Linux could improve Computer Skills
Since I switched to GNU/Linux, I always believed that I could improve my programming skills by using this open source Operating System. I’m still believing this beliefs until now. However, after nearly two years of using GNU/Linux, my programming skills doesn’t even increase a bit. But my creativity seems to be improved and I have gotten a lot of inspirations from using GNU/Linux Operating System.
I came across an article from DaniWeb today that talks about how is Linux a good teacher. It advises me to always use command line in order to actually improve my programming skills with Linux. I remembered that when I was a Fedora user, I always used command line to install new software packages. However, after I have switched to Kubuntu, I had used less and less command line. Mainly because the package installation command is different from Fedora. After I read the article, I have decided that I need to begin to use command line frequently in order to learn from multiple Linux distros as well as to improve my programming skills.
Since I heard about the existence of Linux three years ago, I have searched around online to find a suitable Linux distro to begin my programming skills improvement. However, because of my inexperience of GNU/Linux, I chose to using Fedora as my first Linux distro. I continued to search for the Linux distros for improve my programing skills while using Fedora as my main OS. The following Linux distros I’ve found so far that I think it’s useful to begin with:
- LFS (Linux From Scratch)
- Arch Linux
- BSDs (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc)
Currently, I’m trying to install Arch Linux on my netbook by following the tutorials on its official website. I also plan to finishing reading the LFS ebook and apply the technique in the book to my test desktop machine. In addition, I will also try to download, test, and learn various BSD distros in VirtualBox.
The easiness of sharing between Ubuntu-based Distros and Windows
GNU/Linux uses Samba to sharing files within a network. I remembered last time when I tried to use Samba to connect to my Windows XP netbook using Fedora. It involves several complicated procedures that took me long time to complete. During those painful times, I failed numerous times to get Fedora to be discovered by Windows XP despite following good tutorials. It finally worked after I read the tutorial several times and numerous trials.
After I switched to Kubuntu this week, I discovered an easier way to share files between GNU/Linux and Windows. It has become much easier to sharing files with Windows.
- Right click the folder that you would like to be shared
- Select “Sharing Options”
- In the “Folder Sharing” dialog box, check “Sharing this folder” checkbox
- After customize the sharing options, click “Create Share”
After the dialog box closed, the share is created. It’s a lot easier compare to the Samba setup in Fedora.
Although lots of videos on YouTube showcase the Samba feature available in Ubuntu, it doesn’t give you how to work with other computers on the network in order to get it working. I will create a video demonstration later next week to demonstrate how to get shared files in other computers on the same network, including Windows XP and Untutu.
Kubuntu is better than Fedora after all
I replaced Fedora with Kubuntu on my laptop yesterday. After experiment with the KDE interface on Kubuntu, I think that Kubuntu is better than Fedora for the following reasons:
- Flash is easy to install
According to several online tutorials, x86-64 Fedora users need to first install 32-bit support packages, and then install Flash plugin. After that, the users also need to worry about other Flash player issues, including no sound in the Flash movies. When I was using Fedora, I simply downloaded the incomplete Flash plugin for Linux from Adobe website and copied it to .mozilla/plugins in my home folder. Every time I reinstalled Fedora, I used this method to install Flash plugin. And it worked successfully each time without any issue.
In Kubuntu, I no longer need to download Flash plugin through Adobe website. I simply install it from the KPackage user interface. It installed and also worked without any issue.
- Excellent NVIDIA driver
To install NVIDIA driver in Fedora, I need to add RPMFusion repo. However, after installing the RPMFusion version of the NVIDIA driver, it appeared that Second Life doesn’t support it. I then need to download the appropriate driver from NVIDIA website, exit the X Server, and installed the driver from the command line.
With Kubuntu, all I need to do is install the proprietary NVIDIA driver through Hardware Drivers detection window.
- Second Life is ready to run without installing additional packages.
I needed to install a list of 32-bit packages in Fedora in order to run Second Life that is only available under 32-bit. After the installation, it still missed a lot of features like voice communication through microphone.
After the installation of Kubuntu and NVIDIA driver, Second Life are running smoothly without any problem. Even the voice communication feature is working correctly.
- Dual-monitor support works out-of-box
Thanks to the help of Nouveau, Fedora supports dual-monitor without any issue. But the Nouveau driver does not support 3D grapics yet. Because of that, I disabled Nouveau driver in grub.conf file and installed proprietary NVIDIA driver. However, Fedora didn’t enable the dual-monitor support by default anymore. I need to manually enable the feature through nvidia-settings.
After the installation of Kubuntu, the Hardware Drivers dialog box automatically popped up to remind me that I need to install NVIDIA driver. I installed the driver and restarted the laptop. Kubuntu automatically detects my two monitors and expand the desktop across these monitors.
In the end, I like Kubuntu better than Fedora. However, I’m still getting use to the single click method in KDE. After all, maybe I will stop following Fedora news and completely switch to Kubuntu community.
Began Long-Term Usage of KDE
As a Fedora user since switched to GNU/Linux almost two years ago, I haven’t tried any other GNU/Linux distros besides Fedora. Although I tried KDE interface of Fedora for some times before, I always switched back to GNOME because my familiarity of GNOME interface.
Today I decided to switched from my long-time used Fedora to the more popular Ubuntu distro. I began by backup all the files in my home directory, created an Ubuntu live USB using UNetbootin and Ubuntu live CD, and installed it. It all went well until I installed VLC player and played a video file. It didn’t display any video image other than audio. As a result, I reinstalled using Kubuntu live USB. Once it was installed, I installed VLC and tested it with the same video file. This time, it was audio problem. Luckily I found the solution. For unknown reason, the PCM slider in the sound mixer property was set to mute. I also installed Choqok for work with identi.ca and Twitter. I think Choqok is better than Gwibber because of the new messages counter feature and convert the emoticons to the real pictures. For some reason Gwibber crashed each time while starting in the KDE environment. As I am almost like a new KDE user, I have to learn where to configure the specific settings. For instance, I wanted to change default browser from Konqueror to Firefox. I learned that this configuration is inside Default Applications of System Settings window.
I have begun to like KDE as I learn more and more tricks on how to using KDE. Therefore, I decided that I will continue to use Kubuntu on my laptop for home use, as well as Ubuntu on my netbook for school use. As for Fedora, I will compare new features of the newest version of both distros have when they come out later this year. Then decide whether or not I will switch back.
Use Samba to Transfer Files between Fedora and Windows XP
Samba is a GNU/Linux network service that provides file sharing between GNU/Linux and Windows. One week ago, I switched my netbook from Ubuntu back to Windows XP thanks to the Google Earth plugin. I need to use Google Earth API for my ColdFusion class and it needs Google Earth plugin to test the API code. However, the Google Earth plugin doesn’t have a Linux version yet despite the popularity of Google Chrome and Google Earth on GNU/Linux. I initially thought that Google Earth plugin could work on virtualized Windows XP through VirtualBox. It failed to display the data due to the low performance of VirtualBox graphics card.
Anyway, to use Samba, you need to first install it by entering the command below to the terminal:
sudo yum install samba samba-client samba-common samba-swat
After the installation, I followed a helpful tutorial on linuxhomenetworking.com to complete the Samba setup. It provided me step-by-step instructions to setup the Samba server using SWAT web interface.
I use Asus Eee PC 1005HA, which means that it has Windows XP Home Edition. The instructions for this tutorial on how to connect Samba server with Windows XP Home confused me. I was never able to connect to the server based on it. Fortunately, I found a post on linuxforums.org that discusses about the same issue. According to the discussion, the firewall must be disabled to allow Samba to accept the connection. This inspired me to enable the Samba and Samba Client ports in Firewall setting without completely disable the Firewall. This prevents any unnecessary security issues. Windows XP successfully connected to the Samba server without any problem.
I have not yet tested with transferring files from Windows XP back to Fedora directly on Fedora, but I think it’s the same technique. Some of the Samba server security concerns would rise if Samba is used on a non-password protected network. According to the article on linuxhomenetworking.com, you need to setup a local HTTPS Certificate for the Samba server if you have any security concerns. I don’t need the certification because I only use the sever on the home network and the network is password-protected.
New Linux Kernel Problem
I use Nvidia graphic card on my Fedora laptop. Today I have upgraded the Linux kernel to the newest version. As you may already know, I changed my graphic driver from the Nvidia driver that comes with RPM Fusion repo to the official driver because of the Second Life issue. Because of that, I prepared to enter command mode after the upgrade to reinstall the graphic driver in order to work with the new kernel. I restarted my laptop and it freezes after the Fedora boot up screen for no reason. I pressed F8 when restarted my laptop again and boot up Fedora by using old kernel before the update.
After it booted up, I reinstalled Nvidia official driver for the new kernel and restarted. Surprisingly, it still didn’t work. I restarted the laptop once again and googled my problem. I found this short article over phoronix.com. It seems that this problem is caused by the broken kernel DRM interface in the new kernel.
I’m excited to know that the new incomplete Nouveau driver is in this kernel release. After I read about this, I don’t have any choice but to change the default boot kernel to the previous kernel by editing the grub.conf file in /boot/grub/ directory until the next kernel update. Hopefully the next release of Linux kernel would solve this problem as well as release the new Nouveau driver with it that will soon to be completed.
Thoughts About Switching to GNU/Linux for New Users (Updated)
After reading the article “Why Linux still sucks” over ZDNet, I came up with the following thoughts that corresponding to three of the points mentioned in that article on the process to switch to GNU/Linux for new Windows/Mac users:
- “No gaming support”
I’m not a big fan of games. I only occasionally play one or two games. I think that the games on GNU/Linux are pretty good. One of the 3D programs I used often is Second Life. Fortunately, I got it working under Fedora. Personally, I think playing games are waste of time, other than for entertainment and socialize purposes.
- “No migration tool”
I think Ubuntu and other Ubuntu-based distros have the options to help Windows users to migrate the files in My Documents folder and other related folders to the new OS during the installation process. Fedora and other Fedora-based distros don’t seem to have this feature yet.
- “Driver/hardware confusion”
There’s no such thing as a “works with Linux†logo for new hardware means that people who might like to upgrade feel totally in the dark as to what future hardware they could buy.
I agree with this statement. Hardware vendors should classify the availability of hardware drivers on GNU/Linux by any means in order to ease customer selection process, and to decrease their return rate on the hardware sale for the incompatible GNU/Linux devices.
The important factor that I think drives away new Windows users is the device driver availability. Although modern GNU/Linux distributions already have a lot of drivers out of box, there are still a few hardware vendors don’t offer their official Linux drivers. Some of the devices have open source drivers, but many of them don’t work well compare to the official one.
Update: The purpose of open source drivers is to help those who don’t know their device specs to install the generic drivers that give them the ability to use the devices’ full functionality. Some drivers are more stable than the official one. Also note that it is not easy to make driver, especially for developers who write open source drivers. Thanks to openuniverse over identi.ca for this tip.
The ColdFusion website is now fully data-driven
I learned a way to write code for the menus by using database instead of using cfswich. Now the course website is completely database-driven. I used the CMS approach to redesign the links in each menu. Here is the entire code for the content page that corresponce to the menu items:
<cfquery name=”qGetURL” datasource=”DSN0111″>
SELECT *
FROM tblMenu
WHERE 0=0 AND
<cfif isDefined(“URL.projectid”)>
menuID = #URL.projectid#;
<cfelseif isDefined(“URL.pageid”)>
menuID = #URL.pageid#;
<cfelse>
menuID = 18;
</cfif>
</cfquery><cfoutput>
<cfset filePath = ExpandPath(“#qGetURL.linkLoc#”)>
<cfif fileExists(filePath)>
<cfinclude template=”../#qGetURL.linkLoc#”>
<cfelse>
<div id=”noVal”>Not Found</div>
<cfinclude template=”index.cfm”>
</cfif>
</cfoutput>
As you can see from the above code, the file location and the file names are stored in the database instead of the page content. This way, I can create web pages inside site directories and then include it to the website through database without change the above code.
I also plan to create a ColdFusion web application that can directly update the database without launch MS Access. Right now I’m using CFEclipse to write the ColdFusion code on my Fedora system and virtualized Windows XP through VirtualBox to modify and viewing the database. My goal for this web application is to allow me to modify or view the database with less or no MS Access usage.
For those who don’t know, my ColdFusion course is Microsoft Access based, not MySQL based. I successfully installed ColdFusion 9 on my Fedora system, but I failed to install MS Access driver onto the system. That’s why I plan to create this application in the next few weeks.
Experience with Proprietary NVIDIA Driver and one Compiz Fusion tip
After I installed proprietary graphic driver from the official NVIDIA website because of the recent decision of using Second Life on my Fedora system, I installed Compiz Fusion. I was surprised to see that the animations produced by Compiz Fusion is smoother than before, although I don’t know why the NVIDIA driver installed from RPM Fusion does not have the same performance as the official driver. Aside from great performance and ability to smoothly run Second Life, I also noticed that the print screen key didn’t work. The problem came from using Compiz desktop. The print screen works once I switched to Metacity window manager by right-click the Compiz Fusion icon, select “Select Window Manager”, and choose Metacity. I decided to find the solution of this problem since I want to completely use Compiz Fusion and will be taking screenshot in the future. After I searched over in the CompizConfig Settings Manager, I discovered a neat feature in the settings manager to search the whole text across the Compiz Fusion plugins.
- After you opened CompizConfig Settings Manager, choose Advanced Search on the bottom left, at the top of the Close button.
- Wait a few moment to allow it to scan all of the Compiz Fusion plugins.
- After that, check “Settings value” checkbox under “Search in…” (Note: this will be unchecked once the manager window is closed, I guess that the search settings cannot be saved).
- Then type the word you want to search under Filter (in my case, it’s “print”).
- While you type, the plugins that contain the filter characters appear under Plugin.
- I found that the print screen key is in the Gnome Compatibility plugin. So I went back to the plugins list by clicking the Back button and enabled the Gnome Compatibility plugin.
- Now I can use the print screen key to make the screenshots. The problem solved.
I’m not sure why the Gnome Compatibility plugin was not enabled by default because it seems to be enabled by default during my re-installation of Fedora in the past. Maybe perhaps because of the proprietary NVIDIA Driver. But I’m still believing the open source Nouveau video driver. I hope its 3D support version will be released soon.
Finally got Second Life Official Viewer Working under Fedora 12 x64 Updated
Second Life viewer 2 beta has been out for a while. It features a web browser like interface and a new feature called Shared Media that makes me to rethink about trying to install SL viewer on my Fedora x64 laptop. The new feature has the ability to bring web applications to the Second Life, even Flash games and YouTube.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, I cannot get the flash to work. neither do the Youtube and HTML 5 ogg forfmat.
Two websites opened on one prime
Top: youtube.com  Front: robbychen.com
Click the image to enlarge
System requirement for the SL Viewer 2 beta is the same as the original viewer. This means that it still doesn’t support 64-bit Linux system. I have to install 32-bit compatibility libraries on the Fedora x64 system. After a little research on Google, I found a blog post about installing 32-bit support onto Fedora 11. I followed its steps to install the 32-bit support libraries. Because of the differences between Fedora 11 and 12, I changed the architecture for the libraries mentioned in the post from i586 to i686. Below is the list of support libraries that I installed:
arts.i686
audiofile.i686
bzip2-libs.i686
cairo.i686
compat-expat1.i686
compat-libstdc++-33.i686
compiz.i686
cyrus-sasl-lib.i686
dbus-libs.i686
directfb.i686
esound-libs.i686
fltk.i686
freeglut.i686
gtk2.i686
hal-libs.i686
imlib.i686
jack-audio-connection-kit.i686
lcms-libs.i686
lesstif.i686
libacl.i686
libaio.i686
libao.i686
libattr.i686
libcap.i686
libdrm.i686
libexif.i686
libgcrypt.i686
libgnomecanvas.i686
libICE.i686
libieee1284.i686
libsigc++20.i686
libSM.i686
libtool-ltdl.i686
libusb.i686
libwmf.i686
libwmf-lite.i686
libX11.i686
libXau.i686
libXaw.i686
libXcomposite.i686
libXdamage.i686
libXdmcp.i686
libXext.i686
libXfixes.i686
libxkbfile.i686
libxml2.i686
libXmu.i686
libXp.i686
libXpm.i686
libXScrnSaver.i686
libxslt.i686
libXt.i686
libXtst.i686
libXv.i686
libXxf86vm.i686
lzo.i686
mesa-libGL.i686
mesa-libGLU.i686
nas-libs.i686
nss_ldap.i686
opencdk.i686
openldap.i686
pam.i686
popt.i686
pulseaudio-libs.i686
sane-backends-libs-gphoto2.i686
sane-backends-libs.i686
SDL.i686
svgalib.i686
unixODBC.i686
zlib.i686
Notice that I removed any of the version number from the original list in order to install the updated libraries, and I also removed three libraries that doesn’t available in the Fedora 12 repositories. It seems that it’s working despite of missing three libraries.
After the installation completed, I launched SL to see if it’s working. Sadly, it displayed an error stated that creating window error. I knew it was the video driver problem since I stuck at this step before and gave up. I thought the problem is that the installed NVIDIA driver through RPM Fusion was outdated. I removed this driver and installed the official proprietary driver from NVIDIA website, restarted my laptop. Finally, I started the new SL viewer and logged into the in-world. I have been used it for 30 minutes. Up until now, the performance and stability of the viewer is great. I suppose I can use the new SL viewer thanks to the proprietary driver after all, although I don’t know why it doesn’t work under the driver in the RPM Fusion repo.