the perfect desktop - ubuntu 10.04 (lucid lynx)

8/9/2019 The Perfect Desktop - Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)

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The Perfect Desktop - Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)

Version 1.0 - Last edited 05/03/2010Author: Falko Timme

This tutorial shows how you can set up an Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) desktop that is a full-fledged replacementfor a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windowsdesktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on oldhardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge.

I want to say first that this is not the only way of setting up such a system. There are many ways of achieving thisgoal but this is the way I take. I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

1 Preliminary Note

To fully replace a Windows desktop, I want the Ubuntu desktop to have the following software installed:

Graphics:

The GIMP - free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop F-Spot - full-featured personal photo management application for the GNOME desktop Google Picasa - application for organizing and editing digital photos

Internet:

Firefox Opera Flash Player 10 FileZilla - multithreaded FTP client Thunderbird - email and news client Evolution - combines e-mail, calendar, address book, and task list management functions aMule - P2P file sharing application Transmission BitTorrent Client - Bittorrent client Vuze - Java Bittorrent client Empathy IM Client - multi-platform instant messaging client

Skype Google Earth Xchat IRC - IRC client

Office:

OpenOffice Writer - replacement for Microsoft Word OpenOffice Calc - replacement for Microsoft Excel Adobe Reader GnuCash - double-entry book-keeping personal finance system, similar to Quicken Scribus - open source desktop publishing (DTP) application

Sound & Video:

Amarok - audio player Audacity - free, open source, cross platform digital audio editor Banshee - audio player, can encode/decode various formats and synchronize music with Apple iPods MPlayer - media player (video/audio), supports WMA Rhythmbox Music Player - audio player, similar to Apple's iTunes, with support for iPods gtkPod - software similar to Apple's iTunes, supports iPod, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod photo, and iPod

mini

XMMS - audio player similar to Winamp

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http://www.ubuntu.com/http://www.ubuntu.com/


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dvd::rip - full featured DVD copy program Kino - free digital video editor Sound Juicer CD Extractor - CD ripping tool, supports various audio codecs VLC Media Player - media player (video/audio) RealPlayer - media player Totem - media player (video/audio) Xine - media player, supports various formats; can play DVDs Brasero - CD/DVD burning program K3B - CD/DVD burning program

Multimedia Codecs

Programming:

KompoZer - WYSIWYG HTML editor, similar to Macromedia Dreamweaver, but not as feature-rich (yet) Bluefish - text editor, suitable for many programming and markup languages Quanta Plus - web development environment, including a WYSIWYG editor

Other:

VirtualBox OSE - lets you run your old Windows desktop as a virtual machine under your Linux desktop,so you don't have to entirely abandon Windows

TrueType fonts Java Read-/Write support for NTFS partitions

Lots of our desired applications are available in the Ubuntu repositories, and some of these applications have beencontributed by the Ubuntu community.

As you might have noticed, a few applications are redundant, for example there are two CD/DVD burningapplications in my list (Brasero, K3B). If you know which one you like best, you obviously don't need to installthe other applications, however if you like choice, then of course you can install both. The same goes for musicplayers like Amarok, Banshee, Rhythmbox, XMMS or browsers (Firefox, Opera).

I will use the username falko in this tutorial. Please replace it with your own username.

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2 Installing The Base System

The installation of the base system is easy as 1-2-3 because the Ubuntu installer doesn't offer a lot of options tochoose from, so you cannot go wrong.Download the Ubuntu 10.04 desktop edition iso image fromhttp://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download, burn itonto a CD, and boot your computer from it:

Select your language and click the Install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS button to start the installation:

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Then choose your time zone:

Change the keyboard layout, if necessary:

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Now we come to the partitioning of our hard disk. Usually Erase and use the entire disk is a good choice, unlessyou need custom partitions and know what you're doing. Erase and use the entire disk will create one big /partition for us:

Type in your real name, your desired username along with a password, and click Forward:

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The next screen shows us a summary of the installation settings. Click Install to start the installation:

Afterwards, Ubuntu is being installed. This can take a few minutes, so be patient:

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After the installation, you will be asked to reboot the system. Click Restart Now:

Remove the Ubuntu CD and press ENTER to boot into your new Ubuntu system:

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Your new Ubuntu system starts. Log in to the desktop with the username and password you provided during theinstallation:

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This is how your new desktop looks:

Now the base system is ready to be used.

3 Update The System

Now it's time to check for updates and install them. You can start the Update Manager by going to System >Administration > Update Manager:

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The Update Manager tells you which updates are available (you can click the Check button to refresh the list).Click Install Updates to install them:

Type in your password:

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The updates are being downloaded and installed (this can take a few minutes):

When the update is complete, click Close.

(If a new kernel was amongst the updates, a system restart is required to make the changes effective. If this isnecessary, you will see a blue reboot icon in the upper right panel. Click on the blue reboot icon to restart thesystem.)

The system is now up-to-date.

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4 Inventory Of What We Have So Far

Now let's browse all menus to see which of our needed applications are already installed:

You should find the following situation ([x] marks an application that is already installed, whereas [ ] is anapplication that is missing):

Graphics:

[ ] The GIMP[x] F-Spot

[ ] Picasa

Internet:[x] Firefox[ ] Opera[ ] Flash Player[ ] FileZilla[ ] Thunderbird[x] Evolution[ ] aMule[x] Transmission BitTorrent Client[ ] Vuze[x] Empathy IM Client[ ] Skype[ ] Google Earth[ ] Xchat IRC

Office:

[x] OpenOffice Writer[x] OpenOffice Calc[ ] Adobe Reader[ ] GnuCash[ ] Scribus

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Sound & Video:[ ] Amarok[ ] Audacity[ ] Banshee[ ] MPlayer[x] Rhythmbox Music Player[ ] gtkPod[ ] XMMS[ ] dvd::rip

[ ] Kino[ ] Sound Juicer CD Extractor[ ] VLC Media Player[ ] RealPlayer[x] Totem[ ] Xine[x] Brasero[ ] K3B[ ] Multimedia-Codecs

Programming:

[ ] KompoZer[ ] Bluefish[ ] Quanta Plus

Other:[ ] VirtualBox[ ] TrueType fonts[ ] Java[x] Read/Write support for NTFS partitions

So some applications are already on the system. NTFS read-/write support is enabled by default on Ubuntu 10.04.

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5 Configure Additional Repositories

Some packages like the Adobe Reader are not available in the standard Ubuntu repositories. The easiest way tomake such packages available to your system is to add the Medibuntu repository.

First we open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal):

First off, we edit /etc/apt/sources.list...

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

... and enable the lucid partner repository:

[ . . . ]## Un comment t he following t wo lines t o ad d s oftware fr om Canonical' s## ' partner' repository.## This soft ware is not part of Ubun tu, but is offered by Canon ical and t he## r espective vendors as a s ervice t o Ubuntu u sers.deb http: //archive. canonical. com/ubuntu lucid partnerdeb-src http: //archive. canonical. com/ubuntu lucid partner[ . . . ]

Then save the file.

To enable the Medibuntu repository, please do the following:

Import the repository:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

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Import the gpg-key and update your package-list:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude install medibuntu-keyring && sudo aptitude update

Then run

sudo update-apt-xapian-index

to make Synaptic display packages from third-party repositories.

6 Install Additional SoftwareTo install additional applications, open the Synaptic Package Manager (System > Administration > SynapticPackage Manager):

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In the Synaptic Package Manager, we can install additional software. You can use the Quick search field to findpackages. To select a package for installation, click the checkbox in front of it and select Mark for Installationfrom the menu that comes up:

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If a package has a dependency that needs to be satisfied, a window will pop up. Accept the dependencies byclicking Mark:

Select the following packages for installation (* is a wildcard; e.g. gstreamer* means all packages that start withgstreamer):

amarok gimp flashplugin-nonfree amule audacity vuze banshee bluefish dvdrip filezilla ttf-mscorefonts-installer gnucash gstreamer* gtkpod-aac sun-java6* (except sun-java6-doc) k3b kino mplayer smplayer quanta kompozer scribus vlc* mozilla-plugin-vlc xchat-gnome

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xmms2* sound-juicer realplayer googleearth acroread non-free-codecs ubuntu-restricted-extras libdvdcss2 xine-ui

xine-plugin thunderbird virtualbox-ose

After you've selected the desired packages, click the Apply button:

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Confirm your selection by clicking Apply:

The packages are now being downloaded from the repositories and installed. This can take a few minutes, soplease be patient:

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You might be asked to accept a few licenses:

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After all packages have been installed, click Close:

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7 Flash Player

To see if the Flash Player has been installed correctly, open Firefox and type about:plugins in the address bar.Firefox will then list all installed plugins, and it should list the Flash Player (version 10.0r45) among them:

8 TrueType Fonts

To check if the TrueType fonts have been installed correctly, open a word processor like OpenOffice. You shouldnow find your new Windows fonts there:

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9 Inventory (II)

Now let's check again what we have so far by browsing the menus again:

Our inventory should now look like this:

Graphics:

[x] The GIMP[x] F-Spot

[ ] Picasa

Internet:

[x] Firefox[ ] Opera[x] Flash Player[x] FileZilla[x] Thunderbird[x] Evolution[x] aMule[x] Transmission BitTorrent Client[x] Vuze[x] Empathy IM Client[ ] Skype[x] Google Earth[x] Xchat IRC

Office:[x] OpenOffice Writer[x] OpenOffice Calc[x] Adobe Reader[x] GnuCash[x] Scribus

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Sound & Video:[x] Amarok[x] Audacity[x] Banshee[x] MPlayer[x] Rhythmbox Music Player[x] gtkPod[x] XMMS[x] dvd::rip

[x] Kino[x] Sound Juicer CD Extractor[x] VLC Media Player[x] RealPlayer[x] Totem[x] Xine[x] Brasero[x] K3B[x] Multimedia-Codecs

Programming:

[x] KompoZer[x] Bluefish[x] Quanta Plus

Other:[x] VirtualBox[x] TrueType fonts[x] Java[x] Read/Write support for NTFS partitions

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10 Opera

Open a browser and go to http://www.opera.com/browser/download/; select Ubuntu as the distribution and thenUbuntu 10.4 Lucid Lynx, 9.10 Karmic Koala, Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex and clickthe Download Opera button:

A download dialogue should come up. Select Open with GDebi Package Installer (default):

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A Package Installer window comes up. Click the Install Package button to install Opera:


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Opera is now being installed. Afterwards, you can close the Package Installer window:

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11 Skype

Go tohttp://www.skype.com/download/skype/linux/choose/ and select the right Ubuntu .deb package for yourarchitecture (Ubuntu 8.10+ 32-bit or Ubuntu 8.10+ 64-bit):

A download dialogue will come up. Click Save File to download the package to your hard drive:

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After the download has finished, open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and go to the directorywhere the package has been saved (the default location is the Downloads folder in your home directory, i.e.~/Downloads):

cd ~/Downloads

The package can then be installed as follows:

sudo gdebi skype-ubuntu*

Afterwards, you can delete the .deb package:

rm -f skype-ubuntu*

12 Google Picasa

Go tohttp://picasa.google.com/linux/download.html#picasa30 and select the right .deb package for yourarchitecture (i386 or amd64):

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A download dialogue will come up. Click Save File to download the package to your hard drive:

After the download has finished, open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and go to the directorywhere the package has been saved (the default location is the Downloads folder in your home directory, i.e.~/Downloads):

cd ~/Downloads

The package can then be installed as follows:

sudo gdebi picasa_3.0-current_*

Afterwards, you can delete the .deb package:

rm -f picasa_3.0-current_*

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Unfortunately, the Picasa launcher isn't activated automatically, therefore we have to do this. Right-clickApplications and select Edit Menus:

In the Menu Editor, go to Applications > Graphics in the left window, and then check the Picasa checkbox in themain window. Click Close afterwards:

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13 Inventory (III)

We have now all wanted applications installed:

Graphics:[x] The GIMP[x] F-Spot[x] Picasa

Internet:

[x] Firefox[x] Opera[x] Flash Player[x] FileZilla[x] Thunderbird[x] Evolution[x] aMule[x] Transmission BitTorrent Client[x] Vuze[x] Empathy IM Client[x] Skype[x] Google Earth

[x] Xchat IRCOffice:[x] OpenOffice Writer[x] OpenOffice Calc[x] Adobe Reader[x] GnuCash[x] Scribus

Sound & Video:

[x] Amarok[x] Audacity[x] Banshee

[x] MPlayer[x] Rhythmbox Music Player[x] gtkPod[x] XMMS[x] dvd::rip[x] Kino[x] Sound Juicer CD Extractor[x] VLC Media Player[x] RealPlayer[x] Totem[x] Xine[x] Brasero

[x] K3B[x] Multimedia-Codecs

Programming:[x] KompoZer[x] Bluefish[x] Quanta Plus

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Other:[x] VirtualBox[x] TrueType fonts[x] Java[x] Read/Write support for NTFS partitions

14 Links

Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.ubuntu.com/http://www.ubuntu.com/http://www.ubuntu.com/

the perfect desktop - ubuntu 10.04 (lucid lynx)

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