The good and bad news about Dell and Ubuntu

Image via CrunchBaseBy Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Editorial by The Computer Doctor

A friend of mine recently got a surprise. She was setting up her brand new Dell Inspiron m101z with its dual-core AMD Athlon processor, 4GB RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium. She wasn't happy because it was already slower than her ancient XP Pentium M machine. Out of the blue, she got an Ubuntu Light v1.0 Setup window. What the heck?

She was puzzled, but since she's technically savvy, she quickly figured it out. Besides, she was pretty sure that Dell technical support was wrong when they first told her that "Ubuntu Light is the software for setting up themes on the system." Ah, no, it's not. Dell is now shipping Ubuntu Light as an instant-on operating system on some of its Dell laptops.

Ubuntu Light is a simplified version of Ubuntu that's for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) only and uses the Unity interface. It's designed to boot up in as little as eight seconds on PCs with a solid state disk drive (SSD) or 15 seconds on a device with a hard disk drive. It can also access the data on the Windows part of the drive and can be enabled or disabled from the Windows 7 Control Panel.

In short, from a Windows user's viewpoint, Ubuntu Light is a feature. Worse than Dell not advertising Ubuntu Light, they're not even telling their internal staff about it. My friend knew on seeing the Ubuntu Light setup windows appear knew what Ubuntu was, and she had some idea what it would be good for. Most users would find it puzzling at best.

I asked Dell about it, and they never did get back to me. Come on, Dell — if you're going to ship Ubuntu on a Windows 7 notebook, tell people about it already. It might get you a few new customers who, even if they don't know Linux from a llama, like the idea of a fast-on operating system for Web browsing.

That's not my only problem with Dell. A friend asked me about buying a laptop with at least a 15" screen and Ubuntu pre-installed on it. Before I told him where to shop, I checked out the usual suspects: Dell, system76, and ZaReason. They all offer excellent PCs and laptops with pre-installed Ubuntu.

Then I looked a little closer at Dell's offering, the Inspiron 15N. It's a fine laptop for $624 — but what's this? The Inspiron 15 with Windows 7 Home Premium for $399? A closer look showed me that it had only 2GB of RAM instead of the 15N's 4, but when I added in two more GB of RAM, my bill still only came to $489.

What's the idea, Dell? The Windows machine is a much better deal. Or it was, anyway; even as I am writing this blog, I see that the Windows Inspiron 15 is no longer available for order online. I suspect it's sold out.

It's great that Dell sells PCs and laptops with Ubuntu already on them, but how about giving Ubuntu a fair shake? Let people know that it comes ready to use as an alternative operating system on at least one of your Windows 7 laptops, and make the Ubuntu-only systems' pricing to those that come with Windows. Both moves will help Dell's sales, and in the latter's case, it will also help their bottom line, since they don't pay Canonical as much as they do Microsoft for the operating system.

**** EDITORIAL ****
Steven, I loved your article and could not agree with your overtones of frustration with Dell more, but you are not comparing apples to apples (no reference to Macintosh intended).

No mainstream OEM PC retailer makes any money off of it's hardware. In fact to keep the cost of PC's down they actually loose money on the hardware and offer the bare minimum customer service to the point of near non-existence. How do they make money then? The Operating System vendors offer rebates and kickbacks (known in a more honest time as bribes) to the OEM manufacturers.

Use the following formula M+(OS-B)=P.

If the cost of making your PC is $800 and a OEM wholesale version of Windows 7 cost $200 and they give a rebate of $400 then you get a final price of $600.

On the other hand If the cost of making your PC is $800 and the cost of Ubuntu is $0 and the the Ubuntu rebate is $0 then your final price is $800 but to make the price any lower then your Manufacturer will have to take a hit or dip into the profit margin of their mainstream machines.

Is this fair? Of course not (they call that a rhetorical question). But to the savy consumer, why not buy your lower priced Windows machine, Dual boot Ubuntu and run the risk of possibly voiding the warranty that you probably won't need and if you do will have a major pain in the rear using and thank Microsoft for having enough market share to donate some money towards getting you that lower priced machine?

Related articles

• Ubuntu Light .iso available to download from Dell support site (omgubuntu.co.uk)
• Dell likely first to deliver Ubuntu Light netbooks (electronista.com)

Stuxnet, Is Israel To Blame?

Editorial By The Computer Doctor

In this Bloomberg video showcasing the Stuxnet Malware I find a few statements to be very hilarious even though the gravity of the situation calls for less levity than I am able to muster.

In this video, the security expert (male talking hair doo) tries to portray a picture that some government, probably Israel and probably not the U.S., has released the Stuxnet Malware program to target a Nuclear target in Iran.

Please see my editorial after the video...


1:10 "... using stolen certificates..."
Certificates was supposed to be one of the few ways of stopping hackers from gaining access to networks.

1:43 "what are the chances that the U.S. created it?"
Nice softball toss to a former government security adviser.

2:00 "in my judgment it's a very remote possibility"
In The Computer Doctors judgment this is a very real possibility. On July 8th the U.S. announced the “Perfect Citizen” program to help defend industrial networks. Anna Chapman deported to Russia for a spy-swap, from which we got a bunch of ugly fat guys back. With this "Perfect Citizen" program enabled to be some super secret program that will protect important industrial targets from programs just like Stuxnet. How convenient. On the other hand... any program that claims to protect Microsoft Windows is speculative at best.

2:31 "Is Iran really running it's nuclear power, it's nuclear plant on Windows software?"
It's blatantly obvious to female talking hair doo that this is an incredulously bad idea. I agree news chick. Most U.S. military installations only use Windows in a sandbox inside Linux.

2:53 "... it also seems an increasing concern because I don't know... I've used Windows and I know other people have and it's not stable even without a virus sometimes."
You're exactly correct sweetie. Why would you leave the operation of any important industrial process to the fragile stability of Microsoft Windows? Where is the cry for a better solution?

3:07 "Well... (insert crickets chirping) that is the nature of the modern economy and our technology. We rely heavily on these IT systems"
That's F'N Wonderful You Microsoft Fan-Boy, Talking Head, Moronic, Idiot. "well I guess Microsoft is the only thing that separates us from modern man from the cave man" "I guess we'll just bend over and kiss our technological butts goodbye now" This reminds me of the end of the Wizard of Oz where the Giant Head tells Dorthy not to pay any attention to the little man behind the curtain.

3:24 "that's why it's so important to stay up to date with your software patches that come along"
Hooray for Microsoft. Their patches always fix the problems... unless they totally miss the problem and the zero day, and could cause more problems than they fix. Although I agree that installing patches is vitally important, if Microsoft patches fixed their software we wouldn't need antivirus software, antispyware, Intrusion Prevention Systems, Firewalls, Proxies, VPN's, Certificates, et al ad infinitum.


People, do not rely on our government or any other government to have it's citizens best interest at heart. If you don't think that the U.S. in conjunction with Israel is not taking a gigantic gamble with the technological backbone of the world you are mistaken. On the other hand it is too late for Joe Six-Pack to do anything. We have voted in these out of control governments for over four generations now. How else do we expect them to act?

Related articles

• Stuxnet, Iran Computer Attack, Linked To Wealthy Group Or Nation (huffingtonpost.com)
• US does not know source, purpose of Stuxnet worm: official (alternet.org)
• Factbox: What is Stuxnet? (reuters.com)
• Microsoft's Negligence in Patching (Worst Amongst All Companies) to Blame for Stuxnet (techrights.org)
• 'Perfect Citizen' the Ultimate Spying Tool (foxnews.com)
• The NSA's Perfect Citizen (schneier.com)
• NSA Launching "Perfect Citizen" Surveillance Program to Monitor Private Networks for Cyber Attacks (popsci.com)

Why doesn't Linux need defragmenting?

Edited By The Computer Doctor

Image by Roberto F. via Flickr. . . That is a question that crops up with regularity on Linux forums when new users are unable to find the defrag tool on their shiny new desktop. Here's my attempt at giving a simple, non-technical answer as to why some filesystems, suffer more from fragmenting than others. For this example we are using a FAT16/FAT32/NTFS filesystem and contrast against a EXT2/EXT3 filesystem.

Rather than simply stumble through lots of dry technical explanations, I'm opting to consider that an ASCII picture is worth a thousand words. Here, therefore, is the picture I shall be using to explain the whole thing:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
b  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
e  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
g  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
h  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
i  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
j  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
m  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
n  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
o  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
p  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
q  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
r  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
s  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
t  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
u  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
w  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
x  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
y  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
z  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

This is a representation of a (very small) hard drive, as yet completely empty - Hence all the zeros. The a-z's at the top and the left side of the grid are used to locate each individual byte of data: The top left is aa, top right is za, and bottom left is az. You get the idea, I'm sure. . .

We shall begin with a simple filesystem of a sort that most users are familiar with: One that will need defragmenting occasionally. Such filesystems, which include FAT, remain important to both Windows and Linux users: if only for USB flash drives, FAT is still widely used - unfortunately, it suffers badly from fragmentation.

We add a file to our filesystem, and our hard drive now looks like this:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t a e l e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
b  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  H e l l o , _ w o r l d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

(Empty rows g-z ommitted for clarity)

To explain what you see: The first four rows of the disk are given over for a "Table of contents", or TOC. This TOC stores the location of every file on the filesystem. In the above example, the TOC contains one file, named "hello.txt", and says that the contents of this file are to be found between ae and le. We look at these locations, and see that the file contents are "Hello, world"

So far so good? Now let's add another file:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t a e l e b y e . t x t m e z
b  e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  H e l l o , _ w o r l d G o o d b y e , _ w o r l d
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

As you can see, the second file has been added immediately after the first one. The idea here is that if all your files are kept together, then accessing them will be quicker and easier: The slowest part of the hard drive is the stylus, the less it has to move, the quicker your read/write times will be.

The problem this causes can be seen when we decide to edit our first file. Let's say we want to add some exclamation marks so our "Hello" seems more enthusiastic. We now have a problem: There's no room for these exclamation marks on our filesystem: The "bye.txt" file is in the way. We now have only two options, neither is ideal:

1. We delete the file from its original position, and tack the new, bigger file on to the end of the second file - lots of reading and writing involved
2. We fragment the file, so that it exists in two places but there are no empty spaces - quick to do, but will slow down all subsequent file accesses.

To illustrate: Here is approach one

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t a f n f b y e . t x t m e z
b  e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G o o d b y e , _ w o r l d
f  H e l l o , _ w o r l d ! ! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

And here is approach two:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t a e l e a f b f b y e . t x
b  t m e z e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  H e l l o , _ w o r l d G o o d b y e , _ w o r l d
f  ! ! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Approach two is why such filesystems need defragging regularly. All files are placed right next to each other, so any time a file is enlarged, it fragments. And if a file is reduced, it leaves a gap. Soon the hard drive becomes a mass of fragments and gaps, and performance starts to suffer.

Let's see what happens when we use a different philosophy. The first type of filesystem is ideal if you have a single user, accessing files in more-or-less the order they were created in, one after the other, with very few edits. Linux, however, was always intended as a multi-user system: It was gauranteed that you would have more than one user trying to access more than one file at the same time. So a different approach to storing files is needed. When we create "hello.txt" on a more Linux-focussed filesystem, it looks like this:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t h n s n 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
b  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
g  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
h  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
i  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
j  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
m  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
n  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 H e l l o , _ w o r l d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
o  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
p  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
q  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
r  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
s  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
t  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
u  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
w  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
x  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
y  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
z  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

And then when another file is added:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t h n s n b y e . t x t d u q
b  u 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
g  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
h  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
i  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
j  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
m  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
n  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 H e l l o , _ w o r l d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
o  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
p  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
q  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
r  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
s  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
t  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
u  0 0 0 G o o d b y e , _ w o r l d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
w  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
x  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
y  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
z  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The cleverness of this approach is that the disk's stylus can sit in the middle, and most files, on average, will be fairly nearby: That's how averages work, after all.

Plus when we add our exclamation marks to this filesystem, observe how much trouble it causes:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t h n u n b y e . t x t d u q
b  u 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
g  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
h  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
i  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
j  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
m  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
n  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 H e l l o , _ w o r l d ! ! 0 0 0 0 0
o  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
p  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
q  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
r  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
s  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
t  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
u  0 0 0 G o o d b y e , _ w o r l d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
w  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
x  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
y  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
z  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

That's right: Absolutely none.

The first filesystem tries to put all files as close to the start of the hard drive as it can, thus it constantly fragments files when they grow larger and there's no free space available.

The second scatters files all over the disk so there's plenty of free space if the file's size changes. It can also re-arrange files on-the-fly, since it has plenty of empty space to shuffle around. Defragging the first type of filesystem is a more intensive process and not really practical to run during normal use.

Fragmentation thus only becomes an issue on ths latter type of system when a disk is so full that there just aren't any gaps a large file can be put into without splitting it up. So long as the disk is less than about 80% full, this is unlikely to happen.

It is also worth knowing that even when an OS says a drive is completely defragmented, due to the nature of hard drive geometry, fragmentation may still be present: A typical hard drive actually has multiple disks, AKA platters, inside it.

Let's say that our example hard drive is actually on two platters, with aa to zm being the first and an to zz the second:

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
b  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
e  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
g  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
h  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
i  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
j  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
m  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

n  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
o  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
p  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
q  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
r  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
s  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
t  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
u  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
w  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
x  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
y  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
z  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The following file would be considered non-fragmented, because it goes from row m to row n, but this ignores the fact that the stylus will have to move from the very end of the platter to the very beginning in order to read this file.

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a  T O C h e l l o . t x t r m e n 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
b  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T O C
e  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
f  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
g  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
h  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
i  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
j  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
m  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 H e l l o , _ w o

   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

n  r l d ! ! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
o  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
p  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
q  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
r  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
s  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
t  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
u  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
w  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
x  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
y  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
z  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

I hope this has helped you to understand why some filesystems can suffer badly from fragmentation, whilst others barely suffer at all; and why no defragging software came with your Linux installation.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 10 Ways to Increase Hard Disk Life and Performance (taragana.com)
• How to Upgrade Your Tiny Hard Drive to a Spacious New One and Keep Your Data Intact [Upgrades] (lifehacker.com)

Windows 7 XP Mode

Image via CrunchBaseBy The Computer Doctor
Video By Jonathan Mann

So many of you are still bemoaning the shortcomings of Microsoft's project Longhorn which has spawned the Windows Vista and Windows 7 series of operating systems.

Despite the compatibility mode which is supposed to make older software run properly, many times we find erroneous errors popping up in our applications or that the applications will not run at all.

Well for once I applaud a Microsoft decision with reservation of course. If you own a legitimate copy of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate you can get for no additional cost the Windows XP mode. This is a virtual machine of Windows XP running on Microsoft Virtual PC platform.

My reservation of course is that if you have Windows 7 Basic or Home premium or any copy of Windows Vista you are S.O.L.

My experience with XP mode is in helping a customer who couldn't run software for her class that was required for school. Her computer specs were a 2.8 Ghz processor with 8 Gb of RAM and a 250 GB hard drive running Windows 7 Professional. We tried running in compatibility mode, changing graphics modes, cleaning the registry, and re-installing multiple times. Why shouldn't a 6 year old program designed for Windows XP Professional work on this system? Because the Windows Kernel has more forks than a public school cafeteria! So now what was she to do? Search endless garage sales for a used computer with Windows XP on it?

The answer came from one of my oldest tricks from the Linux side. If you can't beat them then join them with a virtual machine running the OS that the software you need was designed for. Microsoft finally saw the light in making a real XP environment available for these circumstances.

See the following promotional video for more information and to see what this XP mode looks like.

Related articles

• Windows 7, Overshadowing Windows XP (lockergnome.com)
• Run XP Mode in VMware Workstation or Player with Activation Intact (mydigitallife.info)
• How to Setup and Get XP Mode on Windows 7 Home Premium and Basic (mydigitallife.info)
• Windows XP Mode For Windows 7 (lockergnome.com)

Has Dell Dropped Ubuntu Linux?

Image via WikipediaBy: David Murphy

Has Dell dropped Ubuntu Linux as an operating system selection for its panoply of PCs? Yes… and no. PC Pro is reporting that one can no longer pick up consumer PCs preloaded with the popular Linux distribution, but that's only if one's trying to order online.

PC Pro goes on to quote a company spokesperson: "We've recently made an effort to simplify our offerings online, by focusing on our most popular bundles and configuration options, based on customer feedback for reduced complexity and a simple, easy purchase experience. We're also making some changes to our Ubuntu pages, and as a result, they are currently available through our phone-based sales only."

However, the same spokesperson—in an interview with PC Pro—went on to suggest that a majority of Dell's sales go toward consumer PCs laden with Microsoft's Windows operating system. Ubuntu systems tend to shop out to, "advanced users and enthusiasts," a sentiment that's reflected in Dell's own on-side material about Linux.

On the company's "Windows or Ubuntu?" page, Dell states that the former is the better choice of an OS for those that are already familiar with Windows programs or, conversely, for those completely new to the world of computing in general. Ubuntu, on the other hand, should be reserved for those that, "do not plan to use Microsoft WINDOWS," or those who are, "interested in open source programming."

The caveat, however, is that this material—as well as the lack of online Ubuntu options—seems to be limited to the European Dell hub. The standard dell.com domain still features a "Top Ten" list of facts to know for consumers interested in an Ubuntu system, as well as purchasing links to both an Ubuntu-backed Dell Mini 10n notebook and a Dell Inspiron 15n notebook.

That said, Slashdot commenter "Nimey" points to a key visual indicator that Dell's Ubuntu support, in general, might be waning.

"They don't offer any with 10.04, and two of the four models they offer still have 9.04," Nimey writes. "Doesn't seem like they're too keen on it."

According to Canonical, Ubuntu's primary commercial sponsor, the Linux distribution is currently used by more than 12 million individuals. Data taken by the site Distrowatch—which has been tracking the popularity of hundreds of Linux distributions since its inception in 2001—ranks Ubuntu as the most popular distribution based on an analysis of hits to the site's official "Ubuntu" section.

Related articles

• Linux tablet runs Windows and Mac OS X, too (linuxfordevices.com)
• Daily 5: Five ways to help spread Ubuntu (omgubuntu.co.uk)
• Is Dell Giving Up on Linux? (trustedreviews.com)
• Is Dell Wavering In Its Support For Ubuntu? (ostatic.com)

Magic System Request Keys For Ubuntu

By The Computer Doctor:

I spent a wonderful evening recently with some friends looking at old servers and fixing database reports. I know... I really need to get out more.

During the course of the evening Gene showed us how to force a reboot or shutdown by using the SysRq key and a combination of other keys which were as follows...

Hold down the "Alt" and "Print Screen - SysRq" key and type in the following letters R, E, I, S, U, B Which can easily be remembered with the mnemonic "Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring"

As intrigued as I was, I noticed that the screen went black like we were back in terminal mode and I saw a flood of information on the screen and I knew that each of these letters stood for something. After doing a little bit of research online I found the following chart that may help if you need to use the "Magic System Request" in Linux.

0 - 9 - sets the console log level, controlling which kernel messages will be printed to your console so that you don't get flooded.

B - restarts the system without making steps to ensure that the conditions are good for a safe reboot, using this key alone is like doing a cold reboot.

E - sends SIGTERM to all processes except init. This means that an attempt is done to end the current processes except init, safely, e.g. saving a document.

F - call oom_kill(Out Of Memory Killer), which will kill a process that is consuming all available memory.

H - displays help about the SysRq keys on a terminal though in actuality you can use any key except for the ones specified, to display help.

I - sends SIGKILL to all processes except init. This means that all the processes except for init are killed, any data in processes that are killed will be lost.

K - kills all processes on the current terminal. It is a bad idea to do this on a console where X is running as the GUI will stop and you can't see what you type, so you will need to switch to a tty after doing the magic SysRq.

L - sends SIGKILL to all processes, including init. This means that every process including init will be killed, using this key will render your system non-functional and no further magicSysRq keys can be used. So in this case you will have to cold reboot it.

M - dumps memory info to your console.

O - shuts down the system via ACPI or in older systems, APM. As in key "B", using this key alone is like a cold reboot(Or in this case, a cold shutdown).

P - dumps the current registers and flags to your console.

Q - dumps all timers info to your console.

R - takes keyboard and mouse control from the X server. This can be useful if the X-Server crashed, you can change to a console and kill the X-Server or check the error log.
NOTE:- The documentation refers to this key's task as "Turns off keyboard raw mode and sets it to XLATE", but I suppose it's safe enough to assume that it takes back control from X.

S - writes all data from the disc cache to the hard-discs, it is a sync and is necessary to reduce the chances of data corruption.

T - dumps a list of current tasks and info to your console.

U - remounts all mounted filesystems read-only. After using this key, you can reboot the system with Alt+SysRq+B without harming the system.

W - dumps uninterruptable (blocked) state tasks.

Remember that although you can use these letters in any sequence that you wish, there may be unforeseen consequences by skipping some of the letters in the REISU* sequence and skipping straight to the B or O so be careful when using these commands. Also remember that there is a build in reboot or shutdown procedure and it is better to use that then the forced commands with the magic system request keys.

Related articles

• Join a Ubuntu machine to a Windows domain (ghacks.net)
• The Best Ubuntu Network Managment Tools (brighthub.com)
• 6 Tools to Easily Create Your Own Custom Linux Distro (maketecheasier.com)
• Two Programs To Easily Create Network Firewall Rules For Ubuntu [Linux] (makeuseof.com)

Behind The Proxy With Lucid Lynx

By: The Computer Doctor

For the past year I've been enjoying (tongue in cheek) providing software support for a primarily Windows oriented company. Every time I see references to does not work in Linux or no support for Linux it gets my ire and curiosity up (and not always in equal portions).

My original idea was to have a virtual Linux box available so I could test different software packages with WINE but I kept running into the same brick wall... The Proxy.

That's right, a simple proxy was stopping me. I was able to configure the proxy for my browser, but not for synaptic. "So What?" you might be thinking. Well without Synaptic or apt-get in the terminal I can't get updates or other familiar software packages. I know some wise guy out there is saying that I could go get the tar-gz with my browser and compile from scratch, but remember that I'm supposed to be doing software support in a windows shop. Do you think the local IT guy or some MCSE is going to be happy to hear that someone is setting up a Linux box in house?
So down to the nuts and bolts of how I finally set up my Linux box behind the proxy.

What you need to start with:

1. Oracle's VirtualBox with a new machine setup. I gave it 30Gb hard drive and 768Mb Ram
   
2. A Linux OS. I used Ubuntu Desktop 10.04 LTS
3. The proxy address

After setting up your VirtualBox machine and installing Ubuntu I used these settings to get access to the internet.

Go to System / Preferences / and select Network Proxy.

Inside the Network Proxy settings you want to check the Manual proxy configuration box. Also check the Use the same proxy for all protocols. Fill in the proxy address or IP address. Fill in the port number which will usually be 8080. Now click the close button.After clicking the close button you will get a system question box asking if you want to apply these setting system wide (and you do). When you click on the Apply System-Wide button it will ask you for your password. Just fill it in as many times as it asks you for it and it will eventually end.
The next step is to set up Synaptic. Go to the System menu / Administration menu / and select Synaptic Package Manager.Inside Synaptice you want to click on the Settings Menu and then choose Preferences.
Inside the Preferences menu you want to click on the Network tab. Check the Manual proxy configuration box. Fill in the proxy address or IP address in the HTTP and FTP proxy box and fill in the port for both as well. Click on the Authentication button and fill in your username and password.
REMEMBER: If you network has you change your password occasionally, you will have to come back and change your password here as well.

Related articles

• OMG Exclusive: Ubuntu Lucid Lynx Video Review (omgubuntu.co.uk)
• A Complete Beginner's Manual For Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) (lockergnome.com)
• Extra Repositories for Lucid Lynx (journalxtra.com)
• Ubuntu Lucid Lynx: free OS that Just Works (boingboing.net)

Easy Remote Support

Image via Wikipedia

By The Computer Doctor:

How many times have you gotten stuck trying to support a friend of family member over the phone and no matter what you tell them they can not follow your directions. Or perhaps they are having difficulty with a program and you really need to see what they are trying to describe in woeful futility.

The program that I have been using for over a year now and thoroughly enjoy is teamviewer. With teamviewer you can use the program for free for non-commercial use or purchase one of their business packages and get advanced features.

Image by pshadow via Flickr

To use Teamviewer you will have already installed the program on your own computer and direct the person that needs support to go to teamviewer.com and click on the "Start Full Version" button on the main page. Direct them to run the program and when it asks if they want to install it direct them to just run it instead. Next they will need to provide the ID and Password that the program gives them. Just enter their ID and click on the connect button, then enter their password and click log on. Next you will see their screen and will have access to their computer.

In addition to remote control of the target computer you will also have a built in file transfer feature and presentation feature.

This program was originally designed for PC's, but now has versions for Macintosh and Linux (Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, and the tar.gz for compileing) as well as an IPod version.

Related articles by Zemanta

• TeamViewer For Cross Platform Tech Support (lockergnome.com)
• 3 Best LogMeIn Alternatives For Ubuntu [Linux] (makeuseof.com)
• Use TeamViewer for remote Linux support (ghacks.net)
• TeamViewer Remote Desktop Tool Available for Linux [Updates] (lifehacker.com)

Backing Up Your Linux Data and Keeping Your Programs Durring Upgrades

Image via Wikipedia

By The Computer Doctor:

As many of you may have read in my past posts, I have always had difficulty with upgrading from one Ubuntu version to the next. With the exception of the transition from Karmic Koala 9.10 to Lucid Lynx 10.04 I have never successfully upgraded using the graphical installer.

So I was left backing up my personal data, installing the new OS, restoring my personal data and then going through the repositories and re-installing the programs that I use the most. What a pain!

Fast forward a few years and we now are blessed to have a great friend home from the mission field who gave us this tip for backing up your data and also restoring data which is particularly helpful when we upgrade the OS.

Step One: The Backup.
If you want to back up all your hidden files, then you'll have to be root to do this.
To become Root in Ubuntu type Sudo and then Enter. Now enter your password when prompted.
Also note that gene is our guru's name and you should replace gene in this example with your own home directory name.
To back up /home/gene, become root, and use this code:
cd /home tar -cvf gene.tar gene
That will create a file in /home with the name "gene.tar". If you have a lot of data, it will be a pretty big file. Hopefully it will be less than 700MB so you can fit it on a blank CD. If not, burn it to a DVD. You can make it a little smaller by using compression - the command for this is almost the same:
tar -zcvf gene.tar.gz gene

Step Two: Restoring The Data Into The Home Directory
After you've installed your new OS, create a user gene. Then you'll have to erase gene's home directory, copy the tar file to the home directory and untar it with this code:
cd /home rm -fr gene cd /media/cdrom cp gene.tar /home cd /home tar -xvf gene.tar
If you used file compression, the command would be:
cd /home rm -fr gene cd /media/cdrom cp gene.tar /home cd /home tar -zxvf gene.tar.gz
I'm assuming in the above that the OS mounts the cdrom at /media/cdrom (that's where Ubuntu puts it). It could be /mnt/cdrom, or perhaps a different location if you used a USB flash drive.

What does this do?
The home directory stores your documents, pictures and music. Equally important are the hidden files in the home directory that stores all of your installed programs and settings. I used to find it amazing that Linux programs could be so small, but now I'm more amazed that Windows programs could be so bloated.
So by backing up this home directory, you are in essence preserving all of your personal data and programs so if anything happens you will just need to install the OS and restore your home directory to get back to where you needed to be.

Related articles

• A Sleek & Easy Way To Administer Ubuntu - Ubuntu Control Center (makeuseof.com)
• A look back at every Ubuntu Default Wallpaper (omgubuntu.co.uk)
• 5 Alternative Ways To Install Ubuntu [Linux] (makeuseof.com)
• Does Linux need to be defrag'd? (ghacks.net)

Uncorking the WINE

Image via Wikipedia

By The Computer Doctor

Ubuntu 10.04 has been out for a few weeks now and over all I'm mostly satisfied until this past week. One of the programs that I used exclusively in Windows was Full Tilt Poker. Of course if you go to the site you will see that you must have windows and there is no linux support and blah blah blah. Whatever. I know that I can usually get programs to work to some extent using WINE.

Now when I finally got the executable downloaded and tried to run it with Wine I got an error message stating "The file '/home/user/Downloads/program_name.exe' is not marked as executable. If this was downloaded or copied form an untrusted source, it may be dangerous to run. For more details, read about the executable bit."

After researching this issue, it seems that Canonical has decided that if it's not free and open source that they don't want me to install the software. All I could think was "who's bone head idea was this?". I decided to go Linux to get away from counter productive draconian measures that were detrimental to the user.

Now before we all get our knickers in a bunch let me describe multiple ways to solve this manufactured nuisance.

Solution 1. Allow executing file as program
To solve the problem, right click on the .exe file, select Properties, select the Permissions tab and check "Allow executing file as program". Then hit the Close button.

Solution 2. Wine in the terminal
Run .exe from the terminal and you shouldn't see the "Blocked: wine start /unix" message:
code: wine /media/storage/Setup.exe

Solution 3. Custom launcher
Right click on the .exe file, select Open with other application -> Use a custom command and use wine for the command.
To launch an .exe file, right click on it, select Open with wine.
You can also right click on the file, select Properties -> Open With and select wine. The a double click on any exe file will shouldn't show the "Blocked: wine start /unix" message.

Solution 4. Change the default launch command
Edit the default launch command for wine
code: gksu gedit /usr/share/applications/wine.desktop
change: Exec=cautious-launcher %f wine start /unix
to: Exec=wine start /unix %f

So to summarize,

1. Canonical is trying to make The Computer Doctors life more complicated
2. Google is your friend
3. The Computer Doctor finds the solutions and saves the day
   

Related articles

• 4 Ways To Make Linux Compatible With Even More Software (makeuseof.com)
• Four Days Windows Free - An Ubuntu Gaming Experience (lockergnome.com)
• How to : Run Windows programs on Linux,Ubuntu..? (dtechwiz.blogspot.com)
• How to Run Fullscreen Games In Linux With Dual Monitors (maketecheasier.com)

Replace OpenOffice.org With The Zoho Webservice Suite In Ubuntu 10.04

by Asian Angel (firefox_fangirl)

If you have already installed (or are thinking about installing) Ubuntu 10.04 on your computer then I have something great to show you here. By default OpenOffice.org is included with Ubuntu but it can be a little slow or clunky sometimes. That is where the Zoho Webservice Suite comes in…it is gentle on your system’s resources and great to use.

Know what else is great about it? You do not even have to have a Zoho account or log in to Zoho to use it! ^__^ If you are really wanting a terrific alternative to OpenOffice.org then keep reading! ~__^

Adding the Zoho Webservice Suite to Ubuntu

To get things started go to the “Applications Menu” and select “Ubuntu Software Center”.



When the “Ubuntu Software Center Window” opens enter “Zoho” as a search term to quickly find the three “Zoho Suite” components. On my system I started with installing the “Webservice Spreadsheet” component.



Once you click on “Install” you will have to enter your password before you can proceed with adding all three components to your system.



Once you start the installation process all three components will install together without any further prompts.



When you look at the “Office Sub-menu” you will be able to see all of that Zoho goodness nicely tucked in at the bottom of the menu.

Note: The Zoho Webservices will open up in your system’s default browser.



A Good Look at the Word Processor, Presentation, & Spreadsheet Components

When you create a new document you will have a nice clean looking setup to work with….zero clutter on the sides and everything that you need at the top.



Here is a closer look at both sides of the toolbar shown above…

To give you an idea of just how nice the Zoho Webservices can be here is a quick look at the “ribbon-style toolbar sections” for the Word Processor. You can access each portion either through a drop-down menu or by bringing that “section” forward. There are plenty of tools available to create and/or edit documents on your system.


Adding an image to the example document that I created was extremely easy.



You can create beautiful documents in just a few minutes.



Ready for the Presentation Component? You will find most of the tools are located in the sidebar on the right side. Notice the “tabbed interface” at the top and the “collapsible sections” at the bottom. Looks like a great presentation just waiting to happen.



A nice start on a new presentation…



The Spreadsheet Component has the simplest toolbar layout of the three but is still ready to help you get your work done.



I had all three running at the same time in Firefox…you literally turn your default browser into an “instant office suite”.

Note: It is possible to run multiples of the same type at one time (i.e. word document, etc.).



Saving and Reopening Files

To save your documents after working on them you will need to export them. Each of the Zoho Webservice components has an “Export Drop-Down Menu” that lets you choose the format that you wish to save your documents in. When you export your documents it goes through the same process as downloading a file. The choices available for the Word Processor…

Note: For each of the documents shown here I chose Microsoft formats.



The formats available to save your presentations in…



And finally the formats available for spreadsheets.



There are the three example documents saved to the hard-drive and ready for use later.



Opening up and editing existing documents on your hard-drive is extremely easy to do. Just right click on them and select the “Open with Zoho Webservice option” that matches the document type.



If you have been wanting a good alternative to OpenOffice.org on your Ubuntu 10.04 system then I think that you will be really pleased with the Zoho Webservice Suite. I know that I am. ~__^

Note: For anyone wanting to add the Zoho Webservice Suite to an older version of Ubuntu visit the Official Homepage for details.