Category: Experiences — UbuntuLinuxHelp @ 3:58 pm — Comments (6)

The good people over at thecomputingexpert.com wrote an insightful article, outlining the advantages of Ubuntu Linux. I must say that I agree with many of the points, however, I have to completely disagree with their perspective on networking. They say “…The other day I was amazed with how easy it was to connect my Ubuntu laptop to my Windows XP PC. I simply plugged in my laptop to the network hub and it immediately connected with no problems, I didn’t even have to configure it…”

Not in my case. I had to install a Samba server so that all computers could access the same resources, regardless of the platform used.

Here’s what else they had to say:

“I converted from Vista to Ubuntu a little over 2 months ago and am soooooo happy with it, best decision of my life. I am going to tell you my top 10 advantages of it over Windows Vista. Please remember these are my own opinions, if you have more advantages and indeed any disadvantages (if you can find any) then please post them as comments.

1) Eye Candy
If I am completely honest, the biggest reason why I converted was the eye candy. Sure Windows Vista comes with lots of it, but it just isn’t as good. Ubuntu 7.04 comes with just a few of the effects seen a lot nowadays, these effects include the rotating cube desktop and wobbly windows, it just makes it much nicer to use. I have installed Beryl on my computer to give much more eye candy. I base a lot of my judgments on looks first, features later.

2) Easy to Install Applications
Installing new programs in Ubuntu is a doddle, far easier than in Windows, because there is one program that basically gives you access to most applications available to Ubuntu, simply click the program you want and it will install, you don’t need to accept agreements because its all open source so there is no need to click Next 20 times before the program is installed. Simply select the program and click OK, wallah! done.

3) Secure
In Windows Vista, to change a setting requires a ridiculous amount of dialog boxes and passwords, in Ubuntu, you are never logged in as an administrator (root), you are logged in as a simple user, you can change options that are only applicable to your user area but for changing options that affect the system you are required to input the administrator password, one dialog and you’re in, simple and secure. There is also the added bonus that there are very few viruses for Linux, I haven’t ever come across one yet so you can feel safe, imagine not having any virus protection software installed in Windows, there is no need for it in Linux, freedom from the threat of losing all your data.

4) Easy to change options
Ubuntu comes with a control panel but also comes with a menu next to the Applications menu where you simply select the thing you want to change, be it the Desktop background or the network settings. Everything on the windows that appear is simple and there are just the options you need so it is easy to change the options.

5) Community
The community behind Linux, especially Ubuntu is what attracts many people to the operating system. People in the Linux community are mainly ex-Windows users so they know what it feels like to be new to an operating system, so they are happy to help. Whenever I had and have a problem with Ubuntu I simply post on the Ubuntu forum and within minutes there are answers to the problems. I never got put on hold or had to phone up customer service and wait for hours if I had any problems.

6) Free
Everything about Ubuntu is free, the operating system (you can even have them send you a free copy of the operating system, they even pay the postage charges), the software installed is free (including all the software you can download) any help and support is free. The whole experience is 100% free, because it is open source. Open source means that you can distribute and even edit the code behind the program.”

Read the remaining four advantages and comments from their web site: thecomputingexpert.com/start/?p=261

Category: How to... — UbuntuLinuxHelp @ 12:18 pm — Comments (0)

A couple of days ago I turned my PC on and the BIOS failed to auto-detect my hard drive. Assuming it was just a boot-up mistake, I rebooted the system - I got the same result. Suffice it to say, it did not take to long to realize that my hard drive had failed!

I even tried using the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) tool from ultimatebootcd.com. UBCD is a great free diagnostic CD with lots of troubleshooting tools, I’ve used this tool often and highly recommend it.

The bad news, the degree of hard drive failure was not worth the excessive time to reclaim any data.
The good news, I had backups and could get my system back up and running in minutes!

How you ask? First install Ubuntu, as of the writing of this article, part one of my article “How to Install the Perfect Ubuntu Based Computer - Introduction” is available on this web site. I had previously made backups of my settings, package installations as well as email, and other important data.

Backing up important data is relatively easy! - Just burn it to a CD or DVD. That’s what I did to save email messages, documents, my home folder, fonts, etc.

What I needed was to preserve the installation packages installed (which I’d never remember and prefer not to write down). That would actually have taken me too long to figure out and I’d probably not have found them all!

Here’s how to ensure you get all your packages and applications back…

Run the command

sudo dpkg –get-selections > /backup/applist.txt

What this does is create a simple text listing of all the packages and applications installed on my system and stores it in my “backup” directory (which I created earlier). I can email that list, burn it to CD or do whatever I wish, so as to have a safe copy of it.

Restoring is a simple matter, install Ubuntu and copy your “applist.txt” file to “/backup”, then restore the packages using that backed up package list (applist.txt) like this:

cat /backup/applist.txt | sudo dpkg –set-selections

next:

sudo apt-get -y update

then:

sudo apt-get dselect-upgrade

Now your packages will be restored. Now I’m free to copy any data I wanted to save that was in my home directory; documents, images, audio files, etc.

Why is this so good to do? It saves a lot of time searching for the packages you need or want as well as keeping a listing of the ones I probably forgot I had installed and at most I may have lost a day or two of file changes. A real time-saver!

Category: Experiences — UbuntuLinuxHelp @ 11:18 am — Comments (0)

The good people of TALL blog, in Oxford provide a very good perspective of some of the issues; comparing Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu Linux.

Areas covered (in the chart on their web site) are: software management, malware scanner, performance, hardware support, “User runs the computer, or the other way around?”, and License costs. Read what they have to contribute below…

“I want to re-install my work PC - get rid of Windows and install Ubuntu. Here’s why…

Around 5 years ago, after using AmigaOS, MS DOS, and MS Windows (versions 3.1, 95, 98, ME, and NT, 2000) , I started playing with Linux (or GNU/Linux if you prefer). I started with Mandrake (now Mandriva), and Linux From Scratch (compiling and setting up the whole operating system from source code), and I learned a lot about how a Linux system is put together, how software is developed and managed, and how PC hardware is often poorly put together, neglecting industry “standards” in favour of “does it work on Windows?”.

It seemed clear 5 years ago that Linux could do all I want a computer do, do it well, and maybe even gratis. The only problem was that it took a lot of effort to get to the system set up correctly in the first instance. Once it was ready it was great, but getting ready took time, research, and effort - that’s fine for messing around at home, but not so good for getting work done.

I now run Ubuntu Desktop Linux on my home PC, with virtually no effort required to run it - as these things should be.

My work PCs have always run MS Windows. Currently it’s Windows XP, and gives me hassle most days.

I don’t want to write reams of prose about the two platforms, so I’ll just describe the key issues that bother me, comparing Windows to Ubuntu…”

Read the really good bits by visiting their blog (in the comparison chart): tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2007/08/03/windows-vs-ubuntu-why-switch/

Category: How to... — UbuntuLinuxHelp @ 10:41 am — Comments (2)

Readers have been asking me for a bit more background information about the issues in part one, this results in a far more technical article (follow up) than ever intended. And I hope the technical gurus among us can correct any errors here. As requested, here is more background to the settings…

To clarify the Window/Packet size tweak:

In a Windows environment we improve speed by editing what’s called “rwin” (Receive Window) - In other words what is the largest receiving window size that works best for your Windows based PC. There are several other settings for Windows, however our blog is specifically for the benefit of the Ubuntu and Linux community.

Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. uses several configuration values. Below is what each “value” (in part one) refers to.

net.core.rmem_default
This refers to the DEFAULT size we want to set our RECEIVE window to.

net.core.rmem_max
This refers to the MAXIMUM size we want to set our RECEIVE window to.

net.core.wmem_default
This refers to the DEFAULT size we want to set our SEND window to.

net.core.wmem_max
This refers to the MAXIMUM size we want to set our SEND window to.

net.ipv4.tcp_wmem
Refers to the SEND window size range to use. The first number is the minimum size, the second is the default and the third is the maximum.

net.ipv4.tcp_rmem
Refers to the RECEIVE window size range to use. The first number is the minimum size, the second is the default and the third is the maximum.

net.ipv4.tcp_mem
In general, it refers to the memory buffer used for packet transactions. It keeps the communications buffers from being drained. Communication bottlenecks can occur if this value is too low.

net.ipv4.tcp_rfc1337
Enables or disables time-wait hazards. It’s rather complicated as it is a feature that enables (or disables) the ability to handle some of the proposed TCP extension’s new class of TCP failures. Check this url for the technical details: www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1337.txt
(1 turns this on and 0 turns it off).

net.ipv4.ip_no_pmtu_disc
Maximum Transfer Unit (MTU) discovery. If you disable this setting, then the MTU settings will be calculated from the MTU’s of all the hops along the path to the host (web site server) you are connecting. Again, 1 enables and 0 disables. MTU is the largest packet size that can be transferred in one physical frame at a time. Remember, the packet also contains the header and trailer information (addresses are part of each packet and are required by routers so that data can be sent to the correct addresses).

net.ipv4.tcp_sack
This refers to SACK (Selective Acknowledgment). The handling of out-of-sequence or duplicate data. When a packet is receive by a computer (the receiver), it send out an acknowledgment to the sending computer (the sender). In other words…

Receiver says to sender: “I got your packet. Please send the next packet”.

But what happens when there are duplicate packets? According to www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2883.txt (lots of details in this link), when duplicate packets are received, the first block of the SACK option field can be used to report the sequence numbers of the packet that triggered the acknowledgment.

net.ipv4.tcp_fack
This refers to the control of data flow. Particularly to work with Sack (net.ipv4.tcp_sack above) in avoiding bottlenecks/data congestion. In other words, avoiding data traffic jams. It’s a good idea to enable it “1″.

net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling
This refers to the increasing or decreasing of the window sizes. If memory serves me correctly, in Windows the size is static, but in Linux it is dynamic. Therefore, turning this on (by setting it to 1) enables the ability to change window sizes as needed.

net.ipv4.tcp_timestamps
Timestamps are used for RTTM (Round Trip Time Measurement) and PAWS (Protect Against Wrapped Sequences). RTTM I think is self-explanatory. PAWS protects against the old/duplicate packet overlaps. You can find more detailed information here: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1323.txt and here: http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/rfc/rfc13xx/RFC1337.html

net.ipv4.tcp_ecn
This ads ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification), details of which can be found here http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3168.txt and here: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2884.txt

net.ipv4.route.flush
This simply flushes the routing cache. Systems store the routing information in a cache. How to get from point A to point B - In other words where to route (or send) the data, so that it gets to the next (correct) router.

As I mentioned, this follow-up is far too technical (in my opinion) that I ever intended, however it is here by request and I really do hope it helps.
And I hope some of you technical gurus can correct any mistakes or inaccuracies.

The original, Part 1 of this article can be found here: ubuntulinuxhelp.com/speed-up-your-internet-connection-in-ubuntu-linux/

UPDATE: Video below…


How-to: Fix A Slow Internet Connection In Ubuntu 7.10

Category: How to..., Installation — UbuntuLinuxHelp @ 11:59 am — Comments (14)

If, like me, you enjoy tweaking and playing with your Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty) installation then check out the download (zipped text file). It contains pretty much all the software repositories for Ubuntu Feisty (7.04) that are available to enhance the “apt-get install” command. Obviously, if you plan on continuing to upgrade your distribution as new Ubuntu versions are released, be careful which things you actually install, backup your files first, before doing this. What does this tweak do for us? Saves time searching for repositories! Below is a peek of some of the repositories on the list and the download link.

Have fun!

Repositories included:

Medibuntu
Beryl
Audacious
Skype
Ekiga & Debian pkg-voip
Opensync
Google
Opera
Wine
SimplyMepis
EasyCam
Linux2Go
TVFreePlayer
GnomeMeeting
Cinelerra
Mjpeg
MythTV
Screenlets
MusicBrainz
Dbuntu
SysAdmins
PeaDrop
IVTV
Ubuntu Studio
Elisa Media Creator
Qemulator
and more…

The download contains two files:

sources.list and sources_keys.sh

Download: sources.zip
Download: sources.gz

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