Re: [ubuntu-uk] Password Requirement On Automatic Updates
Hi James Thanks for this. I'm not sure I agree with the policy, as I feel any kind of installation should require explicit authority, but I'm pretty sure that your theory ties in with my experience. Cheers Nige From: James Tait Sent: 12 June 2020 15:22 To: UK Ubuntu Talk Cc: Nigel Verity Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Password Requirement On Automatic Updates On 2020-06-12 13:12, Nigel Verity wrote: 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345 > Most days I get a notification dialog informing me of pending updates. > Sometimes I install immediately, other times I'll click the "Remind Me > Later" button. I've noticed an inconsistency regarding whether I am > required to enter a password before the update proceeds. There appears > to > be no pattern determined by whether I install immediately or delay it > until later. > > Does anybody know if the security policy for updates has changed? In > all > previous Ubuntu incarnations I've used I've always, without exception, > had to provide a password prior to an update proceeding. > > Discretionary updates using the command line or Synaptic always require > a > password, so the issue seems to be concerned solely with the updater > service. It looks like a bug to me but I don't want to waste anybody's > time if it is in some way intentional. I believe the policy is that a password will only be required if an upgrade results in the installation of new packages, e.g. an upgrade of the linux-image-generic package would result in the installation of a different linux-image-x.y.z-generic package, whereas upgrading something like vim would just install a newer version of the same package. HTH, JT -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Password Requirement On Automatic Updates
Hi I've been running Ubuntu 20.04 (Gnome desktop) for about 3 weeks, from a clean install. Most days I get a notification dialog informing me of pending updates. Sometimes I install immediately, other times I'll click the "Remind Me Later" button. I've noticed an inconsistency regarding whether I am required to enter a password before the update proceeds. There appears to be no pattern determined by whether I install immediately or delay it until later. Does anybody know if the security policy for updates has changed? In all previous Ubuntu incarnations I've used I've always, without exception, had to provide a password prior to an update proceeding. Discretionary updates using the command line or Synaptic always require a password, so the issue seems to be concerned solely with the updater service. It looks like a bug to me but I don't want to waste anybody's time if it is in some way intentional. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Surprising Wi-Fi Problem Cure
I thought the idea of mailing lists such as this was to share knowledge rather than belittle others for having gaps in theirs. I was not actually asking a question but you have clearly taken it as an opportunity to show all the readers of this forum how clever and experienced you are. I bow to your obvious superiority. That aside I am genuinely grateful for the pointers to the use of these key combinations which I am sure will come in handy in the future. Nige From: ubuntu-uk on behalf of ubuntu-uk-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com Sent: 26 October 2018 13:00 To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: ubuntu-uk Digest, Vol 154, Issue 4 Send ubuntu-uk mailing list submissions to ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.ubuntu.com%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fubuntu-ukdata=02%7C01%7C%7Cd673a22d3a644ba9c52308d63b3aa89a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435%7C1%7C0%7C636761520449720593sdata=HTkbADgQ0m4BP8Z0aOTLQvGot%2FlgkSgNTuJKzNvCLo0%3Dreserved=0 or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ubuntu-uk-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com You can reach the person managing the list at ubuntu-uk-ow...@lists.ubuntu.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of ubuntu-uk digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Surprising Wi-Fi Problem Cure (Nigel Verity) 2. Re: Surprising Wi-Fi Problem Cure (Liam Proven) -- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 11:15:39 +0000 From: Nigel Verity To: Ubuntu UK Mailing List Subject: [ubuntu-uk] Surprising Wi-Fi Problem Cure Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hi I have an Acer laptop on which I run Xubuntu 18.04. Recently I've been having increasing problems with the wi-fi. At first it kept randomly dropping the connection, but allowed me to reconnect. The frequency of these dropouts increased and a few days ago it got to the point where not only could I not reconnect at all, the available wi-fi networks were not even being detected. My assumption was a failing wi-fi adaptor. Having identified the type I went on to the Intel website only to find that support for it has been dropped (the laptop is a few years old). It did suggest, however, that combinations of the Fn and function keys might provide a hardware switch for the wi-fi, as might Ctrl + Alt plus a function key. Really it was clutching at straws but I tried it anyway, with little hope given that the instructions were aimed at Windows users. To cut a long story short Ctrl + Alt + F1 took me instantly out of the GUI to a command line login prompt. After logging in I ran "startx" to fire up the GUI and that took me to the "first use" screen you get when installing Xfce - no task bar, menu or anything else pre-defined. Fearing I may have royally screwed up my user interface I did a hard shutdown with the power button and then rebooted. Up came the GUI exactly as I am used to seeing it, with wi-fi working fine and no dropouts since. I've found nothing in either the Xubuntu or Acer documentation about this particular key combination but it's worked wonders. May just be worth others bearing in mind in case of wi-fi or, possibly, other driver issues. Nige -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.ubuntu.com%2Farchives%2Fubuntu-uk%2Fattachments%2F20181026%2Ff8fee74d%2Fattachment-0001.htmldata=02%7C01%7C%7Cd673a22d3a644ba9c52308d63b3aa89a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435%7C1%7C0%7C636761520449720593sdata=WLIeLtj6HgN62OWRRs%2F3vT%2BkGddKbw3irsOo6fNQZYg%3Dreserved=0> -- Message: 2 Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 13:25:00 +0200 From: Liam Proven To: British Ubuntu Talk Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Surprising Wi-Fi Problem Cure Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" On Fri, 26 Oct 2018 at 13:16, Nigel Verity wrote: > To cut a long story short Ctrl + Alt + F1 took me instantly out of the GUI to > a command line login prompt. After logging in I ran "startx" to fire up the > GUI and that took me to the "first use" screen you get when installing Xfce - > no task bar, menu or anything else pre-defined. Fearing I may have royally > screwed up my user interface I did a hard shutdown with the power button and > then rebooted. Up came the GUI exactly as I am used to seeing it, with wi-fi > working fine and no dropouts since. > > I've found nothing in either the Xubuntu or Acer documentation about this > particular key combination but it's worked wonders. May just be worth others > bearing in mind in case of wi-fi or, possibly,
[ubuntu-uk] Surprising Wi-Fi Problem Cure
Hi I have an Acer laptop on which I run Xubuntu 18.04. Recently I've been having increasing problems with the wi-fi. At first it kept randomly dropping the connection, but allowed me to reconnect. The frequency of these dropouts increased and a few days ago it got to the point where not only could I not reconnect at all, the available wi-fi networks were not even being detected. My assumption was a failing wi-fi adaptor. Having identified the type I went on to the Intel website only to find that support for it has been dropped (the laptop is a few years old). It did suggest, however, that combinations of the Fn and function keys might provide a hardware switch for the wi-fi, as might Ctrl + Alt plus a function key. Really it was clutching at straws but I tried it anyway, with little hope given that the instructions were aimed at Windows users. To cut a long story short Ctrl + Alt + F1 took me instantly out of the GUI to a command line login prompt. After logging in I ran "startx" to fire up the GUI and that took me to the "first use" screen you get when installing Xfce - no task bar, menu or anything else pre-defined. Fearing I may have royally screwed up my user interface I did a hard shutdown with the power button and then rebooted. Up came the GUI exactly as I am used to seeing it, with wi-fi working fine and no dropouts since. I've found nothing in either the Xubuntu or Acer documentation about this particular key combination but it's worked wonders. May just be worth others bearing in mind in case of wi-fi or, possibly, other driver issues. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Flash and 18.04 update
While I am inclined to agree with a lot of Liam Proven's largely negative linked review of Gnome 3, I think it's important to acknowledge that there are 6 desktop environments to choose from across the "%buntu" family, which is more than any other distro offers (as far as I'm aware). They are all user-configurable to a greater or lesser extent - some hugely so. If you find one DE just doesn't float your boat, at least one of the others surely will if you spend a little time experimenting with all the config options. Too much choice isn't always a good thing, though. I've been asked a number of times "what does Linux look like?". When I explain that there is no one standard "look" it actually rings alarm bells to some people who associate choice with complexity. Corporate environments in particular seem to prefer standardisation. You can get alternative theme packs for Windows, but the fact that you rarely encounter them tells a story. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Xubuntu Display Settings
Hi I've been doing a bit of distro hopping recently and have returned to my Linux "first love" - Xubuntu. Xfce has improved considerably since I abandoned it 3 or 4 years ago for MATE. It was always capable of looking really good, but the default theme settings used on Xubuntu and most other distros used to be pretty uninspiring. Everything works brilliantly, but I have one minor issue which I can't fathom out. I have installed Xubuntu on a laptop. If it is running on battery power and I then plug the mains adaptor in to top the battery up the "Display Settings" dialog appears - not one instance, sometimes 5 or 6. I could understand this if I were plugging a monitor in, but I am simply applying mains power. Any ideas, please? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Any reasons why Ubuntu(-MATE) wouldn't work on this laptop?
People can only speak as they find, of course. I would not reject Dells based on my own experience. I've not had a Dell desktop, but never had any problems installing any mainstream Linux distro on a Dell laptop. I would only be wary of installing stock Debian becuase of the difficulty in getting wi-fi to run, but that is not specific to Dells. Heartily endorse Thinkpads. All those I've had have been variously dropped, kicked, trodden on and spilled on and continued to run perfectly. They don't bend when you lift them up off the desk one-handed either. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu - Entroware contact?
Whilst I fully understand why a PC, pre-installed with a Linux distro, is no cheaper than one with Windows I do question what is gained by paying a significant premium. A Linux enthusiast will presumably be both prepared and able to install a distro on any piece of kit that can run it, the newbie will probably start with a PC he/she already owns, and the non-techie is unlikely to be interested to the extent of paying over the odds. I've never been able to persuade any non-Linux user to install Ubuntu or any other distro on a brand new machine. However, I've have a fair bit of success with people owning older PCs, those infested with malware and people who are simply sick of Windows. I believe they will all stay with Linux when they replace their kit, but will probably ask me to do the installation rather than pay extra for a pre-configured PC. >From my experience, encouraging people to use free software is relatively >easy. I know plenty who have gone over to LibreOffice, GIMP etc, but on >Windows. Cost (absence of) is the principle motivation. When it comes to the >operating system itself, the cost of Windows on a new machine doesn't really >feature - lots of people assume it is free of charge anyway. They will pay >extra for a Mac because it is somehow perceived to be better - the triumph of >hype and marketing. This leaves Linux in a sort of limbo. If a computer that >comes with Linux pre-installed is not cheaper than a Windows PC, then it's >hard to see any other incentive. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Log File Question
Hi I have 4 machines with a similar Ubuntu configuration. On one of them a particular application (Gambas IDE) takes about a minute to fire up while on the others around 3 seconds is the norm. All other applications start normally on the offending machine, so it would not appear to be a system-wide issue. Running the executable from the command line doesn't produce any messages to show what might be going on. I've looked at all the log files I can find and there is nothing relating to the launching of the gambas3 executable. It's quite possible, of course, that I have missed the relevant log file. I'd appreciate some advice about which log file ought to give me some information and/or perhaps a way of starting the application which forces the generation of detailed log messages. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Network Hostnames
Hi I'm after a bit of enlightenment from anybody who knows more about networking than I do - which is probably most of you... I have a home network which connects to a radio-based broadband service (very reliable, incidentally). The data goes from the transceiver into a router which feeds several devices directly over wired ethernet. One of these is a switch which services other devices requiring wi-fi. When using Filezilla or command line SSH to connect one device to another, I find that some require the addition of ".local" to the remote hostname before it's recognised while others don't. For example my desktop is only recognised as "myDesktop.local", while my RPi2 is only recognised as "myRPi2", yet both use direct wired ethernet back to the router. Can anybody explain, please? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] 64 vs 32bit Applications
Hi I don't have a technical issue but I'd welcome a bit of enlightenment. I've recently gone over to 64bit Ubuntu versions on all my boxes and this raised a question. Does every binary object in the repositories have to be compiled twice - once for 32 and again for 64bit architectures - or can 32bit compilations run on a 64bit host? If they are separate versions is there a likelihood that some particularly obscure packages will fall by the wayside simply through being considered not worth compiling for 64bit? Perhaps there is a formal policy on this. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Laptop
I totally agree that looking for a laptop with Ubuntu pre-installed is probably not the best approach. If it were a straight choice between buying model X with Windows or Ubuntu for the same price, then that would be very satisfying from an idealogical perspective. Back in the real world, however, you have to pragmatic - especially if you are on a modest budget. Best just buy the laptop which meets your requirements in terms of spec and price then overwrite Windows with Ubuntu as soon as you take it out of the box. Unless it is a very new model you will have no problem finding advice on the internet as to how well it runs Ubuntu before committing yourself. I've yet to find a desktop or laptop from a mainstream manufacturer which wouldn't run Ubuntu or, failing that, Mint with little or no configuration using a clean install - though I've had one or two issues trying to set up dual boot. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] ubuntu-uk Digest, Vol 131, Issue 7
Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried "sftp user@hostname" as advised and that did indeed work fine. This set me off on a search for known problems with Filezilla. It seems a lot of Fedora users were having similar problems with Filezilla 3.7.3, which turned out to be the version I was running. For some reason it was disallowing SFTP connections using SSH keys. I've installed a later version (3.10.2) from a PPA and everything is now working fine. Cheers Nige > -- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2016 20:24:14 +0000 > From: Nigel Verity <nigelver...@hotmail.com> > To: Ubuntu UK Mailing List <ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com> > Subject: [ubuntu-uk] SFTP Problem > Message-ID: <dub113-w3493afa31b3d218d070889a3...@phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hi > > I've just installed Xubuntu 15.10 on an Acer netbook. I've installed Xubuntu > many times before but not 15.10. It works fine. > > My standard routine is to next install openSSH-server and SSHFS, then start > the SSH service. > > The situation now is that I can SSH into the box and I can mount its file > system on a remote computer using SSHFS. For all that success, though, I > cannot access the box from any other using Filezilla (SFTP). It just hangs > then times out. I know it's not a problem with Filezilla per se as all my > other laptops can "see" each other through it. > > Can anybody suggest where the cause may lie? Permissions perhaps? > > Thanks > > Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] SFTP Problem
Hi I've just installed Xubuntu 15.10 on an Acer netbook. I've installed Xubuntu many times before but not 15.10. It works fine. My standard routine is to next install openSSH-server and SSHFS, then start the SSH service. The situation now is that I can SSH into the box and I can mount its file system on a remote computer using SSHFS. For all that success, though, I cannot access the box from any other using Filezilla (SFTP). It just hangs then times out. I know it's not a problem with Filezilla per se as all my other laptops can "see" each other through it. Can anybody suggest where the cause may lie? Permissions perhaps? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] MTP Devices
Hi I have a Sony Walkman USB mp3 player - the kind which looks like a memory stick. When connected to a computer to load or delete files it mounts as an MTP device. Adding and removing files and folders within the standard pre-installed folders is fine but I've discovered that if I create a folder of my own and copy files into it, I cannot delete them. Using Caja or PCManFM (on 15.10) I just get a message "libmtp error - could not delete object". The folder and file permissions cannot be viewed from the file manager either. The panel just says "The permissions of MyFolder could not be determined". Does anybody have any suggestions as to how to get full control over the folders and files on this device? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux on the cheap?
Hi If price is the ultimate decider then you will probably do best to take the pragmatic approach and get a laptop with Windows pre-installed and simply replace it with Linux. I know it's a bit galling to pay the "Windows tax" but I've always found that to be the cheapest way of achieving the goal. In terms of hardware, I would agree that Lenovo are always a safe bet for a Linux install. If you are set on the netbook form-factor then Acer are well worth a look too. I've got Lenovo, Dell, Acer and HP laptops running flavours of Ubuntu and have had no problems with any of them. As long as you don't succumb to an impulse purchase, you can find a model you like then search online for any adverse experiences and be guided by the results. A lot of Chromebooks can be reconfigured easily for Linux. They can be found for very reasonable prices, though disk space might be a consideration. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Audio Question
From: Dave Morley davm...@davmor2.co.uk To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Audio Question Message-ID: 20150818155851.736c3678@stryder Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Tue, 18 Aug 2015 15:54:12 +0100 Nigel Verity nigelver...@hotmail.com wrote: Hi I have a requirement to provide some amplification for a speech. I have a good USB microphone and a small performance amplifier. So far so good. The amplifier has a standard input jack but as far as I can see it is not possible to buy a simple adaptor to allow a USB mike to be used. Since the USB microphone works fine for recording sound on my laptop, and the laptop makes a good audio source for the amplifier, why not just use the laptop as an interface unit? The problem I'm having is that I can record sound from the mike and play it back in separate operations , but I can find no way of monitoring input from the microphone during the recording. I am running Ubuntu MATE 15.04 and using the Pulse Audio Volume Control to select inputs and outputs. Any suggestions, please? Nige I think the combination of pavucontrol and pavumeter should cover your needs I could be wrong though. Hi Dave I gave it a try as you suggested. The pavumeter just gives you another visual representation of the levels set in the pavucontrol. It doesn't actually provide any additional settings unfortunately. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Audio Question
Hi I have a requirement to provide some amplification for a speech. I have a good USB microphone and a small performance amplifier. So far so good. The amplifier has a standard input jack but as far as I can see it is not possible to buy a simple adaptor to allow a USB mike to be used. Since the USB microphone works fine for recording sound on my laptop, and the laptop makes a good audio source for the amplifier, why not just use the laptop as an interface unit? The problem I'm having is that I can record sound from the mike and play it back in separate operations , but I can find no way of monitoring input from the microphone during the recording. I am running Ubuntu MATE 15.04 and using the Pulse Audio Volume Control to select inputs and outputs. Any suggestions, please? Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Gnome Color Chooser
Hi I'm so impressed with Ubuntu MATE that I've finally abandoned Xubuntu as my go-to distribution. The MATE desktop has tools for tailoring the colours so you have a high level of control over its appearance. However some objects, such as certain toolbars, seem immune to these tools. I've been told to try gnome-color-chooser which I have installed. Unfortunately I am struggling to find how to use it. It is not really intuitive, and the only links to supposed documentation I've found are all dead or misleading. Does anybody have any experience with this tool and/or can point me towards some kind of user guide? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Implications Of Secure Boot Lockout
Hi I have been reading recently that Microsoft are removing the requirement for hardware manufacturers to provide a secure boot off switch, in order to gain Windows 10 accreditation. If this comes to pass it will place Linux distros entirely at the mercy of Microsoft to sign their authentication keys, otherwise they will be shut out from installation on mainstream computers. Given that Microsoft look like making a lot less money out of the Windows OS itself over the coming years, it seems reasonable to assume that they will seek to maximise whatever revenue they can generate. This points towards eventually shutting out even approved Linux distributions. Presumably Apple can do exactly the same to prevent installation on Macs. If this comes to pass I have to admit to not having a clear view of where this will leave us. The only possibilities I can see are: 1) Being confined to installing on Chromebooks 2) Being forced to use more expensive specialist hardware (e.g hardware designed primarily to be a server) 3) A move to ARM-powered devices I stress I am not an expert on this so my outlook may be unduly pessimistic, but it would be interesting to get the views of anyone with more insight into the implications. Could something akin to Wubi be a way around the problem, albeit far from ideal? I suppose ultimately I am looking for some reassurance that Linux on the desktop is not being forced onto a road to nowhere. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Local IP Address Allocation
Hi Just a minor question about local networking I routinely have a number of different devices connected to my home network such as Ubuntu laptops, iPad, Android phone, Kindle, RPi and so on. The router allocates local IP addresses to them as and when they connect. Although those IP addresses are always within a very narrow range (192.168.1.1 - 12) they are not fixed. Is it normally possible to set a general purpose router to recognise a given device and always allocate the same local IP address to it? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] USB 3.0 HDD Problem
Hi I've just discovered that Ubuntu Mate 14.10 appears unable to mount a USB 3.0 HDD (through a USB 2 port). It can mount a USB 2 HDD no problem. Both are formatted as ext4. I've repeated the installation/test on 2 different machines with the same result, and the USB 3.0 drive in question mounts OK on Mint 17 so I don't think it's a hardware fault per se. Any ideas, please? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Minor SSH Issue
Thanks for all the suggestions about getting Ubuntu MATE to recognise other nodes on my network using the .local hostname as well as just the IP address. A number of Avahi-related packages are missing from Ubuntu MATE (14.10) compared with other flavours in which .local hostnames are recognised out of the box: gnome-user-share libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libmono-zeroconf1.0-cil avahi-discover avahi-dnsconfd Clearly the absence of each and every one of these packages can't have been equally to blame, and several of them bring quite a few dependencies across with them. However, installing them all got everything working properly. Thanks again. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Minor SSH Issue
Hi I've just set up a laptop with Ubuntu MATE and I'm having a minor problem with SSH. I can access any device on my home network by IP address but for some reason the host names are not recognised. Using other Ubuntu flavours and Mint I've always been able to access devices by hostname immediately without any explicit configuration e.g myDesktop.local, myNetbook.local and so on. Can anybody advise on how to get the hostnames recognised? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] AV to USB conversion
Hi Santa gave me a night-vision device for Christmas. It's a great piece of kit but the image will be much better if viewed using an external monitor rather than through the relatively low resolution viewfinder. My netbook (running Xubuntu 14.04) would be ideal due to its portability. It has 2 USB ports. I need a way of taking the AV output of the NV device and feeding it into the netbook through USB, displaying the image as if sourced from a webcam (i.e using Cheese or similar). Does anybody have anybody have any tips? For example, can AV output be fed directly into USB or does it require some kind of intermediate conversion device? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] UK Team Reboot (Alan Pope)
Hi Popey I think you are right that some new initiatives wouldn't go amiss. I've nothing but praise for this list, though. I've posted quite a lot of pleas for advice over the last 3 or 4 years and only ever drawn a blank on one occasion. Advocacy is a great idea, but the few events I've attended seem always to appeal mainly to all the local Linux enthusiasts, so the evangelists just end up preaching to the converted. Going in somewhere completely cold seems to be a very hard and largely unproductive slog. I always talk to people about FLOSS when the opportunity presents itself, and I've had the best responses in warm environments, where people rely on using computers but not as the focus of their interests. I'm thinking of camera clubs, amateur astronomy groups and so on. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Video Redirection
Hi I have a Raspberry Pi with which I use my TV as a monitor, or at least I did until I trod on the HDMI cable and damaged the socket on the back of the TV. The only other inputs the TV has are a SCART and VGA. My laptop running Xubuntu 13.10 has both an HDMI socket and a VGA output. I know I may be asking a bit much but does anybody know if it would be possible to connect the HDMI output of the Pi to the corresponding socket on the laptop and redirect the signal to the VGA, even if it means running some conversion software in between?. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] WMA Audio / GStreamer Problem
Hi I am running Xubuntu 14.04. All my audio and video files play perfectly in VLC and Parole. Clementine plays Ogg and mp3 files but will not play Windows Media Audio (wma) format files. A message is displayed stating Your GStreamer installation is missing a plug-in but it doesn't go into any details. I have installed Xubuntu-restricted-extras. In the past this has resulted in my being able to play every format, including wma. Can anybody suggest which plugin I need to install, or guide me towards a log which might provide some pointers? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Strange Wireless Behaviour
Hi I have an Acer netbook on which I have recently replaced PCLinuxOS with Xubuntu 14.04. Using PCLOS the netbook would detect and lock on to the wi-fi signal anywhere in the house. Now it is running Xubuntu it detects the signal but won't connect unless I move the device to within a few yards of the router. Given that the hardware is clearly working fine, and the issue has only arisen following the changeover, the cause must be with the OS. Is there a wi-fi sensitivity threshold setting or something similar I can try? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Ending Dual-Boot
Hi The big day has arrived. I'm in a position to finish with all this dual-boot nonsense and give my Dell laptop entirely over to Xubuntu. If I use GParted to delete the 2 partitions used by Windows 7, and then resize the Linux partition, it strikes me that Grub might get into a mess. I'm sure I could probably modify the Grub setup but is this approach more trouble than it's worth? Would I be better off just starting from scratch with a fresh Xubuntu install? The reason I'd like to avoid this if practical is that it always takes me a couple of days to get everything just the way I like it whenever I do a full reinstall. Any advice most welcome. Thanks very much Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Should ubuntu play DVDs gratis?
Hi The implementation of the law in the UK is already a laughing stock. I think it would move into another league if an attempt were ever made to prosecute somebody for using libdvdcss2. I would just install and be damned. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Online Office Apps
Hi I have to maintain a Windows 7 partition solely to run MS Word. I work on all my documents in LibreOffice but my customers invariably require DOCX format. I need Word to double-check the formatting of the end-product as the LO implementation of DOCX is still not 100%. Does anybody know if the on-line MS office tools, such as those you access through Hotmail, SkyDrive etc, render DOCX format files exactly the same as the desktop applications? It would be good to save the cost of future Office upgrades, and I could get rid of my Windows partition. For information I don't use any very complex formatting - headers, footers, page numbering, fonts, bullets and tables. That's about it. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Open formats in UK gov?
The example of the City of Munich is certainly encouraging but the difference in scale between the Munich administration and the UK government is many orders of magnitude. My own view is that there will never be a single strategic decision to move UK government IT infrastructure from Microsoft technololgies to FLOSS alternatives, but that doesn't mean the goal will never be achieved. Hoping for Windows to be replaced by Linux on the basis of simple substitution is possibly an out-dated aspiration. Although it's a very long process, and often poorly implemented, an increasing amount of government IT is moving from the desktop to the intranet. At some point, this should result in users being able to complete all their tasks using Chromebook-type devices, where the device OS is of little strategic importance. Likewise, the OS running on the server will become less important. There could well come a time when government IT managers are in a position to choose the right OS for the job. Nige Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Open formats in UK gov? From: a75...@alumni.tecnun.es Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 06:32:10 + To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com; nigelver...@hotmail.com; ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com On 29 de enero de 2014 23:24:16 GMT, Nigel Verity nigelver...@hotmail.com wrote: I think that standardising on open formats is a significant step but it is a long, long way from seeing the likes of LibreOffice running on the typical civil servant's desktop. Without exception, the big UK government FM contracts for IT provision and support are all let to companies with a huge vested interest in maintaining their relationship with Microsoft. If all that's being opened up is the use of ODF, Microsoft will point out that they support ODF, though their implementation is far from perfect, but that's no different from LibreOffice's implementation of the DOCX format. In schools and elsewhere people are not taught word processing. They are taught explicitly how to use MS Word. Likewise with spreadsheets and Excel. Although for most people the transition to LibreOffice would be fairly trivial, the civil service would insist that everyone is given conversion training. Microsoft could reasonably point to a high cost of migration which, combined with the cost of Office pared back to cost price or less, would see the company able to maintain its stranglehold on government IT procurement. Civil servants can already buy personal copies of Office Pro for well under £20. Think of the price the government would get when ordering half a million copies. Nige Didn't the city of Munich start with this some years ago? Now they seem to be almost completely on the other side. -- Enviado desde mi teléfono con K-9 Mail. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Open formats in UK gov?
I think that standardising on open formats is a significant step but it is a long, long way from seeing the likes of LibreOffice running on the typical civil servant's desktop. Without exception, the big UK government FM contracts for IT provision and support are all let to companies with a huge vested interest in maintaining their relationship with Microsoft. If all that's being opened up is the use of ODF, Microsoft will point out that they support ODF, though their implementation is far from perfect, but that's no different from LibreOffice's implementation of the DOCX format. In schools and elsewhere people are not taught word processing. They are taught explicitly how to use MS Word. Likewise with spreadsheets and Excel. Although for most people the transition to LibreOffice would be fairly trivial, the civil service would insist that everyone is given conversion training. Microsoft could reasonably point to a high cost of migration which, combined with the cost of Office pared back to cost price or less, would see the company able to maintain its stranglehold on government IT procurement. Civil servants can already buy personal copies of Office Pro for well under £20. Think of the price the government would get when ordering half a million copies. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] FLV Video Problem
Hi I'm running Xubuntu 12.04 and have recently lost the ability to play FLV video files, regardless of their source. The files themselves play perfectly when I copy them to another machine with the same version of the OS, so it's not a corruption problem. Clearly I have somehow deleted or damaged the appropriate codecs or associated files. Can anybody advise on which objects to check and/or reinstall? VLC displays an error message saying the format is not recognised. Mplayer just does nothing. However, Handbrake is still able to convert the file to MP4. Thanks very much Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Dual-Boot Issue
Hi I dual boot Xubuntu with Windows 7, but use the Windows partition mainly as additional storage. I am generally running out of disk space on both Linux and Windows partitions. I do have occasional need for Windows, so giving that partition entirely over to Linux is not an option. Does anybody know whether I will still be able to view and access files stored in the Windows partition if I compress it using the MS utility built into Windows Explorer? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Building Ubuntu for the Raspberry Pi, on the Raspberry Pi
Alan I'm all for maximising the choice of OS that can be run on a Pi, but your Indigogo pitch doesn't make clear what advantages Ubuntu server with no desktop will bring, compared to the existing Debian derivative which already provides LXDE. The pitch also gives the impression that if it does eventually prove possible to get Unity running on top of Pibuntu then the performance is not going to be up to much. Please don't take this as pouring cold water on your plans, more a pointer for enhancing the FAQs. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] User Specific Desktop Defaults
Hi I have a machine with both Xfce and LXDE installed. The system default is Xfce, though the user has the option to select LXDE instead at the point of logging in. Is there any way to make profile A always log in using Xfce by default and profile B using LXDE? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Xfce Appearance
Hi I am a long-time Xfce user, on both Xubuntu and other distros. The only thing about it which has always disappointed me is purely cosmetic, but annoying all the same. All the stock Xfce applications look modern and easy on the eye - curved button corners, bevelled surfaces, etc. However some, though by no means all, non-Xfce applications have an appearance more akin to Windows 3 - dark grey flat surfaces and untextured right-angled corners. There are one or two themes which take care of the disparity by making everything look like Windows 3 (!) but, otherwise, the problem is common to all themes. Is anyone aware of a solution to this? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Heads-Up For Spotify Users
I've been a Spotify user for the last 2 or 3 years; ever since its library overtook Napster's in terms of depth and coverage. Officially the only desktop clients are for Windows and Mac. However, there is also a preview version of a Linux client which has never been formally released. It's available on a no warranty or official support basis for use on Debian-based distros. Over the last year or so, this Linux client has improved dramatically. It used to freeze or crash so often that I had to rely upon the Windows client running in a Virtualbox VM. I've had no problems of that nature in the last 6 months or more and, despite its unsupported status, the Linux client it is now my standard means of using Spotify. The ability to download tracks for local off-line playback is a real boon when you have a poor or slow connection. It avoids the buffering that you might otherwise encounter with the web-based stream. The only problem I occasionally encounter is with the indexing. The list of albums and tracks for a given artist may lack a particular item of interest to you. An explicit search for that item by title will often find it. I suspect that this problem could well be at the server end, in which case it will not be unique to the Linux client. I know that FLOSS purists will not want to run proprietary software such as this, but I am one of those people willing to turn a blind-eye when it provides superior functionality. The Clementine media player for Linux now provides an add-on to give access to Spotify for Premium Service members. This is a significant improvement on browser-based streaming, as each track is copied to a local cache before playing, thereby avoiding buffering with slow connections. It doesn't, however, offer the off-line playback facility, which can be so useful if you are on the move, away from an internet connection. For any Linux users who may have tried the Spotify client in the past, and given up in frustration, I would highly recommend giving it another go. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] OT - secure email?
I think that The Nice Guy and Liam Proven make excellent points which illustrate both ends of the security/interception issue. Most people are not involved in radical politics, crime or anything else which could prove, at the very least, embarrassing if made public. For them the notion you have nothing to fear if you are not doing anything wrong probably hits the mark. That is the luxury of living in a country with a relatively benign system of government. There are, however, plenty of places where things we take to be perfectly acceptable, such as moaning about the government, watching a bit of adult entertainment or encouraging friends to go to church can land someone in seriously hot water. Helping those people should be the driver behind finding ways of defeating interception. Everyone will subsequently benefit, whether they see email security as an issue or not. As with any issue, it's for the people who do understand the problem to do something about it. Waiting for the mainstream to call for action probably means leaving it too late. The analogy of an email being a postcard rather than a letter makes the point really well. I am convinced that total security and anonymity on the internet is impossible, but if the communication process involves a sufficiently large number of chain links then, due to the vast number of messages, routine interception becomes impractical. It's product of permutations and probabilities. I suspect that the solution fundamentally relies on denying access to encryption keys to anybody other than the sender and the intended recipient. The system based on page, line numbers and word positions in a commonly available book worked well for the SOE during WW2. With so much digital media available today, perhaps an updated version of that approach might provide a pointer. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] OpenSSH Problems
I am on the lookout for a bit of advice on using SSH/SFTP to transfer large files between devices on my home network. I use Filezilla as my SFTP client and, in principle, it works a treat. If I transfer files between devices connected to the router by ethernet cable there are never any problems. Likewise if I use a wi-fi connection, but with the device right next to the router (i.e very strong signal) transfers are always trouble-free. However, if one end of the transfer is using a wi-fi connection and further away from the router (around 10m), the transfers seem to pause for significant periods ( 30 seconds) and often time-out altogether. This suggests to me some kind of buffering issue. I'd be grateful for some advice from someone who understands SSH config far better than me. I don't think the problem is a particularly weak wi-fi signal per se, Over the same distance from the router which gives problems with SFTP transfers, a general internet connection (including streamed audio and video) works fine. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Has anybody seen this and what do you think
On the face of it the use of a GNU/Linux-based OS in place of Windows ought to be attractive. Unfortunately, things are not quite so simple. The amount the government (national and local) pays to Microsoft per seat, for both OS and applications, is minisule, compared to what you or I would expect to pay as individuals. This is a deliberate ploy by Microsoft precisely to counter the issue of cost advantage when considering alternative software suppliers. Compared to the actual cost of reconfiguring every server (many thousands) and desktop (hundreds of thousands), the savings would not be worth it. On top of that, of course, is the fact that there have been so many IT disasters in government departments, both publicised and unpublicised, that there is simply no stomach for such a fundamental change. It's bad enough when departments perform upgrades withing their existing architecture. If you were to ask public servants how confident they would be of a smooth migration to an entirely new OS, I think you'd be struggling to find any at all. Nige Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 20:42:54 +0100 From: Pete ponchorat1...@hotmail.com To: UK Ubuntu Talk ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Has anybody seen this and what do you think.. Message-ID: blu0-smtp4604f5c651053430563f33dbb...@phx.gbl Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; Format=flowed I guess most if not everyone out there know that Governments use Windows XP (Uk Gov't) and that it costs quite a huge amount to pay in bulk licenses, including local councils. Does anyone know how much these bulk licenses cost and how many the UK Gov't have? Well, onto the main reason I am posting - I have sent an email to my local MP to look into using a Linux based OS instead of Windows as they wont need to pay for licenses which will presumably save hundreds of thousands. Why not send an email to your local MP or the MP that deals with the IT or whoever it is that does. What's your thoughts on this? * -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Linux GUI Development
Hi I write all the software to support my business activities using Gambas 3. If you've used Visual Basic you can use Gambas. The two are remarkably similar. You can connect to an SQLite database with 3 lines of code, and then you have a very close equivalent to Access as well. While I would highly recommend Gambas, my reservation is that its development team is very small and appears to rely on the expertise and goodwill of one person. This obviously makes it vulnerable. I need a contingency plan in case Gambas support ceases. Does anybody have recommendations for alternative rapid development environments? I've used a number of programming languages over the years, so that isn't an issue. The main consideration is that it has a WYSIWYG form designer and a straightforward method of connecting the GUI to the code. I've looked at Glade/GTK Builder. It falls well short of Gambas in terms of ease-of-use, but it would be better than nothing. Any other suggestions, please? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] SSH/Filezilla Problem
Hi I use Filezilla a lot to transfer data between a desktop and a netbook, via a wireless router. Sometimes these files are big ( 300 MB). With small files there are no problems regardless of which direction the transfer goes, or whether I am pushing or pulling. With large files, however, the transfer often stalls and the connection times out if I am pushing the data from the desktop to the netbook. The same file pulled from the netbook end always transfers trouble-free. My instinct suggests that there is something wrong with the SSH server running on the netbook - a configuration setting perhaps. Unfortunately I don't know enough about the finer points of SSH to take it any further. The netbook has 1 Gb RAM, while the desktop has 4Gb. Both are running 12.04. Any suggestions, please? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Public library OS choice
Dear All In more than 10 years of working with public sector organisations I have never found any appetite to change from Microsoft products, no matter how the case for open source alternatives is made. Partly it is because many public/civil servants have not the faintest awareness of any alternative to Microsoft other than Apple, but the single biggest reason I can ascertain is that government IT infrastructures are so big, and there have been so may failed IT projects and disasters over the years, that nobody has the confidence to contemplate such a major upheaval. Cost saving is not the driver it should be. Most departments still operate their budgets on the use it or lose it principle. If they make savings on their allocated funding this year their budgets will be smaller next year. Politics are also a consideration. Most government IT is outsourced, often to consortiums of the big IT service suppliers. To anybody who operates in the private sector the amount of money they charge government departments beggars belief, but the public sector has been ripped off for so long that the costs are seen as normal. Those consortiums have the ear of government ministers and lobby very very hard. Any new scheme that provided genuine value for money and delivered big savings, whether open or proprietary, would call into question the competence of the decision makers at the top who agreed to the current contracts. In the short to medium term the best I can foresee in the UK public sector is the adoption of some open standards, but it will be a long time before that translates into a adoption of open software. One has to pose the question, though, if a department the size of, say, the MOD decided to go open source tomorrow, are there enough technicians with Linux skills and sufficient experience to take on the job? I suspect not. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Packard Bell, what wonderful support!
Gareth While I think that Liam Proven's robust manner does him no credit, his advice is largely valid. If you don't allow Packard Bell, or any company acting on their behalf, access to the computer in its original physical configuration then you are not enabling them to comply with the terms of the warranty. The result will be stalemate. You can probably get a pair of 500 Gig USB HDDs for around a hundred quid. These will enable you to make a couple of full backups before wiping the computer. They will be a wise investment for the future, regardless of whether you get the original PB back or end up with a replacement of some kind. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] DSL Provider
Talk Talk get a a lot of stick but I still think they are worth considering. The customer service can be a bit frustrating but, from a technical standpoint, I've never had an issue of any kind with them since I first signed up some years ago. They admit to shaping peer-to-peer at peak hours but I can't say I've ever noticed it having any effect. One point to bear in mind is that they are prepared to negotiate. Each time the contract is up for renewal (18 months) I dream up a fictitious quote from a competitor and they're always keen to beat it. I now get unlimited BB, line rental, unlimited calls (though not premium rate or mobile) and 1571 service for just over £23 a month. Talk Talk's supplied router is a nifty little device. It's provides strong wi-fi coverage all round the house which my previous Netgear router never could. A tip - the advertised BB costs from any ISP are often from. If you live in the sticks, like I do, you usually end up paying more. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] USB Scanner Issue
Hi I'm running 12.04 and use an HP 3070 printer/scanner connected by USB. If I boot with the device already connected and powered up, my scanner software always detects the device but returns an I/O error when I try to perform a document scan. If I boot with the device powered up but NOT connected, then subsequently plug in the USB cable, everything works fine. If I get the I/O error, unplugging the USB cable then plugging it back in does not solve the problem. I have to logout + logon. I've used Simple Scan, HPLIP and gscan2pdf - it makes no difference. The printer function works correctly under all connection scenarios. Something about introducing a new USB device with Ubuntu already running seems to make all the difference. It's hardly a showstopper but it's still annoying. Any ideas? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dixons/PC World response
When I last mentioned Linux in PC World it was quite obvious that the assistant had never heard of it. Now that most PC World shops are integrated with Currys, there are staff with apparently little experience on the PC side. They may know a lot about fridges and hoovers but not IT. Maybe that will improve with time. Perhaps if enough people ask about Linux drivers and support, even if we already know the answer, the message might slowly get through. As an aside, when I told an assistant in a Tesco mega-store that I would be installing Linux on a laptop I was considering buying, his response was I wouldn't do that, Sir. Linux has a reputation for burning out hard disks. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Toshiba NB100-11r netbooks
I would echo the advice to go for 12.04 using one of the lighter variants e.g Lubuntu or Xubuntu. As a tip based on my own experience, when you advertise the netbooks don't specify which OS they are running. Anything other than Windows is likely to put some people off following it up, but if they get as far as making an initial enquiry you will have an opportunity to sell the concept of a non-Windows OS. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Running Ubuntu In Live Mode
Hi Having got my fingers burnt a couple of times in the past, I now never install a new version of Ubuntu, or any other distro, without running it first as a live CD or, more recently, from a USB stick. It seems fairly inevitable that my next laptop will have UEFI embodied. Does anybody know how this affects the running of Linux in live mode? Is it simply that if the distro has been designed to cope with UEFI, its live mode will work (and vice versa), or is there more to it than that? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] sound not working in xubuntu (javadayaz)
Hi Javad Whenever I have encountered strange audio problems I have usually found a solution by installing the Pulse Audio Volume Control (pavucontrol in Synaptic) and playing around with the settings for input and output devices. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Default Kernel Issue
Hi I have just installed Xubuntu 12.10 on an HP laptop. It worked fine until I succumbed to the invitation to perform the 100+ updates in the queue. This included a new kernel version. After completion and rebooting, the screen remained blank after the Grub menu had disappeared, although disk activity and the wi-fi indicator light seemed to show everything else was booting up OK. I experimented with the Grub menu and found that by booting with the previous kernel version which, thankfully, was still available, every works fine. Does anybody know how to make the previous kernel version the default? It is accessed through the Ubuntu Advanced Options item on the Grub menu. The menu default item, defined in etc/default/grub, uses a zero-based integer value corresponding to the position of the required item on the menu. This does not provide a way to access sub-menu items. Any ideas, please? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] 64-bit vs 32-bit
Hi I'm thinking about upgrading to Xubuntu 12.10. It will be a fresh install. So far I've always gone for the 32-bit version and had next to no problems, either with the OS or applications. Conscious of the need to keep up with the times, I'm considering 64-bit next time. Are there any real advantages or would I be unlikely to notice any significant difference? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] USB Pen Drive Problem
Hi I use a 32Gb USB pen drive for daily backups of my main PC (#1). Each time I plug it into PC #1 it takes only seconds to mount. However, if I plug it into my other PC (#2) it can take 10-15 minutes to mount. If I subsequently write data to the drive from PC #2 it will then also take 10-15 minutes to mount next time I plug it into PC #1. I've formatted the drive as ext3, ext4 and fat32 - makes no difference. Does anybody have any ideas what is going on and whether there is anything I can do to speed things up? On both my PCs I'm running 11.10 with Xfce, formatted as ext4. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Installing GIMP 2.8
Hi I'm trying to install GIMP 2.8 into Ubuntu 12.04, where the default version is 2.6.1. All the advice I can find seems to be essentially the same, namely: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimpsudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install gimp Each time I try this I just get 2.6.1 installed, regardless. It strikes me that the default version must still be in the list of standard repositories. I'm reluctant to mess around with this list without knowing the effects. I use Synaptic all the time, but without a detailed understanding of how it works behind the scenes e.g resolving dependencies. Consequently I don't what to make a change to the repository lists which might screw things up. Any advice? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] USB Memory Stick Problem
Hi I've been having trouble with a 32Mb USB memory stick. Whenever I copy large volumes of data in one go the job crashes with an Error Splicing File message. This occurs both with the stick formatted as ext4 and also as fat32. Since formatting it to ext3 as a last resort, so far the problem has not reappeared. Knowing next to nothing about the difference between ext3 and ext4 I don't know if I may have found a genuine solution or whether this is just chance. My HDD is ext4, and I'm running 12.04. Any ideas? Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Xfce Desktop
I have discovered a trick which may be of interest to Xfce/Xubuntu users with a large number of desktop icons. For reasons which I've never understood, Xfce does not provide a means of sorting desktop icons into alphabetical order (or any other order, for that matter). A quick workaround is as follows: Open Thunar (the file manager)Open the Desktop folder.Delete all the files, so as to place them in the Rubbish Bin.Open the Rubbish Bin folder and select all the desktop configuration files.Restore the selected items. The icons will appear back on the desktop, sorted in ascending alphabetical order, positioned top to bottom, in columns left to right. Hardly earth-shattering I know, but it gets round an annoying Xfce shortcoming. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Open office python as an Ms office alternative.
Hi I used to be a fairly serious Access developer and faced much the same issue when I made the move to Linux. In my view OpenOffice/LibreOffice Base is by far the weakest part of the otherwise excellent office suite. Its native HSQL database is slow and the form designer is very limited in functionality compared with Access. Also the form appearance is archaic. Its biggest plus is that is it easy to link to many other kinds of DB such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, but you still don't get very good performance. My other big criticism is that the programming language (a variant of Basic) makes heavy weather of many features which VBA achieves with ease. To manipulate the GUI you have to think more in terms of how Visual C++ does things rather than VBA. My solution is to use the Gambas development tool with a backend database to suit the application requirements. Gambas is very similar to VB in many ways, and better in some. The language syntax is similar. If you've used VB or Access/VBA you'd get used to Gambas pretty quickly. You can create very sophisticated GUIs and also compile to an executable. The executable requires the presence of a runtime library - another similarity with VB - but it means you don't have to deliver the code and form designs along with executable. You can use data-bound controls or write your own code to read/write between form controls and the database, using the Result object, which equates to an Access Recordset. Although it requires a few more lines of code I prefer this latter method as it gives you total control over what gets updated and when. Gambas can natively talk to a number of DB types. If you use SQLite (a file database) the analogy with Access is almost complete. Using Gambas/SQLite I've managed to create 10,000 records in a second during bulk updates. Base/HSQL couldn't come anywhere near this kind of performance. Hope this helps. By all means contact me off-forum if you want to discuss the nitty-gritty that would otherwise cause eyes to glaze over. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Richard Stallman Event
Hi Jon Thanks very much for the info. I have registered as you suggest. Unfortunately I live in Shropshire, which isn't much help regarding RMS' accommodation. Can I suggest you put a request on the Ubuntu UK mailing list? It has a wide readership of FLOSS devotees, with updates being sent out several times a day. I would be amazed if there is nobody in the London area who would welcome such a distinguished house guest. ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Regards Nige From: jon.ne...@forward.co.uk Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:07:54 +0100 Subject: Re: Richard Stallman Event To: nigelver...@hotmail.com Hi Nige, Thanks for getting in touch. It is open to all comers, and currently there are some spaces left. We are encouraging people to register at http://richardstallmanvisitsforward.heroku.com, so that we can send out updates about the event. Please spread the word, and tell anyone else who might be interested. Also, Richard Stallman is looking for a place to stay while he's in London. If you know anyone who might be interested in putting him up on a sofa for a night or two, please put them in touch with me. Many thanks Jon Neale On 12 June 2012 09:55, Nigel Verity nigelver...@hotmail.com wrote: Hi Jon I received an email from the FSF stating that your company is hosting a talk by Richard Stallman on 22nd June. Is it open to all-comers? If so are there any spaces left? Regards Nige Verity -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] File sharing website
Dear All I've been using Minus for about a year now. Considering it's free, it's not bad. The upload performance can sometimes be a bit hit and miss. You may have to wait 2 or 3 minutes before anything happens but it usually works out fine. My files are typically in the 100 - 200Mb region. Once an upload or download has actually started it rarely drops the connection. The Ubuntu client is a bit of a waste of time, though. Most functions still rely on your browser. It may not be the slickest, but I'd be happy to recommend it for personal use. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] heads up - Secure Boot Problems for Linux Users Are Here Already
Hi All If anybody can get a key from Verisign for $99 that makes a mockery of having secure boot in the first place. We can take it as read that there are long term plans by Microsoft to tighten up the secure boot spec in the future in their favour. To my mind, this first pass is just to establish the principle and getting all OEMs to adopt the spec. Making keys readily available will help MS to respond to legal challenges from non-tech savvy legislators. I suspect that the secure boot technology will be hacked pretty quickly enabling we enthusiasts to stay up and running. Having to apply a hack as a fundamental part of Linux installation will not exactly help with promoting wider adoption, though. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04
I think the suggestion by kpb for a direct LTS - LTS upgrade path is inspired. I have successfully encouraged a number of low tech users to move from Windows and always put them onto the current LTS for the sake of stability, with excellent results. It would be very good for the image of Ubuntu if they could perform a reliable upgrade to the new LTS with a few mouse clicks, even if it does take a couple of hours. As things stand I don't really see an alternative to my having to visit each of them and perform a full backup and reinstall myself. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Partitioning Question
Hi A bit of advice on partitioning, please. I currently dual-boot Xubuntu and Windows 7. I've now got to the happy situation where I no longer need any Windows applications. Consequently I'd like to delete Windows and reclaim the 80 Gb of disk space it takes up. Would I be better off simply clearing down the whole machine and re-installing Xubuntu from scratch, or is it safe to mess about with the partitions using a tool like GParted. If the latter, perhaps somebody knows of a good idiot's guide, as I've had a few problems in the past resizing partitions. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Plans
Hi It's been interesting to read about Canonical's ideas for the future of Ubuntu; in particular its use as an OS for tablets and other mobile devices. It strikes me that some of this vision is undermined by the implications of the Secure Boot functionality being specified by Microsoft on ARM processors as a pre-requisite to achieve Windows 8 Compatible status. A lot of the up-coming tablets are going to be using ARM chips, so unless the Microsoft requirement is modified, or manufacturers choose to ignore it, the Canonical vision seems to be flawed. Or am I missing something? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Networking Problem
Hi I use a Linksys X2000 router which has a tendency to drop its internet connection once or twice a day, although connections between the router and clients stay active. This is, apparently, a common problem, but with no hard and fast solution that I can ascertain. The internet connection is re-established by rebooting the router, either using the on/off switch, or remotely using the config pages. If I'm lucky I can then access the internet again but, more often than not, I still have to reboot the PC. The effect of this is clearly to re-initialise the PC's comms system. Does anybody know of any functions I can call which will re-initialise comms without having to reboot the PC? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Xfce Menus
Hi For anybody who is not keen on the Unity or Gnome3 GUI I strongly recommend Xfce. The standard Xfce project screenshots don't do justice to the visual effects you can create using the compositor and desktop colour gradients, plus a little tweaking of a file called .gtkrc-2.0. However, there is one setting I have been unable to modify - the foreground and background colours of the menus. No matter what colours I use on the task bar, the menus are always black text on a white background. I have seen ready-made themes where this is not the case, so there must be a user-accessible setting somewhere. Does anyone know how to do it? Grateful for any suggestions. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Filezilla Issue
Hi I use Filezilla to transfer files around my home network. Normally, when setting up a transfer, I can identify each target device in the Server Name field by its host name. However I've recently acquired a new PC and, when running Filezilla on it, can only identify the target device by its IP address. I can't for the life of me remember what I've done in the past to ensure the target device host names are recognised. Can anybody enlighten me? Thanks very much. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Christmas Revelation
Dear All Santa brought my daughter her first laptop for Christmas. In common with most 11-year olds she appears to never listen to a word I say, but almost her first comment after opening the box was has it already got Linux on it?. There is hope for the future! Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu - Wrong Direction?
Hi I am one of, seemingly, many users who does not like Unity or Gnome3. If that were the end of the story then I would be looking for another distro too. However, one of the strengths of Ubuntu is its variety of flavours. If you like Gnome 2, take a look at Xubuntu. Xfce is now a lot like Gnome 2, but with less bloat and more common sense applied. Xfce's main shortcoming is that its file manager, Thunar, is a little lacking in advanced functionality, but you can always install Nautilus which works just fine. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Help contact a French group near Nice?
There is a huge science and technology park called Sophia Antipolis just inland from Antibes, which is near Nice. It's several years since I was last there, but all the local universities had satellite campuses there. I'd be amazed if there are not some Linux groups in the area. The following link might be a good starting point. http://www.skema.edu/campus/sophia-antipolis/ Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Exploiting A Nautilus Server Connection
Hi A bit of programming advice, please. I routinely use Nautilus to copy files between machines and to manipulate remote file structures. Once I've connected to a remote server in Nautilus, can I then exploit that connection in a program to open files on that server, such as in an fopen() call? Very grateful for any ideas. Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Xubuntu 11.10 Problems
Hi I'd be interested to learn the experiences of anybody installing Xubuntu 11.10 from scratch or upgrading from 11.04. I've tried both today and had some real problems. The online upgrade crashed, the system recovery option on the LiveCD didn't work and the full install has resulted in a system whereby most of the theme settings are ignored by most applications, so that the whole OS is stuck with the look of classic Windows 3! I've gone back to 11.04 and everything is fine again; rock-solid as it has been from the day it was released. Consequently, I don't think the problem is purely down to my hardware (Acer 1410 laptop). Leaving aside the cosmetic issues, I didn't spot any new features or functions in 11.10 that really justified the upgrade. Possibly a cautionary tale for anybody considering moving up. Cheers Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] What should be done for 12.04
How about a really simple menu editor for Gnome and Xfce? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Grub Problem
Hi I'd be very grateful for a bit of advice regarding a Grub issue, please. I have a dual boot desktop, running 10.04 LTS and Windows XP. I recently made the mistake of running a free Windows disk management tool in the XP partition which appeared to corrupt the MBR. The result was that when I subsequently booted up I just got the Grub Rescue prompt. With a combination of research and trial-and-error I was able to get the PC to boot properly, with access to both Ubuntu and XP using the following commands at the Grub Rescue prompt: set prefix=(hd0,5)/boot/grub set root=(hd0,5) insmod normal normal While I could type this in with every boot, you will appreciate that it would be a bit of a pain. Could anybody suggest a way of saving these commands so that they run automatically, thereby restoring my machine fully back to normal? Thanks. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Remote Use Of Filezilla
I use Filezilla on a regular basis to transfer files between devices via my home router. It's a great utility which I would highly recommend. From time to time it would be useful to access files on devices located at home when I am away. Could anyone suggest how to do this? I use an ordinary ISP (Talk Talk) for internet access. There are often 4 or 5 devices connected to my router, so I am uncertain as to which IP address to use as the target; that of the router or that of the device containing the files. I imagine that the solution for Filezilla will apply equally to using Nautilus to connect to a server. Any help greatly appreciated. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Video/Audio Sync Problems
Hi Over the last week or so I've noticed that, when playing any kind of video files, the audio track seems to lag around 0.25 - 0.5 seconds behind the video. It's the same whether I'm reading from a DVD, a file on my hard disk or a file on a USB memory stick. There never used to be a problem, so I'm sure it's not my hardware, particularly as it's the same on each of my 3 laptops, which all run Xubuntu 11.04. I assume that it must be something in a recent update that's at the bottom of this. Does anybody have any ideas how to rectify this? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] What's In A Name?
Hi Guys It's been very interesting to read all the different takes on the Ubuntu name. Whatever the wisdom of its original selection, everyone's familiar with it, and to change now would probably be a retrograde step. However, the individual release names must seem a bit odd to non-Linux users. What's wrong with, for example, just calling the versions Ubuntu 11, Ubuntu 12, etc? That would describe the sequence, which is all that really matters. Whether the version is released in April or October shouldn't impact on the numbering convention. Anything that helps to give Ubuntu the image of being mainstream can only be of help. Quirky release names suggest that Ubuntu is perhaps intended only for people in the know. Other recent threads have pointed out that the vast majority of Windows and Mac users have never installed an operating system and would be extremely reluctant ever to do so. Until Ubuntu, or any other Linux distro for that matter, is widely available pre-installed on new hardware in high street shops, we're never going to make that all important big step. As things stand at the moment, if MS ever release a really flawed version of Windows or suffer a huge security embarrassment, it will be Mac OS that people turn to as the alternative, not Linux. The diversity of distros which is such a strength of Linux is also a major barrier to its mass-market adoption. Consider the position of, say, PC World. If they took a policy decision to offer Linux pre-installed, how would they decide which distro to use, when there are so many and the relative merits of each change from month to month. At least with Windows you get the same very narrow version options wherever you buy your computer. Don't get me wrong, I want Linux to go mainstream. It is better than Windows in practically every respect but, for all that, we appear to be unable to literally give it away as far as general desktop users are concerned. This indicates the strength of the MS marketing machine as much as anything. Since we can't hope to match that in financial terms we have to take every opportunity to broaden the appeal of Ubuntu. Ditching daft release names could be one step in the right direction. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Broadcom Wi-Fi Problem Caused By Recent Update
Hi Guys I'm running 11.04 on 3 machines; a Dell laptop, an Acer laptop and an Acer netbook. The Dell and the netbook both use the Broadcom STA wireless driver. Today I performed a routine system update, via Update Manager, and now I have no wi-fi on the machines running the Broadcom driver. No wireless networks are detected. The Dell wi-fi works fine if I boot it using Windows 7, and my Kindle and the non-Broadcom Acer laptop both detect my network, so I am confident that there is no problem with any of the network cards or my router. It appears to me as if something in a very recent update is the root cause. Does anybody have any ideas for a solution? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Good News For Acer Aspire One 521 Users
Hi I bought an Acer Aspire One 521 a few months ago to use as a media player. Unfortunately, with each of the last 4 versions of Ubuntu installed, the headphone jack was completely dead. The same situation applied with numerous other Linux distros. The only one to show any improvement was PCLinuxOS which would, at least, send audio to the headphone jack, but not shut off the internal speakers. Very annoying. For the benefit of anybody experiencing the same symptoms with the AO521, I am pleased to report that the problem has been fixed in 11.04. The headphone jack works and the internal speakers shut off when expected. The other niggling problem of having no battery monitor remains. Maybe 24 hours is not giving it a fair chance, but I can't stand the new user interface. It strikes me as unintuitive and a retrograde step in productivity. I've installed XFCE instead which is great. It would be interesting to get the views of other users who had never seen the new GUI until yesterday. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Please help with research
Hi Barry I think this is an excellent idea but it will, in some cases, result in getting Ubuntu tested by users who have not specifically identified a need to change from Windows/Mac. There must be quite a lot of us who have already successfully encouraged somebody to migrate. As long as they have not gone the whole hog and become total Linux nerds then their experiences should be very informative. Paradoxically, if we have got somebody to try Ubuntu, but they've decided not to migrate, that could actually be even more valuable. Regards Nige From: ubuntu-uk-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: ubuntu-uk Digest, Vol 72, Issue 16 To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:00:18 + Send ubuntu-uk mailing list submissions to ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ubuntu-uk-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com You can reach the person managing the list at ubuntu-uk-ow...@lists.ubuntu.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than Re: Contents of ubuntu-uk digest... Today's Topics: 1. Please help with research ... (Barry Drake) 2. OggCamp 11 (Alan Pope) -- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:47:01 +0100 From: Barry Drake bdr...@crosswire.org To: UK Ubuntu Talk ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: [ubuntu-uk] Please help with research ... Message-ID: 1302533221.4262.15.camel@pcspecialist Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Hi there ... At last night's ubuntu-adverts meeting, I arranged an experimental survey for research. I hope some of you can consider helping with it. First, find one or more willing volunteers from among friends. Volunteers need to be 'Ubuntu Virgins'. They are computer literate, but have no experience at all of any flavour of Linux. Give them a Maverick 10.10 LiveCD and ask them to run it and familiarise themselves with Ubuntu. After a week to ten days, arrange to interview them and make out a report. There are no specific questions; just ask them how things went, and report back on their findings, what problems they found, and what they would have liked to do but were unable to find a way of doing it. Note their overall impression and whether they would consider moving to Ubuntu. Please give reasons for or against. The interview needs to be conducted with great sensitivity and a good listening ear. If all goes well, you should hardly need to say anything; just listen! I have placed an etherpad at: http://openetherpad.org/cZDc393hcW for feedback and comments. Please consider helping with this. If you are in contact with other locos/groups, you might care to forward this to them. Kind regards, Barry. -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- Message: 2 Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:56:04 +0100 From: Alan Pope a...@popey.com To: British Ubuntu Talk ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Cc: Oggcamp oggc...@ubuntu-uk.org Subject: [ubuntu-uk] OggCamp 11 Message-ID: BANLkTik5xrCj=gqqfkvganh-zvz-5g-...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hullo LoCo! We (Ubuntu UK Podcast Linux Outlaws) have just announced that we'll be holding another OggCamp this year. Apologies if you see this announcement in numerous places, we're trying to get the word out :) OggCamp 11 will be held on the 13th 14th August at Farnham Maltings [0] in Surrey and it's free to attend. Details are on our website [1]. We have put the basics about the event up on the site, and will add more information as we have it, including travel and accommodation info. As with last years event we'll have a few rooms available for people to give talks about things that interest them. The event isn't specifically about Free Software or indeed Ubuntu Linux, but it does lean heavily in that direction. If you'd like to talk about something that interests you, do come along, grab a slot and rock on. We're actively looking for sponsors of the event, so if you know any groups/companies who might be interested, do throw them our way. Contact details on the site [1]. Although entrance is free we'd ask that people sign up at Eventbrite [2] so we can get an idea of numbers ahead of time. If you later find you can't make it, do let us know so we can release the ticket. We'll be announcing more details over the coming months on both Linux Outlaws [3] and the Ubuntu UK Podcast [4], and of course we'll update the main site [1] too. Cheers, Al. [0] - http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=51.211731lon=-0.797696zoom=18layers=M [1] - http://oggcamp.org/ [2] - http://oggcamp11.eventbrite.com/ [3] -
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Herefordshire Open Source Day
Hi Following Sarah Chard's posting of 23rd March, I attended the event in Hereford today. The LUG members were all extremely enthusiastic and did an excellent job of explaining the merits and benefits of FLOSS. In my view there were two important aspects of the event which the Herefordshire LUG got absolutely right: 1) The main message was to promote open source software rather than specifically Linux. This is the right approach as it gently eases Windows users towards FLOSS. To require a change of operating system as the starting point is probably just too big a step for most people. 2) The venue attracted visitors for reasons other than just the LUG event; an excellent coffee shop and an art exhibition. This means that there was a steady flow of people who might not otherwise have come in. To my mind the way this event was designed holds some useful pointers for any other FLOSS group considering staging something similar. Well done Herefordshire LUG. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Research Required
Dear All It's been very interesting to read comments about my description of setting up Ubuntu for a non-techie Windows user. It's very hard to disagree with any of the points raised, both for and against. My overall view, reflected in the approach I took, is that the overwhelming majority of Linux users are attracted primarily by the practical benefits, The underlying philosophy of open source software is very important, but if the software wasn't any good we wouldn't use it. For the average Windows user there is no affinity with their software at any level. It's simply what is on their computer when they buy it. Once they become familiar with Windows it is simply the way computers work. When there is a major software problem that can only be resolved by reinstallation of the OS, they don't bin the whole computer and buy a Mac, they go out and, if necessary, buy another copy of Windows. This only serves to further enhance Microsoft's revenues and market dominance. The great strength of Linux over the Mac is that it provides a real alternative to Windows without the need to buy new hardware. This is an advantage that we should build upon. I fully accept the point that presenting Ubuntu as an alternative to Windows can be taken as presenting Windows as the benchmark, but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing, when we know it's a benchmark that Ubuntu can beat in so many areas. To sell Ubuntu on any kind of philosophical basis is a waste of time when addressing Windows users. Although I am a self-confessed geek, I really only came to Ubuntu after finally having enough of 5 minute boot-ups and regular system lockups with Windows. My embracing of the FLOSS concept followed later. We need to acknowledge that many users don't even recognise the distinction between a computer and the OS. They just want their computer to work reliably and securely, and do the things they want it to do. Ubuntu should do all it can to make the transition for Windows users as simple as possible. If that means having an optional UI that is very much like Windows, so be it. Once you've got Ubuntu onto the computer, the user will inevitably tinker around and discover the UI flexibility offered by Gnome, Xfce, KDE, etc. By then, of course, if Ubuntu is really as good as we believe it is, the user will be a convert anyway. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Research Required
Dear All This question has been raised at an opportune moment. Literally yesterday I answered a cry for help from a friend whose 1 month-old HP desktop had been completely trashed by viruses which had taken over all administrator rights and installed massive amounts of malware. Having come from Currys there was, of course, no Windows 7 installation disk, only a recovery partition which appeared to have been compromised. Not being in a position to spend £110 on a new installation disk my friend asked if there was anything I could do. She'd vaguely heard of a Mac but never Linux. I decided to create a system that would be as familiar to her as possible. I installed Ubuntu 10.4 LTS. I removed the bottom task bar completely so as not to complicate matters with the concept of workspaces. I moved the top task bar to the bottom of the screen, then added the task list applet so that open applications would each be represented by a familiar button. I removed the Firefox and Help icons to complete the Windows look-and-feel as far as possible. I created desktop icons for the following basic applications: OpenOffice Writer OpenOffice Calc OpenOffice Impress Rhythmbox Totem Brasero Firefox Calculator GNU Paint (after installation) GIMP (after installation) Because these application names would not be familiar to the average Windows user I renamed the icons by their function e.g Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Music Player, CD/DVD Burner, etc. The only time I needed to use the command line was to run a Bash script to download and install the libdvdcss objects, to enable the playing of commercial encrypted DVDs; this after having installed the Ubuntu Restricted Extras from the software centre. Fortunately my friend is not a games player, so there is not really any functional loss through this unexpected migration to Ubuntu. The reaction so far has been very favourable. She will never be a geek or a nerd but I do think we may have gained a convert. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] OOO Base - Recent Poor Performance
Hi In response to Paul Sladen's enquiry, both my laptops run Xubuntu. One is on 10.04 and the other is running 10.10. On both I run OOO 3.2.1 from the OOO mirror rather than the Ubuntu repository. However, by way of experiment, I also downloaded the Go-OO version from the repository, but it made no difference. When the problem first appeared I was interfacing with MySQL using Connector/J 5.1.12. I upgraded to the latest 5.1.14, but also to no avail. Because the slow performance has also manifested itself using embedded HSQL tables, I am pretty certain that the problem doesn't lie with the MySQL side of things; MySQL DB Browser is working just as quickly as usual. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] OOO Base - Recent Poor Performance
Hi Guys I use OOO Base to provide a user interface to a MySQL database. Until a couple of weeks ago the performance was excellent then, last weekend, I noticed it started taking best part of a minute to populate a simple list of around 200 entries. I tried it on my other laptop. Same thing. By way of elimination I copied the data to local tables of (HSQL) and linked a form to that. Same again. I've not changed the database or the application in any way. All I can assume is that a recent system update has caused the problems. The MySQL server and the OOO Base application are on the same machine. Has anybody else suffered a similar problem and/or have any ideas as to a solution? Thanks, Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] BIOS Upgrades
Hi Guys I bought an Acer Aspire One 521 netbook last week and, of course, immediately got rid of Windows 7 and put Xubuntu 10.10 on instead. Unfortunately I cannot get the headphone socket to work, no matter what I try. Since the netbook's main role will be as a media player, this is something of a problem. The socket worked fine under Windows 7, so I'm satisfied it's not a hardware failure. In my investigations I discovered that the BIOS is v1.01. The latest version on the Acer website is 1.10, so I'm sorely tempted to upgrade it, in the hope that this might deliver a solution. Trouble is, I've no idea how to go about it. Can anybody describe the process and, just as importantly, advise whether BIOS is a possible cause of the problem in the first place? Thanks very much. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Version Downgrading
Hi All A bit of advice please. I've installed Xubuntu 10.10 on my two laptops (Acer and Dell). Both display problems with programs crashing that I never encountered on 10.4, though they're not the same problems on each. I'm tempted to revert to 10.4 LTS. I got from 10.4 to 10.10 using the online version upgrade. Is there a way to go back or do I need to start from scratch with a clean install? Thanks. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Unity And Gnome Shell
Hi Guys I would recommend to Les that he looks seriously at Xubuntu. You get the benefits of Ubuntu but with the Xfce desktop instead of Gnome. It's considerably more lightweight than Gnome but it still gives you a lot of options to tailor the layout and appearance. Yes, there is always the KDE option, too, but if you like the general Gnome way of working, then Xfce is a much less radical departure. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] 10.10 System Freeze Problem
Hi Guys Since clean-installing Xubuntu 10.10 on an Acer 1410 laptop, the system is freezing up once or twice during a daily 8 hour session. The mouse and keyboard become inoperative and, if I disconnect the mouse then reconnect it, the mouse does not light up, suggesting that no power is being fed through the USB port. I've not had 10.10 long enough to observe any particular pattern or scenario that causes the problem. It certainly didn't occur with 10.4. Does anybody know of an existing log file, or application I can use, to help identify the cause? Please bear in mind that, as I have to kill the power before rebooting, any log files may not be closed cleanly. Thanks very much. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Network Manager Problem (Xubuntu 10.4)
Hi Guys I'm running Xubuntu 10.4. A couple of days ago I downloaded a routine update which required a reboot to complete. After that I had no wireless connectivity and no Network Manager applet (nm-applet) icon in the notification area. Following much experimentation I discovered I could get wi-fi and the nm-applet icon as long as I started the process using the command line in a terminal window, and kept that window open. As soon as I closed the window, the wi-fi connection was lost, together with the icon. Fortunately, a cable connection to my router continued to provide internet access, but with no nm-applet icon. Having run out of ideas, I created a new session at the login window. Amazingly everything worked fine as long as I logged in using the new Test session. The Default session still didn't work and that remains the case now. I now have a Test session that needs to be used all the time , and a Default session that is broken. Does anybody know how I can delete the current Default session and then rename the Test session to make that the new default? Although of less importance now, I'd be interested in any ideas as to the fundamental cause of the problem in case it ever happens again. Thanks and regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] OOO Base vs MS Access
Hi Folks I was interested to read Glen Mehn's comments about OOO Base; effectively, brilliant but who uses it? I used to be an MS Access developer and was quite a big fan. Now I've moved over to Linux I've been experimenting with just what can be done with Base, to see if it is a good open source substitute. My conclusion is that it CAN be used to develop sophisticated applications, but you have to do a hell of a lot more work compared with Access. If you stick to bound forms and controls for your UI, then Access is far far better, as so much can be achieved with properties rather than coding. Yes, Base does have this capability, but the number of properties is so much smaller. Also, the Access forms look much better too. However, if you use Base dialogs instead of bound forms as your UI then you can create an attractive UI and provide some sophisticated functionality, but you have to be prepared to write all the code to retrieve data from the database, write it to the controls and, correspondingly, manage all the database updates explicitly. This does, though, give you complete control over everything, which isn't always so easy with Access as it auto-updates records when you might not really want it to. Wrting code in OOO Basic is not that unlike writing in C++ using Visual Studio, albeit with Basic syntax. You have to associate code with control events yourself. In VBA that's all done for you. There's no doubt that coding with Access/VBA is much easier and more productive than developing for OOO Base. However, in time you build up code libraries which you can re-use and save yourself a load of time in later projects. The one thing I really miss from Access, which is not available in OOO Base, is the multi-column list box. You can simulate this to some extent by using fixed fonts and clever string formatting but it looks like what it is - a workaround. The ability of Base to link to so many types of database is brilliant, and provides a big advantage over Access. In a multi-user environment, Access can be very restrictive. Unless you start doing clever things at the server end, such as run stored procedures instead of client-end queries, Access is very heavy on network resources. Overall I think that OOO Base is going in the right direction, but it still has a way to go before it could get anywhere close to challenging Access. However, if something can be done to improve the appearance of forms and make coding easier, there is definitely a lot of potential. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Renaming The Home Folder
Hi Guys Some advice please In order to minimise the differences between working at home and away, my desktop and laptop have very similar folder structures. This has proven to be a little counter-productive since, when I'm transferring files between them using Filezilla or Nautilus, it is easy to confuse which pane is displaying the laptop's contents and which the desktop's. The logical solution would appear to be to rename the home folder on one of the machines so that the path is clearly distinguishable. However, I note that Nautilus has the rename option greyed out for the home folder. To me this suggests that renaming it might not be a good idea or, at least, needs to be done in conjunction with other actions. My concern is that renaming the home folder will screw up the configuration of numerous applications. Is it best just to live with things as they are or is there a clean method of renaming the home folder? Thanks Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Renaming The Home Folder
Hi Guys Thanks for all the helpful advice. I believe you have saved me from screwing up my system!! Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] ubuntu-uk Digest, Vol 63, Issue 34 - Non Technical Events
Hi Guys I suspect that there are vast numbers of people to whom the philosophical and financial aspects of free/open source software would be very attractive. Trouble is, they've probably never heard of it. Where do we go to talk about FLOSS? OggCamp, LUGs and the like. Great and enjoyable as those events are, they don't do much to spread the word. The suggestion to go and have stalls at village and school fetes, etc, is brilliant. They usually cost next to nothing to exhibit at. The only downside I can see is that it is sometimes difficult to get a mains supply on a stall at such events. Mind you, there are always laptops, I suppose. One thing I've learned after years of attending trade and techie exhibitions is that knocking the opposition doesn't actually work. Slagging off Microsoft is liable to alienate many punters who currently use Windows, as it feels as if you're crticising their judgement. Far better just to point out all the attributes of your product, in this case Ubuntu, and let them do the selling. Whenever I take the opportunity to demonstrate Ubuntu to people I meet in the course of my work, the biggest point of interest always seems to be the fast boot times and not needing to have Norton/McAfee/AVG running in the background, slowing everything down. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Windows XP CD
Hi Guys I would caution that just because Microsoft (or any other software supplier for that matter) says that a particular action constitutes a copyright infringement does not necessarily make it legally true. For the time being at least, the law of the land ultimately overrides a EULA. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu UK Site Rebranding
Hi Guys Mockup 1 is in a different league to the rest. Far, far better. I am inclined to agree that the London skyline does suggest big business, because that kind of image has been used many times before to promote big city corporations. The balance is to look professional, but without looking too corporate. Keep the layout but change the image to something less indicative of one specific location. Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Is Ubuntu Getting Too Bloated?
Hi I am inclinded to sympathise with Roachy's view. Apart from a very brief flirtation with Fedora I have nothing to compare Ubuntu with. However, I feel that the ideal approach for any distro should be to install the OS and management utilities from the live CD, then leave the rest to the choice of the user. There is no reason, of course, why the installation procedure should not present a list of recommended applications, from which the user can make a selection. It would enable the distro developers to concentrate on things like reliability and boot-time performance, rather than trying to squeeze the most applications possible into a 700MB ISO. This way anybody wanting a really light system can have one by default, but those users who want a large portfolio of applications can very easily get it. Surely, that's precisely the sort of choice that Linux is supposed to be about. Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Linux On Dell
Hi Re: Dianne Reuby's news that Dell say the use of any OS other than Windows will invalidate the hardware guarantee. While this might be Dell's opening gambit, I can't see they would pursue it all the way to court. The cost of demonstrating that a particular feature of an OS puts an inordinate strain on the hardware would be very high, and would have to be re-run for practically every case. If they really thought they could get away with it they would also be prohibiting the use of certain Windows software too. For example, a lot of games are very CPU intensive, which must generate a lot of heat and, therefore, a heavy load on the PC components. Apart from anything else, what message does it send to potential customers if the company states that its hardware may not be up to certain jobs? Regards Nige -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
