Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu User experience survey
On 25/05/11 08:11, Alan Bell wrote: Hi all, Mackenzie Morgan and others have put together a survey to capture information about how people are getting on with Ubuntu so that we can make the experience even more awesome (if such a thing is possible) if you have a few minutes it would be great if you could fill out the form (and see if you can spot which questions I suggested). Alan. When your interaction with other Ubuntu users is entirely made up of developers talking about bugs they need to fix and users seeking [...] just to add to my earlier feedback, another couple of my 'flock' have replied similarly and this quote is typical of this type of user: ' I've had a look at the questions and don't understand many! All I can say is that the system is working well. I don't know how to feed this back? Any ideas on how to proceed?' -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Asus to sell Ubuntu netbooks...
On 02/06/11 17:31, Alan Pope wrote: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/367768/asus-to-ship-ubuntu-netbooks In Europe. Neat huh? Al. Great yes! I saw an early news item and searched to see where to buy, but stuff had not yet been on sales web sites. Whoever sees then please shout? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu.com down?
Is it me or is www.ubuntu.com site down just now? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu.com down?
On 30/05/11 09:30, alan c wrote: Is it me or is www.ubuntu.com site down just now? it came back ok -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] OT - Diaspora etc?
If you have not tried it but would like to, then - at your own risk - there are now some open pods (servers) to try. One from a developer in London: http://londondiaspora.org -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu User experience survey
On 25/05/11 09:57, alan c wrote: On 25/05/11 09:23, Alan Bell wrote: On 25/05/11 09:03, alan c wrote: I have sent it also to the users who I help as admin, they just use Ubuntu like a toaster, they do no admin at all. I think they will not understand many of the questions and the questions about installation may completely stump them. For me the survey tone is set for an 'admin-user'. If Ubuntu is to roll out to 200 million users in 4 years, I think there will be LOT more non-admin end users out there. great feedback, I will ask Mackenzie to add some extra options on the install question for pre-installs and someone else installed it. Yes I don't think we would send out this survey in its current form to 200,000,000 users! Might be too late for my own flock. My wife started to do it under a 3 line whip and the first question from her (to me) was 'What Ubuntu do I use?' (secret answer = Ubuntu) I do not have a lot of hope for the other 8 surveys I forwarded, but we will see. Response from two friends who only use ubuntu on their laptops but are very non techie ' the Ubuntu survey, I think it is a little beyond our scope Alan - it seems a bit too technical for us' So they were not confident enough to even attempt it, they have been using only ubuntu for a couple of years and one had even gone into John Lewes (Reading) asking for Ubuntu (another story). I conclude that as Ubuntu rolls out to a wider user base, established expectations, say, for surveys, may need to be completely revisited. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu User experience survey
On 29/05/11 17:33, Barry Drake wrote: On Sun, 2011-05-29 at 11:13 +0100, alan c wrote: ' the Ubuntu survey, I think it is a little beyond our scope Alan - it seems a bit too technical for us' Alan, I agree totally. This is the real strength of Ubuntu - even a Windows user can make it work! So they were not confident enough to even attempt it, they have been using only ubuntu for a couple of years and one had even gone into John Lewes (Reading) asking for Ubuntu (another story). Sounds like a story I'd love to hear. If not on the list, please let me hear it. Regards,Barry. here it is https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-uk/2009-May/018802.html There was an interesting follow-on some long time later when the same department was asked about a particular printer which was of interest - again, specifically for use with Ubuntu not Windows. On that occasion the staff member quickly said they did not know, and went to get advice from a senior person, who came and confirmed he did not have that information, although it might or might not work. Not a perfect situation but a whole lot more reasonable than the original stance. It seemed as if there had been some elementary but significant staff training in the meantime. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu User experience survey
On 29/05/11 17:33, Barry Drake wrote: On Sun, 2011-05-29 at 11:13 +0100, alan c wrote: ' the Ubuntu survey, I think it is a little beyond our scope Alan - it seems a bit too technical for us' Alan, I agree totally. This is the real strength of Ubuntu - even a Windows user can make it work! I was asked by a long time xp user recently if I would help in putting Ubuntu on his PC for him. He had been given my name by a dual booting more experienced friend. The PC was not functioning with XP, you could start up, but clicking on stuff did not get sensible responses. I don't do Windows (life is too short) and the person was happy to leave it as it was and not use xp, and (dual) boot into Ubuntu. So I set it all up and copied over stuff, set up thunderbird and imported OE stuff into it etc. Ubuntu worked well, the PC was not fast, but was ok. Towards the end of the exercise, I was showing him stuff and asking if it was ok for him etc, and he suddenly said 'What was that you just did?' I had copied some text and pasted it. I showed him. 'I never knew how to do that!' He said. So I suggested he maybe could go to a class or whatever for the basics, anyway he now *knew* copy and paste! He said he had gone to classes but had never been able to keep up and had never been confident to ask for detail and slower, explanation. I got him to practice a couple of times, and it was not a problem. This person has now been using Ubuntu alone with no further help from me for a few months now. I did check back once to confirm use of fspot and his photos, no problems. I was interested to see this as an example were a person had continued to use xp to a point when it was impossible to continue and xp was wrecked, and at a user level of experience less than basic, yet he was perfectly happy with Ubuntu with virtually no 'training'. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New business
On 28/05/11 15:51, Bruno Girin wrote: On Fri, 2011-05-27 at 07:47 +0100, Sean Miller wrote: If you don't consider you are going to have a huge turnover then merely register as a Sole Trader. You will have to pay additional National Insurance Contributions on a quarterly basis (I think it's about £10/month) and will have to complete an additional page on your Self Assessment Tax Return stating turnover, costs, profit etc., but apart from that you really don't have to do much at all. In addition to this I would say there are two essential things: * Create a simple invoice template, make sure it's very easy for you to invoice customers efficiently and that it's easy for them to pay you: most people will pay you when you ask so make sure you do so; * Get a good accountant, it will cost you a few hundred quid a year for the basic stuff you need to do for a small company or sole trader but it's definitely worth it. Bruno And if it is not already obvious, the way to get an accountant is by recommendation from someone you trust. Not by picking from a list. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu User experience survey
On 25/05/11 09:23, Alan Bell wrote: On 25/05/11 09:03, alan c wrote: I have sent it also to the users who I help as admin, they just use Ubuntu like a toaster, they do no admin at all. I think they will not understand many of the questions and the questions about installation may completely stump them. For me the survey tone is set for an 'admin-user'. If Ubuntu is to roll out to 200 million users in 4 years, I think there will be LOT more non-admin end users out there. great feedback, I will ask Mackenzie to add some extra options on the install question for pre-installs and someone else installed it. Yes I don't think we would send out this survey in its current form to 200,000,000 users! Might be too late for my own flock. My wife started to do it under a 3 line whip and the first question from her (to me) was 'What Ubuntu do I use?' (secret answer = Ubuntu) I do not have a lot of hope for the other 8 surveys I forwarded, but we will see. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux Awareness
On 24/05/11 08:27, Alan Lord (News) wrote: On 23/05/11 21:05, Dino T. wrote: Excellent, thanks. I plan on bringing up that Google use Ubuntu inhouse and have done since 2006 (that I'm aware of.) If you know of any huge companies that use it too, please let me know.' Erm, Pretty much every company of any notable size in the world uses Linux/Open Source to a lesser or greater extent (it is the SME and Public sectors that are dragging their heels on this one). http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/03/gartner-oss-survey http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/228136/open_source_software_is_now_a_norm_in_businesses.html But to name a few... The London Stock Exchange, The New York Stock Exchange, The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (All __MASSIVE__ and very fast trading platforms running on Linux). From what I can tell, all of the web 2.0 businesses were built on Open Source technologies and principles and run on Linux: eBay, PayPAL, Facebook, Google etc etc. Oh yes, how about all those Mobile phones that run Android? Even Apple's OS X is built on Open Source core technology (although they chose the most liberally licensed code - MIT/Apache - so they can take and do not have to contribute). There are also a few recent press releases from Canonical which mention the French Police (70k desktops) and an Insurance Company in Germany. HP are putting their WebOS on *all* of their products, including PCs and printers, alongside Windows if appropriate. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Why are you removing right-click context menus?
On 24/05/11 00:52, Alan Bell wrote: On 24/05/11 00:39, Alex Cockell wrote: Surely it's a standard part opf functionality now? How is this change increasing usability? Especially if i am working through a large web doc and want to quickly open a new tab or save from a link or copy a url to the clipboard? who are you addressing this to? In what situation has a right click context menu been removed? Ubuntu 11.04 Firefox 4, use of Bookmarks drop down menu, and trying to use a right click from within the bookmaks list. Discussed in this group recently -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Why are you removing right-click context menus?
On 24/05/11 12:10, Dave Morley wrote: On Tue, 2011-05-24 at 11:53 +0100, Tony Scott wrote: Hi Alan Shouldn't this question be directed to Mozilla? -- Tony Scott http://tonyscott.org.uk | http://twitter.com/tonys | http://2011.portsmouth.wordcampuk.org | http://lpd.bectu.com | http://orangecoconut.com __ From: alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Sent: Tuesday, 24 May 2011, 11:36 Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Why are you removing right-click context menus? Ubuntu 11.04 Firefox 4, use of Bookmarks drop down menu, and trying to use a right click from within the bookmaks list. Discussed in this group recently -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ The context is still there for me on 11.04 in FF 4.0 so not sure where the issue actually is! There are no subtractions from the system on modifications as far as I can see. The only right click menu that has changed is in the applets where the functionality has been move to left clicks instead. In another recent thread in this list: == From: Chris Coulson chrisccoul...@ubuntu.com To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 12:28:58 +0100 Reply-To: UK Ubuntu Talk ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] 11.04 and Firefox 4 On Mon, 2011-05-23 at 12:16 +0100, Colin Law wrote: See https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libdbusmenu/+bug/748850 which covers both right and middle click. It was supposed to have been fixed a couple of days ago so presumably the fix will appear soon. Colin Hi, The bug hasn't been fixed, but somebody changed the status for the fun of it. This doesn't work because it just isn't supported at all by dbusmenu and unity. Note, that while we want to introduce modifier state in to the dbusmenu protocol (so that CTRL+click and SHIFT+click work properly), we won't be adding right-click support (ie, the context menu isn't coming back). AFAIK, Firefox was the only application to support this, and no other GTK application did. We want the menus to behave consistently across applications rather than having users open the menu and wondering whether right-clicking will perform the action under the pointer or open a context menu instead. The title of the bug report should probably be updated to reflect that. Regards Chris == summary points from above: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libdbusmenu/+bug/748850 ' it just isn't supported at all by dbusmenu and unity' Firefox functionality is not changed, only its features (not) available in Unity. This does not affect links seen as part of a web page, a context menu is still offered I believe. It does affect the behaviour seen when looking at and using a firefox bookmarks list. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Race Online 2012 - lets give EVERYONE buying a second user PC a chance to try Linux.
On 23/05/11 09:53, Avi Greenbury wrote: They're specifically not. If, on first boot, they were presented with Grub asking if they wanted Linux or Windows with respect, I think the choice is between 'Ubuntu' and Windows -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] 11.04 and Firefox 4
Trying out Ubuntu 11.04 still an dI noticed something in Firefox which puzzles me. My usual action with my bookmarks list is to right click in the list to open the chosen bookmark item in a new tab. But I do not seem to be able to do this in Firefox 4. Am I missing something here? Is there a function which replaces bookmarks going chosen going into tabs? My immediate workaround of the apparently lost feature is to first open an empty tab then choose the bookmark, but this is an -extra- click. What gives? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux Awareness
On 23/05/11 14:07, Dino T. wrote: Hi A friend and I are brainstorming on a 2 hour presentation to give to Universities and Colleges across Liverpool. To increase awareness and show students that they can save money using free/open source software. This is scheduled for around September 2011. What do you suggest we cover? Has to be very basic too for beginners and if they want to learn more, we'll be providing sheets out to links etc. Dino T. I gave a series of 1 hour talks to a FE college a few months ago, to students on computing *related* courses. The staff I arranged with were already Ubuntu aware though were not users, most of the students were not aware. I ran the initial part of the talk from a Live USB, (started prior to the talk beginning and quite fast) then pointed to Live session vs installed. Then continued to include Ubuntu basics, Wine basics, and a used trial version of Crossover too. Towards the end, I just happened :-) to show the compiz cube with transparency an dcap image (of fishing net), and sky globe image (of a goldfish). About half the audiences took a CD and leaflets. Needed careful timing to get into one hour. Happy to discuss off list, I can send some files if you like? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] 11.04 and Firefox 4
On 23/05/11 12:28, Chris Coulson wrote: On Mon, 2011-05-23 at 12:16 +0100, Colin Law wrote: See https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libdbusmenu/+bug/748850 which covers both right and middle click. It was supposed to have been fixed a couple of days ago so presumably the fix will appear soon. Colin Hi, The bug hasn't been fixed, but somebody changed the status for the fun of it. This doesn't work because it just isn't supported at all by dbusmenu and unity. Note, that while we want to introduce modifier state in to the dbusmenu protocol (so that CTRL+click and SHIFT+click work properly), we won't be adding right-click support (ie, the context menu isn't coming back). AFAIK, Firefox was the only application to support this, and no other GTK application did. We want the menus to behave consistently across applications rather than having users open the menu and wondering whether right-clicking will perform the action under the pointer or open a context menu instead. The title of the bug report should probably be updated to reflect that. Thanks. So if I understand correectly, crtl-click and shift-click will stand a good chance of getting fixed anyway? I have never used it till now, so, ctrl-click would open a tab, but what would shift-click do? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux Awareness
The French assembly have used Ubuntu for at least two years now, and the Gendarmerie are (or have ) migrated all of their 70,000 PCs to Ubuntu. On 23/05/11 21:05, Dino T. wrote: Excellent, thanks. I plan on bringing up that Google use Ubuntu inhouse and have done since 2006 (that I'm aware of.) If you know of any huge companies that use it too, please let me know.' *Dino Tassigiannis BA (Hons)* http://www.ubuntu.com/ On 23 May 2011 21:01, Barry Tittertonbarry.titter...@mail.adsl4less.comwrote: On Mon, 2011-05-23 at 14:07 +0100, Dino T. wrote: Hi A friend and I are brainstorming on a 2 hour presentation to give to Universities and Colleges across Liverpool. To increase awareness and show students that they can save money using free/open source software. This is scheduled for around September 2011. What do you suggest we cover? Has to be very basic too for beginners and if they want to learn more, we'll be providing sheets out to links etc. Dino T. I recently did a Linux Awareness talk for a local computer club. I based the talk around these points: What is Linux and Open Source? What do you get? What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? (You need to be honest). And because linux take up is poor in the UK I did a round up of who uses linux around the world to show that it isn't a niche Geek way of working. Also students are very keen on Fairtrade so push the FOSS = Fairtrade/Ethical Computing as well. Barry -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] 11.04 and Firefox 4
On 23/05/11 18:58, gerry wrote: Hi Using 11.04 and Firefox 4.0.1 a right click gives me the option to Open Open in a new window Open in a tab and several other bookmark options Unfortunately I can't get a screen shot of it I wonder if you are looking at a web page full of links, an dright clicking? My problem is looking only at an existing bookmarks list -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Simple Unity guide for beginners
On 21/05/11 17:50, Alan Pope wrote: I've plumped for Ubuntu 11.04 and Unity on my friend's Dads laptop. I figured this was the best choice given the future direction of Ubuntu, and I can support him because I use it myself. Good reason! I would suggest that 1) disable the launcher autohide at least initially 2) change the workspaces available from 4 to 2 (single row) 3) Put a folder called something or other on the desktop so it can be clicked on and used immediately I am in a steep unity learning curve myself and as you know I am in contact with a lot of not always youthful newcomers. Comments: 1) has been an immediate relief for me and I do not think newcomers will welcome autohide. 2) Personally I use 6 workspaces and I have now configured for a linear display - single row not multi row, and for a newcomer, simply reducing from 4 to 2 (single row) will enable a simpler concept of workspaces which are a mystery for newcomers anyway. 3) Many people I see have a desktop and or inbox which seem more like a landfill site than anything, so an actual Folder sitting on the desktop, an invitation to put stuff in it in the old fashioned way, will I think give a significant added comfort factor Good luck -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu'ing a PC for a friend.
On 21/05/11 09:40, Alan Pope wrote: Greetings! My friend had this conversation with her Dad:- Dad: Can you get in contact with Alan and get him to help me with my computer Friend: I'll be honest, he won't touch it with windows on it Dad: Okay, will he install Linux on it for me? Friend: I'll ask. So I have sat in front of me a laptop computer:- Specs:- Dell Inspiron 6400. Intel Dual Core Pentium T2060 CPU at 1.6GHz 2GiB RAM 60GB Hard disk Intel GMA 945 video card DVD Read/write drive The usual other ports you'd expect, VGA, USBxlots, sound, SD etc. Media playback buttons. I agreed to wipe windows off (he doesn't care about what's on there at the moment) and install Ubuntu. I also agreed to a couple of hours of hand-holding to get him started. As far as I can tell he has no experience of Ubuntu or any other Linux distro. I'm currently backing up the Windows XP hard disk to an external drive he provided, and will start a clean install of Ubuntu later. Wondering what to install. 10.04 LTS or 11.04 with Unity 3D or 2D? I'm open to listen to suggestions for what to do, and what extra apps to install. I figured it might be useful for others. I'm keeping track of stuff in an etherpad document:- http://pad.ubuntu-uk.org/PCForFriend I welcome discussion / suggestions either here on the list or in that document. I have no hesitation to say to use Ubuntu 10.04.2 (LTS) if it works on that hardware, (probably will). If any hardware that I support have any problesms with the LTS (a few do) then 10.10 seems ok. The reason for staying with LTS if possible is that there will be a larger ongoing focus of non techie users, and not least because it is easier for me to know what is likely to be installed on the (increasing number of) supported friends, one in France. 11.04 is tempting me for beginners, but I am still getting used to its fluent use for myself as an admin, and dont think I can yet answer questions from beginners with ease. Also it will get more changes I expect. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu'ing a PC for a friend.
On 21/05/11 10:50, Matthew Daubney wrote: On 21 May 2011 09:55, Liam Gallearliam.gall...@gmail.com wrote: On 21 May 2011, at 09:40, Alan Popea...@popey.com wrote: Greetings! My friend had this conversation with her Dad:- Dad: Can you get in contact with Alan and get him to help me with my computer Friend: I'll be honest, he won't touch it with windows on it Dad: Okay, will he install Linux on it for me? Friend: I'll ask. So I have sat in front of me a laptop computer:- Specs:- Dell Inspiron 6400. Intel Dual Core Pentium T2060 CPU at 1.6GHz 2GiB RAM 60GB Hard disk Intel GMA 945 video card DVD Read/write drive The usual other ports you'd expect, VGA, USBxlots, sound, SD etc. Media playback buttons. I agreed to wipe windows off (he doesn't care about what's on there at the moment) and install Ubuntu. I also agreed to a couple of hours of hand-holding to get him started. As far as I can tell he has no experience of Ubuntu or any other Linux distro. I'm currently backing up the Windows XP hard disk to an external drive he provided, and will start a clean install of Ubuntu later. Wondering what to install. 10.04 LTS or 11.04 with Unity 3D or 2D? I'm open to listen to suggestions for what to do, and what extra apps to install. I figured it might be useful for others. I'm keeping track of stuff in an etherpad document:- http://pad.ubuntu-uk.org/PCForFriend I welcome discussion / suggestions either here on the list or in that document. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ That's pretty cool. I'd probably say go for 11.04, then he gets the benefits of Unity straight away. If possible, though, why not dual boot the two and let the guy decide which he wants to keep? Thanks and Regards, Liam Gallear I'd stick him on 11.04 with unity if it works with his hardware. Simply because now would be a good time to get used to the new interface, rather than learning old gnome then having to learn new gnome in 6 months time :) I'd leave off Unity 2D on a new persons machine as it's not officially finished yet. As long as you the supporting admin, are fully able to guide a novice around it, and also set up the usual things for a novice conveniently, user account whatever, then 11.04 will be very good. However, I find a limitation in the process is my own availability and time, and experience, and a user's confidence will not be improved if I myself am not fluent in 11.04. The next LTS will be using unity. Between now and then, a number of changes will be made, and I for one, will also be more ready that I am just now to support all of my friends with the then LTS. But just now, they are all using 10.04 or 10.10 -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Fwd: [ORG-discuss] Workshop on Open Government: Open Data, Open Source and Open Standards
FYI (please contact the organiser direct) Original Message Subject: [ORG-discuss] Workshop on Open Government: Open Data, Open Source and Open Standards Date: Thu, 5 May 2011 10:38:20 -0500 From: Mr. Puneet Kishor punk.k...@gmail.com Reply-To: Open Rights Group open discussion list org-disc...@lists.openrightsgroup.org To: org-disc...@lists.openrightsgroup.org org-disc...@lists.openrightsgroup.org ## Workshop on Open Government: Open Data, Open Source and Open Standards You are invited to attend a workshop titled [Open Government: Open Data, Open Source and Open Standards][og] organized jointly by [Dr. Hanif Rahemtulla][hr], Horizon Digital Economy Research and [Puneet Kishor][pk], Creative Commons The workshop will be held in conjunction with the annual [Open Source GIS Conference][oc], June 21, 2011, Nottingham, United Kingdom, and will be held at the [School of Geography/Centre for Geospatial Science][cg] at the University of Nottingham. [og]: http://punkish.org/opengov/index.html [hr]: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/computerscience/people/Hanif.Rahemtulla [pk]: http://punkish.org [oc]: http://cgs.nottingham.ac.uk/~osgis11/os_home.html [cg]: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/index.aspx This workshop builds on the [Law and the GeoWeb][lg] workshop held recently at Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, and will bring together speakers from across industry, research and academia to contribute toward some of the fundamental theoretical and technical questions emerging in the Open Data space (i.e., how to mark up and release open data; licensing models for governments and how to interface them to other open source and commercial licensing regimes; conflicts between data protection and transparency and structuring access to data by different groups). [lg]: http://punkish.org/geoweb/index.html The following speakers and topics have been confirmed: * Dr. Peter Mooney, Geotechnologies Research Group, Department of Computer Science, NUI Maynooth (NUIM), Co. Kildare. Ireland Producing and consuming open data * Professor David Martin, School of Geography, University of Southampton, Southampton Mapping the UK population over time: a universe of new possibilities * Zach Beauvais, Talis Linked data * Dr. Chris Parker (GeoVation and Community Propositions) and Ian Holt (Web Services), Ordnance Survey, Southampton Tackling global challenges through open innovation and geographic information * Dr. Catherine Souch, Royal Geographical Society The Open Data revolution and data literacy in higher education * Dr. Katleen Janssen, Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT (ICRI), Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium Privacy and legal implications of open data * Professor Derek McAuley, Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute, University of Nottingham Exercising our rights over information about us ## Proceedings Proceedings of the Redmond and Nottingham workshops along with selected longer papers will be published in a special issue of the open-access [International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructure Research][ij] published by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. [ij]: http://ijsdir.jrc.ec.europa.eu ## Contact Please register for the workshop at the main [OSGIS web site][rg]. [rg]: http://osgis2011.wufoo.com/forms/third-open-source-gis-conference-osgis-2011/ For further information please contact either [Dr. Hanif Rahemtulla][eh] or [Puneet Kishor][ep]. [eh]: mailto:hanif.rahemtu...@nottingham.ac.uk [ep]: mailto:punk...@creativecommons.org -- Puneet Kishor http://punkish.org Researcher http://carbonmodel.org Science Fellow http://creativecommons.org ___ ORG-discuss mailing list org-disc...@lists.openrightsgroup.org http://lists.openrightsgroup.org/mailman/listinfo/org-discuss To unsubscribe, send a blank email to org-discuss-le...@lists.openrightsgroup.org -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] 11.04, Wubi and Windows 7
On 21/05/11 15:59, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote: Does Wubi now work in Windows 7? I heard there were problems some time ago... I had heard that some grub updates had caused problems, and I stopped recommending wubi completely at that time because the fix was way above the likely wubi users heads. I would be most interested to know if wubi is now robust against all updates. If confirmed, I will try it again and start recommending it to the many newcomers I see. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu'ing a PC for a friend.
On 21/05/11 17:52, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote: On 21/05/2011 17:39, Jon Spriggs wrote: As I said, the VPN part is more to save having to set up local port forwarding and DynDNS, especially as my Dad is with BT, and their default response with the home hub is Press the reset button on the side of the router. Does it work now? Have you tried TeamViewer? They have a Linux version http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx Yes, I use (unfortunately) teamviewer a lot. I regret that it is not free software however, when I am supporting an increasingly large bunch of very non techie friends it is surprisingly easy at my end and theirs. I have even used it in a remote live Ubuntu session to re partition a remote PC for dual boot and then run the installer in advanced mode, apparently no problems (!) I decided to close the teamviewer session once the install was under way to avoid possible complications, and it all worked. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Race Online 2012 PCs shocker! timeline?
On 19/05/11 10:21, Avi Greenbury wrote: Alan Bell wrote: Just call it Ubuntu, problem solved. Ah, that was supposed to be the bulk of my point, but I apparently completely forgot to mention it... I should really put something in place that stops me sending out emails in the middle of the night. LOL You've spoiled it now! It was shaping up to be a great debate, ending with 'Ubuntu'! :-) I, too, strongly favour declaring I use 'Ubuntu'. In fact when introducing an Ubuntu discussion to a small PC shop in farthest outer Lincolnshire, he soon said. 'Oh! Linux us only for techies!' My response without a blink, was 'I am *not* talking about Linux, I am using UBUNTU!' To his credit there was a slight pause and I could see the new thoughts.. The Ubuntu 'brand' is one of the the best things that has emerged, an dUbuntu is defined as an 'Operating System', which makes it very easy to lose the 'L' word which the opposition use with such surreptitious mischief. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Fwd: Race Online Official Partner Confirmation
On 19/05/11 18:22, Tony Pursell wrote: On Thu, 2011-05-19 at 13:24 +0100, Matthew Daubney wrote: On 19 May 2011 10:05, Alan Bellalanb...@ubuntu.com wrote: ick, sorry about the epic long URLS, I started a wiki page for RaceOnline and uploaded the certificate there if people want to see it https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/RaceOnline Alan. Ok... so now we're a partner, what (can/do we want) to do? I'm a bit confused as to what this actually is, and their website confused me a fair amount more. -Matt Daubney I have signed up as a Digital Champ. I don't quite know where I am going with it yet, but I am kinda thinking that if one of the local contact points have a problem with someone that has bought one of the Ubuntu computers and needs help, then I will be available. But I haven't joined up all the dots on this idea yet. I certainly cannot put myself forward as a Windows expert! I have other things to do as well like my 'job' as a volunteer with the local Citizens Advice Bureau, where we are well aware of digital exclusion. We have a lot of good stuff on-line to help people (see www.adviceguide.org.uk) but very few of our clients have the means or skills to access it. I'll let you know what, if anything, crops up. Tony I have also signed up as a digital champ. I am happy to learn that my local centre is 0.5 miles away and is where I know the boss and have incidentally just spent all afternoon with a (Computing Libre) table exhibition of Ubuntu in a club open day event (U3A Bracknell). The particular centre has been resistant to my FLOSS solicitations for years but I persist. Interestingly, the boss recently conceded that they were now being pressed to use open standards etc for cloud stuff. I am not sure but a guess for the reason for this might be the recent Government Cabinet Office strategy requiring mandatory open standards. :-) I also have agreement in principle (Yay!) to actually install Ubuntu on some of their old (beyond hope) laptops which have XP and are only wheeled out in emergencies. I must follow that up asap. Will report back . -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Race Online 2012 PCs shocker!
On 18/05/11 08:27, Alan Bell wrote: On 17/05/11 23:30, Martin Houston wrote: Sorry for the long post but this has just made my blood boil and I think we should all be making the maximum fuss we can about this. I think I will give them a call and see if we can work with them constructively to provide better information about the Ubuntu PCs and ensure that purchasers get drawn into the Ubuntu UK community. Lets leave the negative campaigning to others. Alan. Alan, will you also keep in touch with me, perhaps offline? If I can help particularly in my local area I certainly will. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] My new Ubuntu-flavoured ThinkPad is computing heaven
On 17/05/11 23:25, Tony Scott wrote: Review of Ubuntu on ThinkPad X220 http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/17/computing-opensource Nice review and nice publication. A bit difficult to see where he purchased it though? It sounds a bit like it came with Windows and he installed Ubuntu himself. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Race Online 2012 PCs shocker! timeline?
On 18/05/11 22:46, Avi wrote: Martin Houston wrote: It would have been nice to have little snippets like Linux's 20 year history and the fact it runs on 95% of all super computers. The page is very biased to say the least. Not that either of those matter since we're talking about today and cheap computers, but Windows predates Linux by about six years. I know that Linux is often used to denote the operating system in addition to being the name of the kernel. I regard Linux as being the kernel, and Stallman started GNU, what he stated was to be a free OS, in 1983. If one regards the operating system to be 'GNU/Linux' and if one gives Linux its actual place in history, I believe the timeline is something like this: === 1970-1980 Freedom culture 'Hackers at MIT computer labs' 1980: Source code refused to Stallman - Xerox 9700. Sets Stallman on a free software journey. 1981: Microsoft buys 86-DOS 1982: MS-DOS Version 1.0 released 1983: Stallman announces GNU project 1983: Microsoft Windows announced sells for $100.00 1985: Stallman creates 'Free Software Foundation' 1991: Linux 0.01 - Linus Torvalds: Linux 'kernel' === Marketing aside: As an aside, I believe that there is a marketing disadvantage in calling the operating system only 'Linux', and not 'GNU/Linux'. A word with two meanings Linux the kernel, and Linux the OS too, looses marketing focus and is easy prey to opposition spin. Witness 'Linux is only for geeks, not normal people' or similar, which is rolled off the tongue at me when I talk to various computer shops. Geekdom is true if I talk about the kernel of course, but *I* only ever use and install and lay hands on 'Ubuntu', the operating system. GNU/Linux is a better descriptor. I find the 'L' word is generally a strongly negative word because it has been adopted by the opposition as a justified pointer to geek niche use. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ask Mark session
On 04/05/11 14:40, Alan Pope wrote: Hi, in ~20 mins there's an 'Ask Mark Shuttleworth' session in Ubuntu Open Week. Jump on IRC and pose your questions to Mark in #ubuntu-classroom-chat and watch the answers in #ubuntu-classroom on freenode irc. All the details at the below links. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek/JoiningIn Cheers, Al. Unfortunately I had a medical appointment, so I could not join in. I notice there is no log, never mind. I trust it went well? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ask Mark session
On 04/05/11 18:32, Terence Simpson wrote: On 4 May 2011 18:29, alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote: Unfortunately I had a medical appointment, so I could not join in. I notice there is no log, never mind. I trust it went well? http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/05/04/%23ubuntu-classroom.html#t15:02 Thanks! -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Good News For Acer Aspire One 521 Users
On 29/04/11 22:43, Nigel Verity wrote: [...] 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. As you login, you can choose the Ubuntu Classic session if you wish, if you do not want to install a further environment. I was testing a version of 11.04 recently and a non techie friend who I help with Ubuntu saw it in passing and exclaimed 'Oh! I like that! When can I have it?' I was, and still am, trying to get used to Unity and its superficial lack of a menu structure, but even after a short period of use I have to say that I think it is growing on me. I think it will be a winner. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] [marketing] The Picasa barrier, lower it.
I have just learned that Google has discontinued GNU/Linux based support for Picasa although old versions are still available. Why care? I do not use it myself, but I am full time involved in helping newcomers move towards Ubuntu, inevitably they are Windows users. Most want to change from Windows but are usually suspicious and nervous, and it is a reassurance to them to find stuff such as Firefox, Thunderbird, Libre/Open Office. It helps a lot in the initial period of change. In time, a newcomer will begin to see things differently, not just from a 'Windows' viewpoint. But that takes time. What I have come to realise is that in the nature of things, these people are really quite likely to be using Picasa! In 'Windows world', downloading one thing is very much like downloading any other. And Picasa does useful stuff. Installing a recent Picasa in (Ubuntu) is a bit of a fiddle now, and the message from Google might be interpreted as 'Ubuntu is not worth it' Picasa can, I believe, be installed using Wine, but to get good integration into gnome or kde it needs to be installed over an earlier legacy version. I think I have got that right. It is a bit of a fiddle, and does not give a good message, to a newcomer to Ubuntu, or to anyone. What to do, to encourage Google to support (Ubuntu)? They know how many *downloads* of the deb version they get dont they? From the Google site? Please, go figure, as they say. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] [marketing] The Picasa barrier, lower it.
On 20/04/11 09:05, Simon Greenwood wrote: On 20 April 2011 08:28, alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote: I have just learned that Google has discontinued GNU/Linux based support for Picasa although old versions are still available. Why care? I do not use it myself, but I am full time involved in helping newcomers move towards Ubuntu, inevitably they are Windows users. Most want to change from Windows but are usually suspicious and nervous, and it is a reassurance to them to find stuff such as Firefox, Thunderbird, Libre/Open Office. It helps a lot in the initial period of change. In time, a newcomer will begin to see things differently, not just from a 'Windows' viewpoint. But that takes time. What I have come to realise is that in the nature of things, these people are really quite likely to be using Picasa! In 'Windows world', downloading one thing is very much like downloading any other. And Picasa does useful stuff. Installing a recent Picasa in (Ubuntu) is a bit of a fiddle now, and the message from Google might be interpreted as 'Ubuntu is not worth it' Picasa can, I believe, be installed using Wine, but to get good integration into gnome or kde it needs to be installed over an earlier legacy version. I think I have got that right. It is a bit of a fiddle, and does not give a good message, to a newcomer to Ubuntu, or to anyone. What to do, to encourage Google to support (Ubuntu)? They know how many *downloads* of the deb version they get dont they? From the Google site? Please, go figure, as they say. Remember that Picasa was a Windows application that Google inherited, which is why it only runs under Wine in Linux. I would look at it as endorsement of Shotwell rather than a rejection of Linux desktops. As a Picasa user I tried using Picasa with Ubuntu and it's next to useless. Shotwell is rapidly evolving into one of the best apps for online photo management. Good to know, thanks. Certainly f-spot seems to have confused my most recent convert to Ubuntu who is now desperate to continue using Picasa. I will point to shotwell and will be encouraging (and hope). However, Ubuntu 10.04 comes with f-spot, so the initial damage is already done. Some extra downloads of picasa would surely not go amiss though? This is my point. Making an escaper's path as easy as possible, minimising 'change', is very useful. Many of the newcomers I deal with are *very* totally non techy, and previous Windows use has more than spooked them. However, Windows and the stuff they used on it are *familiar*. I read recently that Windows itself is rarely keeping people using it. It is the programs and apps people get familiar with which holds them into Windows. Even if they dislike the whole experience! This is certainly exactly what I see when talking to possible converts. Whether Picasa is good or not I think it would be an advantage for advocacy to do what we can to encourage a recent .deb version, maybe by influencing the download count. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Haynes Manual for Ubuntu!
On 10/03/11 14:03, John MM wrote: Ok, having looked though this book, I have its amazing. Clear, easy to understand, and it has pictures. The best thing I am liking is the command line stuff, some things I dont know, and its making it easier to understand, so thanks for posting this to the list. I particularly like the idea of leaving it around on the coffee table when visitors are around, or similar occasions. I know it uses the 'L' word very large which is not always good news, however it is *so* reassuring, and just like the motoring series, it inspires great confidence. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Haynes Manual for Ubuntu!
I have just purchased a Haynes Manual for Ubuntu! 'Everything you need to get started with Ubuntu Linux' Very neat. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linux-Manual-Mike-Saunders/dp/1844259706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8s=booksqid=1299589121sr=8-1 shortened: http://amzn.to/dTK6Pq -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Off topic - UK vendor cheeplinux?
On 15/09/10 22:35, Paul Tansom wrote: ** alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com [2010-09-15 22:32]: About 3 weeks ago I ordered a few items (a couple of legacy logo Ubuntu mugs and various stickers) from www.cheeplinux.com. I have purchased from them in the distant past and expected no problem. The site says that most purchases will be dispatched next day, although this is not item specific. After a couple of weeks I phoned them for a progress update and was surprised to find that the Contact phone number was not a working one. I sent an online question about the progress of my order, but received no reply. My bank says that unless a specific delivery was given, then 30 days must be allowed before any extraordinary action can be processed. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one. I would like to have the products, but it is hard to remain very optimistic. Any experiences out there re this vendor please? Off list if you prefer? thanks ** end quote [alan c] If you take a look at Cheep Linux Ltd. on the Companies House website you find: Last Return Made Up To: 26/05/2009 Next Return Due: 23/06/2010 OVERDUE which isn't too encouraging, and: Status: Active - Proposal to Strike off which is even less so :( Update to story with happy ending: (Thanks for the two original responses) Also, using Google street view I found a company apparently in the same building. and on the phone they said they had not seen anyone in the other offices for a longish time. So I started a paypal complaints/refund procedure and also contacted my bank. Paypal procedure seemed entirely automated, and step by step, with the various built in delays to await vendor response etc, it all went through, my claim was accepted and the judgment was that if funds in the account existed, then I would be repaid. My bank was not automated. I learned from my phone conversation that everything had to be set down on in writing, which I did. Lots of numbers, dates, copies, you can imagine. However, the news - amazing to me - was that after many weeks , maybe it was months, I did neither count nor hold my breath - was that I later received a letter from my bank informing me that the money had been repaid back into my account! I have to hand it to paypal and not least to my bank, for a procedure which actually worked and joined up! Although it seemed to take a long long time for their site to get pulled, I see now that it is no longer available. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] pre-installed Ubuntu from UK vendor :)
On 21/02/11 18:06, Rob Beard wrote: On 21/02/11 16:45, Ross Mounce wrote: [It's my first post: Hi all!] I often hear that it's rare to find UK vendors selling computers with Ubuntu pre-installed. So I was pleasantly suprised to see this: http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/NEW-Nanosaur-410-95p966.htm ...comes pre-installed with Linux Ubuntu 10 [sic] Actually that doesn't seem too bad, it's not that much cheaper at trade price :-) On a related note. I'm looking to buy a multi-core desktop, and a netbook. Any suggestions as to where I can get these aside from the aforementioned vendor? * I want to avoid having to pay extra for M$ software that I won't use * I'm on a student budget, so the cheaper the better! Not sure about a Netbook but for a multi-core desktop, have you considered building one yourself? If you don't fancy that option then you could try eBuyer.com, Aria.co.uk or Novatech, they all sell PCs with or without an OS. I notice that Novatech have a Linux forum and netbooks(?) like the X10 have models which change over product time. One recently has been the subject of a struggle with certain configuration, later solved. On the subject of self build: bent pins and thermal compound - some mainboard bundles are sold with CPU fully assembled and tested. I think novatech do this, for example. Is a hand me down desktop any possibility I wonder? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu UK Podcast returning
On 19/02/11 20:52, Matthew Wild wrote: On 19 February 2011 20:32, Alan Popea...@popey.com wrote: Hi all, As you can see by the website, we're returning with Season 4 of the Ubuntu UK Podcast in 10 days. Podcast \o/ I obviously missed out on something what does\o/mean please? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] LibreOffice vs OpenOffice
On 19/02/11 06:05, Hassan Haz Williamson wrote: @Mac, Thanks for that. Interesting read. Personally I'm going where the developers are, I have a feeling that Oracle might try to swing things to their favour and might close down some aspects of OOo - either that or try to incorporate their own proprietary database system in somehow. I could be wrong, but that's just my opinion of it. @Liam, You could have saved yourself some heart ache by just installing LibreOffice with the PPA. If I recall the PPA supports 10.04, 10.10 and 11.04. I'll list the commands for it below for you: *sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa* * * *sudo apt-get update* * * *sudo apt-get install libreoffice* If your using gnome, then also run this for it to integrate better: *sudo apt-get install libreoffice-gnome* For KDE: *sudo apt-get install libreoffice-kde* There is an article somewhere on omgubuntu.co.uk about this. I'll link it at the end for reference. This will install LibreOffice just like any other application you'd find in the ubuntu repo's. So you'll get your menu item, document file type associations, etc... Enjoy :). I really don't understand why the one on the LibreOffice website is so complicated to try and get it to work. It might scare some people away from using it, which would be a shame. I'm sure they'll make it easier as time passes though. Hope this helps you out, and hopefully others who many be having trouble getting LibreOffice to work. Is there anything significant preventing LO being put into the Ubuntu Software Centre? When LO gets into Ubuntu as it will, in 11.04, I will certainly use it, but my tech experience level is not really sufficient to effortlessly manage PPAs and the possible complication of the existing Open Office too. If LO was to be available in the Ubuntu Software Centre then I would use it now. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] local council
On 13/02/11 11:28, Sarah Chard wrote: O n Sat, 2011-02-12 at 19:46 +, alan c wrote: the IT department and found that Bracknell use an overwhelming amount of Suse Enterprise server, and are carefully aware of the non linux apps they still depend upon, and plan for a future with thin clients. I think they have been noted in the press as doing well etc generally, but it does not hit local news, nor, apparently, the Councillors awareness. Armed with my new knowledge I am recently in touch with my Councillor to help make them aware that there is no real reason why they need to stay with a paid-for OS on their corporate laptop. It may take a bit more time of course. Local and national govt are very slow to change - there is pressure building up but we need to keep pushing the case for linux open source. Our hlug Open Source day on March 26 is all about this and the need for govt to support Open Document Standards. We have sent invites out to all the Herefordshire councillors - the cabinet member for ICT says he will attend following pre -publicity about the day published in the local paper we were approached by the council ict dept and told that they were in the process of moving the council web platform over to 'mostly open source' and they too would like to send a rep and talk to us. The underlying structure may change to Open Source, the council may start using Linux Servers but the majority of their employees will probably still be using proprietary office software We want the council to consider putting Libre Office on their desktops as a starting point which is why we will be talking about long term strategy to get out of lock-ins and issues around open formats. We also want to let more ordinary people know about and use open source and that's why we give away our custom open source disc - The Linux Emporium have just kindly agreed to sponsor 100 more discs for the day which is fantastic as we do everything with zero funds - we will replace open office with Libre Office on this version. Once people switch to using cross platform open source software and become familiar with it then moving over to a full Linux OS becomes far less intimidating. The more people out there who use linux and open source software the more pressure will be on govt local and national to use open formats we can all read. It will also become easier for councils national govt to change the OS used by their employees to Ubuntu or another flavour as they will have less resistance to deal with. It does take time but the boulder is moving - we just need to keep on pushing it. Sarah Hi Sarah Would you find a FOSS leaflet (double sided A4) based on the OpenDIsc useful? If so can I email it to you? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] local council
On 13/02/11 12:55, bod...@googlemail.com wrote: At the council where I work, vendor lock in is not a concern at all, quite the opposite. One of the merits is that everything is likely to integrate without an issue. Sharepoint, exchange, ms office, ms sql all work together to deliver the service. You can't just replace MS office with LibreOffice and get the same service. I believe that the easiest solution to implement and see savings from are servers. My place for example has 5 DC's all doing 1 or 2 roles. Replacing these with Linux based DHCP and DNS servers would save over £1000 in licensing fees The problem with trying to replace ms office is that many organisations will have a 5 year enterprise site license which they have paid for, so there is no cost to keep deploying and upgrading the office suite and therefore there is no reason to move to a free alternative. Bodsda Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device Mmm. It probably takes 5 years to migrate anyway? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Broadcom driver problem (sigh).....
On 12/02/11 08:28, Barry Drake wrote: On Mon, 2011-02-07 at 21:22 +, Barry Drake wrote: On Mon, 2011-02-07 at 21:01 +, alan c wrote: another possibility is a usb wifi dongle? Wonderful idea! I'll get one. It's the ideal solution. Thanks Alan. Works straight out of the box and proves to me that the Broadcom BCM4132 Wi-Fi chipset will not connect to a Belkin F6D4230-4 v1 router (maybe others?). Is there a wiki somewhere for me to flag this up? Obviously I've told Broadcom (who said it's Dell's problem), I've told Dell, who said nothing, and I've told Belkin who said it's not their problem (correctly, I guess). I would, as a rule, also post into the laptop compatibility/ incompatibility thread in ubuntuforums http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=332 ISTR there is a yahoo group 'linux on dell' or similar -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] local council
On 12/02/11 16:12, Alan Pope wrote: On 12 February 2011 16:06,bod...@googlemail.com wrote: Damn, if linux isn't for geeks, I'm gonna have to go Free-BSD Some people think Linux is for geeks and it should stay that way. I personally don't. At least the bbc are talking about it. I work for local government IT, but my bosses won't give FOSS the time of day Where I work at the moment (an ~$18Bn company) they use Linux underneath the entire software stack which powers the business. Thousands of users around the world use (admittedly proprietary solutions) sat on top of Linux. I would not be surprised that local government IT projects trail behind this! Sad though it might be. I contacted my local Councillors, about using FOSS, fo rgood financial reasons... and my heart sank when (she) innmmediately referred me to th eIT manager, her non elected subordinate on grounfds od ignorance. However, I was happily amazed to be invited to a tour of the IT department and found that Bracknell use an overwhelming amount of Suse Enterprise server, and are carefully aware of the non linux apps they still depend upon, and plan for a future with thin clients. I think they have been noted in the press as doing well etc generally, but it does not hit local news, nor, apparently, the Councillors awareness. Armed with my new knowledge I am recently in touch with my Councillor to help make them aware that there is no real reason why they need to stay with a paid-for OS on their corporate laptop. It may take a bit more time of course. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Lubuntu
On 11/02/11 08:56, Scrase, Eddie wrote: Chromium gets on my nerves but I thought I'd try Midori which seems OK. Personally I quite like Chromium, and it's screen space saving design is really useful on the EEE's 7 screen. How do you block adverts in chromium? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Broadcom driver problem (sigh).....
On 07/02/11 12:43, Barry Drake wrote: On Mon, 2011-02-07 at 11:34 +, Steve Flynn wrote: What channel is the router broadcasting on? The default was 'auto', but I've tried different channels and different wireless settings with no success. If it wasn't such a pain, I'd load Win XP on to test with that, but it would take far too long for me to bother. The only reason I was looking for a workaround is that one conference centre I go to occasionally gives the same problem. I'll just have to use my GPRS dongle when I go there. another possibility is a usb wifi dongle? Some might not work, but I know this one works, I use it with 10.04.1 http://www.maplin.co.uk/high-gain-usb-wireless-networking-adaptor-221289?tabid=1qv=y shortened: http://bit.ly/icmzv9 Ps I also use it with this http://www.maplin.co.uk/compact-high-gain-directional-corner-antenna-for-wireless-networks-38205 http://bit.ly/eQqt7o good luck -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Fwd: [Ossg-announcements] Adoption of Open Source across HM Government – London 22/02/11 and 01/03/11]]
I am also planning to attend the first one - see you? alan cocks On 07/02/11 10:59, gazz wrote: Yes, that's good - see you there :) Paula On Fri, 2011-02-04 at 17:18 +, Barry Drake wrote: On Fri, 2011-02-04 at 11:14 +, gazz wrote: Barry - I'd like to go to the first one on 22 Feb - which is the day you arrive in London. Need to organise something as it starts half an hour after your train arrives! My train arrives at St Pancras at 5.00 pm, so if I go straight there, I can be at the meeting too. I have e-mailed to book a place. Is this OK with you? It was lovely to meet up with you at the exhibition on Wednesday, and I am looking forward to working with you. Kind regards, Barry. -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Netbook Ubuntu v. plain Ubuntu
On 04/02/11 21:22, Dianne Reuby wrote: A friend has asked me to look at her husbands netbook, which is running Linux. He bought it from Tesco two years ago, so I think it probably *is* Ubuntu. His problems are mainly that it doesn't recognise USB devices when they're plugged in, and it downloads updates but doesn't install them. He wants to do more than email and web browsing, which is all he feels he can do at the moment (it has shortcuts on the desktop for email and firefox). If it's two years old, and he hasn't upgraded, will it be pre-Unity? As I've never used a netbook, only Ubuntu on desktops and laptops, will I be able to find my way around it? She thinks his cunning plan is to break it so he can buy a new one, but I don't want to be the one that breaks it! :) Easiest whatever to make a couple of live USB sticks, 10.04 netbook, and 10.10 netbook, run them each live and check everything works, then suggest a reinstall of something modern. !0.04 netbook (will have lots of updates) is a fairly benign netbook interface, so you will escape unity until the dust settles If he *wants* a new one, then maybe don't swim against the tide *too* much, just offer to install Ubuntu anyway, and they will see the old one is probably good competition for an expensive and potentially troublesome, new one.. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Leaflet .....
Hi Barry It was I. Apologies, I maybe missed the commons comment. 1) Please use it, or extracts where you want to. I regard it as being creative commons non attribute, non commercial, although attribution would be nice (optional) and I would only decline commercial use if it was likely to harm FLOSS cause. So please, go ahead! I have not edited nor imported pdf's but with OO.o 3.2 and the pdf import extension, it seems to work for this file. 2) I plan to attend the OpenSource Expo so I can bring some. The reservations I have with this leaflet (my leaflet) and that event is that most attenders will know something about free sofware and open source. This leaflet has deliberately not mentioned free software for various reasons. When I read it with my FSF hat on it offends me. But in the Windows World context of its 'intended' target, including local computer fairs, it just invites curiosity. hope to see you there? On 20/01/11 17:15, Barry Drake wrote: Hi there A week or two back, someone posted a leaflet entitled: WhatisOpenSourceSoftware-street-level-leaflet-with-some-typos-and-gross-simplifications First question - can I put some of the stuff that is on it in the online tuition module I'm working on? Secondly, this would be good to have on the OpenSource Expo stand wouldn't it? Regards,Barry -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- alan cocks Ubuntu user #10391 Linux user #360648 FSF #9005 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
On 17/01/11 09:53, Barry Drake wrote: On Mon, 2011-01-17 at 09:29 +, Scrase, Eddie wrote: Although I haven't bought a laptop from them, from past experience I can recommend the Linux emporium (linuxemporium.co.uk). I've heard very good reports about them, but looking at their website, I thought they were a tad expensive. Is their stuff higher spec than your average Computer World items? I priced them - for my type of mid/low range laptop, as about 50 pounds above the best I could get elsewhere. I still used them for three laptops for friends who wanted a retail purchase. For me, it would have been an extra price I was happy to pay to support an excellent business to support the beliefs I hold. I would dislike to pay a 50 pound 'donation' to a large software company for an OS I did not want to be associated with, even if the price overall was lower. The retail experience of my friends was unsurpassed. One mentioned poor eyesight, and Emporium installed also, by arrangement, Vibuntu (for poor sight), no charge. One of the video aspects of Vibuntu gave trouble at installation of vibuntu and they sorted that anyway. The other two friends used the phone support during the warranty. One needed serious work. It sounded like the file system had got bad, not sure. The user was a novice and was using a usb internet dongle and I guess that there were problems from intermittent connections, including with updates, but I am guessing. All problems were sorted online. When the time came for me to take over support as a friend, Emporium answered questions about their machines and gave detailed advice, and offered more, about how to upgrade versions etc. That is a pretty good 50 pounds worth! And of course, they (and I) had the knowledge that Ubuntu and webcam and all, would -work-. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
I will be bold enough to propose a summary in this situation, having read this thread to date. Tin underpants on. 1) The good guys do not always win. 2) If you want to support your beliefs, it might cost money. Freedom might not come cheap? Ok, if not, then buy with the mass market competition pre installed, and listen to them crow? 3) 'There is always a good reason to give up your freedom' 4) (there is more I am sure) -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
On 17/01/11 13:00, Rowan Berkeley wrote: what we need is 'naked computer' suppliers, since we are better off installing our own Ubuntu systems from Live CDs and if we are completely computer-less we can get Live CDs ready-made. I am heartily with you on this. But we need a little more don't we? A naked laptop might have a webcam or whatever, which might be the very devil to get working. Naked stuff is great, as long as we have information about incompatibility. PS I was glad to see that Broadcom recently joined the Linux Foundation I think. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
On 17/01/11 11:38, Sean Miller wrote: And, to be honest, I'm not too worried about personalized attention when installing if I am going to save £100 on the retail cost of the laptop... it will presumably work out of the box... where I might need the support is later If you are happy to 'risk' that your purchase might not work completely with your chosen OS, then I agree that you would certainly pay a highter price to use a specialist (Ubuntu) store. For me, if, say, a laptop webcam was important to me, I would want to know it worked before I committed. And if I had a dislike for a large software company that has pretty well a monopoly, how would I feel when - with my own money, my hard earned cash - I later saw them advertising how many of this or that version they *sold* last year, including to me? If low cost is very important, then, yes, ethical decisions become difficult. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
On 17/01/11 17:07, Kris Douglas wrote: There's always the option where you don't accept the Microsoft EULA and get your money back for the install on the machine. I believe that option no longer exists. But I would be delighted to be found wrong! -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
On 17/01/11 14:32, Alan Pope wrote: I have often pondered setting up a cottage business buying naked laptops and ubuntifying them, but can't see there's a huge margin in it, but there's the potential to get sucked into very long protracted support conversations, negating any profit made. I talked at some length (about Ubuntu etc) to a Day Manager at Currys Digital locally a while back, and the harsh and brutal climate existing in a typical retail environment became pretty apparent. To those who are still finding Linux Emporium prices indigestible, I point out that LE give a retail experience, with expert support. And they are part of our community, family, if you like. Compare that with buying a naked unit and doing a diy install, hopefully first veriying full compatibility, or with effort and risk if not. Or buying a low competitive priced Windows item and cleaning it out. No Ubuntu support, often quite poor warranty support, probably with a lot of hassle and grief if warranty was invoked I would think, after all, a low price means low markup, and then no resources to take to your warranty seriously? Viewed in this light I thought that LE prices were not at all bad, particularly when they really did perform! Personally, I would be ok with a naked units and diy Ubuntu, as long as I had information about compatibility. A cottage industry would face the two markets - the existing LE 'full retail required' market, and such as me, who wants a naked unit *with known compatibility*. Now that Broadcom are finding love for GNU/Linux, I remain hopeful. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
On 17/01/11 19:09, gazz wrote: (subject re fair trade, ethics, etc) People complain that Waitrose is expensive but (a) the food doesn't taste like wax and cotton wool and (b) the employees are being relatively decently treated. Yes, and also they ar ea bit more forthcoming about the source (of the food) -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?
On 16/01/11 17:47, ma...@london.com wrote: Any laptop with good spec will work with Ubuntu have fun *including* the webcam? For example http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/eclipse.html -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] natty with unity
On 13/01/11 19:47, gazz wrote: About to write something for a VCS ICT mag about Ubuntu so thought I'd have a look at Natty - umm, not a big fan of Unity, ugly and ridiculously limited - wot, can't add stuff to the panel - what's the one at the top actually doing besides wasting space and telling me the time and that' I'm networked? Can't add move a panel? Hmmm. I'll concede that it might work well for people who want their puters to be toasters but please God don't stop offering GNOME shell alternative! Paula I know what you mean, at present anyway. I note that the session can be set to 'classic gnome' though.. The more I have thought about it, the more I come to believe that the people who I help to take refuge away from Windows, would very much welcome running a 'toaster', even though it would not be my own personal choice. I do not use a Mac but isn't a Mac a lot more 'toaster' like than Windows? Ubuntu has got a lot going in the right direction and I can easily give the benefit of the doubt to a somewhat radical direction. Fingers crossed. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux expo in Feb 2011
On 07/01/11 12:50, David King wrote: Anyone going to the Linux Open Source Expo in London on 2-3 Feb 2011? http://www.opensourceexpo.co.uk/ I had not heard about this is it very recent information? I would love to run a FLOSS stand based on the Infopoint brand I use regularly at PC fairs local to me http://infopointproject.org/wordpress/materials/infopoint-guide/ That is, assuming that applications for .org village are not too late now? But I do not think I can run it single handed. I could not arrive before mid morning for example. Any thoughts? My Infopoint display is rather Ubuntu centric. Are any Ubuntu related stands going to be there. Share maybe? I recall that because Ubuntu is 'Sponsored', at Linux Live Olympia a few years ago, it was not possible for a Ubuntu display without full commercial payment. An Infopoint display would be convenient for this. Comments please? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux expo in Feb 2011
Well done. I will be very happy to support the stand, both days if needed, arriving probably mid morning though. I will guess that my Infopoint stand proposal is not viable, unless someone wants to make use of the brand for the event. alan cocks On 07/01/11 20:20, Alan Bell wrote: Hi all, I got the mail below from Jeremy Comley in response to asking for a .org booth at the Cloud expo. I have said YES! and we need to get our act together in terms of staffing it and sorting out what we are doing on the stand etc. I expect an IRC meeting in the next few days would be a good starting point for this. Alan. As you may be aware Cloud Expo Europe takes place in early February at The Barbican, London. More at http://www.cloudexpoeurope.com/ I am writing to ask if you would be interested to attend the show as an exhibitor, at the .org Pavilion. The organisers have provided us with FREE SPACE, normally £345 per sqm, to organise the Pavilion and we are writing out to a number of Linux communityand related .org organisations to offer this on a first come first served basis. We are hoping to have 6-8 .orgs represented there. If you would like to attend please respond to this email as soon as possible as if we have insufficient interest then this offer will lapse in early January. A Pavilion structure will be provided, also power and internet connection for all exhibitors. But you will be responsible for all matters and costs surrounding attendance inc displays , PCs, power leads , literature, accommodation etc. More detail to follow on this when we know more about the level of demand. I do hope you can attend the show, where we are also exhibiting and speaking, more about us atwww.linuxit.comhttp://www.linuxit.com Look forward to hearing from you. Regards Jeremy -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux expo in Feb 2011
Hi Alan What stand name? On 07/01/11 14:02, Alan Bell wrote: I did request a stand, I am following it up with the organisers. Alan. On 07/01/11 13:21, Neil Perry wrote: Hello David, There was some talk about us having a stand there, showing ubuntu and giving cds, not to sure if this is still happening. Have registered.. Neil Perry On 7 January 2011 12:50, David Kinglinux...@avoura.com mailto:linux...@avoura.com wrote: Anyone going to the Linux Open Source Expo in London on 2-3 Feb 2011? http://www.opensourceexpo.co.uk/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.commailto:ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Motherboard bundle?
I want to buy a motherboard bundle which will work ok with Ubuntu. My aim is low to mid range functionality/price. Recent experience and current availability will be of greatest interest. The onboard graphics may be the biggest uncertainty. Almost all the searches I have done suggest some problems for recent ubuntu releases, but of course the difficulties get posted, good news not so frequently. Will appreciate comments and experiences -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] [Fwd: Re: [Ubuntu-advertising] Research required ...]
On 28/12/10 09:53, Barry Drake wrote: In fact they will be very surprised not to be asked to pay! This is a recurring and apparent problem. A free app here or there from an enthusiast group is one thing, maybe used in Windows, but a complete freedom of a complete system, which one is going to rely on for stable reliable trusted, ongoing use? How can that be free? Why is it free? Are they nuts? The closest I ever get to briefly explaining this is that the software is based on a philosophy of 'Caring and Sharing'. However it is licenced with a strong legally defended basis. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] need a radio ad.
On 27/12/10 20:56, Hakim Sheriff wrote: Hi everyone, I am new to the team, I need a radio ad that I can use on my online radio station. I would like to help promote Ubuntu. I really need one quickly. Thx in advance, hakimsheriff Please also consider looking in at Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-advertising Post to : ubuntu-advertis...@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-advertising More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp Radio ads have been discussed and some scripts are suggested. Voices are also available in principle. hth -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Netbook suggestion for a 4 year old
I know a bright 4 year old who has already been using an Ubuntu tower for a year (offline) with all relevant games. So at 4 years old already a potential expert. I do not really agree about lack of invasive controls, internet access needs some careful thought, and probably ongoing too. The current trends are for Ubuntu and other items such as jolibook, to be internet connected independently of the browser, and these apps also expect to start automatically, and of course they are in menus. Nothing here to cause any configuration difficulty but I guess the difference between vanilla Ubuntu and say, Qimo for kids, will be internet and cloud stuff. BTW an excellent app for browser filter is an addon to Firefox ProCon latte, it can be passworded and also hidden. alan c On 14/12/10 09:54, Alan Bell wrote: Tuxpaint and Gcompris! great fun apps to play with. To be honest I wouldn't worry too much about parental controls for a few years, just put the cbeebies website as the browser home page and you are done! Alan. On 14/12/10 00:08, Bruno Girin wrote: Hi all, I'm currently looking for a cheap and cheerful netbook for a 4-year old. I want to install Edubuntu on it and set it up with all the relevant educational and fun software. On the hardware side, I'm happy to spend ~£200. Any suggestions welcome, bonus points if it comes in pink. On the software side, I've never tried Edubuntu so any suggestion in that area would be welcome. In particular, how to configure parental control, what additional software to install, etc. Cheers, Bruno -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] (no subject)
On 08/12/10 20:36, Jacob Mansfield wrote: somebody wanna flame this guy, I'm too tired http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ubuntu-10-10-Latest-Desktop-Netbook-Server-Ed-/110614591450?pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SRhash=item19c124b7da Hey why flame? He says: Copy of the most-used and most user-friendly Linux system currently on the market. Exceptionally easy to install and can even be ran straight from disk as a trial. Comes with email software, internet browser, office applications and more! Incredibly fast and a joy to use. Delivery of this item is very fast (it takes in excess of 4 weeks to get it from the makers!) FREE POSTAGE! Buy from a seller with top feedback. More power to his elbow. I feel like sending him a *donation!* -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] (no subject)
On 09/12/10 18:41, Sean Miller wrote: The spirit of Open Source suggests that CDs/DVDs should be supplied at cost, but what determines cost is open for debate. There is the media, of course... but there's also any documentation you choose to throw in, your time burning the CD and posting it etc. I don't think the fella on e-bay deserves any flames or whatever - he is doing nothing wrong, as far as I can see. Some people are totally happy to pay for an item. In fact, the more it costs may add to more interest in perceived value. I used to be a long time Windows user. My first venture into Linux happened to be with Suse. I was perfectly aware that it could be downloaded, but had never actually done this. My Windows world experience had taught me many things, including that personal downloads were somehow *tainted*. I very happily purchased a retail pack of Suse 9.0 for around 60 UK pounds from Amazon. I knew this included two paperback manuals, dvd of source code, and I think both live and install CDs. It *also* included 6 months telephone support. In the event very little of any of that was needed by me. I did call the phone line once or twice but the support on the forums was equal and excellent. I never regretted paying what seemed to be fair price. However as my confidence in the community grew, so did my ability to judge between 'free' gratis and 'free' Free software offers. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Want to create an advert for Ubuntu?
On 07/12/10 11:50, gazz wrote: (snip) I've been doing hands-on FOSS advocacy in the voluntary sector for the best part of a decade and experience teaches me that it's a mistake to gloss over the real issues in migrating from any Windows OS to any Linux distro. What's important is to get across the concept of open standards and to help the user understand that it isn't Linux' 'weirdness' causing the issues but use of closed standards in proprietary software and to explain that once they have made a successful migration to Ubuntu, they will experience *fewer* issues with cross-compatibility in the future. For a proportion of Windows users, though, the barriers will honestly still be too high for their resources - at least for the time being. Especially users who rely on being able to open and edit proprietary apps send by Windows users. Although times change and organisations who once couldn't see their way to migrating are looking at it again in the current climate. When I'm advocating Ubuntu with voluntary orgs, I don't really refer to technical issues beyond giving them (what I consider to be) a sensible overview of real and imaginary migration issues - I focus, instead, on simplicity, resistance to slow-down and choking due to malware, community ownership (which really appeals), keeping the economy local, longevity of hardware, ease of installing peripherals, standardisation of software used for photos, scanning etc etc, ease of maintaining a properly-installed system for non-techies. And it's *pretty*! If you gloss over migration issues, you will forfeit trust when users do experience problems. I prefer to support people migrating with their eyes open and wait for the more nervous Windows users to go through the emotional and practical issues involved for them and their organisation in their own time. We'll be here when they're ready :) Paula Neat. I do hope you are able to join the advertising team? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Want to create an advert for Ubuntu?
On 07/12/10 20:19, gazz wrote: On Tue, 2010-12-07 at 17:21 +, alan c wrote: Neat. I do hope you are able to join the advertising team? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user Wish I could - was intending to help out with the Wordpress site on Friday but just got sandbagged with 2 meetings on Friday :( Nice to be so much in demand! Maybe drop in sometimes to tell some stories about Ubuntu in the real world? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Camera ?
On 25/11/10 14:19, Ted Wager wrote: I am thinking of buying a Panasonic TZ8 digital camera Could anyone tell me if this will mount in Linux ? On the three occasions in the last four years I have purchased a camera from a high street store I made a show of taking along a laptop and ran from a live CD in the store and asked first to see if it was recognised. On one occasion, since I obviously had a very honest face (and a credit card handy) the store manager let me run a shop display machine with a live usb sick with Ubuntu to test the camera. I used canon cameras, and they were recognised although I think a particular transfer mode had to be chosen. In one case it was not easily recognised - maybe the shop guy did not know which menu to use, anyway I actually did not buy that canon model for that reason, I bought a slightly earlier model, which did work for me ok. I thought it was worth it to get information and to make a point However, back at the ranch, I never conect the camera at all, I always simply remove the SD cards and use a card reader. Much faster and simpler too. :-) -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Linux website - Feedback?
On 17/11/10 21:55, Daniel Case wrote: And I forgot to provide the link! http://www.linuxproblems.org I think this gives a negative message about Linux. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Linux website - Feedback?
On 17/11/10 22:20, Daniel Case wrote: That's true, but out of the 10,000 people who Google for it. There have to be some people having problems with Linux? And as it grows it will rank for other certain problems and keywords. I would suggest that the stats are the result of hypothetical questions. Part of the classic FUD is that users of linux have 'problems'. These searches are probably from Microsoft marketing who want to know about people suffering by using linux.. Windows users are beset by many problems. I do not believe they search for the string 'Windows problems' when looking for answers. I do not expect MAC or GNU/Linux users want to test 'Windows problems', they don't care. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Special bugs, and Live CDs. Help with this Bug please? (Appended Note)
On 11/11/10 15:51, alan c wrote: [snip] I got burned by a nasty bug in the live CD of 10.10 which has the effect of wiping your whole hard drive if you should be so unlucky to choose a particular install option relating to choosing a *partition* (not the whole drive!). [snip] Bug #659106 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/659106 I have drafted a note which I am handing out along with any Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop CDs. (I have a display event tomorrow) === Ubuntu 10.10 Installer Bug Warning Most functions in this installer work fine, and are ok. However: One particular option button in this installer will cause data damage, you are advised to avoid it if you have data anywhere on the hard drive! During the Install Ubuntu process, and from the first of three installer options: 'Install alongside other operating systems'. You are then offered a facility to re-size a partition to allocate drive space. The re-size facility itself has no problems, if you wish to use it please do. However, two more choices are also shown in this display in a pair of buttons: 'Use Entire Partition' and 'Use Entire Disk' Warning: Both of these buttons do the same thing - they use the entire disk, and any other partitions on the disk will be lost. (Reference:Bug #659106) === hth -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Special bugs, and Live CDs. Help with this Bug please?
On 12/11/10 10:24, Andy Braben wrote: I have to say that I installed Ubuntu 10.10 on a different partition on the same disk as Windows XP and all went very smoothly with no problems at all. I can only ascertain from this that only certain hardware is affected. I do not believe it is related to hardware, but if it is, then more information would be most welcome. It is easily possible to install into a nominated partition using the Advanced options, perhaps that is what you chose? The bug report details exactly what you need to do to get the problems! -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Special bugs, and Live CDs. Help with this Bug please?
On 12/11/10 11:33, Liam Proven wrote: On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Alan Popea...@popey.com wrote: On 12 November 2010 09:57, Liam Provenlpro...@gmail.com wrote: Yes, but *what* particular sequence? Nobody has yet spelled it out, AFAICS. I'd like to know so I can avoid it! It's detailed in the bug report linked to in the first mail. OK, read that now, but I don't see what the specific unusual event here was meant to be. The only thing that sounds odd in there are the 3 unlisted hidden partitions. MBR only allows for a total of 4 primary partitions, and 3 were listed there - Dell recovery, Windows the extended one. Adding1 new ones would cause problems. Are you looking at a different bug? I do not see those words in bug #659106 (?) I am not following what is meant to have gone wrong. When one chooses use entire partition, what do people /expect/ to happen if no specific partition is chosen? The partition *is* in fact identified. It is identified by the installer during the early stages, although it is *not* nominated by the user. It is displayed as (for example) /dev/sda2 or whatever. The partition which is the current target for resizing (and more) is clearly indicated by the installer. It is displayed in the legend in the gui (centre screen) as you are taken into the resize (gui with slider) display. It is the partition which is about to be edited - resized, or whatever. And it is this same actual display which also includes the two buttons (whole partition button, and whole drive button). So the partitioner identifies a partition for amendment, in accord with users earlier choices. Note that in this installer, the user does *not* nominate the partition to be resized/used, the installer itself takes this decision. It seems to choose the largest partition as suitable, which makes good sense for many newcomers. The bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/659106 [extract] = (test) Use a single hard drive PC with disposable drive contents. I used an Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Live CD (32 bit in my case) md5 checked and also CD self checked ok. I created two partitions on the drive, one NTFS and one ext4. It did not make much difference ultimately however I deliberately made one partition bigger than the other, using a number of size conditions. I began the install process, chose 'Install alongside other operating systems'. Then I chose the option button 'Use Entire Partition' (note: I carefully deliberately avoided 'the whole drive') I could see that the partitioner had identified a partition, and it was shown in the GUI display in a valid way (eg /dev/sda5) and I could also see the resizing option slider, which I did not use. I was confident that 'Use Entire Partition' meant what it said, I proceeded. === I would guess that it is simply a case that some code in this installer option is not quite fully functional. The bug originator looked into the partition table and saw anomalies, however as a less expert victim all I saw was a trashed DRIVE. Note: I confirm comments elsewhere that the other installer options seem to work perfectly well, including the partition resizing, which is of course the action which almost all newcomers will want to use. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Using HTC phone via Ubuntu Internet connection - Tethering
On 12/11/10 18:51, David King wrote: I have just bought a HTC Desire Z mobile phone, running Android 2.2. It has a feature to allow, via the USB cable, use of the Internet connection on a PC so that the phone can connect via that, rather than use the 3G or wi fi when those are not available or not wanting to use them. I want to download lots of applications without draining my 3G data allowance. I have searched via Google, and some people have said that it just worked for them. They plugged in the phone to their Ubuntu PC and they could use the Internet on the phone. But I cannot get it to work. I am new to Android, and still figuring out the phone. In the Settings/Wireless Networks, there is an option for Internet Pass-through, which is trying to connect but never does. Then it comes up with a message saying: Unable to connect to PC and asks me to install HTC Sync software (which is Windows only). Is there something I need to install in Ubuntu to get it to work? This is 'tethering' I believe. On my Android Pulse (T Mobile brand) (early Android version too I guess), I found I needed an app. Easy tether Lite works fine. It gave detailed instructions for installation in the phone, which all worked ok. From the phone, using Android Market, I downloaded easytether lite, and part of this was a .deb file which I also needed to copy to the laptop and install in the laptop. I used the usb cable in sd card storage mode, to get the deb file over to the laptop. On the phone, after starting the easytether app, I enabled the usb tethering service (the app brings the request up). On the laptop, I need a terminal, and run easytether connect 'connection' is made, and indicated in the terminal. I open *another* terminal and then run sudo dhclient easytether0 [it is a zero] the firefox browser then just works, although ensure it has not set itself into offline mode Having to use a coiuple of terminals is a bit fiddly at first, but I soon got used to it. All of this is detailed in the easytether instructions when I used th eapp install, but on loking just now on the web I cannot obviously see it, it may be there somewhere of course. Have fun! I am using an early asus eeepc (900), with Ubuntu 10.04.1 netbook installed -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Using HTC phone via Ubuntu Internet connection - Tethering
On 12/11/10 20:40, alan c wrote: On 12/11/10 18:51, David King wrote: I have just bought a HTC Desire Z mobile phone, running Android 2.2. It has a feature to allow, via the USB cable, use of the Internet connection on a PC so that the phone can connect via that, rather than use the 3G or wi fi when those are not available or not wanting to use them. I want to download lots of applications without draining my 3G data allowance. I have searched via Google, and some people have said that it just worked for them. They plugged in the phone to their Ubuntu PC and they could use the Internet on the phone. But I cannot get it to work. I am new to Android, and still figuring out the phone. In the Settings/Wireless Networks, there is an option for Internet Pass-through, which is trying to connect but never does. Then it comes up with a message saying: Unable to connect to PC and asks me to install HTC Sync software (which is Windows only). Is there something I need to install in Ubuntu to get it to work? This is 'tethering' I believe. On my Android Pulse (T Mobile brand) (early Android version too I guess), I found I needed an app. Easy tether Lite works fine. It gave detailed instructions for installation in the phone, which all worked ok. From the phone, using Android Market, I downloaded easytether lite, and part of this was a .deb file which I also needed to copy to the laptop and install in the laptop. I used the usb cable in sd card storage mode, to get the deb file over to the laptop. On the phone, after starting the easytether app, I enabled the usb tethering service (the app brings the request up). On the laptop, I need a terminal, and run easytether connect 'connection' is made, and indicated in the terminal. I open *another* terminal and then run sudo dhclient easytether0 [it is a zero] the firefox browser then just works, although ensure it has not set itself into offline mode Having to use a coiuple of terminals is a bit fiddly at first, but I soon got used to it. All of this is detailed in the easytether instructions when I used th eapp install, but on loking just now on the web I cannot obviously see it, it may be there somewhere of course. Have fun! I am using an early asus eeepc (900), with Ubuntu 10.04.1 netbook installed Whoops! Apologies, I did not read your post carefully at all, you have asked the reverse question. sorry. :-( Anyway perhaps my wrong answer will help somebody else. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Special bugs, and Live CDs. Help with this Bug please?
I use a lot of Live CDs, the Desktop editions. Mostly I distribute them in various ways. The quantities are sometimes quite large. Also I am active on various forums, acting in an outreach way, to give a profile to GNU/Linux, particularly Ubuntu. I am not a developer but I am an active advocate and helper and supporter of Ubuntu newcomers. I am retired, so this is close to a full time occupation. :-) Live CDs are frozen in time, a snapshot of the amazing forward speed of GNU/Linux development. While bugs in an installed system are likely to be washed away by the flux of updates, any bug in a Live CD is going to stay there, in the plastic disc, awaiting use, becoming irrelevant only when history decides. I got burned by a nasty bug in the live CD of 10.10 which has the effect of wiping your whole hard drive if you should be so unlucky to choose a particular install option relating to choosing a *partition* (not the whole drive!). Seen from a Developers point of view this 'frozen' bug is hardly relevant. I mentioned it in the Mint forums for their RC version, because unlike Ubuntu, Mint still have the opportunity to fix it before final release. The information received little attention, including one response that said such as 'the bug only affects two people, it is not so important, anyway people should have backups'. A bit harsh, I thought. I was using a machine specifically for tests. It had a couple of hard drives, and multibooted several versions of Ubuntu, and Windows. In a test machine data is not an issue, I just reinstall of course. Reinstalling Windows was a real pain. I did have an image, but would you like to guess where it was? in a *data* partition well away from the Windows partition, but on that drive. With macabre humour I could see that this might be one way to get rid of Windows.., ( :-) ) although I suspect it might muddy the Ubuntu waters and reputation a bit. This bug will 100 per cent affect anybody who choses the option I did. Your drive will be wiped. Data partitions, Windows if you use it, and other distributions co-existing. Gone. The blessing is that few people will choose that particular option. That is a good thing because I fear for the wider reputation of Ubuntu if it affected many people. It has in its title, Windows partitions, but it does not discriminate, it will wipe all partitions. How can we ensure this bug is fixed and not carried forward to the next release? If you think you can help, please see Bug #659106 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/659106 tia -- alan cocks Ubuntu user #10391 Linux user #360648 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-marketing] Spreadubuntu project
I have some leaflet materials and would like to share them. I have now joined the spreadubuntu team and list. Am I correct in thinking that the spreadubuntu diy repository is not quite yet ready? I am not a coder but am active in local 'marketing'. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-uk] e-books without Adobe Digital Editions
On 08/11/10 14:26, Tyler J. Wagner wrote: On Mon, 2010-11-08 at 12:54 +, pmgazz wrote: Otherwise, publishers with existing copyright insist on using DRM - nothing (legally) to be done about that as far as I can tell. Except for Baen, one of the first publishers to come to their senses (and have the mounting sales to prove it). All Baen books are available without DRM in 7 or 8 formats, including ePub and HTML. http://www.baen.com/ Some of which is free for download: http://www.baen.com/library/ Regards, Tyler Thanks for this link! -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu volunteers wanted!
On 28/10/10 12:40, pmgazz wrote: We're running an Ubuntu sociable help session on the 5th November at 1pm to 7pm near Tower Bridge (Central London). We've got half a dozen people signed up, which isn't much - but they're all bringing their tech issues with them and I think each one will need a fair bit of time. We could use some more volunteers - we want to build this up as a resource for London Ubuntu users who aren't techie but do need to maintain their own systems so we want to make sure the first session goes well. If you know a bit about Ubuntu and don't mind bearing patiently with non-techies struggling to get their heads around the basics, we'll give you coffee and most people describe our sessions as fun (honest!). It'd be really nice for me, too, to have more contact with other people supporting Ubuntu in London. Drop me an email if you think you might be able to help :) I love the idea of this, and I would also like to do something similar in Berkshire. I do not think I can make it on the 5th but I will certainly be supporting in spirit. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] External CAT5 (subject change for change of topic)
On 22/10/10 18:03, Mark Harrison wrote: Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:47:42 +0100 From: Alan Popea...@popey.com Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Powerline Recommendations To: bdr...@crosswire.org, UK Ubuntu Talkubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Message-ID: aanlkti=eeef3pwvvg3r2bdtmafvjzaq8nun6b5gp7...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On 22 October 2010 10:44, Barry Drakebdr...@crosswire.org wrote: I drilled throught the outside wall and have CAT5 all around the outside. ?Quick, easy, fast, secure ...almost certainly against building regs.. :) If it gets struck by lightning (a very real possibility given it's grounded via your PC/switch at each end, it could blow your entire network up. Armouring the cable may help though. Al. I've been active in the Home Automation market, both as a hobby and then professionally, since 1997, and have never encountered a lightning strike on external cable. Our house has 3 large scots pines within 5 or 6 meters. The roof mounted TV aerial is almost surrounded or within arms length of some branches. One day, I chanced to actually see a lightning strike on these trees one afternoon. The TV was on at the time, in my view, although I was also looking out at the storm. We much later discoverd a large branch at the top of one tree was broken, I guess, by the strike. Anyway, The TV went off at the strike. When the storm ceased, I investigated. The mains powered TV signal booser amplifier, near the TV, had failed, no external fault was apparent, nor burning, presumably saving theTV tuner. The amplifier happened to still be in warranty, and was replaced.. :-) In passing, I later came across an article which said tests had shown that lightning had been found to go through brickwork, presumably under certain conditions. If you enjoy horror stories try http://www.lightningsafetyalliance.com/press.html -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Wanted: Inverness - Support - Where are we in the real world
On 18/10/10 14:25, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote: Have a look at TeamViewer - it's very very easy to use and needs nothing installed on their machine. There's a Linux version of it been released recently. http://www.teamviewer.com/download/index.aspx Team viewer certainly seems a good facility, I think I will be using it a lot. I regret that it is proprietary (I believe) unlike gitso, but it is certainly more convenient -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Wanted: Inverness - Support - Where are we in the real world
On 18/10/10 14:25, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote: On 17/10/2010 11:48, alan c wrote: On 16/10/10 22:52, Daniel Case wrote: Would help if I could, I'm based near Doncaster though...I went to Ayr once, lovely place :) Could you try to help them via remote assistance as well as phone Al? Unfortunately the current problem is display related and their limited technical experience means that it is almost impossible for them to describe usefully. I do not have a remote access. I have used gitso with others in the past which is good for non display stuff. I am not experienced much in remote access anyway, except basic gitso. They have just purchased a new laptop to supplement the desktop machine, and are still interested in having the laptop also dual boot. Have a look at TeamViewer - it's very very easy to use and needs nothing installed on their machine. There's a Linux version of it been released recently. http://www.teamviewer.com/download/index.aspx BTW I'm in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Thanks I will certainly have a go -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Wanted: Inverness - Support - Where are we in the real world
On 16/10/10 22:52, Daniel Case wrote: Would help if I could, I'm based near Doncaster though...I went to Ayr once, lovely place :) Could you try to help them via remote assistance as well as phone Al? Unfortunately the current problem is display related and their limited technical experience means that it is almost impossible for them to describe usefully. I do not have a remote access. I have used gitso with others in the past which is good for non display stuff. I am not experienced much in remote access anyway, except basic gitso. They have just purchased a new laptop to supplement the desktop machine, and are still interested in having the laptop also dual boot. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Wanted: Inverness - Support - Where are we in the real world
On 16/10/10 23:28, A J Binnie wrote: On 16 October 2010 21:57, alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote: Wanted: I have some friends in  INVERNESS  who use Ubuntu after my initial help, but they have some display problems and they are not experienced enough to make best use of phone help. Anyone around Inverness  wiling and able, do please contact me? I'm fairly close to Inverness (40 miles), but I'm not much of an expert. Any time I've had display problems, I've usually just re-installed. If it's something relatively simple, I could have go - I'm fairly comfortable with the command line and editing files, I suppose. Is it a laptop or a desktop machine? If it's the former, I could possibly meet halfway - I'm quite often in Nairn, which is between the two places. Gus Hi Gus It is good to be in touch with you, and thanks. It is a dual boot XP Ubuntu desktop, with XP running very slow The reinstall is a good idea, although importantly as always, there is some data (photograps) on the machine (maybe in Windows) so a reliable backup or data extraction would be important first. They are very active with travelling about so I expect they could easily transport to you by arrangement whatever. I have failed to find any local businesses which could take on this sort of work. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Wanted: Inverness - Support - Where are we in the real world
On 15/10/10 22:31, A J Binnie wrote: On 15 October 2010 21:48, Bill Cummingb...@s0l.co.uk wrote: May as well throw my hat in since I've not seen another Scot in this thread... I'm on the coast in Ayrshire (45 Mins away from Glasgow City Centre) Been using Linux (Ububtu specifically) for the past 3 years. There is another! I'm near Elgin in Morayshire. I don't know of any other Ubuntu users in my neck of the woods. There is a LUG in the area, but their board hasn't been active for a while by the look of it. Gus Wanted: I have some friends in INVERNESS who use Ubuntu after my initial help, but they have some display problems and they are not experienced enough to make best use of phone help. Anyone around Inverness wiling and able, do please contact me? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Cheep
On 21/09/10 07:54, Sean Miller wrote: Did we ever get to a conclusion as to whether Cheeplinux are now in Marie Celeste Website mode, or has simply changed their company name or something? Would be interested to know as I have recommended people go there in the past, though not lately. Sean I have heard nothing and they still have my 30 pounds. Because there is no specific delivery time I have to await 30 days to verify that delivery has not happened. They only say on the site ' most orders shipped next day' or the like. A few days to go. I paaid by pay pal which has a conflict centre and the bank might have a view also, I have already briefly talked with them. I believe the company is dead. The website though, as from my own experience, is till accepting orders. In hindsight I should have actually tried the 'contact us' phone line before I placed the order. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Pasting home directory into new and version upgrade installs?
On 18/09/10 02:00, Liam Proven wrote: On 17 September 2010 21:11, alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote: I have a friend with Ubuntu 9.04 and I will do a version upgrade for them soon. One option is to version upgrade online to 9.10 and then, at another convenient future date, version upgrade to 10.04 LTS, which they will stay with for a longer time. Another option is to do a clean reinstall of Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS now, and then re-configure to match the user's apps and data. One suggestion I have received is, that after a clean reinstall of 10.04.1, I could then replace the clean /home/username directory with the copy of the directory from the user's 9.04 which I would have created earlier in careful backups. Thinking of this last option, I find a number of questions come to mind. What is the effect of brutally just replacing /home/username from an earlier version, possibly two or so versions old? The user has one app for example, Digikam (in Ubuntu) which they regularly use, and this I guess uses a number of kde libraries whatever. I cannot help wondering what sort of clean up (or chaos) I might be faced with, perhaps out of my depth too, by following this latter approach. I would welcome comments here. Get them onto the LTS release *now* and then you can safely leave 'em there 'til 2012. *Don't* put them onto 9.10, it's already obsolescent. Me, personally, I'd say wipe reload. It's easier than doing 9.04 - 9.10 followed by 9.10 - 10.04. I do not understand the following very well, sorry. I have lots of 'new install' experiences but have never been adventurous at this stage Just move /home into a separate filesystem, if it isn't already, make a note of any apps and config you need, then reformat / and install 10.04 into it. Let the install procedure pick up the existing /home/$username folder - it should sort things out for you. If possible, avoid replacing it later; have it there, /in situ/, first. ' move /home into a separate filesystem' copy and paste ok? Is this 'separate filesystem' typically a separate independent partition such as a backup disk or backup partition? Or is the 'separate filesystem intended maybe to be the target partition for the new install though? Not clear at all about this. Or would I be using the Install Partitioning option 'manual' where I nominate the directories and check off which should or should not be formatted? tia -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Pasting home directory into new and version upgrade installs?
On 18/09/10 15:11, Alan Lord (News) wrote: On 18/09/10 14:23, alan c wrote: snip / I do not understand the following very well, sorry. I have lots of 'new install' experiences but have never been adventurous at this stage I think your questions are rather good ones Alan. Perhaps either there is already, or we (the ones who *get* this stuff) need to put together, a page with a couple of proven methods of backing-up and restoring a user's home directory across new and/or upgraded Ubuntu installations. Just move /home into a separate filesystem, if it isn't already, make a note of any apps and config you need, then reformat / and install 10.04 into it. Let the install procedure pick up the existing /home/$username folder - it should sort things out for you. If possible, avoid replacing it later; have it there, /in situ/, first. ' move /home into a separate filesystem' copy and paste ok? Is this 'separate filesystem' typically a separate independent partition such as a backup disk or backup partition? Or is the 'separate filesystem intended maybe to be the target partition for the new install though? Not clear at all about this. *If* I was to copy my home dir, I would do one of two things: either cp -a (copy with archiving etc. man cp for the options) or: tar it into a tarball. IMHO *moving a user's home dir is fraught with issues. The OP didn't mention that you don't want to do this whilst being logged (as the same user) in for example ;-) Or would I be using the Install Partitioning option 'manual' where I nominate the directories and check off which should or should not be formatted? All good questions and I think we should provide you a decent answer that is a foolproof as can be. Wiki? Mmm. I am greatly appreciative of the responses. I do though, have to make my inexperienced mind up by Monday. Is cp -a (options) done from a live CD or is it done from within the working mounted system? I am still very unclear about the target of the paste of /home/username: is this 'separate filesystem' typically a separate independent partition such as a backup disk or backup partition? Or is the 'separate filesystem intended maybe to be the target partition for the new install though? Not clear at all about this. tia -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] backup home folder
On 16/09/10 09:57, Alan Lord (News) wrote: One gotcha that you should be aware of when using a fresh operating system install is that usernames and groups in linux are actually really numbers (UID and GID) and the name is mapped to the UID in /etc/passwd. If you are the first user (the admin user) on Ubuntu your UID should be 1000 - try typing ls -n in a terminal window. When you install a new system the user you create during that install is assigned the UID and GID 1000. Clearly, if you back up your home/username directory and you are not the first user (perhaps your UID is 1002 for example) then you will need to be aware of this and change the UID/GID of your home directory's data. To help me be more clear on this: Am I correct in understanding that as long as the original /home/username is copied or backed up while being signed on as first user, then the subsequent paste into the new install will be ok? -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] backup home folder
On 17/09/10 14:18, Alan Lord (News) wrote: On 17/09/10 13:35, alan c wrote: On 16/09/10 09:57, Alan Lord (News) wrote: One gotcha that you should be aware of when using a fresh operating system install is that usernames and groups in linux are actually really numbers (UID and GID) and the name is mapped to the UID in /etc/passwd. snip / To help me be more clear on this: Am I correct in understanding that as long as the original /home/username is copied or backed up while being signed on as first user, then the subsequent paste into the new install will be ok? Hi Alan, How does this work? When every user is created on a linux system they are assigned a UID number (and usually a GID of the same). These tend to happen sequentially so the first user (the one you create when installing Ubuntu) will get UID 1000. The next 1001 etc etc - there *may* be gaps as some applications might create users when they get installed. Although looking at my /etc/passwd it looks as though Ubuntu uses UIDs 1000 for applications. So: /home/user1 will be stored on the file system with UID/GID of 1000. /home/user2 1001 /home/user3 1002 etc etc, It isn't a *major* headache of the UIDs from one system to the next don't match when moving a backup, you just have to be aware of this and change as necessary: either use: sudo vipw to edit /etc/password and change the user's UID/GID to the right ones, or: sudo chown newuser: -R /home/newuser I'd be a little more careful with this one in case there are any system files/hidden files stored in your home dir. I don't think there should be but I'm sure a quick search/find could tell you. Thanks Alan. I am dealing with fairly basic systems so it will be easiest for me to work only as the first user for the backups and the subsequent install. I am also looking at some other aspects of /home/username also however I will post in a new subject. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Pasting home directory into new and version upgrade installs?
I have a friend with Ubuntu 9.04 and I will do a version upgrade for them soon. One option is to version upgrade online to 9.10 and then, at another convenient future date, version upgrade to 10.04 LTS, which they will stay with for a longer time. Another option is to do a clean reinstall of Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS now, and then re-configure to match the user's apps and data. One suggestion I have received is, that after a clean reinstall of 10.04.1, I could then replace the clean /home/username directory with the copy of the directory from the user's 9.04 which I would have created earlier in careful backups. Thinking of this last option, I find a number of questions come to mind. What is the effect of brutally just replacing /home/username from an earlier version, possibly two or so versions old? The user has one app for example, Digikam (in Ubuntu) which they regularly use, and this I guess uses a number of kde libraries whatever. I cannot help wondering what sort of clean up (or chaos) I might be faced with, perhaps out of my depth too, by following this latter approach. I would welcome comments here. tia -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Off topic - UK vendor cheeplinux?
About 3 weeks ago I ordered a few items (a couple of legacy logo Ubuntu mugs and various stickers) from www.cheeplinux.com. I have purchased from them in the distant past and expected no problem. The site says that most purchases will be dispatched next day, although this is not item specific. After a couple of weeks I phoned them for a progress update and was surprised to find that the Contact phone number was not a working one. I sent an online question about the progress of my order, but received no reply. My bank says that unless a specific delivery was given, then 30 days must be allowed before any extraordinary action can be processed. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one. I would like to have the products, but it is hard to remain very optimistic. Any experiences out there re this vendor please? Off list if you prefer? thanks -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Direction
On 11/09/10 17:11, Rob Beard wrote: On 11/09/10 16:39, Daniel Case wrote: [...] Thinking back a few years ago, one of the complaints that I heard from some Windows users (one complaint I had myself when I first started using Linux was that I couldn't download a setup program). Some people kind of expect this too and I think maybe the simplicity of the Software Centre is a good thing until they learn that they can add repositories and install deb (or even rpm packages with Alien and .tar.gz packages). Users who want simple use, like a toaster, easily get confused, or worse, if apparently ordinary (alien) downloads do not go as they expect. I recenlty spoke to a distant friend who had originally gone out of their way to actually purchase an Ubuntu pre installed laptop from a specialist vendor. They used Ubuntu for about a year, then gave up, apparently quoting difficulty with installing BBC iplayer seeming to be the last straw. This was a very non technical person who had originally wanted to run Ubuntu only. Maybe a bit over ambitious just now, but this is likely to be the future market for Ubuntu en mass. Although I wished they had contacted me, because I guessed such a problem might simply be that a downloaded binary might have needed an executable permission set (maybe), it came to mind how much easier the software centre is making life for such users. The Ubuntu Partner thing for Flash is maybe an example. If BBC was an Ubuntu partner (I guess it is not?) we might still have had an extra member of the wider public using Ubuntu. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Direction
On 11/09/10 18:41, Anton Piatek wrote: I generally disagree with the original comments - Ubuntu has always shipped non-free software (flash, sun java, ...) and this is mostly for the user's benefit in that these applications are very much desired. If I want a pure, free environment I use Debian. It is wonderful that an Ubuntu Live CD will (probably) run on most hardware I can come accross in my travels, and offer an instant demonstration on. To be able to do this, unfortunately, it has to contain some bianary blobs, which I dislike. But I do like the looks of amazement on spectator's faces. I also note with interest the recent news from Broadcom about their producing an open source wireless driver. I also recently saw a big boxed all in one Lexmark printer in Tescos which actually had a TUX symbol alongside other OS symbols and the words 'Linux' included. I know the smoke and mirrors crowd assert we only have 1 percent share, but whatever, it is obviously punching well above its weight! The biggest one percent you have ever seen. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Defining targets
On 29/08/10 17:40, Mike Feravolo wrote: the key to the Microsoft's success in the software business is that they managed to get Windows installed at the factory on 95% of all the systems on the retail shelf. Well said indeed! Some attention to leverage at the supply end would be very helpful. There is a lot to learn. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Defining targets
On 29/08/10 22:36, Randall Ross wrote: Is this not happening? Canonical *does* have a whole OEM group who has the responsibility to get Ubuntu factory-installed. Some attention to leverage at the supply end would be very helpful. There is a lot to learn. Hopefully yes, although I guess it is mostly under commercial sensitivity wraps, but how can -we- assist in this? Almost all of the discussion I see - everywhere - is about technical, usability, security, cost, how to this and how to that, etc. All these discussion points are important, as is the valued objective of freedom. However, the overwhelming factor which WE are distracted from is that even when an OS is poor quality and unpopular, it still SELLS in millions because it is forcibly installed on almost all hardware. Along with other factors which we are familiar with, let us also consider the elephant in the room. Installation monopoly. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
Re: [ubuntu-uk] (Marketing) Royal Society asks you - why IT is boring?
On 26/08/10 07:10, alan c wrote: Express your views to the Royal Society soon. http://royalsociety.org/Education-Policy/Projects/ I am a bit perplexed. There have been approximately 20 entries in this thread so far, and I do not recall any single one person saying they will contact the Royal Society (RS) in this issue, even though most posts contain relevant evidence. 1) The organisations and businesses which are likely to be contacted BY the RS are - you can probably guess. 2) The organisations and businesses who will be most likely to want to spend effort informing the RS are - you can also guess. Change CAN happen, but it may not happen just by itself. I contacted the Education Director in the RS and mentioned Ubuntu. He said he will look into it because he had not heard of it before. PLEASE make your own contact with the RS in this matter, after all they *are* asking! -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
