Updating to OpenOffice 3.0 in Ubuntu 8.10

Unfortunately, even though Intrepid Ibex (Ubuntu 8.10) shipped quite a bit after the release of OpenOffice 3.0, the developers hadn’t quite finished testing Intrepid with the latest version. As a result, Ubuntu 8.10 ships with version 2.4 of the popular, free office suite.

The latest version of OpenOffice adds many new features, including an enhanced user interface, compatibility with Microsoft Office 2007’s XML formats (docx, pptx), and improved speed and reliability all round.

Softpedia outlines the proper way to update your OpenOffice suite. You just have to add the following to your list of software sources: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu intrepid main and then update via the Update Manager:

[How to Install OpenOffice.org 3.0 on Ubuntu 8.10 – Step by step tutorial with screenshots! – Softpedia]

Installing Flock in Ubuntu 8.10 in 3 easy steps

This article will help you install the popular social web browser Flock on your Ubuntu  computer. The instructions are tested on Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex, but they will probably work on most recent versions.

The instructions on the official Flock FAQ are outdated, so use this guide instead.

1) Download Flock. It should end in ".tar.gz". Place the fle in your home folder i.e. ~/

2) Open up a terminal window and type in:

tar -C /home/USERNAME -xzvf FILENAME.tar.gz

Substitute USERNAME and FILENAME for the real thing (case-sensitive)

3) We now need a nice launcher for Flock. Type in:

gedit /home/USERNAME/Flock.desktop

A new text editor window should open up. In the new window, copy and paste the following:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Flock
Comment=Flock Web Browser
Exec="/home/USERNAME/flock/flock-browser"
GenericName=Flock Web Browser
Icon=/home/USERNAME/flock/icons/mozicon128.png
Path=/home/USERNAME/flock
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=false
TerminalOptions=
Type=Application
X-KDE-SubstituteUID=false
X-KDE-Username=
Categories=Network;Application;
GenericName[en_US]=Flock Web BrowserAs before, replace all 3 instances of USERNAME with your actual (case-sensitive) username.

That's it! Flock is now installed on your computer! You can also copy and paste the shortcut to the desktop for easier access. If you want it in your Applications menu, right click the menu and edit it.

Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

Today I installed Ubuntu 8.10. Ubuntu is a Linux distribution. The move came a few months after I was severely burned by v7.10, losing all my photos in a failed install.

Below are my first impressions from a Windows-user perspective…

A quick note on how I installed it

A lot of time has passed and I feel ready to jump back in to the wonderfully open and customisable world of Linux.

I didn’t actually physically install Ubuntu on my computer. The scars of 2 years’ worth of lost photosstill hurt.

So I used the excellent Wubi installer instead. The installer uses some sort of magic commands to install Ubuntu inside a Windows drive.

First Impressions

First impressions are mixed – the interface is undoubtedly pretty, but I’m feeling a little lost.

I’m considerably eased by the little commodities – like a preinstalled PDF viewer, it automatically detecting my printer and also automatically connecting me to the internet.

I can tell that whoever designed the UI really wants to appear warm and welcoming to migrating Windows users. After a couple of hours the strange disorientation disappears and I’m fully immersed in the experience.

Installing applications is extremely different to how I’m used to on Windows. Ubuntu’s way is undoubtedly more difficult, but it does bring most programs under one centralised location (making updates and new programs more prominent).

It’s also very easy to get lost playing with new applications and changing all the system settings. Everything is presented very nicely and graphically. Ubuntu is trying very hard to hide its command-line underpinnings.

Fonts

The font rendering is very different from Windows. There’s no ClearType here in Linux land so it’s up to you to decide how you want your fonts. I found a way how to get font rendering to roughly resemble Mac OS X’s beautiful font rendering. In this regard it’s advantage to the free OS (more on that in a future article).

Speed

I wasn’t expecting miracles. My machine has a very modest 512MB RAM chip installed. 64 of that 512MB is reserved for video, since I also don’t have dedicated graphics.

The operating system itself, with all fancy features turned off, is not significantly faster than Windows XP. It does use a little less RAM though and Firefox is remarkably efficient on Ubuntu.

That’s all for now. Look out for future articles about my Ubuntu and Linux adventures.

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[Ubuntu download page]

Linux Nightmares!

If you think it'll never happen to you... think again!

1.  I had an interest in Ubuntu 7.10 Linux distro

2.  I got the steps needed to install dual boot from internet.

3.  My 160GB hard drive is partitioned into C:\ and D:\ of equal size.

4.  I moved all my pictures (20-25GB) to the D drive because C was choking.

5.  Everything seemed fine.

6.  I booted into Linux using a Ubuntu Live CD.

7.  I couldn't connect to the internet - I was getting an IP address of 0.0.0.0.0

8.  ...Meaning if I wanted help with installing, I had to re-boot back into Windows every time.

9.  I proceeded with the more permanent installer.

10. I had to cancel it half-way because it was taking too long to import my user account settings which I didn't need and could opt out of.

11. I re-booted back into Ubuntu, as this gives me a fresh install every time.

12. I went through with the installer again. Once again I had to specify what partition to store it on.

13. As usual I resized one of the partitions to accommodate the Ubuntu installations.

14. I can't tell which was which in terms of logical partitions, as they're obscurely labelled as something like: "/mba/dev/media/"... or something like that.

15. I just hoped I wasn't over-writing anything at this point.

16. Ubuntu didn't behave as expected, and even though all the files seemed to have been installed, the hard disk it was installed on was now called "File System", not "disk-1" and needed no extra mounting. Maybe it was now recognised as the default boot disk?

17. A lot of restarts and further unsuccessful attempts at a clean install later, I tried to go back to Windows to find out what the heck was happening.

18. This was supposed to be a matter of removing the Live CD and waiting until Windows did its thing.

19. I started to get worried when I saw a continuous blank screen. The only hints that the computer was actually doing something was the hum of the hard drives spinning.

20. I grew increasingly worried that it might never come back into life. I started looking around for that Windows CD I got with the computer just in case I might have to re-install Windows.

21. After a long, anxious wait, Windows seemed to be coming round. I saw the familiar "Windows XP - loading..." logo.

22. I got another blank screen. I was even more worried.

23. The machine somehow re-booted itself and was now loading all over again... Strange. Maybe it usual startup disk-checking (or whatever) detected something was up and so took some action?

24. XP loaded up just fine this time round.

25. I dived straight into My Computer to check on the state of the partitions.

26. Partition D was missing!

27. Went on the internet to find ways to get back that partition.

28. I feared that Ubuntu had overwritten my folder of photos!!

29. I booted back into Linux, and sure enough, "File System" had completely replaced my D drive.

30. Panic! 2 years' worth of photos!

31. Since I had used a regular cut and paste job to move the files, it may be a case of finding software to "undelete" the files.

32. I found some free software fairly quickly, however every time I wanted to "undelete" the files, the program hesitated, saying I have to dump them in a separate hard drive to prevent over-writing.

33. How the heck am I gonna get another hard drive at 2a.m?!

34. Think... think... think...

35. I had to get back that D partition, no matter what. Now.

36. To get back the partition, all I had to do was go to Disk Management and "re-allocate" it.

37. This involved formatting the partition too.

38. Now I attempted to "undelete" the files, and send them to this partition.

39. I started writing this log of events.

40. After an anxious wait, the program said it had successfully undeleted everything.

41. I went to check the integrity. First signs were good...

42. Catastrophe!

43. The files were completely botched up. Some were there, but most weren't.

44. While it had recovered the files, with sizes and everything, it didn't seem to get them properly. Most were completely un-readable, corrupted files.

45. Some were mixed up too (scanned documents in the middle of a wildlife shoot?).

46. Whoa! Now I'm completely shaken up. I lost two years' worth of work, love, and joy.

And so ends one of the saddest days of my life

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