Then I fixed it.

The new laptop arrived Friday afternoon. I spend Friday afternoon and evening doing basic configuration and Saturday fine-tuning it.

It came with Ubuntu 8.10. I made sure it worked; the wireless, the webcam, and everything else worked flawlessly.

It did not come with a restoration disk, though it did come with a Ubuntu disk and a sofware disk, which I haven’t even bothered to look at I. It did come with a utiity to burn a restoration disk, so I burned two copies and copied the restoration *.iso over the network to another box.

Then I broke the computer.

I was toying with the idea of putting Debian on it, so I did (I have a minor quibble with how Ubuntu handles the su logon). The wireless didn’t work. I knew I could get it to work, but I decided it wasn’t worth the effort, so I restored the manufacturer’s image from one of the DVDs I had burned.

Here’s the box with the Ubuntu load (the background is a picture I took at the meditation area at the A. R. E.)

As soon as I got Ubuntu working again, it wanted to update itself from v. 8.10 to v. 9.04, which took about an hour and a half, because it was a major revision change.

There was no big change to the interface, but lots of updated programs. The logout menu got moved from the “System” menu on the left to the right; other than that, there was no pointless tinkering with the menus to convince you that you had something new unlike Micros–oh, never mind.

Once that was done, I copied my backed up files from my file server. I included my hidden configuration files for the Pan newsreader, the Opera browser, OpenOffice, and Fluxbox. Putting them in place ensured that, once I installed those programs (none of which, except for Open Office, are part of the Ubuntu’s out-of-the-box version of the Gnome desktop), I would have my mail and newsreader logons and databases, my wordprocessor templates and preferences right there without having to do any reconfiguration.

Most of the programs I wanted I could find through the Synaptic Package Manager. I checked the box, told the computer to install them, and there they were (by the way, you don’t have to reboot a Linux box after installing programs). Some of the free but non-open-source programs, such as Opera, were not in the repositories (“repos”); I had to download them and install them manually (I know that could sound impressive, but it really isn’t; it’s sort of like downloading an executable to a folder on a Windows box and double-clicking it and then following the directions).

I could not find Fluxbox, which I planned to use for day-to-day computing, in the Ubuntu repos; that I had to compile from source. Again, to someone not familiar with Linux, that might sound impressive, but it’s not–it’s just a matter of following directions.

Once I installed Fluxbox, it automatically appeared on the “Change Sessions” menu which can be accessed on the login screen. When I have to do something (primarily administrative stuff) that might be easier in Gnome, I can easily change interfaces.

I’m still tinkering with stuff–the Samba networking needs tweaking and LISa has been decrepated in this version of Ubuntu, so I need to find a substitute for it. But it’s pretty much ready to go with Fluxbox. Here’s a picture of the webcam under Fluxbox; the background picture is the sky over Virginia Beach, Va. on a unsettled day:

I’ve described installing Debian before, here, here, here, and here.

By default, Debian installs with the Gnome desktop; other choices can be made at installation. Still other choices can be made later. (Try changing your desktop on Windows–you can change the wallpaper and some of the icons, but that’s about it. You can’t change the whole thing from one to another.)

I’ve used Fluxbox on Slackware Linux for quite some time; I decided to get it running on Debian. Here’s the result.

I had to install Fluxbox, which was a matter of opening the Synaptic Package Manager, selecting Fluxbox, and telling Debian to go get it. Bing, bang, boom. All done. (Note that all the Fluxbox pictures that follow were taken after I configured Flux to my liking.) Here’s a picture of the Synaptic Package Manager.

Here’s a picture of my computer with the Gnome desktop selected.

Windows users will see many things that look familiar: a system tray, desktop icons, a menu bar, and a task bar (the menu bar and task bar are separate; either or both of them may be hidden or set to autohide). The position of the bars is configurable–I like mine at the top). The background, by the way, is the beach at Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Fluxbox is not a desktop; it is a window manager. It exists to start, resize, and minimize applications. It does not automatically start power management functions or wireless detection functions. It does not have a trash bin (“recycle bin” in Windowsese) nor its own clock (it uses the system clock). Many of these functions can be started as separate apps if the user wants them, but they are not built in.

I logged out of Gnome, selected Fluxbox as my desktop, and logged back in.

Here’s a picture of Fluxbox showing the menu. The transparency is configurable; by default, there is no transparency. (The background is from PixelHigh.)

The menu is invoked by right-clicking the mouse; it’s upper left corner positions itself where the mouse pointer is located when you right-click it. The menu lives in a text file that is completely user-configurable. Here’s the menu opened into a text editor:

Fluxbox also contains something called “The Slit.” It’s a spot on the desktop–the location is configurable–where applications written for the Slit (profoundly referred to as “dockapps” because they can be docked) can be placed. I like to park the GKrellM system monitor tool in The Slit and set it to appear on mouse-over. Here’s a picture of GKrellM: I’ve magnified the GKrellM interface itself so you can see all the information it shows in a small space (and there are other GKrellM monitors I don’t use).

Linux comes with multiple desktops or workspaces. In this picture, Kolour Paint is open on desktop one; the open menu shows that the Opera browser is open and running on workspace two. (Just for grins and giggles, I changed themes between screen shots.)

I’ve recorded a short video of me messing about in Fluxbox. You can view it here. It is in the free and open source ogg theora format; I’m working on transcoding it into *.avi, but I’m not there yet. As soon as I get there, I’ll update this post.

Windows users can find a Windows player for ogg theora here.

Update: Here’s the *.avi, converted from *.ogv using MEncoder. (The avi tested fine on my box. YMMV. On the Windows box, Windows Media Player reported that “error downloading codec.” I’m still new at this transcoding stuff.)

My Dell Inspiron 6000 died this yesterday morning.

I woke up just in time to watch the display fade to black. Everything else works; I hooked it up to a monitor and am using it right now, but its days a portable are over.

I back up all the important stuff regularly, but I made a current backup this morning, so that, when I get a new machine, I can import my configuration–mail, newsgroups, preferences, and the like–directly into my /home folder without missing a beat. (“Home folder” is sort of the *nix version of \\Documents and Settings\[username], but much simpler to understand and manipulate.

For example, once I get my new box, I can recreate all my Opera browser settings by copying my Opera settings folder (which is a hidden folder) into my new home folder and starting Opera. Bingo! Everything is there–mail, rss feeds, newsgroups, bookmarks–right where it ought to be with just a drag-and-drop.

I went to the local secondhand computer store, which I’ve patronized for years because they are honest, reliable, and skilled (I have three computers from them), but the owner couldn’t match this new Dell.

As soon as I get it and verify that it works, I’m going to replace the Ubuntu with Debian. Yes, I know that Ubuntu is based on Debian and that they are very similar, but I don’t like Ubuntu’s sudo; I’m happier with Debian’s su, so I can log in and stay logged in as root, rather than sudoing whenever I need to do administrative stuff.

This has been my workhorse computer for a long time, five years or more. It has lived through Windows XP SP1 and SP2, two iterations of Slackware Linux, and is currently running Debian Linux.

Nothing lasts forever, and, to paraphrase my old mechanic in New Jersey as he delivered last rites to my van several years ago when I still had a mechanic in New Jersey, that computer doesn’t owe me a dime.

I have been a rabid Opera fanboy since Opera v. 3.

I now have gotten Opera on the netbook that I discussed here. Here’s how I did it (hint: it worked the same as if I were on regular laptop or desktop):

I went to the Opera website.

I verified that the “Download Opera” dialog, which loaded automatically, identified the correct Linux distribution and version (Ubuntu 8.04). (I suspect that the “Download” dialogue opened because the website knew I was viewing it with a different browser.)

I clicked to download. The default download option (“Save,” “Run,” and so on) was to open into the Debian package installer (in the Linux world, program downloads are called “packages”). I accepted the default.

Ubuntu downloaded and installed the program, placing it on the correct location on the correct submenu.

I used the Opera Menu–>File–>Import and Export item to import my RSS feeds, bookmarks, and email contacts from my primary laptop into the netbook Opera install. (One of the many things I like about Opera is that I have the five internet things I use most often–RSS feeds, email, text newsgroups, IRC, and the World Wide Web–in one convenient interface in one program, rather than scattered among several separate programs).

Now it looks like this (depending on your browser, click or right-click to see a larger image):

(In the picture, the mail panel, which shows email, RSS feeds, and newsgroups, is opened to the left.)

Appendix: Why I’m Such an Opera Fanboy

I first learned about Opera when I was working on my boating website nine or ten years ago and was hanging around in alt.html. Experienced HTML developers kept saying, “Use Opera.”

So I did. It’s small, fast, and versatile. It’s also standards compliant. If a site runs in Opera, it will run in just about any standards compliant browser. If a site does not work in Opera, the odds are 10-1 that that site is not standards compliant. It is also highly configurable. You can configure things that, in most browsers, aren’t even things.

Back in those olden days, Opera came in an ad-supported version and a registered version (registration was about $15 US). The ads appeared in the header area of the browser, up there on the right, and did not impinge in any way on the browser window, but I registered the program, I liked it so much.

It also outranks every other browser in the eye-candy department. There are hundreds of skins and dozens of widgets available for it, and I am a sucker for eye candy.

The other side of this coin is that I absolutely loathe the Evolution email client. This is not to criticize its functionality; it works great. I just don’t like it. I think it’s just too much like Microsoft Outlook for me.

As a little explanation, I specify Gnome in the title because, with other Linux desktops, there can be other file managers. They all do pretty much the same thing, but they can look different.

Fun Fact: Google runs on Linux.

If you have never used Linux, I think you will find browsing your files and home network looks a lot like what you are used to. In a Linux interface, as in Windows, there can be several ways to start a program. To keep this simple, I will show only one.

File Browsing with Nautilus:

The Gnome file manager is called “Nautilus,” I think because it goes under the surface.

To start Nautilus on Debian, go to Applications–>System Tools–>File Manager.

The File Manager will open to your home folder (a folder and a directory are the same thing. The word “folder” came into use because it described the function of a directory and was less intimidating to new users).

(The only files in my “home” folder are some screenshots I took for this series of posts.)

The home folder is similar to the C:\Documents and Settings\[username] folder in Windows. Unlike Windows, it does not contain pre-configured subfolders such as “My Documents,” “My Pictures,” and the like. The only pre-configured subfolder is “Desktop.” It is a blank slate for you to set up as you wish.

It also contains a number of hidden files and folders. In Linux, a file or folder is hidden by putting a period in front of the its name. “Docs” is open; “.Docs” is hidden. These folders store your preferences, menus, email database, and so on. Generally, there is a hidden folder every program you use, whether you run it from the menu or it runs automatically in the background. Hidden files perform functions like “locking” your login and user privileges.

Here’s a shot of the same folder with “Show Hidden Files” enabled under the “View” menu item:

You can

1. double-click on a folder to view its contents,
2. double-click on a file to open it in the default application, or
3. right-click on a file or folder to view a pop-up context menu.

The navigation panel on the left and the arrow buttons on top allow navigation about the computer. Here’s what I saw when I clicked on “File System” on the left:

This is where even the most expert Windows user is on foreign territory. The folders and files in a Unix or Linux system are arranged in a way completely different from how they are arranged in a DOS/Windows world. I am not going into this subject now, save to mention that the only folders that a home Linux user is ever likely to have to look at, besides the home folders, are /etc, /usr, and possibly opt. (Fun fact: Folder names are preceded by a forward slash, not a backslash. This is why internet addresses start with forward slashes. The internet began as a Unix thing.)

There is a good introduction to the Linux file structure here.

Network Browsing:

Browsing the network is similar.

Remember that Debian asked me to configure my network settings at time of install, so the network connection was already configured at the time of the initial reboot. In this case, we are browsing using Samba, which enables Linux and Windows computers to talk with each other.

Start the network browser by going to Places–>Network Servers:

The Network Browser opens to a list of “servers.” You can open a “server” by double clicking it. Same for a folder that’s shared over the network and for a file.

The picture shows

1. The first network browser window, showing the list of computers available on the network.
2. The list of shared folders in server “mackeral” (this laptop I’m typing on right now).
3. The list folders and files in the “//mackeral/docs” subfolder.
4. The list of documents in the “//mackeral/docs/manuals” subfolder.

Depending on the permissions granted on the various servers, I can delete, copy, open, edit, and move files. When I finished taking the screenshots for this post, I used the Network Browser to drag them from //swordfish/home/frankbell to //Interlock-3/blah-blah-blah/pix, where I edited them, then I dragged them from Interlock-3 to my server. (You can see a slightly-outdated diagram of the network here.)

While I was editing this post, I realized that some of the screenshots and pictures needed more work (that’s a fancy way of saying I saw that I blew it), so I opened them over the network on this here laptop, recropped them or added the captions or edited them, then saved them back to the server.

Just for grins and giggles, here is the Network Browser using the list view, rather than the icon view:

And that’s a quick intro to file and network browsing with Debian Linux and Gnome.

Here’s a quick tour of the default Debian desktop. This is the Debian 4 v 5 desktop, but I looked at some screenshots of Debian 5, which just came out, and it doesn’t seem to have changed much.

This is not a HOWTO. It’s the highlights of WHATIS. For a detailed description of the contents of Debian, you can go here. If you have never tried Linux, what I hope you will conclude after looking at the rest of the post is, “This isn’t so different from what I’m used to after all.”

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not a Debian fanboy. I’m a Slackware fanboy. (And not even the most rabid Slackware fanboy would recommend that a new Linux user start with Slackware, although, in fact, that’s what I did start with.)

But Debian is what’s on my test computer right now, so here’s some Debian.

Debian uses the Gnome desktop, one of three popular desktops. (The other two are KDE and XFCE; XFCE is the newest of the three.)

Here is the default desktop, (my captions are in red):

Applications: Displays the standard Gnome menu, listing the applications and untilties that come with Gnome, plus an embedded “Debian” submenu for system configuration and administration. There is some duplication between the “Debian” submenu and the other submenus.

Places: Allows for navigation within the computer (home folder, peripherals, file finder, and so on).

Desktop: Allows for configuration of desktop preferences.

When programs are minimized, they go to the Taskbar Panel.

The Change Workspace tool in the bottom right allows navigation to different workspaces or desktops. Different applications can be active on different workspaces at the same time. Linux has long allowed for multiple workspaces to be active at the same time. Most distros that I’ve used default to four.

(Most Linux distros customize their desktops and menus. The menus from one to the other may look a little different. In many cases, the difference is less than the difference between Windows 95 and Windows XP menu designs.)

When I use a computer, I spend most of my time on the world wide web, using email, or writing documents. Here’s what Debian gives me for that.

For an office suite, Debian includes Open Office, a fork of Sun’s Star Office. OO includes programs for word processing, managing databases, designing slide shows and other presentations, creating and managing spreadsheets, and drawing. (I have been using OO Writer and Calc–the spreadsheet program–for years, in both its Windows and Linux flavors.)

Here’s a shot of the word processor program with the “Save As” dialogue showing:

OO can read and write in many document formats, including most Microsoft Office formats, notably *.doc, *.ppt, and *.xls, though I must say that, in documents with extremely complex formatting (styles embedded in other styles, for example), the formatting doesn’t always come out right when “saving as” a Microsoft format. OO also can export a file directly to PDF format, so you can make your own PDFs; it will not edit existing PDFs.

There are two web browsers, Iceweasel, which is a Firefox variant, and Epiphany, the Gnome browser. (Here is the backstory on Iceweasel.) Here is a shot of Epiphany:

For email, it includes Evolution, the native Gnome email client, and Mutt, a text-based email client. In addition to handling all email formats, Evolution can work with Microsoft Exchange and sync calendars and the like in the workplace.

If you like to manipulate images, such as photographs, there is the GNU Image Manipulation Project, commonly referred to as “the GIMP”:

I’m not real good at using the GIMP. When I play with pictures, usually all I want to do is crop them and do simple brightness and contrast enhancements. I use simpler programs for that.

There is, of course, much more in a default Debian load. Two and half gigs worth of stuff, in fact: Audio and video players, a sound recorder, network tools, RSS and torrent tools, much, much more.

But I figure this, a look at the applications most persons are likely to use most of the time, is enough for a first look.

Next: File and Network Browsing.

Most of the work of the Debian installation is done. There are a few loose ends before we can walk away and let the computer do its thing.

Next is to select the timezone that you are in:

Then to establish the root user’s password. “Root” is the equivalent of the Windows Administrator and has complete reign over the computer:

A screen will appear requiring you to reenter the password to ensure that you didn’t make a typo.

The next step is to create a regular user, one who does not have “root” privileges. This is something that has been built into Linux from the beginning and one reason that Linux does not have the security issues of certain other operating systems: most day-to-day computer usage is done under the authority of a user name that does not have the right to break anything important. And if the user does break something, root can always override user to fix it.

This is not to imply that Linux users should not be careful. No computer of mine goes on the net without a firewall, an anti-virus, or a HOSTS file. But, in the Linux world, security is prudence; it’s not an Excedrin headache.

Just as for the root user, a “create password” screen will appear, followed by a password confirmation screen:

Debian will then install the base system and ask you if you wish to select a mirror site for the rest of the installation. The only sensible answer to this question is “Yes.” Otherwise, you now have a nice umpty-ump hundred dollar paperweight.

This leads to selecting a specific mirror from which the installation program can get the files for the rest of the installation.

The first screen asks you to select your country, because the closest mirror site is the best one to use:

And the next asks you to select a specific mirror:

If you are behind a proxy, the next screen allows you to enter the proxy information. Most home users should just leave this blank (if you have set up a proxy on your home network, you will know what to enter here).

Debian will then ask whether you want to participate in their “Popularity Contest” to determine which applications are used the most often. Graciously, the screen defaults to “No.”

Next, it asks what software configuration you want. The two pre-selected default choices are “Desktop Environment” and “Standard System.” I also selected “File Server” so I could network the computer within my home network. If I want additional software, I can install it later.

At this point, Debian began downloading and installing the packages. Because I selected “File Server,” when it got to downloading SAMBA, which allows Linux computers to network with Windows boxes, it stopped and asked me for the name of my Windows home network:

The process of downloading and installing the software took approximately two and a half hours, during which I did something else.

The last step is to install the boot loader. Debian uses GRUB. Since it’s going to be a single-operating-system computer, the installation program recommends putting GRUB in the Master Boot Record:

All done:

You can watch a short, unprofessional, grainy video of the successive and successful boot from the boot loader to the login screen here (AVI).

Next: A short tour of Debian.

This is where experienced Windows users can find themselves on foreign territory. The phrases “C drive” or “harddisk 0″ mean nothing to Linux. Linux can read and write to Windows file systems (FAT, FAT32, and NTFS) but cannot run on them.

Accordingly, the hard disk must be set up in a way that Linux understands. Almost all the distros I’ve tried walk you through it very gently; my personal favorite, Slackware, does not. It asks you to use either Linux fdisk or Linux cfdisk to do it manually. Being used to DOS fdisk, that bothered me not.

Now, if you are installing Windows from scratch, it also asks you to partition and format the hard disk. But the closest most persons get to installing Windows from scratch is running one of the lame “recovery CDs” (I say “lame” because they blow away all your data–they do not recover; they restore the computer to its “out-of-the-box” state).

In Windows, the first hard disk is “harddisk0″; the second one is “harddisk1″: and so on. In Linux, the first IDE hard disk is “hda” (hard disk a); the second one is “hdb.” The first SCSI or SATA drive is “sda.” And so one. (In the past few years, SATA drives have been overtaking IDE drives; SCSI drives have never been popular in the home market).

A hard disk may contain one or more partitions; the partition is what you see in a file manager program, such as Windows Explorer or Konqueror. In the Windows world, they are referred to by letters: “C:\,” “D:\,” and so on. In the Linux world, they are “hda1″ or “sdb1″ or the like.

Step 2: Partioning and Formatting the Hard Drive

The next questions the Debian installer asks have to do with setting up your hard drive.

First it asks whether you want to do this step manually or allow Debian to walk you through the process. I chose “Guided Partitioning.”

Then it asks you which disk you want to use (most persons will only have one to choose from).

With older, smaller harddrives, it was sometimes useful to put certain directories on other partitions. It can still be useful to put the “home” directory on a separate partition, though I have never done that. I have always put everything on the same partition.

In the next screen, Debian tells you how it intends to set up the hard drives. If you have second thoughts, you can go back and change it.

(Aside: Note that Linux “swaps” to a separate partition which is dedicated to that purpose. Linux handles swapping differently from Windows; it swaps only when it has too. I just checked my laptop; the swap partition is not being used right now. Windows, on the other hand, always swaps. If you are a Windows user, you have lurking on your harddrive somewhere a huge hidden file called “pagefile.sys” that never goes away. Memory is wasted in maintaining this file when it’s not needed. I have actually filled up my main Linux partition–hda1–with a download that was bigger than I expected; the computer keep working; I was able delete the excess files, reboot, and be right back to normal after the reboot.)

Since reformatting a drive destroys its contents, Debian gives you one more chance to back out:

If you select “Yes,” it’s off and running to set up your hard disk.

Next: Installing and Configuring the System.

From here on, it’s easy.

Debian is one of the oldest Linux distros and has a reputation for not releasing an update until it is rock-solid stable. In the web install, a small image is burned to a CD and the bulk of the software is retrieved from the web, so that the computer must be connected to the internet. This post and the next one will walk step-by-step through the installation, with lots of pictures.

I decided to do this because I realized that many persons have never installed an OS; it’s easier than you think.

A Linux install typically involves at least two and maybe three steps:

1. Setting basic options.
2. Partioning and formatting the hard drive.
3. Installing and Configuring the System

(I know. I said that a Kubuntu install was next, but it was not to be. If you’re curious, you can see why at the end of the post.)

The computer is a Pentium III 1000 mHZ machine with 256 MB RAM that started its life as single purpose domain server in the early days of Windows 2000. When it was first sold, it had one SCSI drive. I’ve added two IDE drives; one new and one from my old Windows 98 box, long since departed this world.

The distro is Debian 4 v. 5. Debian 5 has just been released, but I haven’t gone after it yet. Knowing the Debian philosophy, I doubt the installation process has changed significantly.

The computer must be set to boot from a CD before booting from the hard drive or it will never see the CD before it loads the existing OS. This may require changing a setting in the computer’s BIOS. When you first start your computer and it’s doing the memory check, you will often see something like “Press DEL (or F2 or some other function key) to enter Setup.” “Setup” in this context refers to the computer’s BIOS settings screens.

Here’s what the PIII’s boot options screen looks like in the BIOS:

Step 1: Choosing Basic Options

When the computer boots to the CD it displays this screen:

Hit “Enter” to proceed. The Linux kernel and the installation program will load. There are a number of steps that follow; for most of them, you can accept the default choices, but it is wise the read the instructions on each one.

The next screen prompts you to chooses a language for the install.

Select the language you want and hit “Enter.”

Next, Debian asks which keyboard layout you are using:

The next series of questions involve your network settings. I have seen these questions asked at time of installation only by Debian and Slackware, but there are many distros I haven’t tried yet.

First, choose a computer name. If you are not sure, you can accept the default and change it later.

I chose “swordfish.” This computer has had that name through many permutations.

Next, Debian asks for a domain name. This has no meaning outside your home network (even if it is a network of one computer). If you are installing Debian on a business network,

1. You probably aren’t reading this post, and
2. Check with your network folks.

Next: Preparing the Hard Drive.

This is the area which persons new to Linux can find most intimidating, so I am reserving it for another post.

________________

Why not Kubuntu? My CDrom drive is going bad. Five CDs for three different Linux distros that all checked out in another computer failed at the same block and sector addresses. I picked up a used drive from my favorite second-hand computer store (thanks to Jeffrey for suggesting “used”), but Kubuntu will have to wait. Because the Debian image was much smaller–because most of the files are on the web, not on the CD–than the others, it did not reach the part of the drive that is going bad.)