Category: Ubuntu

Only 2 minor hickups after upgrading to Ubuntu 9.04

I’m up and running with the latest Ubuntu release.  It’s an upgrade from 8.10 which was an upgrade from 8.04.. you get the idea.

Only two hick-ups so far.  The first, compiz boogered up on my leaving my Panels (or menu bars as some call them) not displaying properly.  I finally had to reset them back to square one.  Which is really easy to do, thanks to this post: How to Reset Ubuntu/Gnome Settings to Defaults without Re-installing.

My next minor problem was even easier to fix: Hide the drive and partition icons from my desktop.  Ubuntu question #2625: “removing icons from the desktop”.

I also had to reconfigure my compiz settings manually. Everytime I restored from the back up profile, it boogered up something again making me reset my gnome defaults.

If you are a Ubuntu newbie and don’t understand half of what I just said, please feel free to post a comment or check in the Ubuntu Forums.  We were all new once.

Don’t have Ubuntu or even know what it is?

Check out their website: www.ubuntu.com or nag me to put up a screencast of my own desktop.

Was this a problem?

Really?? This was a problem?  You were accidentally hitting Ctrl-Alt-Backspace?  Personally I loved the combo and found it very handy during extreme (albeit rare) lockups.

The Ctrl-Alt-Backspace key combination to force a restart of X is now disabled b default, to eliminate the problem of accidentally triggering the key combination. Users who do want this function can enable it in their xorg.conf, or by running the command dontzap –disable.

via 9.04 Release Notes | Ubuntu.

Dvorak Likes Linux – Columns by PC Magazine

Dvorak nails it on this column.  But a couple points:  I look forward to the day when I read an install review without any minor glitches (yes, they are far and few between – but there’s still work to be done).  Secondly, when you take his advice and you hit a snag.  Don’t give up.. Buzz me or ask in the Ubuntu forums.  You’ll find the answer.. now back to Dvorak’s comments.

I’m tired of dealing with Windows malware, patch Tuesday, and the never-ending deterioration of the OS as it clogs up like a drain in a greasy-spoon restaurant. I can’t take it anymore.

And there’s something else that always bugs me about Windows. I have an iMac that I use at the office, and a few times every month Apple has some patch that it sends out. With few exceptions, each time a patch is installed with the Mac OS, the performance of the machine improves. With Windows, the performance always declines.

I don’t think Microsoft has ever sent out a patch that improved the performance of the machine. Ever.

read the whole column here >  Dvorak Likes Linux – PC Magazine.

10 things Linux does better than OS X

To my mac lovin’ pals: Read with an open mind. 😉

It may sound strange, seeing as how OS X is based on a Linux variant and is widely considered to be the most user-friendly operating system available, but Linux does a number of things better than everyone’s favorite iOperatingSystem. Before you shun the thought, read on. You might be surprised at your resulting opinion.

10 things Linux does better than OS X