Today and tomorrow only, Codeweavers is offering their products for free! How cool is that? You could run Office with Crossover, but we all know you will be running Team Fortress 2 or World of Warcraft. Happy Gaming!

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One of the most common mistakes that I see new Ubuntu users (new to Linux) make is not using sudo. The Ubuntu community has some excellent forums with commands to get you through almost any task you can think of on your Ubuntu PC. However, many times I hear the same complaint:

“The command didn’t work? What gives?”

That’s when I say:

“Did you remember to sudo?”

Often the user who is not used to sudo’ing will forget and wonder why they need to in the first place. So, as a friendly reminder have a look at the picture below:

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Anyway, the video is kinda fun to watch but that’s about it.

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If you have built a new Ubuntu system recently like I have you may have run across this annoying error. If you go to a site like YouTube, Firefox prompts for you to install the flash plugin. I always choose the adobe plugin (flashplugin-nonfree). When I did this yesterday, I ran into a problem where the flash video would not load and Firefox asked me for the Flash plugin again. When I tried to re-install the plugin I got the above error.

The problem is that if you are not viewing the output of the “flashplugin-nonfree” installation, it looks like everything went well. However, if you look at the output you will see the following error:
md5sum mismatch install_flash_player_9_linux.tar.gz
The Flash plugin is NOT installed.

I finally found the solution to this problem at the Ubuntu Forums. There is a thread for this exact bug.

I downloaded the fix as a binary package for 32-bit and installed it.

You can also download the fix for 64-bit.

I hope this helps some of you with this frustrating error. Happy YouTube Watching

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Flash, Adobe

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For this you will need to set up a virtual host in Apache2. Think of it as a separate web site that runs in your Home directory. I followed the write-up at the Community Ubuntu Documentation. In order to set this up, follow the summary below.

-Create a new directory for your new site like the below by typing the following in the Terminal
mkdir /home/yourusername/public_html/

-Copy the default site to use as a starting template by typing the following command in the Terminal:
sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/default /etc/apache2/sites-available/yournewsite

-Edit the configuration file by typing the following command in the Terminal:
gksudo gedit /etc/apache2/sites-available/yournewsite

-Look for the following in the configuration file:
DocumentRoot

-Point “DocumentRoot” to a new location by deleting the current location path and entering a new one such as:
/home/yourusername/public_html/

-Look for the following in the configuration file:
<directory /var/www/>

-Replace the above line with:
<directory /home/yourusername/public_html/>

-Save and close the configuration file.

-Deactivate the old site and activate the new site with a2ensite and a2dissite by typing the following in the Terminal:
sudo a2dissite default && sudo a2ensite mysite

-Restart Apache2 by typing the following in the Terminal:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

-Test the new site by typing the following into the Terminal:
echo '<b>Searchmarked.com is the coolest site on the web!</b>' > /home/yourusername/public_html/index.html

That’s it! You should be able to display the test site in the browser by navigating to http://localhost or http://127.0.0.1 Happy Web Hosting!

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Apache, LAMP

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After some of my readers tried my tutorial on “How to install ruby on rails in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10)” they ran into some trouble installing the “mysql” gem. I finally found the answer after some Googling at Mentalized.net. The summary is below.

“mkmf.rb” is part of the “ruby1.8-dev” package. Since I already had this package installed on my system, I was not experiencing the error. I installed a fresh copy of Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10) in VMware and sure enough, I encountered the error when installing the “mysql” gem.

-You need to install the “ruby1.8-dev” package by typing the following in the Terminal:
sudo apt-get install ruby1.8-dev

-You should be able to go ahead and install the “mysql” gem now by typing the following in the Terminal:
sudo gem install mysql

I apologize if you were getting that error when you followed my previous tutorial. The tutorial has been updated with this information. Happy Coding!

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Ruby on Rails

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1. List the whole path to a file when giving instructions on forums and websites

-A prime example of this would be “You have to edit your sources.list or xorg.conf file”. I know that this may seem trivial for experienced Ubuntu users, but not knowing where files are located can be frustrating for a new user. I have seen many forum posts end in frustration on the new user and experienced user’s part because the new user did not know where a certain file was located.

The solution to this problem is simple. We must make a conscious effort to list out full paths to files when giving instructions. Instead of:

“You have to edit your sources.list” or “You have to edit your xorg.conf”

State the following:

“You have to edit your ‘/etc/apt/sources.list’” or “You have to edit your ‘/etc/X11/xorg.conf’”

This way the new user gets more necessary information and the helper doesn’t have to resort to a frustrated statement like:

“Why don’t you just RTFM!”

2. Stop saying RTFM!

-Speaking of RTFM! We need to stop using that statement. Not all new users know how to find the answers they are looking for by “Reading the Friggin’ Manual!” or Googling. I know this may upset some of my geek/techie brethren, but the elitist attitude towards new users needs to stop. It does nothing to help spread the use of Ubuntu. Not all the forums and websites that I have visited have users that act this way, but many do.

If you know the answer to a new user’s question, then help them. If not then you can:

3. Point new users to a good resource like the Ubuntu Forums

-If I can’t find an answer by Googling, I usually find the answer at the Ubuntu Forums. The Ubuntu Forums have saved my personal systems from a baseball bat many times. The users on the Ubuntu Forums also tend to:

4. Type out all the commands needed for a procedure

-This is similar to stating the full path to a file. New users are not familiar with many of the commands that are involved with certain procedures. If a procedure requires you to edit your “/etc/apt/sources.list” file, don’t just say “You need to edit your “/etc/apt/sources.list” file. Tell them the command.
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
This is necessary because most users will not be running their OS as root. So, if they navigate to the file and open it, they will not be able to save it back to the original location.

Also, notice that I did not give the following command:
sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
I know this is flame bait for Linux purists out there, but please don’t tell a new Ubuntu user to edit something with vi. They will just get frustrated. Ubuntu comes with the perfectly suitable “gedit”. If you must stay on the command-line when you are giving instructions, tell them to use nano (at least it has instructions at the bottom).
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

5. Tell them about vendors who pre-install Ubuntu on Desktops and Laptops

-If a new user is contemplating buying a new desktop or laptop, at least tell them about some of the vendors that pre-install Ubuntu on their hardware. This way the new user gets more support than if he or she were to do things on their own.

I can personally vouch for System76 because I happily own a white Darter Ultra laptop with Ubuntu Feisty Fawn (7.04) loaded on it. Dell and Linux Certified also sell Ubuntu systems.

There you have it. Five simple ways that more experienced Ubuntu users can help foster the use of Ubuntu among new users. Just remember, you were a new user once. We should try to understand what new users are going through. Perhaps Elizabeth Newton’s famous sociology experiment “Tappers and Listeners” holds the key to misunderstanding between experienced and new users.

Do you know any other ways to help new users get the best experience from Ubuntu? Let me know in the comments below. 

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, User Community

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I was trying to install VMWare Server on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10) yesterday and I came across this error:

Media change: please insert the disc labeled 'Ubuntu 7.10 _Gutsy Gibbon_ - Release i386 (20071016)

The fix for this one was easy. I found the answer in the Ubuntu Forums. The details are summarized below.

-You have to comment out the “CDROM” line in your “/etc/apt/sources.list” by typing the following at the Terminal:
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

-Once you have your /etc/apt/sources.list file open look for the following line:
deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 7.10 _Gutsy Gibbon_ - Release i386 (20071016)]/ gutsy main restricted

-Comment the line out so that it looks like the following line:
#deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 7.10 _Gutsy Gibbon_ - Release i386 (20071016)]/ gutsy main restricted

-Save the “/etc/apt/sources.list” file and close it.

-Update your “/etc/apt/sources.list” by typing the following at the Terminal:
sudo apt-get update

That’s it! You should be able to do “apt-get” now without getting the Media Change error. Happy Installing!

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu

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I am a huge fan of VMware. I even write freelance articles about VMware and virtualization technology. With Ubuntu the cool factor with VMware is evident when you can have an Ubuntu workspace on one side of a spinning cube and a Windows Desktop on the other side of the spinning cube. Yes, I still need Windows for some things, but I have banished the OS to a Virtual Machine running in VMWare Server.

In Feisty Fawn VMWare Server was in the Ubuntu Commercial repository. Sadly, this is not the case yet with Gutsy Gibbon. If you can’t wait for the repository, then these steps are the ones that worked for me. Thanks to Ubuntu-Tutorials.com for leading me in the right direction.

-First you have to download VMware Server for linux from the VMWare Website (get the tar.gz package)

-After you have downloaded VMware Server for linux, go ahead and register to get your VMware Server serial numbers. You will need them later.

-Get your build environment installed by typing the following at the Terminal:
sudo apt-get install build-essential xinetd linux-headers-$(uname -r)

-Unpack VMWare Server by typing the following at the Terminal:
tar xvzf VMware-server-1.0.4-56528.tar.gz

-Navigate to the “vmware-server-distrib” folder by typing the following at the Terminal:
cd vmware-server-distrib/

-Finally, install VMware Server by typing the following at the Terminal
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

-Giving the default answers to the questions will usually get you through a vanilla install of VMWare Server. You will need one of those serial keys that you registered for at the end of the installation.

That’s it! You should be able to run VMware Server from “Applications -> System Tools -> VMware Server Console”.

If you have any questions on specific VMware setup, such as bridged vs nat virtual adapters and creating a virtual machine please let me know in the comments below or contact me and I will try to help you.

Happy Virtualizing!

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Virtualization, VMware

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I received this error when I tried to install Ruby on Rails on another Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10) system the other day. After some Google searching I finally found my answer at Nabble.com.

Basically, you have to install “libopenssl-ruby” by typing the following in at the Terminal:
sudo apt-get install libopenssl-ruby

That’s it! You should be able to install Rails without that ssl error now.

I would also like to thank Reader, leondu, for pointing out that Ruby Gems is now at version 0.9.5. I have updated “How to Install ruby on rails on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon” to reflect the changes and the above error.

Happy Coding!

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Ruby on Rails, Programming

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