Installeth Ubuntu

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Jolicloud Review

Recently I installed Jolicloud on my Dell Mini 9 and have been using it for more than a week now. Although I was initially underwhelmed, I have actually grown quite fond of the OS. I will probably continue to use it at least until Chrome OS arrives.

What I really like about Jolicloud is that it treats cloud apps just like desktop apps. The desktop has all of your most used websites on it. If you launch Gmail, Twitter and Facebook, each one runs in its own window. Each web app has the feeling of a standalone application, even though they are really just web pages (Chromium browser with the URL bar and extensions hidden). You can run Open Office and Google Docs side by side and both will look equally like a normal desktop program.

The Jolicloud desktop is actually an HTML5 page running on Chromium browser. This is also really cool. This means that the entire time your Jolicloud machine is running, Chromium browser is running also. This is nice if you have extensions such as Chrowety or Imo. On a normal desktop machine I hate installing desktop twitter clients like Tweetdeck, so I use browser extensions. However, I have a habit of closing the browser between sessions. Thus, Chrowety will not tell me how many tweets came through while I was away. With Jolicloud, all of your handy extensions are always running; Chrowety will always keep up with your twitter account, even if you have closed all applications.

There is also a social aspect to Jolicloud that some people may find fun. You can have Jolicloud friends who can recommend applications to you. So if you have a friend or family member who also uses Jolicloud and they install a cool program (by the way, installing programs is super simple on here) they can "like" the program. From your computer, you can see a list of applications that your friend liked and you can install them with a single click if they suite your fancy.

I like the direction that Jolicloud is taking. They realize that most of the computing we do, especially on netbooks, is done in the cloud. Yet, for those skeptical of a cloud-only OS, Jolicloud has a full build of Ubuntu behind its HTML5 surface.

On the other hand, anyone could use Jolicloud without ever knowing anything about Ubuntu. The HTML5 interface gives users everything they need for daily computing and nothing is ever more than a few clicks away. For all of these reasons Jolicloud has my recommendation.

Installing Jolicloud

A few days ago I shared how I got my Ubuntu tailored perfectly for my netbook. Well now I'm wiping it out the try Jolicloud. The whole concept of Jolicloud intrigues me. It's largely cloud-based, treating internet apps like regular destkop apps. A lot of it runs off of Chromium browser, while the core is simply a reskinned Ubuntu. The primary interface is built on HTML5 which is really cool. 

I'll use if for a few weeks and let you know what I think.

Chrome Web Store

As Chrome OS rapidly approaches features keep getting piled on. Last week web apps were introduced. Now the dev build of Chrome has added Chrome Web Store to the new tab page, which appears beside any web apps you have installed. The Chrome Web Store basically just a link to the extension gallery. It will eventually be a one stop shop for extensions and apps for Chrome OS, Chrome browser and maybe Google TV.

If you are interested in trying out web apps on Chrome but do not want to give up your stable version, Google also just released the canary build, which allows you to run a second browser that receives auto updates from the developer channel.

Chromium Updated for Ubuntu

On my lunch break today, I installed an Ubuntu system update. After it installed I was pleasantly surprised when my wife opened Chromium browser. Now the window buttons are on the left side to match Lucid's new style. Note that this change is only for Chromium browser at the moment, which is planned to be the default browser in the next netbook edition of Ubuntu. I'm not sure if Google Chrome will follow, but I do know Chrome beta doesn't have it yet (but perhaps the daily build does). It is likely that Chrome will get it too since the two are almost identical.

Chromium Default Browser for Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook

The open source version of Google Chrome will be the default browser in Ubuntu 10.10's Netbook Edition. Hopefully this decision will carry over to the desktop edition. If so, Chromium would get a skin change to make it compatible with the new Ubuntu look with the window buttons on the left side.

Write Permissions When Copying Files in Ubuntu

Sometimes when copying read-only files from a USB flash drive to a local folder on Ubuntu, I get an error that I do not have permission to copy the files. To get rid of the error, I just open up terminal and type:

sudo nautilus

This opens up nautilus (the equivalent of "windows explorer" on windows) but now with administrative privileges. Now just use the newly opened windows to navigate to the folder you want to move the files to and paste them.

Ubuntu: Copy Home Directory To a New Hard Drive

I have posted a guide on putting the root and home directories on separate partitions. This allows you to install Ubuntu fresh on the root partition as many times as you want, while leaving your home directory (where your files and settings are stored) untouched.

Ubuntu Geek has posted a guide on how to copy the home directory over to a new hard drive.

Install Ubuntu With Root and Home On Separate Partitions

With Ubuntu 9.10 I started putting root and home on separate partitions. Basically this means that all of your system and program files are stored in one place (root), while all of your preferences and personal files are stored in another (home). This is helpful because if you ever need to format or do an upgrade, you can just wipe out your root partition and install the latest and greatest. Once the new installation of Ubuntu is done you are back to normal with all of your docs, music and preferences intact on the unaltered home partition.

Note that you will have to reinstall all of your programs that are not on Ubuntu out of box, but once the programs are installed, they will remember your preferences from before because they were stored on home. For example, I had to reinstall Chrome with my new 10.04 but once it was installed it remembered all of my passwords from before.

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta 1 Review (Updated)

I downloaded and installed Lucid Lynx on my Dell Mini 9 today.

I installed the desktop edition first and the new interface is vastly improved over Ubuntu's old look. The Ubuntu splash screen has a simple, modern font and the dark, purple background reminds me a lot of Mac OS. The window buttons (close, minimize, maximize) have been moved to the left corner instead of the right. This also seems like it could be an attempt to copy OS X, but I think it was done because 9.04 added pop-up notifications. The notifications pop up in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, so it seems practical to move the window buttons to the left side.

The interface was very impressive on the desktop edition, but I only played with it for a few minutes before installing the netbook edition instead. I've had problems in the past with running out of space on my little 16GB SSD, so I thought I would go with the netbook edition to see if it helps me save any space. 

It seems like Lucid already supports more hardware out of box than Karmic did. It found my wireless drivers immediately. With Karmic I had to do a few extra steps to get the wireless drivers installed. I had heard that the netbook edition was going to drop OpenOffice for Google Docs to save space. However, OpenOffice came with the beta, which was a little disappointing. I was attracted by the idea that they wanted to save space for netbooks.

Social networks are built into the Ubuntu interface through Gwibber Social Client. Just like Empathy and Pidgin have been built into Ubuntu interface for a while - using the indicator applet to notify you of conversation notifications and allowing you to set your status - now you can update Twitter, Digg and Facebook, to name a few, all from the desktop.

Yahoo, not Google, is now the default search engine in Firefox. The Yahoo search page is nice and clean. I won't see it again though, because I only used Firefox long enough to download Google Chrome.

Ubuntu One now has the music store and should be more stable now that it's been around for while.

Even though I'm running the beta, Lucid Lynx feels much more stable that Karmic did. The interface is beautiful with no bugs that I've seen so far. Over the next few months it seems like Ubuntu 10.04 is going to grow to be a nice, solid operating system for anyone who is interested in freeing themselves from the shackles of MS. This is a LTS (long term support) release of Ubuntu, so it will be around for 3 years.

Update: I installed Lucid on my desktop machine and it automatically found the correct resolution for my display. This never happened with Ubuntu 9.04 or 9.10. Very impressive.

Proposed Ubuntu Themes for Lucid Lynx

The time is here. The next version of Ubuntu has reached beta status and is quickly approaching release towards the end of next month. Accordingly, I will be posting some things that I am excited about. Here are some of the proposed themes for Lucid. In particular the Elementary: Empathy theme appeals to me. It would probably look great on a netbook. Although, for some reason I doubt it will be implemented into the final build.

Ubuntu Gets Modern

Ubuntu 10.4 will finally look like software created in the third millennium. Check out the new look.

Ubuntu One Music Store

Beginning with Lucid Lynx, Ubuntu will begin shipping with a music store available out of box. The idea is to have a digital download store that doesn't hassle you with DRM. Sounds great right? Check out the FAQ here.

Chromium Flow OS

The latest build of Hexxeh's Chromium OS is here. I have had it for about a week now and I like it quite a bit. This build is particularly exciting because it now supports automatic updates. From here on out, most changes should be easily updated without having to install a completely fresh build. If you are not afraid to play around with pre-beta software, this is the time to jump on Chromium OS.

It is a very simple operating system. Simplicity, though, is what is so innovative about it. The OS is completely cloud based. There are no programs installed locally, no software updates to worry about. The pattern for operating systems seems generally to get more bloated with programs, features and services and to require greater hardware to support the unneeded features. Chromium is simple. It boots up in seconds and its very fast.

You can run Chromium OS from a USB drive without making any changes to your computer. The download and instructions here. If you think you may like to stick with it you may want to dual boot, which is what I will most likely do. You can find instructions for dual booting here.

Google Chrome Themes for Ubuntu

Can't wait for Google Chrome? These smooth Chrome themes for Ubuntu may tide you over until a nice stable version is released.

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/google-chrome-themes-for-ubuntu.html

Chromium Zero OS

Hexxeh has a new build of Chromium OS. The list of compatible devices is growing as well as the list of features. Check out the following link for a list of compatible netbooks, notebooks and desktop machines and also instructions for making a bootable Chromium USB key.

http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/wiki/doku.php

Empathy Chat Client

Chat clients generally aren't a very exciting topic for blog posts, however Empathy is a very cool chat client. As of Ubuntu 9.10, Empathy is now the default universal chat client instead of Pidgin.

This is old news really, but Ronald and I just got to test out the "share my desktop" feature and it is very nice. Basically, any of your buddies over any IM carrier (as far as I know) who is using Empathy can simply right-click on your screen name and click "share my desktop." This will open a remote desktop session in which they can see your desktop and control your mouse and keyboard.

Remote desktop applications are abundant on Mac and Windows, so its cool that Ubuntu Linux now has such a simple way to remotely support your Ubuntu-using friends and family.

Dual Booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu

I followed this Lifehacker guide to set up a dual boot between Windows 7 and Ubuntu with all user files shared between the two. The process was a great success. Now both systems have access to the same pictures, documents, downloads, music and videos. Now I have no major reason to boot up one OS over the other unless I need to run my PlayOn server, stream Zune music to my Xbox, or listen to my subscription based Zune music. On the other hand Banshee is a great medium to play all of my purchased Zune music with the added bonus of having built-in Last.fm.

I find both operating systems equally useful and thus I am very pleased with this harmonious dual boot. As an Xbox gamer, I need Windows to complete the experience. As an Ubuntu Netbook owner, having a second Ubuntu machine is very useful for file sharing and synchronization.

Add Resolutions To Ubuntu 9.10

On older laptops or desktop machines with older monitors, sometimes Ubuntu will not be able to detect what resolutions your monitor supports.  On older versions of Ubuntu xorg was the way to add resolutions and it sucked. Ubuntu 9.10 doesn't come with a xorg config file. You can create one and edit it if you wish, but I found this guide and it worked like a charm. Just look up your monitor or laptop's supported resolutions online, then follow this guide to add the resolution you want.

Chrome Is Now Beta on Linux

Good news! Chrome is now officially beta on Linux and Mac. More good news! It supports extensions. With flash and extensions, Chrome can now be a great default browser on these two platforms. Also, with the extensions running Chrome on a Linux netbook will essentially be the same as running Chrome OS.

I have the Gmail and Google Voice checkers installed. Take a look at the gallery here and see what extensions are good for you. To get Chrome for Linux click here.