1 full circle - #3 - July 2007

Is s ue #3 - July 2007

REVIEW :JUST H OW W ELL DOES TH E APPLE MACBOOK RUN UBUNTU?

TH E INDEPENDENT M AGAZ INE FO R TH E UBUNTU CO M M UNITYfull circle

COM PIZ FUSION

H OW TO :STUNNING DESKTOPLEARN SCRIBUS PART 3LINUX PH OTOGRAPH Y

INSTALL :STEP-BY-STEP INSTALL OF XUBUNTU 7.04 : FEISTY FAW N

COM PIZ + BERYL = EYECANDY OVERLOAD!

fullcircle m agaz ine is not affiliate d w ith or e ndors e d by Canonical Ltd.

W E PREVIEW TH E NEW EFFECTS

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Flavour of th e Month - Xubuntu p.04Th is m onth Robe rt s h ow s us a s te p-by-s te p ins tallation of Xubuntu 7.04 via th e Alte rnate CD for old m ach ine sH ow -To

Stunning Ubuntu De s k top p.07Ubuntu for Ph otograph y p.09Scribus - Part 2 p.12

Re vie w - Ubuntu on th e Macbook p.15Th ink ing of buying a Macbook ? W onde ring if Ubuntu w ork s on it? W e re ve al all...Pre vie w - Com piz Fus ion p.20My Story - A Ye ar w ith Dappe r p.22Figh ting to live w ith Linux afte r ye ars of W indow s us e .Ubuntu Youth p.24Le tte rs p.25Q& A p.26W e bs ite of th e Month p.27My De s k top & My PC p.28Sh ow us your m e an-m ach ine !Th e Top 5 p.29Andre w Min pre s e nts h is Top5 m ultim e dia e ncode rsH ow to Contribute p.31

P.07

P.20P.09

P.12

P.04

P.15 P.29

STEP- BY- STEP INSTALL

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All te xt and im age s containe d in th is m agaz ine are re le as e d unde r th e Cre ative Com m ons Attribution-By-Sh are Alik e 3.0 Unporte d lice ns e . Th is m e ans you can adapt, copy, dis tribute and trans m it th e article s but only unde r th e follow ing conditions : You m us t attribute th e w ork to th e original auth or in s om e w ay (at le as t a nam e , e m ail or url) and to th is m agaz ine by nam e (full circle ) and th e url w w w .fullcircle m agaz ine .org (but not attribute th e article (s ) in any w ay th at s ugge s ts th at th e y e ndors e you or your us e of th e w ork ). And If you alte r, trans form , or build upon th is w ork , you m us t dis tribute th e re s ulting w ork unde r th e s am e , s im ilar or a com patible lice ns e .

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Th is m agaz ine w as cre ate d us ing :

W e lcom e to anoth e r fe ature pack e d is s ue of Full Circle . Th is m onth Robe rt (m rm onday) h as tak e n th e rath e r unus ual s te p of giving you an Alte rnate Dis c ins tall. W h ile not as pre tty as a graph ical ins tall it is an e xce lle nt w ay to ins tall Ubuntu on th at old de s k top m ach ine you're us ing as a footre s t.W e als o h ave s e ve ral article s on Ubuntu e ye candy. W e te ll you h ow to ge t s om e w obbly w indow goodne s s and pre vie w jus t a couple of th e ne w e ffe cts th at are in Com piz Fus ion. Com piz w h at? Ye s , th at's righ t, Com piz Fus ion. In cas e you've be e n living unde r a rock for th e pas t s e ve ral m onth s : Com piz and Be ryl are a couple , th e y w e re m arrie d a s h ort w h ile ago but alre ady th e y've give n birth to th e ir firs t ch ild: Com piz Fus ion.You m ay als o notice th at th e re is no ne w s in th is is s ue . I de cide d to re m ove th e ne w s s e ction s ince w e h ave to add th e ne w s approxim ate ly tw o w e e k s be fore re le as e s o by th e tim e you ge t your dow nload, th e ne w s is old and th e n I ge t e m ails from pe ople w h o th ink w e purpos e ly us e tw o w e e k old ne w s .W h ile traw ling th e goodne s s th at is th e Ubuntu H e lp s ite (h ttp://h e lp.ubuntu.com ) you m ay notice s om e of our article s popping up. Th e Ubuntu Docum e ntation Te am h ave as k e d if w e could include s om e of our m ore h e lpful article s in th e Ubuntu Docum e ntation and w e 're de ligh te d to h e lp th e m out in any w ay w e can. Spe ak ing of w h ich : th e y're alw ays look ing for volunte e rs to h e lp e dit th e Docum e ntation s o fe e l fre e to s ign up to Launch Pad and offe r your s e rvice s !I h ope you e njoy th e m agaz ine and k e e p th os e e m ails com ing!All th e be st,RonnieEditor, Full Circle Magaz ineronnie @ fullcircle m agazine .org

EEDD IITTOO RRIIAALL

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FFLLAAVVOO UURR OO FF TTHH EE MM OO NNTTHHW ritte n by Robe rt Clips h am

Ove r th e pas t fe w m onth s , w e h ave s h ow n in th is s e ction h ow s im ple it is to ins tall Kubuntu and Ubuntu. You w ill probably h ave notice d h ow s im ilar th e ins tall proce dure is , w ith rough ly th e s am e options , but w ith a diffe re nt inte rface . Rath e r th an s h ow you th e s am e s te ps again w ith anoth e r inte rface , th is m onth , w e w ill s h ow you w h at you s h ould do about olde r com pute rs if you w ant a m ore s tre am line d Ubuntu.

Xubuntu is Ubuntu's ligh t w e igh t counte rpart, w h ich us e s le s s re s ource s , and h as th e s am e functionality as Ubuntu. It claim s it can run w ith as little as 64MB of RAM and ne e ds only 1.5 gigabyte s of h ard drive s pace . I de cide d to pus h th is to th e lim its , and cre ate a virtual m ach ine w ith jus t 64MB of RAM and 3GB of h ard drive s pace . To us e 64MB of RAM, you h ave to us e th e Alte rnate Dis c. Th is re q uire s s ligh tly m ore e ffort th an us ing a live CD, but produce s th e s am e re s ult.W h e n you place th e dis c in th e drive , it w ill give you m ore options th an w h e n you us e th e Live CD. Th e option you w ant is “ Ins tall in te xt m ode .” Pre s s e nte r to be gin ins tallation.

If you are us ing s m all am ounts of RAM, lik e I am , you w ill re ce ive th is m e s s age , w arning you th at it w ill us e Englis h for th e ins tallation language . Pre s s e nte r to m ove

to th e ne xt s cre e n. Us e th e up/dow n arrow s , w h ich w ill allow you s e le ct your country, to e nable th e q uick e s t dow nloads of update s .

Th e ins talle r w ill th e offe r to de te ct your k e yboard layout, w h ich I re com m e nd you do. Se le ct ye s , th e n follow th e ins tructions , pre s s ing th e k e ys it te lls you to.

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Once your k e yboard layout h as be e n de te cte d, it w ill as k for w h at e ncoding you w ould lik e to us e in th e cons ole . If you don't k now w h at th is m e ans , th e de fault is fine . Afte r s e le cting h ow ch aracte rs s h ould be e ncode d, you ne e d to s e le ct th e ch aracte r s e t. Again, th e de fault is fine , unle s s you h ave a s pe cific ne e d for m ore colours on th e cons ole .

Th e ins tallation th e n de te cts your h ardw are , to load th e corre ct drive rs th e n as k s s om e m ore q ue s tions .

It th e n as k s for a h os t nam e (righ t). Th is is th e nam e th e com pute r s h ould dis play on a ne tw ork , if you h ave one . Ch oos e one th at w ill allow you to e as ily ide ntify it e g: m rm ondays -de s k top.

As you can im agine , partitioning your h ard dis k is h arde r in a non-graph ical ins talle r, s o you ne e d to be care ful to s e le ct th e righ t option. As you are us ing an old PC, as long as you h ave tak e n all th e im portant data off it, you s h ould be OK to re m ove W indow s , but if you w ould lik e to dual boot you ne e d to tak e m ore care . I h ad no ne e d to be care ful, s o I w e nt for “Guide d – us e e ntire dis k ”, but you s h ould ch oos e th e re le vant option.

You can alw ays go back , if you de cide th at you pick e d th e w rong option (do th is be fore partitioning!) Th e ne xt s cre e n as k s w h ich dis k you w ould lik e to e ras e (if you ch os e th e s am e option as m e ).

Be fore th e ins talle r allow s you to m ak e any ch ange s , it confirm s w h at you w ant to do.

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You s h ould h ave at le as t tw o partitions , one for root and one for s w ap. You could als o m ak e one for h om e , but th is is e as ie r to do th rough a GUI.Th e ins talle r w ill w rite th e ch ange s to th e dis k , th e n as k h ow it s h ould s e t up th e s ys te m clock . You can ch oos e h ow it doe s it, but it is e as ie s t to jus t go for UTC, and ch ange it late r.

Th e ne xt th ing th e ins talle r as k s , is about us e r accounts . At th e s cre e n, e nte r your full nam e , th e n continue to th e ne xt s cre e n. Ch oos e your us e rnam e , th e n your pas s w ord, th e n ve rify it, s o it k now s you h ave e nte re d it corre ctly.

Th e ins talle r w ill th e n ins tall your s ys te m , but be w arne d: your input is s till ne e de d! Part w ay th rough , it w ill as k you to configure th e X Se rve r. You can jus t h it

continue , if you don't w ant to s e t it up.

It w ill te ll you it is com ple te , th e n you s h ould re m ove th e dis k , and re s tart your com pute r.At th e login s cre e n, e nte r th e de tails you e nte re d e arlie r to log on. You w ill be le ft w ith a graph ical us e r inte rface , w h ich is fully up to date , and capable w ith anyth ing you th row at it.

Congratulations on re s urre cting your old PC! H ave fun!

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HH OO WW -- TTOOW ritte n by M att H oy

Th e tim e h as com e for m e to re ve al e xactly h ow to ach ie ve a s tunning de s k top layout from a fre s h Ubuntu ins tall. It’s not actually th at h ard, and you’ll only ne e d one pie ce of additional s oftw are .

Th e re s pons e I got w h e n I pos te d th e de s k top in th e im age above w as h uge . Around 10 e m ails pe r day floode d in for w e e k s , as k ing e xactly h ow I ach ie ve d th at look . And, e ve ryone w h o as k e d w as give n a q uick guide I w rote up in a fe w s e conds , or a: “ s orry, I’ll w rite back late r” be caus e I w as too bus y. Now , th e tim e h as com e for m e to re ve al e xactly h ow to ach ie ve th is de s k top layout from a fre s h Ubuntu ins tall. It’s not actually th at h ard, and you’ll only ne e d one pie ce of additional s oftw are . Ste p One Re m ove th e top pane l, by s im ply righ t click ing in an e m pty s pace (us ually be tw e e n th e “Sys te m ” m e nu and th e Clock on a fre s h ins tall) and ch oos ing “De le te th is pane l” on th e m e nu th at appe ars . Now righ t click th e bottom pane l and click “Ne w Pane l” s o you ge t an e m pty, fre s h one . So you’ll h ave one e m pty pane l, and one bottom one . De le te th e bottom one us ing th e s am e m e th od as

th e top, and drag your ne w pane l to th e bottom of th e s cre e n. Now , you’ll h ave a back ground im age and th e conte nts of your de s k top, w ith an e m pty bottom pane l. Now , righ t click th at pane l, and ch oos e “Prope rtie s ”. Ente r th e “Back ground” tab and ch oos e “Solid Color” now , click th e color s pe cifie d autom atically in orde r to ch ange it, and w h e re you can s pe cify a h e x code in th e “Color Nam e :” are a, type /pas te : “#EFEBE7". Click “OK” Drag th e trans pare ncy s lide r s o it’s above th e “ s par” part of trans pare nt. Now , alte r trans pare ncy to s uit your ne e ds , and click “Clos e ” Ste p Tw o Righ t click your ne w , trans pare nt pane l and ch oos e “Add to Pane l… ” Scroll th rough th e icons th at appe ar in th e popup and click /drag th e m to th e follow ing place s : * “Main Me nu” drag out of th e w indow onto th e far le ft of th e pane l. * “W ork s pace Sw itch e r” s h ould th e n be h ard up agains t th e righ t s ide of th e m ain m e nu (to m ak e it s m alle r, righ t click th e s w itch e r once it’s on th e pane l, and ch oos e pre fe re nce s . Th e n, m ak e s ure it s ays “2 row s ” ins te ad of “1 row s ”) * “W indow Lis t” can th e n be place d h ard up agains t th e righ t e dge of th e W ork s pace Sw itch e r.

SSIIMM PPLLYY SSTTUUNNNNIINNGGUUBBUUNNTTUU DD EESSKK TTOO PP

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* “Clock ” can go into th e far righ t corne r * “Volum e Control” agains t th e le ft e dge of th e clock * “Ne tw ork Monitor” agains t th e le ft e dge of th e volum e * “Notification Are a” agains t th e le ft e dge of th e Ne tw ork MonitorOnce you’re h appy w ith th e layout of th e pane l, righ t click e ve ryth ing you’ve adde d to it and click “Lock to Pane l” to pre ve nt accide ntal dragging w h e n click ing. Ste p Th re e Now I’m corre ct in th ink ing you’ve got a trans pare nt pane l w ith your icons laid out oh -s o-w e ll. H ow e ve r, you’re m is s ing “Tras h ” on th at bottom bar, re m e m be r? And you’ll w ant “Com pute r” up th e re in th e top corne r too. Now , th e re are e as y w ays of doing th is , and h ard w ays of doing th is . I’ll s h are th e e as ie s t one I k now . Dow nload and ins tall th e .de b file : h ttp://w w w .ge tde b.ne t/ge tde b.ph p?file =gnom e - h ide s e e k _ 0.6.0- 1ge tde b1_ i386.de b Once you’ve ins talle d th e file , click your ne w m ain m e nu in th e bottom le ft corne r, click “Sys te m Tools ” and ch oos e “GNOME H ide and Se e k ”, an application th at le ts you configure s om e of th e h idde n s e cre ts in Ubuntu. Click “De s k top” in th e le ft m e nu of th e H ide and Se e k w indow th at ope ns , th e n click th e “ Icons ” tabs . Mak e s ure th e boxe s of “Com pute r icon vis ible on de s k top” and “W as te bas k e t vis ible on de s k top” are tick e d. (W as te bas k e t m ay als o be calle d tras h , de le te d ite m s , e tc. de pe nding on th e language s e ttings and ve rs ion of your Ubuntu s e tup)

As s ign nam e s if re q uire d, or le ave as Com pute r and W as te bas k e t (I pre fe r “Tras h ”) and clos e th e w indow . H e ad to th e de s k top, and m ove th e ne w icons to w h e re you w is h . Ste p Four To m ak e your te rm inal w indow trans pare nt, as s h ow n in th e s cre e n s h ot above , s im ply ope n a te rm inal w indow “Me nu/Applications > Acce s orie s > Te rm inal” click “Edit” and ch oos e “Curre nt Profile … ” In th e w indow th at appe ars , click th e “Effe cts ” tab, and look at th e bottom for th e trans pare ncy s lide r, w h e re you can adjus t th e trans pare ncy to s uit your ne e ds .Ste p Five Th at’s it! Once you’ve ch os e n a s im ilar w allpape r (th e one in th e s cre e ns h ot above can be found w h e n ins talling Kubuntu, or can be dow nloade d from h ttp://w w w .file h ive .com /file s/0119 /soft-gre e n.jpg) your de s k top s h ould look as good as m ine did back th e n. Ple as e le ave a com m e nt le tting m e k now h ow you got on, or w h e th e r th is guide h e lpe d you. H ope fully you s h ould h ave no proble m s follow ing th e s e s im ple ins tructions but if you do, s im ply m e ntion in a com m e nt w h at e rror/proble m you’re ge tting to and I’ll ge t righ t on to h e lping you.

9 full circle - #3 - July 2007

HH OO WW -- TTOO UUBBUUNNTTUU FFOO RRPPHH OO TTOO GGRRAAPPHH YYW ritte n by Sh ay Ste ph e ns

As a w e dding ph otograph e r com ing from a long and h e avy W indow s back ground, I w as n't ve ry flue nt or capable w ith Linux w h e n I firs t s tarte d inve s tigating it las t ye ar. I trie d out a lot of ve rs ions until I cam e to Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu w as th e firs t ve rs ion of Linux th at w ork e d on both m y de s k top and laptop, and th at s e ale d th e de al for m e . I th e n be gan dual booting be tw e e n Ubuntu and W indow s XP. And little by little , I s tarte d m oving m ore and m ore w ork ove r to Ubuntu until one day late De ce m be r 2006 w h e n I ins talle d a ne w s ound card in m y de s k top, W indow s de cide d it didn't lik e th at, and told m e I h ad to ge t pe rm is s ion from Micros oft to k e e p us ing m y com pute r. W e ll I got tire d of doing th at all th e tim e , and can't re ally afford th e unre liability th is introduce s into m y com pute r, s o I de nie d W indow s ' de m and, and ins te ad back e d up all m y data be fore th e 3-day s h ut-off date e xpire d. Th e s w itch ove r w as com ple te , and I h ave not look e d back s ince . My s park ly ne w Linux com pute r now runs a s e m i-diffe re nt line up of s oftw are th an it did w ith W indow s : ins te ad of Adobe Bridge for e diting RAW file s , I us e Bibble Pro 4.9 .5; ins te ad of running Ne ro to burn CD's and DVD's , I us e a program calle d K3b. Th e re are a fe w W indow s -bas e d program s I s till ne e d to run for lack of be tte r Linux-bas e d alte rnative s . Som e notable e xam ple s are Ph otos h op 7, Me m orie s OnTV, and Star W ars Je di Knigh t II, all of w h ich I am h appy to re port are w ork ing ve ry w e ll in a program calle d W ine . Th e m ak e rs of W ine de s cribe th e

Th e re is a w e alth of inform ation out th e re about e diting ph otograph s on W indow s and Mac platform s , but not s o m uch about Linux. So I h ope to re ctify th at h e re w ith inform ation th at m ay be be ne ficial to th e Linux-bas e d ph otograph e r or th os e s im ply conte m plating a m ove to Linux.

program as a W indow s com patibility laye r th at m ak e s th e W indow s bas e d program you w ant to run th ink it is running in W indow s . W ine s till is n't at th e 1.0 le ve l of com ple te ne s s , but it is clos e e nough now th at Ph otos h op 7 and m any oth e r W indow s -bas e d program s run ve ry w e ll. Th e firs t tas k for m e w h e n I m ade th e s w itch in ope rating s ys te m s w as to find a RAW e ditor I could us e . Righ t now th at e ditor is Bibble Pro 4.9 .5 from Bibble Labs . It took m e a little bit of tim e to ge t us e d to th e inte rface and w ays of accom plis h ing tas k s (com ing from an Adobe back ground), but I h ave be e n ultim ate ly able to do all m y RAW w ork w ith Bibble as e fficie ntly as I did w ith Adobe Bridge . Th e nice th ing about Bibble is th at it runs on W indow s , Mac, and Linux platform s s o you re ally h ave th e m os t fre e dom to us e w h ich e ve r s ys te m you w ant. If you th ink you m ay w ant to s w itch ope rating s ys te m s , you can s tart us ing Bibble now on W indow s to

Black and w h ite im age conve rs ion in Bibble Pro

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ge t fam iliar w ith it, th e n w h e n you m ak e th e s w itch , you are ligh t ye ars ah e ad of th e le arning curve w h e n you us e Bibble in Linux. Som e of th e program h igh ligh ts in addition to s tandard RAW e diting are s pot h e aling and patch ing, Nois e Ninja, le ns dis tortion corre ction, vigne tte control and B& W conve rs ions . Th e Bibble s upport forum s are ve ry h e lpful too and th e re are various h ow -to's , docum e ntation, and vide os to h e lp out th e ne w com e r to Bibble . Don't be s h y about s igning up for th e forum , th e y w ill tre at you w e ll. Th e Nois e Ninja capability in Bibble is lim ite d if you don't h ave a Nois e Ninja lice ns e , but if you do h ave one , or purch as e th e H om e Standalone ve rs ion, th e n all th e fe ature s ope n up for us e . Jus t be aw are to us e Nois e Ninja s paringly, as it w ill re ally s low th ings dow n if you apply Nois e Ninja to e ve ry ph oto in th e folde r you are w ork ing on. Th e de ve lopm e nt of Bibble is ve ry active and us e ful fe ature s are be ing adde d all th e tim e . Th e price is affordable too, curre ntly $129 .9 5 for th e Pro ve rs ion and $69 .9 5 for th e Lite ve rs ion. Anoth e r inte re s ting RAW e diting program th at jus t e nte re d m y radar is Ligh tZ one , w h ich h as a ve ry uniq ue inte rface th at com bine s th e ide a of th e z one s ys te m and corre ction laye rs . It can als o do s pot h e aling and cloning. It is lack ing a fe w k e y fe ature s for m e , but th e y s ay th e ne xt update or tw o w ill lik e ly tak e care of th at. Ligh tZ one fe e ls e as y and intuitive to us e once you be com e fam iliar w ith th e tools th at are available . Th e inte rface , as you can s e e h as a s im ple layout and doe s n't ge t in th e w ay. And ye t, a ph otograph e r can s tack up a ve ry com plicate d s e t of adjus tm e nts and corre ctions to e ach

ph oto. Many us e rs w ill be able to us e it as is righ t now for all th e ir ne e ds .

If I w e re to try and de s cribe Ligh tZ one in one w ord it w ould be "organic". It is one of th os e program s th at jus t fe e ls lik e it is not s o te ch nical and m e ch aniz e d but m ore analog, fuz z y and natural. Not in a bad w ay m ind you, but m ore in th e s e ns e th at th e re s ults you ge t h ave m ore of a h and-crafte d look and fe e l to th e m as if you w e re cre ating th e im age s in a dark room by h and. Be w are , once you try th e program you m ay ge t h ook e d by it! Th e Linux ve rs ion is curre ntly be ing offe re d at no cos t. Th e W indow s and Mac ve rs ions cos t $249 .9 5 for th e full ve rs ion and $149 .9 5 for th e bas ic ve rs ion.W h e n it com e s to cre ating s lide s h ow s in Linux, no native Linux applications re ally s tand up and s ay "Us e m e !". So th e one I am us ing righ t now is a W indow s bas e d program calle d Me m orie s OnTV 3.1.8 from Code Jam . It h as re ce ntly s tarte d w ork ing via W ine and I am cre ating s om e ve ry nice s lide s h ow s w ith it. Me m orie s OnTV is als o in active de ve lopm e nt, s o it pays to ch e ck th e w e bs ite e ve ry now and again to s e e if th e re are any update s . Bug fixe s and th e occas ional adde d fe ature find th e ir w ay into m os t update s , th e late s t be ing "clips h ow s " and "m ultiple s lide s ".

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Th e bas ics of th e program are s im ple and pre tty s traigh tforw ard. You add th e ph otos you w ant, th e n apply m us ic and trans itions as de s ire d, th e n re nde r th e vide o. Th e re are a lot of options and cus tom is ations allow e d, s o you can tailor th e s lide s h ow to be as s im ple and e le gant as you w ant or as flas h y and glitz y as your e ye s can h andle . Me m orie s OnTV can be purch as e d from th e Code Jam w e bs ite and cos ts $79 .9 9 for th e Pro ve rs ion and $49 .9 9 for th e H om e ve rs ion.

You can ge ne rate a dis k im age w ith Me m orie s OnTV and us e K3b to burn it to a DVD. If you are us ing a s e parate DVD auth oring program , you can h ave Me m orie s OnTV jus t ge ne rate m pg file s ins te ad. I us e a DVD auth oring program calle d 'Q' DVD-Auth or, s o I opt for th e m pg file ge ne ration. 'Q' DVD-Auth or is a bit finick y to us e , s o I am not ye t re com m e nding it for ge ne ral us e . Alth ough if you w ant com ple te control of th e DVD m e nu s tructure and layout, it is your be s t be t and w e ll w orth th e e ffort to le arn to us e it. K3b (th e CD/DVD burning program ) jus t re ce ntly m ade th e 1.0 le ve l (congratulations to th e m ) and it is th e only Linux burning program th at I k now of th at offe rs data ve rification, s om e th ing I pe rs onally can't live w ith out. K3b re ally is th e be s t Linux bas e d burning program I h ave us e d and h as be e n a gre at

re place m e nt for th e W indow s bas e d Ne ro w h ich w as m y m ain burning application in W indow s . Inte re s tingly, th e re is a Linux ve rs ion of Ne ro calle d Ne roLinux, but it h as n't w ork e d as w e ll as K3b for m e and ce rtainly doe s n't look as nice as K3b. Ne roLinux look s lik e a th row back to th e s tone -age of com puting (10 ye ars ago!) - I k now th at is pe tty, but th e re it is . If you are not as pe tty as I am and w ant to us e Ne roLinux de s pite its front e nd, you can do s o w ith out ch arge if you alre ady h ave a Ne ro lice nce : jus t e nte r your k e y into Ne roLinux and aw ay you go. If you don't h ave a k e y, you can buy one for $19 .9 9 from th e Ne roLinux w e bpage . I m e ntione d us ing Ph otos h op 7 via W ine . Th e re are Linux alte rnative s to Ph otos h op 7 s uch as Gim p, Krita, e tc, but th e te xt layout capability is curre ntly ve ry prim itive in th os e program s . So w h e n I ne e d to cre ate DVD box art, ph oto book s , e tc, I s till ne e d to re ly on Ph otos h op 7 to ge t it done e fficie ntly. For e ve ryday ph oto e diting, Gim p, Krita, and th e oth e rs do a ve ry good job, and th e upcom ing ve rs ion 2.4 of Gim p w ill h ave a h e aling brus h and oth e r gre at tools you m ay be us e d to from Ph otos h op. I am curre ntly us ing Gim p to batch proce s s m y full-s iz e im age s into w e b-s iz e d ve rs ions th at I can upload to m y w e bs ite . If you h ave pre vious ly be e n us ing th e s cripting capability of Ph otos h op, you w ill e njoy th e ability to cre ate s cripting in Gim p too as th e autom ation capabilitie s re ally s h ine w h e n unde r s cripting control. More about th at th ough in a late r article . Until th e n, ch e ck out th e Re s ource Re pos itory for link s to th e com panie s and products m e ntione d in th is article . If you h ave q ue s tions or com m e nts you can s e nd th e m to m e via : h ttp://w w w .s h ays te ph e ns .com /contact.ph p

12full circle - #3 - July 2007

HH OO WW -- TTOOW ritte n by Ronnie Tuck e r

PART 3

Anyone w h o h as us e d Ope nOffice e xte ns ive ly w ill k now h ow tim e cons um ing it can be s e le cting ch unk s of te xt, applying bold, s crolling dow n, s e le cting m ore te xt, m aybe ch anging th e font type , font s iz e and s o on. W ith in Scribus w e can s e t up 'Paragraph Style s ' for te xt, for now , th ink of a paragraph s tyle as jus t be ing a s h ortcut th at w ill do m os t of th e w ork for you. Le t's cre ate a paragraph s tyle . H e re 's m y docum e nt from las t m onth .

Now in th e Scribus m e nu ch oos e Edit > Paragraph Style s

In th is th ird article in th e Scribus s e rie s w e w ill dis cus s form atting te xt and cre ating 'paragraph s tyle s ' w h ich w ill allow us to form at te xt q uick ly and e as ily at th e click of a m ous e button.

Th is w indow allow s us to cre ate - and e dit - paragraph s tyle s th at w e w ill us e in our docum e nt. Click Ne w .

From th is w indow w e can e dit all of th e s tyle s prope rtie s . Eve ryth ing from font s tyle , dis tance be tw e e n paragraph line s , bold, italic, paragraph orie ntation and colour. H ave a play around w ith th e s e ttings to ge t a paragraph s tyle you lik e :

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Ok , I've pick e d a rath e r garis h look ing font, orie ntation and colouring but it's to m ak e it s tand out m ore in th e s cre e ns h ots , you w ould obvious ly ch oos e s om e th ing a bit m ore ple as ing on th e e ye ! W ith your s tyle ch os e n, it's tim e to s ave it. At th e top of th e w indow you'll s e e a te xt e ntry box th at curre ntly s ays 'Ne w Style ' in h e re type a m e aningful nam e . I'll call m ine 'im portant' and I'll us e it for im portant te xt. And click OK. And th e re it s h ow s in our lis t of Paragraph Style s .

And click ok to s afe ly clos e th at w indow . Now th e im portant th ing about Paragraph Style s is th at it w ork s on paragraph s . I h ate to s tate th e obvious but as you can s e e in our docum e nt s o far: th e re are no paragraph s . So to add s om e paragraph s I'll e dit th e te xt and add a fe w carriage re turns (Ente r k e y)

You can s e e I h ave a de finite paragraph in th e righ t colum n, s o for th is e xam ple I w ant to m ak e th at paragraph h ave a diffe re nt s tyle from th e re s t of th e te xt. Norm ally I'd h ave to s e le ct th e block of te xt to alte r th e font type , s iz e and s o on, but not now ! W e h ave a paragraph s tyle re ady to do all th e w ork for us . To apply our s tyle to our paragraph w e s im ply double click on our te xt box (to be gin e diting it) and place our flas h ing curs or w ith in th e paragraph w e w ant to apply th e s tyle to. In th e Prope rtie s w indow , click th e Te xt tab. You'll s e e a dropdow n m e nu title d Style , click w h e re it s ays No Style or on th e dow n arrow and you'll s e e your paragraph s tyle .

Click th e nam e of your paragraph s tyle and your paragraph w ill s udde nly tak e on th e prope rtie s of your paragraph s tyle . You can als o click once on a colum n and

14full circle - #3 - July 2007

apply a paragraph s tyle to th e e ntire colum n.

Th e oth e r good th ing about Paragraph Style s is th at any ch ange s you m ak e to th e s tyle is autom atically applie d to anyw h e re th at s tyle is applie d w ith in your docum e nt! If I do Edit > Paragraph Style s , click m y s tyle nam e and click on th e Edit button and ch ange a fe w th ings :

Click OK to acce pt th os e ch ange s , and click OK to clos e th e Paragraph Style s w indow ... Voila! It autom atically ch ange s all ins tance s of th at paragraph s tyle !

Play around w ith all th e options in th e Paragraph Style s w indow as it m ak e s a big diffe re nce to your layout. A lot of publications e ffe ctive ly us e a blank line afte r e ach line of te xt (to m ak e for e as ie r re ading) s o e dit your line s pacing to about th e h e igh t of your te xt to ge t th at e ffe ct. Som e publications w ill h ave th e ir w ords s pre ad out to cove r th e full w idth of th e colum n w h ich can look good but can als o fail m is e rably if your las t line only h as th re e s h ort w ords and th e y are s pre ad our acros s a w ide are a s o be care ful w ith th at. Paragraph Style s are a gre at tim e s ave r and you w ill ne e d th e m w ith in your publication for various type s of te xt. For e xam ple : on th is page th at you're re ading now , it h as a paragraph s tyle for th e s m all introductory te xt (at th e top of th e page ) and a s tyle for th e m ain body of th e article . Som e page s h ave a s tyle for th e s m all caption te xt unde r ph otograph s . Sim ilarly, to s tandardis e your colours w ith in th e publication you can cre ate Colour Style s , but w e 'll dis cus s th at in Part 4.

Ne xt m onth w e 'll look at Colour Style s . Th is allow s us to cre ate a s e t of colours w h ich w ill be us e d th rough out th e publication. It m e ans w e don't h ave to re m e m be r colour value s , a re al tim e s ave r!

15full circle - #3 - July 2007

RREEVVIIEEWWW ritte n by Luca De M arini

In m y local LUG m ailing lis t, late ly, one of m y frie nds as k e d, w ith out w illing to produce any flam e or ins ult, w h y on e arth do s o m any pe ople buy a m acbook to ins tall Ubuntu on it. H is q ue s tions w e re , bas ically: is th e cos t particularly conve nie nt com pare d to oth e rs laptops ? Doe s it h ave a s upe rior h ardw are ? Is th e h ardw are com patible w ith Linux? Le t's bring s om e ligh t into th is dark ne s s of doubts .

UUBBUUNNTTUU OO NN AAPPPPLLEE MM AACCBBOO OO KK

Price / QualityIn is s ue #2 of Full Circle Magaz ine w e re ad th e re vie w by Alan H ood of th e Sys te m 76 Darte r Laptop. I th ink th at th e Macbook can be com pare d dire ctly to th is product from Sys te m 76, s ince it is a ve ry s im ilar laptop in dim e ns ions and e ve n in look . So, jus t to be gin, both products can be bough t w ith a m inim al and ch e ap configuration or w ith a pow e rful and e xpe ns ive one . In th e follow ing table w e 'll com pare th e e ntry le ve l configuration of both s ys te m s . As you can s e e from th e table (ne xt page ), th e Macbook is gre atly s upe rior in a lot of dras tically im portant com pone nts s uch as th e CPU, H ard Dis c, Ram . Th e CPU alone w ould m ak e th e MacBook w in th is com paris on ch art but it als o h as double th e H D and Ram and th e s e are re ally im portant factors w h e n ch oos ing a laptop (You w ill not be able to upgrade th e CPU in th e future ). Th e s cre e n is anoth e r gre at point of th e MacBook . Eve n if it is of th e s am e s iz e and re s olution, th e s cre e n of a Mac is a s upe rior e xpe rie nce any w ay you look at it. Only s om e m ode ls of Sony Vaio can com pe te w ith th e q uality of a MacBook s cre e n, and w e k now th at Apple com pute rs are inte nde d principally for profe s s ional graph ic de s igne rs .Th e MacBook h as an inte grate d w e bcam too and th is is a gre at point if you

cons ide r th at w e 're talk ing about ve ry portable laptops , ofte n us e d for vide o confe re nce s . On th e oth e r h and, th e Darte r h as tw o im portant advantage s : a PCI Expre s s card s lot to ins tall, for e xam ple , an inte rne t conne ctivity card, and m uch m ore vide o m e m ory. Th e card re ade r is not a big goal, s ince th e re are a lot of USB card re ade rs around. And in th is vie w of th ings you could agre e w ith m e th at e ve n th e PCI Expre s s s lot, at th e e nd, is not all th at advantage : you can find alm os t any PCIMCIA card h ardw are in USB ve rs ion too. Th e MacBook doe s not h ave an S-Vide o out and th is could be a bad h andicap if you w ould lik e to conne ct it to a te le vis ion. Of cours e th e re are adapte rs available online . Anoth e r gre at advantage of th e Darte r is th e optical drive : th e e ntry le ve l ve rs ion of th e Macbook only h as a CD burne r and DVD re ade r w h ile th e Darte r h as a DVD burne r and th at's not a little diffe re nce .As a conclus ion w e can s ay th at th e Darte r cos ts too m uch for w h at it is in th e e ntry le ve l com paris on ch art. At alm os t th e s am e price , a MacBook is s o m uch fas te r, but it h as no DVD Burne r and th at is re ally th e only bad ne w s . If you w ant to be able to burn DVDs you h ave to buy th e Me dium Le ve l Macbook at a Full price of $1,29 9 .00 or $1,19 9 .00 for Stude nts plus all th e goodie s s uch as fre e Ipod, fre e printe r and s o on. And re m e m be r th at

16full circle - #3 - July 2007

K e y:Gre e n : th is com pone nt is s upe rior to th e one of th e oth e r com pute rRe d : th is com pone nt is s e rious ly infe rior com pare d to th e one of th e oth e r com pute rBlack : th is com pone nt is infe rior to th e one of th e oth e r com pute r but th at's not a big is s ue .Blue : th e tw o com pone nts are th e s am e , th e re 's no re al diffe re nce .

Syste m 76 Darte r LaptopEntry Le ve l m ode lProce s s or Spe e d: Ce le ron M 410 1.46GH z 1MB 533 FSBRam : 512 MB DDR2 667 MH zH D: 40 GB 5400 RPMOptical Drive : CD-RW / DVD-RW (Dual Laye r)Dis play: 13.3” W ide s cre e n W XGA (1280X800)Graph ics : Inte l GMA 9 50 224 MB Inte grate d Graph icsSound: Inte l H igh De finition AudioNe tw ork ing: 10/100(LAN)W ire le s s : Inte l 802.11 abg & Blue toothCard Re ade r: 4 in 1 Card Re ade rExpans ion: PCI Expre s s Card Slot (34/54)Ports : VGA, 3x USB 2.0, Mic In, H e adph one Out, Fire W ire 139 4B, S-Vide oW e bcam : NonePrice : $9 9 5.00

Apple M acBookEntry Le ve l m ode lProce s s or Spe e d: 2.0GH z Inte l Core 2 DuoRam : 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM – 2x512H D: 80GB Se rial ATA @ 5400 rpmOptical Drive : Com bo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW )Dis play: 13.3-inch (vie w able ) glos s y W ide s cre e n 1280 x 800 pixe lsGraph ics : Inte l GMA 9 50 graph ics proce s s or w ith 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM s h are dSound: Inte grate dNe tw ork ing: 10/100(LAN)W ire le s s : AirPort Extre m e Card & Blue toothCard Re ade r: NoneExpans ion: NonePorts : VGA, 2x USB 2.0, Mic In, H e adph one Out, Fire W ire 139 4BW e bcam : Inte grate dPrice : $1,118.00, Stude nts : $9 9 9 .00 w ith a fre e Ipod Nano

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th is Me dium Le ve l ve rs ion of th e MacBook is re ally a m ons te r in pe rform ance and com pone nt q uality.Now le t's com pare th e tw o be s t ve rs ions of both com pute rs , cus tom iz e d to be th e m os t ble e ding e dge as pos s ible . So at th is point th ings ch ange a little . Th e Darte r h as a s ligh tly fas te r CPU but h as le s s RAM and h alf th e h ard drive s pace . For th e re s t of th e com pone nts , e ve ryth ing is th e s am e as in th e Entry Le ve l com paris on ch art e xce pt th at th e MacBook of cours e catch e s up th e Darte r w ith th e DVD dual laye r Burne r. But th e price of th e MacBook com pare d to th e q uality and pow e r of th e include d com pone nts is w h at m ak e s th e re al diffe re nce . You can s e e from th is ch art above th at th e re 's at le as t a $347.00 diffe re nce of price h e re ! Th e MacBook is ch e ape r and m ore pow e rful in e ve ry com pone nt e xce pt th e CPU (and s om e acce s s orie s ) but th e gam e is n't ove r ye t.Look and De s ignAs w e can s e e from th e ph otograph s , th e Darte r h as a s im ilar look to th e Apple MacBook . Both are e le gant, w ith a w h ite color and tiny dim e ns ions . If w e lik e th is k ind of particulars , th e Darte r h as vis ible s pe ak e r w h ich m ay be a nice ch oice or a bad one , de pe nding on your tas te s .W e re ad in th e Darte r Re vie w (in Full Circle Magaz ine Is s ue #2) th at th e gray le tte ring on th e k e ys is m aybe too ligh t to be corre ctly us e d. Th is proble m is not s o e vide nt in th e MacBook s e rie s as th e le tte ring is gray, but dark e nough to le t you dis tinguis h e ach le tte r be tte r. As for th e s tylis h as pe ct of th e MacBook , I gue s s th e re are s om e cool advantage s s uch as th e lum ine s ce nt Apple logo and th e puls ing w h ite ligh t w h e n th e com pute r is in s tandby and th is brings us to th e ne xt ch apte r of th is re vie w .

H ardw are Com patibilityTh e Darte r h as a lot of h ardw are is s ue s w ith Ubuntu. For s om e com pone nts you'll ne e d to do s om e h ard w ork to h ave Ubuntu run corre ctly and s om e oth e r com pone nts jus t w on't w ork . Th e w ors t as pe ct of th e Darte r is th e s us pe nd fe ature not w ork ing in Ubuntu. As I alre ady s aid, w e 're talk ing about ve ry portable laptops h e re and th e s us pe nd fe ature is re ally a m us t-h ave in m y opinion. H ow can you corre ctly us e a laptop of th is k ind if you cannot jus t clos e th e m onitor and m ove w ith it going autom atically in s le e p m ode ? W e ll, th e Macbook h as no h ardw are is s ue w ith Ubuntu, but th e re is s om e s ligh t configuration ne e de d. W h e n you ins tall Ubuntu Fe is ty on a MacBook you notice th at th e re s olution is ve ry low , th e re 's no w ire le s s , s us pe nd doe s not w ork and a fe w fire balls w ill fall from th e s k y dire ctly to your h ous e . But th e re is an e as y guide in th e Ubuntu W e bSite : h ttp://h e lp.ubuntu.com /com m unity/MacBookW ith in th e h our you'll h ave e ve ry s ingle pie ce of h ardw are w ork ing pe rfe ctly, including a w onde rful s us pe nd fe ature (w ith no bug, pe rfe ctly w ork ing, jus t clos e th e m onitor lid and Ubuntu w ill s tart s le e ping, ope n it up again and it w ill im m e diate ly w ak e up, jus t lik e w ith Apple OSX), gre at s cre e n re s olution, full ope n s ource w i-fi s upport, blue tooth and e ve ryth ing e ls e you'd e ve r ne e d. One of th e m os t incre dible facts about th e h ardw are of a MacBook is th at e ve ry s ingle fe ature w ill w ork w ith out th e ne e d of proprie tary drive rs only ope n s ource s oftw are ! Th e MacBook is probably a laptop w ith s om e of th e gre ate s t Ubuntu com patibility around. You jus t h ave to configure it a little !Th e MacBook is als o q uie t, and it ne ve r h e ate d up once w h ile us ing it. So e ve n

18full circle - #3 - July 2007

Syste m 76 Darte r LaptopBe st Ve rs ion M ode lProce s s or Spe e d: Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GH z 4MB 667FSB Ram : 1.5 GB DDR2 667 MH z H D: 100 GB 5400 RPMOptical Drive : CD-RW / DVD-RW (Dual Laye r)Dis play: 13.3” W ide s cre e n W XGA (1280X800)Graph ics : Inte l GMA 9 50 224 MB Inte grate d Graph icsSound: Inte l H igh De finition AudioNe tw ork ing: 10/100(LAN)W ire le s s : Inte l 802.11 abg & Blue toothCard Re ade r: 4 in 1 Card Re ade rExpans ion: PCI Expre s s Card Slot (34/54)Ports : VGA, 3x USB 2.0, Mic In, H e adph one Out, Fire W ire 139 4B, S-Vide oW e bcam : NonePrice : $1,9 02.00

Apple M acBookBe st Ve rs ion M ode lProce s s or Spe e d: 2.0GH z Inte l Core 2 DuoRam : 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM – 2x1GBH D: 200GB Se rial ATA @ 4200 rpmOptical Drive : Supe rDrive 8x (DVD± R DL/DVD± RW /CD-RW )Dis play: 13.3-inch (vie w able ) glos s y W ide s cre e n 1280 x 800 pixe lsGraph ics : Inte l GMA 9 50 graph ics proce s s or w ith 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM s h are dSound: Inte grate dNe tw ork ing: 10/100(LAN)W ire le s s : AirPort Extre m e Card & Blue toothCard Re ade r: NoneExpans ion: NonePorts : VGA, 2x USB 2.0, Mic In, H e adph one Out, Fire W ire 139 4BW e bcam : Inte grate dPrice : Full $1,649 .00, Stude nts : $1,514.00 w ith a fre e Ipod Nano include d.

th e cooling s ys te m w ork s nice ly w ith Ubuntu, e ve n w ith Be ryl / Com piz activate d. And I alw ays h ave Com piz Fus ion activate d.Anoth e r advantage of a MacBook : it can boot Apple OSX! OSX is , in m y opinion, th e be s t proprie tary Ope rating Sys te m around and it is ne e de d by Arch ite cts lik e m e to run s om e ne ce s s ary CAD s oftw are (s uch as Arch icad) not available for Linux

and too s low on W indow s . So if you are a profe s s ional you m ay w ant to h ave OSX in dual boot w ith Ubuntu. Dual Booting is ve ry s im ple us ing BootCam p (s e e m y Ubuntu Fe is ty on a Mini Mac Guide / Re vie w in FullCricle Magaz ine Is s ue #2) but you m ay find s om e is s ue if you try advance d configurations , s o I'll w rite a guide about it, s tay tune d. W h ile booting Ubuntu w ith

19full circle - #3 - July 2007

55//55

W indow s m ay not m ak e a lot of s e ns e (e s pe cially now th at w e can partially virtualiz e 3D h ardw are acce le ration th ank s to VMGL) it doe s m ak e a lot of s e ns e booting it w ith OSX (w e can't e ve n corre ctly virtualiz e OSX ye t). Th e h ard drive is re ally h uge in alm os t any MacBook ve rs ion, s o, dualbooting is s im ple and conve nie nt!SupportW e h ave to re m e m be r th at Apple s upports MacBook s only w ith OSX ins talle d and doe s not s upport th e ins tallation of Ubuntu dire ctly. So you cannot ph one or e m ail Apple if you h ave is s ue s w ith Ubuntu in your MacBook ! Th is doe s n't look to m e as a big de al th ough and you s h ouldn't be w orrie d about it at all. In Ubuntu Forum s th e re 's an e ntire cate gory de dicate d to Inte l Mac Us e rs , fille d w ith w is e pe ople re ady and w illing to h e lp you w ith any q ue s tion! Th is is a re ally big com m unity s upport advantage .Conclus ions and RatingTh e MacBook is probably th e be s t s ys te m around at th e m om e nt if you w ant to run Ubuntu on a laptop. It is q uie t and ne ve r ove rh e ats , it is pow e rful and e ye candy e ffe cts s uch as Be ryl or Com piz Fus ion w ill w ork pe rfe ctly w ith no s low dow n at all in any s ituation. Th e com patibility w ith s us pe nd is s om e th ing th at de s e rve s a s pe cial m e ntion and it is th is th at m ak e s th e MacBook jum p k ilom e te rs ah e ad its com pe titors and re m e m be r th at e ach pe ace of h ardw are w ill w ork w ith full ope n s ource drive r s upport!Th e price com pare d to th e pow e r and q uality of th e h ardw are is th e low e s t around and it als o h as Mac OSX inte grate d w h ich give s you anoth e r gre at ch oice opportunity. It can run Ubuntu, W indow s (any ve rs ion) and Mac OSX, th e w ide s t ch oice of Ope rating Sys te m s

available on th e m ark e t (of cours e you can ins tall any oth e r Ope rating Sys te m s you lik e s uch as Ope n Solaris , BSD, e ct., s ince it is an Inte l bas e d com pute r). you'll h ardly m is s th e PCMCIA s lot, be lie ve m e , w h y w ould you e ve r ne e d it afte r all?And did I m e ntion th at e ve n th e built-in w e bcam w ork s flaw le s s ly w ith Ubuntu? You can us e it for e xam ple w ith Ek iga or w ith Gnom e Ch e e s e (Sim ilar to OSX Ph oto Booth ). I've be e n re ally ple as e d w ith th is laptop and ne ve r found a proble m w ith it. Don't be s care d about th e dim e ns ions of th e s cre e n: e ve n if it is only a 13.5'', th e h igh re s olution and pe rfe ct com bination of ligh t, contras t, colors , re fle ction pre ve ntion m ak e s it a pe rfe ct w ork s tation and re m e m be r th at you can e as ily conne ct it to an e xte rnal m onitor, if you w ant. A large num be r of pe ople ch oos e a MacBook as th e pe rfe ct h ardw are for Ubuntu, th ink about it, th e price is re ally w orth th e gain.

Price / Quality

Look & De s ign

H ardw are Com patibility

Support

Advantage s & Gadge ts

OVERALL

Sum m ary : Th e MacBook is probably th e be s t ch oice for q uality / price w ith a laptop of th e s e dim e ns ions . Its h ardw are w ork s pe rfe ctly w ith Ubuntu us ing only Ope n Source drive rs , e ve n s us pe nd w ork s . It h as an inte grate d w e bcam and can run OSX, plus it is a ve ry robus t and s tylis h com pute r and its h ardw are is ble e ding e dge . Alth ough th e m iddle e ntry ve rs ion m ay be th e be s t ch oice for m os t us e rs .

20full circle - #3 - July 2007

PPRREEVVIIEEWWW ritte n by Ale x

CCOO MM PPIIZZFFUUSSIIOO NN

Firs t, th e re w as Com piz it w as h igh ly s table and am az e d us e rs w ith its w obbly w indow s . Th e n cam e Be ryl, a fork of Com piz it focus e d it's e fforts on e ffe cts . Now th e tw o h ave joine d force s to give us th e be s t of both w orlds , th e s tability of Com piz w ith th e e ffe cts of Be ryl. Be h old: Com piz Fus ion

Th e CubeTh e cube is a 3D re pre s e ntational vie w of your de s k top. It m aps out 4 (or m ore ) w ork s pace s onto a h uge 3D obje ct, and allow s you to drag your w indow s around it. Th is m ak e s it incre dibly e as y to m anage s aid w indow s , by h aving you im agine e xactly w h e re th e y are at. Th e m ind th ink s be tte r in 3D, s o w h y s h ould your com pute r be any diffe re nt?An e xte ns ion to th is plugin, e ve n th ough it is lis te d s e parate ly, is th e cube -rotate plugin. It allow s you to tak e your cube , and rotate it around and le t you vie w it from e ve ry angle and de tail. W ith th e s k y dom e e nable d, th is is an am az ing and bre ath tak ing e ffe ct. Not to m e ntion us e ful for s w itch ing be tw e e n w ork s pace s . One of th e coole s t e ffe ct adde d to Fus ion is th e Re fle ction. It proje cts an e xact re fle ction of th e cube onto an im aginary plane be low . It adds th e th e re alis m of Com piz , and is jus t gre at e ye candy.

ExpoTh e Expo Plugin is a re m ak e of th e w all plugin from Be ryl. Th e adde d bonus is th at it can be e nable d at th e s am e tim e as th e cube , be ing m appe d to m oving th e m ous e into th e uppe r le ft h and corne r by de fault. It allow s you to drag w indow s around on a 'w all' of your de s k tops . It's ve ry us e ful in ge tting a s om e w h at ae rial vie w of all your w indow s . Th e re fle ction plugin als o w ork s w e ll w ith it. Som e th ing fun to do is s tart up a m ovie , and at th e s am e tim e w atch a dow nload progre s s or w atch for incom ing IMs . Re ally, anoth e r be autiful e ffe ct.

21full circle - #3 - July 2007

Apologie s for th e m is s ing Colin W ats on inte rvie w , it'll be in #4, h one s t! K e e p th os e q ue s tions com ing!Ne xt m onth s inte rvie w e e w ill be none oth e r th an Colin W atson, Ins talle r Te am Le ade r, Ubuntu Com m unity Council Me m be r and Line Manage r for h alf th e dis tro te am !Ple as e e m ail your q ue s tions for Colin to: q ue stions@ fullcircle m agazine .org

All th e s e th ings toge th e r are jus t a part of w h at m ak e s Com piz Fus ion s o gre at. Th e s e are only th e m ain ne w plugins , and Fus ion is s till a w ork in progre s s . Als o, m os t of th e e ffe cts in Com piz Fus ion are anim ate d s o s tatic s cre e ns h ots re ally don't do th e e ffe cts jus tice . Th e y re ally do ne e d to be s e e n to be be lie ve d!If you're inte re s te d in te s ting out Com piz Fus ion and can't w ait for Guts y to com e out, as I couldn't, h e ad ove r to Ubuntu Forum s . Jus t be aw are th at Com piz Fus ion is still be ing w ork e d on, update d alm ost daily and you w ill at som e point s e e glitch e s , but don't be s care d, it is s till ve ry s table .W ith th e m e rge of Com piz and Be ryl, an am az ing ne w product is in th e w ork s . Com piz Fus ion brings w h at's gre at about Be ryl (th e e ffe cts ) and Com piz (s tability), th row s th e m toge th e r, e lim inate s m any of th e proble m s th at plague d th e m , and adds its ow n goodie s . Eve n in th is e arly s tage of de ve lopm e nt, Com piz Fus ion is m ore s table th an th e De s k top Effe cts include d w ith Ubuntu Fe is ty Faw n. It als o runs m uch s m ooth e r th an Be ryl, in te s ts up to 15 fram e s pe r s e cond fas te r on m y m ach ine . Th e ne w plugins give your de s k top a s m ooth fe e l, and a productive w ork s pace w ith as m any w ork s pace s as re q uire d. Com piz Fus ion is inde e d all it is h ype d up to be . And, as an adde d bonus : it w ill com e by de fault in Ubuntu 7.10, Gutsy Gibbon.To q uote Mark Sh uttle w orth : pre tty is a fe ature .

Fire PaintFe e l lik e le aving your fam ily a m e s s age , but out of s tick y note s or s pace on th e fridge ? Fire Paint is th e pe rfe ct s olution. W h o w ouldn't w ant to draw all ove r th e ir s cre e n in fire ? Provide s h ours of e nte rtainm e nt.

22full circle - #3 - July 2007

MM YY SSTTOO RRYY AA YYEEAARR WW IITTHH DD AAPPPPEERR DD RRAAKK EEW ritte n by Ste ve Th om pson

I firs t be gan us ing PCs on an old Am s trad PC1640 DOS 3 and 640k m e m ory, 30MB H D and a H e rcule s gre e n s cre e n graph ics card. Crappy k it, I agre e , but it gave m e a tas te for PC's and I w e nt on to build m y firs t 386, 486, P100, P166, Ce le ron 400 and curre nt W indow s box Ce le ron 2.4H Z s itting ne xt to a love ly 3.06GH Z Ce le ron Dappe r m ach ine .

W e ll, h e re 's m y s tory, I th ink th e firs t Dis tro I e ve r trie d w as Re d H at, dunno w h ich ve rs ion, but it w as about 12 plus ye ars ago, as m y firs t s on h ad not ye t arrive d on th e s ce ne . It ins talle d w ith a com m and-line inte rface as I re call -- not ve ry frie ndly. I dabble d w ith it on an old Ce le ron 233 for a fe w m onth s e ve ntually giving up as I couldn't ge t it to s e e any of m y h ardw are . My ne xt atte m pt w as Ope n Calde ra (W h at e ve r h appe ne d to th e m ?). Th is w as a w onde rful Ins talle r; you could play Te tris w h ile ins talling! It ins talle d pre tty w e ll, s e e ing m os t h ardw are , but it h ad a re ccurring proble m of all th e dis tros I trie d in th e 9 0's ... KDE w ork e d gre at, but w h e n I q uit th e gui w h e n s h utting dow n, or for oth e r re as ons , th e com m and-line totally corrupte d on th e s cre e n, and couldn't be re ad. You could s till type com m ands , and th e y w ould run, but noth ing inte lligible in th e te rm inal. Th is put an e nd to m y Linux e nde avours for s e ve ral ye ars , as a ne w baby m ade s uch de m ands upon m e , th at s le e p w as a m ore im portant is s ue th an crack ing th e te ch nicalitie s of Ope n Calde ra! My s e cond bite of th e Linux ch e rry w as th e Live dis tro Slax, a re ally nice Linux w h ich w as re le as e d as a Live CD only, but a lot of th e guys us ing it (including m e ) w e re ve ry k e e n to do a h ard dis k ins tall. Maybe I s h ould add at th is point th at I h ave w ork e d in Educational IT Support for 14 ye ars now and at m y las t job, w h e n I w as on th e H e lp De s k , th e re

w as a lot of tim e in front of a PC w h e n I w as n't doing m uch , and it w as a gre at e xcus e to play w ith a Linux Live CD! I fiddle d w ith Slax for about 18 m onth s on an old 733 Ce le ron I h ad libe rate d from a dus ty s tore cupboard into th e s h ining ligh t of a Linux ins tall. I h ad it running Pan for Em ail and Ne w s groups , a ve ry nice little program , ve ry s im ilar to Forte 's Age nt w h ich I h ad run in W indow s s ince W indow s 3.11. Th e bigge s t proble m I h ad on th e Slax box w as m y s h are d Inte rne t conne ction, w h ich I w as s h aring a dialup on th rough a s w itch box, but I w as us ing AnalogX's proxy program to s h are th e conne ction w ith m y s on's W indow s 3.11 m ach ine . Th is caus e d nigh tm are s as Pan didn't at all lik e us ing a proxy. Afte r playing w ith m any live CDs , I dow nloade d Dappe r, and re alis ing it w as n't a live CD, I s tuck it in m y office draw e r and forgot about it for a couple of m onth s . Finding m ys e lf w ith s om e tim e on m y h ands one w e e k e nd, I de cide d to ins tall Dappe r to an old 1.1 GH z AMD Duron I h ad k ick ing around afte r upgrading m y s on to a fas te r m ach ine . W ow ! I w as im pre s s e d! All th e h ardw are w as de te cte d, including s ound and vide o, and e ve n th e Inte rne t cam e s traigh t on courte s y of m y w ire d route r. Th at w as it, I h ad th e bug again big-tim e ! I s pe nt a lot of m y s pare tim e from th is m om e nt on tw e ak ing m y little Dappe r One Gig to m y h e arts conte nt. Afte r about four m onth s I de cide d it w as pe rfe ct apart from one

23full circle - #3 - July 2007

De m ocracy TV. Th at took s om e s e rious tw e ak ing and re q ue s ts to th e Ubuntu forum s to fix! I'm s till trying to ge t m y h e ad around us ing Cron to s ch e dule program s to run on a s ch e dule . Various pe ople h as s ugge s te d th ings to try, but th e s ch e dule s ne ve r k ick off. I'm th ink ing of th ing lik e De m ocracyTV and Ice podde r for all m y Podcas ts . W indow s s ch e dule r is SO m uch e as ie r – don't ne e d a brain to us e it, jus t a clock ! Ubuntu's (and oth e r dis tros ') bigge s t failing is s ound e diting. Afte r us ing Adobe Audition I found th e Linux e q uivale nts w e ak to s ay th e le as t. Audacity is a bas ic e ditor of audio file s , but is ligh t-ye ars be h ind Audition. I us e Moz illa Th unde rbird for e m ail on both W indow s and Dappe r, s o no com plaints th e re . I us e Fire fox in both , occas ionally along w ith Ope ra. Be e p Me dia playe r for m p3s , Ktorre nt for a nice s ch e dule able torre nt app, Kge t for us e w ith Flas h got cove rs m y cloning of m y W indow s program Ge trigh t and finally Vide o Lan Playe r for all m y vide o form at playing. So th at about s um s it up s o far for m e . If only th e y could m ak e cron a bit e as ie r to us e and w rite a re ally good audio e ditor, I could th row m y W indow s XP dis k into th e gam e s box along w ith all th e PS1 dis cs !

th ing – More pow e r Scottie ! Ye p, th at's righ t, I de cide d to build a de dicate d brand-ne w Linux Dappe r m ach ine and s o I did. I'm w riting th is s tory on it now . It's got a rath e r ch e apo As rock m oth e rboard £34.00 or s o, 3.06 Gh z Ce le ron – nice , h alf a gig m e m ory, 250MB h ard dis k , Aope n DVD ROM and Pione e r DVD w rite r. Vide o is an Onboard Inte l 82865 as th e rubbis h As rock m oth e rboard w ont tak e any AGP vide o card I h ave trie d – jus t w on't boot up. I've be e n trying to us e th e Dappe r m ach ine for e ve ryth ing I did on W indow s , and for th e m ain part, I th ink I've s ucce e de d. Vide o conve rs ion & VCD auth oring is be tte r th an W indow s applications allow e d; I alw ays got s om e drifting in th e s ync be tw e e n vide o and s ound in Tm pe gENC and Ne ro. H as n't be e n a proble m in Avide m ux & K3b. Th e re w e re s om e initial proble m s w ith flas h playe r in Fire fox as I h ad both th e Dappe r Re po ins tall and a m anually ins talle d late s t ve rs ion from Moz illa, it s e e m e d to w ant to ins tall flas h playe r to th e Dappe r ins tall rath e r th an m ine . I als o got an unre s olve d proble m w ith Java in Fire fox – and w h e n I did s om e force d upgrade s of Java runtim e librarie s , it k ille d one of m y favourite program s –

Ubuntu is a com m unity-de ve lope d ope rating s ys te m th at is pe rfe ct for laptops , de s k tops and s e rve rs . W h e th e r you us e it at h om e , at s ch ool or at w ork , Ubuntu contains all th e applications you'll e ve r ne e d, from w ord proce s s ing and e m ail applications to w e b s e rve r s oftw are and program m ing tools .Ubuntu is and alw ays w ill be fre e of ch arge . You do not pay any lice ns ing fe e s . You can dow nload, us e and s h are Ubuntu w ith your frie nds , fam ily, s ch ool or bus ine s s for abs olute ly noth ing.

24full circle - #3 - July 2007

UUBBUUNNTTUU YYOO UUTTHH

Th e future of Ope n Source is in th e Young Pe ople of today; th at's w h y th is corne r of th e m agaz ine is for young pe ople or s im ply th os e w h o are young at h e art.

Th e day th e m us ic die d... Or did it?Lis te ning to your m us ic or trans fe rring it to your MP3 playe r in Linux h as ne ve r be e n e as y. Th e lack of s upport for th ings lik e drive rs for your MP3 playe r or s ubs cription s e rvice s o you can dow nload your favourite m us ic h as put m any pe ople off us ing Linux, but i w ould lik e to tak e a fe w m inute s of your tim e to s h ow you th e alte rnative s available and th e progre s s th at is be ing m ade in th e com m unity.M P3 Playe r Com patibilityMany MP3 playe rs w ork fine and ide ntify as a Mas s Storage De vice ; th e s e include m os t of th e iPods and s om e ch e ape r MP3 playe rs , but m ode ls lik e Cre ative , Sam s ung, De ll and iRive r us e a protocol calle d MTP (Me dia Trans fe r Protocol) w h ich re q uire s libm tp to be ins talle d for your MP3 playe r to be re cognis e d. Som e MP3 playe rs w h ich re q uire libm tp:Cre ative Z e n Portable Me diaCe nte rCre ative Z e n MicroPh otoCre ative Z e n Vis ionCre ative Z e n Vis ion:MCre ative Z e n Sle e k Ph otoCre ative Z e n Xtra (MTP m ode )Cre ative Z e n Micro (MTP m ode )Cre ative Z e n Touch (MTP m ode )Cre ative Z e n Sle e k (MTP m ode )De ll Pock e t DJSam s ung YH - and YP- MTP playe rs

Online /Subscription M us ic Se rvice sOnce you h ave your MP3 Playe r w ork ing in Linux, you obvious ly w ant to trans fe r s om e m us ic to it; you s h ouldn't h ave any proble m s if you w ould only lik e to trans fe r m us ic track s from your CD's to your MP3 Playe r but if you w ant to dow nload your m us ic you w ill ne e d to find a com patible m us ic s e rvice . Se rvice s lik e iTune s , Naps te r, and Virgin Digital are n't com patible w ith Linux, and e ve n if th e y w e re , due to th e DRM e ncryption th e s e com panie s us e you w ould not be able to play th e m us ic dow nloade d on your Ubuntu m ach ine . Now , ne w com panie s are s tarting to e m e rge w h ich s upport Linux and are DRM e ncryption-fre e th e m os t w e ll-k now n is e Mus ic. e Mus ic offe rs DRM-fre e m us ic for £8.9 9 a m onth for 30 dow nloads but m any of th e artis ts available to dow nload are not m ains tre am .Anoth e r s e rvice (available only to th e US) and s upport Linux is Rh aps ody. Rh aps ody offe rs unlim ite d m us ic dow nloads for a m onth ly s ubs cription fe e but th e dow nloads are DRM-e ncrypte d s o can only be us e d on your MP3 playe r th e n playe d th rough your MP3 playe r. Mus ic in Linux h as continue d to im prove ove r th e las t couple of ye ars ; as m ore com panie s adopt th e Linux platform , w e s h ould s e e m ore com patible MP3 playe rs and m ore m us ic s ubs cription dow nload s e rvice s .

W ritte n by Sam ue l Barre tt

25full circle - #3 - July 2007

LLEETTTTEERRSS

Eve ry m onth w e lik e to publis h s om e of th e e m ails w e re ce ive . If you w ould lik e to s ubm it a le tte r for publication, e ve n if it's a com plim e nt or com plaint, ple as e e m ail it to: le tte rs @ fullcircle m agaz ine .org.PLEASE NOTE: som e le tte rs m ay be e dite d for space re asons.

Brilliant e ffort to put out a m ag lik e th is for *buntu us e rs . My com pany are curre ntly toying w ith -- and m os tly w ill -- port to linux in th e com ing days . No re as on not to. My th ough ts on re ce nt e ve nts :Pate nt is s ue s : MSFT and Am e rica pus h too h ard to ge t pe ople to toe th e line . Outs ide of th e USA, th e re are no s oftw are pate nts applicable . So all th e h igh ly paid attorne ys in th e w orld can't s h ak e a s tick at you for anyth ing s oftw are -re late d. I th ink *buntu and Linux ne e ds to m ove be yond th e contine nt and into As ia and Europe . Eve n th ough de ve lopm e nt m igh t h appe n th e re , m os t pote ntial us e rs are h e re . So h ow can w e m ove th e core of th is m ove m e nt h e re ? To India or Ch ina?Bloatw are : I th ink it's am az ing th at a full OS w ith s o m any be lls and w h is tle s can fit onto a s ingle CD. I als o th ink it's frus trating for a ne w bie to do a "s udo apt-ge t" for de pe nde ncie s /progam s e ve rytim e . A DVD h as 4.7 GB of s pace . It's a fairly craz y ide a, but pre tty m uch e ve ry de pe nde ncy and program th at a us e r m igh t w ant w ill fit into a DVD. Be s ide s , th e Sh ipIt program is for pe ople w ith lack of bandw idth . Afte r I ge t a CD, update s and de pe nde ncie s can't tak e anoth e r 200 MB of dow nload. If th at's th e cas e , m igh t as w e ll s h ip a bloate d DVD ins te ad, w ith 70% of th e *buntu unive rs e pre ins talle d.V C Karth ic

Th ank you for m ak ing th e m agaz ine one page w ide s o th at page s can e as ily be m agnifie s up to full s cre e n w idth . Sure is a lot e as ie r to re ad. H ad a ve ry h ard tim e w ith las t is s ue , e ve n w ith bifocals .Linux is h ard e nough for an old-tim e r w ith out h aving to s q uint to re ad!Boyd S.

To m y k now le dge th e nvidia-glx-ne w drive r, w h ich is ins talle d for Ge Force 8800 us e rs , w h e n th e y e nable de s k top e ffe cts in Ubuntu 7.04, doe s n't w ork w ith th is card at all and th e ins tallation atte m pt le ave s th e us e r at th e com m and line at th e firs t re s tart of X. Th is h as be e n re porte d by num e rous pe ople in bug re ports . Th e nVidia drive r th at is available on th e nVidia w e b s ite doe s not h ave th is proble m but is m ore difficult to ins tall.Th e caus e for th e proble m is appare ntly k now n, but for s om e re as on no fix for th e bug h as be e n re le as e d.I agre e th at th is w ould be w orth an article in your m agaz ine . It involve s an im portant and popular pie ce of h ardw are , and th e caus e of th e bug s e e m s to be k now n and is (to m y unde rs tanding) re lative ly s im ple . Th e re als o s e e m s to be no inform ation com ing th rough about w h e th e r th e bug is going to be fixe d at all.Kind re gards and th ank s for a gre at m agaz ine !Ari Torh am o

26full circle - #3 - July 2007

QQ && AAW ritte n by Robe rt Clips h am

If you h ave an Ubuntu re late d q ue s tion w h ich ne e ds ans w e ring, e m ail it to us h e re at q ue stions@ fullcircle m agazine .org, and w e 'll pas s th e m to Robe rt for ans w e ring in a future is s ue .Ple ase include as m uch inform ation as you can about your proble m .

Q: I built a ne w PC re ce ntly, and de cide d to us e Ubuntu as m y prim ary ope rating syste m . I h ave re alis e d th at th e re are a fe w th ings th at I can't do unde r Ubuntu ye t, so de cide d I w ould install W indow s. Is it poss ible to install W indow s afte r Ubuntu? A: Abs olute ly, but it is e as ie r to ins tall W indow s firs t, as W indow s ove rw rite s Ubuntu's GRUB, s o you w on't be able to boot into Linux. You can re partition your h ard drive , and ins tall W indow s on th e ne w partition. Once you h ave done th at you w ill ne e d to re ins tall GRUB by booting a Live CD. You can find a guide for ins talling W indow s afte r Ubuntu at: h ttps ://h e lp.ubuntu.com /com m unity/Re cove ringUbuntuAfte rIns tallingW indow sh ttp://ubuntuforum s.org/sh ow th re ad.ph p?t=49 1201

Q: H ow can I add m e nu icons to th e Applications m e nu? A: Sim ply go to Sys te m > Pre fe re nce s > Me nu Layout, and ch oos e your options . h ttp://ubuntuforum s.org/sh ow th re ad.ph p?t=49 3047

Q: H ow can I install W ine , so I can run W indow s applications? A: Sim ply follow th e ins tructions at: h ttps://h e lp.ubuntu.com /com m unity/W ine , w h ich e xplain fully h ow to ins tall W ine . h ttp://ubuntuforum s.org/sh ow th re ad.ph p?t=49 3050

Q: I ge t th e e rror "Softw are Inde x is Brok e n. Im poss ible to install or re m ove any softw are " w h e n trying to install program s. H ow can I solve th is? A: Ope n a te rm inal (Applications > Acce s s orie s > Te rm inal) and type : s udo apt-ge t ins tall -f h ttp://ubuntuforum s.org/sh ow th re ad.ph p?t=49 3107Q: M y laptop's touch - pad is ve ry jitte ry in Ubuntu, but I don't h ave th at proble m in W indow s. H ow can I solve th is? A: Go to Sys te m > Pre fe re nce s > Mous e , and s e le ct th e m otion tab. Th e options you ne e d are in th e re . h ttp://ubuntuforum s.org/sh ow th re ad.ph p?t=49 29 84

27full circle - #3 - July 2007

WW EEBBSSIITTEE OO FF TTHH EE MM OO NNTTHHW ritte n by Danie l Coh e n

Th e aim of th is s e ction is to find de ce nt and re lative ly unk now n w e bs ite s th at w ill h e lp you w ith your daily Ubuntu ne e ds (and ge ne ral curios ity). I w ill s um up th e good and th e bad points of th e w e bs ite , and -- w ith any luck -- th e w e bs ite ow ne r w ill re ad th e article and th e n re ctify any proble m s m e ntione d!

Th is s ite grabbe d m y inte re s t s traigh t aw ay w ith its rath e r ne at ide a: vide o tutorials for Ubuntu. Ve ry h andy for th os e tim e s w h e n you are told on th e Ubuntu IRC ch anne l (or forum s ) to do th is and th at, w h e n re ally you don't k now w h at th e y are talk ing about or cannot find a particular option or button.Afte r s e arch ing th e w e bs ite for s e ve ral m om e nts , I found a fe w m ore vide o orie ntate d w e bs ite s for tutorials , but none of th e s e oth e r s ite s s e e m e d to h ave th e polis h th at Ubuntu Clips h as .It h as a s im ple layout but w ith out look ing ugly, it's cle ar and th e navigation is intuitive (alth ough pe rh aps a little le s s w h ite w ouldn't h urt). Be caus e of th is m inim alis t approach , th e s ite is ve ry re s pons ive and doe s n't h ave you s itting round w aiting for page s to load.Th e tutorials are h e lpfully s orte d into diffe re nt cate gorie s w h ich m ak e s finding and dis cove ring e as ie r, along w ith a place to find th e late s t and gre ate s t vide os .

Eve ry vide o on th e s ite com e s in four flavours – Ubuntu (ogg/Th e ora), Mac (m ov), W indow s (avi) and YouTube (Flas h ). W h ile I'm s ure th at all you Ubuntu us e rs h ave s upport for all th re e code cs , it e ns ure s th at Mac and W indow s us e rs can play th e vide o native ly w ith out any e xtra s e t-up or h aving to w atch a low -q uality YouTube Flas h vide o, alth ough it's nice to h ave th at as a las t re s ort.Ins te ad of tak ing a one -w ay approach , th e de ve lope rs of th e s ite h ave m ade a re q ue s t form w h ich allow s pe ople to re q ue s t tutorials of ce rtain actions in Ubuntu. W h e th e r th e s e are actually e ve r m ade , I don't k now , but I h ope th e y are tak e n into account w h e n m ak ing ne w vide os . You can als o s ubm it clips , w h ich are q uality ch e ck e d, th e n put on to th e s ite .H ow e ve r, th e w e bs ite is m is s ing s om e bas ic fe ature s w h ich w ould m ak e it a m ore com ple te s ite . Th e re is now h e re to le ave com m e nts . Th e re is als o th e inclus ion of a captch a box for logging in w h ich is a bit annoying. Finally, if you look th rough th e tutorials , you w ill notice th at m any of th e m are on rath e r m undane and bas ic s ubje cts . W h ile th is w e bs ite is , at th e m om e nt, ge are d tow ards ne w us e rs , it could s tart to h ave m ore advance d tutorials s oon.Th os e proble m s do not outw e igh th e m any pos itive s th at th is s ite h as . Many ne w us e rs w ould love to h ave vis ual h e lp and th at is w h e re th is s ite com e s in m os t h e lpful. I jus t h ope it w ill continue to grow .

Ubuntu Clips - w w w .UbuntuClips.org

28full circle - #3 - July 2007

MM YY DD EESSKK TTOO PPW ritte n by Ale x

MM YY PPCCW ritte n by M ark Pipk in

I'm us ing th e Em e rald w indow s m anage r (Be ryl), w ith th e 'Solid State Modifie d' th e m e . It's available in th e e m e rald-th e m e s pack age . Oth e r th an th at, I h ave n't gotte n into w idge ts ye t, but afte r re ading fullcircle is s ue #2, I m igh t try s om e out late r th is w e e k . I us e GNOME, but I s e t m y tas k bars to h ave an opacity of around 60% , w ith a black fill-in. Oth e r th an th at, it's jus t s tandard s e ttings . I'm s till fairly ne w to Linux, h aving be e n us ing Ubuntu for about th re e to four m onth s w ith W indow s as a dual-boot option, but I'm pre tty convince d th at once Guts y com e s out I'll be re form atting. Re ce ntly I h ave n't h ad to s w itch to W indow s at all. My favourite tas k bar m ini-program s are s ys te m m onitor, w h e re I h ave m y CPU, Ne tw ork , and Dis k Us age graph s , and th e w e ath e r for m y are a.

My PC h as be e n th rough a lot of ch ange s ove r th e ye ars . As alw ays th ough , it ne ve r h as e nough pow e r to s uit m y ne e ds . Maybe an upgrade s oon w ill h e lp, but for now h e re it is :Inte l P4 2.4GH z 768M B RAM nVidia 6600 w / 256M B RAM (7) 4" cas e fans (4 of w h ich h ave ligh ts) sda1 = 160gb - m ount / sdb1 = 160gb - m ount /h om e DVD- RW 19 " W ide -scre e n 1440x9 00 I try to build a m ach ine th at w ill las t m e aw h ile . Th is com pute r us e d to h ave an AMD 1400 w ith a Soyo Dragon Plus MB. Th e proce s s or ran for four ye ars th e n ove rh e ate d from th e fan be ing put on back w ards . So I h ad to ch ange it las t ye ar. I s till h ave th e proce s s or and RAM from th e old s e tup but afte r a fe w h ours of running it w ould re boot. I've be e n running Ubuntu s ince 6.10. I don't plan to go back to W indow s . I e njoy th e pow e r th at Linux allow s m e to h ave and I h ave m uch e njoye d th e com m unity th at is be h ind th e Ubuntu proje ct.I'm in th e proce s s of ge tting a Myth TV s e rve r up and running. I us e th at w oode n be nch w h e n w ork ing on s om e one e ls e 's com pute r. Th is pre ve nts m e from h aving to unh ook m y ow n s e tup to w ork on s om e one e ls e 's .

Th is is your ch ance to s h ow th e w orld your fancy de s k top or PC. Ple as e e m ail your s cre e ns h ots and ph otos to: m isc@ fullcircle m agazine .org. Ple as e include a brie f paragraph of te xt about your de s k top, your PC's s pe cifications or any oth e r inte re s ting tidbits about your de s k top or PC.

29full circle - #3 - July 2007

TTOO PP55 MM UULLTTIIMM EEDD IIAA EENNCCOO DD EERRSSW ritte n by Andre w M in

M Encode r H om e page : h ttp://w w w .m playe rh q .h u/ MEncode r h as long be e n th e k ing of m ultim e dia e ncode rs . W ith good re as on. It can conve rt a h os t of audio and vide o form ats , including (S)VCD, DVD, MPEG, W indow s Me dia (ASF/W MV/W MA), Quick Tim e (QT/MOV/MP4), Re al Me dia (RA/RM), Ogg, DV and AVI. Th e re is a full lis t of s upporte d code cs at h ttp://w w w .m playe rh q .h u/DOCS/code cs -s tatus .h tm l. H ow e ve r, th e re is a s m all proble m : MEncode r is re ally unintuitive . In orde r to us e it e ffe ctive ly, you h ave to re ad th rough th e longe s t pie ce of non-fiction in h is tory (th e MEncode r m anual). Since m os t pe ople don't w ant to do th is , m any GUIs to MEncode r h ave be e n cre ate d (including s e ve ral on th is lis t). MEncode r can be ins talle d in all ve rs ions of Ubuntu from Bre e z y to Guts y w ith th e pack age m e ncode r in th e m ultive rs e re pos itorie s . You m ay als o w ant to re ad th e Ge ntoo W ik i's guide to conve rting w ith Me ncode r at h ttp://ge ntoo-w ik i.com /H OW TO_ Me ncode r_ Introduction_ Guide

Each m onth , Andre w w ill bring you a Top5 lis t of obs cure gam e s , applications or w h ate ve r e ls e th at h e can s cratch from th e de pth s of th e Inte rne t! If you h ave ide as for lis ts , ple as e e m ail th e m to us h e re at: m isc@ fullcircle m agazine .org and w e 'll pas s your ide as on to Andre w .

soundKonve rte r H om e page : h ttp://w w w .k de -apps.org/conte nt/s h ow .ph p?conte nt=29 024 It m igh t only be able to conve rt audio file s , but w h at a job s oundKonve rte r doe s ! Utiliz ing a w ide varie ty of e ngine s , s oundKonve rte r s upports Ogg, MPEG audio, AAC, 3GP, FLAC, APE, Re al Me dia, W AVE and m uch m ore . It als o include s a CD rippe r, an Am arok s cript, re play gain and tags for tons of form ats . s oundKonve rte r can be found in th e unive rs e re pos itorie s for Dappe r, and th e m ultive rs e re pos itorie s for Edgy, Fe is ty and Guts y unde r th e pack age s oundk onve rte r. Th e re 's als o a .de b pack age at th e h om e page .

30full circle - #3 - July 2007

KVide oEncode r H om e page : h ttp://w w w .k de -apps .org/conte nt/s h ow .ph p?conte nt=31385 KVide oEncode r is a s im ple KDE GUI for th e MEncode r and Trans code te rm inal program s . But don't le t th e s im plicity fool you into th ink ing th is is a w e ak program . Far from it: it can im port AVI, MPEG, W indow s Me dia, Re al Me dia and Quick Tim e , and e xport DivX, MPEG, MJPEG, W indow s Me dia and Xvid. It can als o rip audio or vide o from s tre am s and DVDs (us ing ls dvd). KVide oEncode r is n't available from th e Ubuntu re pos itorie s . H ow e ve r, th e KDE-Look .org us e r furum aro h as cre ate d an Edgy pack age w ith Ch e ck ins tall (in m y inform al te s tings , it als o w ork e d on Fe is ty). You can ge t it at h ttp://w w w .k de -apps .org/conte nt/s h ow .ph p/KVide oEncode r+ for+ Kubuntu+ Edgy?conte nt=58538. Unfortunate ly, it doe s n't tak e care of de pe nde ncie s . You'll ne e d to ins tall MEncode r (s e e MEncode r above for m ore ), Trans code (in th e m ultive rs e re pos itorie s as trans code ), ls dvd (in th e m ultive rs e re pos itorie s as ls dvd), th e KDE librarie s , and th e Qt librarie s m anually (th e las t tw o are ins talle d by de fault in Kubuntu).

W ink i th e Rippe r H om e page : h ttp://w w w .w ink i-th e -rippe r.de / Th is one ge ts th e priz e for th e m os t biz arre nam e im aginable (I'm s till not s ure w h at “W ink i” is ). But don't le t th at fool you: W ink i is n't a ch ildre n's toy. It w ill tak e DVDs , VCDs or a w ide range of vide o form ats and conve rt th e m into DVDs , VCDs , SVCDs , AVIs , MP4s or Matros k as . It w ill e ve n q ue ry th e IMDB for inform ation about th e file . It's als o one of th e m os t intuitive program s I've e ve r s e e n (us ing a w iz ard-lik e approach ). You can ins tall W ink i in one of tw o w ays : you can add th e W ink i APT re pos itory (h ttp://w w w .w ink i-th e -rippe r.de /ope ne ngine /cm s /w e bs ite .ph p?id=/de / inde x/dow nload.h tm ), th e n ins tall th e w ink i pack age us ing a pack age m anage r: alte rnative ly, you can dow nload th e .de b dire ctly from h ttp://w w w .w ink i-th e -rippe r.de /ope ne ngine /cm s / w e bs ite .ph p?id=/de /inde x/de bian_ pack age s .h tm (s croll dow n to find th e Ubuntu pack age s ).

W inFF H om e page : h ttp://biggm att.com /w inff/ W inFF is a pow e rful GUI for FFm pe g (th e s is te r proje ct of MEncode r). Both novice s and e xpe rts w ill fe e l at h om e w ith th is . Not only can th e m os t ine xpe rie nce d us e rs conve rt th e 3gp, DVD, (S)VCD, FLV, H .264, iPod, MP3, MPEG vide o, Quick Tim e , W AVE, W indow s Me dia, and Xvid form ats w ith e as e , but e xpe rie nce d us e rs can als o ch ange th e bit rate , fram e rate , s iz e , as pe ct ratio, and e ve n add FFm pe g param ate rs . Contrary to its nam e , W inFF is a cros s -platform tool. Ubuntu us e rs can dow nload th e Fre e Pas cal s ource or us e th e De bian pack age provide d at th e h om e page (note th at s om e pe ople advis e agains t us ing De bian pack age s in Ubuntu, th ough I pe rs onally h ave us e d it s ucce s s fully).

31full circle - #3 - July 2007

HH OO WW TTOO CCOO NNTTRRIIBBUUTTEE

W e are alw ays look ing for ne w article s to include in full circle .For article guide line s , ide as , and for is s ue trans lation, ple as e s e e our w ik i: h ttp://w ik i.ubuntu.com /UbuntuM agazine

Ple as e e m ail your article s to: article s@ fullcircle m agazine .org

Inform ationEditor W e bm aste r Com m s M anage rRonnie Tuck e r Rob K e rfia Robe rt Clips h am

M e e tingsContributors ' m e e tings : Saturday 4th , 11th , 18th and 25th Augus t @ 1600 UTCGe ne ral m e e ting (all w e lcom e ): Saturday 11th Augus t @ 1700 UTCMe e tings tak e place in th e IRC ch anne l #fullcircle m agazine , w h ich is on th e irc.fre e node .ne t s e rve r. Or you can us e our w e bIRC page w h ich w ill allow you to inte ract w ith th e IRC ch anne l from w ith in your w e b brow s e r.

De adline for Issue #4 is Sunday 12th August.Proje cte d re le as e date for is sue #4 is Friday 31st August.

If you w ould lik e to s ubm it ne w s , e m ail it to: ne w s@ fullcircle m agazine .orgSe nd your com m e nts or Linux e xpe rie nce s to: le tte rs@ fullcircle m agazine .orgH ardw are /s oftw are re vie w s s h ould be s e nt to: re vie w s@ fullcircle m agazine .orgQue s tions for future inte rvie w s s h ould go to: q ue stions@ fullcircle m agazine .orgLis ts and de s k top/PC ph otos s h ould be e m aile d to: m isc@ fullcircle m agazine .org

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