Posts Tagged ‘ubuntu’
Oneric right around the corner, vpn woes
So according to the countdown timer, we have about a day left until Oneric (Ubuntu 11.10) goes gold and there is a mad rush to download it and complain about Unity. The problem for me is that I have a feeling I will never get to enjoy the new release. At work they recently moved to a new two-factor authentication system where first a certificate is traded then you auth with the usual u/p creds. Great..
First problem, vpnc has been working fine for me, but won’t work with the new scheme. I recompiled vpnc to support ssl certs, but after running it I found it only supports a hybrid client-only cert mode. Not compatible with the new vpn.
Second problem, I can’t get a 64-bit version of the official Cisco vpn client. The Cisco client does support certificate exchange, but I can’t find a 64-bit version that works. I was using this site, but it hasn’t been updated in a while. Then once I get the ipsec module compiled and installed, when I try to connect to it with the vpnclient, it dies a nasty death that takes the whole networking subsystem with it. Only a reboot can get my networking running again.
So what are my options? I am going to request a MacBook, but they take the better part of a year to get. So that means I will have to boot into Windows to use any company resources that require a vpn to access. I can still run Linux when I am at the office, but I end up needing a vpn much, it might become a major pita if I have to keep switching back and forth.
The Windows 95 paradox
Unknown to most (sarcasm), I am an avid Linux user. I know a great many other Linux users. As Linux users I feel we have a certain free spirit that comes with using our free OS. But I am finding a disturbing paradigm in regard to the response to the Gnome 3/Unity desktop environments that have surfaced recently. The number one rant I have read about online has been about how hard the new interfaces are to use. People want their program button with its flyout menus back.
Now I realize that many of the reviews were knee jerk reactions to the new interfaces. I had much the same reaction, when I upgraded to Natty. I couldn’t figure out how to use it, and I just wanted my familiar interface back. But wait, at some point inmy life, the familiar had to have been unfamiliar. When was that.. lets see, when was a little button in the bottom left corner of the screen for accessing programs and settings introduced… oh yes, Windows 95!! People want their Windows 95 like desktops back! For gods sake, that OS has been setting the desktop top standard for the past 16 years. This is almost the EXACT same reaction I get from people when I try to introduce LibreOffice to people that are used to MS Office.
Them: “This sucks, I can’t find anything.”
Me: “But what about the functionality, how does it compare to Office?”
Them: “Oh that, its fine, I just can’t find anything”
Me: “What options are you having trouble finding precisely?”
Them: “I have found everything I was looking for, it just sucks that I had to look for them.”
The problem isn’t the interface, you can teach old dogs new tricks. Its the fact that people don’t like new things. But wait, what about when MS changed the Office menu bar to the ribbon? Well, people were forced to use it, so they bitched, then got over it. And started to realize, maybe it isn’t so bad after all, they just needed to retrain their brains a little. You never know, you might find that your better with the new interface.
I for one love the Unity interface. There are quirks that annoy me, but what doesn’t have annoying quirks? Usage note with Unity; people love to complain about how hard it is to launch programs. If you have ever used Launchy, or Gnome Do, then this will be easy. Hit the super key, type in the first couple letters of the program you want, hit tab when it shows up, then hit enter, your done. I can launch a program in under a second, try that with a fly out menu and a mouse. Learn the keyboard short cuts, or stop complaining about using your mouse so much.
PlayonLinux FTW!
This is just cool. I was messing around trying to get an old Windows game to work with Wine on Linux. I wasn’t making a lot of progress, I kept having to start the setup, crash, tweak something in Wineconfig, try setup again, crash, tweak something more. Finally the game installed, but then I had issues playing it. More tweaking Wine. Well, I think you can see where this is going.
Most of the information I was getting on tweaking Wine was from the winehq.com forum. For the most part the advice was good but there was a learning curve to figure out what the people were talking about when they say you need to use certain libraries, and override this or that and install this from winetricks. Anyway, the whole process was long, convoluted, and error prone. Then someone mentioned playonlinux. I had never heard of this, so being the naturally curious person I am I Google it and found their website. Hmm, it looks like simple wrapper script for Wine. WTH, I will give it a try and see if it simplifies my life at all.
I added the Ubu repo’s and installed it. So far so good. I found my game in the list and hit ‘install.’ Wow, the installer went without a hitch, that was easy. There is no way the game is just going to work, after-all, I couldn’t get it running under vanilla Wine. So I double clicked the icon it put on the desktop and..it crashed.. heh, of course.. Not being the most intelligent person on the planet, I thought I would just give it another try. Double click, and… it worked. I was on the main screen, well… there is no way the game is going to work. So I hit play..and..I..can’t..believe..it, it worked..and it worked really well. I bumped the resolution up to native res for my LCD, and…that worked too!
So there you go. PlayOnLinux.com. Check it out, it works for more than just games too.
UbuntuOne now with more of the GB
Posted by: jeffro in Linux, Technology on July 29th, 2011
UbuntuOne, the service that integrates seamlessly with your Ubuntu desktop to store your files online, now offers 5GB of storage with their free account. The question is, how long will it take the likes of Sugarsync and Dropbox to follow suit? I have been syncing with Dropbox at work and home for so long now, I probably won’t be in a huge hurry to move. But it will most likely happen, probably on my servers first.
One of the things that prevented me from using UbuntuOne was the fact that they didn’t offer the simplicity of Dropbox’s public download URL’s. I use this so much I can’t even count. No work if UbuntuOne has pushed this out, or is still working on it (most likely).
Blogging with drivel
Posted by: jeffro in Uncategorized on June 30th, 2011
Well this is new. I was writing the previous post when i thought “I wonder if I can update my site without having to pop open a browser and go through the admin interface.” Well that was answered pretty quick with a search of the Ubu software center, it came up with Drivel. I have to say it appears to work alright. I originally tried BloGTK, but it was missing the python-gtkhtml2 lib, and I couldn’t figure out how to install it on Natty, so I never got a chance to try it out.
So far Drivel seems to do the basics well enough. posting, categories, tags, and basic syntax highlighting . Outside of that, you are on your own. No multiple categories, no tags assist, no sort of WYSIWYG editor for inserting images or the like. Looking at the website it seems that there is an ‘advanced journal editor’ but it doesn’t appear to be available in the version I am running (3.0.2). Oddly, I think the Unity interface is messing with it. Based on the screen shot here: http://drivel.sourceforge.net/drivel-4.png the buttons along the top ar at the bottom of the window, and I don’t have most of the advanced options.
This is fine for what I am going to be using it for though. Give it a shot..
Happy Ubuntu 11.04 release day
Ubuntu 11.04 was released today and, as OMG! Ubuntu put it, “every man, wife, dog, child, elf, dwarf, sister, neighbour and cousin are downloading it right now”. OMG! Ubuntu has set up a cutomized landing page for people looking for Natty info. Head on over to http://omgubuntu.co.uk/hub/natty to see it
Ubuntu 11.04 is almost here
In light of the fact that Natty is almost ready for release, I have added the countdown timer to the side panel. I will, as tradition demands, forget about it until many months after the release has happened and the image become some odd amalgamation of Ubuntu advertising and proselytization, either that or a broken image. Either way, I usually remember to take the image down before the next scheduled Ubuntu release. Usually..
With 11.04 moving to use both Wayland AND Unity this is setting up to be one of the biggest releases Ubuntu has ever seen. The move away from X.org is a monumental thing in itself, but then also replacing one of the mainstay Linux (Gnome,KDE,etc.) desktop environments with Unity is nothing less than playing software chicken. Either Ubuntu is going stay the course and the community will flinch and Unity/Weyland will become a standard, or Ubuntu will flinch and will have to backtrack with X.org and Gnome, or a worst-case scenario, neither flinch and we end up with a smoldering pile of rubbish on both ends.
(note: yes, I know Unity is built on Gnome, and works similar to Gnome3, but it isn’t Gnome3, so my statement stands)
LibreOffice hot off the presses for Ubuntu and now in PPA!
Posted by: jeffro in Linux, Software, Technology on March 1st, 2011
In case you haven’t heard, LibreOffice is available as a PPA. That means no more downloading individual .debs and auto updating! Found through OMG!Ubuntu here.
Let me introduce you to my little friends
Posted by: jeffro in Linux, Software, Technology on December 22nd, 2010
I installed Linux on my workstation this week and I have been ‘rediscovering’ some useful apps.
First off, guake, yet another drop down terminal, but this one works surprisingly well. Its simple, but does just what it needs and nothing more. Apps like this are few an far between, since everyone tries to get their apps to rollover and fetch the newspaper too. Get this one if you use the terminal a lot.
Then there is Docky, I think I am just about the last person to have found this pretty and a useful system panel, a la OSX. Mac-ites should’t get all the cool apps.
And, why-oh-why does the default Ubuntu desktop come with Empathy rather than Pidgin for IM? I could go on about how incomplete and buggy Empathy is, but I think everyone already knows that…except for the Ubu-devs..
Maven, I think I know what this does..Its a..ahh, no, actually I am not even sure why I threw it in here. I have been it a lot lately and I am not sure if I am repulsed by it or intrigued..I have narrowed it down to either being the salvation of Java developers, or damnation wrapped in nicely formatted XML. I dunno, you decide..
Ok, so this list wasn’t nearly as long as I was thinking it was going to be..
The resurrection of RobbinsWeb
I have small linux server under my desk at home that has been chugging away for the past 3 years with nary a peep. Two weeks ago when I entered my office I was presented with the distinct smell of something burning. The smell was emanating from from ole’ trusty. I never realized how much I depended on this little machine until it stopped. No more OpenDNS updates to keep the kiddies safe on the internet, no more dynamic IP updates, no more backups, no more proxy server (for those ‘special’ occasions), no more playing Gearhead at work! I felt like I had lost a close friend, or at least a favorite pet.
Now, three weeks later, a new power supply, RAM, and a mess of case fans, RobbinsWeb lives again. *sigh…welcome back buddy
