Jay On Linux

I just finished installing Debian 6.0 (code named Squeeze). The graphical install failed, so I tried the text install which worked.
However, I had problems with Evolution. The “send/recieve” was greyed out, as well as the “File->Work Online”.
My problem was fixed by editing the below
/etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf:

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile

[ifupdown]
managed=false

To be:

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile

[ifupdown]
managed=true

But to change the file you need to be root. In the terminal type:

su –
sudo nautilus

Then you can use Nautilus to browse to the file and open it in gedit.

I am beginning to have my frustrations with Linux Mint. For example, in order to install a program in W.I.N.E. I can’t just click and install it. I have to open the W.I.N.E. unstaller and install it that way. Also if I click on a Bittorrent link it doesn’t open Transmission. Rather I have to download the file and then open it.  Now I went to burn a CD and Braseo doesn’t do anything. For design Linux Mint gets an A+, but in functionality I would give it a D. I am seriously considering Kubuntu right now.

Update
Ok, so I tried Kubuntu for a day and hated it. I just does like the KDE desktop. Then I tried Fedora for a day, but the file permissions of my backup files were changed so I could not access them. Grrrr was the theme of my week. I reloaded Ubuntu until my Debian 6 Gnome DVD comes later this week. I am so disappointed with Canonicals’ choice to switch from Gnome to the Unity desktop enviroment.

I recently got an email asking me, “I’ve heard many techies online say that you don’t need a firewall or antivirus software on Linux, but I thought I would ask a pro about this. Is it necessary or even useful to have these security features enabled; and if so, could you give me some advice on which apps.”

You most definitely need a firewall. I have heard of Linux systems being taken over by Linux hackers finding an open port. You don’t need an antivirus for the Linux system, unless you are moving files over to a Windows system and don’t want to infect it. ClamAV is the program to do this. I also suggest including ClamTk, it is a GUI front-end for ClamAV.

In Ubuntu I used Firestarter as the GUI to set up the firewall. I think it is the easiest. Just download it using the package manager. “Firestarter is a complete firewall tool for Linux machines. It features an easy to use firewall wizard to quickly create a firewall. Using the program you can then open and close ports
with a few clicks, or stealth your machine giving access only to a select few. The real-time hit monitor shows attackers probing your machine.” [Description from Synaptic Package Manager]

Linux Mint comes with the Ufw fire wall and I found it already had a GUI called Gufw. Please note that the firewall is not enabled by default, you have to enable it. Just go into menu > Administration > Configure Firewall. Just check the enable box. That’s it. The default setting of ufw, and therefore of Gufw, is to deny all incoming connections to the system, while allow all outgoing connections. So incoming should say “deny”, outgoing should say “allow”. You don’t need to add any rules unless you are doing something fancy. If that is the case there is already a published tutorial on how to configure Gufw on Ubuntu 9.10. It should be the same for Linux Mint.

Now that I have updated to the new Ubuntu, I have noticed my email program Evolution crashing after I create a new message. When I press send/receive it crashes. I have looked for an answer to this problem but have not found an answer yet. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling with no difference. I have actually considered going back to Ubuntu 10.04. We will have to see.

Ok, so I have upgraded to the latest and greatest Ubuntu operating system.

There is no big surprises this time. Everything is working fine. The only real noticable change is in the software store. They cleaned up the look and feel of it. they added features and what’s new. There is some more wallpaper and some small design changes in the look and fell.

First impressions is that this is a polished version of 10.04. All in all a nice upgrade.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

There are several programs that are not in the Ubuntu repository that I use. They are Hulu, Tweetdeck, Google Earth,  Adobe Air, and Real Player. You need Adobe Air for Tweetdeck. Here are their websites for downloading:

Hulu
http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop-linux
Google Earth
http://www.google.com/earth/index.html
Adobe Air
http://get.adobe.com/air/
Tweetdeck
http://www.tweetdeck.com/desktop/
Real Player
http://www.real.com/realplayer/linux

Are there any others that you recommend? Add them in you comments.

Most commercial DVDs are encrypted with CSS (the Content Scrambling System), which attempts to restrict the software that can play a DVD. By installing the libdvdcss2 package you can play encrypted DVDs with MPlayer.

Installing libdvdcss in Ubuntu 10.04

Install the libdvdread4 package (no need to add third party repositories) via Synaptic or command line:

sudo apt-get install libdvdread4

Then open a terminal window and execute:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

Rebooting may be necessary.

Legal Warning: Check with your local laws to make sure usage of libdvdcss2 would be legal in your area.

LINK

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/PlayingDVDs

Microsoft’s security chief, Scott Charney, thinks that the government should license the Internet and block computers that don’t have virus protection and a firewall.

If that ever happens say goodbye to free thought on the Internet. I sometimes wander how anybody can be so silly as to suggest that this will somehow solve the bot net problem. It was caused my Microsoft and now they want to punish the rest of us for their failure. How about fixing your operating system Microsoft?

I must confess this kind of stuff does nothing for my view of Microborg and their agenda.

LINK

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9189838

Ok, so I have upgraded to the latest and greatest Ubuntu operating system.

Firefox Problem

First, Firefox is completely hosed. It pops up and then crashes. So I switched to the Chromium browser, which is the open source version of the Google browser.

I tried a number of ways to fix it, uninstalling and reinstalling. I didn’t want to delete my config file, so I didn’t try that.

Instead I completely removed firefox through the Synaptic Package Manager and the ran Ubuntuzilla.
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ubuntuzilla/index.php?title=Main_Page

It worked, Firefox is up and running.

Button Problem

Second, as if that was not enough, they moved the close, maximize, minimize buttons to the left. Hate it!!!
And you you think that they gave me a choice? Nope. They are trying to copy the Mac again.

You can change it back, but it takes a little work. An easy tutorial is found below:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/13535/move-window-buttons-back-to-the-right-in-ubuntu-10.04/

Although I prefer:

Change the text in the Value text field to:

menu:minimize,maximize,close

Other than these two things, so far so good.

I will update this post if any other things come up.

UPDATE ON FIREFOX
It appears that Firefox will no longer come branded in Ubuntu. The unbrabded version is called ABrowser, but is Firefox. You can even go into synaptic and download the branding, which returns things to normal.

The All-in-One SEO plugin for WordPress has caused my site to be removed from Google. For some reason Google has penalized me and has removed my site from its search engine results. This is the second site that I have had this happen on. I have finally uninstalled the plugin and am in the results again.

Has anyone else had this problem? I read some comments on WordPress.org of people having their sites disappear from Google results. Maybe we can find a fix for this.