Blackpool Linux User Group

This week at Blackpool LUG there was Mike, Colin, Tony and Les

What we did / discussed today

1. Colin's Project of the Week
2. Compiling wireless drivers for Colin's dongle
3. Microsoft offering free Microsoft products to students - Has Linux put them on the back foot?
4. Using Free and Open Source Software to transition from Windows to Linux
5. The problem with Linux is...
6. QEMU - Try other distributions
7. Open BSD
8. Linux command line tips of the week
9. Our LUG calendar

This weeks photos are here

1 Colin's Project of the Week

This week Colin ran Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx on his Apple iBook G3.
This was a remarkable achievement, given that the hardware is over a decade old!

2 Compiling wireless drivers for Colin's dongle

Mike and Colin had a go compiling wireless drivers for Colin's infamous wireless dongle. This looked promising until during the compile process there were a number of errors.
which all looked to stem from one source, the kernel. Perhaps Colin should ask Tony for a really long ethernet cable? ;)

3 Microsoft offering free Microsoft products to students - Has Linux put them on the back foot?

Mike mentioned that his son had been given free Microsoft developer software, as he is an accomplished programmer.
Does this show an early indication that Microsoft is worried about the availability of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)?
Traditionally children have used Microsoft products in schools, but could this be changing? Could future generations grow up with the choice to use FOSS?

4 Using Free and Open Source Software to transition from Windows to Linux

We discussed the use of FOSS in helping those wishing to transition from Windows / Mac to Linux.
Common applications are

• Internet Explorer
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Windows Mail
• iTunes

And their FOSS alternatives are (respectively)

• Firefox, Chrome
• Gimp
• Inkscape
• Thunderbird
• Rhythmbox, banshee, Amarok

Windows / Mac users are not stuck paying for software, they can use these free alternatives instead.

5 The problem with Linux is...

We have great developers, coders, technical experts. All working hard to produce the best software for us. But where we have a problem is with documentation. We are improving but we need to ensure that we have quality documentation, and more of it.

6 QEMU - Try other distributions

Mike set a challenge, for each of us to follow this guide and build a USB key that can run puppy linux inside Qemu.
Qemu is a emulator that allows you to emulate various CPU architectures, such as 68000, ARM and standard x86.
The emulation does not work like Virtualbox, which really just sits on top of the base operating system and works along side. Qemu instead emulates the architecture required for the operating system, the downside of this is that you will struggle to run the operating systems at anything near normal speed.

7 Open BSD

We had a brief look at Open BSD, looked very old school. Like something from the early 2000's. But it ran well and offered a high level of security. Pictures are on my Flickr photostream.

8 Linux command line tips of the week

Tired of pressing the up arrow key to search through your history? Then try this in a terminal instead
Ctrl+r (Press the control key and the r key in a terminal)
You should see this
(reverse-i-search)`':
Now start typing in part of a command, and it will search the history as you type to find what you are looking for!
When you have the right command press
Ctrl+o (Press the control key and the o key in a terminal)
This will now run the command.

Another quick tip, don't want a command to appear in your history? Then enter a space before the command and it wont appear!

9 Our LUG Calendar

We have a great Google Calendar that shows events and important information in the Linux world.
Les will update the calendar regularly, so please keep an eye on it.
Important dates this week

• How Why DIY 21st / 22nd August (exact date TBA in Liverpool): A tech event where people can get together and share ideas. Les will be there providing Ubuntu and free software advice to attendees.
• Ubuntu Global Jam 27th to 29th August 2010, at Madlab Manchester. This is a great event to go to. Help others file bug reports, fix bugs and work to improve documentation. Or just have a chat with like minded individuals. Les and Rick will be going, anyone else fancy it?
• Software Freedom Day in Machester on the 18th September Manchester Free Software will be hosting a day of events and workshops to celebrate Software Freedom Day. Tony, Rick, Rob and Les will be there promoting Ubuntu and Free Software
• Ubuntu 10.10 Release Party. October 10th 2010 (10/10/10 ;) ) Come and celebrate the release of Ubuntu 10.10 at Madlab in Manchester. Details are still be fleshed out but as I learn more I will let you know.

See you next week
Les

This week at Blackpool LUG there was Mike, Colin, Tony and Les

What we did / discussed today

1. The format of the LUG
2. Ubuntu and floppy disks
3. The Linux Command Line
4. Colin's mini disro of the week
5. Are distros that use unsigned packages safe? Could they be used for criminal purposes?
6. How to install an application from source
7. Etherape - Keeping an eye on what the kids are looking at
8. Next weeks LUG
9. Our LUG Calendar

This weeks photos are here

1 The format of the LUG

Mike raised the point that the LUG should cater to the attendees interests. So that each week we have a relevant and interesting content.
At the same time the LUG should also appeal to new members.

Does anyone have any ideas or Linux related interests / projects that they would like to bring to the group?

2 Ubuntu and floppy disks

Colin had a few problems with Ubuntu reading his floppy disks (Hey kids, remember these?)
When we tested his floppy disks on our sacrificial machine they worked 1st time. Colin will retry at home and report next week.

3 The Linux Command Line

Les has created a guide to the Linux Command Line and we used the guide to work on the command line, using a few basic commands.
This guide is a work in progress and if anyone has any ideas, then please do contact Les (@biglesp on Twitter).

4 Colin's mini disro of the week

This week, Colin has been using Coyote Linux
Coyote Linux is a floppy based Linux distribution, primarily aimed at creating a firewall.
Take a look and see what you think.

5 Are distros that use unsigned packages safe? Could they be used for criminal purposes?
We discussed the need for packages to use signed packages to ensure security for a distribution.
For example some distributions do not check new packages in their repositories, but let the community use them straight away.
What if there was a group with malicious intent that altered a package to steal information, how would we find out?
Can every package be checked?
Can we rely on others to check every package?
How often do you look at the source code of the packages you install?

6 How to install an application from source

Tony asked how to install an application from the source code, well below is a quick guide on how to do this.

Our file is called foo.tgz, and for the purpose of this guide we are working in he same directory as foo.tgz.
In a terminal type
gunzip foo.tgz
This will extract foo.tgz to foo.tar.
Now type
tar -xvf foo.tar
this will extract the files from foo.tar into the current working directory.
If there is a folder called foo, change your directory to foo
cd foo
Now in the terminal type this command
./configure
This will check your machine to ensure that it is able to compile the source code.
If you receive an error, you will need to ensure that you have all of the necessary dependencies installed.
Now in a terminal type
make
This will compile the application.
Now you need to change to root
su for most linux distributions
and run this last command, which will install the application on your PC.
makeinstall
**Special note for Ubuntu users**
You need to use the command
sudo su instead of just su, this is due to the configuration of Ubuntu.

Now you should be able to type in foo in the command line and run your new app.
Enjoy

7 Etherape - Keeping an eye on what the kids are looking at

Etherape is a great tool that shows what PCs on your network are looking at on the internet / network. Mike uses this to show his kids how much of his precious bandwidth the kids are using.

8 Next weeks LUG
Does anyone have any suggestions for next weeks LUG?
Let us know on the mailing list, remember this is your LUG, so please let us know.

9 Our LUG Calendar

We have a great Google Calendar that shows events and important information in the Linux world.
Les will update the calendar regularly, so please keep an eye on it.
Important dates this week

• How Why DIY 21st / 22nd August (exact date TBA in Liverpool): A tech event where people can get together and share ideas. Les will be there providing Ubuntu and free software advice to attendees.
• Software Freedom Day in Machester on the 18th September Manchester Free Software will be hosting a day of events and workshops to celebrate Software Freedom Day. Tony, Rick, Rob and Les will be there promoting Ubuntu and Free Software

See you next week
Les