Tech Talk (08/10)
Ubuntu & Linux Software
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.*
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
I suppose some of you might be wondering why I
have been writing about the Ubuntu Linux operating system and Linux software. As I noted in last month’s article my
laptop is now my sole computer. Although it has a Pentium 4 processor it
only has 512 MB of RAM. Naturally, that means it is incapable of running
Windows Vista. But it does easily run Ubuntu with more than enough
memory to do multi-tasking with no reduction in speed. I also know that
there are a number of the members of the SPCUG that use computers that
are running Windows 98 or Windows XP. The point is, that it is not
necessary to try to upgrade these computers to run Vista or to buy a new
computer. Instead you have the free alternative of installing Ubuntu or
another version of Linux. This article will discuss some of the range of
free Linux software and how easy it is to install it.
The original installation CD of Ubuntu included the
OpenOffice software. OpenOffice includes a word processor, spreadsheet
and presentation applications. These are fully compatible with the
components of Microsoft Office. I frequently receive documents prepared
in MS Word and they open directly into OpenOffice Writer. I can edit,
comment and save a copy in the OpenOffice format. Then I can return the
modified document to the originator in MS Word format with all the edits
and comments intact. The same is true for spreadsheets. The OpenOffice
presentationapplication (Impress) reads, writes and modifies PowerPoint
files as easily as Writer works with documents. OpenOffice also includes
a Drawing application. Drawing is an application that I haven’t used.
Other included software with Ubuntu are Ekiga (internet
phone software), Pidgeon (internet messenger), Evolution (e-mail), and a
remote desktop viewer. Graphics software includes the F-Spot photo
manager, GIMP Image Editor and Xsane scanner software. Also, there is a
CD burner, movie player for DVDs and two music players.
I grant you that the included software doesn’t always
meet all the needs for many users. So Ubuntu has several ways of
installing additional software. I mentioned last month about installing
the drivers for my printer, scanner and the wireless modem. This month I
will continue with other applications that are the equivalent of those
that I used under Windows. The installation of these applications was
much easier than installing drivers for the accessory hardware.
The first step in installing any application is to go to
the Applications – Add/Remove menu. When this application runs it
provides you with a list of all the software available through Ubuntu
and its third-party providers. On the left side of the window are listed
various categories that you can highlight and the appropriate
applications are then listed on the right side. When you highlight a
specific application, a description appears in the lower portion of the
window. There is also a search box that you can use to find a specific
program or a group of programs.
Since I maintain my financial records on my computer I
wanted a financial program that ran under Ubuntu. Not knowing the
specific name, I just searched on the term "finances". This brought up a
list of financial software. One of the interesting aspects of the
Add/Remove application is that programs are rated based on feedback from
users using 1 to 5 stars. There was a 5 star application listed,
GNUcash, which can import files in the Quicken format. So I put a check
mark in the box by the application name and then clicked on the "Apply
Changes" button. This brought up another window for verification of the
changes to be made. After clicking on "OK", the application was
downloaded from the Internet and installed on the hard drive without any
further action on my part. A shortcut icon was also added to the Office
portion of the applications menu. There was no reboot required to
complete this process. After the installation, the "Add/Remove"
application reported the successful installation and remained open in
case I wanted to use it further.
My Windows financial software was Microsoft Money.
Supposedly it will export its data files in the Quicken format. I did
that and then copied the files from the Windows partition to the Ubuntu
partition. However, the import into GNUcash was not really successful.
I’m not sure why but I suspect there was information missing which
resulted in misidentification of some of the accounts. Anyway, I
selected an arbitrary date and entered opening balances for that date.
So now, it is working perfectly and is in agreement with my bank
balances. Using it is even somewhat easier than working with either
Money or Quicken. Plus, the price is right.
Another application that I needed for Ubuntu was a
genealogy program. Here again I was able to find a five star program,
GRAMPS. (Very appropriate name I thought.) It was also available through
the "Add/Remove" application so installation was completed quickly.
GRAMPS imports GED files as do many genealogy programs. So I exported my
files from my Windows software in the GED format then copied the GED
file to the Ubuntu partition. The import into GRAMPS was essentially a
two-click operation. Everything, including notes and references, were
now available in an Ubuntu application. GRAMPS also has more report
formats than my Windows software included. So I consider it a very
successful replacement.
For quite some time I have used a PDA, specifically a
Sony Clie which runs Palm Pilot software. The Sony CD loaded the Windows
version to the hard drive and also included software to synchronize with
the PDA. Since I have considerable contact information in the Clie along
with many memoranda, I really wanted to be able to run this under
Ubuntu. In the System-Preferences menu there is a selection for PalmOS
devices. Now that sounded like it would be quite simple to install the
applications necessary to run the Clie. Clicking on the selection runs
the Gnome-Pilot application which helps the user to determine the
settings for synchronizing with the Clie. Unfortunately, it could not
find the Clie PDA. So I had to go back online to the Ubuntu forums to
see if I could find the secret. It turns out that getting a PDA
recognized and synced with Ubuntu is not always simple. After spending
considerable time reading various solutions I came across a command line
entry that showed the entries where my Clie was being recognized by
Ubuntu. The PDA was properly identified by vendor and product ID’s. Now
all the information I had gathered indicated that the PDA should be
listed as using a USB connection and usually ttyUSB0 and ttyUSB1. Much
to my surprise my printout showed the Clie as using ttyUSB9 and
ttyUSB10. The Gnome-Pilot software refused to accept either of these as
valid locations. However, another application, J-Pilot, accepted
ttyUSB10 and synced with the Clie when the sync button was clicked. The
synchronization transferred all of my information directly into the
J-Pilot software. This software works on the desktop in a very similar
manner to the Clie and Pilot software I had used under Windows.
Successive synchronizations have also been successful. So that was one
less application that would need to run under Windows.
There has been one big disappointment in the hardware
setup. I have a multi-function media card reader built into the laptop.
It reads SD cards as well as xD, MMC, and memory sticks. This reader
works great under Windows as a way to transfer photos from my camera to
the computer. However, there is apparently no driver available for this
to work under Ubuntu. The card reader is manufactured by 02 Micro and
they apparently don’t believe Linux is here to stay so they have no
plans to create Linux drivers for any of their products. At least that’s
the quotation from a response to a query from a Ubuntu user. So when I
have photos to transfer to my computer I can either reboot into Windows,
or I can connect the camera with a USB cable. The USB cable works fine
as Ubuntu recognizes the camera right away. It also opens the F-Spot
Photo Manager which allows me to choose the pictures and the location
where I want them saved.
One of the applications included with Ubuntu is Brasero,
a CD/DVD burner. When I first tried to use it, it refused to recognize
my DVD+R discs. It would read and write DVD-R/RW with no difficulty.
Since I had a supply of the +R discs I decided to look for other DVD
burning software. In the ADD/Remove application there were several
CD/DVD burners listed. One of them was five star application called K3B.
It was written primarily to work with the KDE destop that is an
alternative to the GNOME desktop. The KDE desktop comes with Kubuntu and
has an interface that is closer to the one found in Windows. Anyway, K3B
will work with GNOME, so let ADD/Remove install it. Any software that
you add through Add/Remove can be removed simply by locating it in the
list and removing the checkmark that indicates it has been installed. So
now I have both Brasero and K3B installed. I also found, the next time I
wanted to burn a DVD, that Brasero would now work with my external
burner and the +R discs. I do like the interface for K3B better than
Brasero, but they both work.
As you can see one of the nice attributes of using open
license software is the ability to install it and use it at no cost. If
you don’t like it, you simply remove it. It’s certainly not that simple
in Windows. So, if you want to try a Linux OS on your computer download
a "Live CD" and try it out. Also check out the online help forums. I
think you’ll find them easier to understand than much of the material
Microsoft makes available. Whatever you decide, enjoy your computing!
*Dr. Lewis is a former university and medical school professor of physiology. He has been working with personal computers for over thirty years, developing software and assembling systems. He can be reached at bwsail at yahoo.com.
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Copyright 2008. This article is from the
October2008 issue of the
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