Berkeley Linux Users Group
We are having fun at our meeting today. We hope you join us before we leave Bobby G’s today. For full details see the meetings tab to the top left.
Tomorrow begins Ubuntu Developer Week. If you are interested in Ubuntu development please join the IRC sessions. They are always informative and entertaining.
This article is geared for the unconverted and was published on my blog dark energi.
I have been enjoying and using Linux for many years. Currently I am a member of Berkeley Linux Users Group (BLUG) www.berkeleylug.com/. Linux is a free computer operating system similar to Windows and Mac although technically only the kernel is called Linux. Currently Ubuntu is the most popular distribution system for Linux. Ubuntu means “Humanity Towards Others”. The new version available is Ubuntu 11.04 out April 2011.
Linux originated when Linus Torvalds was a student at University of Helsinki he developed Linux in 1991. It was released for free and started a great increase in software development. Linus currently works for the Linux Foundation in Oregon.
Why Linux?
It’s all free and you save money. All Linux software is open source. Upgrades come every six months. Linux is part of the open source software movement.
No computer viruses and you don’t have to buy anti-virus software.
Any software glitches you can usually solve through the Linux community.
Don’t have to buy new computers every few years and old computers work perfectly on Linux.
Linux has a nice support system. One type group is called Ubuntu Local Community Teams (LoCo) – a regional group of Ubuntu users to advocate, build, and improve Ubuntu. Ubuntu California is another group to advocate and promote Ubuntu. Linux Users Groups (LUG) are worldwide and they meet regularly to assist and support. You can also receive support through the Ubuntu community.
Linux Users are Enlightened: 1) Linux computer users are more interested in improving, assisting, and building the existing Linux community than monetary gain. 2) Computer Professionals, novices, young, old, women, and all races & cultures are treated the same.
You can operate Linux with Windows and Mac or completely replace your operating system. All you need to insert a CD-R or USB stick. If you use Windows you can operate Ubuntu with the Windows installer (Wubi).
Be a little different & give it a try!
Is anyone following the CentOS and/or Scientific Linux stories closely? Here’s a recent article “The rise and fall of CentOS” that I found informative about the lack of a CentOS 6 release now six months after the release of RHEL6.
In case you haven’t heard, in reverse alphabetical order…
Ubuntu 11.04 is out with Unity as the default desktop interface. http://ubuntu.com
RHEL 6.0 was released in Nov 2010, but RHEL 6.1 Beta was released in March http://redhat.com.
openSUSE 11.4 was released in March. http://opensuse.org
Fedora 15 will be released in a few short weeks featuring Gnome 3 as the default desktop interface. http://fedoraproject.org
Debian Squeeze 6.0.1 was released in March. http://debian.org
Other distros like arch having rolling releases.
What cool new distos are you using these days as the summer heats up? What informed opinions do you have about the decisions that made up these releases and others?
At a special off-week BerkeleyLUG meeting we’ll be meeting at Bobby G’s Pizzeria at 2072 University Ave in Berkeley with members of the Ubuntu California Team for an Ubuntu Global Jam!
An Ubuntu Global Jam is an opportunity for users to get together to learn how to do testing of the latest Beta 1 ISOs for the next Ubuntu release, learn about bug work, documentation and other ways to get involved with the Ubuntu community and take your first steps.
There will be copies of the latest ISOs available for Live testing (without installing anything on your computer) on CD and USB stick.
You may RSVP here, but it is not required to attend: http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/team/808/detail/ (you will need a Launchpad.net account).
The guy sitting next to me on the plane home from Florida was a Droid Incredible user; while we were sharing app recommendations, I realized I had a few recommendations of lesser known apps that really rock that I should share with people. Everyone knows about Angry Birds, Google Sky Map and ShopSavy … but here are a few hidden gems:
1. ChromeMarks – If you are like me, you use Chrome on your Linux (or other) desktop. One of the great features of Chrome is the built-in bookmark sync. Unfortunately, the built-in Android browser does get in on this syncing action. This is where ChromeMarks come in; it syncs your Chrome bookmarks to your Android phone.
2. aTrackDog – I like to download, install and try out a lot of apps. I then tend to uninstall a lot of apps. aTrackDog lets you track new updates of apps, even after you have uninstalled; so, you don’t miss a big improvement in an app that you previously uninstalled.
3. OS-Monitor – It is basically like running “top” on your phone. You can see all the processes using cpu at any given time. Isn’t it awesome how much info about your phone is available on Android?
4. Wikipathia – A fun game of degrees of similarity relating terms on Wikipathia.
Add your own lesser known apps in the comments.
We have an opportunity to introduce a mainstream TV audience to the great stuff that Linux can do in schools, but we need 25 Linux enthusiasts to commit to show up in order to accomplish it.
I just spoke with a program manager for a TV show called ABC 7 Live. They are interested in having supporters of Linux in schools (and particularly Partimus.org) attend a show. The show airs daily from 3 pm to 4 pm. I need a list of 25 people who will attend. I need the list by Thursday, 12/9/10 at 3 pm. You must be on the list to be admitted to the studio. I am coordinating the list, so please be sure to email me to get on the list. You can email me at einfeldt a t gmail dot com. You can watch shows from the archive here
The new “200 lines of code” that makes the system more responsive is finally out! It is included in Kernel 2.6.37-rc3. This guide will explain how to install it on your system!
If you have Ubuntu, you can download the Debian packages:
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.37-rc3-natty/
First, download the latest patch and sources from kernel.org.
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/linux-2.6.37-rc3.tar.bz2
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/patch-2.6.37-rc3.bz2
#Extract and apply the patch:
tar xvf linux-2.6.37-rc3.tar.bz2
mv patch-2.6.37-rc3.bz2 linux-2.6.37-rc3/
cd linux-2.6.37-rc3
bunzip2 -d patch-2.6.37-rc3.bz2 | patch -p1
#Start the build process:
make clean
make menuconfig
make -j3 all
make -j3 modules_install
#Install and update GRUB:
make install
mkinitramfs -k 2.6.37-rc3 -o /boot/initrd.img-2.6.37-rc3
update-grub
BerkeleyLUG and the Ubuntu California Team will have a Linux/Open-Source-Software booth at this Sunday’s (Oct 24) East Bay Maker Faire in Oakland. We’ll be showing off cool projects based on Free and Open-Source software (Linux in particular) and ways to use Ubuntu to give some of your old hardware a new life. Stop by and see us!
It’s that time of year again. BerkeleyLUG.com is gearing up to staff our second annual Solano Stroll booth. After recovering from Cal’s homecoming festivities, look for us near 1223 Solano Ave.