Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0

Today I successfully downloaded and installed Adobe Acrobat Reader on Sony Vaio laptop. Here is the procedure:

1. Visit the Adobe Reader download page.
2. Select “Linux”, Select “Linux - x86 .deb”, Select your language.
3. Click the “Continue” button.
4. Click “Download Adobe Reader” to begin the download.
5. You can then “Open with…” to open it with the package installer directly, or “Save as” to be distributed to your other machines and installed manually via double-click on the package.

Finding application equivalents

Windows:
1. MS Word
2. TextPad
3. MS Excel
4. MS PowerPoint
5. Adobe Acrobat Reader Professional
6. SSH Secure Shell
7. 7-zip
8. Firefox
9. Thunderbird
10. Paint
Ubuntu:
1. OpenOffice Word Processor
2. Text Editor
3. OpenOffice Spreadsheet
4. OpenOffice Presentation
5. Adobe Acrobat Reader for Linux, PDF Editor
6. SSH
7. 7-zip
8. Firefox
9. Thunderbird
10. OpenOffice Drawing, GIMP

Thunderbird

Installation of Thunderbird on Ubuntu 7.10 was trouble-free - I added it from the Add/Remove list under Applications. I successfully set up my university email account. Thunderbird is easy and pleasant to use.

Using Nautilus

The graphical desktop includes a file manager called Nautilus that gives you a graphical display of your system and personal files. Nautilus is designed to be much more than a visual listing of files, however. It allows you to configure your desktop, configure your Red Hat Linux system, browse your photo collection, access your network resources, and more all from one integrated interface. In essence, Nautilus becomes a shell for your entire desktop experience.

Working in Nautilus is efficient and provides an alternative to searching through the various sub-menus connected to the Main Menu or using a shell prompt to navigate the file system.

Burning

Burning CDs and DVDs is very easy. When I inserted a blank CD (and later a blank DVD) Ubuntu prompted me with a question what would I want to do with that blank CD/DVD. I chose the option to burn data on it. Ubuntu opened a window for the CD and I simply dragged and dropped files to it. Next I pressed the record button and my CD was burned. There is not too many options for burning though. For instance Ubuntu does not support multi sessions. To create multi session CDs and DVDs I installed Brasero Disc Burning Application.

Differences between Fiesty Fawn and Gutsy Gibbon

1. The installation interface is different and in my opinion wosrt that the on in Ubuntu 7.04.
I installed Gutsy Gibbon on four computers and each time the installation GUI failed. I had to use a text
version of the instalation, which wasn't as plaesent to use as on Fiesty Fawn.

2. User interface looks very similar to Mac OS. It is fancy, but I did not notice any differences in performance.

3. Adding network printers is harder than in 7.04.

What is new in Gutsy Gibbon?

The latest version of Ubuntu includes the following new features:

• Hardware management improvements - improved plug-and-play configuration for printers, as well as automatic firmware installation for Broadcom cards
• Improved support for display systems - For laptop users, full support external VGA (projector) support is available out-of-the-box with easy reconfiguration when hardware is switched. For power users this release includes the ability to manage multiple monitors
• Windows compatibility - Users with a dual partition can read from and and write to files that are on located in a Windows partition (including NTFS)
• Enhanced user interface – Simple 3D screen effects and graphics enhance the user experience
• Desktop search – gives users the ability to search their entire desktop, whether for files, folders, chat logs or photos. This capability includes the deskbar applet, a central location on users' desktops for all local and web search operations
• Firefox plugins - automatic installation of popular Firefox plugins validated by Ubuntu for a richer, safer web-browsing experience

Dual boot

Pentium 4 (the PC from MH221) is dual booted. It did not cause any troubles with installing Ubuntu as a default OS and Windows XP as an emergency system.

Creating new user accounts

Creating new user and group accounts on Ubuntu 7.10 is very easy. Under System-> Administration you have to go to Users and Groups. From here it pretty straight forward to set up an adequate account.

Adding network printers on Ubuntu 7.10

Printer configuration on Gusty Gibbon has been changed, and it is more difficult (less user friendly) than it is on Feisty Fawn. Here is what I have figured out:
1. From System go to Printing
2. Create New Printer
3. Choose AppSocket/HP JetDirect
4. Ubuntu should detect all available network printers.
5. Complete the rest of the steps.
6. Print test page.

Shuttle PC

Installation of Ubuntu 7.10 on Shuttle PC took me a total of 5 hours - it failed to install software packages 4 times. I tried different things to figure out what was wrong, I even ended up checking if the installation CD was good. During the fifth try I decided to unplug an eithernet cable and it solved the problem. I successfully install version of new Ubuntu on Shuttle PC.

Ubuntu 7.10 on SONY Vaio FR130

The installation started similar as on Mini PC - the GUI never load properly, and installation wizard went straight to its text version. The partitioner partitioned the hard drive correctly however while installing the system files, the installation got stuck under the message: "Scanning the mirror...". I had to power cycle the laptop and try the installation over again, but this time with the eithernet cable being unplugged. That trick seemed to work - the installation passed mirror scan. I had to be very patient with software installation part - it looked like the wizard got stuck on 6%, but after 20 minutes it worked again. Ubuntu 7.10 works on Sony Vaio without any troubles - it still asks for the Nvidia drive, but I am not going to let it install new drive (I learned my lesson from the installation of Ubuntu 6.10, and I do not want to risk crashing the OS again).

Ubuntu 7.10 on Mini PC

The installation of Ubuntu 7.10 on Mini PC was pretty smooth. The only problem appeared with installation wizard - the graphical user interface did not load properly and I had to use text version of the installation wizard. There was one update available to download. I also downloaded and installed Mozilla Thunderbird - I used the Add/Remove feature under the Apllications.

Ubuntu Desktop Project #2

On Thursday, October 18 I began my Ubuntu Desktop Project #2. It was the release day of Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. I started with downloading the ISO file from the official Ubuntu website: www.ubuntu.com. The ISO file is of size 695.8MB and I got the fastest download rate by choosing the following location: North America mirror.kernel.org.

Sony VAIO FR130

Installing Ubuntu 7.04 on Sony VAIO laptop was ever more challenging than on the Mini PC. First, just like on the Mini PC, the partitioner failed to create SWAP partition. This time I did not even try to install it again. Instead I installed Ubuntu 6.10 and decided to upgrade it to Ubuntu 7.04. Installation of version 6.10 went very smoothly. The OS required 188 updates, which I downloaded and installed. Upgrade to 7.04 also went fast. After rebooting the laptop, I received a message the Nvidia graphics card needs new drivers. I downloaded and installed all required drivers, but after rebooting the machine I could not get Ubuntu to work - our guess was that new settings on the Nvidia card were too high for that particular laptop and Ubuntu could not display its GUI interface. I tried to modify the registry on my own - by changing the screen resolution etc., but it did not help. The only solution was to start over again: install Ubuntu 6.10 -> update it -> upgrade it to 7.04 -> ignore driver upgrades. I followed the above, and the laptop works just fine, in fact I am writing this post on it.

Mini PC

Installing Ubuntu 7.04 on Mini PC was full of problems.
Originally the computer had installed Redhat on it. While I was trying to overwrite it with Ubuntu I got two error messages:
- 168.704000] Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0
- 206.912000] Buffer I/O error on device fd0, logical block 0
I ignored both errors, successfully entered the Ubuntu installation wizard and finished all seven steps of the installation. However, the partitioner failed to create SWAP partition. I quite the installation, and tried to do it one more time from the very beginning. All the above errors occurred again. I decided to search Ubuntu forums for some hints, and I found out that many other Ubuntu users had problems with installing the OS on their Mini PCs. Their solution was to install previous version - Ubuntu 6.10 - first, and then make an upgrade. I decided to try it. I installed Ubuntu 6.10 - installation of this older version did not cause me any problems with partitioning the hard drive. I updated the OS (there was 188 updates available) and after Ubuntu 6.10 was up to date I upgraded it to version 7.04. The upgrade process was very easy. You have to do the following: System -> Administration -> Update Maneger. From here it is pretty straight forward - you just have to choose the available OS.

Ubuntu 7.04 instalation

I downloaded Ubuntu ISO file from the official Ubuntu website: http://www.ubuntu.com/ and burned its image to a CD. Installation of the Ubuntu 7.04 Desktop edition on a Shuttle PC was fairly straight forward - it consisted of 7 steps. In step five I chose to use guided hard drive partitioning. After the installation was finished, I successfully restarted my computer . Ubuntu started up fast. It immediately prompted me with a message of available updates. I downloaded 121 updates and system is ready to go.

Ubuntu info

- desktop-oriented Linux distribution, based on Debian GNU/Linux but with a stronger focus on usability; fully free;

- the name comes from the African concept of ubuntu which may be rendered as “humanity toward others”;

- first released on October 20, 2004 as a temporary fork of the Debian GNU/Linux project;

- new version of Ubuntu is released every six months;

- comes installed with the software: OpenOffice.org, the Internet browser Firefox, the instant messenger Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim), and the raster graphics editor GIMP. Several lightweight card and puzzle games are pre-installed, including Sudoku and Chess. Ubuntu has all ports closed by default adding to security, although some people choose to run a firewall in order to keep tabs of incoming and outgoing connections.

Purpose

The purpose of this blog is to document my experience using Ubuntu as an Operating System. I will write about all the discovered advantages, but also record any problems and unwanted features.
I start my Ubuntu project with learning the history of this Linux distribution. I will use the following websites as sources of information: -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(Linux_distribution)
-http://www.ubuntu.com.