Feel at home with Fedora 12 Constantine

This is my attempt to make Fedora 12 my main desktop. It is a bit too late because Fedora 13 Goddard is already in the doorway. I use Fedora 12 Gnome LiveCD to install on my old Acer Dothan laptop.

After install, I want to keep my next downloaded apps and updates in the /var/cache/.
gedit etc/yum.conf
keepcache = 1

I want to use the fastest mirror to download apps and updates.
yum install yum-fastestmirror

I want to do security update only (poor and expensive bandwith)
yum install yum-security
yum –security update

I need to remove icons on the desktop.
So I change setting in gconf-editor.
yum install gconf-editor

After that, I need to install my fav applications.
yum install thunderbird (email)
yum install thunderbird-lightning (calendar)
yum install gimp (advance image editor)
yum install pspp (statistical data analysis)
yum install gtk-murrine-engine

I have kept my fav apps and existing update in dedicated rpm folder.
So I want to use yum locally.
yum localinstall /home/username/folder/*rpm
Make sure you do this after yum check-update.

I want to install vlc, DVD & mp3 codecs from RPM Fusion repo.
su -c ‘rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm’
yum install gstreamer-plugin-ugly
su -c “rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release.rpm”
yum install libdvdcss
yum install vlc

Finally, I need flash to play youtube and flash-equipped websites.
Go to http://www.adobe.com.
Download flash player in rpm format.
Install by double click on the rpm file.

That’s it.
Fedora is powerful and flexible.
You can complete your fedora desktop with your needs.
Also, there are other ways to get the purpose of above writings with the same or even better result.

Disable Annoying Beep on Mandriva 2010

I am using Mandriva 2010 One. I feel annoyed by its beep sound whenever I shut down or restart my computer and go to next items where there is not any.

From any soundmixer try muting the Beep channel.
You can use kmix, or alsamixer from terminal:

Code:
alsamixer -c 0

Select the Beep the channel then press M to mute it.

After muting it do this as root:

Code:
su
alsactl store

see if this makes it stick.

Install Adobe Flash in Blankon 5

If you enable only blankon repository (like me) and disable ubuntu repository, you will need to install flash manually from adobe website. By manual install, I can install flash in other computer without connecting to internet first. I know that flash is used while we connect to internet, but I think it can save our worthy bandwith.

To install the latest version manually:

1. Go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
2. Choose tar.gz for linux
3. Save the file install_flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz.
4. In the Terminal window, change to the directory where you saved the file you downloaded (e.g. cd /home/user/Downloads).
5. Extract libflashplayer.so from file you downloaded with the command tar -zxvf install_flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz.
6. As the super user, copy the extracted file, libflashplayer.so, to your Firefox installation directory’s plugins sub-directory. For example, if Firefox is installed in /usr/lib/mozilla, use the command sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins and then enter your super user password when prompted.
7. Open Firefox.
8. Enter about:plugins into the Location (address) bar to display the Installed plugins list. The Flash plugin should be listed as installed.

Testing Flash
Visit Adobe’s Test Page to test your plugin to make sure it is installed properly.

Updating Flash
To see if you need to update Flash, visit Mozilla’s Plugin Check page. If you need to update Flash, see Installing Flash above – the instructions for updating Flash are the same as the normal installation instructions.

Source: Mozilla support website

Two-ways Sync between Thunderbird and Google Calendar

Background

I use Ubuntu 9.04 that comes with thunderbird 2.0.0.23 and lightning 0.9 in its repo. I have only one calendar in my Google account.

1. Open thunderbird
2. Click Calendar icon (left bottom)
3. Right click on Calendar dropdown menu and choose New Calendar … or go to Calendar > New Calendar …
4. Choose “On the Network” for your new calendar location
5. Select “CalDAV”
6. Fill location with “https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/username@gmail.com/events”
7. Hit “Next” and you will asked about your calendar name, color and your email address
8. Hit “Next” again and you’re done

 

Access NTFS partition in Blankon Minimalis (LXDE)

I find that my LXDE desktop in Blankon Minimalis install cannot reach my Windows partion (dual boot). I have to manually mount it.

First, I check whether ntfs-3g package is already installed.
Then, check where the windows partition exists.

After that, create subfolder in /mnt:
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/windows

Mount manually by:
$ sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows

Install OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 in Blankon 5 Minimalis

For your information, the minimalist version of Blankon linux distribution (with LXDE desktop) does not have OpenOffice in its default install.

First, I have the DEB installer from InfoLINUX magazine CD bonus (10/2009).
I copy folder [openoffice.org-3.1.1] to my home folder.

Then I change the permission setting by marking “Write” option in the “Properties” after a right-click on the folder.

There I find [OOo_3.1.1_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz] archive file.
Open and extract it, then I have [OOO310_m19_native_packed-1_en-US.9420] folder.
There is [DEBS] folder that contains … well … deb files required to install.

Open terminal and install
$ sudo dpkg -i /home/username/openoffice.org-3.1.1/OOO310_m19_native_packed-1_en-US.9420/DEBS/*.deb

To show shortcut on the menu
$ sudo dpkg -i /home/username/openoffice.org-3.1.1/OOO310_m19_native_packed-1_en-US.9420/DEBS/desktop-integration/*.deb

Jaunty Journal 2

Following is extras that I add to my Jaunty Install.

Among them are nasty things.

• install ubuntu-restricted-extras
  “sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras”
• install libdvdcss2
  “sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/jaunty.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list”
  “sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update”
  “sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2″
• install sun-java6-plugin
  “sudo apt-get install sun-java6-plugin”
• install openoffice.org
  “sudo apt-get install openoffice.org”
• install bzr
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/bzr/*.deb”

By doing that, I add:

• additional openoffice.org suite
• bzr
• java plugin for firefox
• play encrypted DVD
• multimedia codecs
• flash plugin for firefox
• microsoft fonts

Jaunty Journal

When I use Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, here is my initial setup:

• remove help from top panel
• disable weather and temperature in clock
• adjust local time in clock
• disable confirm dialogs for logout, restart and shutdown
• disable spellcheck and auto-bullet in tomboy
• install thunderbird
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/thunderbird/thunderbird*.deb”
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/thunderbird/lightning*.deb”
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/thunderbird/calendar*.deb”
• install xchat-gnome
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/xchat-gnome/tcl*.deb”
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/xchat-gnome/xchat-gnome*.deb”
• install ttf-liberation
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/ttf-liberation/ttf-liberation*.deb”
• install notecase
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Install/notecase/notecase*.deb”
• manual update
  “sudo dpkg -i /home/username/Packages/Updates/*.deb”
• add calculator shortcut to top panel
• add terminal shortcut to top panel
• add firefox shortcut to top panel
• add thunderbird shortcut to top panel
• add pidgin shortcut to top panel
• add xchat-gnome shortcut to top panel
• add openoffice.org shortcut to top panel
• add tomboy shortcut to top panel
• change theme to Dust Sand
• change system font to liberation 9
• disable compiz effect
• remove minimize effect
  “gconf-editor”
  “apps > metacity > general > reduced_resources”
  “desktop > gnome > interface > accessibility”
• tune firefox preference
• set thunderbird account
• install thunderbird add-ons importexporttools
• import mbox files to thunderbird
• set thunderbird message filter
• tune thunderbird preference
• set pidgin account
• tune openoffice.org
• set rhythmbox playlist
• tune nautilus preference
• disable automatic update
• reduce grub time to 1
• set wireless connection
• set wired connection
• set mobile broadband connection

I use dpkg to install application because I already have the deb files from previous installation that I collected from /var/cache/apt/archives

Remove Mono and Install Gnote

While not knowledgeable enough to have opinion on the mono discussion, I am interested in faster respond and smaller file size based on some people experiences so that I remove mono and replace tomboy with gnote. Actually, mono is the basis of tomboy, gnome-do and giver. Those applications are installed by default in my Gloria install. Also, if you have Ubuntu in your machine, f-spot is based on mono. My need is only note taking application among above applications. So, I have to look for tomboy replacement.

Terminal:
sudo apt-get purge libmono0 mono-common libgdiplus

It will remove tomboy, gnome-do, giver, and f-spot (if you install one)

Install Gnote

Edit sources.list:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnote/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnote/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Terminal
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnote

ref:

http://www.opensourcerer.com

Gloria Journal

Install after receive ordered linuxmint 7 CD (6/4/2009). My initial setting are, as follow:

• remove computer and home icons from desktop
• move panel to top
• add bottom panel
• replace mintmenu with menu bar on top panel
• move show desktop and window list to bottom panel
• add workspace switcher to bottom panel
• add trash to bottom panel
• add user switcher to top panel
• add separator to top panel
• add calculator shortcut to top panel
• add terminal shortcut to top panel
• add firefox shortcut to top panel
• add thunderbird shortcut to top panel
• add pidgin shortcut to top panel
• add xchat shortcut to top panel
• add openoffice.org shortcut to top panel
• add rhythmbox shortcut to top panel
• disable weather and temperature in clock
• adjust local time in clock
• disable confirm dialogs for logout, restart and shutdown
• disable spellcheck and auto-bullet in tomboy
• install dust-sand theme
• apply dust-sand theme
• tune firefox preference
• set thunderbird account
• install thunderbird add-ons importexporttools
• import mbox files to thunderbird
• set thunderbird message filter
• tune thunderbird preference
• set pidgin account
• tune openoffice.org preference
• set rhythmbox playlist
• tune nautilus preference
• set system font to liberation 9
• assign super key to launch menu bar
• set automatic update to 7 days
• reduce grub time
• set wireless connection
• set wired connection