Hardy Heron Hey!

Sorry for the long gap between the posts, I kinda lost focus. So here’s a new one.

I made a fresh install of Hardy Heron. I skipped Compiz, Emerald and AWN this time. I finally realized that some of this are still buggy, and are sometimes really annoying.

I decided to have my plain old Gnome and Metacity this time. No extra eye candies.

Now, I focus on productivity. I love my Gedit. I also love it when running with administrator privileges, so I made an appliction launcher sitting on my top panel with this command.

gksudo gedit

The gksudo command makes your gedit run with administrator privileges, it’s the pretty GUI box that darkens everything in the background and asks for your password.

Before gksudo, i ran my launcher with sudo, which keeps a bash terminal running on the background, it kinda eats up some screen real estate, so i decided to find a way to get rid of it.

I’m studying up on Python, it’s a great language. Guess what’s my best IDE for python.

Of course, Gedit!

There’s many tutorials online that teaches how to make your Gedit feel like a real IDE, nothing really comes close to a real IDE, but that’s actually the best part, ’cause we don’t want all of that bloat!

Here’s a tutorial I found to try to achieve a Python IDE:

Using Gedit as a Python IDE (instructables), this is actually good, but you may want to skip the python console on the bottom pane. When your script acts up, your gedit might crash too, you may want to see Better Python Console, it opens a new window and runs your script there. Neat.

I recommend the following plugins, which I myself, use everyday.

Auto Tab, learns your tabbing preferences and uses it when you Tab.

Better Python Console, an external python interpreter window.

External Tools, built in with Gedit.

File Browser Pane, built in with Gedit.

HTML Tidy, you’re a good person when you write good html. Shows you your HTML errors and will help you clean up bad mark up.

Indent Lines, built in with Gedit.

Insert Date/Time, built in with Gedit, good for Documentation.

Modelines, built in with Gedit, this is your usual beloved modelines.

Project Manager, organize your files into one project file.

Python Code Completion, really handy.

Python Outline, browse your code in GUI in the side pane, really good for big projects or large scripts.

Snippets, built in with Gedit.

Spell Checker, built in with Gedit, of course you’d hate a typo error.

Tag List, built in with Gedit, suggests commonly used tags or strings.

Word Completion, suggests words that are used in other files opened in other tabs or windows, really handy.

Oh, I almost forgot, here’s how to install these plugins.

Extract the files to:
/home/[yourname]/.gnome2/gedit/plugins/

if you want to install them for all users extract the files to:
/usr/lib/gedit-2/plugins/

That simple. Some other plugins, none in this post, will require you to install the plugin via a make or something else, don’t worry, those packages usually provide a step by step instruction, just NEVER IGNORE THE README file.

HOWTO batch/mass image resize

so you’ve got 800 .JPGs in one folder, and you need to resize all of them. you would definitely not want to open every each one in GIMP and resize it one by one. here’s a script that would make this task easier:

but first you need imagemagick to get this to work, so:

sudo apt-get install imagemagick

and here’s the script:

 #!/bin/bash
for i in `ls *.jpg`;
do
convert $i -resize 800×600 $i
done

save this in a file in the same folder as your target images, then, make sure it is executable in Properties > Permissions, then run it in the terminal using ./filename

it will take some time to resize a hundred images, be patient.

note: the file extension is case sensitive, almost everything in linux is case-sensitive, well it actually should be.

HOWTO restart your solidly frozen linux

so here’s the case, your screen won’t respond, you tried waiting, but nothing happened. Ctrl + Alt + Backspace gave up on you, it won’t work. Here’s what you’d want to do to softly restart your system without breaking anything, it’s fairly dangerous to restart your machine especially when it’s still trying to do something, like writing to memory or stuff. so try this.

hold down Alt and SysRq (print screen), then type in these letters REISUB. this will turn off your services, terminate all programs, and unmount your drives, then your machine will restart.

Fosswire said you should remember the keys as Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring.

HOWTO add the trash bin to your desktop

well this is a quick and short one.

alt+f2 then run gconf-editor.

go to

apps > nautilus > desktop 

on the right side look for this entry

trash_icon_visible

check the box. and you’re done. change trash_icon_name if you wish to.

HOWTO manage grub and usplash in ubuntu feisty fawn

things you might want to do with your grub:

1. remove/change the boot countdown
2. change the background theme
3. change the text color theme
4. change the default operating system
5. password protect your bootloader

you can do all of this with SUM, or startupmanager, found here.

you might also want to change your usplash screen, and show the loading dialog. the first one can also be done in SUM, for the latter, you need to manually edit your menu.lst file, so..

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

remember to backup.
then look for a line that looks like this..

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=UUID=ef286b15-9709-4448-92a6-ce70fe73a54b ro quiet splash vga=794

remove the quiet keyword, save it, then you’re done.

some notes: the format accepted for themes is only .xpm.gz. a good resource is gnome-look.org.

HOWTO screen capture in ubuntu feisty fawn

so far, the best screen capture package i’ve found is recordmydesktop, you can run it from the terminal or you can download a gui, package is named gtk-recordmydesktop, people say it also works on kde.

these two packages can be found in the default ubuntu software sources, so..

sudo apt-get update

then install the two said packages..

sudo apt-get install recordmydesktop gtk-recordmydesktop

the program only outputs in .ogg format, but, you can always convert with mencoder, which, btw, is also available in the default ubuntu repo, i learned this package from another pinoy ubuntu user in the forums.

Ubuntu Forums: Record your desktop with recordmydesktop. 

and so again..

sudo apt-get install mencoder

i think avidemux is a front for mencoder, but, i’m not gonna cover that now, cause avidemux also edits videos, i think it’s too bulky if your gonna user it for video conversion only. so to convert OGGs to AVIs using mencoder, here’s a tiny snippet.

mencoder -idx input.ogg -ovc lavc -oac mp3lame -o output.avi

input.ogg is your source file, and output.avi is your desired the output file.
here’s a detailed guide on how to encode videos using mencoder.

HOWTO install compiz fusion with emerald on ubuntu feisty fawn

another compiz fusion HOWTO, but.. this time, with emerald. and it’ll be using amaranth’s repo (deb http://ppa.dogfood.launchpad.net/amaranth/ubuntu feisty main restricted universe multiverse).

Forlong’s Blog: The best way to install Compiz Fusion on Ubuntu Feisty

he also made a how to set up compiz fusion.

Forlong’s Blog: How to set up Compiz Fusion

and this is where i found out about this better installation, though i got burned a bit for posting another’s howto.

Ubuntu Forums: The best way to install Compiz Fusion on Ubuntu Feisty

HOWTO install LAMP on ubuntu feisty fawn

as a webdeveloper this was my first priority to install. a lot of people say that linux is hard to use, but installing lamp on an ubuntu installation is not hard at all, it’s a heck lot easier than installing in windows, lesser ticks and tacks to make it work. once installed, you’ll be confident that it’s gonna run properly.

so what is lamp? it is Linux Apache MySQL and PHP.

Installing LAMP On Ubuntu For Newbies | HowtoForge – Linux Howtos and Tutorials

Update your Sources

sudo apt-get update

Install Apache and PHP5
in the terminal

sudo apt-get install apache php5 libapache2-mod-php5

Refresh Apache then try it on
again, nowhere else

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

then in your browser open this address

 http://localhost/

and if you have your machine on a local network try this address on another computer in the same network.

http://{your_machine_name}/

Try PHP too
create a php file, in your terminal

gksudo gedit /var/www/test.php

copy and paste this in the newly opened gedit

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

now open it up in your web browser

http://localhost/testphp.php

Install MySQL
once again in the terminal

 sudo apt-get install mysql-server

to allow other computers in the network to get access to mysql, edit my.cnf

gksudo gedit /etc/mysql/my.cnf

and change this line, using your ip address

bind-address = 127.0.0.1

Set MySQL password 

mysql -u root

the prompt should change to mysql>, then enter the following

SET PASSWORD FOR ‘root’@'localhost’ = PASSWORD(‘yourpassword’);

Install PHPMyAdmin
this is a great tool for managing databases, it’s web based, so you’ll be using the web browser with this one.

sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-auth-mysql php5-mysql phpmyadmin

and now to make PHP work with MySQL

gksudo gedit /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

look for this line, and remove the semicolon.

;extension=mysql.so

Again, refresh Apache, then your Done.

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

HOWTO install compiz fusion on ubuntu feisty fawn

it took me two days to find the best solution on how to install compiz fusion in my 5 hour old ubuntu feisty fawn, i’ve tried about three bad HOWTOs, they weren’t actually bad HOWTOs, i’m just not at all good in linux, so there, i kept on looking for easier ways. silly me, i haven’t tried the HOWTO in compiz fusion’s home site.

Compiz.org :: Compiz and Compiz Fusion GIT Ubuntu Repository – Compiz

add the repository

this one is unofficial, but recommended by compiz.org. for me, it;s one of the best REPOs i’ve found.

# Treviño’s Ubuntu Feisty EyeCandy Repository (GPG key: 81836EBF)
# Many eyecandy 3D apps: Beryl, Compiz, Fusion, AWN and kiba-dock
# built using latest available (working) sources from git/svn/cvs…
# if you are on AMD64 add -amd64 to the end of the two lines below
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/3v1deb feisty eyecandy
deb-src http://download.tuxfamily.org/3v1deb feisty eyecandy

you can also add this through the GUI, just go to:

System > Administration > Software Sources > [enter your password] > [tab] Third Party Software > [button] Add…

then add the two deb lines above. if you did this, DO NOT CLOSE THE WINDOW YET until you’ve gotten the public key for the repo.

get the public key for the repo
enter this in your terminal

wget http://download.tuxfamily.org/3v1deb/DD800CD9.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

if that did not work try:

KEY=DD800CD9; sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net –recv $KEY && sudo gpg –export –armor $KEY | sudo apt-key add -

upon success, if you added sources via the GUI, now is the right time to close it.

update the package list
again in your terminal

sudo apt-get update

if you added sources via the GUI, it’s been already updated.

now the installation begins
in the terminal..

remove the previous (default) compiz installation

sudo apt-get remove compiz-core

then install all the needed packages, replace gnome with kde if your on, uhh.. kde.

sudo apt-get install compiz # compiz-gnome

install the compizConfig configurator

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager # compizconfig-backends-* ?!

install the plugins, yey!! Ü

sudo apt-get install compiz-fusion-*

you’re basically done with the installation. now you try it on.
alt+F2 on your keyboard, then enter

compiz –replace.

notice the new item: System > Preferences >CompizConfig Settings Manager

make compiz fusion run on startup (on boot)
go to: System > Preferences > Sessions > [button] New
enter Compiz for name and enter

compiz –replace -c emerald &

for command.