. We do have a fourth LaTeX article along side the usual
LibreOffice, JavaScript and Inkscape HowTo's.
If you're thinking of getting an Ubuntu Phone then you should definitely read the reviews
this month of the Meizu MX4 and the BQ Aquaris E5. Both have their plus and minus points
that you need to weigh up before making your choice. Personally, I've used the MX4 and the
BQ E4.5 and much prefer the MX4. I haven't tried the E5, so I can't speak for that device.
If you need some browsing privacy then you should probably read my article on how to
Full Circle Podcast
Released monthly, each episode
install TAILS to a USB stick. TAILS is a distro that comes with TOR by default. The idea behind covers all the latest Ubuntu news,
it is that you'd boot from the USB stick, connect to a WiFi/network and all your browsing opinions, reviews, interviews and
would be done through TOR. listener feedback. The Side-Pod is
a new addition, it's an extra
(irregular) short-form podcast
Next month is, of course, the one hundredth issue of Full Circle. Never in my wildest which is intended to be a branch
dreams did I think FCM would reach 1 00 issues, and it's all down to you, the readers, and of the main podcast. It's
those who submit articles. Whether they be regular submissions, or just a single article, they somewhere to put all the general
technology and non-Ubuntu stuff
all help to keep FCM going. I thank you all. I already have a few articles lined up for that doesn’t fit in the main
FCM#1 00. I also want to make #1 00 less HowTo and more of a retrospective issue. We'll see podcast.
how it pans out over the next few weeks.
Hosts:
• Les Pounder
• Tony Hughes
All the best, and keep in touch! • Jon Chamberlain
Ronnie • Oliver Clark
ronnie@fullcirclemagazine.org
http://fullcirclemagazine.org
full circle magazine #99 3 contents ^

N E WS
KALI LINUX 2.0 TO LAUNCH far. intelligence would be equal to
“summoning a demon”, and has
AT DEF CON 23 "There are a lot ofnew features even donated millions to protect
A small cadre of hackers has

andinteresting new aspects to this
updatedversion, however we’ll keep
announced the next version of our mouths shut until we’re done
the Kali hacker arsenal, codenamed with the release."
humans from the impending doom.
Torvalds, on the other hand,
described such fears as “bad”
FCM#1 00 Sana, will be released on 1 1 science fiction, during a Q&A
SURVEY August. The platform sports a session with Slashdot users.
redesigned and streamlined user
The question is: The popular penetration testing interface, new menus, and the “We’ll get AI, andit will almost
platform brings hundreds of the latest penetration testing tools. certainly be through something very
What are your most best open source hacking tools into much like recurrent neural
loved/hated flavors and a Debian-based distribution that is Source: networks,” he said in response to
releases? a staple for hackers and forensic http://www.theregister.co.uk/201 5 one user’s question. “Andthe thing
analysts. /07/08/kali_20/ is, since that kindofAI will need
Take the quick survey and we'll Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht training, it won’t be ‘reliable’in the
publish the results in Kali Linux developers say the traditional computer sense. It’s not
FCM#1 00. first revamp of the platform since the oldrule-basedprolog days, when
it was reborn in 201 3 will be people thought they’dunderstand
showcased at the DEF CON hacking
http://goo.gl/DPt2q0
confab. LINUX FOUNDER: N O NEED what the actual decisions were in an
AI.
TO FEAR AI
L
"We’ve been awfully quiet lately, Source:
which usually means something is inux founder Linus Torvalds http://www.itproportal.com/201 5/
brewing below the surface," the doesn’t understand the fear 07/07/linux-founder-thinks-we-
team says. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Professor shouldnt-fear-ai/
Stephen Hawking and Apple co- Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
"In the past few months, we’ve founder Steve Wozniak share about
been working feverishly on our next artificial intelligence.
generation ofKali Linux andwe’re
really happy with how it’s looking so Musk said creating artificial
NEWS
U BUNTU MATE G ETS Source:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/u
they need, so they don’t depend
on other packages. Ubuntu is
– was formed in late 201 4.
Founding members 3D Robotics
ANOTHER H ARDWARE D EAL , buntu-mate-gets-another- currently working on (3DR) and Yuneec International
WILL POWER THE LIBREB OX hardware-deal-will-power-the- “deduplication” support, which have since been joined by 27 other
M INI -PC librebox-mini-pc-485967.shtml
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
means duplicate copies of files
won’t be kept—if two Snappy
organisations and sponsored
members, keen to participate in
S ome of the more observant

users might notice the word
Libre in the name of the company, WHY U BUNTU PLANS TO
packages include the same library,
it will only be stored in one place
on disk.
the "neutral, transparent initiative
for advancing UAV technology", as
the Linux Foundation's marketing
big cheese Amanda McPherson
but that's not a coincidence. There REPLACE TRADITIONAL LINUX Source: described it.
are other companies and projects
out there that follow this Libre PACKAGES WITH SOMETHING http://www.pcworld.com/article/2
trend, which is all about BETTER 942267/why-ubuntu-plans-to- The latest recruits to the cause
replace-traditional-linux-packages- include US autopilot outfit Arsov
U
incorporating only completely free
and open source components. buntu’s Snappy system is with-something-better.html RC Technology and Chinese UAV
currently used for cloud Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht manufacturer Walkera.
In case you're wondering, the servers and smart devices, and the
explanation is quite simple. For Snappy Ubuntu Core debuted Source:
example, the Linux kernel has recently in Ubuntu 1 5.04 . LINUX BIDS FOR UAV http://www.theregister.co.uk/201 5
/06/29/dronecode_linux/
some proprietary blobs from WORLD DOMINATION BY
various companies, so it's not Snappy works differently. Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
considered transparent. There is Applications are no longer ENSLAVING FUTURE SKYBOT
also a Libre Linux kernel out there installed system-wide. The base ARMY
LINUX KERNEL 4.2 M AY
T
that just strips all the proprietary Ubuntu operating system is kept
blobs and that is considered OK. securely isolated from applications
you install later. Both the base
he Dronecode open-source
UAV platform initiative has
END U P B EING THE B IGGEST
Also, any kind of proprietary system and Snappy packages are announced that it has welcomed RELEASE, S AYS LINUS
drivers are not accepted, so you kept as read-only images. on board a raft of new members, TORVALDS
A
can see where this is going. In fact, who'll help drive the project
the new LibreBox from LibreTrend Those applications are installed towards becoming a de facto ccording to Linus Torvalds, it
is the first PC from this company, to separate directories and standard for consumer and would appear that the
and they decided that Ubuntu isolated from each other via the commercial drones. wonderful team of kernel
MATE will also be provided. Linux-kernel-based AppArmor developers and contributors are in
system. Snappy packages can The non-profit organisation – the middle of the merge window,
include all the libraries and files governed by the Linux Foundation and they will end up merging more
NEWS
commits for Linux kernel 4.2 than
they were during all of the
O PEN SOURCE H ISTORY: companies/06261 5/open-source-
history-why-didnt-bsd-beat-out-
think the right gear is what a new
company, Endless, is about to
releases of Linux kernel 4.1 . WHY D IDN ' T BSD B EAT gnu-and-linux launch.
O UT GNU AND LINUX? Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
I
"4.0 was pretty small (by our What sets the Endless apart
modern standards, which is to say it f you use a free and open source from other low cost machines is
was still a lot ofchanges), 4.1 was operating system, it's almost Endless OS, a highly customized
about average, andit looks like 4.2
may endup being the biggest
certainly based on the Linux kernel
and GNU software. But these were
ENDLESS: A COMPUTER THE version of Ubuntu Linux with
Gnome (and lots of other
release (in number ofcommits, at not the first freely redistributable REST OF THE WORLD CAN interesting technology such as
least) we've ever had," says Linus platforms, nor were they the most AFFORD Xapian and OStree), that not only
R
Torvalds in the Google+ post. "So professional or widely handles TVs as output devices (it
much for the summer slowdown." commercialized. The Berkeley ural Mexico, the backstreets scales and formats video output
Software Distribution, or BSD, beat of Guatemala City, the for readability), but also includes a
The development cycle of Linux GNU/Linux on all of these counts. outskirts of Mumbai; these aren’t huge library of applications and
kernel 4.2 might start this coming places where you find a lot of educational content. This is
weekend with the first Release So why has BSD been consigned computers – for one simple reason; important because in emerging
Candidate version, and it should to the margins of the open source most computers are far too markets the Endless system will be
have about seven or eight RC ecosystem, while GNU/Linux expensive. What you do find are useful and well-featured, even if
versions until the final release, distributions rose to fantastic lots of TVs, so why not build a you don’t have any kind of
which might see the light of day prominence? Read on for some cheap, flexible computer without a networking services available.
sometime in the fall of 201 5. historical perspective. display? And ship it without a
keyboard and mouse because Source:
Source: Understanding BSD requires those are items that can usually be http://www.networkworld.com/art
http://linux.softpedia.com/blog/lin delving far back into the history of sourced locally at low cost. icle/2945802/green-it/endless-a-
ux-kernel-4-2-may-end-up-being- Unix – the operating system first computer-the-rest-of-the-world-
the-biggest-release-says-linus- released by AT&T Bell Labs in 1 969. What would computers do for can-afford.html
torvalds-485451 .shtml BSD began life as a variant of Unix people in these places? They would Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht that programmers at the University deliver information, education, and
of California at Berkeley, initially opportunity. Record keeping for
led by Bill Joy, began developing in farmers, reading lessons for
the late 1 970s. children, tools for creating and
communicating … the potential for
Source: computers to improve the lot of
http://thevarguy.com/open- millions of people – are just
source-application-software- waiting on the right gear, and I
NEWS
RICHARD STALLMAN deeds. waiting for them to break.
M ICROSOFT ADDS LIMITED
' BASICALLY' HAS NO I was among those who didn't According to the current SUPPORT FOR LINUX ON
PROBLEM WITH THE NSA see any problem here. I have been iteration of the survey, the AZURE CLOUD
USING GNU/LINUX using and advocating Free programs most in need of
I f you have been keeping an eye

on what the NSA has been up to
Software since 2005, and I have
met numerous people from
different walks of life who use Free
Software. Back in 2007, I met
attention are not previously cited
infrastructure projects, but M icrosoft has done the
previously unthinkable and
common core Linux system utilities said it will now provide “limited
that have network access and little support for major Linux
while they were busy reading your
emails, you might be aware of the Mohammad Khansari, director of development activity around them. distributions, third-party and open-
XKEYSCORE program run by the the National Linux Project, Iran, source technologies” on its Azure
agency. According to Edward who said that when the U.S. closed The Census, with both its code cloud.
Snowden, as told to Glenn 'Windows' on them, they moved to and results available on GitHub,
Greenwald, the program was used 'Open Source'. assembles metrics about open To get the ball rolling, Microsoft
to "sweep up countless people’s source projects found in Debian will support what it describes as
Internet searches, emails, Source: Linux's package list and on the most popular Linux distros as
documents, usernames and http://www.itworld.com/article/29 openhub.net, then scores them of July 1 5.
passwords, and other private 46683/linux/richard-stallman- based on the amount of risk each
communications." basically-has-no-problem-with-the- presents. Microsoft officially says its
nsa-using-gnulinux.html support will be “limited” and it’s a
This is old news, you say. We've Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Risk scores are an aggregate of pretty apt description, given that it
all known about it since 201 3. So multiple factors: how many people consists of “Help with installation
what's the big deal and why am I are known to have contributed to and configuration of Supported
bringing it up now? The big deal is CORE LINUX TOOLS TOP LIST the project in the last 1 2 months, Linux Distributions on the Azure
that the NSA was allegedly running OF MOST AT-RISK SOFTWARE how many CVEs have been filed for platform and services” and
the program on 'Free and Open it, how widely used it is, and how “Recommendations applicable to
T
Source' software. much exposure it has to the the Azure platform and services”
he CII (Core Infrastructure network.
Initiative), a Linux Foundation that pertain to performance and
This story generated mixed effort assembled in the wake of networking issues.
responses from the Open Source Source:
the Heartbleed fiasco to provide http://www.infoworld.com/article/ Source:
community. Many bashed Red Hat, development support for key
even though we don't know if the Internet protocols, has opened the 2946566/security/core-linux-tools- http://siliconangle.com/blog/201 5/
NSA is a Red Hat client. Others top-the-list-of-most-at-risk- 07/1 6/microsoft-adds-limited-
doors on its Census Project -- an software.html
bashed the NSA for using Free effort to figure out what projects support-for-linux-on-azure-cloud/
Software to perform its 'evil' Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Submitted by: Mike Wheatley
need support now, instead of
NEWS
foundation-comes-to-open-source- http://benjaminkerensa.com/201 5/ Kubuntu. He said on numerous
licensing-terms/ 07/1 5/what-the-ubuntu-ip- occasions that Canonical's policy
CANONICAL AND FREE Submitted by: Steven J. Vaughan- announcement-means regarding Ubuntu is not well put
SOFTWARE FOUNDATION Nichols Submitted by: Benjamin Kerensa together and that it causes
COME TO OPEN -SOURCE problems for other projects as
LICENSING TERMS WHAT THE U BUNTU IP KUBUNTU ' S J ONATHAN well. In fact, these issues were in a
discussion during his conflict with
ANNOUNCEMENT MEANS RIDDELL S AYS U BUNTU
F
Canonical and the Ubuntu Council.
POLICY I S STILL LACKING
T
or years, Canonical and Ubuntu
have been accused of playing he announcement by the FSF
K
Source:
fast and loose with Linux-related and Software Freedom ubuntu's Jonathan Riddell http://news.softpedia.com/news/k
licenses. Now, Canonical and the Conservancy has a lot of jargon in talked about the recent ubuntu-s-jonathan-riddell-says-
FSF have reached a common it so to help people better changes to the licensing ubuntu-policy-is-still-lacking-
understanding over Ubuntu understand I am going to do an procedures on the Ubuntu project, 4871 86.shtml
licensing. analysis. Mind you, back in 201 2, I and he said that there are still Submitted by: Silviu Stahie
reached out to the FSF on these some important problems that
Canonical, Ubuntu Linux's very licensing concerns which no
parent company, has often rubbed doubt combined with other
have been left unresolved. O NE U BUNTU PC MAKER IS
other free software groups the developers contacts set in motion Canonical announced a couple KICKING ADOBE FLASH OFF
wrong way when it came to open- these discussions. of days ago that the company had ITS LINUX SYSTEMS
source licenses. On July 1 5,
S
made some changes to its policies
Canonical, with support from the In a nutshell, the FSF is making in order to comply with GPL, but ystem76, a Denver-based
Free Software Foundation (FSF) it clear while some progress was voices in the community are saying vendor of Ubuntu Linux
and the Software Freedom made that the Ubuntu IP Policy is that it's not enough and that more laptops and desktops, has stopped
Conservancy (SFC), have changed still not a good example of a policy effort needs to be made. pre-loading Flash on its machines.
Ubuntu's licensing terms. The FSF that protects the freedoms you Kubuntu's Jonathan Riddell talked The company is also strongly
states that Canonical's new have to using code under the about the remaining issues at recommending that current
intellectual property (IP) policies licenses of software Ubuntu length on his blog. customers purge Flash from their
"unequivocally comply with the bundles into the distro we use and systems as well.
terms of the GNU General Public love. This is concerning because Many of you will remember the
License (GPL) and other free Canonical has essentially made conflict between Jonathan Riddell Amid calls to accelerate the
software licenses." some concessions but put its foot and Canonical, which ended with death of Adobe Flash Player, at
down and not made as much his removal from the Kubuntu least once PC vendor is taking
Source: change as it needs to. Community Council. He's now just matters into its own hands.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/can a simple member of the
onical-and-free-software- Source: community and developer for Citing security and irrelevance,
NEWS
System76 stops bundling Flash desktop UI, and Windows 1 0 looks version 1 today. Alongside this forum, the CloudNative Computing
with Firefox, and recommends that like it will continue that rethinking
software versioning milestone, Foundation aims to advance the
all customers purge the plug-in of the desktop, albeit with a few Google is joining a host of familiar state ofthe art ofapplication
from their systems. familiar elements retained. names in a new Cloud Native development at Internet scale.”
Whether it's driven by, in Ubuntu's Computing Foundation, under the
Source: case, a vision of "convergence" auspices of the Linux Foundation. Source:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2 between desktop and mobile or Google is gifting Kubernetes to the http://www.forbes.com/sites/paul
9491 06/software-web/one- perhaps just the need for new Foundation, which some will miller/201 5/07/21 /container-
ubuntu-pc-maker-is-kicking-adobe- something new (which seems to be see (rightly) as a useful base upon competitors-google-coreos-joyent-
flash-off-its-linux-systems.html the case for GNOME 3.x), which to build, and which others and-docker-join-new-linux-club-as-
Submitted by: Jared Newman developers would have you believe will see (also, perhaps, rightly) as a kubernetes-turns-one/
that these mobile-friendly, search- way to ensure that the new Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
based desktops are the future of, Foundation’s work is Googley from
LINUX M INT 1 7.2 OFFERS well, everything. the outset. Other partners in this
new endeavor include container
DESKTOP FAMILIARITY AND Source: hotshots like Docker, CoreOS,
RESPONDS TO USER WANTS http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/20 Joyent and others. Will the new
T
1 5/07/rare-breed-linux-mint-1 7-2- Foundation lead to a meeting of
hese days, the desktop OSes offers-desktop-familiarity-and- minds, or is it just another forum in
grabbing headlines have, for responds-to-user-wants/ which they can sling mud?
the most part, left the traditional Submitted by: Scott Gilbertson
desktop behind in favor of what's The Linux Foundation,
often referred to as a "shell." unsurprisingly, is definitely hoping
Typically, such an arrangement CONTAINER COMPETITORS for the meeting of minds.
offers a search-based interface. In
the Linux world, the GNOME G OOGLE, COREOS, J OYENT Executive commented,
Director Jim Zemlin
project and Ubuntu's Unity AND D OCKER J OIN N EW
desktop interfaces both take this
approach.
LINUX CLUB AS KUBERNETES “The CloudNative Computing
Foundation will help facilitate
TURNS O NE collaboration among developers and
K
This is not a sea change that's operators on common technologies
limited to Linux, however. For ubernetes, the container for deploying cloudnative
example, the upheaval of the management solution applications andservices. By
desktop is also happening in originally open sourced by Google bringing together the open source
Windows land. Windows 8 GOOGL +0.43%, is deemed ready community’s very best talent and
departed from the traditional for mainstream use as it reaches code in a neutral andcollaborative
Canonical Ltd., the Ubucon Germany 201 5 team, and the UbuContest 201 5 team, are happy to announce the first UbuContest!
Contestants from all over the world will have until September 1 8, 201 5 to build and publish their apps and scopes using the Ubuntu SDK and Ubuntu
platform, starting today.
We are proud to present five dedicated categories:
• Best Team Entry: A team of up to three developers may register up to two apps/scopes they are developing. The jury will assign points in
categories including "Creativity", "Functionality", "Design", "Technical Level" and "Convergence". The top three entries with the most points win.
• Best Individual Entry: A lone developer may register up to two apps/scopes he or she is developing. The rest of the rules are identical to the "Best
Team Entry" category.
• Outstanding Technical Contribution: Members of the general public may nominate candidates who, in their opinion, have done something
"exceptional" with an Ubuntu-based device, Unity8, Mir, etc. on a technical level. Each jury member has one vote, and the nominated candidate with
the most jury votes wins.
• Outstanding Non-Technical Contribution: Members of the general public may nominate candidates who, in their opinion, have done something
exceptional, but non-technical, to bring the Ubuntu platform forward. So, for example, you can nominate a friend who has reported and commented
on all those phone-related bugs on Launchpad. Or nominate a member of your local community who did translations for Core Apps. Or nominate
someone who has contributed documentation, written awesome blog articles, etc. The rest of the rules are identical to the "Outstanding Technical
Contribution" category.
• Convergence Hero: The "Best Team Entry" or "Best Individual Entry" contribution with the highest number of "Convergence" points wins. The
winner in this category will probably surprise us in ways we have yet to imagine.
Our community jury panel members Laura Cowen, Carla Sella, Simos Xenitellis, Sujeevan Vijayakumaran and Michael Zanetti will select the winners in
each category. Successful winners will be awarded items from a huge pile of prizes, including travel subsidies for the first-placed winners to attend
Ubucon Germany 201 5 in Berlin, four Ubuntu Phones sponsored by bq and Meizu, t-shirts, and bundles of items from the official Ubuntu Shop.
We wish all the contestants good luck!
Go to ubucontest.eu for more information, including how to register and nominate folks. You can also follow us on Twitter @ubucontest, or contact
us via e-mail at contest@ubucon.de.
CO M M AN D & CO N Q U ER
Written by Lucas Westermann
Lea rn To Cod e
O ver the course of time, I’ve
picked up a lot of
rudimentary skills in various
http://www.codecademy.com/
learn
The site offers a relatively small list
some of the videos can be out of
date. If you’re looking to get into
the more abstract discussions on
and sometimes, you’ll end up with
a reusable library of functions. Or,
better yet, you’ll have an idea for a
programming languages. Some of of courses (though they keep programming or programming program yourself. Two of my
them I chose to deepen, and expanding). However, they offer an languages in general, this may be a favourite offerings are as follows:
others have stagnated. The largest interactive set of exercises that good spot to start.
problem I often run into is deciding you can work through straight Project Euler -
what to program, and in what from the browser. As such, if you’re There are, of course, other options https://projecteuler.net/
language. If you’re like me, and in trying to learn a language that out there. However, I have actively This site offers a massive number
need of some challenging they offer, I would recommend tried each of these offerings, and of math-related challenges. They
exercises to work through, skip to starting there. come to see each of their are typically difficult questions
part two. If you’re still trying to strengths. If you’re looking for a that could not be reasonably
learn a language, stick with me. Khan Academy - programming language not listed, answered with a calculator and
https://www.khanacademy.org/co my suggestion is to check the patience - instead, the quickest
LEARNING A LANGUAGE mputing/computer-programming
This site follows the more
language’s homepage. Most offer
some sort of introduction or
solution is to write a program to
test solutions until finding the
There are various ways to learn traditional online university system tutorial. correct one. If you absolutely
a language - buy a book, take a - you watch a video with an loathe mathematics, or, after
course, or follow a tutorial online. explanation, and then do
quizzes/exercises after each video.
I’VE LEARNED A LANGUAGE - reading some questions, you feel
Project Euler isn’t for you, then
However, some options can be Currently their offering is mainly NOW WHAT ? move on to my next suggestions.
expensive, or simply difficult to focused around JavaScript and The major benefit to Project Euler
accomplish, as it removes the HTML. They do, however, offer Once you’ve learned a language, is simply the fact that it is
explanation factor of why one many other (non-programming) it’s time to put it into use. If you language agnostic - so long as you
method is better than another (for courses as well. have ideas for programs, then can calculate in a language, you
example). Instead, here is a short that’s great. Sometimes, however, can do the challenges. Some
list of online sites that offer free Coursera - you won’t have a specific need to languages (such as Python) offer
courses. Depending on what you https://www.coursera.org/ fill, or problem to fix. At times like helpful mathematics functions, but
want to learn, you may need to The offering here is typically that, I like to fall back to some if you keep track of your functions
browse each in turn. segments or complete videos from form of programming challenge. in a library, you shouldn’t be
actual university courses. They This way, I improve my repeating yourself too often.
Code Academy offer a good deal of options, but understanding and knowledge -
COMMAND & CONQUER
Exercism - Extra: Dev Docs requests can be sent to me at
http://exercism.io/ Sometimes, you’ll be working on a lswest34+fcm@gmail.com.
Exercism is a command-line tool, program, and realize you don’t
linked into a tiered library of remember the exact format of a
exercises to be done in a variety of function, or if the built-in function
languages. The exercises don’t actually exists. This is where you The Ubuntu Podcast covers all
typically change between can either turn to a manpage, the the latest news and issues facing
languages, but are good practice language’s documentation, or Ubuntu Linux users and Free
nonetheless. The way it works is by http://devdocs.io. Devdocs.io is a Software fans in general. The
fetching the exercises, and then site that offers a huge library of show appeals to the newest user
choosing a language to start with. documentation on various and the oldest coder. Our
You then get a README file, as languages. The site itself will let discussions cover the
well as a *_test file. The test file you save the library for offline development of Ubuntu but
contains actual programmatic access, meaning you shouldn’t ever aren’t overly technical. We are
tests, to ensure that your answer is be without documentation. lucky enough to have some
complete. If you’re never worked However, as it’s an open source great guests on the show, telling
with tests before, I highly project, you can also install a us first hand about the latest
recommend Exercism as an completely local instance of the exciting developments they are
introduction to tests. The actual site. Submissions are also working on, in a way that we can
submission is simple - if the test accepted, and as such the all understand! We also talk
file clears without errors, and information is usually up to date, about the Ubuntu community
you’re happy with your file, you and expanding at a brisk pace. It and what it gets up to.
can submit it. It then appears on also includes some documentation
the Exercism site under your for tools (SASS, Bower, npm, etc.). The show is presented by
account’s name. Then other members of the UK’s Ubuntu
programmers can discuss it - where Linux community. Because it is
you may learn a new trick or two. CONCLUSION covered by the Ubuntu Code of
You can, naturally, also check out Conduct it is suitable for all.
other people’s submissions. If you I hope this article is helpful for
later want to update your file, you anyone who wants to learn to The show is broadcast live every
can do so. It keeps track of your program, or anyone who feels they fortnight on a Tuesday evening
iterations, and each iteration has a are stagnating at their current Lucas has learned all he knows from (British time) and is available for
separate discussion. And if you’re level. If you know of another great repeatedly breaking his system, then download the following day.
tired of having your code analyzed site, or an awesome set of having no other option but to
challenges, please let me know! As discover how to fix it. You can email
- you can mark a task as done, and Lucas at: lswest34@gmail.com. podcast.ubuntu-uk.org
close all discussions on it. always - suggestions, comments, or
H OW-TO
Written by John Eddie Kerr La TeX on XU bu n tu Pi a n d i n Th e Clou d
F problem. Those of you using
TexStudio may have experienced a
right disk, and, if anything goes
irst of all let’s clear up a small slower, but it is not a show-
wrong with the install, gparted will stopper.
come to the rescue. You will not
I digress, back to LaTeX.
LATEX I N THE CLOUD

problem with the icons not destroy the SD card. Playing some YouTube videos
appearing in the menu bar. This is can be a problem, and some
fixed by installing libqt4-svg: XUbuntu On The Raspberry Pi 2 websites can crash the system, but In previous articles, I have
Is Fantastic. it is a quick automatic reboot. mentioned a number of LaTeX
sudo apt-get install libqt4- IMHO, you can use the Rpi2 as a editors that you can download to
svg
I have installed Tex-live on the real computer, and, with no moving your computer to create
Rpi2 as well as the LaTeX editors parts, it runs silently, and since it documents. A relatively new way
This is one of those secrets that Gummi and TexStudio, and both draws less than 1 0 watts of power, of composing in LaTeX is an online
you have to dig for, but the LaTeX have worked flawlessly. Now, you can leave it powered on. Best service that provides a LaTeX
community does have the answer. compared to my Dell Optiplex 755 of all, you can compose in LaTeX on editor in the Cloud.
with 2 gigs of RAM, the Rpi2 is a bit it.
XU BUNTU, LATEX, AND THE Overleaf and ShareLaTeX are
two of the best online LaTex
RASPBERRY PI 2 editors that I have seen.
I have installed the XUbuntu OverLeaf
image for the Raspberry Pi 2 that is (https://www.overleaf.com/) is a
available from the Ubuntu website: re-launch of WriteLatex which is an
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM/Ras online LaTeX editor that has been
pberryPi around for a while. There is also
ShareLaTex
The link above takes you to an (https://www.sharelatex.com/).
easy-to-follow recipe to install the
image on to an SD card. You may Best of all, they all provide a
want to review the commands for very good service which is free.
Fdisk before you start, as you will Overleaf and ShareLatex offer
be using Fdisk on the command- extra service plans starting at
line and it is not something most $8.00 per month, but the free
of us are used to. Fear not, just service is as good as what you can
make sure you are writing to the
HOWTO - LATEX
do with a LaTeX editor at home. computers. Also, if I was working Until next time enjoy exploring
on a project with someone else, LaTeX.
Both of the Cloud LaTeX editing that person could log in to the
sites offer an extensive collection service and edit the file as well.
of templates for you to use as a
starting point for your project. It is Fortunately, you can download
a great way to learn LaTeX as the your files from both sites and you
templates have lots of commands can cut and paste to and from your
built in, and you can see how they computer. So you are not locked in
work. There is auto-completion of to any one of the services.
commands in both online services,
but TexStudio can be a little more I have logged into both of these EXTRA! EXTRA!
helpful if you can't remember how online LaTeX editors with my READ ALL ABOUT IT!
the command starts or goes. Raspberry Pi 2, and it worked very
well – again kudos for the Our glorious news reporters
So why would anyone want to Raspberry Pi 2. are now posting regular news
use a LaTeX editor running on your updates to the main Full Circle
own computer such as TexStudio? I NSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS site.
All applications that you use in the
Cloud are dependent on an In an earlier article I mentioned Click the NEWS link, in the site
Internet connection to work or that there are plenty of menu at the top of the page,
give you access to your files. Some instructional videos about LaTeX. I and you'll see the news
of us are not too comfortable with found a new set recently and even headlines.
that; I like the independence of though the video was recorded on
having my files on my own a MacIntosh with a plain text Alternatively, look on the right
computer. It is a great theory, editor, the videos are excellent. side of any page on the site,
working on your portable The videos focus on the commands and you'll see the five latest
computer from anywhere, any that you type and not on any news posts.
place that has WiFi, but we both particular editor. Go to YouTube
know how spotty public WiFi can and look for the videos uploaded John Eddie Kerr is a Law Librarian at Feel free to discuss the news
be. by Alexander Baran-Harper. These a county law library in Guelph, items. It's maybe something
videos take out the steep slope of Ontario, Canada. Ubuntu powers his that can spill back from the site
I also have to admit that editing the so called LaTeX learning curve, desktop at work and at home. He is a into the magazine. Enjoy!
my LaTeX files in the Cloud has the and are presented with crisp clear member of the KitchenerWaterloo
Linux Users Group and the WFTL
advantage to work on the same images and at a good pace. LUG.
file from any one of my four
H OW-TO Li breO ffi ce Pt.5 1 - Li n k or Em bed i n Wri ter
Written by Elmer Perry
J immy Fixit is a self-employed

handyman. He does carpentry,
roofs, plumbing, lawn work, and
EMBED A SHEET IN WRITER
WITH OLE
To embed the sheet into his
document, Jimmy selected the
position in the document where he
embedded object to return to
writing his document. The tabs and
row/column headers disappeared.
flooring. He created a spreadsheet wanted the sheet to appear. Insert If at any time, he noticed he had
to invoice his customers, but when Jimmy solved his problem by > Object > OLE Object brought up made a mistake, double-clicking
a customer didn't pay in the using Object Linking and the Insert OLE Object dialog. From inside the embedded object
allotted time, he needed to send Embedding (OLE) to embed a Calc the dialog, he selected LibreOffice allowed him to edit it again. While
them a late notice. The notice was sheet in his writer document. By Spreadsheet from the list. After editing the object, Writer's
a detailed letter of what they embedding a sheet in his selecting the spreadsheet object toolbars and menus changed to
owed, and a request for them to document, he was able to use type, he clicked on OK, and Writer Calc's toolbars and menus. Even
pay by a certain date. He wanted formulas to do calculations on the created a mini Calc spreadsheet the sidebar became the Calc
to add in a table listing the work tax and the total. The embedded inside Jimmy's document. sidebar. Editing the spreadsheet
done and any payments made. He sheet worked like a mini object was the same as having it
could use a Writer table and do the spreadsheet within his document. Jimmy used the eight opened in Calc.
calculations himself, but if he could He was able to format the cells, adjustment handles to fit the
insert a spreadsheet into the
middle of his text document, he
adjust columns and rows, merge
cells, and anything else he might
inserted object to his document.
The cells behaved just like the cells
OLE LINK TO AN E XISTING
would have everything he needed. do in a spreadsheet opened in Calc. in a regular Calc sheet. He adjusted D OCUMENT
Turned out, he can. his rows and columns as needed,
formatted his total column, and Later on, Jimmy started
inserted formulas to calculate the tracking his customers in a Calc
tax due and total. When Jimmy document – with each customer's
finished, he clicked outside the transactions listed on a different

HOWTO - LIBREOFFICE
sheet. When he had to create a document, no connection is
collection notice for a customer, he created. Changes to one document
felt like he was wasting his time would not affect the other. When
just retyping information that documents. If he had not selected selected sheet showed in the using OLE, it is important to decide
already existed. After a little “Link to file”, the sheet would have document without tabs or which method is going to best suit
homework, Jimmy discovered that been embedded instead of linked. row/column headers. your purposes. For Jimmy, linking
he could insert the data from the More on the difference in a was the best choice.
existing spreadsheet into the
document using OLE linking.
moment. THE D IFFERENCE B ETWEEN LINKING O NLY A PART OF A
Just like before, Jimmy got a LINKING AND EMBEDDING SHEET WITH DDE
Insert> Object > OLE Object mini Calc spreadsheet inserted into
once again brought up the Insert his document. However, this one When Jimmy selected “Link to
OLE Object dialog. Instead of file”, he created a link between the As time passed on, Jimmy hired
was linked to the original an accountant to keep his books.
selecting the object type, this time spreadsheet document. On the spreadsheet file and the object in
Jimmy clicked “Create from file.” his Writer document. If he had not At the end of every month, Jimmy
tabs for the different sheets, he asked for the business financial
Clicking on the Search button, clicked the customer which he was selected “Link to file”, the
Jimmy browsed to the location of spreadsheet would have been status, and the accountant would
creating the document for. Just send him a balance spreadsheet.
the spreadsheet containing his like before, he had the full use of embedded instead. When Jimmy
customers' records. Selecting the linked the two, he created a very Jimmy plowed through the long
the Calc menus and toolbars as sheet for a few months before
file, he clicked the Open button. though he was editing the object powerful tool for himself. Any
Back in the Insert OLE Object changes he makes to the original deciding it was too much.
directly in Calc. Once he clicked
dialog, he selected “Link to file” to out of the linked sheet, the spreadsheet will automatically
create a link between the two update in the Writer document. “Just give me a summary,” he
Likewise, any changes he makes to told the accountant.
the object in the Writer document
will update in the original The accountant began copying
spreadsheet. The link created a the summary section of the sheet
two-way connection between the and sending it to Jimmy, but now,
two documents. He could edit the Jimmy was asking for the summary
sheet only in one document at a two or three times a week.
time. If he opened one document
and the other was already open, The accountant needed an
the spreadsheet opened as read- easier way; so, he did some
only copy in the second document. studying and discovered Dynamic
However, if he had only embedded Data Exchange (DDE). DDE was the
the sheet into the Writer predecessor to OLE, but it had one
HOWTO - LIBREOFFICE
feature he liked. He wanted the option and clicked OK. The data As his needs became more
ability to give Jimmy a document was inserted into the document in complex, he switched to linking to
that would automatically update, a plain, unformatted table. his customer spreadsheet using
but a document Jimmy could not OLE linking. When Jimmy hired an
edit. DDE creates a one-way link Once the accountant created accountant, the accountant grew
from the original to the linked the document, he no longer had to tired of providing Jimmy with
document. Formatting and cell worry about it. Jimmy could open updates on the business financial
styling do not transfer. The table the document at any time, and the status; so, he used the old DDE
looked like a plain Writer table. table would update with the latest method to create a link to the
Jimmy could edit the cells, but data in the spreadsheet. Anytime document that Jimmy could not
when he reopened the document, Jimmy asked him for a summary of change. OLE and DDE allowed
any changes were replaced with the business financial status, the Jimmy and his accountant to
the data in the original. accountant just sent him a link to embed and link data to their
the document containing the DDE documents and automate some of
To create the DDE link, the link. their work.
accountant copied the cells he
needed from the original Jimmy started out with a simple
document. In the new document, need: to insert a sheet into his
he selected Edit > Paste Special. In document. He was able to
the Paste Special dialog, the accomplish this by embedding a
accountant chose the DDE Link sheet in his document using OLE.
Elmer Perry's history of working,

and programming, computers
involves an Apple ][E, adding some
Amiga, a generous helping of DOS
and Windows, a dash of Unix, and
blend well with Linux and Ubuntu.
He blogs at
http://eeperry.wordpress.com

H OW-TO
Written by Gergo Bogdan Prog ra m m i n g J a va Scri pt - Pa rt 4
L
#!/usr/bin/env node
ast time, we covered the CUSTOM_TEXT. The /*
installation of node.js and we DEFAULT_TEXT is used to write out This small node.js app should do exactly what the yes linux
implemented a basic random the y character and a newline. The command does. Quote from man yes: Repeatedly output a line
with all specified STRING(s), or `y'.
number generator which we used CUSTOM_TEXT will contain the */
for generating lotto numbers. text which the user wants to
var DEFAULT_TEXT = "y\n";
repeat. var CUSTOM_TEXT = "";
In this part, I thought it would
be good to see how linux Then, I define three functions var printUsage = function() {
process.stdout.write("yes [custom text]");
commands, like yes, word count, or (printUsage, writeDefaultText, };
cat, can be implemented in writeCustomText), their names are
JavaScript using node.js. In this self-explanatory, but their content var writeDefaultText = function() {
process.stdout.write(DEFAULT_TEXT);
part I will cover the yes command might need some attention. In };
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_ node, using the process.sdtout
(Unix)). First let’s see the code object means that we can access var writerCustomText = function() {
process.stdout.write(CUSTOM_TEXT);
(right) and I will explain the details any outgoing stream and we can };
afterwards. write to it. For example, if you
//handler for CTRL + C
want to add the output of the yes process.on("SIGINT", function() {
The first line of the file is simple command to a file using this clearInterval(writeDefaultText);
and, if you have ever written a command: ./yes.js >> clearInterval(writerCustomText);
process.exit(0);
bash script, you know what is it for; resultTextFile.txt, then this should });
it gives a hint to the command line work without any problem.
what app to use for executing the if(process.argv.length == 2) {
script. In this case, I wrote to use The most important part comes setInterval(writeDefaultText, 2);
node from /usr/bin. now; in the application, I subscribe }
to the signal SIGINT (which is else if(process.argv.length == 3) {
After that, I have a description usually triggered on all operating CUSTOM_TEXT = process.argv[2];
of the app and what it should do, systems when the user presses if(CUSTOM_TEXT[CUSTOM_TEXT.length - 1] != "\n") {
CUSTOM_TEXT += "\n";
the description is taken from the CTRL+C keys) using the }
man page of the command. process.on(...) function. When the setInterval(writerCustomText, 2);
signal is sent, I clear the repetition }
else {
I defined two constants, setup of the functions printUsage();
DEFAULT_TEXT and writeDefaultText() and }

HOWTO - JAVASCRIPT
writeCustomText(). I know we have In case the program was started to take into account the number of
not set up the repetition of these with three parameters parameters passed to the program.
yet, but it will come shortly. I set (process.argv.length == 3)**, it In the next part, I will implement
up the repetition of a method means that the user passed in a word count (wc) using node.js. Till
(either writeDefaultText() or custom text which he/she wants to then try to do another
writeCustomText()) using the be repeated, so, I set the implementation of the yes
setInterval(...) function. With the writeCustomText() method to be command, or any other linux
repeated execution of executed every two milliseconds, command, and please send it to
writeCustomText() or but before that I do an extra check me, I will put it in the next article
writeDefaultText() methods, I and see if the text provided by the and highlight pros and cons of the
manage to repeat the same output user has a newline at the end or implementation.
many times. not. If it does not have a newline
character, then I will add the
Next, I check if the process was newline character.
started with or without ** According to the node
parameters. If it was started In case the number of process documentation
without parameters arguments is not two or three, I (https://nodejs.org/api/process.ht
(process.argv.length == 2)**, it invoke the printUsage() method ml#process_process_argv) the first
means that I need to set the which prints to the user how to use item in argv array is the word
writeDefaultText() method to be the program. “node”, the second is the name of
repeated until the user sends a the JavaScript file which is
SIGINT signal and the application You could ask why did I set the executed.
will stop. The repetition is set up interval to two milliseconds and
using the code: not to one. The answer is simple, if
setInterval(writeDefaultText, 2). I set the interval to one
The setInterval() function takes millisecond, then the app will not
two parameters; the first one is be able to receive the SIGINT event
the method which needs to be when the user presses CTRL+C
executed and the second is the keys.
interval when that method
(parameter #1 ) needs to be run. Gergo Bogdan is a software
This is just one implementation engineer, blogger, tech enthusiast
The second parameter needs to be of the yes command; there are from Budapest who is riding the
a number and it represents other ways to do it, but I've chosen waves of the constantly changing IT
milliseconds; in this case the to do it this way because I could ocean. You can check his website at:
writeDefaultText() will be invoked http://grelution.com.
use signals and intervals, plus had
every two milliseconds.
H OW-TO
Written by Mark Crutch I n k s ca p e - P a r t 3 9
L ast time I introduced the Align
and Distribute dialog, but went
only as far as describing the Align
Much like the Align section, the
Distribute part of the dialog is split
into two rows of buttons,
What this means, in practice, is
that you need to get your first and
last objects into the right place
• The space between baseline
anchors of text objects is evenly
distributed
part. This time I'll continue – not governing horizontal and vertical before trying to use these buttons.
only onto the Distribute section, distribution, respectively. Using Often that involves snapping to That last one probably needs a
but down through the remaining these, you can distribute a number the grid, or aligning to another little more explanation. Much like
sections of the dialog as well. Let's of objects so that they're spaced object as described last time. Onlythe text alignment buttons
start with a reminder of what the evenly along the horizontal axis or once those are in the right mentioned in the previous
dialog looks like, noting that the vertical axis. If you want to locations should you select all theinstalment, these two text
there's been a little rearrangement distribute along both axes – to objects you want to distribute – distribution buttons work only
of the buttons between 0.48 and create a staircase effect – you'll including the first and last ones –with a selection of text objects.
0.91 , and the ones outlined in red need to press a button from each and then click on one of the When you edit text in Inkscape,
are new to 0.91 . row in turn. buttons. you may notice a small square
below the text you enter. This is
As you might expect, the The difference between each of the baseline anchor, and its
objects to be distributed are the the buttons is quite well position varies depending on the
ones that are selected on the represented by their icons. text justification. These buttons
canvas. Selection order doesn't Considering each of the five move your text objects so that the
matter, and you can't choose the buttons in the first row (I'm sure baseline anchors are evenly
anchor objects: everything is you can infer the equivalent distributed. Before rushing to use
calculated implicitly from the functions for the second row), the these buttons to distribute your
positions of the elements. When buttons move your selected text, however, do consider
distributing horizontally, for objects so that: whether that's really what you
example, the objects furthest to • The left edges of their bounding want: usually the previous button
the left and right will be left in boxes are evenly distributed (even spaces between objects)
place, with all the others being • The centers of their bounding gives a better result.
distributed between them. For boxes are evenly distributed
vertical distribution, the rules are • The right edges of their Often you'll find that the
the same, except with the highest bounding boxes are evenly difference between distribution
and lowest (by y coordinates) distributed options is negligible, especially
being left in place. • The space between each when the objects are all similarly
bounding box is evenly distributed sized. When you start to distribute
HOWTO - INKSCAPE
differently sized elements, Moved from the “Connector The first of these works only if were selected in – so it's best to
however, the differences can be network layout” section in 0.48 your selected objects form a hold shift and click on each one
significant, as you can see from the • Exchange positions, selection network that was created with the individually to ensure you know
image shown below. order: New to 0.91 Connector tool (see part 27 of this the selection order. The second
• Exchange positions, stacking series for more details). It's just a button uses the stacking order, or
Continuing downwards, the order: New to 0.91 duplicate of the same button in the z-index, of the selected objects.
layout of the dialog diverges • Exchange positions, clockwise Connector tool controls – except The one on top is moved to the
between versions 0.48 and 0.91 . rotate: New to 0.91 that this one offers fewer settings. position of the one beneath it.
For the latter, the next section of • Randomise centers: Moved from My advice is to use the dedicated That moves to the position of the
the dialog is labelled as the “Distribute” section in 0.48 connector toolbar if you need this one beneath that, and so on down
“Rearrange”, and consists of six • Unclump objects: Moved from functionality, but really you're the stack. The bottom object is
icons of varying provenance: the “Distribute” section in 0.48 better off using a different moved to the position of the
• Arrange Connector Network: application altogether for anything topmost item. Note, however, that
more than a trivial connector it's just the positions that are
layout. changed, not the z-indexes, so the
stacking order remains the same.
Have you ever wanted to swap The final button swaps the
the positions of two objects? To positions of the selected objects in
move the left one to the right, and a “clockwise” direction, based on
the right one to the left, for the x and y coordinates of each
example? In that case the three object.
new buttons in 0.91 are for you.
With two objects selected, their Whilst these buttons are a
positions will be swapped, but if welcome addition, I hope that their
you have more than two things functionality will be expanded
selected then the first moves to further in a future release. There's
the position of the second, the no option to reverse the order, for
second to the third, the third to example. If you want to rotate 1 00
the fourth, and so on. The last objects one step anti-clockwise
moves to the position of the first. you currently have to do it by
clicking the clockwise button 99
But what determines which times!
object is first, second or third?
That's simply down to which The “Randomise centers”
button you click. The first button button does exactly as its name
bases it on which order the objects suggests. Click it and your selected
HOWTO - INKSCAPE
objects are randomly moved and vertical directions, whilst practice, it's still available, but only Clicking both of the alignment
around. This may be useful if clicking the button at the right will when you switch to the Node tool buttons in succession is a quick
you've used the Spray tool or Tiled actually perform the operation. in the main toolbar. On doing so, way to collapse all the nodes down
Clones dialog to create a lot of You can use the H and V the dialog changes completely to to a single point, and can be
objects that you then want to parameters to push your objects just show this: particularly useful for ensuring
randomly distribute – but the same further apart by setting them to that nodes from different paths
effect can often be better values greater than 0 (in pixels). are co-located, such as when trying
achieved by using the Randomise You can also enter negative values, to fake the appearance of a
fields in the Tiled Clones dialog, or but doing so won't pull your connection between more than
with the Tweak tool (see part 22). objects closer together: because two paths at a single point.
this is the minimum spacing, it Unfortunately all the selected
The final button in this section simply means that already nodes move, with no option to use
is described as “Unclump objects”. overlapping objects can continue one as an anchor point, so, whilst
In practice, it moves your objects a to overlap to some degree. Do it's a quick way to co-locate them,
little in order to more evenly space note that the calculations are To use this mode, you must first it's not so useful if you need them
the edge-to-edge distances. You based on the rectangular bounding select some nodes using the Node at a specific position. It's also
can apply it repeatedly, but it will boxes, though, so if you're working tool. You can even select nodes important to note that this is just a
eventually reach equilibrium. It can with objects such as circles you can from multiple different paths, if visual effect – there's no native
be useful for neatly arranging sometimes find that their you wish. Clicking on the first support for co-located nodes in
objects in two dimensions – think movements aren't what you button will align the nodes along a SVG – so you have to take care to
of it as a 2D equivalent to the expected. Take a look at the single horizontal line that lies select all the relevant nodes if you
“equidistant spacing” buttons in bounding boxes to see what really halfway between the top and need to move them later.
the Distribute section. Be careful if happened. bottom of the nodes' bounding
your objects overlap too much, as box . The second button does the
it can tend to pull them all If you look again at the same trick along the vertical axis.
together into a single pile rather screenshot of this dialog, you There's no option to align to the
than separating them out – the might be forgiven for thinking that top, bottom, left or right of the
exact opposite of “unclumping” in I've covered all of it, but that's only box, nor to the first node selected.
my book! because you've been misled by a If you need a specific alignment
slight oddity in this dialog. On first then the best approach is to set a
In fact, separating objects out is opening it, there's a section at the guide at the right place, align
really the job of the last section in bottom labelled “Nodes”, with four horizontally or vertically, then drag
this dialog: Remove overlaps. The additional buttons – as seen in last the still selected nodes to the
spinboxes allow you to specify the month's screenshot. As you start to guide, preferably with snapping
minimum distance between select objects, however, that enabled.
bounding boxes in both horizontal section disappears from sight. In
HOWTO - INKSCAPE
The last two buttons in Node
mode distribute the selected P YTHON SPECIAL EDITIONS:
nodes evenly. Like the equivalent
tool for objects, they are
distributed between the nodes
that are positioned furthest to the
left and right (or top and bottom
for vertical distribution).
That concludes our tour of the
Align and Distribute dialog. It may
not offer all the options of a fully-
fledged CAD application, but once http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py01 / http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py02/
you get used to the features it
does have, it can quickly become
an invaluable addition to your
toolbox. If you want to produce
good looking diagrams with evenly
spaced, neatly-aligned content, it's
well worth spending a little time
becoming familiar with its
capabilities.
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python- http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python-
special-edition-issue-three/ special-edition-volume-four/
Mark uses Inkscape to create three

webcomics, 'The Greys', 'Monsters,
Inked' and 'Elvie', which can all be
found at http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python- http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python-
http://www.peppertop.com/ special-edition-volume-five/ special-edition-volume-six/

H OW-TO
Written by Ronnie Tucker Au tom a ti c Ch i cken Feed er
L ast month I discussed the
background and gave the
layout for my Arduino powered
starts.
UTFT
myGLCD(QD_TFT180A,11,10,9,12,
Alarm.alarmRepeat(9,00,0,RTCA
larm);
Alarm.alarmRepeat(11,00,0,RTC
procedure. This will print the time
of the next alarm to the serial.
These were used prior to the
automatic chicken feeder. This 8); Alarm); screen being fitted.
month we’ll discuss the code that it
runs. This line is for the TFT screen I The Alarm.alarmRepeat Lines 1 31 to 1 48 are where we
used. The command myGLCD() commands are daily. So, in the case begin printing the DHT1 1
above, the ‘alarm’ will go at 9am
G RAB THE CODE contains the setup info for my
particular screen. QD_TFT1 80A is and 1 1 am precisely every day. The
temperature data to the serial too.
Again, prior to the screen.
the type of screen I used, and the 9,00,0 refers to hour, minutes and
You should first grab my code seconds. RTCAlarm is the Line 1 50 is the beginning of the
from: numbers 1 1 , 1 0, 9, 1 2 and 8 are the
procedure to jump to when the LCD screen outputs.
https://gist.github.com/ronnietuck pins I used for the screen. alarm time is reached. We’ll discuss
er/a68b26ff53b71 64b7775 that later.
We then have some setup for myGLCD.setColor(0, 255, 255);
the various values that I need later.
THE CODE In my code, I have several daily
myGLCD.printNumI((float)DHT11
.temperature,1,1);
alarms.
Lines 8 to 61 are all procedures SETUP() myGLCD.print("'C",35, 1);
for the DHT1 1 (temperature) Now that I’ve told the Arduino myGLCD.printNumI((float)DHT11
sensor. I’m not even going to After some myGLCD commands when I want alarms, I set up the .humidity,90,1);
pretend I know the ins and outs of (that we’ve used before), we have: servo and set the pin modes for my myGLCD.print("%",130, 1);
them, but I know they are used in setSyncProvider(RTC.get);
manual button and my green LED
converting the DHT1 1 values to (which will illuminate when a feed The code above is setting the
human readable temperature This is to grab the time from the is in progress). colour to yellow, printing the
values. RTC (Real Time Clock). The RTC has temperature, printing ‘C, printing
a battery on board so it keeps the LOOP() the humidity and, finally, a
Lines 62 to 68 are all includes time even when the Arduino (and percentage (%) symbol. The two
for the various libraries required. RTC board) is powered down. After First in the loop, we jump to the numbers at the end of each line
Each line has a comment which that comes an if statement to see digitalClickDisplay() procedure are where that text should be
says what that library is used for. if the grab was successful. which will show the current time to printed with 1 ,1 being the very top
the serial window. Next, we jump left of the screen (in pixels).
Line 81 is where the good stuff to the digitalTriggerDisplay()
HOWTO - ARDUINO
Lines 1 58 to 1 64 are the same when I originally used a small font. return to turn off the LED. It’s a bit botched, but to write
idea with white text, but for the I kept this chunk of code in there in further code would have taken me
light level from the LDR. case the big font didn’t work out Line 238 is the dispense() over the limit for the Nano I used.
and I had to revert back. procedure. This is the main crux of
myGLCD.printNumI(hour()+1,1,
45);
the machine. It dispenses the grain For sheer amusement, have a
button=digitalRead(4); for the chickens. look through the eight revisions on
myGLCD.print(":",33, 45); my GitHub Gist page and you’ll see
Now we check to see if the myServo.write(opened); it evolve through time.
myGLCD.printNumI(minute(),45,
45);
button has been pressed for a myGLCD.setColor(0, 0, 255);
manual feed.
myGLCD.print(":",80, 45); myGLCD.print("FEEDING",CENTER
if (button==HIGH) , 110);
myGLCD.printNumI(second(),95, {
45); digitalWrite(greenLED, delay(2000);
HIGH); // GREEN LED ON
myServo.write(closed);
These lines (above) are printing Serial.println("Button
the time to the screen. The reason pressed"); myGLCD.setColor(0, 0, 0);
for the +1 is for daylight savings myGLCD.fillRect(0,109,160,128
dispense(opened,closed);
here in the UK. );
digitalWrite(greenLED,
myGLCD.setColor(0, 200, 255); LOW); // GREEN LED OFF
Here we turn the servo forward
myGLCD.printNumI(hour(Alarm.g } (“opened” was defined at the start
etNextTrigger())+1,1, 65); of the code and is the angle the
myGLCD.print(":",33, 65); If the button is pressed (it goes servo is to turn to). Next, we set
HIGH) then we light the green LED, the LCD colour to red, print
myGLCD.printNumI(minute(Alarm
.getNextTrigger()),45, 65);
print a confirmation to the serial, ‘FEEDING’ to the screen, wait two
jump to a procedure called seconds (the length of time for just
myGLCD.print(":",80, 65); dispense(), then turn the LED off. enough grain), turn the servo back
myGLCD.printNumI(second(Alarm (“closed” was also declared at the
.getNextTrigger()),95, 65); Lastly, we have a one-second start), set the LCD colour to black,
delay. and draw a rectangle to erase the
The lines above are for setting ‘FEEDING’ text.
an orangey colour then printing Jumping down to line 279 we
see the RTCAlarm() procedure. In It’s definitely the most difficult Ronnie is the founder and (still!)
the next alarm (again, +1 hr). editor of Full Circle. He's a part-time
here we do a confirmation print to code I’ve worked on and it’s not arts and crafts sort of guy, and now
Lines 1 86 to 21 9 are the serial, light the LED, jump to perfect. More work could have an Arduino tinkerer.
commented out and were used the dispense() procedure, and been done in displaying the time.
CH RO M E CU LT
Written by S. J. Webb G o o g le D o c s
I utilize Google Sheets and
Google Slides on a less frequent
basis. I use these two programs to
You start Google Sheets and
Slides in the same manner as
Google Docs.
share my ideas or quick data
results with my fellow staff Google Sheets is a very simple
members. I typically share these program. It does not drown you in
files instead of emailing. My work menu overload. It allows for simple
uses the Google Ecosphere which calculations and charts. You can
maximizes my use to Google's filter out data sets. You can enter
products. cell formulations. It does a
wonderful job of opening Excel or
LibreOffice spreadsheets. I hit a One gripe is that it does not do

snag where some specialized more of the complex graph styles
graphs created using R are not such as 3D or Animated. You can
visible. You can save it to the add in various apps or extensions
formats shown below. to increase your Sheets
productivity. However be wary of
which apps or extensions you are
adding to the Chrome OS.
The Google Slides – like Sheets
and Doc – is an intuitive menu.
There are various themes within
Slides.
These themes transition well to
HOWTO - CHROME CULT
LibreOffice and Powerpoint. If you Like Google Docs, the files for
ever created a presentation, then Sheets and Slides are saved
Sheets is easy to learn. You can do automatically to Google Drive. You
simple animated transitions from then save it to your desired format.
slide to slide. Inserting charts and The file will show up in your
pictures is easy. I do not have any Chrome Browser's Downloads
gripes about Slides. folder just like Google Docs. The Google Docs, Sheets, and my summer interns at my research
Slides are strong online lab are using the Google Docs and
productivity programs. At this Sheets successfully in large groups
time, LibreOffice is not available as for editing.
an online Cloud service. However
Microsoft has online versions of
Word, Excel and Powerpoint. If a
person knows the limitations to
Google's programs, they can be SJ Webb is a Linux Hobbyist and
quite successful in developing Research Coordinator. He enjoys
quality products for their career. A fishing, hot rodding, and spending
time with his kids and wife. He
college friend is successfully using thanks Mike Ferarri for his
his Chromebook for presentations mentorship.
and papers for his classes. A few of
H OW-TO
Written by Ronnie Tucker Wri te For Fu ll Ci rcle M a g a zi n e
G UIDELINES document. REVIEWS
T he single rule for an article is
that it must somehow be
linked to Ubuntu or one of the
• Images should be JPG, no wider
than 800 pixels, and use low
compression.
G AMES/APPLICATIONS
When reviewing games/applications please state clearly:
many derivatives of Ubuntu
(Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc). • Do not use tables or any type of • title of the game
bold or italic formatting. • who makes the game
• is it free, or a paid download?
RULES • where to get it from (give download/homepage URL)
If you are writing a review, • is it Linux native, or did you use Wine?
• There is no word limit for articles, please follow these guidelines : • your marks out of five
but be advised that long articles • a summary with positive and negative points
may be split across several issues.
• For advice, please refer to the
When you are ready to submit
your article please email it to:
H ARDWARE
Official Full Circle Style Guide : When reviewing hardware please state clearly:
articles@fullcirclemagazine.org
http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/7
5d471 • make and model of the hardware
TRANSLATIONS • what category would you put this hardware into?
• Write your article in whichever • any glitches that you may have had while using the hardware?
software you choose, I would If you would like to translate • easy to get the hardware working in Linux?
recommend LibreOffice, but most Full Circle into your native • did you have to use Windows drivers?
importantly - PLEASE SPELL AND language please send an email to • marks out of five
GRAMMAR CHECK IT! ronnie@fullcirclemagazine.org and • a summary with positive and negative points
we will either put you in touch with
• In your article, please indicate an existing team, or give you
access to the raw text to translate
where you would like a particular
image to be placed by indicating from. With a completed PDF, you You don't need to be an expert to write an
the image name in a new will be able to upload your file to article - write about the games, applications
paragraph or by embedding the the main Full Circle site. and hardware that you use every day.
image in the ODT (Open Office)
https://spideroak.com
Get 25% off any SpiderOak package
with the code: FullcirclemagFans
L I N U X L AB
Written by Charles McColm
Cu s t o m i z i n g G R U B 2
One of the things I’ve always GRUB2, the version included on Ubuntu starts to boot. A default and modifying GRUB boot options
loved about Linux is the fact you most recent *buntu distributions. GRUB2 menu is very plain-looking saves the edit only for the current
can customize the heck out of it Specifically, I’ll be using GRUB with Ubuntu, Advanced options for boot - but this is still useful.
without buying third-party add- version 2.02~beta2-22ubuntu1 on loading Ubuntu and a couple of Editing how Ubuntu boots can be a
ons. The first interface hack that Lubuntu 1 4.04. To see what version Memory Test (memtest86+) lifesaver, I learned this the hard
put a big smile on my face was of GRUB2 you’re running type: options. If you’ve never tested way when I installed Ubuntu server
when I hacked my Mythbox your RAM before, or are having on a 1 U server and a 24” LCD.
(MythTV) so the LILO boot loader grub-install -V or grub-
install --version
some glitchy OS issues, this is a When I went to boot the server on
displayed a Simpsons TV show great tool for testing RAM. a 1 7” LCD it just kept going out of
background and the OS choice text If Ubuntu is your only OS range. Holding down SHIFT to
on top - it was one of those installed, GRUB2 will not display display the GRUB menu then ‘e’
moments that reminded me of the the GRUB menu, it will just load If you press e while the reverse editing the options you can set the
awesome ANSI BBS art days. Ubuntu. To display the GRUB video is over an option, you can gfxmode option to 800x600:
menu, hold down SHIFT before edit that option. Just pressing e
I got all excited about # gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
customizing LILO (LInux LOader) gfxmode 800x600
further, and then along came
GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader). Once the system booted I was
When GRUB first came out, I found able to edit the /etc/default/grub
myself scratching my head file and include:
wondering why fix something that
seemed way better than the GRUB_GRFXMODE=”800x600”
solution? I’m sure more than a few
of us have questioned several GRUB won’t update until you
choices made in the open source run: update-grub. After running
movement, but those choices are update-grub, the change should be
what make the movement so permanent. Just pressing e and
great. modifying GRUB boot options
saves the edit only for the current
GRUB has evolved and the cool session.
factor is definitely back. For
reference, I’m actually referring to The /etc/default/grub file is
LINUX LAB
where you make all your GRUB2 cool circuit image was in the actually loading - to the unknowing ”quiet splash” in the
changes, including adding a background, but because of the eye it can look like Ubuntu just /etc/default/grub file – and don’t
background image. To keep from light text it looked washed out. crashed to a blank screen. I’ve forget to update-grub.
infringing on copyright in FCM, I’ve always liked seeing what’s actually
chosen a picture I took from the The black Ubuntu text on the loading. Long ago all the Linux Now back to addressing our
back of a television we were trying grey bar doesn’t look bad, but I distributions displayed what was GRUB2 theme problem. The grey
to troubleshoot. Busy pictures think we can do much better. But loading during boot, but in the text doesn’t show very well on
tend not to be great backgrounds before we address the look of my interest of not scaring away light colors. When I first set out to
so I’ve blurred the photo a bit. I theme, I want to touch on another people from Linux, many change the light text, my research
called the photo circuit.png, and annoyance, the blank screen distributions opted to blank the led me to believe it would be a
saved it as a PNG image. You can before the Ubuntu splash screen. screen until their fancy splash pretty easy task to accomplish by
save photographs as JPEG, but if Those of you with really fast screen loaded. To get Ubuntu to simply creating a theme file and
you do, you’re limited to 8-bit and machines may not notice, but if display what’s loading during the making some font color
256 colors. Saving in PNG enables you’re working with a slower boot process, remove the word adjustments to my theme file.
the full range of 24/32bit color. To machine, it can be a few seconds ‘quiet’ from the line that reads Several hours later (in fact a whole
use the circuit.png photo I before there’s any sign of Ubuntu GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT= other day working several hours
modified /etc/default/grub to into the night), I still didn’t have
include: the results I wanted. Fonts I
created using the grub-mkfont
GRUB_BACKGROUND=”/home/charle
s/Pictures/circuit.png”
tool were not showing correctly,
everything was spaced badly, and
I had to run update-grub to the complimentary colors I chose
make the change. When I ran (complementary to green) were
update-grub, there was a message not looking so hot. A little more
about GRUB_TIMEOUT=1 0 being digging and I figured out how to
incompatible when just adjust the menu text, in the
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 was file /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme.
set, so I also commented out: You have to find the text:
if [ -z "${2}" ] && [ -z
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 "${3}" ]; then
Then I reran update-grub and echo " true"

rebooted. Sure enough the GRUB2 fi
menu came up without pressing
SHIFT (for 1 0 seconds), and my I comment out echo “ true” and
LINUX LAB
added: we’ll set up a directory to hold our directory all in one shot. The touch desktop-image:
theme: command created a blank file “/home/charles/Pictures/circu
it.jpg”
echo " set
color_highlight=white/light-
called themes.txt in
blue"
cd /boot/grub /boot/grub/themes/circuit. Now +boot_menu {
sudo mkdir -p themes/circuit we have to tell GRUB2 to load the
left = 10%
echo " set
color_normal=blue/black"
themes file, we do this in
sudo touch
themes/circuit/themes.txt
/etc/default/grub by adding: top = 15%
Unfortunately, you’re limited to GRUB_THEME=”/boot/grub/themes width = 85%
1 6 colors. The article that finally The -p switch for mkdir creates /circuit/theme.txt”
height = 75%
helped me change only the menu the parent directory if it doesn’t
colour was on The Geek Stuff: exist. On the test machine I was Here’s what I added to my item_font = “Ubuntu Regular
http://www.thegeekstuff.com/201 working on, there was no themes theme.txt file: 12”
2/1 0/grub-splash-image/ directory. The mkdir -p item_color = “#631C53”
themes/circuit command created title-font: “Ubuntu Bold 18”
The resulting Grub menu ended both the themes and circuit sub- title-color: “EE00BB”
selected_item_color =
“#EAA6DB”
up looking like the screenshot
shown below. }
Because 05_debian_theme is a The first line title-font: “Ubuntu

GRUB2 script, I had to run update- Bold 1 8” defines the font to use
grub for the results to take effect. for the GRUB2 title element.
The result wasn’t much better than Unfortunately, defining which font
the original theme because of the to use in the menu is not as simple
limited color choice and the busy as picking a font Ubuntu can
background (plain color normally display; fonts have to be
background works much better). converted to .pf2 format and
placed either in your theme folder
I mentioned a theme file earlier. or the provided /boot/grub/fonts
It turned out that creating a theme folder, then symbolically linked to
was a lot more complicated than it your theme folder (the
first looked, and that it was more recommended way to do it since
about graphic elements than text you can reuse the font). Notice
elements. from the example above that I use
Ubuntu Bold 1 8 (Ubuntu-B.ttf) and
Before we create the theme Ubuntu Regular 1 2 (Ubuntu-R.ttf).
To create the .pf2 files, I first
LINUX LAB
located the fonts responsible for was about to give up, but then colors. If 1 024x768 is unavailable, A theming thread on Ubuntu
Ubuntu Bold and Ubuntu Regular found the problem, the fonts were it goes back to the standard Forums:
in /usr/share/fonts (they’re not showing because the 640x480. Now the fonts displayed http://ubuntuforums.org/showthr
actually in GRUB_GFXMODE was set in as they should. See image below. ead.php?t=1 82391 5
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/ubuntu- /etc/default/grub to 640x480.
font-family, but you’ll want to Once I set this higher, and ran Again the menu doesn’t look Rosa desktop GRUB2 theming
know about /usr/share/fonts so update-grub, the fonts took effect. great, but at least now the Ubuntu page:
you can convert other font You can specify a resolution and a fonts worked. I mentioned earlier http://wiki.rosalab.ru/en/index.php
families). Then I copied the two fallback resolution like so: that there was a lot more to /Grub2_theme_tutorial
files to my theme directory. theming than changing the font
GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768x32,640x
480
size and style and the background Ramki’s java blog GRUB2 page:
cd
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/ubu
image. There are several good http://www.ramkitech.com/201 2/0
ntu-font/family With this adjustment (don’t resources that cover GRUB2 1 /grub2-and-themes-
forget to update-grub), GRUB2 theming. If you’re comfortable customization.html
sudo cp Ubuntu-B.ttf Ubuntu-
R.ttf changes to 1 024x768 with 32-bit with MVC and image editing, these
/boot/grub/themes/circuit resources will be a good help: Ramki’s java blog and the Rosa
desktop GRUB2 theming page go
Then I ran the grub-mkfont tool more into creating the graphical
with the following options: elements that you’ll need to create
sudo grub-mkfont --verbose --
complex – but very cool-looking –
range=0x0-0x7F --size=18 -- GRUB2 themes. It’s also worth
output=/boot/grub/themes/circ mentioning the 2008 GRUB Google
uit/Ubuntu-Bold-18.pf2
Ubuntu-B.ttf
Summer of Code page:
http://grub.gibibit.com/.
sudo grub-mkfont --verbose -- Unfortunately, all the themes are
range=0x0-0x7F --size=12 --
output=/boot/grub/themes/circ obsolete, but it might help further
uit/Ubuntu-Regular-18.pf2 understanding of how to theme
Ubuntu-R.ttf GRUB2 graphically.
This created the font files in my I hope I’ve provided some light
theme directory in the preferred on theming GRUB2, and shown
format. However, when I rebooted, some of the frustrations that
I discovered the font files were not someone new to theming GRUB2
appearing as they should. I scoured can run into. In the end, I managed
Google some more – but no luck. I to get around some of the
LINUX LAB
problems using some GIMP adjusted the spacing by adding a bit more complete and up-to-
trickery. I modified my original item_height=20 and date for current versions of
circuit.png using the select tool to item_spacing=1 0 to the same Ubuntu.
select an area where the boot- theme file. This hack led to a
loader menu text would be GRUB2 menu (shown below) that
displayed. I checked off the was a slight improvement in
selection tool rounded corners readability.
option and chose 25 pixels. Then I Charles is the author of Instant
dumped a black to dark-gray Just after finishing this article, I XBMC, and the project manager of a
gradient in the selected area. I also found one more great GRUB2 not-for-profit computer reuse
set the item_color = “#FFFFFF” resource on the Ubuntu web site project. When not building PCs,
(white) in my located here: removing malware, and encouraging
people to use GNU/Linux, Charles
/boot/grub/theme/circuit/theme.t https://help.ubuntu.com/communi has a blog at charlesmccolm.com.
xt file for better visibility. I also ty/Grub2/Displays. This resource is

U B U N TU P H O N E S
Written by Ronnie Tucker
B RIEF LIST OF CHANGES IN - New monochromatic indicator

icon design
minutes after an app is purchased)
- Edit app ratings
M EIZU LAUNCHES THE MX4
STABLE' S OTA-4 (J UNE). - Scope tagging to be used by the U BUNTU EDITION IN EUROPE
B ear in mind that there are
many more changes in the
update because of the baseline
scopes aggregator
- Importing SIM contacts
- Full fix for reboot loops caused by
segfaults in log.c code
Browser improvements
- Bookmark folders
- Keyboard shortcuts S martphone manufacturer
Meizu, in partnership with
Canonical, announces the launch of
switch from 1 4.09 to Vivid [1 5.04]. - Multiple common crash fixes Other the MX4 Ubuntu Edition in Europe
This is also the reason why this - Most up-to-date core-applications - Improvements to Call forwarding to smartphone enthusiasts. This
changelog has much less detailed (dialer, web-browser, messaging, UI (in System settings > Phone) follows the recent device launch in
information than the previous address-book) - WPA Enterprise support added to China specifically aimed at
ones. System settings and networking developers [..]. The Meizu MX4
Ubuntu Edition will be available to
Most important changes: E XPECTED CHANGES FOR - MX4 LED pulses when there is a
notification buy as of 25th of June across
- Change of the base distribution OTA-5 (J ULY) - In-line contact editing in Dialer Europe, priced at 299.00 Euros.
from 1 4.09 to Vivid: and Messaging apps The devices are accessible via
- This also means differences in the General improvements: - Group MMS support in Dialer and Meizu’s website:
tool chain and libraries - Refreshed icons throughout Messaging apps http://www.meizu.com/en/ubuntu
- For easy comparison: 1 4.09 was including apps and indicator icons - GPS location tagging added to /index.html.
based on a pre-Utopic system - Shell rotation Camera
- Further improvements to location - Additional keyboard layouts - SDK has added the ability to allow The Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition
accuracy added for Romanian, Scottish, apps to keep the display on (e.g for will be available in silver and gold
- MMS group-chat support Gaelic, Greek, Norwegian, games developers that need to colours. This sleek device has 1 6GB
- Oxide 1 .7.8 with multiple fixes Ukrainian, Slovak, Icelandic avoid the screen timeout) internal memory, and features an
and improvements - More than 50 other issues astounding 20.7 megapixel rear-
- Welcome wizard code now in Scopes resolved facing camera with autofocus and
Unity8, different tutorial design - Keyword tagging support added dual LED flash, plus a 2 megapixel
- Ubuntu UI Toolkit 1 .2: to News, Photos and Today front-facing camera. It also
- New ListItem with fancy features features a large 5.36” Sharp
- New UbuntuShape rendering Store improvements premium retina screen with
properties - Refunds (The Store will now let scratch-resistant Corning®
- New header design users 'cancel' a purchase up to 1 5 Gorilla® Glass 3.
- Qt 5.4
R E VI E W
Written by Ronnie Tucker M e i z u M X4 U b u n t u E d i t i o n
T he BQ Aquaris E4.5 has the
honour of being the world’s
first ever Ubuntu phone. They’ve
Its display is the most striking
thing about it when you first turn it
on. There are only a couple of
now followed that up with the E5. millimeters (at most) between the
The Meizu MX4 has the honour of screen and the metallic edge. It’s a
currently being the world's most 5.36 inch Sharp/JDI screen with
powerful Ubuntu phone. over 2,000 brightness levels, and
protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The
There is no point in comparing resolution is 1 920 x 1 1 52 pixels.
the MX4 with the E4.5 as they are
two completely different beasts. The rear camera is where I have
What I’ll be concentrating on here an issue with Meizu. They state on
is the hardware, and how Ubuntu their site that it’s a 20.7 megapixel
runs on it. I’ll link to several (MP) camera. All the photos I’ve
YouTube videos that I’ve since taken show as being 1 4.7MP. From
made showing how to use Ubuntu, what I’ve seen around Launchpad,
and the applications it runs. it seems that the problem may be
the camera app within Ubuntu
SPECIFICS Touch. The sensor is a Sony IMX220
Exmor RS. It has a 300-degree
The MX4 is a powerful beast. It panoramic view which I noticed
has a true eight-core CPU immediately as any items close to
(MediaTek 6596, Meizu you look quite distant on screen.
customized) with 2.2GHz x 4 and The camera is capable of 30 photos
1 .7GHz x 4 (all eight cores can be per second, and is also protected
turned on simultaneously), a by Gorilla Glass 3. The front camera
PowerVR G6200 GPU (again, Meizu is a similar model, but is 2MP and
customized), 2GB LPDDR3 RAM (at apparently has (and I quote from
933MHz), and dual ISP chips with 4- Meizu) ‘FotoNation smart selfie
channel processing. It has 1 6GB of enhancement’ (whatever that
storage for your files. might be!). The camera is placed in

REVIEW - MEIZU MX4 UBUNTU PHONE
the center and about three let you insert your SIM card. first, but it becomes second nature contacts, browser, calculator,
quarters of an inch down on the in no time. Some scopes are good gallery, music, media, email, and
back of the phone. Below the lens I created a YouTube video and helpful, but some are really social media apps. There’s also the
are the dual-colour flashes. showing what you see on first use just downloading a list of images Ubuntu Store for adding/removing
of an MX4: with links which open in the apps and scopes.
The MX4 does all the usual browser, so they’re pretty
wireless stuff that you’d expect pointless, I think. Be aware that some apps are
such as WiFi (dual-band), Bluetooth quite basic. The camera app
(v4), and GPS. It has sensors for Transferring files via USB is springs to mind. It has only the
light, gravity, hall effect, IR done using MTP since almost all most basic of options. The gallery
proximity, gyroscope and ambient devices nowadays don’t mount as a app has basic cropping and
light, and a digital compass. USB device. I had problems with rotation of photos. The Gmail app
this in KDE Plasma 5 (works fine in is really just the mobile web pages,
For audio files, it can accept https://www.youtube.com/watch?v Plasma 4), and other users have but it does work and give
FLAC, APE, AAC, MKA, OGG, and =XCQKZlwWve8 had no problems with it in other notifications. The unofficial
(of course) MP3. For video; MP4, desktops. dropbox app (udropcabin) lets you
3GP, MOV, MKV, AVI, FLV and
MPEG. Images; JPG, PNG, GIF and
U BUNTU TOUCH
To see how to use Ubuntu
upload/download files, but has no
way of sharing files.
BMP. The phone I received came with Touch on a phone, I made a video:
Ubuntu 1 5.04 r0 installed on it. These quirks aren’t the end of
All of the above is powered by a This was upgraded to r1 (on first the world, but just something to
Sony/Samsung 31 00mAh battery. boot) and a further upgrade (to r2) be aware of.
has since been released as I write
The top edge of the phone has this. By the time you read this, I To show that there are Ubuntu
the power button and the expect there will have been apps for Android appsI use, I
headphone jack. Bottom edge has another update. At the moment, created a video showing some:
the speaker, microphone, and the the Ubuntu Touch OS is using a
USB (and charging) port. The left similar codebase to desktop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
edge has the volume buttons, Ubuntu, but this is set to change =fUGHhGWDNB0
while the right edge has no soon with Touch using the new
functions. On the front are the
speaker (top middle) front camera
Snappy base. APPS
(top right) and a home button Needless to say, Ubuntu is as Everything works out of the
(bottom middle). The back has a smooth as silk on the MX4. Getting box. Ubuntu Touch comes with the
nice bluish tint to the brushed used to scopes can be tricky at usual phone, SMS messaging, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
metal cover. This is removable – to =1 bDHf9wJGM8
REVIEW - MEIZU MX4 UBUNTU PHONE
notification circle which can’t be some apps don’t release their hold
CONCLUSION turned off), and the icons are set on it when you start up another
In short: as long as you don’t
mind being on the bleeding edge
and cannot be replaced with your GPS compatible app. I’ve also yet of Ubuntu Touch, you will
This is a beautiful phone. I was favourite icon pack. to see a notification LED.
immediately impressed with the absolutely love this phone.
screen when I turned the phone on Having said all those good I’m sure any and all problems
for the very first time, and, for the things about it, there are some will be ironed out over time. But I’d
amount of power in there, it’s a things you should be aware of. be neglecting my duties if I didn’t
surprisingly light device. Since Ubuntu Touch, like its warn you about these things
desktop counterpart, is constantly before you spend your money on Ronnie is the founder and (still!)
There isn’t a huge amount of under construction, you should this. While Canonical is, as of editor of Full Circle. He's a part-time
customization over Ubuntu itself expect to find things that may, or writing, throwing out updates arts and crafts sort of guy, and now
though. You can add wallpapers, an Arduino tinkerer.
may not, work at times. As I write almost monthly, that will soon
but it’s only seen on the lock this, I’ve been having some quirks change to updates being released
screen (and covered by the with the GPS where it seems that every six weeks.
HTTP ://WWW.MEIZU.COM /EN /UBUNTU/FEATURES .HTML

R E VI E W
Written by Benoit Benedetti BQ Aq u a ri s E5 H D
S panish BQ manufacturer, which
has been the first to offer a
mobile phone that supports
• 1 6GB eMMC storage
• Expandable memory Via microSD
card (up to 32 GB)
Ubuntu Touch natively, the Aquaris • Rear camera: 1 3 Mp(f/2.2) BSI
4.5 (A4.5), continues its sensor with autofocus and Dual
collaboration with Canonical and flash
offers us the Aquaris 5 HD (A5HD), • Front camera: 5 Mp (f/2.0)
available for sale since late June. • Full HD video recording (1 080p)
Like its elder, the A5HD is a • Dual-sim
device—initially available in • 3G: 3G + (HSPA+/UMTS/GSM)
Android—that BQ ported to • Bands supported: GSM (850, 900,
Ubuntu Touch. 1 800 and 1 900) and UMTS (900,
21 00)
In this review, I will present my • Connectivity: BlueTooth 4.0, GPS,
impressions of using this new Wi-Fi 802.1 1 b/g/n, micro-USB, jack
device that BQ France kindly made 3.5mm
available to me, and compare it to • Lipo 2500 mAh battery
the A4.5 that I bought right when • Weight: 0.1 340
it was released. • Dimensions: 71 x 1 42 x 8,65 mm.
This device is a slight material We can see that the A5HD

upgrade. Here is a list of its shares some specifications with
specifications: A4.5, which is not necessarily to
• 5-inch Capacitive IPS multi-touch delight us: cpu and gpu are the
HD display with a resolution of 720 same, same RAM, only wifi b/g/n,
x 1 280 pixels, 294 hdpi, Dragontrail no 4G or NFC, and always
Protection Glass restricted to Europe
• CPU: MediaTek quad-core Cortex market—therefore no support for
A7 CPU at 1 .3 GHz US LTE Bands.
• GPU: Mali 400-MP2 up to 500
MHz In terms of improvement, there
• 1 GB of RAM is an internal memory that goes
REVIEW - BQ AQUARIS E5 HD
from 8 to 1 6GB, and a more (or videos, for which I have not - only Wifi b/g/n
powerful battery. I'm not addicted noticed real improvements
to my smartphone, and with my compared to A4.5) out of it, the The Aquaris 5, 4G, or 6 would
A4.5, I have an autonomy of about results are still noisy and have been a better new flagship
24H; with the A5HD I can stand 48 predominantly white, particularly device running Ubuntu Touch from
hours before needing to recharge. in HDR mode. BQ, but I can live without 4G, fast
While remaining as thin as the WiFi, NFC, and be content with a
A4.5, the A5HD becomes a bit It does not bother me; the mid-range camera. The screen of
wider and longer, allowing it to camera phone helps me out when the A5HD is really its strong selling
offer a 5'' screen. needed, this is not the first use I point, and I would see myself
make of my phone, especially if I trying it if I did not already own an
It is this larger screen, HD in turned to Ubuntu Touch. It's not A4.5. If you have not yet taken the
addition, that really makes this for the hardware performance, but step of Ubuntu Touch, the little
model interesting. The resolution rather for its OS, on which you extra price difference for a better
is much higher and makes it more already read descriptions and rave screen should convince you to try
pleasant to use, whether to read reviews in these columns. I tested this OS that gets better gradually.
the displayed information, videos both the A5HD and A4.5 under
or photos. This device holds Ubuntu 1 5.04/release 23, and I did
another upgrade compared to not notice any differences in terms
A4.5, the rear camera (based on of performance in navigation, the
specifications, it does not seem to use of scopes, etc – surely due to
me that the front camera had an the fact that both devices ship
upgrade, and to be honest, it is with the same CPU and GPU.
only now as I write the article that I
realize I have not tested the front
camera before returning the
PROS:
+ better battery life
A5HD: sorry not to be addicted to + better video
selfies!). The camera is more + better camera
pleasant to use than its + HD display
predecessor. It is more responsive,
with better focus, better
resolution, and an HDR mode that I CONS:
found most effective. - no 4G
Nevertheless, the A5HD remains a - photos/video noisy, especially in
mid-range device, and do not low light
expect to make beautiful pictures - no NFC Left: BQ E5. Right: BQ E4.5
B O O K R E VI E W
Written by Mark Crutch H o w L i n u x W o r k s (2 n d E d i t i o n )
the way, it visits shell scripts, file
The sort that will sit on a shelf until find much in this book that will
systems, processes and networking you find yourself faced with an odd surprise him/her – although there's
– although each stop on the question about how your machine enough detail that you're bound to
journey is but a brief one. boots, how to configure systemd, learn a few things along the way.
or what the hell PAM is. If nothing But if your admin skills are new, or
You won't find much in-depth else it will provide you with you feel there are some gaps in
coverage here, but rather a broad enough basic details of a topic to your knowledge, this book could
collection of topics that are briefly make your online searches more easily help to fill those holes. Even
introduced. To that end, the author productive. for a user on a home machine, if
does a great job of including you're interested in learning about
suggestions for other books and Despite its title, this book the nuts and bolts of your
resources that cover each element doesn't really tell you much about operating system, this book would
in more detail. For example, how Linux, the kernel, really works. be a good starting point.
although SSH gets a mention, the You won't find a discussion of
four pages dedicated to it aren't different scheduling algorithms, My one complaint about “How
enough to talk about using key- and kernel structures really get Linux Works” is that too much
based authentication rather that mentioned only when they relate space is wasted on unnecessary
Publisher: No Starch Press passwords, nor any details about to user-space tasks. At a higher detail – space that could have been
Author: Brian Ward how to forward ports over an SSH level, if you want to know about better used to provide more
Pages: 392, B&W connection. Instead, there is a how all the files on your Linux box information elsewhere. Nobody
ISBN: 978-1 -59327-567-9 short overview of the client and fit together, and the contribution picking up this tome is likely to
http://nostarch.com/howlinuxwork server configuration, together with each one makes to your system, need an introduction to the shell
s2 suggestions of a pair of dedicated you'd be better off setting up a right down to the level of the “cd”
N
SSH books, and another on “Linux From Scratch” system on a and “mv” commands, whilst at the
ow in its second edition, cryptographic algorithms. In this virtual machine – although this other end of the spectrum (and the
“How Linux Works” is a useful way, “How Linux Works” manages book would probably be a useful book), there are two whole
reference for any would-be system to cover a lot of ground without companion to the official LFS chapters dedicated to
administrator, or even just a getting caught up in the minutiae documentation. development tools and installing
technically curious user. It's a of every single command. from source. The content here is
whistle-stop tour of a typical Linux Similarly, a competent system not only less relevant in a world of
system – from booting up right This is a book for people who administrator with a few years unofficial repositories and
through to a graphical desktop. On don't know what they don't know. experience of Linux, isn't likely to development PPAs, but
BOOK REVIEW - HOW LINUX WORKS
concentrates on how to locally
resolve the sort of build and TABLE OF CONTENTS
compilation issues that should
probably be raised with the Chapter 1 : The Big Picture
upstream developers anyway. Chapter 2: Basic Commands and Directory Hierarchy
Meanwhile, a subject such as Chapter 3: Devices
printing gets just over a page in Chapter 4: Disks and Filesystems
the book, and the Apache web Chapter 5: Linux Booting: Boot Loaders and Kernel
server warrants a single mention in Chapter 6: How User Space Starts
a final chapter that just reels off Chapter 7: System Configuration: Logging, System Time, Batch Jobs, and Users
different ways in which you can Chapter 8: A Closer Look at Processes and Resource Utilization
use a Linux box. Chapter 9: Understanding Your Network and Its Configuration
Chapter 1 0: Network Applications and Services
Despite this minor complaint, Chapter 1 1 : Introduction to Shell Scripts
there's still plenty of information Chapter 1 2: Moving Files Across the Network
to be gleaned from this book and Chapter 1 3: User Environments
I'd definitely recommend it to Chapter 1 4: A Brief Survey of the Linux Desktop
would-be administrators, or just Chapter 1 5: Development Tools
the technically curious. With Chapter 1 6: Compiling Software from Source Code
references and suggested reading Chapter 1 7: Building on the Basics
dotted liberally around, this could
be the book to start you
descending into a rabbit hole of
information if you're so inclined.
But even if you choose not to
follow up on any of the topics in
more detail, this is a handy
guidebook to the extensive
collection of bits that make up a
Linux box these days.
Mark uses Inkscape to create three
webcomics, 'The Greys', 'Monsters,
Inked' and 'Elvie', which can all be
found at
http://www.peppertop.com/

MY STO RY
Written by Roland Hunt M y Swi tch To U bu n tu Stu d i o
I n my last article, I talked about
my full-time switch to Linux, and,
after trying various distributions
you do a full install.
I've got a 1 TB HDD in my laptop
work. Also, as I went for all the
categories that are available on
install, I've covered all bases for it
affect me that much because it's
rare that I use my laptop’s built-in
keyboard and mouse. If I ever need
including Ubuntu Studio 1 5.04, my and with a full install of Ubuntu with the full LibreOffice installed. to use the built-in keyboard, I can
reasons for choosing Kubuntu Studio (all the different Ubuntu just use a wireless mouse and
1 5.04. In this article, I'll go into the Studio categories installed), a full The one thing that's really switch the Touchpad off – either
details of changes in my Linux LibreOffice install, and the About
starting to grow on me with the until I get the problem sorted or
distribution of choice. Me settings applet installed, I've
XFCE Desktop Environment is how permanently.
still got 921 .9GB of free space for
much more customizable it is
After having annoying screen documents, applications and videocompared to KDE or Unity, as I’ve I'm not going to let one little
glitching, I decided to switch back or audio content. created a Mac OS X style dock out problem like this spoil what is an
to Ubuntu Studio 1 5.04. With of the hidden panel at the bottom amazing OS, with a very
Ubuntu Studio, using the XFCE I've had my Toshiba Laptop of the Ubuntu Studio desktop, and customizable Desktop
Desktop Environment, I've got a since 201 0, and in that time it's had added shortcuts to LibreOffice Environment, and that's both
glitch-free screen on both the a RAM upgrade to 4GB, an intel Writer and LibreOffice Calc to it. lightweight on resources and has
laptop’s internal screen and WiFi card installed, and a battery I've also replaced the standard made the battery feel like new
external monitor. replacement. XFCE Menu in the top panel with a (even though it's not charging up
Whisker Menu, and kept the to its full capacity any more). But
As I'm trying to get into Replacing the laptop with a Ubuntu Studio icon, as well as since I mainly use the laptop as a
YouTube content production, the better one is currently not an replaced the workspace switcher desktop, and it’s connected to the
lightweight desktop you get with option as I'm in-between jobs at with my local weather and created mains when in use or with the
XFCE, along with a low latency the minute, and since I'm also a new panel on the right side for charger close by, then battery life
kernel, coupled with having all of trying to post regular videos to my the workspace switcher. doesn't really matter all that much
the packages required for video YouTube channel – it makes sense to me.
production, audio production, to use Ubuntu Studio as that is one My only slight problem: the
graphic design, photography and of the target markets for Ubuntu sensitivity of my touchpad is high Ubuntu Studio has definitely
publishing, along with having the Studio. I would also like to do DVD even though I've got it turned all breathed some much needed life
ability to install LibreOffice, games Authoring, or some other type of the way down – meaning that it’s back into my ageing laptop.
and any other Linux application, publishing – which would also hard to actually type on my
makes Ubuntu Studio an ideal make Ubuntu Studio ideal, apart laptop’s keyboard which is kind of
distribution, even if you're not into from being able to install games annoying, but I'll keep having a go
any of the groups that install when that can distract you from your at fixing the problem – it doesn't
LE T TE RS If you would like to submit a letter for publication, compliment
or complaint, please email it to: letters@fullcirclemagazine.org .
PLEASE NOTE: some letters may be edited for space.
Join us on:
goo.gl/FRTMl
VERACRYPT U PDATE By the way, VeraCrypt comes facebook.com/fullcircle
T
with a proper man page, unlike magazine
hank you for your article on TrueCrypt.
VeraCrypt. twitter.com/#!/fullcirclemag
Paddy Landau linkedin.com/company/full-
There were two important
omissions from your article. circle-magazine
ubuntuforums.org/forum
First: display.php?f=270
VeraCrypt is available on a PPA, U BUNTU AFTER I NSTALL
so installing on Ubuntu or any
Debian system is a breeze. Add the
repository to your repositories,
update, and install VeraCrypt.
I 've been reading your magazine
for some time now, and find that
it keeps adding to my Ubuntu
FCM#1 00
SURVEY
FULL CIRCLE N EEDS YOU !
Without reader input
knowledge. After a recent 1 5.04
install, I was working through The question is: Full Circle would be an
sudo add-apt-repository
ppa:unit193/encryption setting it up and came across this empty PDF file (which I don't
great little piece of software that I What are your most think many people would find
sudo apt update
think deserves a bit of promotion: loved/hated flavors and particularly interesting). We
sudo apt install veracrypt Ubuntu After Install releases? are always looking for articles,
(https://www.thefanclub.co.za/ho reviews, anything! Even small
Second : w-to/ubuntu-after-install). It Take the quick survey and we'll things like letters and desktop
VeraCrypt has a facility to worked flawlessly on my 64-bit publish the results in screens help fill the magazine.
convert TrueCrypt volumes (but install, even though it's still in FCM#1 00.
not, sadly, partitions) to VeraCrypt. beta. It loads a whole bunch of See the article Writing for Full
Obviously, you want to back up essential PPAs, then installs the http://goo.gl/DPt2q0 Circle in this issue to read our
your volume before doing so in software. You get to select what basic guidelines.
case something goes wrong (e.g. a you don't want, but their choices
power failure), but you would be are pretty much what you would Have a look at the last page of
recommended to use the want anyway. any issue to get the details of
VeraCrypt format rather than where to send your
TrueCrypt specifically because the Guy Chilvers contributions.
former is more secure.
Q &A
Compiled by Gord Campbell
If you have a Linux question, email it to: misc@fullcirclemagazine.org , and
Gord will answer them in a future issue. Please include as much
information as you can about your query.
Q hearing
What is this Snappy thing I'm
about?
extension. How can I determine
what type of file they are? Q theMy power
system was running when
went off. Now it
partition from Ubuntu, and save a
copy of my files. However, I get a
A A
won't boot! It displays these error long error message which includes
A nice writeup is here: Use these two commands: messages: this: "The NTFS partition is in an
http://goo.gl/r7TU3b unsafe state."
A
(That points to cd Downloads
error : unknown filesystem.
pcworld.com/article/2942267/why-
Entering rescue mode...
(Thanks to
ubuntu-plans-to-replace-
A grahammechanical in the
file *
(Thanks to oldfred in the Ubuntu Forums) The solution is
traditional-linux-packages-with- Ubuntu Forums) Boot from a
something-better.html) spelled out in this article:
Q myI added a 1 TB hard drive to
computer, but it does not
LiveCD or flash drive and run this
command:
http://goo.gl/dGjL4L
(It's at
Q 1I 2.04
wish to upgrade my Xubuntu show up in the file manager. sudo e2fsck -f -y -v webupd8.org/201 5/06/workaroun
A
to Xubuntu 1 4.04. When /dev/sda1 ds-for-not-being-able-to-
I run the update manager, and hit You might need to install mount.html)
the upgrade to 1 4.04 button, a Gparted. Then run this
window pops up and says:
"Welcome to Ubuntu 1 4.04 'Trusty
command:
Q problems
I'm having video playback
on a low-powered
Q I am having trouble assigning
Tahr" sudo gparted
system with Intel graphics. a static IP address to my
A
Ubuntu Server, which is connected
I don't want Ubuntu 1 4.04, I In the top-right is a drop-down See this thread in the Ubuntu to my router by an Ethernet cable.
box to select a specific drive.
A
want only Xubuntu 1 4.04 Forums: http://goo.gl/3TzD9y
Select your new drive. Then create (Thanks to Chili555 in the
A Go ahead, you will get

Xubuntu 1 4.04. There are
several places where Xubuntu is
one or more partitions, and format On my Acer Aspire One, it didn't Ubuntu Forums) Edit (sudo
the partitions. The new partition(s) work a miracle, but it appeared to nano) /etc/network/interfaces as
should appear in your file manager. help. follows:
identified as "Ubuntu," (eg. grub)
and this is one of them. This process is actually a little auto lo
bit simpler than the similar process
under Windows. Q Windows
I'm dual-booting with
8, and Windows
iface lo inet loopback
auto eth0
Q Downloads
iface eth0 inet static
I have a bunch of files in my suffered a catastrophic failure. I address 192.168.1.25
netmask 255.255.255.0
folder with no thought I could just click on the gateway 192.168.1.1
Q&A
dns-nameservers 80.58.61.250
80.58.61.254
* What kind of scheduling
algorithms are used in 1 5.04? Is it
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES System /360, which was supposed
to combine scientific and
possible to change it? A nostalgic time-sink commercial computing in a single
Then restart the interface: http://goo.gl/ftMp2G box. (IBM's annual revenue at that
sudo ifdown eth0 && sudo ifup
-v eth0 * How to get date and time using
command line interface?
I ssue 1 00 of Full Circle Magazine
is coming up, which put me in a
nostalgic mood. I'm sure I'm not
time was about $5 billion, which
made it by far the largest
computing company.)
To check it: http://goo.gl/iF1 ft1 the only person here who grew up
in an IBM mainframe environment. A few months later, I joined
ifconfig * How can I reliably check which is IBM, and a year later was assigned
ping -c3 www.ubuntu.com the last time an Ubuntu machine For those of us who are long in to help a customer use the initial
has been connected to the the tooth, April 7, 1 964 was "the release of OS/360. That was a
You will probably choose a internet? day the world changed." Fortune horror show, but it got better. By
different address and http://goo.gl/q4U4xX Magazine called it "The $5 Billion release 1 6 it was quite solid.
nameservers. Gamble," as IBM announced
* How can I turn photos of paper
documents into a scanned
document?
http://goo.gl/7cLJKV
TOP QUESTIONS AT
ASKUBUNTU * How to wipe a hard disk
completely so that no data
* How do I increase the number of recovery tools can retrieve
lines shown on the Ubuntu anything?
terminal window? http://goo.gl/T0nC40
http://goo.gl/bA9XFB
* What happens if you Trash the
* Keep /home directory when Trash?
installing Ubuntu 1 4.04 http://goo.gl/eRoMJE
http://goo.gl/hBcFaL
* Why does apt-get not require
restarts, where the update
manager does?
http://goo.gl/T47YAe

Q&A
It turns out that you can to set up online applications, or
emulate that environment right on DB2.
your own PC. The solution is in two
parts. First, you need Hercules. It's tempting. COBOL was the
"Hercules is an open source first programming language which
software implementation of the I felt I mastered. However, it's
mainframe System/370 and irrelevant to my life today,
ESA/390 architectures, in addition supporting users in an Active
to the new 64-bit z/Architecture. Directory environment. If I had a
Hercules runs under Linux, lot of time on my hands, I could
Windows (98, NT, 2000, and XP), certainly consume all of it, playing
Solaris, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X with my personal mainframe.
(1 0.3 and later)."
Then you need an operating
system. There are several choices,
older IBM operating systems
including OS/360, DOS/360,
DOS/VS, MVS 3.8, VM/370 and
TSS/370, which are widely believed
to be either public domain or
"copyrighted software provided
without charge." The most popular
is probably MVS (Multiple Virtual
Storage,) which was an
improvement over MVT,
(Multiprogramming with a Variable
number of Tasks). A lot of my early
career was spent on MVT.
It's all available online for free. Gord had a long career in the
The operating systems include computer industry, then retired for
language compilers such as several years. More recently, he
COBOL, but not CICS (Customer somehow found himself "The IT Guy"
at a 1 5-person accounting firm in
Information Control System), downtown Toronto.
which was the most efficient way
S e c u ri t y
Written by Ronnie Tucker
I n sta lli n g TAI LS to U SB
F irst things first: what is Tails.
Well, Tails (or TAILS) stands for
The Amnesic Incognito Live
the latest ISO image, and burn it to
a blank DVD.
In your live boot, go to
Applications > Tails > Tails Installer.
System. Or, as they say on the site: Once you have Tails on a
Tails is a live operating system, bootable DVD, you can pop it into
that you can start on almost any your machine and boot from it.
computer – from a DVD, USB stick,
or SD card. It aims at preserving On booting, you’ll be asked if
your privacy and anonymity. you require more options (tick
NO), choose your language at the
In short: Tails will boot from bottom of the screen, and click
DVD/USB; while you’re online, it’ll ‘Login’.
keep you as anonymous as
possible, and, on exit, leave no Now you’re in Tails. You can, of
trace of what you were doing. course, just play around in here From the window that opens,
doing whatever you want. But choose ‘Clone & Install’.
Thankfully, though, you can you’ve nowhere to save any files
save data to an encrypted to. Which is fine if you’re just
persistent volume on a USB stick. browsing, or checking email. To
save files, we’ll need that
B URNING B EFORE persistent volume, and we can get
that only by using this live boot to
I NSTALLING install Tails to a USB stick.
Before you can put Tails on a
USB, you need to have Tails up and TAILS TO USB Click ‘Install Tails’ and wait for a
few minutes while your USB stick is
running. This means, in my case Pop a USB stick into your partitioned, formatted, and has
anyway, burning it to a bootable machine. For a persistent volume, Tails copied to it.
DVD. with Tails, you’ll need a stick larger If you have more than one USB
than 4GB. I’m using an 8GB stick in device in your machine, this is Once that’s done, click OK.
Head over to this example. where you choose which device to
https://tails.boum.org/, download install Tails to. You now have a bootable USB
SECURITY
with Tails. By default you cannot run onion logo.
admin/sudo commands in Tails as
Use the power button icon at this would compromise your
the top right of the screen to shut security. Choosing YES lets you
down (or reboot) Tails, but be sure choose an admin password.
to remove the DVD first – we want
to boot from the USB this time. And, yes, you can even
camouflage it as Windows 8 with a
I N THE USB Windows background and Windows
Anything you do in your
‘start’ button.
So, we’re back to the ‘More browser from now on is done
Options’ window again. This time I Enter a password you want to through Tor.
need to choose YES as my WiFi is use for admin commands in this
not detected by most Linux distros boot, and click ‘Login’. PERSISTENT VOLUME Click ‘Create’ to continue.
and I need to run a SUDO
command to activate it. So, I ran my SUDO command, To get a persistent volume we
got my WiFi working, and it’s need to go to Applications > Tails >
connected to the Internet. Configure persistent volume.
After a few moments, Tails will
display a system message that ‘Tor
is ready’ and will display the Tor
In this window, you need to

enter a passphrase which is used
only for the persistent volume.
This is completely separate from Now we come to the
the admin/sudo password we used ‘Persistence Wizard’ which
earlier. determines what will be allowed
SECURITY
on the persistent volume. you save in here will be wiped on As ever, be careful out there as https://tails.boum.org/doc/index.e
Choosing ‘Personal Data’ means exit. Inside the Persistent folder is – even with Tor (and the like) – I n.html - Tails Documentation
you’ll have a folder to put what another Tor Browser folder. This still don’t trust it to be 1 00%
you want on there. Choosing folder will NOT be wiped, and is anonymous.
bookmarks means anything you where you should save your files.
bookmark will be saved and Saving files anywhere else is,
available on next boot. Same with technically, possible, but you won’t
all the other options in the wizard. be able to access those files in any FURTHER READING : Ronnie is the founder and (still!)
apps. Confusing, I know, but in editor of Full Circle. He's a part-time
When you’re happy with those short: https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/ arts and crafts sort of guy, and now
things, click Save. /home/Tor Browser = temporary warning/index.en.html - Tails an Arduino tinkerer.
/home/Persistent/Tor Browser = Warning page. PLEASE READ!
And that’s that! Reboot Tails to permanent
have your persistent drive
available.
TAILS & PERSISTENCE

On booting from the USB stick,
you’ll see the usual ‘more options’,
but also a new ‘use persistence?’
option. Clicking YES for that will
ask for the passphrase used when
creating the volume.
Now, finally, you have Tails with
a persistent volume. To see your
space, open the HOME folder.
You’ll see folders named
Persistent and Tor Browser. This is
a bit confusing and took a bit of
Googling to find this out – the Tor
Browser folder you see in /home is
only for the browser, and anything
U B U N T U G AM E S
Written by Ronnie Tucker B ru ta l D o o m
B rutal Doom is actually a mod
for the original Doom engine
that is now open source. It brings
Now update our list of sources:
sudo apt-get update
So, now that you have the
Doom engine, there’s one more
ingredient: the original Doom WAD
/home/username/.zandronum. If
the hidden .zandronum folder isn’t
there (ie: you have not run
to the Doom engine all the things files. The WAD files are the original Zandronum before), then you’ll
that take it completely over the And, finally, install Zandronum: Doom levels and are not free. How need to create a new folder called
top. You think I’m kidding? Here’s you acquire them is entirely up to .zandronum then copy the
the trailer (1 8 CERT): sudo apt-get install you, but once you get that DOOM.WAD in there.
zandronum doomseeker-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v zandronum DOOM.WAD file, you should copy
=oSzYliSASKc it into Now, when you start
I NSTALLING D OOM
First, we must install the open
source Doom engine. This can be
done with either GZDoom or
Zandronum. GZDoom requires the
downloading of source and
compiling, so let’s just go with
Zandronum for the sake of
simplicity.
First, we’ll add the drdteam
repo to our list:
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb
http://debian.drdteam.org/
stable multiverse'
Then add their GPG key:

wget -O -
http://debian.drdteam.org/drd
team.gpg | sudo apt-key add -

UBUNTU GAMES
Zandronum, you’ll have the as Brutal Doom, but choose to additional madness to Doom that If you thought Doom couldn’t
original Doom! download the Doom Metal it’s almost like a new game. You get any crazier? You were wrong.
Soundtrack Mod. This time the file can kick, punch, and shoot So very wrong!
B RUTAL D OOM is a .WAD (DoomMetalVol4.wad in
my case). Uncompress it to
everything. Walk through your
mess to create bloody footprints.
Adding Brutal Doom is easy .zandronum/skins too, same as the With your new-found abilities, you
enough. Brutal Doom PK3 file. can now move barrels and such like
to set traps. Also, rather than just
Head over to: Now you’re ready to rock ‘n’ shooting in a vertical line, you now
http://www.moddb.com/mods/bru roll! have to aim. Yes, you can look
around with 360 degrees of Ronnie is the founder and (still!)
tal-doom/downloads, and click on editor of Full Circle. He's a part-time
Brutal Doom (version 20 as I write CONCLUSION freedom. There’s also beautiful
lighting (which you can shoot out).
arts and crafts sort of guy, and now
this). You’ll get a popup window, an Arduino tinkerer.
but wait a second/two and your Brutal Doom adds so much
download will start.
While it’s downloading, go into
your .zandronum folder and create
a new folder called ‘skins’.
The downloaded file
(brutalv20.zip in my case) has two
files in it. We’re interested only in
the .PK3 file. Unzip the PK3 file
into .zandronum/skins.
ADDITIONS
I also recommend you
download the accompanying metal
soundtrack. This is the original
Doom tracks, but completely
remade using real instruments,
and adds a lot to the excitement of
Brutal Doom. Same download page
U B U N T U G AM E S
Written by Oscar Rivera D rea m fa ll Ch a pters
T he cloud-like and ethereal
turquoise Aurora Borealis are
dancing over your head, while, a
an emotionally engaging
soundtrack which, together with
the compelling voice-acting, draws
or illuminating revelations down
the line.
chapters still waiting to be
released. Dreamfall Chapters is
also available through Steam,
few steps behind you, there's a bed the player into its sci-fi, fantasy Dreamfall Chapters can be gog.com, and through
on the snow in which a body lies dream in which every decision we bought directly from humblebundle, for more or less the
dormant. You slowly walk through make weighs in on the balance of a redthreadgames for $29.99, or same price. You may be lucky and
the snow and approach the bed to possibly catastrophic or better yet, for $34.99 you can get find it on sale at any of those three
find out what kind of a person enlightening consequence. The the Dreamfall Chapters Season stores. I originally bought the
could be sleeping out here. To your more I play the game, the more I Pass which not only gives you the game through gog.com while it
surprise, it's your own body find that my decisions may render game as it currently stands, but it contained only the first two books,
sleeping on the bed. either consequential repercussions also grants you the remaining but having paid for the Dreamfall
Sounds bizarre, right? In fact,

that's the beginning of Dreamfall
Chapters, a game being described
as a story-driven adventure but
which to me seems more like a
fantasy, science fiction, interactive
movie – riddled with puzzles in
which you, the player, have a direct
influence on the outcome based on
the choices you make. According to
developer and publisher, Red
Thread Games, Dreamfall Chapters
is “a game about choice and
consequence, about dreams and
reality, magic and science, chaos
and order” – and parallel worlds,
and the people in these worlds.
This game is a true gem which I
highly recommend. Dreamfall
Chapters is visually stunning with
UBUNTU GAMES
Chapters Season Pass, I am now of 201 5. being trapped in a coma and the game, the first chapter ended
about to update the game to existing in “Storytime,” which is with Zoë waking up from her coma.
include the third out of five books The two main characters in where other people addicted to Chapter two begins with Kian
released so far. If you buy the Dreamfall Chapters are Zoë the “Dreamachines” are also Alvane trapped in a prison
Dreamfall Chapters Season Pass Castillo and Kian Alvane. However, trapped. She sets out to help these apparently due to high treason. His
through Steam, the game will be these characters each exist in two people wake up and eventually she first interactions are with the
patched by Steam as the remaining completely different parallel also manages to wake up. Awake, warden who is giving him the news
books are released. If you buy it worlds. Zoë lives in Stark, a she then has to undergo therapy to that he is about to be executed.
through other sources, like myself, futuristic cyberpunk society here restore her memory which she lost Shortly after this, a riot erupts in
you'll have to manually patch the on Earth around the year 2200. when she first began using her first the prison, and resistance fighters
game at your own convenience. Kian lives in Arcadia, a sort of Dreamachine. About the time I was manage to help Alvane escape
Having found it on sale for a great Tolkien-inspired magical fantasy getting used to playing as Zoë and from prison through the use of
price, I opted to go through land. The game begins with Zoë getting used to the mechanics of some dark magic as the second
gog.com, which is a digital game
distribution store which prides
itself on offering DRM-free
content to Windows PC, OS X and
Linux.
Book One: Reborn was released
in October 201 4, followed by Book
Two: Rebels which was released in
March 201 5, and most recently
Book Three: Realms was released
in late June 201 5. All three books
are currently available for
Windows PC, OS X and Linux. They
will also be released for PS4 in the
near future, but a date hasn't yet
been announced. The remaining
two books don't have a release
date or title announced yet, but,
judging by the rate at which the
first three were released, a
conservative forecast would have
four and five released by the end
UBUNTU GAMES
chapter ends. The third chapter offline, some of the more to be too much reverb/echo as the
shifts back to the future as Zoë is important choices you have to characters spoke. There was also
beginning her therapy to regain make will allow you to click on a too much repetition in some of the My gaming box:
her memory. Overall, the two balance which reveals the choices lines spoken by non-playable- • AMD FX-61 00 3.3GHz CPU
worlds are a refreshing contrast as other players have made. After characters which was happening a (overclocked to 3.5GHz)
they shift back and forth from making your choice, the game tells little too often for my taste. These • Asus M5A97-EVO motherboard
Stark to Arcadia. you that “the balance has shifted.” two voice-related con's make me • Gigabyte Windforce GeForce GTX
deduct a full star from a perfect 960 graphics card with 346.72
The lack of a dedicated tutorial
made the first chapter a bit harder
PRO' S five star rating. proprietary driver
• 8GB of Kingston Hyper X RAM &
than the rest to play, but once I I really liked the graphics in I definitely recommend 1 TB Seagate Barracuda hard drive
got used to the game mechanics, it Dreamfall Chapters. The characters Dreamfall Chapters to anyone • Ubuntu 1 4.04.2 LTS with Unity
was a pleasant experience which were near life-like and there were looking for a good adventure- desktop
would in time clutch me in its orbit certain facets of the game's puzzle game. Though it may seem
as the story-line would unfold all graphics which really grabbed my like the game is too short, I assure
around me. To play as one of the attention, such as the water in you, it isn't. So far, only three out
two primary characters, you move many places which looked of five books have been released,
around using the WASD keys and unmistakably real as it reflected so by the time all five books have
the mouse. There are certain the environment through its been released, the game will be
objects and people with which you ripples. The futuristic city of Stark just the right length, not too long,
can interact, and it's pretty easy to was also visually pleasing to the not too short. I haven't come
distinguish these from the very eye with its myriad of 3-D across any glitches yet and I'm
beginning. When selected, some holograms, robots and skyscrapers. about to begin the third chapter,
objects or people reveal an The soundtrack proved to be a real so that's a good sign.
interface which prompts you to strength in this game as it often
make a choice ranging from helped to set the mood and Minimum system requirements:
slowing down time, or grabbing an further draw me into the • Linux: Linux Mint 1 7 or Ubuntu
object, to choosing between two characters and the story. The 1 4.04
or more arguments as a response voice-acting, though not ground- • Processor: Core 2 Duo 2GHz or
in a dialogue with another breaking, is also a strength. equivalent
character. Some of the puzzles I • Memory: 3 GB RAM Oscar graduated from CSUN, is a
had to solve were frustratingly • Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000
hard, and I must admit, I had to CON ' S • Hard Drive: 5 GB available space
Music Director/Teacher, beta tester,
Wikipedia editor, and Ubuntu
look online for how to solve the Forums contributor. You can contact
One aspect which did aggravate him via: www.gplus.to/7bluehand or
problem at hand. Unless you go email: www.7bluehand@gmail.com
into Settings and select to play me was how at times there seemed
PATRO N S
PATRONS D ONATIONS
John Niendorf
Bill Berninghausen Daniel Witzel
Jack McMahon Douglas Brown
Linda P Donald Altman CHA CHA CHA CHANGES
Remke Schuurmans Patrick Scango Our admin went AWOL for months, and
Norman Phillips Tony Wood I had no idea if/when the site
Tom Rausner Paul Miller would/wouldn’t get paid. Initially the
Charles Battersby Colin McCubbin plan was to move the site and domain
Tom Bell name to my hosting, but eventually I
Randy Brinson managed to track him down and get
Oscar Rivera John Fromm the FCM domain name, and site hosting
Alex Crabtree Graham Driver transferred to me.
John Malon Chris Burmajster
Ray Spain The new site is now up. HUGE thanks to
Steven McKee Lucas Westermann (Mr. Command &
Richard Underwood Manuel Rey Garcia Conquer) for taking on the job of
Charles Anderson completely rebuilding the site, and
Ricardo Coalla scripts, from scratch, in his own time.
Chris Giltnane The Patreon page that I’ve set up is to
William von Hagen help me pay the domain and hosting
Mark Shuttleworth fees. The yearly target was quickly
Juan Ortiz reached thanks to those listed on this
Joe Gulizia page. FCM is not going away. Don’t
worry about that.
Kevin Raulins
Doug Bruce Several people have asked for a PayPal
Pekka Niemi (single donation) option, so I’ve added
Rob Fitzgerald a button to the side of the site
Brian M Murray A big thank you to all those who’ve
Roy Milner used Patreon and the PayPal button.
Brian Bogdan It’s a big help.
Scott Mack
Dennis Mack https://www.patreon.com/
fullcirclemagazine
H OW TO CO N TRI BU TE
Full Circle Team
Editor - Ronnie Tucker
ronnie@fullcirclemagazine.org
Webmaster - Lucas Westermann
FCM#1 00
FULL CIRCLE NEEDS YOU! Deadline : admin@fullcirclemagazine.org
Podcast - Les Pounder & Co.
A magazine isn't a magazine without articles and Full Circle is no Sunday 09th Aug. 201 5.
exception. We need your opinions, desktops, stories, how-to's, podcast@fullcirclemagazine.org
Release :
reviews, and anything else you want to tell your fellow *buntu users. Friday 28th Aug. 201 5.
Send your articles to: articles@fullcirclemagazine.org Editing & Proofreading
Mike Kennedy, Gord Campbell, Robert
We are always looking for new articles to include in Full Circle. For help and advice Orsino, Josh Hertel, Bert Jerred, Jim
please see the Official Full Circle Style Guide : http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/75d471 Dyer and Emily Gonyer
Send your comments or Linux experiences to: letters@fullcirclemagazine.org Our thanks go to Canonical, the many
Hardware/software reviews should be sent to: reviews@fullcirclemagazine.org translation teams around the world
Questions for Q&A should go to: questions@fullcirclemagazine.org and Thorsten Wilms for the FCM logo.
Desktop screens should be emailed to: misc@fullcirclemagazine.org
... or you can visit our site via: fullcirclemagazine.org
Getting Full Circle Magazine:
EPUB Format - Recent editions of Full Circle have a link to the epub file on the downloads page. If you have any problems with
the epub file, you can drop an email to: mobile@fullcirclemagazine.org
Issuu - You can read Full Circle online via Issuu: http://issuu.com/fullcirclemagazine. Please share and rate FCM as it helps to
spread the word about FCM and Ubuntu Linux.
Google Play - You can now read Full Circle on Google Play/Books. Either search for 'full circle magazine' or
click this link: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Ronnie+Tucker

Issue99 en PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Issue99 en PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Full Circle

THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY

Programming JavaScript p.1 8 My Story p.45 Letters p.46 Tuxidermy p.47

WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FULL CIRCLE.

full circle magazine #99 3 contents ^

A small cadre of hackers has

S ome of the more observant

I f you have been keeping an eye

LATEX I N THE CLOUD

J immy Fixit is a self-employed

full circle magazine #99 15 contents ^

Elmer Perry's history of working,

full circle magazine #99 17 contents ^

full circle magazine #99 18 contents ^

Mark uses Inkscape to create three

full circle magazine #99 24 contents ^

LibreOffice spreadsheets. I hit a One gripe is that it does not do

Then I reran update-grub and echo " true"

Because 05_debian_theme is a The first line title-font: “Ubuntu

full circle magazine #99 35 contents ^

B RIEF LIST OF CHANGES IN - New monochromatic indicator

full circle magazine #99 37 contents ^

full circle magazine #99 39 contents ^

This device is a slight material We can see that the A5HD

full circle magazine #99 43 contents ^

A Go ahead, you will get

full circle magazine #99 49 contents ^

In this window, you need to

TAILS & PERSISTENCE

Then add their GPG key:

full circle magazine #99 54 contents ^

Sounds bizarre, right? In fact,

full circle magazine #99 60 contents ^

You might also like