issue #79 - november 2013dl.fullcirclemagazine.org/issue79_en.pdf · 2013-11-29 · full circle...
TRANSCRIPT
full circle magazine #79 1 contents ^
Full CircleTHE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY
ISSUE #79 - November 2013
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FFOOSSSS IINN CCOOMMPPUUTTEERR RREEUUSSEESAVING THOSE OLD MACHINES WITH LINUX
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full circle magazine #79 2 contents ^
The articles contained in this magazine are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Al ike 3.0 Unported l icense.This means you can adapt, copy, distribute and transmit the articles but only under the fol lowing conditions: you must attributethe work to the original author in some way (at least a name, emai l or URL) and to this magazine by name ('Ful l Circle Magazine')
and the URL www.ful lcirclemagazine.org (but not attribute the article(s) in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). I fyou alter, transform, or bui ld upon this work, you must distribute the resulting work under the same, simi lar or a compatible l icense.Full Circle magazine is entirely independent of Canonical, the sponsor of the Ubuntu projects, and the views and opinions in themagazine should in no way be assumed to have Canonical endorsement.
Full CircleTHE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY
Use BOINC p.13
LibreOffice p.10
Python p.08
Blender p.15
HowTo Opinions
Q&A p.36
Ubuntu Games p.38
My Desktop p.43
Command & Conquer p.06
Inkscape p.16
Columns
Linux Labs p.25
Book Review p.29
Software Showdown p.31
MyOpinion p.XX
My Story p.28
Letters p.34
Ubuntu News p.04
Ask The New Guy p.22
Ubuntu Women p.XX
Graphics
BACK NEXT MONTH
BACK NEXT MONTH
full circle magazine #79 3 contents ^
EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL
WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FULL CIRCLE!
Again, a full house – with Python, LibreOffice, Blender and Inkscape HowTo's. Joinedby an article on using the BOINC application. Its main use is in pooling together
unused CPU power in PCs the world over to help analyse huge amounts of data.Probably the most well known of which is the SETI@home project.
You'll see from the cover this month that I've put focus on Charles' LinuxLab article.I'm a firm believer in reusing old hardware. Just because it's not the latest and greatestdoesn't mean it should go unused or abandoned. Someone out there, especially theelderly, could use it to keep in touch over the Internet. Even you, yourself, could put itto use as a file/printer/web server. That old PC shouldn't go unloved!
If you miss the good old days of Gnome 2.x then you might want to have a look atLucas' Command& Conquerarticle on Cinnamon. Think of it as Gnome 3.x, but made tolook and function like 2.x. It's one of the desktop environments that comes with LinuxMint. I'm pretty sure you can install it on any distro to coincide with, or replace, yourcurrent desktop. Lucas' article will tell you for sure.
It's almost the end for 2013, but fear not. There'll still be a December issue to helpyou see in 2014. Especially if you're a Christmas grinch like me...
All the best, and keep in touch!Ronnie
This magazine was created using :
Full Circle PodcastReleased monthly, each episodecovers all the latest Ubuntu news,opinions, reviews, interviews andlistener feedback. The Side-Pod isa new addition, it's an extra(irregular) short-form podcastwhich is intended to be a branchof the main podcast. It'ssomewhere to put all the generaltechnology and non-Ubuntu stuffthat doesn’t fit in the mainpodcast.
Hosts:• Les Pounder• Tony Hughes• Jon Chamberlain• Oliver Clark
http://fullcirclemagazine.org
full circle magazine #79 4 contents ^
UUBBUUNNTTUU NNEEWWSSWritten by The Ubuntu News Team
full circle magazine #79 5 contents ^
UBUNTU NEWS
full circle magazine #79 6 contents ^
If you've been a long-time reader,you may have noticed my
apparent lack of interest in typicaldesktop environments – KDE,GNOME, Unity, XFCE, LXDE, etc. Inreality, I used to run GNOME 2 onmy workstations, but since theintroduction of GNOME 3, I'vebeen running lightweight windowmanagers (openbox, XMonad,awesomeWM, etc) instead. Thereason for this is simple – I have nointerest in having to pull up anoverlay and waste processingpower on fancy effects in order touse my computer – and GNOME 3generally requires more of thisthan any other desktopenvironment I've ever used. Ifyou're in the same boat as me –generally unhappy with thedesktop environments presenttoday, then you'll be happy toknow that, this month, I'm going tocover a desktop environment I amquite happy with now: Cinnamon.
What is it?
It's a fork (you can think of it asa TV show spinoff) of GNOME 3,but with the intention of acting
more like GNOME 2. If you've everused Linux Mint when it was stillrunning GNOME 2, you should havean idea what to expect: A singlepanel, a menu, and a layoutvaguely similar to the typicalWindows experience, or mostLXDE experiences.
How do I get it?
It's in the universe repository –
simply running sudo apt-get installcinnamon should be all you need.
I'm happy with my currentdesktop environment/windowmanager – why should I switch?
I'm also quite happy with myAwesomeWM setup, and haven'tswitched to cinnamon myself –instead, I decided to use Cinnamonand ArchLinux for an older laptop I
loaned out to a guest for his stayat my home. I do, however, useNemo (Cinnamon's file manager) inmy AwesomeWM setup. If you'resupplying a Linux-based computerto someone accustomed toWindows, this may be a nicesolution for you.
Where's Cinnamon's DisplayManager (Login Window)?
Cinnamon does not supply it'sown display manager (as far as Iknow). However, it works nicelywith any of the desktop managersyou might use – including lightdmin Ubuntu, or Gnome DisplayManager (GDM). Simply choose thecorrect session when logging in.
How can I get it if I'm installingLinux?
Linux Mint are the creators ofCinnamon, and as such it's offeredon their liveCD. For anyone whodoesn't know, Linux Mint is basedoff Ubuntu. The latest release isVersion 15 (codename “Olivia”),and will be supported until January2014 (though following the 6-
CCOOMMMMAANNDD && CCOONNQQUUEERRWritten by Lucas Westermann
SSoommee CCiinnnnaammoonn??
full circle magazine #79 7 contents ^
Lucas has learned all he knows fromrepeatedly breaking his system, thenhaving no other option but todiscover how to fix it. You can emailLucas at: [email protected].
COMMAND & CONQUERmonth release cycle, there shouldbe a new release soon). Thedownloads can be found here:http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php. As you can see, there areplenty of options for desktopenvironments, with Cinnamon atthe top of the list.
If you prefer to use your ownversion of Linux (be it ArchLinux,Ubuntu, Debian, or anything else),you can simply install the packageafter installing the system.
Where can I find new themesfor it?
Most theme sites should carrysome Cinnamon themes, but thebest listing I have found is on theCinnamon website:http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/themes. Thispresents themes from all over theinternet, and look very thoroughto me.
What about someone whodoesn't want a desktopenvironment?
If you're not interested inCinnamon or any of the otherdesktop environments I'vementioned, then the following may
be helpful:
• Do you prefer a typical “floating”layout (á la GNOME/KDE), or wouldyou like to have all open windowson a workspace stack, so they're allvisible (tiled)?
• If you're going for floating:fluxbox, openbox, icewm, Compiz
• If tiling sounds interesting, thereare two options: dynamic (tiling isdone by the system), or manual
(you assign each window a size andposition as you like). My preferenceis dynamic, but you may prefer theextra control.
• Dynamic: AwesomeWM, XMonad,DWM
• Manual: herbstluftwm, ion3,wmfs
There are many, many morethat I haven't listed, and not all ofthem may be available through
official repositories, but it'sdefinitely a start.
How can I try it?
You can boot the Linux MintliveCD to try it out withouttouching your actual system. Oryou can simply install it alongsideyour actual desktop environmentand try it out for a while. If youdon't like it, simply uninstall itagain.
I hope at least a few readershave found this article interesting– and if you've found a windowmanager or desktop environmentthat works for you and I haven'tlisted, feel free to email me thename and a screenshot. If I seesome interesting ones, I'll post anarticle highlighting a few. If anyonehas questions, suggestions,comments, or requests for articles,feel free to email me [email protected].
full circle magazine #79 8 contents ^
HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Greg Walters PPrrooggrraammmmiinngg IInn PPyytthhoonn -- PPaarrtt 4499
While I was working this week,a very wise person by the
name of Michael W. suggested thatI should consider what happenswith floating-point numbers andequality.
Take for example a simplecalculation: 1.1 + 2.2
The answer, you say, is 3.3! Anyschool-kid who has dealt withfractions knows that. Well, tellyour computer. If you start up thePython Interactive Shell and at theprompt type
(1.1+2.2) == 3.3
you might be surprised that theshell responds
“False”
WHAT?!!?!?
Now, confused, you type at theprompt:
>>>1.1+2.2
And the shell responds back:
3.3000000000000003
You stare at the screen indisbelief and first think “I musthave typed something wrong”.Then you realize that you didn’t. Soyou type:
>>>2.2+3.3
5.5
Now you are even moreconfused and you think to yourself“Ok. This is either a bug or somekind of sick Easter egg.” No, it’sneither a bug nor an Easter egg.It’s real. While I knew about this avery long time ago, it had slippedinto the cobwebs hidden in thedark recesses of my old mind, so Ihad to bring it up here. What weare seeing is the joy of binaryfloating-point numbers.
We all know that ⅓ equates to.33333333333333333… for everand a day, but take, for example,the fraction 1/10. Everyone knowsthat 1/10 is equal to .1, right? If youuse the interactive shell you cansee that:
>>>1/10
0
Oh, right. We have to have atleast one of the values a floating-point value to show any decimalpoints since an integer/integerreturns an integer. So we try again.
>>>1/10.0
0.1
Ok. Reality is back. No, notreally. Python is simply showingyou a rounded version of theanswer. So, how do we see the“real” answer? We can use thedecimal library to see what’s reallyhappening.
>>> from decimal import *
>>> Decimal(1/10.0)
Decimal('0.1000000000000000055511151231257827021181583404541015625')
WOW. So let’s try our originalformula and see what that wouldshow:
>>> Decimal(1.1+2.2)
Decimal('3.300000000000000266453525910037569701671600341796875')
It seems to just be gettingworse and worse. So what is reallyhappening?
This is called RepresentationError, and exists in almost everymodern programming language(Python, C, C++, Java, and evenFortran and more), and on almostevery modern computer. This isbecause these machines use IEEE-754 floating-point arithmeticwhich (on most machines and OSplatforms) maps to an IEEE-754double-precision number. Thisdouble-precision number has aprecision of 53 bits. So, our 0.1,when represented in this 53-bitdouble-precision, turns into:
0.00011001100110011001100110011001100110011001100110011010
That’s close to .1, but not closeenough to avoid issues.
So what do we do about it?Well, the quick answer is that youprobably can live with it for 90% of
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HOWTO - PYTHON PT49the things we have to do out therein the real world – by using theround() method. While you have todecide on the number of decimalpoints that you must have in yourworld to carry the precision thatyou need, for the most part, thiswill be an acceptable workaround.
I honestly don’t remember if wehave gone over the round method,so I’ll briefly go over it. The syntaxis very simple:
round(v,d)
where v is the value you want toround and d is the number ofdecimals (maximum) you wantafter the decimal point. Accordingto the Python documentation,“Values are rounded to the closestmultiple of 10 to the power ofminus n digits; if two multiples areequally close, rounding is doneaway from 0”. All that being said, ifthe number is 1.4144, and weround it to 3 decimal places, thereturned value will be 1.414. If thenumber is 1.4145 it would bereturned as 1.415.
For example, let’s use the valueof pi that comes from the mathlibrary. (You must import the mathlibrary before you can do this, by
the way.)
>>> math.pi
3.141592653589793
Now, if we wanted to roundthat value down to 5 decimalplaces, we would use:
>>> round(math.pi,5)
3.14159
That is the “standard” value ofpi that most everyone knows offthe top of their head. That’s great.However, if we set the number ofdecimal places to be returned to 4,look what happens.
>>> round(math.pi,4)
3.1416
All that sounds good until yourun into a value like 2.675 and tryto round it to 2 decimal places. Theassumption (since it is exactlyhalfway between 2.67 and 2.68) isthat the returned value will be2.68. Try it.
>>> round(2.675,2)
2.67
That might cause a problem. Itgoes back to the initial issue we
have been talking about. Theactual conversion to a binaryfloating-point number that is 53bits long, the number becomes:
2.6749999999999998223653160599749535221893310546875
which then rounds down to2.67.
The bottom line here is whentrying to compare floating-pointnumbers, be aware that somethings just don’t translate well.
See you next time!
Greg Walters is owner of RainyDaySolutions, LLC, a consulting companyin Aurora, Colorado, and has beenprogramming since 1972. He enjoyscooking, hiking, music, and spendingtime with his family. His website iswww.thedesignatedgeek.net.
The Ubuntu Podcast covers allthe latest news and issues facingUbuntu Linux users and FreeSoftware fans in general. Theshow appeals to the newest userand the oldest coder. Ourdiscussions cover thedevelopment of Ubuntu butaren’t overly technical. We arelucky enough to have somegreat guests on the show, tellingus first hand about the latestexciting developments they areworking on, in a way that we canall understand! We also talkabout the Ubuntu communityand what it gets up to.
The show is presented bymembers of the UK’s UbuntuLinux community. Because it iscovered by the Ubuntu Code ofConduct it is suitable for all.
The show is broadcast live everyfortnight on a Tuesday evening(British time) and is available fordownload the following day.
podcast.ubuntu-uk.org
full circle magazine #79 10 contents ^
HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Elmer Perry LLiibbrreeOOffffiiccee PPtt3322:: IImmpprreessss RReemmoottee
If you have ever given apresentation, you know that
moving back to the computer toadvance your slides is a pain,especially if, like me, you movearound a lot and actively engageyour audience. I recently presentedfor a training session at work andconstantly wished I had a remote.The Document Foundation hasprovided a solution in the Androidapplication Impress Remote.Impress Remote allows you tocontrol your Impress presentationfrom your Android phone or tablet.
Impress Remote requiresLibreOffice version 4.0.1 orgreater, and a phone or tabletrunning Android 2.3 or greater. Ifyou own a recent phone or tabletand your Linux distribution is up todate, you shouldn't have anyproblem using the program.
SETUP
We will need to make changesto our LibreOffice Impress setup torun the remote program. Start byopening a new or existingpresentation. Then Tools > Options
> LibreOffice Impress > General.Check “Enable Remote Control”.Click OK. Tools > Options >LibreOffice > Advanced. Check“Enable experimental features”.Click OK. Restart LibreOffice andopen your presentation.
When we set up the remotecontrol app, we will need the IPaddress of the computer runningLibreOffice. From a Linux terminalprompt, the following commandshould work for most users:
ifconfig eth0
The information you need is onthe line that starts with “inetaddr:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx”, wherexxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP addressfor your computer. Write thisaddress down and keep it for later.You will need it when you set upthe remote app.
Now, we install the ImpressRemote app. From the Google Playstore, search for Impress Remote,and install the app on your phoneor tablet. The first time you openthe app, you see a mostly emptyscreen. Select “Add WI-FI Computer
Manually”. Enter a name for thecomputer and the IP of thecomputer. Select Add. Select thecomputer from the list and let itconnect. Back in Impress, SlideShow > Impress Remote. Selectyour remote device. Enter the codegiven you by the app. Click Select.In the remote app, click “StartPresentation” to start thepresentation.
If your computer has Bluetooth,you can also connect by pairingyour phone with your computer.Once you open the app, it will scanfor your device using Bluetooth,and you can just select your devicefrom the list. You still need toenable the remote and
experimental options inLibreOffice.
NOTE: If you are running a firewallon your computer, you will need toopen TCP port 1599 forcommunications through WiFi.
USING IMPRESS REMOTE
APP
The remote app is pretty basic,but let's face it, the lesscomplicated the better whenyou're giving a presentation. Thetool bar across the top has thecurrent time, which is handy whenyour presentation needs to start orend at certain times. To the left of
full circle magazine #79 11 contents ^
HOWTO - LIBREOFFICE Pt32the time is the view switcher, andto the right of the time is the appmenu.
Once you start a presentation,you get the slide scroll view ofyour presentation. This view is themost useful, because while you arein scroll mode, you can also see anynotes you made for the slide.While you can use your finger tomove between slides, this is notthe best method unless you arejust needing to skip forward ormove back in your presentationseveral slides at a time. The best,
or designed, way to move throughyour presentation is with thevolume up and down buttons. Theup button moves forward in thepresentation, and the down buttonmoves backward in thepresentation.
Sometimes, you need to pausea presentation and move youraudiences' attention from thescreen to something else. ImpressRemote gives you the ability toblank the screen. In the app menu,select “Blank Screen”. Yourpresentation screen will go blank.When you are ready to return tothe presentation, just click “Returnto Slide”. The presentation willpick up where you left off.
You can display your slides intwo different ways. One we haveseen already, the scroll mode. Theother is the list mode. You canswitch between the two mode byselecting the view switcher button.In the scroll mode, you movequickly to a slide by swiping withyour finger. To select a slide in listview, you just select the slide. This
is practical only for fixed slides.Any slides with animations willrequire the use of the volume upand down buttons.
If you select the clock, you havethe option of leaving it as thecurrent time or starting astopwatch. Select the stopwatch touse it. You will get a Start andReset option. Press Start to startthe timer. The timer will begin tocount, and the options will changeto Pause and Restart. Select Pauseto pause the timer, and Restart tostart over from 0.00. This is handyfor timing an activity or working onyour timing for your presentation.
In the app menu, there is anitem for Options. The first optionis for using the volume up anddown buttons to control thepresentation. I can't think of agood reason to uncheck this, butI'm guessing it is there becausesomeone had a reason. The secondoption is for enabling a wirelessconnection between the phone
full circle magazine #79 12 contents ^
Elmer Perry's history of working,and programming, computersinvolves an Apple ][E, adding someAmiga, a generous helping of DOSand Windows, a dash of Unix, andblend well with Linux and Ubuntu.He blogs athttp://eeperry.wordpress.com
HOWTO - LIBREOFFICE Pt32and the computer. This allows theapp to automatically search fordevices on the wireless networkthat are running LibreOfficeImpress with the remote featureturned on. Finally, the switchcomputer option allows you toswitch to a different computer.
CONCLUSION
When giving a presentation, it isnice to have mobility. The Androidapp Impress Remote gives youmobility by allowing you to controlyour Impress presentation fromyour Android phone or tablet. Theapp is easy to set up throughBluetooth or WiFi. The interface isnot cluttered, making it easy touse and control. Since the app wasdeveloped by the same peoplewho develop LibreOffice, futurecompatibility is almost assured.
PYTHON SPECIAL EDITIONS:
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py01/ http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py02/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python-special-edition-issue-three/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python-special-edition-volume-four/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python-special-edition-volume-five/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/python-special-edition-volume-six/
full circle magazine #79 13 contents ^
HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Fernando Díaz de la Serna
UUssee BBOOIINNCC
BOINC may sound like anonomatopoeic word, but it's
none of that. It is the acronym forBerkeley Open Infrastructure forNetwork Computing. The intent ofBOINC is to make it possible forresearchers to tap into theenormous processing power ofpersonal computers around theworld. It was originally developedto support the SETI@home projectbefore it became useful as aplatform for other distributedapplications in areas as diverse asmathematics, medicine, molecularbiology, climatology, andastrophysics. The BOINC projectstarted in February 2002.
If you have a soft spot foraltruism and social activism, youmay want to give it a try—and youmay well do since Linux, FreeSoftware and Ubuntu are akin inaltruism, social activism and co-operation for the betterment ofsociety.
BOINC adds up the processingpower of thousands of computersof volunteers around the world tohelp process incredible amounts of
data required to accomplishvarious scientific research projects.It is said that there are over half amillion volunteers to date – whichamounts to several petabytes ofprocessing power (one petabyteequals 1000 terabytes). It is notthat those institutes anduniversities don't havesupercomputers to do the job—it'srather that the extra processingpower from volunteers makes itfaster. Some projects, though, relymostly on volunteer aid. Theamount of data to be analyzed issimply monumental. In brief,BOINC is software that can profitfrom the unused CPU and GPUcycles on a computer to doscientific computing.
The Boinc manager is fairlyintuitive, and easy to use andunderstand. Should you find BOINCtoo demanding or intrusive on yoursystem, the BOINC manager willhelp you configure the way yourcomputer processes theinformation. Your first task will bedownloaded to your computer –which can take days or weeks tocomplete processing – depending
on the way you configure themanager and the time yourcomputer is on. You can choose tohave BOINC working only whenyour computer is idle. You can alsochoose more than one academicproject. The manager will alternateprocessing each one every 60minutes. The manager also informsyou how much your projects haveadvanced and how much is left tobe done.
If you ever decide to uninstallBOINC, it is best to do it withSynaptic as it will totally cleanevery trace of the applicationincluding the files that theprogram has analyzed. Youraccount and preferences willremain in the BOINC server in caseyou wish to reinstall in a differentcomputer; just enter your e-mailand password. You can also installBOINC in more than one computerusing the same account.
It is best to download theBOINC manager from the Ubuntusoftware center (GUI). What youdownload is the 7.0.27 defaultversion, which is not the latest andit seems to be 32-bit. Don'tdownload just the core applicationbecause you'll have to doeverything from the terminal (CLI).You can visit the BOINC websitewhere you can find the instructionsto download the newest 7.0.65version (64-bit). The instructionsare terribly convoluted, especiallyfor non-geeks and newbies. Theold version seems to work alrightin Ubuntu 12.04 for 32-bit systems(at least for the SETI@home
full circle magazine #79 14 contents ^
HOWTO - USE BOINCproject). If your system is 64-bit,then download the 'precise-backports' version which is 7.0.65,and the newest. Backports areadaptations of newer versions ofstandalone applications for oldreleases of Ubuntu – in this case,the Precise Pangolin release(12.04). To download it, go to thescroll bar in the upper right of theBOINC download page in theUbuntu Software Center and clickthe arrow.
The first time you open theapplication, you will see a dialogwindow that will request from youto choose your project(s). Next,you will be asked to open anaccount with your email addressand a password. Finally, themanager window will appear. Waita few minutes for the server todownload the first package ofinformation to be processed byyour system. You may see the'Notices' button twinkling in red.More likely than not, it will tell youthat there is a new version to bedownloaded. It will direct you tothe BOINC Web page. Notice thatwhat you download is not a .debfile which you would install in ajiffy by double-clicking on it. Thefile is called boinc_7.0.65_x86_64-
pc-linux-gnu.sh which can beopened only if you have previouslyinstalled GNU Emacs 23. Even thenyou will have to be quite geeky toknow how to install BOINC with it.Don't be deterred or frustrated.You can still use the version youdownloaded from the Ubuntusoftware center if your system is32-bit.
On the manager window, youwill also see a button called'Project Web Pages'. That's thebutton you will use most. Itcontains the following links: HomePage, Forums, Help, You Account,Your Preferences, Your Results,Your Computer(s), Your System.You should first go straight to the'Preferences' link where you will beable to configure how you wantBOINC to behave. Search for thesign in blue that says 'Edit yourpreference' at the bottom of thepreferences Web page. The Forumsare also great to visit. Itstrengthens your sense ofcommunity in the BOINC
ecosystem very much – as we areused to do in the Ubuntu forums.
There are two annoying glitchesyou may want to knowbeforehand—or are they defaultfeatures of the program? Firstly,the icons on the launcher and onthe dock (if any) are impossible toclose. Secondly, the managerwindow closes alright, but everytime you close any other window,the manager window suddenlypops up. And not a glitch, but afeature: BOINC will begin workingautomatically on startup.
Of all the scientific projects youcan choose from (apparently 30 ofthem), I decided to giveSETI@home a try (Search forExtraterrestrial Intelligence). TheSETI@home project gathers theinformation from a large array ofradio antennas in New Mexicowhich in turn has to be analyzedfor signals from outer space insearch for intelligent life. TheSETI@home project has been on
for many years and nothing hasbeen found as yet, but it takes aleap of faith to keep trying—andso they do. It thrills me to thinkthat they may one day succeed.
In case that you become anincorrigible fan of the SETI@homeproject, the following link will takeyou to a SETI@home site with amyriad of downloadablescreensavers, banners, logos, evenmusic (MP3) inspired in theSETI@home project to spur yourimagination and enthusiasm.
The SETI@home site is:http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php
BOINC is at:boinc.berkeley.edu/index.php
Should you be curious to learnmore, there is a good article on theSETI@home project in Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI
You will find an extensive article onBOINC in Wikipedia:wikipedia.org/wiki/BOINC
full circle magazine #79 15 contents ^
HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Nicholas Kopakakis BBlleennddeerr:: PPaarrtt 99bb
Last month, we created a cloverusing Bezier curves and also
we used a background image tomodel it. Now it's time to add thethird dimension of our model.
On the right, under theproperties window, select thecurve tab:
Scroll down and you will findthe Geometry panel. Enter thevalue 0.2 to Extrude as shown inthe image below:
You can check the 3D viewwindow to observe that yourimage starts to have depth.
Now, a very interesting thing isunder the Shape panel in theproperties window:
You can see that the 3D buttonis selected. Press the 2D button.Under Fill, select Back. Your model“filled” in the back. Now selectFront. As you may have expected,your model “filled” in front. As you
can guess, if you choose None,nothing is “filled”. Let’s selectBoth.
Now you have a solid 3D model– as you can see in the 3D viewwindow.
Lets tweak it a little. Under theGeometry panel that wementioned earlier, you have aBevel parameter. In Depth, enterthe value 0.03, and in Resolutionenter 2 as the value. You can alterthe Depth parameter if you wantto Bevel the edges of your modelmore or less. For me 0.03 is fine.
Now it is time to add materialsto your model. Refer to earlier
issues of Full Circle Magazine if youdon't remember how to addmaterials. My favorite material isglass, so I gave a green glass to myclover. Also, add a white plane as abackground to have a better visualresult.
Next month, we will introducetext. We will add text to our imagethat we created this month, butalso we will examine a techniqueto create interesting stuff with ourmodel using a very interestingmodifier. Stay tuned!
On the 3rd of November,www.blender.org changed itslooks. So, I don't have to suggestanother site. Explore the new siteand have fun!
full circle magazine #79 16 contents ^
HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Mark Crutch IInnkkssccaappee -- PPaarrtt 1199
The past few articles havepresented various techniques
and tools for manually tracing ascanned sketch in order to create avector outline. All that manualwork can produce some impressiveresults, but it does take a while.Fortunately, Inkscape also has anautomated tracing tool that canoften produce acceptable resultsin a fraction of the time.
Inkscape's tracing code is basedon the venerable Potracecommand-line tool, but does someadditional pre-processing of
bitmaps before they're passed onto the underlying algorithm. Youcan open the Trace Bitmap dialogusing the Path > Trace Bitmap…menu entry, or by pressing SHIFT-ALT-B.
This is one dialog in Inkscapethat could really do with a little UIlove. It's cramped, unintuitive,contains typos, and the spinboxesdon't have the nice context popupsof most similar controls inInkscape. But with a littleexplanation of the various options,it becomes functional enough even
if it's not going to win any prizesfor design.
The first thing to note is thatthe “Move” tab has a pair ofgroupboxes, “Single scan” and“Multiple scans”. As the titlesindicate, these result in differenttraces. The former creates a singlepath and is useful when you want aclean, hard trace. It's ideal forcreating a solid outline from asketch, or for reproducing a singlecolor logo. The latter createsmultiple paths which are groupedtogether, and is better forconverting color or grayscale logosor photographs. Continuing ourefforts to create a nice vectorversion of “Frankie” from thesketch that was introduced in Part17, I'm going to concentrate on theSingle Scan options in this article.
With the sketch imported intoInkscape and selected, clicking theUpdate button in the Trace Bitmapdialog fills the preview area with…a rather disappointing whiterectangle with just a few specklesof black. The problem is that ourpencil sketch is made up of shades
of light gray which fall below thedefault threshold required by theBrightness Cutoff option. Thismethod of pre-processing thetrace simply converts the darkpixels that fall below the thresholdto black, and converts any that fallabove it to white. By looking at ahistogram of the sketch in TheGIMP, it's clear that there is littlecontent to the darker left-handend of the scale.
There are two fixes for this:either the source image has to bemade darker, or the thresholdneeds to be raised. Taking thelatter approach, increasing thethreshold to 0.90 (it runs from 0.00to 1.00) gives a much betterlooking preview after clicking onthe Update button.
full circle magazine #79 17 contents ^
HOWTO - INKSCAPE Pt19
Picking the right threshold levelfor any given image is largely amatter of trial-and-error. Usually,images with strong dark colorsrequire a low value, whilst thosewith lighter hues will need a largervalue. In an ideal world, this dialogwould show a histogram of theimage, and let you set thethreshold by dragging a markeralong it, dynamically updating thepreview as you go. In lieu of suchniceties, you have little choice butto tweak the threshold, update thepreview, tweak it a little more,update it again, and so on until youachieve an acceptable result.
When you do finally get apreview that looks promising, yousimply have to click the OK buttonto start the tracing process. Mostof the time this completes almostinstantly, but if you're tracing aparticularly complex image, orusing a particularly slow machine,
you may have to wait a littlelonger. During the tracing processthe OK button will be disabled; thebest indication that it's finished iswhen the button becomes enabledagain.
At this point you will have a newpath in the main Inkscape window,positioned exactly on top of thebitmap image. It will also beautomatically selected and theraster image below will have beendeselected. Unfortunately, thismeans that if your trace doesn'tlook right, you can't just changethe threshold and hit OK to tryagain. Instead you have to move ordelete the bad trace, then re-selectthe bitmap, and then finally youcan adjust the tracing parametersin the dialog and try once more. It'sonly a few steps, but when you'retrying to hone in on a suitablethreshold by trial-and-error, it's afew steps too many.
You should always ensure thatyou move the final trace away fromthe bitmap image when checkingthe result to avoid the originalimage obscuring any holes or gapsin your trace. Here's how thefinished Frankie trace looks:
It's not too bad, but there areseveral areas where the lightnessof the pencil marks and the grainof the paper have conspired tobreak up the outline. A closer viewof the eyes shows this effect quiteclearly.
Sometimes this very roughappearance is exactly the rightartistic effect, but, more usually,the point of creating a vectorimage is to give you something alot smoother. You can tryincreasing the threshold beforetracing again, but often this resultsin lines that are too thick andheavy – although it does usually fillsome of the problem gaps in theprocess.
Practically, though, if you wantgood results from auto-tracing,you have to have a good sourceimage to begin with. This meansblocks of flat, contrasting colorsrather than tints, gradients, and
thin lines. A few minutes spent in abitmap editor can save you a lot oftime in Inkscape later. In practice, Inever use auto-trace on a pencilsketch. A sketch might be suitablefor manual tracing, but there's justnot enough contrast and clarity forInskcape and Potrace's algorithmsto do a reliable job. Here's howVince and I actually create thevector outlines for our 'Monsters,Inked' comics:• Create a pencil sketch to decideon the shape and position of thecharacters and objects.• Ink over the pencil sketch usingblack ink and marker pens.• Erase any pencil marks asthoroughly as possible.• Scan the image.• Load the scan into The GIMP, andadjust the contrast even further togive a clear distinction betweenblack and white.• Use the eraser tool in The GIMPto remove any stubborn pencillines that were picked up whenscanning.• Trace the image in Inkscape usingthe Brightness cutoff option with asuitable threshold (usually thedefault of 0.45 is fine, given thepreparation above).
After going through thesesteps, the result is much better
full circle magazine #79 18 contents ^
HOWTO - INKSCAPE Pt19than the Swiss-cheese trace wehad earlier. There are still someareas that need to be manuallytidied up – mostly where thetracing process has filled smallareas – but, overall, we've got avector that's crisp and clean, and isa good representation of theartist's original intentions.
You can download an inkedcopy of Frankie's head from thelink at the end of the article if youwant to try for yourself.
Now, let's take a look at theother two algorithms in the SingleScan section of the dialog. I findthese to be less useful than thesimple Brightness Cutoff method,but the results vary greatly fromimage to image, so it's alwaysworth giving them a try if you'renot getting the result you want.
The Edge Detection method,unsurprisingly, runs the bitmap
image through an edge detectionalgorithm before vectorising theresult. Edges are defined bychanges in brightness within theimage – a transition from dark tolight or vice versa. The Thresholdvalue sets the amount of changethat is needed in order for a pixelto be considered to be an edge.Higher values mean that only reallyobvious edges are counted, whichcan lead to broken lines. Set it toolow, however, and almost any colorchange is counted as an edge.
It may seem obvious but edgedetection works best on imageswith strong edges. Boldly coloredlogos or black-and-white line artcan give good results, but, asalways, you may get better resultsif you tweak the source image in abitmap editor first. For example,trying this method with the FullCircle Magazine logo workedreasonably well but kept losing theshape of the inner circles as thedifference in brightness betweenthose and the gradients was toosmall. By using The GIMP toconvert the logo to grayscale andto adjust the color curve for bettercontrast, I was able to create atrace that preserved the outline ofthe circles.
The Color Quantisationalgorithm takes a fundamentallydifferent approach. In this case,the bitmap image is first reducedto the specified number of colors,each with an index number. Thissimplifies gradients and soft edgesdown to solid blocks of color. Then,a black-and-white image is created,splitting the colored blocksbetween black and whitedepending on whether the indexof the color is even or odd. It's thisblack-and-white image that isfinally passed to the Potrace codeto produce a path.
It sounds more complex than itis, so I've simulated the processusing The GIMP – although the endresult isn't quite the same as thatproduced by Inkscape as the exactdetails of the algorithm it uses aredifferent. Starting with an imageof the Mona Lisa, the first step is toreduce the number of colors. I've
chosen to reduce it to 8 colors – it'sthis value that's set by the Colorsspinbox in the Trace Bitmap dialog.
Our color-reduced image nowhas a fixed palette, with each colorbeing identified by its index – acount of its position in the palette.
Because the Potrace codeexpects a simple black-and-whiteimage, the final step before tracingis to reduce this palette further.This is done by converting all theodd indexes to black and all theeven indexes to white.
That's the approximate process– now let's see what Inkscapeactually makes of an 8-colorquantisation trace of the MonaLisa...
full circle magazine #79 19 contents ^
Mark's Inkscape created webcomic,'Monsters, Inked' is now available tobuy as a book fromhttp://www.peppertop.com/shop/
HOWTO - INKSCAPE Pt19
The results from the ColorQuantisation method can varywildly as you change the numberof colors. A lower number tends toproduce larger filled areas, losingdetails. Higher numbers preservethe details a little better, butresult in a path with lots of nodes.Some values will result in theindexes being changed so that theblack-and-white image appearsinverted. You can see this clearly inthe preview when you click on theUpdate button. In this case, simplycheck the Invert Image checkboxand hit Update again. Thischeckbox can also be used with theother two tracing methods, andcan be particularly useful fortracing a light image on a darkbackground.
Automatic tracing works wellfor some images, and poorly forothers. In almost every case, therewill still be some manual cleaning
up to do, so knowing how to usethe node editing tools, and how totrace by hand, will still beinvaluable skills. Most importantly,try to get a good image to tracefrom in the first place, even if thatmeans some work in a bitmapeditor.
LINKS:
Potrace:http://potrace.sourceforge.net
“Frankie” and other images:http://www.peppertop.com/fc/
LIBREOFFICE SPECIAL EDITIONS:
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/libreoffice-special-edition-volume-one/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/libreoffice-special-edition-volume-two/
INKSCAPE SPECIAL EDITIONS:
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/inkscape-special-edition-volume-one/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/inkscape-special-edition-volume-two/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/libreoffice-special-edition-volume-three/
full circle magazine #79 20 contents ^
HHOOWW--TTOOWritten by Ronnie Tucker WWrriittee FFoorr FFuullll CCiirrccllee MMaaggaazziinnee
GUIDELINES
The single rule for an article isthat it must somehow be
linked to Ubuntu or one of themany derivatives of Ubuntu(Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc).
RULES
• There is no word limit for articles,but be advised that long articlesmay be split across several issues.
• For advice, please refer to theOfficial Full Circle Style Guide:http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/75d471
• Write your article in whicheversoftware you choose, I wouldrecommend LibreOffice, but mostimportantly - PLEASE SPELL ANDGRAMMAR CHECK IT!
• In your article, please indicatewhere you would like a particularimage to be placed by indicatingthe image name in a newparagraph or by embedding theimage in the ODT (Open Office)
document.
• Images should be JPG, no widerthan 800 pixels, and use lowcompression.
• Do not use tables or any type ofbold or italic formatting.
If you are writing a review,please follow these guidelines :
When you are ready to submityour article please email it to:[email protected]
TRANSLATIONS
If you would like to translateFull Circle into your nativelanguage please send an email [email protected] andwe will either put you in touch withan existing team, or give youaccess to the raw text to translatefrom. With a completed PDF, youwill be able to upload your file tothe main Full Circle site.
REVIEWS
GAMES/APPLICATIONSWhen reviewing games/applications please state clearly:
• title of the game• who makes the game• is it free, or a paid download?• where to get it from (give download/homepage URL)• is it Linux native, or did you use Wine?• your marks out of five• a summary with positive and negative points
HARDWAREWhen reviewing hardware please state clearly:
• make and model of the hardware• what category would you put this hardware into?• any glitches that you may have had while using the hardware?• easy to get the hardware working in Linux?• did you have to use Windows drivers?• marks out of five• a summary with positive and negative points
You don't need to be an expert to write anarticle - write about the games, applicationsand hardware that you use every day.
full circle magazine #79 21 contents ^
https://spideroak.com
Get 25% off any SpiderOak packagewith the code: FullcirclemagFans
full circle magazine #79 22 contents ^
AASSKK TTHHEE NNEEWW GGUUYYWritten by Copil Yáňez
Hi, everyone! Welcome back toAsk the New Guy!
If you have a simple question,and you think a “zero-day remoteroot bug” is something you cancatch from bad sushi, contact meat [email protected].
Today’s question is:
Q: What’s the difference betweenan update and an upgrade? Whichone should I do? And when?
A: So you finally caught the waveand decided to install Ubuntu onyour desktop (or laptop orInternet-enabled bike helmet, orwhatever). You’ve made a greatchoice! Ubuntu users are the mostintelligent, innovative, handsomehuman beings ever to walk theface of the earth. It’s true, I read iton Wikipedia.
The first thing you want to do ismake sure you’re keeping yourinstall up-to-date. Sure, everythingseems to be working beautifullyright now, so you might betempted to just leave well enough
alone. If so, you’re like my dad andhis 1982 Buick Electra EstateWagon. That baby was state-of-the-art when Reagan was still inoffice. Every gear, cog and belt wasdesigned to throw you down thehighway at 70mph in absolutecomfort, even going so far as towarm your butt because cold-buttis apparently a very seriouscondition in old people.
But no matter how gently hetreats it (the car, not his butt), thebelts have started to dry out andcrack, the oil lines have developedleaks, and the idler arm brokeloose when he loaned me the carand I unadvisedly went four-wheeling in a rock quarry becausemy buddy, Kevin, who never, everoffers to pay for gas, dared me to.So, yeah, unless you’re a mechanic,you never really know exactlywhat’s going on under the hood.
Thankfully, in Ubuntu at least,you don’t have to. Sure, you canget your hands as dirty as youwant, chowning files and pipingoutput to your heart’s content. Butif you’re like me, you have more
important things to do, like writeWalter White/Jesse Pinkmanerotica. If that’s the case, you’re inluck. Ubuntu is super easy to keeprunning at peak performance.
First, let’s address the mostbasic part of the question. What’sthe difference between updatingand upgrading?
In Ubuntu, when we talk aboutupdating, we’re really talkingabout asking a trusted source,“hey, what’s the latest version ofthe programs installed on mycomputer?” It’s like asking yourbookie for the line on theManchester United game. He’ll giveyou the odds, but he’s not going toplace a bet on your behalf until youtell him to.
Upgrading, on the other hand, isplacing the bet. It’s telling Ubuntu,okay, I’ve got a list of the mostcurrent versions of the softwareinstalled on my system, go aheadand upgrade to those newerversions.
While there’s a difference
between updating and upgrading,they’re really just two sides of thesame coin. To keep your systemrunning smoothly, you want to runthem one after the other (startingwith the update, followed by theupgrade).
How often should you be doingthis? Once a week, at least; moreoften if you want to be extra safe.
As with most Ubuntu functions,you can do this at the command-line or with a mouse.
To do this at the command-line(and feel like a complete badass),open a terminal window (CTRL-T)and type:
sudo apt-get update
Press enter. You’ll be asked foryour password. Give it and pressenter. Stuff happens. When it’sdone, type:
sudo apt-get upgrade
Again, press enter and giveUbuntu your password. Pressenter.
full circle magazine #79 23 contents ^
Ubuntu will handle the rest.Now sit back and think about hownice a USB powered butt warmerwould feel right about now.
If you prefer to use the GUI, noproblem. Here’s what you do.
First, if there are updates foryour computer, Ubuntu will let youknow with a popup.
If you see this popup, simplyfollow the prompts until yoursystem is up-to-date.
If you don’t have the popup, orwant to check for updates yourself,go to the Dash (either click on theicon on the upper left or click onthe Superkey, also known as theWindows Key, also known as thekey I never use except when Iaccidentally hit it with my pinky).
With the Dash field open,search for Update Manager. In thewindow that comes up, click theCheck button. This essentiallyreplicates the apt-get updatefunction. If there are any updatesto install, click on the InstallUpdates button. Again, Ubuntu willhandle the rest.
Done and done. Now you have
the most current versions of thesoftware running on yourcomputer. If there were anysecurity patches, they wereapplied. Your system should besafe and stable.
If you ran the updates from thepopup, you may see a windowtelling you that a new version ofUbuntu is available (for example,you’re running 13.04 and 13.10 isavailable). Or maybe you heardthere’s a new version of Ubuntuout in the wild and you want to useit.
Should you upgrade?
The short answer is maybe.
The longer answer is the choiceis up to you. See, distributionupgrades, the kind of upgradeswhere the version number (12.04,12.10, 13.04, 13.10, etc) changes,are a little different than justupdating, they add a side dishthat’s not included when you orderthe one-two update/upgradecombo meal.
Distribution upgrades add anynew software packages that cameout after the version you’rerunning. If you want the newestsoftware and features on yourUbuntu install, then go ahead and
upgrade to the newestdistribution. But there’s somethingyou should keep in mind.Upgrading your distribution mightalso remove out-of-date software,or files that conflict with thefeatures on the new version. This isall fine and dandy if you don’t needthose files and old software. Butwhat if something that getsremoved breaks a program youneeded or removes a feature youliked?
If you value stability overbleeding-edge software, you maywant to err on the side of stickingto updates and upgrading yourinstalled software only. In fact, youmight consider only upgradingdistributions when you see onelabeled LTS. LTS stands for LongTerm Support and refers toversions of Ubuntu that will besupported for the next 5 years, andhave undergone more testing andhardening of their existingfeatures. Your LTS version will stillget updates and patches for a longtime. Time enough for you to findanother LTS to jump to.
If, on the other hand, you needthe bragging rights that come withrunning your computer flat out,with the newest operating system,
ASK THE NEW GUY
full circle magazine #79 24 contents ^
Copil is an Aztec name that roughlytranslates to “you need my heart forwhat again?” His love of women’sshoes is chronicled atyaconfidential.blogspot.com. Youcan also watch him embarrasshimself on Twitter (@copil).
do a distribution upgrade.
Okay, so you’ve analyzed yourneeds and decided you want toupgrade your distribution. To dothis using the GUI, just follow theprompts after running the UpdateManager and being told there’s anew version you can install.
Believe it or not, this is theofficially sanctioned andrecommended way of upgradingUbuntu to a new release. There arevarious ways to upgrade using thecommand-line, but when I wentlooking for them, I found talk of“removing PPAs,” and “fixingresidual packages,” and “add lye tothe ephedrine and agitate.” Prettysure that last one came from aBreaking Bad website I was surfingwhile I wrote this. Anyway, thepoint is that if you’re coming to meto figure out how to do somethingcomplex at the command-line,something that could easily borkyour system, well, I’m simply notgoing to enable such self-destructive behavior. Go playUbuntu Roulette somewhere else,my friend.
Keeping your system patched,updated and running smoothlyisn’t particularly sexy (unlike most
Ubuntu users). But it will keep youcruising like my warm-buttedfather in his Electra Estate Wagon.And isn’t that what life’s all about?
Good luck and happyUbuntuing!
ASK THE NEW GUY
full circle magazine #79 25 contents ^
LLIINNUUXX LLAABBWritten by Charles McColm FFrreeee SSooffttwwaarree iinn CCoommppuutteerr RReessccuuee
Linux has always had areputation of being a good way
to reuse old computers. In fact thisis how free software slipped intoThe Working Centre’s ComputerRecycling Project. The projectbegan in the late 1990’s as a wayfor those out of work to get accessto a computer to create resumés.Around mid 2001, one of theproject volunteers started puttingtogether a Linux distribution basedon Debian GNU/Linux called theWorking Centre Linux Project(WCLP). WCLP was a desktopdistribution designed to run on a486SX/25 with 16MB of RAM and a400MB hard drive. WCLP was thestart of free software use in theproject.
Around mid 2005, thevolunteers developing WCLPabandoned the project. Otherrefurbishing-orienteddistributions, like RULE (Run Up-to-date Linux Everywhere), werebecoming pretty popular, andUbuntu Linux was on the horizon.It was also around this time theproject implemented a SAMBA fileserver used in conjunction with
cloning software. The SAMBAserver worked so well that otherparts of The Working Centre –besides the Computer RecyclingProject – started storing datathere. The original SAMBA fileserver has gone through severalupgrades over the years (fromhard drive to motherboard), butstill uses a modified version ofsmb.conf that we started with.
One of the great salvations forthe project has been the fact thatwe’ve been able to take a harddrive running Linux out of one
system and stick it in a completelynew system with relatively fewproblems (not something you cando with proprietary OS’s becauseof the whole licensing issues, notto mention driver issues). We had amajor hardware failure in one ofour systems (we hadn’t lookedclose enough at the motherboard),and were able to use the harddrive in a computer with amotherboard from the samemanufacturer but with a differentmodel number. That system wasrunning a desktop Linuxdistribution and we were able to
restore it on the new motherboardwithout too much trouble.
Late 2005, I started workingcloser with the project to take itfrom a once-a-week drop-in projectto a 5-day-a-week operation (we’vesince scaled back to 4 days a weekto allow for other work to takeplace in the space). One of theprojects I’d been working on whilevolunteering was a PHP/MySQLparts database. The database washacked together using a script I’dfound. That project was the startof what became a customPHP/MySQL Point-Of-Sale (POS),based on an existing open sourceproject: OSCommerce. A fewmonths after I started, we had theopportunity to switch spaces into amuch more spacious building.During the downtime, we took theopportunity to better lay out thePOS. One of our on-staff ITdeveloped the interface, while aprogrammer we hired for a shortperiod worked on coding the POS.
We actually consideredMicrosoft Dynamics before hiringanyone for the project, but, at the
full circle magazine #79 26 contents ^
LINUX LABtime, it wasn’t available in Canada,and, even if it was available, weweren’t convinced that it wouldhave given us the flexibility weneeded. The decision to hire aprogrammer and develop the POSourselves turned out to be a wisedecision. The programmer wehired completed the project early,so early that we didn’t really get achance to completely debug theapplication. But since we hadaccess to the source code, and wehad someone on staff who wasbetter with PHP than me, we coulddebug the application withoutbegging a third-party company tomake changes. It also meant thateven I, with my limited PHP/MySQLknowledge, could make minorchanges to the code (which I’vedone over the years).
For the past several years we’vehad a volunteer come in once aweek and maintain the code for us.The volunteer has been cleaningup the code, making a few changesto the interface, and separatingthe code from the OSCommerceback end, so we can release theproject as a completelyindependent FLOSS POS.
As the project grew, we moved
a lot of documentation to anIntranet I set up on a system usingthe Drupal CMS (ContentManagement System). The systemholds a lot of forms and paperworkthat volunteers need, as well asinformation about The WorkingCentre, the Computer RecyclingProject, environmentalregulations, safety processes, andprocesses for building, testing andrepairing systems.
One of our staff has sinceadded a PXE network boot serveron the same machine – to allow usto deploy a variety of Linuxdistributions. We also keepeveryday tools on the PXE server
including Darik’s Boot and Nuke(DBAN), memtest86+, HDT(Hardware Detection Tool), andLive Linux environments. Beforethe PXE boot server, volunteerswere always asking me to burn aDBAN/memtest86/other tool CD.Now, volunteers either set up thecomputer to network boot in theBIOS, or use an Etherboot gPXE CDfor systems that don’t supportnetwork booting in the BIOS.
At the core of the ComputerRecycling Project is a table with 8workstations (7 running Xubuntu, 1running Ubuntu). Each workstationis on a Keyboard Video Mouse(KVM) switch to allow volunteers
to work on repairs or builds on thetop, and search for informationusing the workstation below thetable. On another table, we have aspecial system; a tower systemwith a couple of IDE and SATAcontroller cards in addition to theIDE and SATA ports on themotherboard. This system is usedfor DBAN-ing hard drives (we hateto say wiping hard drives becausetechnically DBAN overwrites dataon the drives). DBAN resides onour PXE server, so normally allvolunteers have to do is hook upthe hard drives, then turn on theDBAN machine. We jumper all IDEdrives to cable-select – to makethe process simpler for volunteerswithout a lot of computer buildingexperience.
On the back wall behind theworkstation table are 5 monitorsand 4 KVM switches. The fourmonitors with KVM switches allhave 4-port KVM switches, so up to16 computers can be set up on theback wall. Normally, this counter isused only for things that take a bitmore time: running memtest86+on a system for example. The 5thmonitor is connected to a small-form-factor computer runningXBMCbuntu (a Linux+XBMC
full circle magazine #79 27 contents ^
Charles McColm is the author ofInstantXBMC, and the projectmanager of a not-for-profitcomputer reuse project. When notbuilding PCs, removing malware,encouraging people to use Linux,and hosting local Ubuntu hours,Charles blogs athttp://www.charlesmccolm.com/.
LINUX LABdistribution) that replaced anaging stereo with a failing CD tray.
In another area of ComputerRecycling lies one of the moreinteresting work areas where 3motherboards are mounted on thewall. These motherboards are usedto test different types of RAM(currently we’re only testing DDRand DDR2 since we rarely see anyolder SDRAM or newer DDR3-based systems). These systems allboot off a multi-tool USB keycreated using Yumi multiboot USBcreator. We’ve also started usingPhoronix Test Suite to moreaccurately gather informationabout video card RAM at this workarea. Phoronix Test Suite has asystem-info switch to showinformation about a system,including Video RAM (VRAM)information. The project gets a lotof systems with video cards thatdon’t have VRAM informationanywhere on the cards.
Without question, Free LibreOpen Source Software has helpedthe project, and every year ourorganization budgets a smallamount of money to give back to afew open source projects. Beingable to look at the code has helpedthe project adapt to changes over
the years. When (in Canada) Goodsand Services Tax (GST) andProvincial Sales Tax (PST) became asingle Harmonized Sales Tax (HST),I was able to make the changesnecessary to keep information onour POS about previous sales anddeal with the new tax setup. Oneof our volunteers has updated thePOS several times so we can showdifferent reports we need to see.FLOSS has saved us the cost ofupgrading software licenses everyfew years.
One of the side effects ofhaving Linux on the computersused by volunteers is the change inattitude of many of the volunteers
from indifference towards FLOSSto one of appreciation. Volunteerssee just how easy Linux installs onmany of the systems we work with.When a volunteer does get stuck,it’s usually because of a hardwarefault in the equipment they’reworking with. Many volunteershave come in knowing nothingabout Linux, and they now supportpeople who arrive with Linux-related questions, or helprecommend Libre software onother platforms. And it’s becauseof FLOSS and the work ofvolunteers that we’re able to helpa lot of people without goodaccess to technology.
RESOURCES:The Working Centre’s ComputerRecycling Project -http://www.theworkingcentre.org/computer-recycling/178WCLP (uses a very old kernel, outof date) -http://wclp.sourceforge.net/RULE (tribute site) -http://rule.zona-m.net/SAMBA - http://www.samba.org/Memtest86+ -http://www.memtest.org/Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) -http://www.dban.org/HDT - http://www.hdt-project.org/Etherboot/gPXE -etherboot.org/wiki/index.phpXBMC - http://www.xbmc.org/Yumi multiboot USB creator -http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/
full circle magazine #79 28 contents ^
MMYY SSTTOORRYY
I have two root partitions on sdaso that I can test a new version
while maintaining an old one. Ofcourse, I have the /home partitionseparate, and have swap and /tmppartitions on sdb.
With the expiration of LucidLynx, I needed to upgrade, but Iremain very unhappy with Unity, soI decided to try Linux Mint Maya.Maya is an LTS version based onPrecise, and has an expiration dateof April 2017. I chose theCinnamon version, which runsGnome 3.
Prior to the installation, I ran:
dpkg --get-selections >installed-software
on my Lucid partition to make iteasier to reinstall the packages Ihave been using.
The installation ran flawlessly –something we have come toexpect from Linux and Debian-based distributions in particular.Among other things, I noted thatmy wireless is working again, whichhas been up and down during my
time with Lucid. That alone makesme wish I had installed Mint a yearago.
Following the installation, I ransoftware update, installed therestricted video driver, andconfirmed that my home directorywas still intact. Again, no problems.
I tried:
dpkg --set-selections <installed-software.txtdselect
as well as:
sudo dpkg --clear-selections
sudo dpkg --set-selections <installed-software.txt sudoaptitude install
trying to reload the packages Ipreviously installed. After about 10minutes of thinking, both of thesefailed. They offered me some kindof manual method of resolvingdependencies, but that seemedlike more trouble, especially since Ididn't know what all thedependencies were. I triedtrimming the list of all "lib*" and
packages which might have beenloaded because somethingdepended on them, and still had noluck.
Finally, I opened the list in onewindow and Synaptic in another,and manually set everything Iwanted. It would be really nice ifthere were a get-selectionscommand that only got the toplevel packages, i.e. with nothingdepending on them, which couldthen be used to reload packageswhen you have done a fresh installof a different version of Linux.
OPERATIONS
I like a bare desktop, and alwaysset a black background. I wasquickly able to set fourworkspaces. and saw themnumbered 1 through 4 in my menubar. Some of the tools I regularlyuse had been updated, whichmeans they set their configurationafter being launched. For thosewhich then had two .conf files, Iwas quickly able to set theconfiguration choices I wanted.
Movies and emulators inparticular ran very slowly. The newgraphical system monitoring tool iscute, but requires a hugepercentage of CPU horsepower.Instead, I used top to demonstratewhat was taking all the time.Cinnamon itself is the culprit,requiring about 5% of one CPUwhen quiescent, and an entire CPUwhen something which doesscreen writes is active. I wouldhope that the Cinnamondevelopers put some thought intooptimizing it. My next laptop willprobably be a 4-core, but thatdoesn't mean that a windowmanager which requires an entireCPU for itself is a good thing.
I will probably look for anddownload Gnome 2, which wouldmake this effectively the MATEversion of Mint Maya, to see if theheavy CPU load is present there aswell. I'll write and let you knowhow it works.
Written by Thomas M. "Toad" Brooks
full circle magazine #79 29 contents ^
BBOOOOKK RREEVVIIEEWWWritten by Ronnie Tucker MMiinndd MMaappppiinngg wwiitthh FFrreeeemmiinndd
Ask any creative person toexplain how they come up
with ideas, and I’m pretty surethey’ll end up talking about mindmaps. If you’re unsure as to what amind map is, here’s a quick
definition from Wikipedia:
"A mindmap is a diagram
usedto visuallyoutline
information. A mindmap is often
createdarounda single wordortext,
placedin the center, to which
associatedideas, wordsand
concepts are added. Major
categories radiate from a central
node, andlessercategories are sub-
branches oflargerbranches.
Categories can representwords,
ideas, tasks, orother items related
to a central keywordoridea. Mind
maps can be drawn byhand, either
as "rough notes"during a lecture or
meeting, forexample, oras higher
qualitypictureswhen more time is
available.
Essentially, you begin with oneword, then branch out from thereusing other words and possiblyeven decorating it with doodles.The idea being that all this will helpyour mind come up with newpossibilities. Mind mapping has amyriad of uses – from peoplestudying information, book writing,and even just brainstorming – solearning how to use it is definitelya good thing.
Normally, mind mapping is doneon paper (or even a whiteboard),but this book uses the Freemindapplication which is free for allmajor OSes and written in Java.
It’s always best to start at thebeginning, and the book starts byshowing you how to create a newmind map in Freemind and addingyour first, and main, word – whichis called a root node. Next isadding child nodes – the wordswhich are branching off from themain word. Formatting isimportant, and you have manyoptions for editing and colouringtext.
Of course, a pretty mind mapisn’t the be-all and end-all of it. No,Sir. Now it’s time to give the childnodes their own family and addfurther decoration to the map.
Chapter two discusses theproper wording to use in mindmaps. Mind maps aren’t forwaffling on. Think of them as beinglike a Google search. If you choosethe right words, you’ll get theresult you desire. Wrong words will
take you on an often unwantedtangent.
The author then switches tousing Freeplane. Another mindmapping application which is,thankfully, also compatible withFreemind. The reasoning behindthis is that Freeplane seems toallow adding words next to aninserted connector line. Why theydidn’t just use Freeplane for thewhole book then... is beyond me.
The author then exports themind map to a PNG and uploads itto wikispaces with MP3attachments. Personally, I’drecommend using MindMup or anyof the Google Drive mind mappingadd-ons as they’ll save your map toyour Google Drive space. But, eachto their own.
Around half way through thebook, the author begins addingicons to her map, which, whilemaking it look nice, can also helpgroup/tag words and can also helpspark new ideas.
Chapter three shows how to
Language : EnglishPaperback : 146 pages [235mm x 191mm ]Release Date : October 2012ISBN : 1849517622ISBN 13 : 9781849517621Author(s) : Silvina P. HillarAvailable as: eBook or Printwith eBook.
full circle magazine #79 30 contents ^
BOOK REVIEW - MIND MAPPING WITH FREEMINDinsert images (that you’ve made, ordownloaded) into your mind map.Even using Flickr images... which isa nice touch.
The fourth chapter introduceshyperlinking to the mind map. Thisincludes linking to localinformation/files.
Now, nearing the end, it’s timeto learn how to export your map toHTML, vector, Flash, and evenLibreOffice (or OpenOffice, as theycall it in the book).
This is an excellent guide toboth mind maps and Freemind, butI just wish the author hadn’t usedsuch garish looking maps! She’susing blue, purple, pink, and akhaki green on a whitebackground. Awful colouringchoices and it makes the book lookslightly amateurish.
As I said in the XBMC book, I dolike the Pakt quick guides, butdon’t be deceived into thinkingthat this is 146 pages ofinformation. It’s not. The first 15pages are copyright info andpreface stuff, and the last eight arethe index and info. So really, you’regetting 120-ish pages.
Still, if you need a crash courseon mind mapping and Freemind,then this is definitely a good bookto get.
LINKS:Freemind:http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Freeplane:http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_PageNOTE: both of these applicationsshould be in your distro repo.
Wikispaces:http://www.wikispaces.com/
CONTENTS:
Chapter 1: Creating a Mind Map: Dosand Don'ts• Introduction• Ordering a mind map• Visual attraction• Adding different types of nodes• Usage of icons• Exact text• Boundaries and branches• Writing sufficient information• Adding necessary notes
Chapter 2: Writing a Mind Map: Usingthe Right Words• Introduction• Keywords• Representing the subject matter• Connecting words and lines• Length of lines and words• Writing noun phrases after listeningto MP3 files• Uploading the mind map towikispaces.com• Developing a radiant hierarchythrough word sizes• Associating ideas through words andicons
Chapter 3: Picturing a Mind Map:Using Visual Thinking• Introduction• Inserting an image• Developing a graphic technique• Working with bitmaps• Designing SVG for mind maps• Photographic mind map• Sizing an image• Inserting an external object fromFlickr
• Using time icons
Chapter 4: Adding Hyperlinks andLinking the Mind Map• Introduction• Linking to an e-mail address• Inserting and removing a hyperlinkfrom a text field• Adding a graphical link to nodes andchanging its color• Adding a local hyperlink• Importing folders and subfolders• Following a link to fold or unfold thetree
Chapter 5: Sharing a Mind Map: Usingthe Best of Mobile and Web Features• Introduction• Exporting a branch as a new map orHTML• Exporting the mind map to bitmapsor vector graphics• Uploading the mind map on Flickrand sharing it• Exporting the mind map as HTML• Exporting the mind map as XHTML• Exporting the mind map as Flash• Exporting the mind map as anOpenOffice Writer document anduploading to Google Docs• Viewing an interactive mind map in aweb browser
full circle magazine #79 31 contents ^
SSOOFFTTWWAARREE SSHHOOWWDDOOWWNNWritten by Tushar Bhargava TThhee UUnnuussuuaall SSuussppeeccttss
Do we really need more OpenSource music players? What’s
wrong with Banshee, Amarok andRhythmbox?
BORN OUT OF FRUSTRATION
“Tomahawkwasborn outof
frustration, frustration that
the mostwidelyusedmedia players
were designedto solve problemsof
a differentera. No longerdo we
needdesktop musicplayers built 10
years ago that jam in CD ripping,
labelmakers, device syncing, into a
massive wadofcode that takes
minutes to even launch.”
Jason Herskowitz, part of theTomahawk team, was brutallyhonest in enumerating the reasonsfor a new music player:• Social music services arefundamentally broken given thateveryone uses different sources -can't there be an interoperabilitylayer that enables users ofdifferent music services to easilyshare/listen?• Why can't I easily listen to all themusic I have scattered acrossmultiple computers, at multiple
locations, from a single interface?• When I am reading a website thattalks about a song, and I own thatsong, why can't I play my copydirectly from that page?• Why can't I subscribe to, andimport, playlist metadata from allover the web - and then have thatresolve against any/all songs that Ihave access to?• Why do I have to listen to songs Ihave on my hard drive, and songsfrom services I subscribe to, intotally different user experiences?
NOT REALLY A PROTESTClementine creator David
Sansome explained his reasons forstarting the project. “I started
coding Clementine in November
2009. I'djustupgradedmydistro to
a newversion which came with
Amarok2.0, andIdecidedI really
didn't like it. I triedto finda better
musicplayer, but I couldn't find
anything thatwasas awesome as
Amarok1.4, which I'dbeen using
since about2005.”
Mr. Sansome went on to clarify,“Iwouldn't sayClementine wasa
‘protest’againstAmarok2.0. I think
Amarokhas some awesome
developerswith some really
passionate opinions aboutwhere
theywant theirsoftware to go and
what theywant it to look like. Open-
source is reallyfun because it lets
developersdo what theyenjoywith
no strings attached.”
USER INTERFACETomahawk has a dynamic two-
or three-column user interface –depending upon the optionselected. The central dashboardconsists of three panes - ‘RecentAdditions’, ‘Newest Stations andPlaylists’, and ‘Recently PlayedTracks’. The music controls arelocated at the bottom – withshuffle, repeat buttons, andvolume control. There is a globalsearch bar in the top right-handcorner. There are also ‘Back’ and‘Forward’ arrows that serve afunction similar to those inbrowsers; indeed Tomahawk is likea browser albeit a musicallyinclined one. In a nutshell, the UI is
full circle magazine #79 32 contents ^
SOFTWARE SHOWDOWNstraightforward, modern andintuitive, it has everything youneed in a music player. Oneinteresting point is that Tomahawkdoesn’t support rating tracks, yousimply ‘love’ a track – representedby a heart icon (Last.fm also has asimilar system). The approach isinteresting, some power users mayfeel the omission in makingautomatic playlists; however, I likethe simplicity of the idea.Tomahawk has a notification iconthat offers the standard ‘Play’,‘Stop’, ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ trackoptions.
Clementine has a fixed three-column UI. The first columnessentially consists of broadcategories, you choose whetheryou wish to search, go to your locallibrary, browse your hard drive, seeconnected devices, or use Internetrelated features. The secondcolumn then shows the optionsavailable within each of thecategories. The third column hasthe standard music list interfacewith the inclusion of a uniquemoodbar. The list of music shownis a playlist. Clementine has bothnormal and automatic playlists.The music controls are again at thebottom and are similar toTomahawk. Overall, the UI is
simple enough but, compared toTomahawk’s, seems a bit cluttered.Clementine also has a notificationtray icon.
INTERNET INTEGRATIONHere’s where Tomahawk excels.
From the beginning, Tomahawkwas designed to be a music playerfor a fully connected world.Tomahawk offers seamlessintegration with Last.fm,SoundCloud, Jamendo,Grooveshark, Spotify, and manymore. Further, Tomahawk canidentify other Tomahawks on thenetwork and allow you to listen toyour entire library from onelocation. Tomahawk uses the
power of the Web to collect meta-data for your collection. It not onlyauto-magically retrieves album artbut also has a feature called ‘ArtistPage’ – which gives you a sufficientbio of the artist and his work.Further the ‘Artist Page’ points youto new music by listing ‘RelatedArtists’.
Tomahawk is meant to be asocial player - it allows you to seewhat your friends are listening to.Conversely, your friends can seewhat you’re listening to. If youdon’t want the whole world toknow which songs you’re listeningto, you can choose ‘ListenPrivately’ from the ‘Controls’
option in the Universal menu. Onecriticism I have is that ‘ListenPrivately’ should be the defaultoption, saving users from anyhidden surprises.
The most important feature ofTomahawk, however, is that itprovides an interoperability layerfor music. If you chance upon asong while browsing through thealbums, and you have a copy of iton your own library, just click on itand Tomahawk will find it and startplaying. Whenever you open asong, Tomahawk shows you therest of the songs in the album ingray if you don’t own them.Incomplete meta-data is simply nota problem for this music player.
Clementine is not far behindeither with its easily accessible‘Song Info’ and ‘Artist Info’. It usesthe Web to provide lyrics for thesong, artist bio, and similar artistrecommendations. It too offersintegration with Last.fm, Jamendo,SoundCloud, Spotify, Magnatune,and even Google Drive. Eventhough its UI may not be quite asavant-garde as Tomahawk’s, it’sInternet integration iscommendable and certainly at par.
full circle magazine #79 33 contents ^
SOFTWARE SHOWDOWNADDITIONAL MUSINGS AND
DEVICE SUPPORTIf Tomahawk was a person, he
would have been an extrovert.With integration options includingGoogle Talk, Jabber and Twitter,and the ability to chat with one’sfriends, you may be excused forwondering whether it’s a musicapp or social networking client.However, snide remarks aside, thefeature is a perfect option forusers who want to share greatmusic with their friends from thecomfort of their music players.
Tomahawk disappointed me byfailing to recognize my musicplayer; this is one of the fewblemishes in an otherwise sterlingapplication.
Clementine has an interestingmoodbar feature which looks greatand is perhaps a slight nod to theability of music to influence ourfeelings. Clementine also has aslightly unusual and eccentricsense of humour. In the ‘Extras’menu entry, it has ‘Rain’, ‘Kittens’,‘Make it so!’ and ‘All Glory to theHypnotoad!’ options which, whenclicked, cause some hilariouseffects. I won’t spoil the surpriseby telling you beforehand, but
Clementine’s quirkiness clearlyshines through.
Clementine connected with mySamsung music playerimmediately. It took about aminute to scan my 300+ songcollection. One small irritation wasdue to Clementine’s playlist-basedsong view. If I wanted to view myMP3 player’s entire musiccollection in the main pane, I wouldhave to first drag them to the theplaylist.
CONCLUSIONClementine and Tomahawk are
certainly two very goodalternatives to the standard troikaof Linux music players. Clementineis a great feature-rich music playerthat has a good interface, decentInternet integration and devicesupport. Tomahawk, on the otherhand, is one of the most innovativemusic players I have ever seen; itseamlessly integrates meta-datafrom the Web and music from yourlocal collection into a pleasurable(and even social) listeningexperience.
Though I love the quirkyClementine, the winner of thisshowdown is Tomahawk for its
unique Internet-based approach tomusic organization.
SUMMARY - CLEMENTINE
The Good• Great device support.• Unique and aesthetically pleasingmoodbar feature.• Great Internet integrationoptions.
The Bad• Slightly cluttered UI.• Playlist-based music managementcan sometimes be irritating.
Website: http://www.clementine-player.org/
Available on: Linux, Windows andMac OS X
SUMMARY - TOMAHAWKThe Good• Amazing Internet integration -shows artist info, album art andrecommends other artists (withouteven signing into Last.fm).
• Social features reflect the newfully-connected world, and willmake listening to music an evenmore joyful experience.• Seeing what your friends arelistening to allows you to discovermore great music.• Clean, modern UI that looksamazing.
The Bad• Device support issues.• ‘Listen Privately’ should be thedefault option.
Website: http://www.tomahawk-player.org/
Available on: Linux, Windows, MacOS X
THE WINNER OF THIS
SHOWDOWN IS
Tomahawk!
Tushar is a 17-year-old Indian wholoves Ubuntu/FOSS. He programs inJava and C++, enjoys writing and,recently, making Android apps. If youenjoyed this article, his blog is attusharbhargava.wordpress.com formore articles.
full circle magazine #79 34 contents ^
LLEETTTTEERRSSIf you would like to submit a letter for publication, complimentor complaint, please email it to: [email protected] NOTE: some letters may be edited for space.
REMMINA
As a systems admin in apredominantly Windows
environment, I spend a lot of timeusing Remmina from myworkstation. I recently upgradedtwo of my servers to WindowsServer 2012R2 from Server2008R2. I had been able to RDPinto those servers from Remminawith no problems – until after theupgrade was complete. Remminanow just returned a "cannotconnect" error message. I checkedon the server end that no remotesettings had changed, then triedconnecting with the command-linerdesktop. This connected anddisplayed the server desktop withno problems. I had a look atRemmina more closely. When Iclicked to edit a connection, Inoticed the Advanced Tab. There isan option for Security here which isset to Negotiate by default. Ichanged this from negotiate toRDP (drop down selection so easyto change) and clicked on Save. Theproblem is resolved and Remminaconnects without trouble again.
Hope this helps someone.
Iain Mckeand
LUBUNTU
I've been using Ubuntu sinceversion 7.04 and all on the same
desktop computer. It's a DellDimension 3100 and has a Pentium4 processor; it came with a 160Gbhard drive and 512Mb or RAM. Iupdated the RAM to 2Gb, which isthe maximum the motherboardwill take and when I ran out ofspace on the hard drive I bought a750Gb drive to increase space. AsI've taken more photos and putmore music on my iPod, that spacedisappeared and so I have had toupgrade the hard drive again. Thistime I bought a 2Tb drive, so thatshould last me for another fewyears!
As Ubuntu got better andbetter, it ran slower and slower onmy old machine, even with thehardware upgrades. When I boughtthe 2Tb drive a month ago, I did afresh installation of 13.10 but itproved to be the slowest Ubuntu
yet. I spent quite some timefollowing all the tips on speedingUbuntu up. However, it just wasn'tenough; the computer was stillfrustratingly slow.
I can't live with this slownessand a new computer is out of thequestion for the moment. I had togive up Ubuntu. The obviousanswer was - Lubuntu. So, I backedeverything up, wiped the harddrive and did a fresh install ofLubuntu 13.10. OK, so it doesn'tlook as good as ordinary Ubuntu, itsacrifices good looks for speed. Ieven missed Unity - can you believeit? But Lubuntu has restored thespeed that I used to have andthat's a trade off I'm very happy tomake at this point. After doing thefresh install, I was able to restoreall my files via Deja Dup and noweverything is back to normal.
In closing, I would like to thankeverybody involved in all flavoursof Ubuntu for their contributions.It has made a real difference.Thank you all.
Chris Burmajster
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FULL CIRCLE NEEDS YOU!
Without reader inputFull Circle would be an
empty PDF file (which I don'tthink many people would findparticularly interesting). Weare always looking for articles,reviews, anything! Even smallthings like letters and desktopscreens help fill the magazine.
See the article Writing for FullCircle in this issue to read ourbasic guidelines.
Have a look at the last page ofany issue to get the details ofwhere to send yourcontributions.
full circle magazine #79 35 contents ^
full circle magazine #79 36 contents ^
QQ&&AACompiled by Gord Campbell
If you have Ubuntu-related questions, email them to:[email protected], and Gord will answer them in a futureissue. Please include as much information as you can about your problem.
Q Did you ever find a version ofFlash for old processors which
do not have SSE2 instructions?
A Yes, thanks to Temujin in theUbuntu Forums. First,
completely remove all flashpackages and close Firefox. Thenrun these commands:
cd ~/.mozilla
mkdir plugins
wgethttps://github.com/downloads/webgapps/flashaid/flashplayer11_1r102_63_linux.i386.tar.gz
tar xzfflashplayer11_1r102_63_linux.i386.tar.gz
mv libflashplayer.so plugins/
Q I have LibreOffice installed,but I can not use the database
part?
A It doesn't come in LibreOfficeby default, as it's less
commonly used than the otheroffice applications. Just install itfrom the Software Center, or run"sudo apt-get install libreoffice-
base" in a terminal.
Q On a freshly installed Saucy(13.10), my shutdown button
disappeared after an update. Howcan I bring it back?
A Type in the command:
sudo shutdown now
When you start up again, theshutdown button should be back.
Q My computer is pretty new. Ihave been given $30 to spend
on technology. What should I buy?
A Get a 32 GB USB 3.0 flashdrive and copy your current
data onto it. If you ever swapprograms, documents, music,videos or pictures with yourfriends, a big, fast flash drive iswonderful. I find that a USB 3.0flash drive is faster than olderones, even when plugged into aUSB 2.0 port.
TOP NEW QUESTIONS AT
ASKUBUNTU
* Using Git as off-line alternativefor Dropboxhttp://goo.gl/3vcyhJ
* Nautilus - How to apply Zoom onthe filenames, not just on thethumbnails?http://goo.gl/Wvp5A5
* How to send sound usingpulseaudio and shairplay to aRaspberry Pi?http://goo.gl/YBHVDn
* Is there any way to set a greetingmessage in ubuntu?http://goo.gl/0v2BoZ
* I can't install libdvdcss - scriptnot finding medibuntu. How to getDVD playback?http://goo.gl/IQl0wN
* How to view the `.bash_history`file via command line?http://goo.gl/GglGiU
* Why do we need to be root in
terminal for shutdown and restart?http://goo.gl/m14UwZ
* No Dropbox icon in Ubuntu13.10?http://goo.gl/Vo2Tmc
* Picture of a spaceshipoccasionally appears on mymonitor when switching monitorshttp://goo.gl/gtuRCi
* What is the difference betweenman and man 7?http://goo.gl/dkA5t6
* Xorg.conf (nvidia) SecondMonitor getting settings of firsthttp://goo.gl/pF1exy
* What is Ubuntu's policy onkeeping old kernels?http://goo.gl/FVBztZ
* How will people upgrade from12.10 to 14.04 after 13.04 is EOL?http://goo.gl/YNYpMl
* How can I install the $0applications from the UbuntuSoftware Center with apt-get?http://goo.gl/ukKgux
full circle magazine #79 37 contents ^
Full Circle PodcastEpisode 38, JustThe Two Of Us
Your hosts:• Les Pounder• Tony Hughes• Jon Chamberlain• Oliver Clarkand Freaky Clown
from theBlackpool (UK)LUGhttp://blackpool.lug.org.uk
In this Episode we announcethe new format for theshows, talk about ourhardware, review Issue 76 ofthe magazine and we havean interview from the STEMYork Raspberry Jam.
Q & A
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Remote Desktop
A current consulting gigrequires that I use my
computer at the client’s office,from home. The connection hastwo parts: first establish a virtualprivate network connection to theoffice network, then set up aremote desktop session to mycomputer.
I installed OpenVPN from therepositories, then configured it.The instructions for Windows areclear: put your configuration filesin this specific location. For Linux,the instructions are silent. Afterfar too much Google searching, Ifound the answer: put the fileswherever you want, then tellOpenVPN where to find them.(There's actually just oneconfiguration file, but there arealso "key" and "certificate" files. Asa note, the exact same set of filesworks for OpenVPN in Windows.) Iput the files in a folder called vpn,and put a short script on myDesktop:
cd ~/vpn
sudo openvpn --config client-
udp-1194.ovpn
I run the script, then provide mylocal password to satisfy sudo,then my name and password to logon to the virtual network at theoffice. The result is that I get anadditional "tun" IP address, such as10.1.5.26.
To connect to my computer, Iinstalled rdesktop. Each of thecomputers at the office has remotedesktop hosting (also known asterminal server), and the only waythis works is if they each use staticIP addresses, and an unique portfor RDP. The port must be openedin the firewall, and forwarded tothe specific computer.
I found that rdesktop didn'twork properly in full-screen mode,so I ran it at 80% of my localscreen. I put a one-line commandon my Desktop:
rdesktop -g 80%192.168.168.58:11019
That gets me to a screen whereI enter the username and passwordto use my office computer, then it'sjust like I am sitting at thatkeyboard. Well, a bit slowersometimes.
One word of warning: ifsomeone is using the remote(Windows) computer when youconnect to it by OpenVPN andrdesktop, they get booted off.They can then kick you off bylogging on at the keyboard!(Typically, no data is lost throughall this.) It might save someembarrassment if you phoneahead.
After a long career in the computerindustry, including a stint as editor ofComputing Canada and ComputerDealer News, Gord is now more-or-less retired.
full circle magazine #79 38 contents ^
UUBBUUNNTTUU GGAAMMEESSWritten by David Rhys Forward
Super Meat Boy is a platformerthat is very challenging. You
play as a cube of meat who istrying to save his girlfriend (who ismade of bandages) from an evilfetus in a jar wearing a tux. It’s alsono coincidence that Super MeatBoy shares its initials with SuperMario Bros. It is a pure platformerthat, at its core, it’s nothing butrunning and jumping. Meat Boy’sgoal is always the same: reachBandage Girl who always getssnatched by Dr Fetus at the end ofthe level.
To anyone who has played anold school platformer, you knowwhat is to come; you will leap fromwalls over buzz saws, crumblingcaves and pools of needles (soundsdelightful). The meaty herosacrifices his own well-being tosave bandage girl. So, in a gamelike this, you have to makeprecision jumps and turns; so...making the controls right isessential for this type of game –which it does. The game is a delightto control and Meat Boy feelsresponsive to the commands given.
Super Meat Boy brings back thedifficulty of retro games such asMega Man 2, etc. So you know thatyou will be dying… a lot... and, toshow you how many times that youhad to do it, it replays them afteryou accomplished the level,showing all the tries at once. So,having done a level a fair amountof times, it appears as a blood bathon your screen, and is very amusingand shameful at the same time.
The style of the game is alsoreminiscent of the old NES days,where it keeps it simple but is adelight to play. But, as I said, it isextremely difficult; make thesmallest mistake and you will haveto start the level over. And this willhappen many times as there are nocheckpoints, so, dying a hundredplus times at one level is going tohappen – even for a hardcoregamer. The game also keeps arecord of every death in thestatistics menu; it became so tensethat I had to use a controller tokeep a grip of something as thetension rose after every death.
On your first play through the
game, you'll be so focused oncompleting each stage that manyof the secrets held within the levelwill be missed. There are warpzones that take you to a secretarea where you could find a newplayable character from indiegames such as Commander Videofrom the Bit Trip games. Thesecharacters that can be found havetheir own behaviours that mighthelp in a level, so this is muchwelcomed replayability. There arealso warp zones that take you to adifferent level where it changesthe art style of the game – it mayturn into a 8-bit game emulatingthe NES, Atari 2600 or Game Boy,and even has its own splash screenwhen entered the warp zone.
The developers make theirinfluences obvious, as the hilariouscutscenes have references fromNinja Gaiden to Mega Man 2. Evena Donkey Kong-themed level iscalled “Weibe” after Donkey Kongchampion Steve Wiebe. Also, thesoundtrack has a retro feel, andthis has to be my personal favoritepart of the game. The chiptunebackground music immerses you in
the retro styled world that is SuperMeat Boy.
In conclusion, Super Meat Boy isa fantastic game, and it shoulddefinitely be purchased by anyoneseeking a challenge. But beprepared to curse a lot, and beready to shake your screen asprecision is needed. With lovablecharacters and an amazingsoundtrack as well, this gamecannot be missed.
SSuuppeerr MMeeaatt BBooyy
David is a relative newcomer to theUbuntu scene and really enjoying itso far. He loves games and ispursuing a career as a GamesDesigner. You can follow his exploitsat: rhysforward.carbonmade.com
full circle magazine #79 39 contents ^
UUBBUUNNTTUU GGAAMMEESSWritten by Gabriel Di Fruscio
As a kid, have you ever had adream to be a surgeon? Using
drills and saws to open someone’sribcage and play with their lungs?Well, you can, and all from thecomfort of your own Linuxmachine. Introducing SurgeonSimulator 2013 – an extremely fungame by Bossa Studios – a bigthank you to Bossa Studios forsending us a copy of the game – tosimulate a surgeon’s environment.This cartoony game starts off, andinstead of getting a generic menuasking you what you would like todo, you get a first person view ofyour interactive desk. If you playaround enough, you can get Steamachievements. A little note: if youare at the desk, make sure to lookover at the TV to see how to playthe game. What is great is you canmanipulate pretty much everythingin this menu. To access thesurgeries you must go to theclipboard. Then comes the surgery,which is quite fun and not thatgory; you have all the surgeonstools at your disposal and to freelyuse on your patient, but watch theblood meter and blood-loss meteron the top right.
The good:This game has no set goal to it. Youcan do whatever you wantwhenever you want. The surgeriesare quite fun as you can use anytool you like to do the surgery.Playing around in the reception /desk has so many things to do. Theinterface is pleasing and easy tospot. For all you gamers who havespecial controllers (Hydra, etc),there is a special mode (still indevelopment) to utilize thesecontrollers. Also there is a TeamFortress 2 expansion update.
The bad:This game has a huge learning
curve, meaning not everyone canjust pick it up and be a master at it;it has a very challenging set ofcontrols, and, if you aren’t perfect,it can be quite unforgiving. Alsothe game has no “objective”system (example: First breakribcage, take out lungs, take outheart...etc) – which could behelpful to people who haven’tlearnt the steps of surgery.
How to get the game: Thisgame is available on Steam for
$9.99, the installation is quick andeasy.
The minimum specs are;OS: Ubuntu 13.04CPU: 2.0 GHz processor or betterMemory: 2 GB of RAMGraphics: Radeon x850 orcomparableHard Drive: 500 MB HD spaceAdditional: Requires keyboard thatcan have multiple keys presseddown at once, and this game isrecommended to play with amouse and not a trackpad.
Maker’s Website:http://www.bossastudios.com/
SSuurrggeeoonn SSiimmuullaattoorr 22001133
Gabriel is a video game enthusiastand is currently working with anindie studio to bring you a fun SteamGreenlight game.
full circle magazine #79 40 contents ^
UUBBUUNNTTUU GGAAMMEESSWritten by Oscar Rivera
A sign that Linux gaming ischanging for the better was
the recent release of Valve'smultiplayer online battle arenavideo game Dota 2 on July 2013.Dota 2 was released for Windowson July 9, and a week later it wasreleased for Mac OS X and Ubuntuthrough Steam. If you go tohttp://blog.dota2.com/, you willsee some outrageous figures forthe number of unique players whohave played Dota 2 this month.Currently, that figure reads6,490,186 which translates toabout 6½ million players thismonth. Not only does Dota 2 holdthe record for the most concurrentplayers in Steam history, but it hasalso been very well received bymany critics, and was one of themost anticipated games to bereleased in recent history.
So what is Dota 2 and why is itso popular? First, a little bit ofhistory is needed to understandthe gigantic magnitude associatedwith Dota 2 and why it is soimmensely popular. What began asa player-developed mod forWarcraft III about eight years ago,
soon became a fully fledged gameand was called Defense of theAncients. Valve, the successfulvideo game development anddigital distribution companyresponsible for the Steam gameengine, saw this as a greatopportunity and hired Ice Frog, thelead developer for Defense of theAncients. Having hired Ice Frog,Valve released what came to beknown as Dota 2 in one of thelongest running betas ever. Afterthree years as a beta, on July 2013Steam officially released Dota 2 forWindows, Mac OSX and Ubuntu.Due in part to its huge popularity
while still just a beta, Dota 2 has avery strong community of playersand an immense library of player-developed guides and forums.However, this doesn't mean that itwill be an easy transition frombeing a newcomer to being anexperienced player. What is almostunanimously agreed upon by otherDota 2 players is that there is nosubstitute to learning the gameother than actually playing it andputting in the hours in front ofyour monitor with your mouse andkeyboard. In fact, one of thebiggest deterrents for playingDota 2 is its very steep learning
curve.
If you don't already have theSteam game engine installed inyour system, then you need toinstall it in order to play Dota 2.Steam is available for installationfrom the Ubuntu Software Center.Steam will then verify that youhave the latest proprietary driversavailable for your graphics card.Once you have installed therecommended drivers, you areready to play Dota 2. One of thebest things about Dota 2 is that, inorder to play it, all you have to dois download it and install it withoutpaying a single penny. The gamefollows the increasingly popularfree-to-play model. Playing Dota 2will not cost you anything.However, there is a Dota 2 store inwhich you can buy miscellaneouscosmetic items but it isn'tnecessary to purchase anything tobecome a better player or getadvanced in the game.
Dota 2 does a really good job ofintroducing the core game-playconcepts during its tutorial, yet Istill recommend that you read
DDoottaa 22
full circle magazine #79 41 contents ^
UBUNTU GAMESsome of the online guides andtutorials so that, when you'reready to play online against otherplayers, you don't come off as acomplete and total newbie. Thereare 102 Heroes to choose from,each with its own unique abilities,weapons, spells, and equipment. Agood understanding of what eachHero can do is needed in order toplay the game well. The tutorialitself won't let you progress unlessyou've played with a variety ofHeroes.
The concept of the game ispretty simple to understand andexplain. There are two teamsconsisting of five players each whosquare off against each other inwhat is known as a multi-playeronline battle arena. The twoopposing teams are called theRadiant and the Dire. Each playercontrols a Hero, which meansthere are a total of 10 Heroesbattling it out against each otherwith five Heroes belonging to theRadiant and five Heroes belongingto the Dire. Each team must defeatthe other team's Ancient to winthe battle. However, along the wayyou must also destroy Towers andBarracks, as well as other Heroesand Creeps. Creeps are thecomputer-controlled bots that can
either help you or hurt you,depending on which team they'refighting for. An ordinary battle canlast anywhere between 30-60minutes.
Even though an average battlelasts about 45 minutes, a player isconsidered a newbie until he's gotover 100 hours played, whichspeaks volumes about thededicated fan-base and the level ofcommitment required to play thegame. However, once you begin to
get the hang of it, the gamebecomes so addictive that playing100 hours suddenly becomes areality. It will definitely take a longtime to master the game, but tounderstand it and have fun whileplaying it takes only a few hours, ifyou really dedicate yourself to it.
Dota 2 has blossomed intomore than just a video game. Thereare many competitions for Dota 2players to enter in which it's evenpossible to earn money. “The
International” is an internationalchampionship where teamscompete for prize money. As of2013, “The International” holds thetitle for largest prize pool inelectronics sports history, havingsurpassed the record previouslyheld by the “League of Legends”tournament. You can go tohttp://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/04/dota-2-international-begins-prize-pool-over-2-8-million/ to findout more. Also, it is possible foranyone to actually watch other
full circle magazine #79 42 contents ^
Oscar graduated from CSUN, is aMusic Director/Teacher, beta tester,Wikipedia editor, and UbuntuForums contributor. You can contacthim via: www.gplus.to/7bluehand oremail: [email protected]
UBUNTU GAMESbattles. On the main screen yourchoices are Store, Play, Watch,Library, and Community. Accordingto http://blog.dota2.com/, overone million people streamed thisyear's “The International” finalbattle.
MY GAMING SETUP
I played Dota 2 with my custommade desktop PC consisting of anAMD FX-6100 3.3GHz CPU (over-clocked to 3.5GHz), an AsusM5A97-EVO motherboard, aSapphire Radeon HD 5770 graphicscard, 8GB of Kingston Hyper XRAM, and a 1TB Seagate Barracudahard drive. The software used wasUbuntu 12.04.1 LTS with Unitydesktop and AMD 13.1 proprietarygraphic drivers.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion I would mostcertainly recommend this game toanyone. It is highly entertaining;the only downfall I found was thevery steep learning curveexperienced at the beginning.Once you get past the initialgrowing pains, you'll be greatlyrewarded because you will havediscovered one of the most deep,
complex, interesting andentertaining games available at themoment. In Dota 2 you've alwaysgot room to grow, learn new skills,discover things you didn't know,and you're constantly improvingwhile you play. If you're looking fora game that will give you hundredsof hours of fun, then this is thegame for you. You must also reallydedicate yourself to being in frontof the computer for about an hourat a time playing this game,otherwise don't give this game atry.
Pro's• Having installed Steam, the gameis very easy to install and it runswithout any problems or glitches.• Dota 2 is very, and I mean very,entertaining.• Even after countless hoursplaying Dota 2, you've still gotroom to grow and things to learn.• The graphics and sound arepretty awesome. The dialogue isalso pretty entertaining.• The way in which Valve has madeDota 2 available for online playdefinitely needs mentioning.• If you don't like the characteryou're using, you've got 101 moreto try out.• It's FREE-TO-PLAY!• The competition is fierce.
Cons• To play Dota 2 it is recommendedthat you use the proprietary AMDgraphics drivers, which for someFLOSS purists might be unethical.• There is a steep, and I meansteep, learning curve. To be able toplay at a competitive level (andthat's what this game is reallyabout), you need at least 50playing hours under your belt.• The Dota 2 community can bepretty cruel at times, especially ifyou're a newcomer.• In order to play the game, youmust be willing to devote about anhour at a time to playing it with nointerruptions.• The competition is fierce.
Overall, I give this game 4½ outof 5 stars only because of how hardit is to get started with it.
full circle magazine #79 43 contents ^
MMYY DDEESSKKTTOOPP Your chance to show the world your desktop or PC. Email your screenshots andphotos to: [email protected] and include a brief paragraph about yourdesktop, your PC's specs and any other interesting tidbits about your setup.
My system is a Toshiba Satellitelaptop with:Ubuntu 12.04 x64 (Dual boot withWindows 7)Intel Core2 Duo @ 2.1GHz
4GB RAM320GB HD
Wallpaper is generated byxplanetFX, with conky on the side.
Terminal is Guake. I've been usingUbuntu since version 6.
Bill Blankenship
full circle magazine #79 44 contents ^
MY DESKTOP
It is a Multicom Kunshan W155Design-Collection. I use Kubuntu13.04, KDE 4.10.5.
Hardware: Intel core I7, 8GBDDR3 1333MHz SO-DIMM RAM,Intel HD Graphics 3000 og GeForce
GT 555M, Blu-Ray INTEL SSD 520Series 240GB
I use Bumblebee to use theGeForce GT 555M card. Steam andother games are playing very wellwith Bumblebee.
Per Gylterud
full circle magazine #79 45 contents ^
MY DESKTOP
My Desktop: Operating System:Ubuntu 13.04, DesktopEnvironment: Unity, Theme:Ambiance (Modified) Wallpaper:The background is a photo I tookof a red eyed insect with 'golden'
striations outside my house (inBangalore, India). Icon Set: UbuntuMono Dark. I have reduced PanelOpacity to 0 using Ubuntu Tweak.
I like the minimalistic look for
my Desktop, all the 'Desktop Icons'are placed in a file with the samename (reduces clutter). Pleasenote that I have changed the font(using Ubuntu Tweak) to“Liberation Serif Bold”, size 12.
This bold, big, etchedfont makes it so easyto read even when Iam relaxing byreclining far back onthe computer chair.
Hardware:Graphics: Intel,Processor: Intel DualCore 2.66 CPU Ghz, 2GB RAM and 160 GBmemory.
Paul Joseph
full circle magazine #79 46 contents ^
MY DESKTOP
I use Xubuntu 12.04 but I'm nota fan of putting any icons on mydesktop so it's one of the firstthings I remove from it whenever Iset up a machine for myself.
The theme is the defaultXubuntu Greybird theme featuringa modified Nucleus (a minimalistconky by ~LovelyBacon) and Mr.
Tau, and the Tree by TJ (from theSaucy Salamander package).
Hardware: IBM T40p Thinkpad.Specs: CPU: Intel Pentium M @ 1.6
GHz, RAM: 1024 MB + 512 MB,Hard Drive: 40 GB
It's definitely low-poweredhardware – and quite an old modelat that – but I'm trying to say herethat *ubuntu can make such oldhardware useful, responsive, andeven modern-looking again.
Joan Advincula
full circle magazine #79 47 contents ^
HHOOWW TTOO CCOONNTTRRIIBBUUTTEEFull Circle Team
Editor - Ronnie [email protected] - Rob [email protected] - Les Pounder & [email protected]
Editing & Proofreading
Mike Kennedy, Gord Campbell, RobertOrsino, Josh Hertel, Bert Jerred
Our thanks go to Canonical, the manytranslation teams around the worldand Thorsten Wilms for the FCM logo.
FULL CIRCLE NEEDS YOU!A magazine isn't a magazine without articles and Full Circle is noexception. We need your opinions, desktops, stories, how-to's,reviews, and anything else you want to tell your fellow *buntu users.Send your articles to: [email protected]
We are always looking for new articles to include in Full Circle. For help and adviceplease see the Official Full Circle Style Guide: http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/75d471
Send your comments or Linux experiences to: [email protected]/software reviews should be sent to: [email protected] for Q&A should go to: [email protected] screens should be emailed to: [email protected]... or you can visit our forum via: fullcirclemagazine.org
FCM#80Deadline:Sunday 08th Dec. 2013.Release:Friday 27th Dec. 2013.
EPUB Format - Recent editions of Full Circle have a link to the epub file on the downloads page. If you have any problems withthe epub file, you can drop an email to: [email protected]
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