Getting The Most From X/K/ubuntu 6.06

OUT-OF-DATE! I wouldn't recommend following this guide now...

This thread is dedicated to Dapper Drake 6.06 LTS. If you are running the latest 6.10 Edgy Eft, DO NOT follow this guide!

Repositories

To gain access to non-free software such as movie and music codecs, you need to set up the correct repositories.

Open up a terminal and type:

For Kubuntu:

Code:

kdesu kate /etc/apt/sources.list

For Ubuntu:

Code:

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

For Xubuntu:

Code:

gksu mousepad /etc/apt/sources.list

That command will open up a text file containing your list of repositories. In an effort to keep things simple, just delete all of the text in that file and replace with the text you see below. Just copy and paste.

Code:

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'main'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository is SUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and is under a free licence

deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.

deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-updates main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security universe multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'universe'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## universe WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security
## team.

deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper universe multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.

deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-backports main restricted universe multiverse

########Extra Repositories#############

## Opera Browser
deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ unstable non-free
deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ stable non-free

## Wine
deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt dapper main

## Skype
deb http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free

## Ubuntu 'Commercial' repositories
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu dapper-commercial main

Save the file and close once you have copied my repositories list into your own file.

To use the Opera repository, you must import the key:

Code:

gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv 6A423791
gpg --export --armor 6A423791 | sudo apt-key add -

Next, we need to make (X/K)ubuntu aware of these new repositories. You can do this by typing:

Code:

sudo apt-get update

Now that we have these new repositories ready for use, you may find that newer software is available for you to download and install. You can check this by typing:

Code:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

 

Getting The Most From (X/K)Ubuntu

Install A Better Kernel

The default ubuntu kernel is based on a generic i386 specification. If you have a Pentium 3 or better, you can improve the performance of your computer by installing a more appropriate kernel.

Simply type:

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-686

If you run two processors or have a dual core CPU, you should type:

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-686-smp

Or if you have an AMD based processor you should type:

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-k7

For a Dual Core AMD CPU you should type:

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-k7-smp

 

Getting The Most From (X/K)Ubuntu

Useful Links

Installing restricted media formats such as Flash, Java, MP3 and WMA

Revert to the traditional root sudo (I personally recommend you do this)

Filesharing with a Windows computer via Samba

File Sharing between two Linux machines via NFS

Setting up nVidia drivers

Setting up ATi drivers

VMware Server installation guide

Run Windows applications in Linux using WINE

Install XGL on Ubuntu (for nVidia)

Install XGL on Kubuntu (for ATi)

Backport newer packages from Edgy Eft and Feisty Fawn to Dapper

Make your own Debian packages

 

Getting The Most From (X/K)Ubuntu

Installing RPM Packages

NOTE: Only install an RPM package if there is no Debian package available. You should install RPM packages as a last resort

To install an RPM package, first you need to install a program called 'alien'

Code:

sudo apt-get install alien

The syntex for installing an RPM package is as follows:

Code:

sudo alien -i <package_name>

An example might be:

Code:

sudo alien -i limewire.xxx.rpm

To learn more about alien's functions, type:

Code:

alien --help

 

Getting The Most From (X/K)Ubuntu

Install A Firewall

For Ubuntu / Xubuntu:

Code:

sudo apt-get install firestarter

NOTE: Kubuntu users can install Firestarter, but you will be required to install a few GNOME libraries to solve dependencies

For Kubuntu:

Code:

sudo apt-get install guarddog

NOTE: Ubuntu / Xubuntu users can install GuardDog, but you will be required to install a few KDE libraries to solve dependences

 

Getting The Most From (X/K)Ubuntu

Finding & Installing Programs From the Terminal

Let's say for example that you want to install a vector drawing program but you don't know of any available for Linux. You could do a search on Google, or you could use the powerful command line tool 'apt-cache'. Apt-cache searches your distribution's repositories and displays the nearest matches to your search term.

Open up a terminal and type:

Code:

apt-cache search vector drawing

These are the results of our query:

Code:

inkscape - vector-based drawing program
asymptote - script-based vector graphics language inspired by MetaPost
cimg-dev - powerful image processing library
gnome-office - The GNOME Office suite
ivtools-bin - Drawing Editors evolved from idraw
sketch - Interactive vector drawing program for X11
sodipodi - Vector based drawing program
sunclock-maps - sunclock vector graphic maps
tgif - Interactive 2-D drawing facility under X11

Looking through the list, I determine that 'Inkscape' is probably the kind of application I am looking for. But to make sure, I want to find out a little bit more about it. To do so, I would type:

Code:

apt-cache show inkscape

And the result would be:

Code:

 
Description: vector-based drawing program

Inkscape loads and saves a subset of the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
 format, a standard maintained by the WWW consortium.
 .
 Inkscape user interface should be familiar from CorelDraw and similar
 drawing programs. There are rectangles, ellipses, text items, bitmap
 images and freehand curves.
 As an added bonus, both vector and bitmap objects can have alpha
 transparency and can be arbitrarily transformed.
 .
 Inkscape supports multiple opened files and multiple views per file.
 Graphics can be printed and exported to png bitmaps.
 .
 Some of the import and export features are provided using the packages
 dia, libwmf-bin, pstoedit, sketch, imagemagick, and perlmagick.
 .
 Other Extensions use libxml-xql-perl and python-xml.
 .
 Homepage: http://www.inkscape.org/

After reading through it, I decide that I want to install it. So I would type:

Code:

sudo apt-get install inkscape

And there you have it. That is how you find and install programs from the terminal

 

How To upgrade to Edgy Eft (At your own risk!)

Be aware that things can go wrong. Always back up your work before attempting system wide changes.

The first thing we need to do is update our sources list to include the Edgy Eft repositories. We can do this by typing:

Code:

sudo sed -e 's/\sdapper/ edgy/g' -i /etc/apt/sources.list

Then perform the upgrade by typing:

Code:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude dist-upgrade && sudo aptitude dist-upgrade

There will be dependency problems at first. This is why we run 'dist-upgrade' several times. Just press 'Y' to accept the dependency resolution suggestion.

After the installation has finished, you might consider running 'sudo aptitude dist-upgrade' one more time just to be safe. You might even consider running 'sudo apt-get dist-upgrade' a few times as well.

Finish the installation by running

Code:

sudo apt-get -f install
sudo dpkg --configure -a

 

Install Extra Screensavers! (Kubuntu Only)

Code:

sudo aptitude install kscreensaver-xsavers xscreensaver xscreensaver-gl xscreensaver-data xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl-extra

Install The Building Environment (To Compile Software From Source)

Code:

sudo aptitude install build-essential

Install Microsoft's TrueType Fonts

Code:

sudo aptitude install msttcorefonts

 

Upgrade To The Latest nVidia & ATi Drivers

The nVidia and ATi drivers in the Dapper repositories are getting very old. So if like me, you want the very latest in nVidia tech you should add these repositories to your /etc/apt/sources.list

Code:

deb http://www.albertomilone.com/drivers/dapper/nonlegacy/32bit binary/

And add the key:

Code:

wget http://www.albertomilone.com/drivers/tseliot.asc

Code:

gpg --import tseliot.asc

Code:

gpg --export --armor [email protected] | sudo apt-key add -

More info here

I installed the 'very latest' nVidia legacy driver from there and all is working fine