Monthly Archives: August 2012
GNOME 3 Shell vs Ubuntu Unity
The popular Linux distribution Ubuntu recently finalized its move to the new Unity interface, while other Linux distributions are moving to the new GNOME 3 shell. Both interfaces are remarkably different than the Linux environments you’re used to, but remarkably similar to one another. So which one is better for you? We delve down and uncover the differences between each.
Both Unity and the GNOME Shell—the default interface of GNOME 3—bring sweeping changes to the desktop, like big, icon-based app launchers, application docks, and other window management features designed for tablets and desktops alike. Unity is Ubuntu-specific, and Ubuntu 11.10 has removed the built-in option allowing you to easily switch to the classic GNOME desktop. Other Linux distributions, like Fedora, have upgraded to the new GNOME 3 Shell instead of GNOME 2. Today, we’ll look at the differences between these two new desktop environments, and help you decide which one is more likely to suit your particular needs. For an even comparison, we’ll be talking about them both from an Ubuntu standpoint, since that’s what the vast majority of Linux users have.
Main Features
Both environments are remarkably similar, but with a few minor differences and features that make then each unique. The GNOME Shell is a bit more minimalistic and adventurous, while Unity keeps a few aspects of the traditional desktop around. Here’s how they break down.
Unity Has a Mac-Like Menu Bar, Dock, and a Feature-Filled App Launcher
The Desktop: Unity’s desktop is fairly similar to GNOME Classic’s, except for the large dock on the left side of the screen that replaces the old taskbar. You can still place icons on the desktop, and you can open multiple windows as usual. The title bar is now one unified menu for all your apps, like on Mac OS X: instead of having File, Edit, and other menus within each app’s window, you’ll now see them in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Each window has a close, maximize, and minimize button, and when you maximize a window, those buttons also appear on the unified menu bar. Unity has two versions: one for low-powered machines, and one designed for regular desktops that has some enhanced graphical effects (like a transparent dock). Even on a powerful machine, though, Unity can be a bit slow at times, which can bring down the overall experience.
The Dock: Unity’s dock comes with a number of apps already pinned, but you can pin any app by opening it up by right-clicking on its icon and hitting “Add to Favorites”. If the dock has more icons than your screen can fit, it will become scrollable—just mouse down to the bottom and it’ll automatically scroll down the list so you can access other apps. If you have multiple windows open in one app, you’ll see two arrows next to that app’s icon, which is nice, and clicking on it gives you an Exposé-like overview of that app’s windows.
Unity’s dock is sadly not movable from its left-hand position, which is very annoying (Isn’t Linux is supposed to be super customizable?). However, despite this annoyance, it does have some nice Ubuntu integration that you don’t get in the GNOME Shell—for example, you can right-click on Thunderbird’s dock icon to compose a new message or browse your address book.
The Dash: You can access Unity’s application launcher—called the Dash—by hitting the Windows key on your keyboard or by hitting the Dash icon at the top of Unity’s dock. The Dash is a panel that replaces the drop-down menus of classic GNOME. From it, you can search through all your installed apps, settings, files, or even music from one location. You don’t need to click on the search box either—just open up the Dash and start typing. It’ll even show you apps that you don’t have installed, but that you can download from the Ubuntu Software Center, which is convenient. By default, the Dash searches through your apps, though you can hit the icons across the bottom of the Dash to search through files or music through their own “lenses”. This is a pretty nice feature, and it makes the Dash pretty versatile.
It isn’t without its annoyances, though. If you manually navigate through your list of apps in the Dash, it’ll only show one line of apps in any given category. You have to hit a “More Apps” button to see the full list, which is obnoxious and unnecessary. By default, the Dash only takes up about a fourth of the screen, but you can maximize it to take up the entire screen if you wish—but it still only shows a few apps at a time, wasting all that space and making you click around more. It seems like it takes a million clicks to navigate anywhere in the Dash, so while it makes a fine application launcher, it’s far less adequate as a replacement for the old drop-down menus.
Workspaces: Unity’s workspaces work much like GNOME Classic’s. You hit the Worksace button in the dock, and you see four desktops layed out in a grid (though you can edit this number to be whatever you wish). Double click on one, and it’ll take you to that desktop, where you can open up more windows and better organize your screen real estate. None of this is very new, but Unity makes it a bit more prominent than older versions of GNOME did.
The GNOME 3 Shell Has a Minimalist Desktop, an Organized App Launcher, and a Few Extra Features
The Desktop: When you first boot into the GNOME 3 Shell, you might be a bit thrown off at how minimalist it is. Your desktop is completely blank, with just a sparse menu bar at the top of the screen—you don’t even have a dock on your desktop. Not only that, but you can’t put files on your desktop by default, and the windows don’t even have minimize or maximize buttons. That said, these are pretty easy things to get over—after all, you can still maximize and minimize the windows using keyboard shortcuts or a double-click on the title bar. It also adds a few new window management features, like the ability to snap them to the edges of the screen, similar to Windows 7’s Aero Snap feature—perfect if you need to work with two apps side by side. Like Unity, it has some nice desktop effects—mainly lots of smooth transitions and fade-outs—but it performs a good deal faster than Unity, making it more pleasant to use (not to mention very slick).
The Activities Panel: When you hit the Activities button, in the upper right-hand corner of the screen (or hit the Windows button on your keyboard), you’ll enter the Activities panel. Similar to Unity’s Dash, the Activities panel lets you search through all your apps for quick launching, as well as see an Exposé-like overview of all your windows. You can search for apps just by opening Activities and typing, but if you want to manually look through them, you have to click the “Applications” button first. It’s annoying, but the Applications menu itself is much less annoying than Unity’s Dash overall, and requires far less clicking to navigate. The categories menu on the right is also very simply laid out, which is nice.
While the GNOME Shell’s Activities panel is less annoying than Unity’s Dash, it isn’t quite as feature-filled. Unity’s lenses for searching files and music are great, and the integration with the Ubuntu Software Center is awesome. Since th GNOME Shell wasn’t built for Ubuntu, you don’t get any of that.
The Dock: Instead of being on your desktop, like a traditional dock, the GNOME Shell’s dock is part of the Activities panel, showing up on the left side of the screen whenever you open the panel up. The dock is one area in which Unity really wins: GNOME’s dock just seems half-assed. Not only is it annoyingly hidden away, but adding more icons shrinks it down, à la Mac OS X, as opposed to making it scrollable like Unity’s. This doesn’t seem like a problem at first, but it gets a lot harder to use if it shrinks down far, and it starts shrinking down long before it fills the entire side of the screen, which is really stupid. It also won’t tell you if you have multiple windows open in one app, nor will it give you a preview of that app’s windows—you can only see a preview of all currently open windows. And, once again, you lose out on the cool Ubuntu integration features, like the ability to compose a new Thunderbird message by right-clicking its dock icon.
Workspaces: The GNOME Shell handles workspaces a bit differently than Unity. Instead of having a predetermined set of desktops, you can open the Activities window and drag any of your windows to the right to add them to a new workspace. You start off with only two workspaces, but can add more and more as you need them, which is a much smarter way of handling the whole process.
Notifications: One of GNOME Shell’s very cool new features is the notifications system. Notifications pop up at the bottom of your screen without being very intrusive, and any that you don’t see are accessible from the Activities panel (or by activating the bottom right-hand screen corner with your mouse). Any notifications you haven’t seen will be there waiting for you when you come back, which is great for applications like instant messaging.
The Upsides and Downsides of Both
While each environment has its own little differences, the two are largely similar, both in pros and cons. Both interfaces are a bit more pixel-friendly than GNOME 2, especially the GNOME 3 Shell (as long as you don’t mind the hidden dock). GNOME’s minimalism also gives it a really clean look, as does its lack of desktop icons—you don’t have anything cluttering up your screen but the windows you open. And, with both heavily promoting virtual workspaces and this Exposé-like window overview, you can more easily focus on one program at a time, which is good for those of us easily distracted.
Both have migrated away from the drop-down menu to an icon-based launcher, which almost looks tablet-like—even when they’re not being used on tablets. This is definitely a downside during daily use, as you have to move your mouse all over the screen just to click on the apps or settings you want to launch. The ability to hit a key and start typing an app’s name is great, though, and something I highly recommend you work into your muscle memory—if you haven’t already with something like GNOME-Do—but still, on the occasions you need to manually sift through apps, the launchers seem out of place and much harder to navigate. For what it’s worth, though, I found GNOME Shell’s far less annoying. If you learn your keyboard shortcuts, you’ll probably care about all this a lot less, as the keyboard can take you everywhere pretty quickly.
Customizability has also taken an enormous hit with both environments. Back in GNOME 2, you could tweak the layout of the taskbar, install one of many different desktop themes, and customize your drop-down menus at will. Most of this is completely gone in GNOME Shell and Unity, meaning you’re a bit more forced into using the environment as its creators envisoned, and less how you envision. This is, sadly, one of the things that made Linux so great, and it’s sad to see it going down the tubes. That said, customizability could increase with time, especially after third party developers have more time to create tweaks, but right now, you lose a lot.
Ubuntu Builder Lets You Build Your Own Customized Linux Distribution
Ubuntu is still the most popular Linux distribution around, but a lot of people are leaving it for greener, Unity-free pastures. If you like Ubuntu but don’t like its interface and default apps, Ubuntu Builder can help you create your own, customized version of Ubuntu that you can install on any machine.
Ubuntu Builder is very simple to use. Just fire it up in any version of Linux, give it an Ubuntu ISO to tweak, and start making your changes. You can choose from a number of alternative desktop environments (like GNOME, LXDE, KDE, and others), as well as add your favorite packages so they’ll be installed along with the OS itself. You can also add other sources to synaptic, give your distribution a name, and more. When you’re done, just build the ISO and you can install your custom version of Ubuntu on any computer. It isn’t quite as powerful as something like SUSE Studio, but it’s great for Ubuntu fans that just want something a bit more tweaked to their liking.
Ubuntu Builder is a free download for Linux only.
The PPA for this is
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:f-muriana/ubuntu-builder
How to Find the Perfect Linux Distribution for You
Linux is a badass open-source operating system. Take it from a card-carrying Linux lover. But it’s not without problems. One such problem: There are nearly six hundred different versions of Linux out there—an incredibly overwhelming number to even the most experienced of Linux users. If you’ve tinkered with Linux a bit and want to move beyond the basics, here’s how to narrow down that selection and find the distribution that fits your needs.
Note that this article is not necessarily for beginners. We aren’t going to go through a lot of the basic terminology here; you should already know a bit about how Linux works, what a desktop environment is, how package managers and repositories work, etc. To learn the basics, check out our Night School guide on getting started with Linux.
What Defines a Linux Distribution
A Linux distribution is more than just the look and feel of the desktop. A lot of different things go into making a distro what it is, and you should try to take them all into account as you search for the right one. While most of these are customizable in any Linux distro—that is, if you don’t like what apps, desktop environments, or drivers come pre-packaged, you can always install them separately—the idea is to find the distro that’s as close to your ideal setup as possible. That way, you spend less time fiddling and getting everything the way you want. Here are some big things you’ll want to keep in mind.
Package Managers
Traditionally, one of the biggest things that separates Linux distributions is the package manager. Those of you that have used Ubuntu are probably familiar with APT (or its graphical interface, Synaptic), and you’ll find that same package management on Mint, Debian, and other distributions. However, other distros have their own package managers. Fedora’s Yum manager, for example, is a tad easier to use from the command line than APT (though it can be a bit slower at times).
More important than ease of use, though, is the availability of packages. Since Fedora is not quite as popular as Ubuntu, Mint, and other Debian-based distros, it may sometimes be harder to find the app you’re looking for—which means you’ll be stuck building from source instead of just installing it from the repositories. Building from source isn’t all that hard, but it won’t allow you to automatically update that program when a new version comes out, which is a real bummer. So, consider both the ease of use and the popularity of a given package manager in your choice of distro.
Desktop Environment
The default desktop environment encompasses so many different parts of a distribution, but it’s also the easiest thing to change. We’ve talked about the difference between desktop environments before, so I won’t go into super fine detail here, but it includes things like:
- The basic look and feel if your windows, desktop, and menus, as well as how customizable it is
- Resource usage
- The options available in your distro’s graphical preferences (such as remapping certain keys, changing what items appear in your menus, and so on)
- How well certain programs integrate with your desktop and each other
While you can always install a different desktop environment, it’s probably still worth considering heavily. The closer the default desktop is to the desktop you want, the less work you’ll have to do to set everything up, and the better all your programs will work well together.
Stability vs. Cutting Edge
Different distros have different release and update cycles. Some, like Fedora, focus on having the most up to date versions of all your apps and packages, so you always have the latest and greatest. However, this can sometimes come at the expense of stability, which is why other distros—like Debian—prefer to delay certain updates to make sure everything runs smoothly. If you always have to have the latest version of Firefox or any other app, something like Debian probably isn’t right for you—you’d want to choose something like Fedora which will be a bit quicker to get those updates out to you.
Hardware Compatibility
Different distros package different drivers in their installers, which means that, depending on which distro you use, you’ll find that different pieces of hardware may or may not work out of the box. While you can often get other drivers installed with a bit of extra work, it sure isn’t fun. As you’re looking through distros, check their hardware compatibility pages (or test them out with their Live CDs) to see whether things like your Wi-Fi card, video card, and sound are all compatible out of the box. If not, just know that you’ll have to do a bit more work to get everything up and running when you first install. Photo by Garrette.
Community Support
A big part of Linux is the community surrounding it, whether for troubleshooting, app support, or even good documentation. The larger the community surrounding a distro, the more likely you are to be able to get help, find documentation on a specific problem or piece of hardware, and otherwise get information. This is what makes Ubuntu such a great beginner distro. Poke around the forums of your chosen distros, and see which ones fit you well. Is the community helpful? Are there a large number of useful forum threads or documentation pages (like ones dealing with specific laptops? The better support you can get from the community, the easier your transition to that distro is going to be.
Distributions Every Linux User Should Try
Now that you know what makes a Linux distribution, you may be wondering where to start looking. DistroWatch is an incredible resource for those looking to branch out, but again, there are hundreds of distros out there, and it can be pretty overwhelming. While we highly recommend exploring beyond our paltry list below, here are a few distributions that are incredibly popular, and are great starting points for any search. Note that most distributions have variations that use different desktop environments, but we’ll focus on the default environments for each here.
The Standard: Ubuntu
If you’ve tried Linux before—and again, if you’re reading this, you probably have—there’s a good chance you’ve tried Ubuntu. The original aim of Ubuntu was to make Linux easier for the average user, and it did a pretty good job—it’s a great beginner’s distribution. It’s fairly simple to use, updates every six months, and now contains its own Unity interface, which is specific to Ubuntu, featuring things like a dock instead of a taskbar, an App Store-like interface for its package manager, a dashboard for easy searching of the OS, and more. Some people like it, lots of people hate it, but you can always bring back the classic GNOME interface, if you so choose. Ubuntu comes with a pretty standard set of apps, including Firefox, Thunderbird, Empathy for instant messaging, Transmission for downloading torrents, and more. It also has an incredibly large and helpful community, as well as great hardware support, so if you’re looking for something as hassle-free as possible, Ubuntu isn’t a bad place to start. Its popularity also means that it has a ton of programs available in the repositories, or online as packaged DEB files for one-click installations. Rarely will you have to build a program from source.
For the Beginner: Linux Mint
Linux Mint is actually based off Ubuntu, but we thought to include it here because it’s become even more popular with Ubuntu’s shift toward the unpopular Unity interface. Mint aims to be as easy as possible for users unfamiliar with Linux: the installation is pain-free, the menus are familiar and easy to use, and unlike other distros, it doesn’t commit itself to providing only free and open source software—that is, it comes with things like Adobe Flash, MP3 support, and some proprietary hardware drivers preinstalled. In other distros, you usually have to download these separately. Its set of preinstalled apps is very similar to Ubuntu’s (with a notable exception; Mint preinstalls Pidgin for instant messaging instead of Empathy—a choice we agree with), and because it uses the same package management system as Ubuntu, you have a very wide range of programs available in the repositories or as DEB files. It is also completely community-driven, which means you have a pretty good source of support when you need help. If you’ve never used Linux before, we highly recommend Mint as your first distro.
For the Bleeding Edge User: Fedora
Fedora aims to be a bit more on the cutting edge of all its software. Updates come out every six months, just like Ubuntu and Mint, but they aren’t supported for very long. It’s expected that users update regularly and as soon as possible. Programs like Firefox will be updated as soon as Mozilla releases an update, unlike Ubuntu, which will usually wait to make Ubuntu-specific changes to the code and release things later on. This can result in a bit more instability, but is great for those that always want the latest and greatest software on their system. It also updated to the GNOME 3 Shell very quickly, and is the most popular Linux distribution currently using it. Fedora uses the somewhat slower but easier to use Yum package manager, instead of Ubuntu and Mint’s APT, and while it doesn’t have quite the software availability that the others do, you can still find most of what you need in the repositories or online in a single-click installer. Fedora also has great security and enterprise features, if you’re looking to use Linux in a more professional environment. Fedora is definitely better for serious Linux users rather than tinkerers and hobbyists.
For the Cautious and Stable: Debian
Debian, in many ways, is the opposite of Fedora. Its goal is to be as stable and bug-free as possible, which it does very well—but it means that your system is rarely up-to-date with the latest versions of software. New releases come out every 1 to 3 years, and the development community can be a bit harsh for those uninitiated. However, if you’re looking for something as stable as a rock, and don’t care about always having the latest version of a piece of software, Debian is for you. Debian also uses the same package management structure as Ubutnu and Mint, so it has more programs available than you can shake a stick at—both in the repositories and online as DEB files. It also supports many processor architectures, which is great if you have a particularly old or offbeat build.
For the Tinkerer: OpenSUSE
OpenSUSE is a general-purpose Linux distribution that, while it has a bit of drama behind it concerning its parent company, has a very helpful community. Its main draw over other distributions is its level of configuration. KDE is the default desktop (which in my experience is one of the most easily configurable), though it lets you choose between KDE, GNOME, LXDE and XFCE during the installation, which is pretty cool. It also has a very nicely done system administration utility and package manager, known as YaST, as well as great documentation and (as previously stated) a good community behind it. Its worth noting, however, that KDE and OpenSUSE can be a bit more resource-heavy than other distros, so you’ll want to make sure you have resources to spare before choosing it. This is not an ideal distribution for your netbook. If you’re one of those people that likes having things just so, OpenSUSE is a good distro to try, since it gives you a lot of configuration options without the need to delve into the command line.
For the Diehard: Arch Linux
Arch Linux is special. Arch doesn’t have very many of its own characteristics, since when you install it you’re installing it from scratch—reallyfrom scratch. All you have when you install it is a command line, from which you build up your desktop environment, drivers, preferred applications, and more. Essentially, you’re creating your own super customized distro. It can be as minimal or as feature-heavy as you want, and while it takes a lot of work, the end result is fantastic (plus you’ll learn a ton about how Linux works in the process). The great thing about Arch is that if anything ever goes wrong, you’ll probably know why, because you’re forced to deal with these things at a low level. This is especially good considering Arch’s community doesn’t have the reputation of being super helpful to newbies (though I’ve found them to be more than adequate).Arch uses the incredibly easy and powerful Pacman package manager, and is a rolling release, which means there are no “official” releases—you’re always installing the latest version of whatever packages are included, which makes it great for those on the super bleeding edge. Arch also contains the Arch User Repository (AUR), one of my favorite things in the entire Linux ecosystem. It essentially allows the community to create easily installable versions of any program, so even if it isn’t in the official Arch repos, you can use an AUR helper to install all those programs as if they were normal packages in the repositories. For more information on how to install and use Arch, check out our guide on building a killer customized Arch Linux installation.
Obviously, these aren’t the only Linux distributions out there. There are other popular ones like CentOS and Slackware, plus variations of all of the above like the LXDE-enabled Lubuntu (based off Ubuntu) or the super-minimal CrunchBang (based off Debian). Again, check out DistroWatch for more ideas, and don’t be afriad to test a number of distributions before you settle on one—the more you test, the more likely you are to find the one that fits you perfectly.
Got your own favorite distro, or any other comments on how to pick the perfect one for you? Share them in the comments.
Make Ubuntu 11.10/12.04 Look and Feel Like GNOME 2
Longing for the look and feel of the classic GNOME desktop in Ubuntu 11.10? Well it’s easier to achieve than you might think.
Although Ubuntu 11.10 ships with the Unity desktop, and GNOME 3 in its repositories, aping the looking of the ‘old’ GNOME desktop is easy. All that’s requires is installing a few extra packages and performing a tweak here and there.
The end result is a desktop like this: –
How to
The first step is to install the ‘gnome-fallback-session’ from the Ubuntu Software Centre. Click the button below to do this.
Next, log into the ‘GNOME Classic (No Effects)’ session from the Ubuntu login screen.
This will present you with a desktop that looks something like this: –
It’s GNOME 2-ish, but with a few tweaks we can make the Classic Session look like this:
Tweaks
Change the panel background
- Alt+Right click on the top panel
- Choose ‘Properties’
- Select the ‘background’ tab
- Select background image and click the button
- Navigate/select ‘usr/share/themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/apps/img/panel.png’
Install Ubuntu indicators
- Add ‘ppa:jconti/gnome3‘ to your Software Sources
- Update, then install ‘Indicator-applet-complete’.
- Alt+Right click on the top panel
- Choose ‘Add Applets’
- Add ‘Indicator Applet Complete’
- Open a new Terminal
- Run: gksu gedit /usr/share/themes/Ambiance/gtk-3.0/apps/gnome-panel.css
- Add ‘-PanelMenuBar-icon-visible: true;’ (sans quote marks) to the bottom of the ‘PanelMenuBar.menubar.menuitem’ item (see image)
- Save
- Logout and back in to see change take effect
To move/rearrange panels/item
- ALT+Right click on a panel or item to add, move or edit it
Compiz
The GNOME Classic Session doesn’t play too nice with Compiz in Ubuntu 11.10. But we can fix that.
- Open a Terminal
- Enter: gksu gedit /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome-classic.session
- Change the line:
RequiredProviders=windowmanager;notifications;
- to:
RequiredProviders=windowmanager;
With this fixed you can login to your GNOME 2.x style session using ‘GNOME Classic’ instead of the ‘GNOME Classic (No effects)’.
Source
5 Password Managers for Linux
KeePassX
KeePassX has been a very popular and famous password manager for Linux for a very long time and still trusted by pretty big number of users. When user launches the KeePassX password manager first it requires to set up of a master password to add an extra layer of security to password storage. As an option you can use a file with encryption key instead of the password. This key file can be used along with the master password to provide stronger security. KeePassX application is rather simple so you can easily create one or more databases which will have a master password and will contain all the login credentials stored encrypted. This manager is considered to be one of the most secure managers. If you’re Ubuntu user just type in terminal the following command:
sudo apt-get install keepassx
GPassword Manager
Gpassword Manager (GPM) is also one of the most secure and highly rated password managers which have more friendly and easy to use interface that KeePassX. This utility has many features that make it to be a good choice for most of the high level computer users. This password manager allows to set and add favorites into system-tray that is one of the unique features of this application. GPM utility uses the crypto++ method for encryption which can be used in Windows and Linux hence it enables the same database to be used on different platforms without the need to convert anything.
My Passwords
My Passwords is a simple and easy to use utility that allows you to store all your login credentials in an encrypted manner within a file. The most exciting feature of this utility are its speed and no requirement of an installation. Encryption algorithm that is used there is AES. Storage in Derby Database format along with AES encryption gives the user the power to create secure and fast password repository. The interface for this utility is fairly simple.
Fiagaro’s Password Manager 2
Fiagaro’s Password Manager 2 is another powerful tool with strong encryption methods that makes it one of the most secure utility for managing passwords in Linux. Fiagaro’s Password Manager 2 uses the AES-256 encryption of the database files which hold all your login credentials (it uses master password that should be set up once you started the program first).
Gringotts
Gringotts is rather old project: its application for Linux/Unix provides the user the possibility to store his or her notes in secure storage encrypted by symmetrical ciphers. Gringotts has a set of eight different algorithms that can be used to encrypt the desired data. This utility also provides different methods for hashing as well as compression. The interface of Gringotts is not as simple as of other password Managers but still easy to use and most effective for old school bearded Unix users.
List of best Linux blogs
UbuntuHQ Great site where you find a good collection of Ubuntu news, and posts, from other blogs.
PolishLinux This is a great Linux site, it has really good stuff, and great content
LinuxHelp Good site with great stuff, frequently updated.
UbuntuEssentials Frequently updated Ubuntu Site
Ubuntu-Unleashed Another good site with great stuff about Ubuntu Linux
HowToGeek Great How to site, not only for Linux but its Linux section is great!.
LinuxScrew good site which is coming real popular these days, with great articles.
Fsckin Frequently updated Linux site, great tutorials, and good posts about games for Linux.
ArsGeek Not only a Linux site, but with a great Linux section.
Ubuntu Geek All about Ubuntu, from a real Geek
BashCuresCancer Site devoted to command Line, unfortunately not too frequently updated
Phorolinux Really good tutorials about Linux.
http://www.linux-gamers.net/ For Linux games, how tos, forums, etc. about Video Cards, and Games.
http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/ Madpenguin, News, forums, about Linux
Ars Technica Open Ended section: http://arstechnica.com/journals/linux.ars
DesktopLinux: http://www.desktoplinux.com/
GNOME Footnotes: http://gnomedesktop.org/
Phoronix: http://www.phoronix.com/ (lots of good Linux stories)
http://www.debuntu.org Debuntu
http://tweako.com/section/ubuntu Tweako ubuntu
http://www.ubuntux.org Ubuntux
http://gaming.gwos.org Ubuntu Gamers Arena
http://freshubuntu.org/ Fresh ubuntu
http://www.markshuttleworth.com mark shuttleworth’s blog
http://onlyubuntu.blogspot.com only ubuntu
http://ubuntuos.com ubuntu os
http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com ubuntu demon
http://ubuntu.philipcasey.com ubuntu learner
http://xubuntu.wordpress.com xubuntu blog
http://www.ubustu.com/ the ubuntu feed
http://simplyubuntu.wordpress.com simply ubuntu
http://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com ubuntu living
http://allaboutubuntu.wordpress.com all about ubuntu
http://ubuntuheaven.blogspot.com ubuntu heaven
http://ubuntufan.wordpress.com ubuntu fan
http://ubuntulinux.or.id/blog/ id ubuntu blogs
http://ubuntology.com ubuntology
http://thedailyubuntu.blogspot.com/ the daily ubuntu
http://ubuntufs.wordpress.com ubuntu fs
http://ralph.n3rds.net ralph’s ubuntu linux blog
http://www.ubufied.com ubufied
http://planet.gnome.org planet gnome [same as planet kde]
http://planetkde.org planet kde [links to TONS of other blogs]
http://happypenguin.org happy penguin linux gaming
http://www.nuxified.org nuxified
http://www.linuxreality.com linux reality podcasts
http://www.tuxmagazine.com tux online magazine
http://linux.byexamples.com linux by examples
http://www.fsckin.com fscking with linux
http://www.linux-watch.com linux watch
http://www.linuxtavern.com linux tavern
http://www.linuxwins.com linux wins
http://www.oreillynet.com oreilly network
http://linuxtracker.org linux tracker
http://lwn.net/ lwn
http://www.tuxme.com tuxme
http://pimpyourlinux.com pimp your linux
http://www.geekreviewed.com/ [geeky blog w/ linux category]
http://www.osdir.com os dir
http://blog.mandriva.com mandriva blog
http://kerneltrap.org kernel trap [linux kernel news]
http://www.linuxsecurity.com linux security news
http://fullcirclemagazine.org *buntu blog [3 major buntus]
http://boycottnovell.com boycottnovell
http://radio.linuxquestions.org linux questions
http://talkaboutlinux.com talk about linux
http://linuxondesktop.blogspot.com linux on desktop
http://www.jonobacon.org ubuntu/myth tv linux blog
http://kmandla.wordpress.com K.Mandla’s linux blog
http://joey.ubuntu-rocks.org/blog ubuntu rocks
http://fslog.com free software blog
http://thetuxproject.com the tux project
http://savvygeek.com savvy geek
http://bapoumba.wordpress.com a linux blog
http://linuxpoison.blogspot.com linux poison blog
http://lindesk.com
http://alinuxblog.wordpress.com
10 of the Best Online Resources for Linux Beginners
As we all know, the internet is an invaluable resource for just about everything. Learning Linux is no different! Here are 10 Online Resources that will give you a good start on your quest to become a Linux Guru!
Linux: Online Resources
If there is one Linux community you join … this is the one. Linuxquestions.org currently has over 400,000 registered users and 3.5+ million posts making it a very active community with a wealth of information. Here you will find Linux Tutorials, Distro Reviews, Book Reviews, a popular HCL (Hardware Compatibility List), and the bulk of the site … the forums. I can’t tell you how many times in the past I have turned to the members of this site for an answer to a question I’ve had about one of my numerous Linux installs. I have found the community to be polite (most of them), knowledgeable, and in most cases eager to help. Currently I find myself answering more questions for the members than I ask but on those occasions when I am stumped with a Linux issue I still turn to the members of Linuxquestions.org.
The place to be for Ubuntu Linux related issues. This is another very active site and a great community. Overall the members are knowledgeable and eager to help, although the odd flame war has been known to break out here. One thing worth mentioning about the Ubuntu Forums is that it is geared specifically towards Ubuntu Linux users but contains a wealth of information that any Linux user can make use of. Ubuntu users have also been known to, on occasion, help people with issues specific to other distributions.
Another fairly active Linux forum. I do not have nearly as much experience with this forum but I keep it bookmarked should LinuxQuestions.org and Ubuntu Forums fail me! Definitely worth a look.
Speaks for itself. A great Ubuntu Reference cheat sheet. Print it and keep it handy as you learn Ubuntu.
FOSSwire Installing Software on Ubuntu
This cheat sheet focuses on the installation of software in Ubuntu. Another one worth keeping handy as you learn Ubuntu.
FOSSwire Unix/Linux Command Reference
The best basic command line reference I’ve been able to find. Does not go into great detail or cover the more obscure commands but every Linux Beginner should start by learning the commands on this cheat sheet.
HowtoForge – Linux Howtos and Tutorials
An extensive list of Linux How-to’s and Tutorials. Most are very well written and contain a limited amount of outdated or false information. As a Linux Beginner you will benefit greatly from spending some free time going through these tutorials.
Comprehensive list of Commands, Subroutines, Files & Formats, Games, Macros and Maintenance.
Some hate Slashdot while some love it. No matter what you think of Slashdot in general I have found many interesting stories and tutorials in the Linux section. Bookmark it and visit it daily … you never know what you’ll learn.
Lastly, the best Online Resource for Linux Beginners. All the information you will ever need on Linux is just a search away.
Source
UbuntuPopularityContest
Introduction
The Ubuntu Popularity Contest (or popcon, in short) gathers statistics determining which packages are the most popular with Ubuntu users. Once a week, the popularity-contest package submits data to a central server (http://popcon.ubuntu.com/). The data are then processed anonymously to generate the statistics available on http://popcon.ubuntu.com/.
Popcon’s statistics are of big importance to Ubuntu developers. They can use the data to determine which packages to include on the CDs, which bugs need to be fixed first, or to order the results of searches within package managers.
Participating in the Popularity Contest
It is easy to participate in the popularity contest if you are using Ubuntu Edgy or higher, because it is already installed on your machine by default. This means that all you need to do is enable it.
- Click System → Administration → Software Sources
- Click on the “Statistics” (screenshot) tab
- Tick the “Submit statistical information” checkbox
- That’s it. Click “Close” to close the window.
Most used packages
You can know the packages most used by you, with the following (requires several seconds):
Enter this in terminal
popularity-contest | less
The packages are listed from the most recent used.
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