After the arrival of Intrepid Ibex in October, in six month’s time it will depart to give way for a new Ubuntu and fortunately, Arstechnica revealed that the next Ubuntu Codename will be Jaunty Jackalope.
The codename Jaunty Jackalope was revealed by no other than Mark Shuttleworth himself and will be out in April, making it Ubuntu 9.04. According to Shuttleworth, Ubuntu is ready to compete with Desktop giants Windows and OS X and expects it to be shipped with millions of computers this coming year.
Improvements in the next version includes faster boot-up time and focused on general performance. Speed is the magic word and just like a Jaunty Jackalope, 9.04 aims to be lightning fast.
“The Warrior Rabbit is our talisman as we move into a year where we can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to consumers who can reasonably expect the software experience to be comparable to those of the traditional big OSV’s—Microsoft and Apple. The bar is set very high, and we have been given the opportunity to leap over it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shine, and we want to make sure that the very best thinking across the whole open source ecosystem is reflected in Ubuntu, because many people will judge free software as a whole by what we do.” -Mark Shuttleworth
Source: Arstechnica
Popularity: 11% [?]
I got a few wallpapers made for Ubuntu desktops that are Filipino-inspired while I was Googling for something to blog over the weekend. Luckily, I found more than enough to compile a collection of these Filipino-made wallpapers.
Popularity: 7% [?]
My Acer 5570 Notebook is setup to dual boot Windows XP, for my online games and other Windows applications, and Kubuntu 7.10, my main operating system for stuff that I do most of the time like web browsing and blogging. Then my brother and I are now sharing the same notebook and he prefers Windows over Linux, not that I refuse to introduce him to Ubuntu but he had to use Microsoft Office for his office documents.
Windows and Ubuntu dual-boot systems are set boot Ubuntu first by default, so I decided to change the dual-boot order to default to Windows, since my brother will be using the notebook more.
To make Windows the default operating system in dual boot Ubuntu, follow these steps:
1. Press Alt+F2 to open the run dialog box.
2. Type in sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst. Type in root password.
3. Edit the line that looks like this:
default 0
Change the number to the equivalent order of Windows in the operating system list in GRUB boot screen. The number 0 means that GRUB will boot the first operating system, and so on. If Windows is in the 4th line, change the number to 3.
4. Save the file and exit.
5. Reboot to check the change.
Windows should boot as default.
Popularity: 26% [?]
Ubuntu is one of the popular Linux distros around, still gaining popularity by the minute. It is very easy to use, lightweight and newbie-friendly. Ubuntu is the reason why the Linux stereotyping became less as this distro is becoming similar to Windows in terms of ease of usage but without the extra fat.
Since more people are migrating from Windows to Ubuntu, here are some interesting Ubuntu tips from ubuntukungfu.org that you may want to try with your Ubuntu pc. These tips are provided by Keir Thomas, author of the book Ubuntu Kung Fu, which contains over 300 other tips for Ubuntu 8.04.1.
1. Create website links that automatically install software
Did you know that you can create a link that will automatically launch Ubuntu’s package manager and install the software? This is very useful if you are helping someone install certain programs in Ubuntu. To create ’software install hyperlink” just create a hyperlink but instead of pointing to the usual http:// address, use
apt:< package name >
So if you are trying to install firefox, create a hyperlink and put apt:firefox in Hyperlink bar. This will create a hyperlink that will launch the package manager and install the package when clicked.
2. Do stuff without touching the mouse
If you know how to launch the ‘Run’ dialog box in Windows, this certain command is also available in Ubuntu. Press ALT+F2 and the similar ‘Run’ dialog box will appear, type in the command or the program name, let’s say firefox, hit enter, and firefox will launch.
3. Instantly Search Google for Any Word or Phrase
Googlizer is an app that you can install (this is available from the package manager) and use it to search Google for anything using the keywords directly from your file. An example is if you have a PDF file that contains the word ‘lethargy’, with Googlizer, all you need is to highlight the word, and click Googlizer’s icon to search the web.
4. Create a File Delete Command That Uses the Trash
If you are a frequent user of rm command, you can create a command that will move the file you wish to delete to the Trash directory, instead of completely deleting the file. To do this, just use the command alias and few tweaks with Linux files:
- Open a terminal window, and type gedit ~/.bashrc
- Add this line after the last line of the file:
alias trash=”mv -t ~/.local/share/Trash/files –backup=t”
- Save and close.
To use the command, you need to use the trash command instead of rm:
trash mydoc.txt
5. Repair Windows from Within Ubuntu
You can mount your Windows partition inside your Ubuntu and do stuff with it. With stuff I mean you can access your files in Windows partition, or you can also repair it within Ubuntu. To be able to repair a near-death Windows partition, unmount it and use the command ntfsfix:
sudo ntfsfix /dev/sda1
This is assuming that your Windows partition is /dev/sda1 and the filesystem used is NTFS.
6. Dump the Text on a Virtual Console to a File
Large files can be tiresome to read so you may want to filter the words that you need and dump into a new and smaller file. This can be done using this command:
ls > output.txt 2>&1
The command will execute ls command, put the results into the output.txt file and display errors, if there are any.
7. Instantly Hide a File or Folder
In Linux, any file that begins with period (.) is considered as hidden file. So if you want to hide a certain file from a younger sibling or parent, rename a file and put . at the beginning of the filename
mv grades.txt .grades.txt (use this command inside a terminal)
Or if inside Nautilus, highlight the file, press F2, and rename the file.
8. Print at the Command Line
Did you know that you can print files from the command line? Try this command to print a file without the fancy format for fast printing:
lp -o page-top=72 /home/myfile.txt
This is a quick and dirty way of printing files since the formatting is disregarded, but very useful if you want to print something fast and easy.
9. Listen to MP3s when no GUI is running
If you need to work in your Ubuntu using text mode only and no GUI running, install vlc using the apt-get command and use it to play your MP3 music from the command line:
vlc -I ncurses /home/*.mp3
This will play all mp3 files in the /home folder using the CLI mode of vlc.
10. Turn your desktop into your /home folder
If you want to make your default Desktop directory into something else beside the typical /home/user/Desktop location, you can do so by hitting Alt+F2 and type in gconf-editor. This will launch the gconf-editor app, put a check beside /apps/nautilus/preferences, save and exit. The change will take after after your next login.
Popularity: 32% [?]
Remember the post I created about Linus Torvalds’s comment about OpenBSD developers being a bunch of masturbating monkeys?
Well, Linus just released another one, and I quote:
“PS. And to get wider distribution for this message: Digg users - you’re all a bunch of Wanking Walruses. And you can quote me on that.”
That was a PS to his email to a mailing list and indeed, the comment became popular in Digg in just four hours.
Mark Shuttleworth just got two possible Ubuntu release names from Linus. 
Popularity: 10% [?]
Ubuntu 8.10: Intrepid Ibex
Ibex:wild goat, genus Capra, found on mountain ranges from central Asia, South Europe, and Northern Africa. Ibexes are surefooted and agile and usually travel in small herds of about a dozen, feeding on varieties of vegetation. Their fur are brown to gray, with sturdy buitl and typically about 3 ft. tall. The long, heavily ridged horns of the male curve up, back, and downward and measure about 30 in. along the edge.
Intrepid: Fearless; bold; brave; undaunted; courageous; as, an intrepid soldier; intrepid spirit.
Mark Shuttleworth has announced that upcoming version of Ubuntu, codenamed Intrepid Ibex, is set to be released on October 2008 with version number 8.10. The upcoming release promises a bolder approach to improving performance and focuses more on Internet connectivity. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 9% [?]
If you are new to Linux and searching for the best Linux distro available, you might want to try Linux Mint, an Ubuntu/Debian-based distro that boasts a nice desktop interface.
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Popularity: 14% [?]
Ubuntu’s next version, Hardy Heron, is set to be released eight days from this writing. Much buzz is created for the awaited launch but Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth has more surprise for Ubuntu lovers.
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Popularity: 19% [?]
With so many *nix distributions that are available today, so many interesting names are tied to different Linux flavors. But have you ever wondered why they were named as such?
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Popularity: 14% [?]
