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.