update-manager -d

There should now be an “Upgrade” button in the Update Manager window. Press it and let it run…the process was long, but painless.

On my 13″ MacBook everything upgraded well and it works better than before. On my 24″ iMac I was pleasantly surprised to find its wireless internet now works (it never did in Ubuntu 8.04). But the sound is now off and I cannot figure out how to get it working again.

I like dark themes, so I tried the new dark theme that came with 8.10. It works well, but I am really liking the Intrepid Ibex theme based on Willwill’s mockup. Here is a screenshot of my 24″ iMac and 23″ Cinema Display running Ubuntu 8.10 and willwill’s dark theme.

Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex with willwill100's custom theme running on a dual-head 24" iMac and 23" Cinema Display

I started this blog in July as a public exploration of my experimentation with Ubuntu. In that time I have tried to use Ubuntu as my default OS in replacement of the Mac OS because I wanted to see how feasible it was. While the simple answer to “can if be done?” is “yes,” it’s really not very easy. So my comments below come from someone who truly enjoys using Ubuntu Linux (I still use it daily) but who has come to appreciate the finer nuances of the Mac OS.

While the author of the aforementioned article does make a few good points about how far Ubuntu Linux has come he fails to recognize a few very basic advantages of the Mac platform that I have come to appreciate during my experiment:

1. There is no worry-free replacement for Microsoft Office or the Adobe Creative Suite on Linux. There is on a Mac.
2. The Mac has become the simplest zero-setup hub for our digital lives, something that Linux is not, yet.
3. Technological cutting edge — the Mac is on the cutting edge where it matters to the consumer.

Spreadsheets & Graphics

On the Mac we have a genuine Microsoft Office suite that is 100% compatible with the Windows version of Office. On Linux we have many office alternatives, the most popular of which is OpenOffice.org. While very good, it is no drop-in replacement for Microsoft Office. It is not a feature-for-feature replacement. In my experience OpenOffice hardly ever opens a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet with 100% accuracy. Regarding spreadsheets, half of the examples that come with the Excel Bible do not run on OpenOffice.org Spreadsheet or any other spreadsheet app that runs on Linux. Until a user can truly switch from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice without worry it will have a very hard time attracting users who do not want to worry about compatibility.

In the realm of graphics there are many feature-rich alternatives to the Adobe Creative Suite components. But, once again, none of them are drop-in replacements. None of them offer the same ease of switching that can be had by simply cross-grading from the Windows to the Mac version of the Adobe Creative Suite. This ease of switching without worry is very enticing.

Digital Hub

The Mac has become a central hub to our digital lives. And it does all this with a flare and panache never before seen in a computer. It is easy for anyone to manage all their music, photos, movies, finances, and anything else in one place, and it all happens in a fun and seamlessly way.

There is just no equivalent to this seamless experience on Linux. The best one can do on Linux is find the best alternatives to all the parts and pieces that make up the Mac experience. But in the end Linux still lacks the synergy that Apple has created with its Macintosh experience. And if one was to try to find the best Linux alternatives they would spend alot of time searching the internet, experimenting, kludging through various scripts, terminal commands, etc. Stuff that most users do not know how to do, nor want to.

Cutting-edge experience

The Mac has become a beacon of coolness in the technology world. The Mac has almost become like in-vogue clothing, with every Apple product announcement like a new fashion show, the sexy new products strutting down the runway and the audience eating it up. People who look to switch because of this want the cool technology to work. And, to put it quite bluntly, almost none of it does on Linux unless the user is willing to spend hours sifting through help forums and playing in their terminal. On Ubuntu Linux, out of the box, the isight, extra keyboard features, illuminating keys, multi-touch or gesture-based actions on the trackpads, and even num-lock does not work. Not to mention that it takes some effort to get wireless working. And sound is not as good — it “scratches” or “pops”, and it is very hard to convince Ubuntu to use the usb iSub.

Ubuntu Linux (and every other distro that I have tried) has yet to fully support the cutting edge technology that Apple offers its customers with their newest products. This certainly makes Linux less attractive than the Mac OS that already comes pre-installed on the hardware.

Summary

I think the two biggest reasons people switch from Windows to Mac are

1. The problems with Windows
2. The coolness of the Mac

Apple has done an excellent job of positioning its products to be cool enough to consider as an alternative, and technologically cutting-edge in areas that consumers really care about. Until Linux can offer something compelling beyond what the Mac OS already offers it will not break into that “switchers” market.

Linux needs to not just match the Mac OS, but offer something above-and-beyond the Mac OS that will entice users to spend the extra time they need to install it, learn it, and use it.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a ‘remix’ of the standard Ubuntu Desktop 8.04 release to enable it to work better on devices with small screens, such as Netbooks (sub-notebooks), although these packages will work on any 8.04 installation.

The Remix instantly captured my attention because of its focus on small screens. I have a 13″ MacBook laptop. Its 1280 x 800 screen can feel cramped sometimes, especially compared to my dual-scren iMac setup at work.

Given that my entire Ubuntu experiment is about productivity I had to give it a go. I have grown fond of how easy Linux makes experimentation. I knew that I could very easily install the Remix, test it, and just as easily uninstall it when I was done. But I’m keeping it. Here’s why.

1. More screen real estate thanks to creative maximization of windows into the Gnome panel
2. Window switching analogous to tabs
3. Access to every open app & window in the Gnome Panel
4. A more functional desktop thanks to the UME Launcher
5. A very cohesive and clean dark theme

Focused Workflow

Thanks to an ingenious app called Maximus every window in the Ubuntu Remix is maximized. At first I thought this might get annoying, but actually it serves to focus my attention quite well. Almost everything I use my laptop for involves text editing. Emails, this blog, writing code, etc. It’s all writing. So the full-screen workflow focuses on the task at hand. But how do you get to the other windows and apps that are behind the active one?

Thankfully Canonical really thought this Remix through. The window picker applet, seen at the very top-center of the screenshot below, offers alot of very useful information and functionality. It gives a tabbed-like interface to every open application and window, using icons as identifiers. And it focuses the active application by spreading a large bar across the empty space displaying its icon, title, and a close button. This makes it remarkably easy to navigate between open windows.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix improves productivity by focusing attention. Here is my Wordpress admin interface on a 1280 x 800 screen.

An added benefit of the Remix is the location of the application menus. Because every window gets maximized the menus are always on the top-left corner of the screen, very similar to the Mac OS. I realize this is personal preference, but I am loving it

All-inclusive Launcher

The Netbook Remix launcher is awesome. Besides not having to worry about a cluttered desktop (because it’s always hidden) the launcher gives ready access to every app, file, and folder in Ubuntu. Coupled with GnomeDo I can get at anything on my computer with minimal effort.

The launcher fully supports keyboard navigation. Tabbing will rotate focus between the left, center, and right columns. The arrow keys focus the items within each column. And enter will perform the item’s action, such as launching the application or opening the folder.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix Desktop launcher running on my 13" MacBook

What are the negatives?

Well, it does not play well with Compiz or Metacity’s compositing manager, so there are no drop-shadows or other advanced effects (this appears to be a bug in the Intel driver and not the Remix.) I actually do not miss the effects like I anticipated. The new workflow established by the Remix negates the need for most things I used Compiz for. The only thing I miss is using the keyboard to tab through active apps and windows.

More Information

All the instructions for installing the Netbook Remix can be found on the Remix Launchpad site.

For more information check out these reviews:

• Free Software Magazine
• Ars Technica
• Mark Shuttleworth’s Comments

Nautilus as Picasa’s default file manager

I found a great tip at the Ubuntu communities Picasa page demonstrating how to use the Nautilus file manager as Picasa’s default.

1) First copy the template filemanager script to the bin directory with these two terminal commands:

cd /opt/picasa/desktop
sudo cp picasa-hook-filemanager.sh.template ../bin/picasa-hook-filemanager.sh

The first command navigates the terminal to the opt -> picasa -> desktop folder. The second command copies the file manager template to the bin directory and renames it to ‘picasa-hook-filemanager.sh’.

2) Next, edit the template file and paste in the script to open Nautilus when Picasa requests it. This command will open the file we copied above in Ubuntu’s Text Editor.

cd ../bin
gksudo gedit picasa-hook-filemanager.sh

The first command navigates the terminal to the bin directory. The second command opens the newly created file in the Ubuntu Text Editor - gedit.

3) Lastly, using gedit replace the text “exit 1″ at the bottom of the file with this:

/usr/bin/nautilus "${1%%$(basename "$1")}"

Here is the full set of commands exactly as I typed them into my terminal

Here are the terminal commands I used to integrate Picasa with the Nautilus file manager.

Will Picasa ever run natively?

As much as I enjoy Picasa I fear Picasa’s future, being closed-source. Will it ever be truly integrated into the Ubuntu (or any linux distro’s) desktop? I would love to see Picasa run outside of Wine so hacks like these are not necessary. Sadly, the only people with the ability to do this are Google employees; I can only hope the listen to the community requests.

You’d better hurry—I’m not sure how long this offer will last!

I found an awesome deal this weekend. The book entitled “Ubuntu Unleashed, 2008 Edition” from Sams comes with a free upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10! I found this at the local Barnes & Noble.

But don’t fret if there’s no Barnes & Noble in your area. The listing at Amazon states that it “Includes a DVD with a full Ubuntu Linux distribution, plus a free upgrade to Ubuntu Linux 8.10 once it is released.”

Simply amazing…can you believe there just givin’ this stuff away?

Really...is this necessary? A "Free Upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10" sticker on the book "Ubuntu Unleashed, 2008 Edition" from Sams.

The "Free Upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10" sticker

The problem

When logging into Ubuntu 8.04 I would see this error message. It explains that the permissions on my user’s hidden .dmrc file and home directory are wrong.

A photo of the .dmrc permissions error I was getting when logging into Ubuntu 8.04

The Solution

These two commands, to be run in the terminal, fixed the problem for me (many thanks to the Ubuntu forums)

chmod 700 /home/<yourusername>
chmod 644 /home/<yourusername>/.dmrc

Of course you must replace <yourusername> with your actual user name. Afterward executing these in your terminal reboot your system and the .dmrc error should be gone. Perhaps simply logging out and then back in would work, but I did not try this.

I always find screenshots helpful. Here are the two commands as I typed them in my terminal.

Fixing the Ubuntu .dmrc permissions error on login

The Explanation

For the curious: here is what the above commands are doing.

sudo, the first word in each command, is telling the computer to operate in super user mode. It stands for “super user do” and you can read more about it here at Wikipedia, or at sudo’s home page. Essentially it allows you to have temporary root access for the one command line it preceeds.

chmod is an abbreviation for “change mode”, which you can read about here at Wikipedia. It has the power to change permissions on files and/or folders. So in the commands above we use chmod to set the permissions of the .dmrc file and the home directory.

The numbers are octal notation, which you can read more about here at Wikipedia. They are easier to understand as 3 distinct numbers, as in 7, and 0, and 0, instead of a single 3 digit number, as in 700.

700 stands for:

• user permissions of 7. This gives full read and write access to your user.
• group permissions of 0. This gives no access to group.
• other permissions of 0. This gives any other user no access.

And 644 stands for

• user permissions of 6. Your user can read and write, but not execute the file.
• group permissions of 4. Group can read, but not write or execute the file.
• other permissions of 4. Other users can read, but not write or execute the file.

View original comic at xkcd.

I have been using Dropbox on my Mac for a few months now—it’s fantastic! There are three features that the service offers: backup, syncing, and sharing. It is the second feature, syncing, that I am most impressed with. Any file inside the Dropbox folder is continuously synced with the server. Every time I change the file Dropbox quietly and adroitly sends the changes, and only the changes, to the server.

But the real point I want to share with this post is this. Now, with my Mac and Linux systems synced to one Dropbox account, I can quickly share files across systems. In term of productivity there is nothing better. It all happens automagically. I edit files on my Ubuntu MacBook laptop at night. In the morning I log into either Ubuntu or Leopard on my iMac at work and my files are in sync. Brilliant!

Dropbox alpha running in Nautilus in Ubuntu 8.04 Linux

And as an added benefit the Dropbox guys have provided a web interface to all the files and folders that are synced with the system. Using the web interface I can:

• Browse all my files and folders
• View any file’s history
• Restore any file to an older version
• Upload new files
• Control sharing preferences for any folder
• Download entire folders as .zip archives

The Dropbox web interface. This is the home screen showing the most recent uploads and file syncing activity.

For those Linux users who have never heard of Dropbox you should check out this simple request for a linux version. As of this writing it has 910 posts! What started as a simple question, posted about 6 months ago, has ballooned into a massive rallying cry (or perhaps I should say poetry contest?) that the developers have brilliantly answered. The world now has a very functional backup/sync/share solution that just works, all humble and quite-like, on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Dropbox is still in closed beta, so the only way to get in on the goodness is to be invited. I have 8 invitations left, so let me know in the comments if you want one

The moment Yojimbo was released I grabbed a copy. I have used it daily ever since. Yojimbo is a very nice tool for quickly collecting bits of textual data in a searchable, taggable, and secure manner. But it has its limitations. Most notably—it only runs on Mac OS X. But it also suffers from a lack of export features

As I have move my life over to linux (and open source software in general) I have been in search of a suitable alternative. My favorite, thus far, has been the simple Tiddlywiki. Incollector is a close runner up, but it fails the cross-platform test (it only runs on Windows and Linux, not the Mac OS.)

When I first discovered Incollector I wrote this AppleScript to export my entire Yojimbo library into Incollectors xml format. In this way I am able to import my entire Yojimbo library (less pdfs) into Incollector.

But that was not enough, so I tweaked it to export my Yojimbo library to a Tiddlywiki. Anyone interested can grab the script here.

It is by no means perfect, but it gets the job done. The AppleScript copies the exported data to your clipboard. After running the script you must paste the resulting data into a new text file. Simply open up TextEdit and create a new plain text document and paste the data into it. Save it as a fresh new html Tiddlywiki file. Presto, you now have all your Yojimbo bookmarks, webarchives, passwords, notes, and serial numbers in a Tiddlywiki

If you would like your Yojimbo data to be part of a pre-existing Tiddlywiki then you can import its tiddlers like so:

1. Open the Tiddlywiki you want to import into
2. Go to backstage->import
3. Select the Tiddlywiki that you saved earlier, containing your Yojimbo exports
4. Choose all the tiddlers that you wish to import
5. Click “done” at the bottom when it completes

The usual caveats apply. I have only tested this on my computer running Leopard and Yojimbo 1.5.1, so there are no guarantees it will work on your system. The AppleScript will save all secured Yojimbo data as plain text (i.e. unsecured.) If you wish to hide your secure data then comment out the appropriate lines of the AppleScript (see comments in the script for instructions.)

I use TrueCrypt, running on a flash drive, to securely access my Yojimbo Tiddlywiki from any computer, be it Mac, Windows, or Linux.

Download the Yojimbo to Tiddlywiki AppleScript.