Full Circle Magazine - Issue #10 by Ronnie Tucker

Is s ue # 10 - Fe bruary 2008

ful lcircl e

ASUS EEE W ITH XUBUNTU INTERVIEW W ITH A M O TU

TH E IND E PE ND E NT M AGAZ INE FO R TH E UBUNTU CO M M UNITY

LINUX M INT

im age : note book re vie w .com

STEP BY STEP INSTALL

TU X PAINT

S O GOOD , AN E IGH T YE AR OLD W ANTS TO R E VIE W IT!

CO M PILE FRO M SO URCE INSTALLAND USE TUXPAINT RIP A D VD W ITH ACID RIP

LINUX M INT - STEP-BY-STEP INSTALLO F TH E D ISTRO W H ICH INCLUD ES CO D ECS BY D EFAULT!

EEE!

W E R E VIE W TH E AS U S E E E R U NNING X U BU NTU

F ul lCircl e m agazine is not affil iate d w ith or e ndors e d by CanonicalLtd.

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ful lcircl e w w w .f u llc i r c le m a g a z i n e .o r g

Linux M int

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Com pil e from Source Ins tal land Us e Tuxpaint Rip a D VD w ith AcidRip Se rve r Se rie s - Part 2

p.08 p.09 p.11 p.13

- ASUS EEE - Indy Gam e D e v. W h y I W e nt Linux - Ste ve Kow al ik

p.15 p.19 p.23 p.25 p.27

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P.11

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p.28 p.29 p.30 p.32 p.33

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Ch e s s Gam e s

p.34 p.36

Th e articl e s containe d in th is m agazine are re l e as e d unde r th e Cre ative Com m ons Attribution-By-Sh are Al ik e 3.0 Unporte d l ice ns e . Th is m e ans you can adapt, copy, dis tribute and trans m it th e articl e s but onl y unde r th e fol l ow ing conditions : You m us t attribute th e w ork to th e originalauth or in s om e w ay (at l e as t a nam e , e m ailor url ) and to th is m agazine by nam e ('ful lcircl e m agazine ') and th e URLw w w .ful l circl e m agazine .org (but not attribute th e articl e (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 al te r, trans form , or buil d upon th is w ork , you m us t dis tribute th e re s ul ting w ork unde r th e s am e , s im il ar or a com patibl e l ice ns e .

ED ITO RIA L

el com e to anoth e r is s ue of

Th is m agazine w as cre ate d us ing :

Th is m onth , w e h ave anoth e r ne w fe ature : e ach m onth , w e w e l lbe printing an inte rvie w w ith a 'M O TU'. Th e s e are th e m e n and w om e n k now n as th e 'M as te rs of th e Unive rs e '. Sadl y, it h as noth ing to do w ith e m baras s ing 80's cartoons , but th e s e good fol k s k e e p our re pos itorie s up to s cratch and de s e rve to s te p out of th e s h adow s . Jus t afte r th e ir re l e as e , I m anage d to s e cure one of th os e e l us ive be as ts k now n as th e ASUS EEE PC. Suffice to s ay, it is an am azing pie ce of k it for th e price , and you can re ad m y re vie w of th e EEE running Xubuntu on page 15. O ne of th e th ings th at al w ays puts pe opl e off Linux is com pil ing s ource code . Th is m onth (page 8) w e s h ow you h ow e as y it actual l y is . I pe rs onal l y avoide d it l ik e th e pl ague untilI re ce ntl y h ad no oth e r option but to com pil e from s ource . O nce you've re ad th is m onth 's prim e r on com pil ing s ource , I'l ls h ow you, ne xt m onth , h ow I us e d th is te ch niq ue to ge t m y 6th Ge ne ration iPod Cl as s ic w ork ing pe rfe ctl y w ith Am arok .

Ubuntu is a com pl e te ope rating s ys te m th at is pe rfe ct for l aptops , de s k tops and s e rve rs . W h e th e r at h om e , s ch oolor at w ork Ubuntu contains al lth e appl ications you'l l e ve r ne e d incl uding w ord proce s s ing, e m ailappl ication and w e b brow s e r. You do not pay any l ice ns ing fe e s . You can dow nl oad, us e and s h are Ubuntu w ith your frie nds , fam il y, s ch oolor bus ine s s for abs ol ute l y noth ing. O nce ins tal l e d, your s ys te m is re adyto-us e w ith a ful ls e t of productivity, inte rne t, draw ing and graph ics appl ications , and gam e s .

Editor, Ful lCircl e M agazine ronnie @ ful l circl e m agazine .org

NEW S

Fe e lfre e to e m ailne w s s torie s to: ne w s @ ful l circl e m agazine .org Pl e as e incl ude a s ource URL.

De tail s Em e rge on Ubuntu M obil e

M icros oft H its Ne w Low Upon vis iting th e URLh ttp://m s dn.m icros oft.com /e ve nts /h e ro/ th e vie w e r is gre e te d w ith a s om e w h at badl y draw n Le go-type s ce ne : Cl ick ing on one of th e Le go ch aracte rs Source Fource ch aracte rs give s you m ore on th e ir back ground:

Canonical , th e com pany be h ind Ubuntu, form al l y adde d Ubuntu M obil e to its product page and m ore ful l y de s cribe d its capabil itie s .

I th ink it m ay be tim e for M icros oft to s tart ignoring th e ir m ark e ting te am ...

To accom m odate for touch s cre e ns , Canonicalre tool e d th e Ubuntu inte rface to w ork w ith taps and ge s ture s . O ne pre s s on a button l aunch e s an appl ication or m e nu, w h il e s w iping a finge r on a W e b page pans it, and s w iping a vide o, ph oto, s ong or th um bnailpage acts as â&#x20AC;&#x153; forw ardâ&#x20AC;? button. h ttp://ne w s .digital tre nds .com

h ttp://w w w .ubuntu.com /products /m obil e

NEW S H ardy Al ph a 5 Re l e as e d Anoth e r H ardy H e ron pre -re l e as e is avail abl e for te s ting. Al ph a 5 is th e fifth in a s e rie s of s ix m il e s tone CD im age s th at w il lbe re l e as e d th rough out th e H ardy de ve l opm e nt cycl e . Al ph a 5 incl ude s s e ve ralne w fe ature s th at are re ady for l arge s cal e te s ting. Pl e as e re fe r to: h ttp://w w w .ubuntu.com /te s ting/h ardy/ al ph a5 for inform ation on ch ange s in Ubuntu and: h ttps ://w ik i.k ubuntu.org/H ardyH e ron/ Al ph a5/Kubuntu

ins tal land unins tal lUbuntu l ik e any oth e r W indow s appl ication. It doe s not re q uire a de dicate d partition, nor doe s it affe ct th e e xis ting bootl oade r, ye t us e rs can e xpe rie nce a dual -boot s e tup al m os t ide nticalto a ful lins tal l ation. W ubi w ork s w ith a ph ys icalCD or in s tand-al one m ode , by dow nl oading an appropriate ISO to ins tal l from . It can be found on th e root of th e CD as W ubi.e xe . A ful lins tal l ation w ith in a de dicate d partition is s til lre com m e nde d, but W ubi is a gre at w ay to try Ubuntu for a fe w days and w e e k s be fore com m itting de dicate d dis k re s ource s . h ttp://w w w .ubuntu.com /te s ting/h ardy/al ph a5

for ch ange s in Kubuntu. Pre -re l e as e s of H ardy are *not*e ncourage d for anyone ne e ding a s tabl e s ys te m or anyone w h o is not com fortabl e running into occas ional , e ve n fre q ue nt bre ak age .

De l ladds ne w note book to Ubuntu l ine up Us ual l y, th e North Am e rican com pute r giants introduce th e ir l ate s t and gre ate s t products to th e U.S. m ark e t firs t, w ith Europe an afte rth ough t. Not th is tim e . D e l lis bringing its l ate s t Ubuntu-pow e re d l aptop, th e Ins piron 1525, to th e Europe ans firs t. Am e ricans w il lne e d to w ait untill ate r in Fe bruary for D e l l 's ne w e s t Ubuntu Linux com pute r. h ttp://w w w .de s k topl inux.com

h as a s m al l te am of de ve l ope rs w h o are w ork ing on an ope n s ource appl ication w h ich w il lh e l p th os e , l ik e us , w h o cre ate publ ications . W e are al w ays l ook ing for m ore de ve l ope rs . If you w oul dl ik e to h el p, pl e as e vis it:

h ttps ://w ik i.ubuntu.com /UbuntuW e e k l yNe w s l e tte r

Th e re is a ne w ins tal l ation option for W indow s us e rs . W ubi al l ow s us e rs to

h ttp://de v.ful l circl e m agazine .org

FLAVO R O FTH E M O NTH

W ritte n by Robe rt Cl ips h am

Th is m onth w e s h ow you h ow to ins tal lLinux M int, an Ubuntu de rivative th at's de s igne d to be e l e gant, up-to-date and provide a com fortabl e de s k top e nvironm e nt for th e us e r.

us ualw ay, se l e cting your l anguage and tim e zone , fol l ow e d by your ch os e n k e yboard l ayout.

h e n you ins e rt th e Linux M int dis k , you are pre s e nte d w ith th e Linux M int boot m e nu. Se l e ct 'Start Linux M int', th e n w atch th e be autifuls pl as h s cre e n (be l ow ).

O nce M int h as l oade d, you can pl ay around w ith it, or you can go dire ctl y to th e ins tal l e r. Cl ick th e 'Ins tal l ' icon on th e de s k top to ins tal lM int. Fol l ow th e on s cre e n ins tructions to ins tal lit in th e

Th e ne xt s te p al l ow s you to re partition your h ard drive . Be care fulw h e n s e l e cting h ow to partition. As l ong as you s e l e ct th e re l e vant option, you s h oul d be fine . Fol l ow ing partitioning, you ne e d to se l e ct a re alnam e , a us e r nam e , a pas s w ord and a h os tnam e (righ t). Cl ick Forw ard and m ove onto th e ne xt s te p. Th e final

s te p is jus t a s um m ary of th e options you h ave ch os e n in th e pre vious s te ps . Cl ick finis h , and w atch it ins tal l .

W h e n th e ins tal l e r is com pl e te , cl ick re s tart, and w h e n prom pte d, re m ove th e dis k . Upon re s tart, l og in to your ne w M int de s k top. You w il lbe prom pte d to ch oos e a coupl e m ore options , s uch as a root pas s w ord and w h e th e r to us e th e program 'fortune ' w h e n you ope n a te rm inal .

O ne is h igh priority, and h as be e n te s te d th orough l y, tw o h as be e n te s te d s l igh tl yl e s s and s o on. You can ge t a ful ls um m ary by cl ick ing th e 'Pre fe re nce s button' (or s e e th e picture be l ow ). You can ch ange th e l e ve lof update s your com pute r ch e ck s for, to al l ow you to h ave a s upe r s tabl e s ys te m or h ave bl e e ding e dge pack age s .

A padl ock w il lbe dis pl aye d in th e bottom righ t of your s cre e n, w h ich you can cl ick to ins tal l update s . Th e M int update r (be l ow ) is inte re s ting, be caus e it us e s a num be ring s ys te m to s h ow th e priority/trus tw orth ine s s of update s .

O th e r th ings to try out w ith M int incl ude its e xce l l e nt m e nu s ys te m , w h ich al l ow s you to s e arch ite m s and fil te r th e m by cate gory â&#x20AC;&#x201C; s pe e ding up th e tim e it tak e s to find an appl ication; and its w e b bas e d pack age m anage m e nt s ys te m , al l ow ing you to brow s e pack age s onl ine .

H O W - TO

CO M PILE FRO M SO URCE

W ritte n by Lojjik Braugh l er

Ubuntu h as a ve ry l arge re pos itory of pack age s . Som e tim e s h ow e ve r, a pack age m ay be unavail abl e or you m igh t ne e d to com pil e from s ource . A fe w s im pl e com m ands to do th is are ne e de d. To com pil e from s ource , us e th e fol l ow ing s te ps :

o buil d pack age s , you w il l ne e d th e pack age buil de s s e ntial . Th is can e as il y be done w ith : sudo apt-get install buildessential checkinstall

Th e fol de r you are curre ntl y in w ith in th e te rm inalis w h e re it w il l unpack th e arch ive . Now th at you h ave th e arch ive unpack e d, cd to its m ain dire ctory us ing: cd /pathhere And type th e fol l ow ing:

O r, if you don't l ik e apt-ge t, ins tal l and w ith a pack age m anage r of your ch oice .

./configure

Now , you w il lne e d to unpack th e arch ive w h e re th e s ource is l ocate d. To do th is for a tar.gz fil e:

make

tar -xvzf example.tar.gz

sudo make install

W h e re is th e nam e of th e fil e . If ins te ad you h ave a zippe d (.zip) arch ive , do th e fol l ow ing:

If you w is h to com pil e a D e bian (.de b) fil e , type :

unzip file.zip

Afte rw ards , type :

Final l y, type :

sudo checkinstall Th e n it s h oul d give you a h andy

w izard to ins tal lth e s ource s im il ar to w h at is s h ow n above . You h ave now com pil e d and ins tal l e d th e s ource . If you h ave any probl e m s , you can al w ays as k for h e l p in UbuntuForum s .org or on th e Ubuntu IRC ch anne l .

H O W - TO

W ritte n by Niam h M cCul l agh , age d 8

INSTA LLA ND USE TUX PA INT

Appl ications > Education > Tux Paint.

At th e bottom of th e w indow th e re are col or buttons . Th is Col or Pane lis l ik e your paint pots in re all ife . Unde rne ath th e s e col ors is a h e l pfulTux w h o give s you tips about us ing e ach tool .

Start 'Synaptic Pack age M anage r' by ch oos ing Sys te m > Adm inis tration > Synaptic Pack age M anage r. You h ave to type in your pas s w ord to ins tal l s oftw are . Cl ick th e 'Se arch ' button and s e arch for 'tux paint'. Th e s e arch re s ul ts com e up and th e y s h oul d s h ow 'tuxpaint'. To ins tal lyou s h oul d doubl e -cl ick on th e w ord 'tuxpaint'. Cl ick th e 'Appl y' button to finis h ins tal l ing Tux Paint.

Afte r ins tal l ation, you can s tart Tux Paint by cl ick ing on

'Stam p' button in th e Tool s Pane l you w il ls e e th e s tam ps avail abl e to you on th e righ t-s ide pane l .

Th e w h ite bit in th e ce nte r is th e page w h e re you paint. A bit l ik e pape r or canvas . Th e buttons on th e l e ft h and s ide (s uch as : paint, s tam p, l ine s ) are your tool s for painting on th e pape r. Th e s e tool s are l ik e your pe ncilor paintbrus h in re all ife . Th e buttons on th e righ t h and s ide are th e options or s e ttings for th e tool you cl ick e d on in th e Tool s Pane l . For e xam pl e , if you cl ick on th e

You us e th e 'Ne w ' button on th e tool box to cre ate a ne w page . Th e O pe n button ope ns

th e art gal l e ry w h e re picture s pre vious l y s ave d are s tore d. Th e Save button s ave s a copy of th e curre nt picture . : Picture s s ave d in TuxPaint are s ave d to your h om e fol de r, in a h idde n fol de r nam e d '.tuxpaint'. In orde r to s e e th is h idde n fol de r, you w il lne e d to ch oos e Vie w > Sh ow H idde n Fil es in your Fil e Brow s e r. I fe e l TuxPaint w oul d be be tte r if th e picture s w e re s ave d to a nonh idde n l ocation for us e in oth e r appl ications .

To be gin painting w ith th e paint brus h , cl ick th e 'Paint' toolin th e Tool s Pane l . Afte r ch oos ing th e Paint Tool , th e O ptions buttons on th e righ t dis pl ay diffe re nt s tyl e s of brus h e s for painting. Afte r ch oos ing a brus h s tyl e , you s h oul d cl ick on th e col or you w oul dl ik e to paint w ith , us ing th e Col or Pal e tte at th e bottom of th e w indow . Cl ick and drag on th e w h ite canvas are a in th e ce ntre to be gin painting. If you m ak e any m is tak e s you can al w ays cl ick th e

'Undo' button on th e l e ft Tool s Pal e tte .

Th e 'Stam p' Toolcan be us e d to cre ate s tam ps of oth e r picture s onto your page . Firs t, cl ick on th e 'Stam p' button on th e l e ft s ide Tool s Pane l . Ne xt, ch oos e a s tam p from th e s tam p gal l e ry on th e righ t-s ide O ptions Pane l . For m ore s tam ps , cl ick th e arrow s be l ow th e O ptions Pane l . Th e n, cl ick on th e page to s tick your s tam p on th e page .

To add te xt, you cl ick th e 'Abc Te xt' button on th e l e ft Tool s Pane l , th e n cl ick on th e page and s tart typing.

Th e gre at th ing about TuxPaint is h ow m uch fun it is for k ids but at th e s am e tim e us e s m uch of th e s am e te rm inol ogy and s k il l s ne e de d for th e 'h igh -e nd' graph ics program s l ik e GIM P and Ph otos h op. TuxPaint w il lm ak e th e trans ition to th e s e appl ications re l ative l y e as y. If onl y th e re w as a program to m ak e k ids th ink s pre ads h e e ts are fun!

Vide o de m ons trations of TuxPaint can be vie w e d on th e TuxPaint h om e page at: h ttp://w w w .tuxpaint.org/vide os /

H O W - TO

W ritte n by Jonny M cCul l agh

RIP A D VD W ITH A CID RIP

I k now ve ry l ittl e about com pre s s ing vide o, but I re ce ntl y purch as e d a Fre e com M e diaPl aye r w h ich pl ugs dire ctl y in to m y te l e vis ion and al l ow s m e to vie w vide o fil e s and l is te n to m us ic. H ow e ve r, I al s o w ante d to w atch m y fam il y vide os on m y s h iny ne w m e dia pl aye r. I h ave rough l y a doze n or s o h om e m ade D VD s and e ach is q uite l arge (3-4 Gb). I w ante d to com pre s s th e s e vide os to cons e rve th e s pace on m y m e dia pl aye r. To com pre s s th e m , I de cide d to us e .

o ins tal lAcidRip, cl ick Sys te m > Adm inis tration > Synaptic Pack age M anage r. From th e Synaptic m e nu bar cl ick , on Se ttings > Re pos itorie s and e ns ure th at th e re is a tick be s ide th e m ul tive rs e re pos itory (Softw are re s tricte d by copyrigh t or l e galis s ue s ). Cl ick 'Cl os e ' to cl os e th e 'Re pos itorie s ' dial og.

button on th e Synaptic tool bar to ins tal lth e s oftw are .

from

Ne xt, cl ick th e 'Re l oad' button on th e Synaptic tool bar to e ns ure you h ave th e de tail s about al lth e l ate s t s oftw are avail abl e.

. Afte r s tarting , th e m ain w indow is dis pl aye d as s h ow n in Figure 1 (l e ft). Initial l y th e options s e e m ove rw h e l m ing, but to ge t s tarte d ins e rt your D VD into th e D VD tray of your com pute r, th e n cl ick th e 'Load' button to re trie ve th e conte nts of your D VD . As s h ow n be l ow , m y D VD titl e w as re trie ve d as 'xm as 2005' w ith 6 ch apte rs and th e duration of th e vide o is jus t ove r 59 m inute s .

Now cl ick th e 'Se arch ' button on th e Synaptic tool bar and s e arch for 'acidrip'. W h e n th e re s ul ts are dis pl aye d, you s h oul d se e and you can doubl e -cl ick th e 'AcidRip' e ntry to m ark it for ins tal l ation. Ne xt cl ick th e 'Appl y'

I h ave m anual l y am e nde d th e 'Fil e nam e ' s e tting from th e de faul t '/h om e /jonny/% T' to '/m e dia/300/% T' s o th at m y re s ul ting com pre s s e d vide o w il l be s ave d as xm as 2005.avi on th e 300gb drive I m ounte d

Figure 1 (above ): AcidRip Ge ne ralSe ttings

Afte r ins tal l ation, you can s tart

pre vious l y as /m e dia/300. I h ave al s o ch ange d th e de faul t val ue of 700 for 'Fil e s ize ' to 460 s o m y re s ul ting com pre s s e d vide o fil e w il lbe 460 m e gabyte s (M b). Afte r ch anging th e fil e s ize , cl ick on anoth e r fie l d in th e w indow (e .g. th e Track Titl e fie l d) to e ns ure th e ch ange you m ade tak e s e ffe ct. If you do not do th is , your ch ange m ay not be notice d by AcidRip - a l ittl e bug I th ink .

For advance d us e rs , th e bitrate can be al te re d on th e Vide o tab as s h ow n in Figure 2. To be gin th e actuale ncoding proce s s , cl ick on th e 'Start' button at th e bottom of th e AcidRip w indow . Th e m ain AcidRip w indow w il l dis appe ar and a progre s s w indow w il l appe ar as s h ow n be l ow .

Th is 460M b s ize is s uitabl e for m y one h our vide o w h e re as 700M b w oul d be s uitabl e for a 9 0 m inute vide o.

Figure 2 (above ): AcidRip Vide o Se ttings

Afte r e ncoding (above ) h as re ach e d 100% and finis h e d, you w il l be re turne d to th e AcidRip m ain w indow (s h ow n in Figure 1).

At th at point, you w il lw ant to ope n your Fil e Brow s e r (Pl ace s > H om e ) and find your ne w l y com pre s s e d vide o fil e to e njoy.

Th e re are oth e r al te rnative s for ripping D VD s incl uding (be l ow ) w h ich I found a l ittl e com pl icate d and , w h ich I found a l ittl e sl ow , but if you w ant to ge t ripping q uick l y and e as il y, ce rtainl y pas s e d m y acid te s t.

CREATE YO UR O W N SERVER - Part 2

H O W - TO W ritte n by D anie lLam b

Now th e Ubuntu s e rve r ins tal l ation is com pl e te w e w il lins tal lXfce de s k top, W e bm in and al s o s oftw are update s from th e com m and l ine as w e l las w ith th e update m anage r w h ich w il lbe buil t into th e Xubuntu de s k top.

fte r re booting th e PC afte r th e ins tal l ,l ogin us ing your ch os e n us e r nam e and pas s w ord. Th e firs t ite m to be addre s s e d is configuring of th e s ource s . W e w il l re m ove th e CD re pos itory (w h ich autom atical l y ge ts adde d to th e s ource s ) and add w e b bas e d s ource s . To do th is w e w il lus e nano, m y pe rs onalfavorite , if you h ave a pre fe rre d te xt e ditor pl e as e us e th at. Type into th e com m and l ine : sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list You w il lne e d to s uppl y th e pas s w ord you s e t as your us e r pas s w ord as you are running a

com m and as root. Add a h as h (# ) in front of th e CD e ntry and re m ove th e h as h e s from th e front of th e oth e r e ntrie s . Afte r com pl e ting th is s te p pre s s CTRL+ X th e n pre s s 'Y' or type 'ye s ' to s ave ch ange s .

Afte r com pl e ting th is , type :

Afte r th e update s are finis h e d, re s tart your m ach ine . Log in and run th e s am e com m and jus t in cas e th e re are any oth e r update s th at w e re m is s e d, al th ough apt is unl ik e l y to m is s any. Afte r th is is finis h e d, w e is s ue w h at w il lbe our l as t com m and for th is th is is s ue :

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Th is w il lupdate th e apt s ource s and apt w il lth e n k now w h at s oftw are it can ge t. Now type :

Ans w e r 'ye s ' to: 'D o you w ant to continue '. Go and re ad th e

sudo apt-get upgrade To ins tal lth e l ate s t update s to your s ys te m . Th is m ay tak e a l ittl e w h il e de pe nding on h ow m any update s are ne e de d for your s ys te m , you m igh t w ant to put th e k e ttl e on now .

re s t of th is is s ue , and h ave a nice cup of te a.

Ful lCircl e is l ook ing for proof- re ade rs .

Afte r th is h as com pl e te d, re boot your m ach ine . O nce th e m ach ine h as s tarte d up you w il lbe pre s e nte d w ith th e l ogin s cre e n. Log in us ing your pre vious l y ch os e n us e r nam e and pas s w ord and you w il lbe pre s e nte d w ith th e Xubuntu de s k top, you now ne e d to run th e update s by righ t cl ick ing on th e orange icon in th e top righ t h and corne r and cl ick 'Ins tal lal lupdate s ', th e n s uppl y your pas s w ord to al l ow th e update s to run. Al te rnative l y, you can pre s s Ctrl + Al t+ F2 and l ogin us ing your us e r nam e and pas s w ord again and run th e update s from th e com m and l ine . Afte r th is is finis h e d re s tart your m ach ine . O nce l ogge d in, ope n Fire fox and brow s e to h ttp://w w w .w e bm in.com /(above righ t) and in th e m e nu on th e l e ft, cl ick 'D e bian Pack age '.

ch oos e to ope n w ith and cl ick O K. Th e 'Pack age Ins tal l e r' w il l th e n ope n and you can s im pl y cl ick 'Ins tal lPack age '. Th e pack age m anage r w il lal s o ins tal lal lth e ne e de d de pe nde ncie s for W e bm in. O nce W e bm in h as ins tal l e d, go to: h ttps ://l ocal h os t:10000 and l og in us ing your us e r nam e and pas s w ord.

Can you s pare a fe w days e ach m onth to proof- re ad articl e s for us ? If you can, pl e as e e m ail : ronnie @ ful l circl e m agazine .org for m ore de tail s. or join our IRC ch anne l : l og on to irc.fre e node .ne t and join # ful l circl e m agazine O r, you can vis it via our w e bIRC cl ie nt at irc.ful l circl e m agazine .org W e al s o h ave a forum at: h ttp://ubuntuforum s .org/forum dis pl ay.ph p?f=270

w w w .ful l circl e m agazine .org

W h e n th e .de b fil e h as finis h e d dow nl oading, righ t cl ick on it and

A SUS EEE PC A ND X UBUNTU

REVIEW

W ritte n by Ronnie Tuck e r

Im agine a l aptop th at is onl y jus t l arge r th an a D VD cas e , tw ice as th ick , runs Linux and w oul d cos t jus t ove r ÂŁ200 (~ $400). Fantas y?Not at al l , it's cal l e d th e ASUS EEE PC.

T CPU Type : 9 00M H z Inte lCe l e ron M obil e RAM : 512M B D D R2 H ard D rive Capacity: 4GB S.S.D D rive Type : Sol id-State D is k Scre e n Size : 7 inch e s O pe rating Sys te m : Linux W ire l e s s Ne tw ork ing: Ye s 802.11 b/g Eth e rne t Control l e r: Ye s USB Ports : Ye s , th re e USB2.0 ports Batte ry Life : 3.5 H ours s ubje ct to us age Approx W e igh t: 0.9 k g (19 6 l bs ) D im e ns ions (m m ): 22.5x16.4x2.153.5CM Buil t in W e bcam (0.3 M e ga Pixe l ) Ste re o Spe ak e rs SD Card Sl ot

h e firs t th ing I notice d about th e m ach ine is th at it is com pl e te l y s il e nt. O th e r pe opl e us ual l y notice th e s m al ls cre e n firs t. I'm not Eins te in but if th e s cre e n w as l arge r, th e n th e e ntire unit w oul d be l arge r. Th e w h ol e point of th e Ee e is to be s m al l ! Anoth e r th ing pe opl e h ave be e n pointing out is th e s m al l k e yboard. If you h ave big h ands , th e n it m ay w e l lbe a probl e m , but I am typing th is articl e on th e Ee e w ith out difficul ty.

W h e n you firs t boot th e Ee e you are pre s e nte d w ith a h e avil y m odifie d ve rs ion of Xandros (l e ft) w h ich , w h il e e xce l l e nt for th e ne w us e r, m ak e s th e Ee e l ook too m uch l ik e a ch il d's toy. Fortunate l y m any ge e k s m ak e l igh t w ork and w ays h ave be e n found to re pl ace Xandros w ith oth e r Linux dis tributions . I trie d Ubuntu, I trie d Kubuntu. I e ve n trie d Puppy Linux. But th e y al lh ad one probl e m or anoth e r. Ubuntu s e e m e d to th ink th e batte ry w as brok e n and ne ith e r w ire d nor w ire l e s s w oul d w ork . Kubuntu l ik e d th e batte ry, but again no ne tw ork or w ire l e ss. A fe w s cripts w e re re l e as e d w h ich w oul d e ffe ctive l y patch Ubuntu to ge t m os t th ings w ork ing, but by th at tim e I h ad dis cove re d th e e xce l l e nt

com m unity at w w w .e e e us e r.com w h ich h ad cre ate d w h ich w as , as you can im agine , a m odifie d Xubuntu ins tal lbut w ith patch e s appl ie d on ins tal l . But not e ve ryth ing w e nt as pl anne d. Fol l ow ing th e ins tructions on th e e e e Xubuntu page on th e e e e us e rs .com w ik i I cre ate d a bootabl e USB s tick w h ich containe d th e e e e Xubuntu Live CD . Th e ins tal lw e nt ah e ad as norm al , I m ade s ure to ch oos e "M anual "w h e n th e ins tal l er re ach e d th e partitioning s e ction s ince w e do not w ant a s w ap partition on th e Ee e . Th e l e ss w rite s to th e s ol id s tate drive th e be tte r, now one probl e m w ith th e ins tal l e r is th at s om e of th e w indow s are too tal lfor th e s m al l s cre e n. Th e trick is to h ol d dow n th e Al t k e y w h il e l e ft cl ick ing anyw h e re on w indow . Th is l e ts you m ove th e w indow round and, if ne e d be , out of th e s cre e n, s o now I coul d continue and finis h off th e ins tal l . From col d boot to l og in s cre e n w as approxim ate l y th irty s e conds , sl ow e r th an th e de faul t Xandros

ins tal l , but w orth it in m y opinion. Log in to de s k top is al m os t ins tant. I w as th e n gre e te d w ith th e m e s s age th at m y batte ry w as pos s ibl y brok e n. H aving us e d, and ch arge d, th e Ee e s e ve raltim e s s ince , th e batte ry m e te r s e e m s to w ork fine , I've no ide a w h y it dis pl ays th e e rror m e s s age but it s e e m s to be a fal se al arm .

Afte r booting I poppe d in a USB s tick onl y to be gre e te d w ith a m e s s age s aying th at e e e Xubuntu cannot m ount th e USB drive . Afte r a bit of q uick re s e arch , it turns out th at th e e e e Xubuntu ins tal l e r s til ladds a CD e ntry to th e /e tc/fs tab fil e . Afte r com m e nting out th e CD l ine it acce pte d th e USB s tick no probl em.

th is w as a big probl e m w ith al m os t al lLinux dis tro's on th e Ee e , e ve n Ubuntu ne e ds a patch . I'm a Kubuntu us e r by day s o us ing Xubuntu is a bit al ie n to m e , but afte r l e ft cl ick ing on th e ne tw ork ing icon in th e tas k bar (be l ow ) m y w ire l e s s w as de te cte d, gave it m y W EP code and I w as off and running!

Th e ne xt bone of conte ntion w ith th e Ee e is s ound. I pl aye d a W AVfil e and it w as aw ful ! Crack l edl ik e crazy. Afte r s om e re s e arch on Ubuntu Forum s I found a ne at trick . Us ing th e m e dia pl aye r appl ication in e e e Xubuntu, turn th e vol um e up as h igh as it w il lgo. Ne xt ope n a cons ol e and type : alsamixer

Ne xt port of cal lw as th e w ire l e ss,

In your cons ol e you w il ls e e s om e s l ide rs . M ove th e firs t tw o sl ide rs up and dow n (w h il e pl aying s om e audio) untilyou h ave a de ce nt vol um e . Now e xit al s am ixe r. Now type :

m atte r w h e th e r you capture th e s cre e n yours e l f or by us ing th e appl ication, you are s til ll e ft w ith a bl ank im age . Th is s e e m s to be a k now n probl e m and I'm s ure th e boffins w il love rcom e it.

sudo alsactl store 0

Th e finalth ing to te s t w as th e function k e ys . To s ave h aving an e xtra doze n or s o k e ys , s om e doubl e up. So h ol ding dow n th e Fn k e y and tapping F3 w il ldul lth e s cre e n, Fn + F4 w il lbrigh te n th e s cre e n. Th e s e w ork pe rfe ctl y wel lin e e e Xubuntu.

Th at w il ls ave your s e ttings for ne xt tim e . It w as n't untill ate r th at I re al is e d you can add a vol um e controlpane lto th e tas k bar, w h ich is s im il ar to th e al s am ixe r s o try adding th e vol um e control firs t, it m ay s ave you ge tting your h ands dirty in th e cons ol e . O ne finalprobl e m w ith e e e Xubuntu s e e m s to be th e s ound in gam e s . I found th at e nabl ing th e s ound in s om e gam e s caus e d th e gam e to cras h . D is abl ing th e s ound l e ft th e gam e s ful l y pl ayabl e. O ne th ing I h ave no re alus e for on th e Ee e is th e buil t in w e bcam . But for th e purpos e s of th is re vie w I did h ave to add a Fe is ty re pos itory to obtain th e ucvie w appl ication w h ich is w h at e e e Xubuntu ne e ds to s tart up th e w e bcam . Eas y to ins tal lbut not m uch us e it s e e m s s ince no

Th e Ee e com e s w ith a re cove ry D VD w h ich , ironical l y, re q uire s W indow s . But I m anage d to ge t th e re s cue dis c w ork ing fine in W INE running on m y de s k top Kubuntu m ach ine . Th e dis c al l ow s you to cre ate a bootabl e USB s tick w ith th e de faul t Xandros on it to l e t you

re turn your Ee e to factory de faul t. Suffice to s ay: I w on't be ne e ding th e re cove ry dis c. I'm k e e ping e e e Xubuntu ins tal l e d on m y Ee e as it h as e ve ryth ing th at I ne e d ful l y w ork ing. I'm w riting th is in Abiw ord (above ), e diting m y ph otos in GIM P and h ave Fire fox, Th unde rbird and Pidgin for m y inte rne t ne e ds . O ne of th e big fe ature s of Linux is , of cours e , Com piz Fus ion. H aving notice d a fe w m urm e rings of Com piz in th e e e e us e rs forum I de cide d to give it a try, h aving re ad th rough a fe w pos ts , s te p one is to ge t aigl x w ork ing, th is is done by: sudo apt-get install libgl1mesa-dri

Now re s tart X (Ctrl + Al t+ Back s pace ) you now ne e d to ope n th e Synaptic Pack age M anage r and ins tal l :

Abs ol ute l y! I can w obbl e my w indow s and s pin m y cube w ith th e be s t of th e m !

And ye s , w ith th e appropriate code cs it'l le ve n pl ay al lyour audio and vide o fil e s!

• com piz-core • com piz-pl ugins • com piz-fus ion-pl ugins -m ain • com piz-fus ion-pl ugins -e xtra • com pizconfig-s e ttings m anage r If you pre fe r Em e ral d for your w indow borde rs th e n you can se l e ct it too in Synaptic. Afte r cl ick ing "Appl y"you w il lh ave Com piz Fus ion ins tal l e d. But on s uch a l ow s pe c m ach ine , is it e ve n us abl e?

Th e one pain w ith Com piz on th e Ee e is th e Com piz Se ttings m anage r. It is jus t too big for th e s cre e n. By de faul t Com piz w on't nudge a w indow out th e top of th e s cre e n, it doe s n't al w ays w ork w e l lw ith th e Al t+ Cl ick + D rag trick w h ich is a s h am e . Th e vas t m ajority of th e e ffe cts w ork w e l land s m ooth l y w h ich is s urpris ing for, as I s aid, s uch a l ow s pe c m ach ine .

So w h at e xactl y am I giving five to: e e e Xubuntu?Th e ASUS EEE?Quite frank l y I'm giving th e m both five out of five ! Th e ASUS EEE is an e xce l l e nt l ittl e note book . Grante d it doe s l ook a bit l ik e a k ids toy but it is s o h andy th at you h ave to l ove it. And th e com m unity th at h as al te re d Xubuntu to s uit th e EEE al s o de s e rve a round of appl aus e as w ith out th e m m y EEE w oul d s til lh ave th at aw fulch il dis h l ook ing O S ins tal l e d on it. Now m ay be th e pe rfe ct tim e to pick up a firs t ge ne ration EEE as ASUS h as jus t re ce ntl y announce d l arge r ve rs ions of th e EEE to be re l e as e d s oon.

IND EPEND ENT GA M E D EVELO PM ENT

M Y O PINIO N

W ritte n by D anie lM onte iro

n th e pas t ye ars , inde pe nde nt (indie ) gam e de ve l opm e nt w e nt from s itting on dark bas e m e nt, s taring a bl ack and w h ite s cre e n, fiddl ing cryptic m e s s age s to de code th e VGA re gis te rs in orde r to ach ie ve th e m axim um pe rform ance to s itting on a dark bas e m e nt w h il e s taring to gorge ous GNO M E or KD E s cre e n w h il e tos s ing th e m axim um pe rform ance from your GPU w ith no s w e at. (O f cours e , s om e of us s til ll ove th at darn pre tty bl ack s cre e n) From th e s e dark age s to curre nt days , Linux gam e de ve l opm e nt w e nt from an adve nture to s om e s e rious pl ay. Th e tool s m ature d and CG com panie s took Linux m ore s e rious l y as a de ve l opm e nt pl atform . Th is articl e inte nds to pre s e nt th e re ade r w ith s om e good options on Linux gam e de ve l opm e nt, w h il e anal yzing th e

re as ons of th is Linux gam e de ve l opm e nt tak e off.

Picture th is : You h ave a pre tty cons ol e s cre e n on your m ach ine . W h at are your gam ing options ? None , you m igh t ans w e r. You coul dn't be m ore w rong. Be fore XSe rve rs w e re com m onpl ace , th e re w e re al re ady a s truggl ing gam e de ve l opm e nt com m unity. M os t of th e m cam e from th e e xis te nt BSD com m unity and s aw a good pote ntialw ith th at "fas t and l igh tw e igh t UNIX"th at Linux w as (today, both Linux and BSD s e e n to be in th e s am e l e ve l ) and th e n w e got our s h are of cons ol e gam e s , l ik e dope w ars and oth e r cons ol e cl as s ics . D e ve l oping th e s e gam e s w as m ore ch al l e nging th an pl aying. Th e y didn't h ave th e tool s avail abl e w e h ave today. Th e s e dark age s w oul dn't l as t l ong.

Since th e s tart of th e m ode rn com puting indus try, UNIX w as th e de facto s tandard for s e rious appl ications and be fore th e M ac tak e -ove r, UNIX w as th e abs ol ute k ing for com pute r graph ics . Th e n it cam e . Th e graph ical re vol ution for th e UNIX w ork s tation. Firs t, it w as a indus try or office th ing th e n, gradual l y, w e got an XSe rve r running on our m ach ine s . But s til l , coding a gam e in XLib can l e ad to s uicide . H ow did w e ge t s uch gre at gam e s l ik e Pl ane t Pe nguin Race r and Supe r Tux? Th e m ain re as on s h oul d be tw o inve ntions h e re : O pe nGL and SD L. O pe nGLope ne d a ne w w orl d in com pute r graph ics . Be ing m os tl y a Sil icon Graph ics th ing,

it w as for s ure a UNIX-frie ndl y th ing. Afte r pas s ing th e h urdl e s of ge tting a X w indow w ith O pe nGL w e coul d final l y ge t our Quak e afte r a h ard w ork day. And w h il e O pe nGLdid gre at th ings for 3D graph ics , It carrie d unne ce s s ary w e igh t to 2D Gam e D e ve l opm e nt. Th e de ve l ope r h ad tw o options : us e th e unacce l e rate d but cl os e r to oth e r 2D APIs XLib or to go w ith th e (s om e tim e s ) acce l e rate d but unnaturalO pe nGL;Som e of th e m ran to GTK and oth e r tool k its , but m os t got l os t on th is . And th e n cam e Sam Lantinga to unify our battl e crie s . Sam Lantinga h ad to port a M acintos h e m ul ator to W indow s and Linux. Coding a graph ical s ys te m for e ve ry O pe rating Sys te m s ounds a crazy th ing. And it is . H e h ad a s im pl e but daunting ide a: w rite an abs traction l aye r, cal l e d SD L, and th e re s t is h is tory. H e got D oom porte d to SD Lin 3 days ! Now w e can us e SD Lin a h uge varie ty of pl atform s , ranging from

m obil e de vice s (m ore about th is be l ow ), Vide o Gam e Cons ol e s , and l ots of m ains tre am and obs cure ope rating s ys te m s . W ith SD L, de ve l ope rs coul d actual l y go th rough th e "cre ate w indow for O pe nGL"nove l l a in l e ss th an 10 l ine s of code . And binding for oth e r l anguage s s pring e ve ry m onth or s o. I be t h e didn't s e e th at com ing.

Th e h e arts of m il l ions of program m e rs (th os e incl ude e ve n Joh n Carm ack ) w e re touch e d w ith th is prom is e : "Now w e can w rite our ow n AAA gam e for al lpl atform s ". Unfortunate l y, it took a w h il e for th e ide a to catch on for re al . W h at th e Java appl e ts re al l y w e re abl e to do w as a l ittl e be l ow th at. But s til l , as Sun re l e as e d th e ir JD K for Linux, it w as q uick l y pos s ibl e to w rite Java appl e ts on a Linux box and s e e th e m running on M acs and w indow s boxe s . Bas ical l y, th is w as a tim e for s m al l arcade cl one s and adve rgam e s . And for s e ve rals tartups funde d for adve rgam e s , th e Linux + Java

appl e ts w e re th e k il l e r com bo. M os t of th e te ch nicals taff of th os e cam e from th os e te ch ge e k s w h o h ad be e n us ing Linux s ince col l e ge . But s til l , th e pre m ie r tim e for s m ooth Java gam e de ve l opm e nt w as ye t to com e , and w e w il l re turn to th is l ate r.

If m obil e is th e nam e of th e gam e , you're l uck y. M obil e de ve l opm e nt unde r UNIX h ave be e n s trong s ince th e be ginning, w ith J2M E m os tl y, and now , m ore re ce ntl y, w ith Linux M obil e. W ith J2M E, th e re are pl e nty of pos s ibil itie s . Som e are m ore m ature , l ik e Ne tBe ans and Sun W TK, and s om e brand ne w , l ik e Nok ia's W idSe t. Linux is be ing tak e n s e rious l y by th e big pl aye rs , as m os t innovations in te rm s of de s ign com e s from fre e dom figh te rs , l ik e us . Th e onl y pos s ibl e dow ns ide of th e approach m igh t be th e pl e th ora of proprie tary protocol s m obil e ph one s us e to com m unicate w ith

a com pute r th rough th e data cabl e s . Be s ure to purch as e a ph one th at s pe ak s "M as s Storage D e vice "to th e com pute r. Re ce ntl y, w e h ave s e e n s om e com panie s going w ith Linux for th e ir m obil e O S'e s . W e al lgain w ith th at: th is m obil e Linux is not th at diffe re nt from our de s k top m ach ine and m os t SD Ks us e te ch nol ogie s broadl y avail abl e . Its l ik e pl aying w ith your ch il dh ood frie nd's ch il d. O ne Com m on point w h e n de al ing w ith m obil e gam e de ve l opm e nt is th e us e of Sim pl e D ire ctM e dia Laye r. M os t m obil e dis tros al l ow SD Lapps to run w ith privil e ge d s pe e ds . Th e bigge s t dis tros h e re are : QTopia, from Trol l te ch (th e guys th at gave us l ibq t), EZ X (QTopia bas e d), from M otorol a (s om e w arnings appl y h e re , as it doe s nt run native appl ications righ t out-of-th e -box), and m os tl y M ae m o (th e one your h um bl e w rite r is m os t l ik e l y to code in day-to-day), from Nok ia and final l y O pe nM ok o, th at is a joint e ffort to produce a dis tro for m obil e ph one s .

Al s o w orth m e ntioning th at Ubuntu M obil e is to be com e a gre at m obil e O S, incorporating th e UI from M ae m o. Look s ve ry prom is ing.

As Linux e vol ve d from th e l as t de cade , w e coul d s top w orrying about or de s k top and coul d conce ntrate on producing s om e th ing. Th is is a byproduct of proje cts l ik e Ubuntu, th at aim s to bring m ore focus to th e de ve l ope rs , putting th e m to do th e ir be s t w e re th e y e xce l . Th e re are al s o s m al l e r e fforts on s om e countrie s , l ik e Brazil , to us e Linux as a m e dium of k now l e dge broadcas t, cre ating s ocialproje cts th at cal l e d for m ore ave rage -joe frie ndl y de s k tops . Th os e are fe rtil e fie l d for Linux gam ing. Al s o, th e re are oth e r com panie s us ing Linux for note book s (but th is dis tinguis h from m obil e Linux, as th e re is a ful lLinux m ach ine

e xpe rie nce ), l ik e ASUSTEK w ith its Ee e PC (l e ft) and O LPC (th e l as t one m ak ing big be ts on e ducational gam ing), e ach be ing too big to cove r h e re .

Now th at you cant w ait m ore to ge t your h ands dirty, I w il l s h ow you s om e good options for de ve l oping your ow n gam e s .

e m acs (or your favorite te xt e ditor) + g+ + : Th ats righ t! ch ance s are th at th e e xact m ach ine your are us ing to re ad th is te xt is capabl e of gam e de ve l opm e nt. Al th ough th e e xpe rie nce can be s om e w h at s partan, its pe rfe ctl y pos s ibl e. Exce pt for a fe w m om e nts I ran for s om e be tte r tool s , I w e nt th is w ay to de ve l op m y ow n 3D m obil e gam e e ngine (w w w .s f.ne t/proje cts /bzk ).

If you're going for Java, m ak e s ure you tak e Ne tBe ans , as it h ave a ve ry s trong m obil e s upport. D on't forge t your "m obil ity pack "for th e ch os e n m obil e de vice profil e. If not, you're ge aring tow ards Linux m obil e w h ich is good and bad ne w s : Th e good: m os t of your e xis te nt de s k top code w il lw ork out of th e box. Th e bad: you w il l , probabl y (as m os t m obil e de vice s us e ARM proce s s ors w h ich are incom patibl e w ith our x86 m ach ine s ) ne e d to re com pil e it w ith s om e e s ote ric SD K. And th is w il lde pe nd on th e targe t pl atform . Som e are e as y, s om e are not. M ak e s ure to al so re s e arch w h at th e be s t s e ttings

for your w ork s tation are s om e tim e s , virtual ization can be a viabl e option. O ne pie ce of good advice m igh t be to us e SD L. I can atte s t th is , as I do m os t of m y de ve l opm e nt on m y de s k top e nvironm e nt and w h e n I fe e lth e ne e d, I jus t s w itch to th e m obil e SD K (in m y cas e , M ae m o SD K unde r Scratch box), re com pil e, ge ne rate a D e bian ARM pack age and te s t it on de vice (Nok ia N770). Th is can s ave you val uabl e de bugging tim e .

W ith th e arts de partm e nt, th e be s t tool s (but not th e onl y one s ) are th e GIM P and Bl e nde r (above ) for graph ics (w ith th e advantage of running al s o on W indow s for th at goofy frie nd of yours th at s til lus e s W indow s ) and Audacity for s ound (GNU Sound be ing anoth e r viabl e

option). Ros e Garde n is de ce nt if you can ge t ove r th e JACK nigh tm are , w h e n producing m us ic (if you can't us e Ros e Garde n, jus t invite th at frie nd of yours to pl ay th e ir s ongs , but m ak e s ure to turn of th e vocal 's m ic)

W ith s o m any options , you h ave to w onde r w h y are you s til l re ading th is ins te ad of producing th e ne xt Quak e . Ge t bus y!

M Y STO RY

W H Y IW ENT LINUX

W ritte n by Joh n J. M ace y

'm not a w rite r, but do th ings â&#x20AC;&#x201C; l ik e al lth os e oth e rs out th e re e .g. run /w ork /pl ay /h ave a l ife /us e a com pute r /h ave a PD A. I don't h ate W indow s , but I w as frus trate d, and took a ch ance on Linux be caus e of w h at I m e ntione d. I took th e pe rs onal initiative .

th e pe rs onalinitiative . I h ad no budge t, but al w ays as k e d, w h y can't I do th is , or th at, w ith al lth e M icros oft s oftw are th at I bough t, or w as h ande d to m e . O h , I h ave at one tim e h ad one or tw o l arge budge ts . And, I paid for M icros oft l ice ns e s al l ove r th e pl ane t. Th e n th e price k e pt ge tting h igh e r.

Th e re are a l ot of buzz-w ords out th e re and one of th os e is O pe n Source . Th at m e ans Linux to m e . I took th e pl unge . I w e nt from SuSE 9 .0 - 10.1, and al lth e Ubuntu dis tros , th e n s e ttl e d on Linux M int. Al ltoo ofte n, w h at is ne ve r m e ntione d, is th e additional w ord "Com m unity". Join a Linux Forum w ith your is s ue s -- s ave a l ot of tim e , e ne rgy, e ffort, and m one y. Ge t invol ve d, it's fre e !

M e anw h il e , I s tarte d to ge t frus trate d. Lots of th ings to do and pay for out th e re . But, no h e l p. D e ve l oping a bus ine s s be cam e a probl e m . Joining a Linux Forum w as am azing. Pe opl e w ith th e s am e probl e m s th at I h ad gave m e s ol utions . Noticing w h y I s h ifte d to Linux?

Sim pl y, Linux doe s th ings for m e th at I al w ays w ante d to do. O nce you ge t invol ve d, th e e nd re s ul t is s im pl y am azing. No one l e ad m e by th e h and â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but I took

H e re is a gre at e xam pl e of Linux. I've al w ays l ook e d to Spe l lCh e ck m y e -m ail s in m ul tipl e l anguage s . Th e re as on is , I h ave w ork e d Inte rnational l y for a good de alof m y l ife and al w ays , al w ays w ante d to s pe l lch e ck m y e -m ail s in Am e rican Engl is h (not th e Que e n's , but th e

Pre s ide nt's ), s tay in contact w ith m y s on in Ge rm any, and de al w ith m y H is panic frie nds . Pl us , th row in th e occas ionalFre nch ph ras e . Al ls pe l lch e ck e d.

Now , as a th ink ing individual , go try to find a s ol ution w ith M icros oft. I'l lbe t you can't. M y s ol ution: Evol ution (above ). H e y th at rh ym e s . Can you im agine afte r h aving de al t w ith th e l arge s t, m os t m onopol is tic s oftw are com pany on th e pl ane t, m y m ul tipl e ph one conve rs ations w ith th e ir Te ch Support?I can now s pe l lch e ck

in four l anguage s at th e s am e tim e . H e y, w e h ave al lbe e n th e re , done th at, and h ave th e T-Sh irt. C'm on guys – ge t w ith th e program , it's a s m al lw orl d afte r al l . W as n't th at once a big h it s ong from a D is ne y fil m ?I trul y th ink th at M icros oft h as be com e too – w h at w oul d th e righ t w ord be h e re ?Pe rh aps too s om e th ing or oth e r. I don't w ant to be at th e m up, but th e s h ift cam e to m e a w h il e back . I h ad ide as in m ind, and w ante d to do s om e th ing. Linux, and al lth os e th ous ands , and th ous ands of appl ications , gave m e th e s ol utions . Th e y don't cal lit a PC – Pe rs onalCom puting -- w ith out a re as on. I h ave a PC. It is now al l O pe n Source . Ne xt, I h ate d h aving to buy al l th os e additionalprogram s / appl ications s o th at I can cre ate a .pdf, burn a CD , D VD , l e t al one h ave a good O ffice Suite of program s . Th at's not counting going on th e s e arch for a good s e cure brow s e r, virus s canne r,

fire w al l , running dis k de fragm e nte rs , ch e ck ing on virii, adw are , s pyw are , m al w are , root k its . O h , and th e e ve r popul ar M icros oft update s . A Linux D is tribution give s it to you al lfor fre e !

around e ve ryone can do it and s ave th e m s e l ve s a good de alof tim e , e ffort and frus tration de al ing w ith out M icros oft. Nonfrus trating = Linux.

Firs t th ings firs t – O pe nO ffice . Th e re are h ate rs out th e re th at com pl ain about Exce ls pre ads h e e t conve rs ions , but I've ofte n e nough be e n s tuck w ith Exce l– as an appl ication its e l f. If s om e one can't conve rt a W ord .doc, th e y ne ve r h ad th e s l igh te s t cl ue w h at th e y w e re doing in th e firs t pl ace .

I'm k now n as “ Adl e r” in about 3 – 4,000 pos ts . Adl e r m e ans “ Eagl e ” in Ge rm an, w h ich I s pe ak fl ue ntl y. But, w e al ls pe ak Linux – gl obal l y.

Eve r trie d tal k ing to M icros oft about trying to do s om e th ing w ith O utl ook l ik e trying to do a m as s e m ailto s e nd th e l ate s t ne w s l e tte r to cl ie nts ?You can do th at w ith M ail M e rge in W ord, but not w ith O utl ook . Buy anoth e r appl ication, pl us k e e p ge tting h it w ith s e curity w arnings , and update s . I'd be com e m y ow n M icros oft Sys te m Engine e r! M y ne w e s t frie nd is th e O pe n Source Com m unity. Funny w ord th e re . Lots of gre at s upport. M y oth e r frie nd is Googl e.Al ong tim e ago, pe opl e w e re s tuck w ith is s ue s , but now w e can do a “ Googl e ” . Th is tim e

De l lh as s tarte d s h ipping th e ir D e s k tops , and Note book s w ith Linux ins tal l e d ins te ad of M icros oft. Noticing a l arge r l e ve l of frus tration?Go Linux, go! Cons ide r m e a citize n of th e w orl d – th e O pe n Source w orl d, th at is . W e l ik e to ge t th ings done , and can do it ours e l ve s . I do it w ith Linux M int Cas s andra . As k th e ne xt tim e th at you buy a PC from D e l l , IBM , CO M PAQ, H P, SO NY, Tos h iba, e tc. if th e y s h ip th e ir s ys te m s w ith Linux and not M icros oft.

M O TU INTERVIEW

STEVE K O W A LIK

Tak e n from

Be h ind M O TU is a s ite w h ich fe ature s inte rvie w s w ith th os e w h o are k now n as 'M as te r’ s of th e Unive rs e ' (M O TU). Th e y are th e vol unte e r arm y of pack age m aintaine rs th at l ook afte r th e Unive rs e and M ul tive rs e s oftw are re pos itorie s .

to s w itch to D e bian, and ins tal l ed Sl ink (2.1).

Age : 26 Location: Sydne y, Aus tral ia IRC Nick : s te ve nk

I s tarte d us ing Linux in l ate Nove m be r, 19 9 8, and s tarte d w ith an ins tal lof Re dH at 5.0 th at I l ate r upgrade d al lth e w ay until6.2, untilI h e ard about re ports of Re dH at 7.0 (w h ich w as in RC at th e tim e ) be ing ve ry bad, e ve n for a Re dH at .0 re l e as e , and de cide d

I de cide d to final l yl ook at Ubuntu jus t afte r Bre e zy w as re l e as e d. I’ d k e pt a vague e ye on it, be ing a D e bian D e ve l ope r, but didn’ t pay m uch notice . Afte r Bre e zy cam e out, I dow nl oade d a Live CD , and gave it a try. And l ik e d it s o m uch th at I l e ft it running on m y m ach ine for tw o days , at w h ich point I th ough t I s h oul d ins tal lit.

I be cam e a M O TU on January th e 16th , 2006. I th ink I h ad be e n w ork ing on Ubuntu for about tw o m onth s at th at point.

I w il lal w ays h ave a s oft s pot for xringd, s ince it’ s th e firs t pack age I m aintaine d in D e bian. Al s o: q uodl ibe t and crack -attack

Th e com m unity — w h e n I firs t joine d # ubuntu-m otu, I w as col l are d by tw o re gul ars and s e t to w ork afte r a l ittl e bit of a ch at. But th e re alans w e r is jus t th at, th e w onde rfuland cl ue ful pe opl e out th e re th at, l ik e m e , are w ork ing to m ak e Unive rs e in Ubuntu be tte r.

Jum p in, th e w ate r’ s fine . If you’ re inte re s te d in h e l ping out,

th e re are pl e nty of pe opl e w h o are h appy to ans w e r your q ue s tions on th e m ail ing l is t or # ubuntum otu IRC ch anne l .

Quite diffe re nt — D e bian is ve ry ce nte re d around th e ide a of “ H e re is one guy, and th e pack age s h e l ook s afte r. If you ne e d to do anyth ing, fil e a bug, and w ait for h im .” Ubuntu on th e oth e r h and is a s m al lte am of pe opl e w ork ing toge th e r to s ol ve probl e m s in Unive rs e . W e m ay h ave pe opl e th at ‘m aintain’a pack age in Ubuntu, but onl y be caus e th e y k now it be tte r, or h ave a re l ations h ip w ith ups tre am .

I am e m pl oye d as a de ve l ope r, s o to re l ax afte r a l ong day at w ork , I w ork on Ubuntu. I gue s s th at doe s n’ t ans w e r your q ue s tion. I’ l lre ad a book , l is te n to m us ic, or pl ay crack -attack , or W oW .

M y s cre e ns h ot is ve ry boring - th e

At th is point, m y onl y pl an is ge tting a be tte r about w indow in pl ace , one th at doe s n’ t us e ye l p.

— it’ s q uite fun to appl y th is to random pack age s .

de faul t Gnom e s e ttings don’ t ge t m y w ay, s o I don’ t ch ange th e m . A bunch of te rm inal s in tabs , Fire fox, W ande rl us t/Th unde rbird for re ading m ail , and Quod Libe t pl aying m us ic on th e oth e r w ork s pace . As you can s e e from th e ph oto (be l ow ), I’ m a big fan of th e m e ntal ity th at a m e s s y de s k is a s ign of a s ane m ind. Sound s ys te m , m ach ine , l aptop, l ots of pape r - al lfairl y norm al .

UBUNTU W O M EN

W ritte n by Em m a Jane H ogbin

h e ch al l e nge w ith ch ange is k now ing w h e re to s tart. In th is five -part s e rie s w e w il l l ook at th e proce s s of h ow th e Ubuntu W om e n te am is m ak ing ch ange h appe n. Topics w il l incl ude : goals e tting, action ite m s , are as of re s pons ibil ity, e val uation and vol unte e r re te ntion. Th e firs t s te p in accom pl is h ing ch ange is to h ave a vis ion of th e future . To cre ate th is vis ion: as k your group w h at th e future w il l l ook l ik e . Al l ow e ach pe rs on to s h ape th e vis ion th e y h ave for th e group — h aving e ach voice re pre s e nte d w il lh e l p to k e e p vol unte e rs m otivate d. Incl ude as m any de tail s as pos s ibl e to de s cribe your dre am for th e future . Encourage cre ative th ink ing. From th is vis ion pul lout a l is t of th ings th at are diffe re nt from w h at is h appe ning today. Th e s e w il lbe your goal s . Goal s are broad

s tate m e nts w h ich de s cribe th e ide al future for your com m unity or proje ct. Pos t th e l is t of goal s on your proje ct W e b s ite for e ve ryone to re ad. Ide al l y th is docum e nt w il lbe in a com m unity-e ditabl e form at, s uch as a W ik i, s o th at no one pe rs on control s th e vis ion for th e group. Th e Ubuntu W om e n te am s tarte d th is proce s s by cre ating a Road M ap.

In th is docum e nt w e outl ine w h at th e Ubuntu com m unity w il l l ook l ik e in th e future . In e ach part of th e vis ion w e are trying to incl ude a m e as urabl e goal . For e xam pl e unde r th e Rol e M ode l s s e ction w e h ave incl ude d th e goal to h ave , “ at l e as t th re e vis ibl y active w om e n in al lcore Ubuntu proje cts .” Th e re are no tim e l ine s w ith in th is docum e nt. You can s e e th e draft ve rs ion of our Road M ap at: h ttp://w ik i.ubuntuw om e n.org/RoadM ap Ge t s tarte d on your l is t of dre am s and ch e ck back ne xt m onth for th e ne xt s te p in m ak ing ch ange h appe n.

UBUNTU YO UTH

W ritte n by Andre w from w w w .Te e ns O nLinux.org

Ch ance s are th at if you are re ading th is , you are a s tude nt, w h ich m e ans th at e ve ry w e e k day you com e h om e w ith at l e as t an h our's w orth of h om e w ork . Unfortunate l y, at th e tim e of w riting, th e re doe s not ye t e xis t a h om e w ork s ol ve r in th e Ubuntu re pos itorie s .

Th e future of O pe n Source is in th e Young Pe opl e of today;th at's w h y th is corne r of th e m agazine is for young pe opl e or s im pl y th os e w h o are young at h e art.

- I w as n't going to incl ude an office s uite in th is , but KO ffice is uniq ue . It com e s w ith th e KO ffice W ork s pace , w h e re you can cre ate anyth ing - s pre ads h e e ts , pre s e ntations , graph ics - al lfrom one m ain w indow !

Th e re are , h ow e ve r a fe w program s th at I us e on a re gul ar bas is to h e l p m e w ith m y ow n h om e w ork . In th is articl e I w il ll is t a fe w apps th at jus t m igh t h e l p you as you go about your s tudie s . - Probabl y th e be s t cal cul ator th e re is . It is e as y to us e , but it al s o h as advance d fe ature s s uch as trigonom e tric, l ogarith m ic, and e xpone ntial functions . CLI junk ie s m ay l ik e bc, w h ich is e s s e ntialAbak us , but ol de r and w ith no GUI. To ge t abak us , ins tal lth e 'abak us ' pack age . bc com e s pre ins tal l ed on Ubuntu.

Al lyour docum e nts are on nice l ittl e tabs at th e bottom of th e s cre e n. So if you h ave a big proje ct com ing up, you can be w ork ing on th e pape r on one tab, m ak ing a ch art on anoth e r and cre ating a s l ide s h ow on anoth e r tab! It al s o incl ude s a

fancy "Function Editor"for th os e of you in advance d m ath s . - Th at's righ t. An IRC cl ie nt. Fre e node is probabl ymy te ch s upport for l ife . Th e re are th ous ands of s m art pe opl e on IRC e ve ry day, m any of th e m w il l ing to h e l p h is ne igh bor. Jus t m ak e s ure th at w h e n you as k , as k once and w ait for an ans w e r. Al s o be s ure to as k in th e righ t pl ace , don't go to # # pyth on as k ing h ow th e Fre nch Re vol ution affe cte d th e re s t of Europe ! And pl e as e , for th e l ove of al lth at is good, ne ve r s pe ak in 1337 5p3@ k (l e e t s pe ak ). It's annoying, incons ide rate , and no one w il lw ant to h e l p you. I h ope you find th e s e program s as us e fulas I do. If you h ave any m ore s ugge s tions for apps th at are us e fulin an acade m ic s e tting, pl e as e provide fe e dback ! W e l ove to h e ar from you!

SO UND BITES

W ritte n by M atth e w Ros s i

n Fe b 2, 2008 I atte nde d th e l inux.conf.au ope n day at th e Unive rs ity of Me l bourne in m y native Aus tral ia. Th e ope n day w as a fitting w ay to cap off a s ucce s s fulconfe re nce w e e k w h ich incl ude d various tal ks ranging from M icrok e rne l s to Rock e ts . I didn't h ave th e privil e ge of going to th e actualconfe re nce l ik e m any oth e rs , but if you are l ik e m e and w ant to h ave a l ook at w h at w as dis cus s e d, th e re are s e ve ralvide os w h ich can be found onl ine [1] Th e O pe n D ay s aw a l ot of Linux dis tributions and corporate re pre s e ntation from th e l ik e s of Ubuntu, Fe dora/Re d H at, Ge ntoo, Ce ntO S, H P, and Googl e. Th e re w as re pre s e ntation from th e Linux Us e rs of Victoria, th e Sys te m

H e re are s om e th ings you m ay h e ar on th e ne xt e pis ode of th e podcas t. If you h ave an ide a or w ant to tak e part th e n e m ailour h os t, M atth e w Ros s i, at podcas t@ ful l circl e m agazine .org

Adm inis trators Guil d of Aus tral ia, M yth TV and W ik im e dia am ong oth e rs . Th e re w e re oth e r inte re s ting de m os s uch as th e ope n s ource dance m at, Fre ts on Fire , th e XO l aptop, th e As us EEE PC, and to cap it off; us ing Se cond Life as a pow e r s w itch to any de vice incorporate d w ith Infrare d te ch nol ogy (th e y us e d a fan to de m ons trate , but th e h ack coul d be us e d to controlth e fl ow of any pow e r s ource ). I w as al s o give n a l ot of fre e bie s s uch as a Googl e Note book , a SAGE pe n, m agne ts , s tick e rs and e ve n a "Cabl e M anage m e nt Sys te m ". I re al l y e njoye d th e O pe n D ay. Ne xt ye ar th e annual confe re nce w il lbe

h os te d at th e Unive rs ity of Tas m ania in H obart, s o I appe alto al l Linux ne rds out th e re : l e t's al l m arch dow n South to th e Is l and State ne xt January! And don't forge t! Ful lCircl e Podcas t # 1 w il lbe com ing out s oon. If you are avail abl e to com e onto th e s h ow as a pane l is t, pl e as e e m ailm e at podcas t@ ful l circl e m agazine .org. You ne e d Sk ype to participate . Th e re cording is q uite l aid back , not too ge e k y, and is (w e h ope ) e njoyabl e . Your contribution w il l be gre atl y appre ciate d. [1]ftp://m irror.inte rnode .on.ne t/pub/ l inux.conf.au/2008/

LETTERS

h ave jus t s tarte d pl aying w ith Ubuntu, al th ough W indow s s til l pays m y bil l s , I jus t dis cove re d and I'm e njoying it. Th e h ints and tips w il lcom e in ve ry h andy, th e picture s are cool too. W oul d it be pos s ibl e to add s om e k ind of dire ct dow nl oad l ink for e ach is s ue or m aybe an ftp l ink ?H aving to ope n e ach is s ue in a brow s e r is a bit te dious . I'm h aving a probl e m printing th e is s ue s , m y printe r tak e s fore ve r to print. I al s o notice d th at be fore printing, Acrobat re ade r 'fl atte ns "th e page s . Any s ugge s tions ?

Eve ry m onth w e l ik e to publ is h s om e of th e e m ail s w e re ce ive . If you w oul dl ik e to s ubm it a l e tte r for publ ication, com pl im e nt or com pl aint, pl e as e e m ailit to: l e tte rs @ ful l circl e m agazine .org. PLEASE NOTE: s om e l e tte rs m ay be e dite d for s pace re as ons .

LETTER OF TH E M ONTH

W rite r of Le tte r of th e M onth w ins tw o m e talUbuntu cas e badge s !

I re ad your articl e about CNR in Ful l Circl e M agazine is s ue 8 and I re al l y dis agre e w ith your concl us ion. I h ave te s te d CNR m ys e l f and th e re w e re s o m any is s ue s and bugs th at I re al l y w oul d give onl y one s tar out of five . And th is s tar w oul d onl y be for th e ide a its e l f. CNR coul d be th e future of pack age ins tal l ation but curre ntl y it's s o buggy th at you coul dn't us e it prope rl y w ith anoth e r pack ack ing s ys te m . H e re are s om e probl e m s: • pack age ins tal l ation w ith out root pas s w ord (pos s ibl e s e curity ris k ). • not us abl e w ith out th e Inte rne t (it m us t dow nl oad a de b from th e CNR re po). • no ch e ck for pre vious l y ins tal l ed s oftw are from Ubuntu (w il love rw rite any pack age , e ve n if ne w e r), update -m anage r of Ubuntu w il lre port th at th e re are ne w e r pack age s and ove rw rite th e ol d from CNR.

Ed:

• m ixing of de pe ncie s from Ubuntu and CNR re po. • no com m e nt th at furth e r pack age s w il lbe ins tal l e d. • no pos s ibil ity do unins tal las de pe nde ncy ins tal l e d pack age s from CNR. • no ch e ck for oth e r running pack age m anage rs , apt-ins tal lw il lfailw ith a w rong m e s s age . • doe s not l ock pack age m anage m e nt s ys te m afte r s tart. • no pos s ibil ity to s top an ins tal l ation, you can cl os e th e ins tal lw indow w ith th e "X"button but it s til lruns in back ground. • no re us e of pack age s al re ady s tore d in /var/cach e /cnr/cl ie nt/pool . So I re al l y coul d not unde rs tand your te s t or agre e w ith your concl us ion.

irs t of al lth ank s for a gre at m agazine . I jus t re ad th e ne w s s e ction of is s ue 9 . In th e articl e 'Linux D e ve l opm e nt M ore Lik e SocialNe tw ork Says Torval ds ' th e re is th e ve ry unfortunate s e nte nce : ".. w h o h as w ritte n approxim ate l y 2% of th e Linux code s ince cre ating th e ope rating s ys te m in 19 9 0" Now Linus Torval ds h as not cre ate d an ope rating s ys te m , h e m ade th e k e rne lfor it, and th e k e rne lis th e one th at is nam e d Linux. I k now th at you guys h ave a s ource for th is articl e , but you s til lh ave to be criticalof th e conte nt to avoid pas s ing on e rrone ous inform ation l ik e th is in th e future .

Ed:

ubuntu bundl e s a pack age cal l e d gtk -q t-e ngine by de faul t (re : GNO M E apps in KD E4).

Th is pack age e ns ure s th at GTK+ appl ications l ook l ik e Qt appl ications on KD E. As th is e ngine is w ritte n for Qt 3.x, it s e e m s to not w ork for Qt 4 w h ich KD E 4 us e s .

Ed: .

jus t re ad th e l ate s t is s ue and as a h appy O pe nTTD us e r I coul dn't h el p but notice th at th e ins tal l ation m e th od can be e ve n e as ie r by us ing AutoPack age . O pe nTTD is one th e program s us ing AutoPack age and it is th e e as ie s t w ay to ins tal lO pe nTTD in m y opinion - it e ve n dow nl oads th e data fil es autom atical l y. You can find AutoPack age h e re : h ttp://w w w .autopack age .org

Ed:

e ar Editor and e ne m y of al lth ings printe d.

D id you actual l y h ave a l ook at th e ge ne rate d PD F and cons ide r printing as a l ice nce -pe rm itte d action by re ade rs ?Try it in Acrobat Re ade r 8 and e njoy be ing unabl e to pos tproce s s th e ge ne rate d pos ts cript. You cannot s cal e or rotate it prope rl y. Furth e rm ore , m any of th e URLs h ave e m be dde d s pace s . Try copying th e m - m ore ofte n th an not, you'l lfind th e URLpl us a sl e w of bl ank s adde d in arbitrary pl ace s .

Ed:

Q& A

W ritte n by Robe rt Cl ips h am

If you h ave an Ubuntu re l ate d q ue s tion w h ich ne e ds ans w e ring, e m ailit to us h e re at q ue s tions @ ful l circl e m agazine .org, and w e 'l lpas s th e m to Robe rt for ans w e ring in a future is s ue . Pl e as e incl ude as m uch inform ation as you can about your probl em.

Ye s it is . You can us e an appl ication cal l ed 'Scre e nl e ts ' w h ich can be dow nl oade d from h ttp://dow nl oads .s ource forge .ne t/s cre e nl e ts (ge t th e .de b fil e ). For a l is t of re q uire m e nts , s e e h ttp://w w w .s cre e nl e ts .org/inde x.ph p/FAQ.

If you m us t h ave th e W YSIW YG e ditor, is avail abl e in th e re pos itorie s , and s h oul d do e ve ryth ing you ne e d. If it is not for you, you coul d try , w h ich al s o h as a W YSIW YG e ditor pl us th ous ands of oth e r pow e rfulfe ature s and is q uite s im il ar to D re am w e ave r. For s yntax h igh l igh ting te xt e ditors s e e gEdit (Ubuntu) and Kate (Kubuntu).

A Q

Th e ne xt l ong te rm s e rvice re l e as e of Ubuntu w il lbe 8.04 H ardy H e ron, due for re l e as e in Aprilth is ye ar. Note th at Kubuntu 8.04 w il lNO T be an LTS.

A Q

To s e t up m ul tipl e m onitors on Ubuntu, l ook at th e th re ad be l ow . As th e re are s e ve ral w ays of doing it (de pe nding on your graph ics card e tc), you'l lne e d to s e e

w h ich is righ t for your s e t up. An im portant s te p no m atte r w h ich you do, is to back up your /e tc/X11/xorg.conf by doing: sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf_backup in a te rm inal . h ttp://ubuntuforum s .org/s h ow th re ad.ph p?t=221174

Th e program you w ant is cal l ed . It is avail abl e th rough th e unive rs e re pos itorie s . For a guide to configure it, s e e th e l ink be l ow . h ttp://ubuntuforum s .org/s h ow th re ad.ph p?t=205865

M Y D ESK TO P

Your ch ance to s h ow th e w orl d your de s k top or PC. Em ailyour s cre e ns h ots and ph otos to: m is c@ ful l circl e m agazine .org and incl ude a brie f paragraph about your de s k top, your PC's s pe cs and any oth e r inte re s ting tidbits about your s e tup.

t th e m om e nt I am us ing Ubuntu 7.10 w ith an Inte lPe ntium dual -core 1.8GH z, 1GB RAM , 256M B Inte lGM A 9 50 and a 160GB H D D .

In m y ins tal lI us e Com piz Fus ion. I h ave a pe rs onal ize d de s k top cre ate d by ins tal l ing "M ac4Lin_GTK_Aq ua_v0.3"and th e icon pack age "nuove TX.2.2"and th e font UnD otum (al lare avail abl e at w w w .gnom e -l ook .org). To s uppl e m e nt it, I ins tal l e d "Avant W indow Navigator"(AW N), s om e th ing s im il ar to O bje ctD ock on W indow s . I find noth ing w rong w ith th e de faul t Ubuntu w al l pape r s o I h ave not ch ange d it.

w ante d to l e arn Linux th is s um m e r and I h ad h e ard th at Ubuntu w as e xce l l e nt. I al s o ch os e Ubuntu be caus e th e CD w as e as y to ge t.

Since th e n I h ave be e n us ing th is s ys te m . M os tl yI us e it to program and it h as al w ays w ork e d w e l l . I al so us e Ubuntu Studio. If you l ook at m y de s k top you w il l th e n unde rs tand h ow e xcite d I am !

TO P5 CH ESS GA M ES

Your m onth l yl is t of Linux gam e s or appl ications from th e de pth s of th e Inte rne t. If you h ave an ide a for a l is t, pl e as e e m ail : m is c@ ful l circl e m agazine .org

W ritte n by Andre w M in

H om e page : h ttp://k nigh ts .s ource forge .ne t/

H om e page : h ttp://brutal ch e s s .s ource forge .ne t/

An ol dis h (but s til l w onde rful ) program , Knigh ts is probabl y th e m os t ful l y fe ature d of al lof th e program s l is te d. Be gun back in 2001, Knigh ts s ports a nice KD E inte rface w ith s upport for additional(30+ ) th e m e s . You can pl ay s ingl e pl aye r agains t al m os t al lth e ch e s s e ngine s avail abl e for Linux (incl uding BabyCh e s s , Cil ian, Crafty, D e e p Sje ng, Fail e , GNUCh e s s , Knigh tCap, Pe pito, Ph al anx, Sje ng, and Yace ), or pl ay onl ine at th e FICS, th e Inte rne t Ch e s s Cl ub, th e Gl obalCh e s s Se rve r, or Ch e s s .ne t. Th e re 's al so advance d fe ature s s uch as printing notation.

BrutalCh e s s is a ve ry cool3D ch e s s gam e . Al th ough it h as al m os t no configuration options , th is pow e rful SD Lgam e runs on both W indow s and Linux and is probabl y th e be s t l ook ing ch e s s gam e on th is l is t. Board panning (us ing th e righ t m ous e button), re fl e ctions , and s h adow s are al la part of th is s tunningl y be autiful ch e s s gam e . Now if onl y th e de ve l ope rs w oul d add FICS s upport, BrutalCh e s s w oul d be IM H O com pl e te (unfortunate l y, it l ook s l ik e BrutalCh e s s is curre ntl y de ad). To ins tal lBrutalCh e s s , jus t ge t th e pack age from th e unive rs e re pos itory.

To ins tal lKnigh ts , s im pl y grab th e pack age in th e unive rs e re pos itory.

poue tCh e s s

H om e page : h ttp://w w w .dre am ch e s s .org/ Anoth e r gam e m ore focus e d on l ook s th an pow e r, D re am Ch e s s is an O pe nGL gam e th at is s l igh tl y m ore advance d th an BrutalCh e s s . It incl ude s both s ingl e and (l ocal ) m ul tipl aye r gam e type s , and w h at m ak e s it e ve n be tte r th an Brutal Ch e s s is th at you can configure th e AI l e ve l(th e D re am e r e ngine , al th ough you can add oth e r e ngine s ). D re am ch e s s and Knigh ts are al s o th e onl y gam e s th at l e t you s ave and l oad. You can ge t th e officialpack age (dre am ch e s s ) from th e unive rs e re pos itory. Unfortunate l y, al th ough th e l ate s t ve rs ion of D re am Ch e s s is 0.2, th e ve rs ion in th e re pos itory is 0.1. Luck il y, Ge tD e b.ne t h as th e ne w e r ve rs ion. Ge t it at h ttp://w w w .ge tde b.ne t/app/D re am Ch e s s .

H om e page : h ttp://poue tch e s s .s ource forge .ne t/

H om e page : h ttp://w w w .be rgo.e ng.br/e board/

Anoth e r re s ource h ungry 3D ch e s s gam e , poue tCh e s s (buil t w ith SD Land O pe nGL) is a pow e rfulinte rface to th e Fail e ch e s s e ngine . It's got AI configuration (ranging from "Ne w bie "to "I'm Kas parov"and us ing th e Fail e e ngine ), Engl is h and Fre nch l anguage s , and m ul tipl aye r (l ocal l y). Lik e BrutalCh e s s , it al so l e ts you pan th e board w ith your righ t m ous e button. It's not e xtre m e l y pow e rfuland you s h oul dn't e xpe ct a l ot of cus tom ization, but if you dis l ik e d D re am Ch e s s or BrutalCh e s s , poue tCh e s s is a good al te rnative .

If you're s ick of al lth os e fancy 3D gam e s th at don't do m uch be s ide s pl ay agains t one AI oppone nt, give e board a try. Al th ough th e graph ics are onl y 2D , it w ork s w ith FICS (and any oth e r FICScom pl iant s e rve r), h as m ul tipl aye r (ove r th e inte rne t!), incl ude s PGN s aving s upport, and w ork s out of th e box w ith th e GNU Ch e s s , Crafty, and Sje ng e ngine s (and w ork s w ith oth e rs w ith a l ittl e tink e ring). And for pow e r us e rs , it h as a nice cons ol e to w ork w ith .

To ins tal lpoue tCh e s s , us e th e pack age from th e unive rs e re pos itory.

To ins tal le board us e th e pack age in th e unive rs e re pos .

H O W TO CO NTRIBUTE W e are al w ays l ook ing for ne w articl e s to incl ude in Ful lCircl e . For articl e guide l ine s , ide as , and for is s ue trans l ation, pl e as e s e e our w ik i: h ttp://w ik i.ubuntu.com /UbuntuM agazine Pl e as e e m ailyour articl e s to: articl e s @ ful l circl e m agazine .org

If you w oul dl ik e to s ubm it ne w s , e m ailit to: ne w s @ ful l circl e m agazine .org Se nd your com m e nts or Linux e xpe rie nce s to: l e tte rs @ ful l circl e m agazine .org H ardw are /s oftw are re vie w s s h oul d be s e nt to: re vie w s @ ful l circl e m agazine .org Que s tions for future inte rvie w s s h oul d go to: q ue s tions @ ful l circl e m agazine .org Lis ts and de s k top/PC ph otos s h oul d be e m ail e d to: m is c@ ful l circl e m agazine .org If you h ave q ue s tions , you can vis it our forum : w w w .ful l circl e m agazine .org

Sunday 02nd M arch .

Ful lCircl e Te am - Ronnie Tuck e r ronnie @ ful l circl e m agazine .org - Rob Ke rfia adm in@ ful l circl e m agazine .org

H AVE YOUR SAY If you w ant to h ave your s ay in h ow Ful lCircl e de ve l ops , pl e as e atte nd our m onth l y IRC m e e ting. You can find our ne xt Age nda at: h ttp://url .ful l circl e m agazine .org/f2ba08 W e w ant th e input of you, th e re ade r, to h e l p us m ak e de cis ions th at affe ct th e m agazine . Ne xt ge ne ral , al lw e l com e , m e e ting: . M e e tings tak e pl ace in th e IRC ch anne l , w h ich is on th e irc.fre e node .ne t s e rve r. O r you can us e our w e bIRC page w h ich is at h ttp://irc.ful l circl e m agazine .org and it w il lal l ow you to inte ract w ith our IRC ch anne lfrom w ith in your w e b brow s e r.

Friday 28th M arch .

- Robe rt Cl ips h am m rm onday@ ful l circl e m agazine .org - M atth e w Ros s i podcas t@ ful l circl e m agazine .org Sam ue lBarratt Robe rt Cl ips h am D anie lCoh e n Ph il ipp H รถh n Andre w M in Vid Aye r D avid D am pie r Ryan H artl age D avid M aino

Andre w M in M atth e w H ol de r

And our th ank s go out to , th e and th e m any trans l ation te am s around th e w orl d.