Ubooboo

Linux: Rsync

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:50:36 +0000

-a means archive mode, which means recursive, preserve permissions, last modified time etc
-v means verbose
-DONT: use an asterisk in the src-dir i.e. rsync src_dir/* dest_dir/ as this will NOT include hidden files

OTHER FLAGS

--exclude ".svn/" means ignore all paths that contain .svn i.e. all svn folders and their contents!
-other exclude patterns:
"programs" will exclude any files or directories that are exactly called programs (but not jack_programs/ or programs.txt)
"programs/" will exclude any directories that are exactly called programs
"programs*" will exclude any files or directories that *start* with programs e.g. programs/ and programs.txt, but will still copy jack_programs
"/programs" will exclude any files or directories that are exactly called programs AND ARE IN THE ROOT of the source dir (stated in the rsync command)
"/programs/" will only exclude a directory in the root dir exactly called programs

--delete means if you have deleted a file in the source dir, delete it at the destination dir too!

See also
Backup Script Compression

Ubuntu: Package Management

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:50:36 +0000

-originally there was dpkg (debian package management system)
-APT was built on top, to deal with .debs and .rpms (?)
-aptitude is a terminal based front-end
-synaptic is a GUI front-end

TERMINAL BASED PACKAGE MANAGEMENT
-search title and description with apt-cache
apt-cache search svn |sort
-filter installed packages by sending the output of that into dpkg
dpkg -l `apt-cache search svn |cut -d' ' -f1` 2> /dev/null |grep ii

Coding: MSSQL

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:50:36 +0000

ACCESSING MSSQL DBs with PHP on LINUX
-install php5-sybase (this allows basic functionality like mssql_connect() and executing basic queries, but may fail for some advanced MSSQL operations)

THEN THE COMMANDS (described with MySQL terminology)

-connect
sqsh -S server -U user -P password -D database
-execute commands (enter command first, no need for semi-colons)
go
-finish
exit

-show databases
SELECT name FROM master..sysdatabases
-show current database
SELECT db_name()
-select database to use
USE <dbname>
-show tables
SELECT name FROM <dbname>..sysobjects WHERE xtype = 'U'
-describe table
SELECT column_name,data_type FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_name = 'YourTable'
-describe table verbose
exec sp_columns YourTable

-limit 5
SELECT TOP 5 * FROM table
-length
LEN(field)
-substring (1-indexed, must do all 3 fields)
SUBSTRING(field,start,length)
-like (with normal % wildcards)
field LIKE 'prefix%'
-not equal to (i think this is same as MySQL, not sure tho)
field != 'jack' field <> 'jack'

Ubuntu: Index of Home.html

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:54:32 +0000

Linux: Compression

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:23:59 +0100

-tar (-c for create, -x for extract) - tar alone simply creates a collection (Tape ARchive) of uncompressed files.
tar -cvf result.tar file1 file2 file3
tar -xvf file.tar
NOTES: compression algorithms:
-add -j for bzip2 compression (AMAZING for plain english text i.e. 200M down to 14M). result file extension: .tbz or .tar.bz2
-add -z for gzip compression (good for general use). result file extension: .tgz or .tar.gz

-rar (a for add)
rar a output.rar file1 file2 file3
-unrar (e for extract)
unrar e file.rar
ADDITION: see extractrars script in Linux>shell scripting

-zip/unzip
zip output.zip file1 file2 file3
unzip file.zip

Linux: Backup

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:23:59 +0100

The most important tool you will need: rsync. It copies changes between 2 directories (potentially on 2 different servers)

rsync -av src_dir/* user@server:/dest_dir/
-a means archive mode, which means recursive, preserve permissions, last modified time etc
-v means verbose

--exclude .svn means ignore all paths that contain .svn i.e. all svn folders and their contents!
NOTE: exclude can also be used to match specific files e.g. --exclude docs/readme.txt
--delete means if you have deleted a file in the source dir, delete it at the destination dir too!

Linux: Bash Aliases

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:04:54 +0000

Add these to the end of your ~/.bashrc

# how I like ls to work: coloured, grouping directories first, and appending '/' to them so they are clear i.e. "home/"
alias ls='ls --color=auto --group-directories-first -p'
# a common alias: ll for human readable list form
alias ll='ls -hl'
# little simplification for getting the size of a directory
alias dirsize='du -sh'
# disk space (i have added a grep to customise the output, which is specific to my partition setup)
alias diskspace='df -h | grep /dev/sda'
# alias grep for highlighted search terms and case insensitivity
alias grep='grep -i --color=auto'

Linux: GREP and other Leet Tools

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:22:26 +0000

GENERAL NOTE: can put quotes around pattern if contains spaces

GREP searches INSIDE the given stream/file(s) for the pattern string
grep [options] pattern [stream/file]

EXAMPLES
grep -lir jack csYear3 ~ searches INSIDE all files in the given dir (csYear3) for the string "jack" (-l means output filenames not lines, -i = ignore case, -r = recursive)
grep -i dijkstra /home/jack/essay.txt ~ returns lines of the file essay.txt containing the word dijkstra

LS PIPE TO GREP
ls /path/to/dir | grep -i pattern ~ use grep to filter output of ls (optional /path/to/dir, and -i is ignore case)
ls | grep .avi

OTHER LEET TOOLS: CUT and SED (stream editors)

CUT - removes sections from a stream (could be a file). It does this by taking in some text, and splitting it up on some specified delimiter, into what it calls 'fragments'
cut [options] [stream/file]

SED - Stream EDitor
sed [options] [stream/file]
Main use: sed 's/regex/replacement/g' [stream/file] where s=substitution, g=global (apply to all matches instead of just the first).
Note: 'replacement' can be left blank to delete all matches of 'regex'

LEARN BY EXAMPLE: extract your IP address from the verbose output of the ifconfig command:
ifconfig eth0 | grep 'inet addr' | cut -d ':' -f2 | sed 's/[^(.0-9)]//g'

grep: find the relevant lines (those containing the string 'inet addr')
cut: split using a colon delimeter, and select the second fragment
sed: find everything that is not a numeric digit or a dot, and replace with nothing (i.e. delete it). We put regex in square brackets. carot means not, i.e. match [not (full stops and numbers)]

Linux: Viewing and Modifying Text Files

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:17:11 +0000

VIEWING
cat <file> ~ print whole file into the terminal (good for small files)
less <file> ~ file reader program that runs in the terminal (filling all of the visible area). Allows scrolling with the mousewheel, as well as plenty of keyboard hotkeys. useful for large files. q to quit.

head [options] <file> ~ print first 10 lines (use head -n25 to print the first 25 lines)
tail [options] <file> ~ opposite to head. v useful for log files (getting the most recent output)

MODIFYING
vim <file> ~ great text editor that runs in the terminal (useful for modifying files over ssh etc). See VIM

ALSO SEE
GREP and other Leet Tools

Linux: User and Group Management

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:17:11 +0000

id <user> ~ get all info (inc userID and groupIDs for a user)

USER MANAGEMENT
cat /etc/passwd ~ view all users
useradd <username> ~ add a new user (and create them a home directory in /home)
passwd <user> ~ reset a user's password
userdel <user> ~ delete a user

GROUP MANAGEMENT
cat /etc/group ~ view all groups (and their associated users)
groups <user> ~ view a user's groups
groupadd <groupname> ~ add a new group

ADD A USER TO A GROUP
usermod -aG <group> <user> ~ add user to group with (group could be comma separated list. -a is append, so doesnt remove other groups. -G is specify group name)

REMOVE A USER FROM A GROUP
-currently best way i can find to remove a user from a group is to find out which groups they currently belong (as specified above), then use the usermod command without the -a (meaning append), and then you can completely re-define all the groups you want for that user e.g. if user jack is in the following 3 groups: users, tomcat, apache, and you want to remove them from the tomcat group, you would do usermod -G users,apache jack

Linux: Starting and Stopping Services

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:17:11 +0000

COMMAND STRUCTURE
sudo /etc/init.d/service action

SERVICES
-samba
-apache2 (sometimes httpd)
-ssh
-tomcat

ACTIONS
-start
-stop
-restart

EXAMPLES
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 stop
sudo /etc/init.d/tomcat restart

Linux: Finding Files

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:17:11 +0000

2 main options: FIND and LOCATE

GENERAL NOTES:
-asterisks for wildcards
-can put quotes around pattern if contains spaces

The LOCATE command is the simplest and fastest. It searches the whole filesystem for filenames/directories CONTAINING pattern (i.e. it searches with wildcards: *pattern*)
locate [options] pattern

NOTABLE OPTIONS
-b ~ match the pattern against the basename of files/dirs instead of their whole paths - I ALWAYS do this.
(if this is not set and you search for 'music', then you will get a result for every file in your music directory, as all of those files have 'music' in their paths!)
-i ~ ignore case
-c ~ only output the count

EXAMPLES
locate -b -i jack ~ find all files/dirs CONTAINING the (case-insensitive) word jack i.e. search for *jack*
locate -b dump ~ find all files/dirs CONTAINING the pattern 'dump' (i.e. this will match a file with the name test_dump7.sql)
locate -b '\dump.sql' ~ find all files/dirs with the EXACT name dump.sql (the backslash tells locate NOT to auto-add wildcards, though you can still add them manually)

BUT: the speed comes at a price: the locate command is only searching a database, which is only updated by running the command:
sudo updatedb
(this is automatically run at set intervals, maybe nightly?)

The FIND command is more flexible, and actually does a live search (can be much slower). It recursively searches for pattern in dir (default to current dir)
find [dir] [options] pattern

NOTABLE OPTIONS
-maxdepth 5 ~ limit the depth of the recursive search to 5 levels
-iname ~ ignore case

EXAMPLES
find films/ -iname *idaho* ~ recursively search through my films directory to find all files containing the word idaho
find -maxdepth 1 -iname *.cpp ~ check THIS directory (and no sub-directories) for cpp files

Linux: File Permissions and Ownership

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:17:11 +0000

chmod: CHange access MODe

USE
chmod <u/g/o/a>=<r/w/x> <file/folder>

EXPLANATION
u/g/o/a - user/group/others/all
r/w/x - read/write/execute (or all 3)
e.g. chmod o=r doc1.txt

chown: CHange OWNership

USE
chown <username> <file/folder>
e.g. chown jack home

chgrp: CHange GRouP

USE
chgrp <group> <file/folder>
e.g. chgrp family /usr/pictures

Linux: System Information

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:10:22 +0000

-detailed hardware info:
sudo lshw
-another source of CPU info:
cat /proc/cpuinfo
OS/Kernel info:
uname -a

-determining linux distro/version (3 methods):
1) dmesg | head -1
2) cat /proc/version
3) cat /etc/issue
source: http://www.howtoforge.com/how_to_find_out_about_your_linux_distribution

Determining if 32/64bit CPU, and OS (kernel)
-'The only correct way' to determine CPU width:
grep flags /proc/cpuinfo | grep ' lm'
(if you get output, then '64bit capable' i.e. 64bit CPU, else 32bit)
-OS (kernel) method1:
uname -m
(64bit if it contains x86_64, else 32bit)
-OS (kernel) method2:
getconf LONG_BIT

Ubuntu: Grub

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:10:22 +0000

Grub2
-CHECK (do not modify) the current configuration by looking at /boot/grub/grub.cfg (this is auto-generated, so modifications to this file will be lost)
-add new menu entries in /etc/grub.d/40_custom (copy the format of the current items in /boot/grub/grub.cfg)
-modify other values (default selection / timeout) in /etc/default/grub
-finish with command update-grub to write changes to /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Grub1
-decrease grub timeout:
sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
and change timeout to 1 (also, i like to comment out the 'hide menu by default' option)

Ubuntu: Change Hostname

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:10:22 +0000

Change computer name (hostname) e.g. to jackdev
-find your current hostname with the command:
hostname
-run this command to update the currently set hostname (but this will be forgotten on restart if you dont do the other 2 steps as well):
hostname jackdev
-edit /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts to reflect this change (find your old hostname, and replace it with the new one)

Server: Apache forward requests to Tomcat

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:10:22 +0000

-stop apache:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 stop
-enable module proxy_ajp:
sudo a2enmod proxy_ajp
(this should also enable the required module proxy, if not, do sudo a2enmod proxy)

-add the proxy paths to the end of /etc/apache2/httpd.conf e.g. ProxyPass /webapp ajp://localhost:8009/webapp
-start apache:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 start

Ubuntu: Temperature Monitors

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:11:43 +0100

Add some cool temperature monitors (numbers or graphs) to your gnome-panel!

1) install necessary packages
sudo apt-get install lm-sensors sensors-applet
(this may ask you a few config questions afterwards, which are pretty straight forward)

2) detect your hardward temperature sensors
sudo sensors-detect
(this will ask you a few questions, and I think the vast majority (if not all) of my answers were the default ones)

3) reboot (this WAS required for me, to find all my sensors)

4) r click gnome-panel>add>hardware sensors monitor

5) r click your new applet>prefs and then... (this is how i like mine)
-display: graph only
-width: 20px
then in the sensors tab:
-start off by enabling all sensors (you may need to make the window bigger to see the 'enabled' column) then figure out which ones are useful and get rid of any duplicates...
-then maybe make them different colours
-i made all of mine on the same range (i.e. same low/high values)

Server: Enable SSL for Apache Server

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:42:03 +0100

-note: using apache to mean apache root dir, i.e. /etc/httpd/ for me...
-ensure have mod_ssl.so and mod_rewrite.so ready in apache/modules/
^(i think they should both be there in any recent version of apache, else you need to re-compile apache with them)
-and that they are both loaded using a LoadModule statement in apache/conf/httpd.conf in one of these ways:
-in the big LoadModule section
-there is a line: Include conf.d/*.conf and there is a corresponding *.conf file in apache/conf.d/ (e.g. i had ssl.conf) containing the LoadModule statement

-in order to forward all non-secure (http) requests to secure ones (https) create the file apache/conf.d/rewrite.conf containing these lines:
RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule ^/(.*) https://%{SERVER_NAME}/$1 [R,L]

WARNINGS / ERRORS (when starting/restarting the server)
-if get errors like this: "httpd: apr_sockaddr_info_get() failed" or "httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name"
-need to setup the server's domain name properly, so get it with command hostname e.g. pato.jack.local
-you will also need your IP address (LAN IP if your server is just for local use, else the full public IP), which can normally be found with ifconfig
-now use these to add a new entry to the bottom of your /etc/hosts file e.g.
192.168.28.16 pato.jack.local
-NOTE: your /etc/hosts file acts as your local DNS (domain name server) which resolves domain names (pato.jack.local) into IP addresses (192.168.28.16)
-you will also need to uncomment/ammend the ServerName statement in your apache/conf/httpd.conf e.g.
ServerName pato.jack.local

Apps: Gnome-Do

Fri, 22 May 2009 22:22:09 +0100

Gnome-Do is a keyboard based application launcher. It is also currently my most favourite thing in the world.

NOTE: see Add Menu Item for details on how to add custom installed apps to gnome-do's indexer.

INSTALLATION: install using synaptic.
OR, to get latest repo version, follow instructions here (make sure you run that long command to install all deps):
http://do.davebsd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Installing_Do#From_Source

ANNOYANCES
I found 2 annoying bugs with gnome-do v0.8.1.3, running in Jaunty:
1) if you choose 'Start gnome-do at login', then the 'open home directory' doesnt work (same if you add gnome-do to 'startup applications')
2) you still cannot set just SuperL (win key) as the summon key, so I still have to do it through metacity (See Hotkeys), but if I tell metacity to run the command 'gnome-do', then most of the time it runs twice, and you have to escape the second one (which gets annoying REAL fast)

SOLUTION
-don't set it to auto-start itself, OR put it in 'startup apps'
-in prefs: uncheck hide on first launch
-tell metacity to run this little script instead of gnome-do (e.g. put this text into a new file eg. ~/bin/jack-do and tell metacity to run jack-do)
#!/bin/sh

# if gnome-do is already running, then bring it up, else run it
if (pgrep '^gnome-do$' > /dev/null); then
dbus-send --session --type=method_call --dest='org.gnome.Do' '/org/gnome/Do/Controller' 'org.gnome.Do.Controller.Summon';
else
gnome-do;
fi

SETUP PREFERENCES (call up gnome-do, then click the arrow in the top-right hand corner)
-the glass interface is slimline and very swish. def enable 'window shadow' and 'animate window'.
-IF get error about compositing, simple fix is to enable metacity compositing:
gconftool-2 --set --type=bool /apps/metacity/general/compositing_manager true
-else you can use compiz, but then you need to move all your metacity hotkeys to compiz, as they will stop working

SWEET PLUGINS (at the top, select all available)
-Alias (Assign alternate names to items)
-Gnome Dictionary (type define, then press Tab and enter the word)
-Gnome Session Management (type lock screen/sleep/shutdown/restart)
-Google Calculator (tho i cant seem to get this to work properly on Hardy OR Jaunty)
-Google Maps (type map, then press Tab, then enter the postcode/address)
-Locate Files (type locate, then press Tab, then enter the case-insensitive filename you're looking for)
-Microblogging (after selecting this plugin, click 'configure' to setup your account. Then, simply type twitter/post/tw to start tweeting)
-System Services (type start/stop/restart then press Tab, and find the service you want, like samba or apache - really useful!)
-Vinagre VNC (either type vnc, then press Tab to select your bookmark, or just type the name of the bookmark!!!)
-VirtualBox (few less clicks to run a virtual OS. just type virtualbox, or the actual the name of your virtualised box e.g. mine is winblows)

Then add some cool aliases (open gnome-do and prepare action, then tab over and choose assign alias):
ACTION - ALIAS
Suspend - sleep
Restart - reboot
Text - gedit
Home - nautilus
Screen Resolution - display
Google Mail - gmail

TIP: whenever you 'tab accross' from your desired action, and the default option is to apply that action to 'selected text', but you want to type your own text: instead of pressing down once or twice to select the empty text option, you can just start typing straight away, and it will change automatically

OLD (for Hardy)
Prefs: CHECK start at system startup, hide window AND always show results window
Keyboard: as cannot set this to my normal hotkey (just Super_L i.e. left win key), do this in metacity settings (with execute command: gnome-do). See Hotkeys

Ubuntu: Setup Ubuntu

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:23:25 +0100

ADD 3RD-PARTY REPOSITORIES (see Installation Methods)
-Medibuntu (essential to play mp3s / most video). Below is the 'sources.list' entry for Jaunty:
deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ jaunty free non-free
-Gnome-Colors (LOADS of amazing icons and themes - really makes Gnome-do shine!)
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnome-colors-packagers/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
-Gnome-Do (keyboard based application launcher, and currently my most favourite thing in the world)
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

USEFUL APPS/PACKAGES
-padevchooser (allows you to control pulse sound REALLY well - you can do anything!)
-network-manager-pptp (allows you to connect to windows VPN)
-flashplugin-installer (flash plugin for firefox)
-gparted (essential: view/edit partitions. Adds option: menu>system>admin>partition editor)
-vim (the leet way to edit text files)
-Mail-Notification (the best mail-checker app that sits in system tray)
-Gnome-Do (keyboard based application launcher, and currently my most favourite thing in the world)
-Songbird (mp3 player like iTunes)
-emesene (msn client that doesnt give "switchboard errors" like pidgin)
-checkinstall (create packages for all installs from source, so can remove them if required!)
-alltray (minimise any app to the system tray)
-glipper (persistent / fully featured clipboard manager - use it by adding the new 'clipboard manager' to your panel: r click panel>add. Didn't work for me in hardy, and still doesn't work in Jaunty - gives error on restart)
-ubuntu-restricted-extras (play mp3s, dvds etc)
-vinagre (VNC client to connect to a VNC server and remotely control a computer)
-gtkpod (for ipod syncing)
-k3b (burn bin/cue files)
-vlc (dvd/video playback)
-audacity (brilliantly simple music editor - well worth getting to know)
-Zim (it's called a 'desktop wiki', and it's what i use to write articles for ubooboo)
-Skype (VoIP calls)

SOME GENERAL BITS & BOBS
-menu>system>prefs>sound> NO SOUNDS!!! (for when in lectures etc.)
-get rid of multiple workspaces: add workspace switcher to gnome panel, then r click>prefs>1col 1row. THEN remove it (so that scrolling on desktop doesn't switch workspace)
-menu>system>prefs>windows>change move window button to SuperL (rarely use it and it clashes with alt in maya and ctrl when selecting files in windows)
-Nautilus (file manager) settings: ensure change display picture thumbnails to ALWAYS (so it does it in sftp directories as well)
-uninstall gnome-games-data using synaptic (will also remove gnome-games)
-put icons on desktop: (<Alt>F2, and enter gconf-editor) then edit checkboxes in apps>nautilus>desktop
-add some useful startup apps (open system>pref>startup apps). I have: emesene, skype, mail-notification

COMPOSITING WINDOW MANAGER
I just use the default window manager: metacity. It means I can use metacity's hotkeys features, and has it's own basic compositor (nice shadows, transparency and <Alt>Tab action), which is enabled with the following command:
gconftool-2 --set --type=bool /apps/metacity/general/compositing_manager true
(else for a more fully featured compositing window manager, see Compiz Fusion)

MAKE THE EJECT MEDIA-TOUCH BUTTON WORK
-add this to /etc/sysctl.conf:
# Unlock the CDROM eject button
dev.cdrom.lock=0

DECREASE GRUB TIMEOUT for faster boot time
sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
and change timeout to 2 (also, i like to comment out the 'hide menu by default' option)

MENU ITEM TWEAKS (menu>system>prefs>main menu OR just r click the menu icon in the panel>edit menus)
-replace 'add/remove' with 'synaptic' in root menu
-add new item (commands: nm-applet) to internet folder for when gnome-panel crashes (happened a lot in hardy) and i restart it (killall gnome-panel)
(icon: /usr/share/icons/Human/48x48/places/gnome-fs-network.png)

LINKS TO PDFs open within firefox:
sudo apt-get remove mozplugger && sudo apt-get install acroread acroread-plugins mozilla-acroread
-though i found this to be too sluggish and stopped using

SOUND (this is what worked for my Dell XPS M1330 - with the media-touch volume buttons)
-(if you have this menu option): menu>system>prefs>default sound card>pulse
-r click volume applet in system tray>volume control>device: HDA Intel (Alsa mixer), then click prefs and ONLY check: Master, PCM, Digital input source
-then ensure in playback tab: both are set to full and are not muted, and set options>digital input source: digital mic1
-then r click volume applet in system tray again>prefs and device: HDA Intel (Alsa mixer), and then select Master and click close
-menu>system>prefs>sound: set all to 'pulseaudio' except device: HDA Intel (Alsa mixer), then select Master in the list, and click close
-While choosing 'PCM' seems to give a better range of control, 'Master' is the only one that responds to my media-touch buttons...

TERMINAL (also see Hotkey Creation)
Remember: F11 for full screen
General: see Setup .bashrc
Vim: sudo apt-get install vim
-then create ~/.vimrc and just put these 2 lines in it:
syntax on
set showmatch
ALSO check system setup to use it (vim.gnome): sudo update-alternatives --config editor
Also see Terminal Colours

FILE SHARING ON WINDOWS NETWORK
try r-clicking a folder>share
if asks to install some samba packages, do it.
ALSO, go menu>add/remove and install system-config-samba (GUI config tool)
run with menu>system>admin>samba
then do preferences>settings>security
and change authentication mode to 'share' (test, but then if needed, change guest to jack)
(so doesn't ask for username/pass every time windows computers access my shares over network)

GEDIT
-make sure do view>UNCHECK toolbar (waste of space!)
-edit>preferences>then...
view> CHECK display line numbers and highlight matching bracket
editor> UNCHECK 'create a backup copy of files before saving' (avoids creation of cluttery 'tilde' files i.e. mydoc~)
plugins> INSTALL 'change case' and 'indent' (to use either, just select some text then use the new options in the Edit menu)

LATEST VERSION OF GIMP NOT IN SYNAPTIC?
-uninstall gimp and gimp-data using synaptic (involves uninstalling ubuntu-desktop, don't panic)
-download and install latest debs from getdeb.net
-re-install ubuntu-desktop (not required, but probs recommended - need to double check this will leave the latest version of GIMP in synaptic)

MY NAUTILUS BOOKMARKS
-workspace (my eclipse workspace: ~/workspace)
-documents (I copy the windows structure by having a 'documents' dir on my desktop: ~/Desktop/documents)
-music (~/music)
-public (my shared files: ~/Desktop/public)
-tmp (sometimes useful to access temp files / temporarily use some of the OS partition's space: /tmp)
-then all my SFTP connections: Uni, my home server, Ubooboo...

MY GNOME PANEL (I only have one panel, at the bottom)
-single ubuntu menu button
-quick launch area: just system monitor graphs (CPU, RAM, Network, DIsk). No app launchers needed now, thanks to Gnome-do
-no need for 'show desktop' button as I use <Alt>d
-window switcher (though mostly use <Alt>Tab)
-system tray (normally songbird, skype, emesene, mail-notification, power management, network applet, sticky notes, volume, date and time)

REFERENCES
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/67975

Ubuntu: Adding Repositories

Wed, 20 May 2009 10:38:43 +0100

EXAMPLE ADDING 3RD-PARTY REPOSITORY (e.g. gnome-do)
(you will be in-directly editing /etc/apt/sources.list)
-find the page with the 'sources.list' entries (normally the project's PPA page) e.g. google 'gnome-do ppa', and you'll get this page:
https://launchpad.net/~do-core/+archive/ppa
-and on this page, we have the 'sources.list' entries:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu hardy main
-add them via: menu>system>admin>software sources>third party tab>add

THEN YOU NEED THE PUBLIC KEY TO AUTHENTICATE IT
-do an update:
sudo apt-get update
-Then, if you're missing a public key, you should get a GPG Error saying the public key is not available, followed by an ID number.
-You can then automatically add the key with this command (replace <ID> with the ID number):
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com <ID>

INSTALLATION
-then your new package(s) should appear in synaptic (after a refresh), else you can just run:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-do

OLD AUTHENTICATION METHOD
-Also on the PPA page, look for a link like this: "This repository is signed with 1024R/77558DD0 OpenPGP key"
-Click the link, then click the same number link on the next page to be taken to the public key page. Save the text of this page (from the 'BEGIN' tag to the 'END' tag) to a useful filename e.g. ~/gnome-do.pub
-back in software sources, now go to the authentication tab, and add that file

Apps: Mail-Notification

Tue, 19 May 2009 09:44:15 +0100

Mail-Notification: the best mail-checker app that sits in system tray displaying the number of unread emails.
-It can check ANY kind of email account (Evolution, Gmail, IMAP, POP3, System Mailbox, Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo! mail)
-It can be tweaked to use the new Jaunty notification system (see below)
-Mouse-over gives you a nice summary of your unread mail
-Clicking the system tray icon can be configured to do many things: I have it set to take me to my inbox, which even works well with my gmail account!

INSTALLATION
-install package mail-notification using synaptic
-then to get the new Jaunty notification system working, hit <Alt>F2 and enter gconf-editor then:
apps>mail-notification>popups>d click actions and remove everything

SETUP (Properties)
+General tab: add mailbox. i did... mailbox type: gmail, enter username and pass, leave everything else to defaults...
+Message Popups tab: Check 'enable popups'. Position: in popup stack. Expiration: default
+Status Icon tab: launch mail reader
-For this to work, create /home/jack/bin/open_gmail.sh (use gnome-open instead of firefox to open in new tab not new window):
#!/bin/sh
gnome-open "https://mail.google.com/mail/"
-and go menu>system>prefs>preferred apps
-and do mail reader>custom with command:
/home/jack/bin/open_gmail.sh
-Note: if this breaks firefox mailto links (i.e. they just take you to your inbox), then see this page to reset the firefox setting: Firefox

ERROR ON LAUNCH
A fatal error has occurred in Mail Notification
Unable to contact the running Mail Notification instance: Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken..
-normally means that somehow, hidden away, it is still runnning. find it with ps -ujack | grep -i mail-notif
-then note the process ID (e.g. 3343) and kill it with kill -9 3343

OLD (for Hardy)
-for some reason, this is what i have in sessions: mail-notification --sm-disable

SEGFAULT PROBLEM (silently segfaults and closes as soon as you open it)
-FIRST try starting the app twice in quick succession, else remove settings file and start again:
rm -rf ~/.gnome2/mail-notification
-then run mail-notification app again and re-enter IMAP settings

PROPERTIES
+GENERAL
add mailbox. i did...
type: imap as the gmail type didn't seem to work.
server: imap.googlemail.com
username: your username including @googlemail.com
connection: SSL/TLS on separate port: 993
mechanism: auto
use IDLE: auto
check mail: leave to default (5mins?)

Ubuntu: Gnome-colors

Mon, 18 May 2009 09:59:56 +0100

The gnome-colors package contains LOADS of amazing icons and themes (really makes Gnome-do shine!)

INSTALLATION
-Here's the sources.list entry for jaunty (see Installation Methods):
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnome-colors-packagers/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
-Then install these packages: shiki-colors and gnome-colors (they have a fair few dependencies which are auto-satisfied)

ACTIVATION
-menu>system>prefs>appearance
-select a shiki theme (I chose to stay true to orange ubuntu, with 'shiki-human'), then click customise
-controls: human (to get different colour toolbar to window title-bar in terminal window etc. I avoided 'human-clearlooks' as it adds extra colour bars where they are not welcome...)
-colours: reset to defaults (again, I chose to stick to classic ubuntu: leaving selections as orange)
-window-border: shiki-colours metacity (the 'easy' version adds a coloured bar around all windows, which is unnecessary if you have enabled shadows)
-icons: gnome-human (mmmmmm vibrant orange)

Linux: Local Install

Thu, 14 May 2009 11:48:45 +0100

If you are not the admin of your workstation, and you need to install an app, add this to your ~/.bashrc

# paths for local installs (from source code)
PREFIX=$HOME/installs
export PATH=$PREFIX/bin:$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PREFIX/lib
export LIBRARY_PATH=$PREFIX/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
export C_INCLUDE_PATH=$PREFIX/include
export CPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH=$PREFIX/include
export MANPATH=$PREFIX/share/man:$PREFIX/man:$MANPATH

Then you want to do the normal configure, make, make install (see 'Installing from Source' in Installation Methods), except you want to alter the configure instruction to use the local install directory:
./configure --prefix=$HOME/installs

Coding: Oracle

Sat, 09 May 2009 11:24:22 +0100

Assumes you already have an Oracle database system installed, as well as 'sqlplus' (command line access)

Start an interactive command line session with the command: sqlplus

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD (will ask you for old then new password)
password;

LIST THE TABLES IN THE CURRENT DATABASE
SELECT table_name,num_rows FROM user_tables;

CREATE A NEW TABLE
CREATE TABLE test (
id int,
name char(100)
);

DESCRIBE A TABLE
DESCRIBE test;

Apps: Songbird

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:31:15 +0100

Check if repo version is latest, else get from getdeb

SETTINGS
Tabs - Do not always show the tab bar (I hate the browser element of songbird and want to hide it)
Media Importer - CHECK Alert me when unsuported tracks are not imported and WATCH FOLDERS: CHECK watch for changes for /home/jack/music

ADD-ONS
Concerts: amazing: checks if any of your artists are playing in your city!
Customize Filter Pane: can choose to just have album/artist like in iTunes (i.e. can get rid of 3rd filter pane)
FireTray: minimises Songbird to tray (in preferences, UNCHECK show notifications as they are really big and intrusive, instead use: Song Notifier)
Last.fm: for scrobbling
Last.fm Album Art: better than Songbird's inbuilt album art finder (Amazon's album art finder add-on just compliments Songbird's inbuilt one, but still aint as good as Last.fm)
Music Recommendations: side pane to give info on current band playing, and similar artists
Song Notifier: less intrusive popup with info on new track
SHOUTcast Radio: good for finding random radio shows
The Exorcist: great for getting rid of duplicates and ghost tracks (tracks in library that have a broken link to an mp3 file)
^(see the new 'views' created in view>media views)

TABS IN LIBRARY VIEW
-Track Number
-Title
-Time
-Artist
-Album
-Genre
-Bit Rate
-Size

IF SONGBIRD RESOLUTION MESSED UP (e.g. over the task bar and cant resize):
-locate localstore.rdf in ~/.songbird (mine was in ~/.songbird2/xxxxx.default/)
-find resolution part, mine looked like this:
<RDF:Description RDF:about="chrome://gonzo/content/xul/mainplayer.xul#mainplayer"
screenX="0"
screenY="0"
width="1280"
height="800"
sizemode="normal" />
-change to something small relative to your resolution e.g. 800x600
-restart songbird
-resize the window

OLD (now just use FireTray add-on)
-change the launcher in /use/share/applications to have the prefix alltray

Mmmmmm done?!

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:18:00 +0100

I've finished all the basic functionality of the site. Comments system, history bar (on the article pages), 5 newest page snippets on homepage, automatically generated feed items based on new articles. Also: pretty menu hover colours! Then there's complete IE6 and IE7 compatibility and finally everything is strictly standards compliant. This will most probs be the last manual addition to this feed. After this, you will just be getting the articles I write on different Ubuntu-related subjects (next articles will be in the Coding section; relating my new experiences with web development)! Thanks for listening.xxx

Linux: SSH and SCP

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:09:08 +0100

SSH = Secure SHell (normal behavior: will be taken to your user's home folder)
ssh username@server
To start in another directory, add the -t option, as well as this suffix: "cd /path/to/dir; bash" e.g.
ssh -t username@server "cd /path/to/dir; bash"
This works because the second argument to the ssh command is the command to execute on the server...

SCP = Secure CoPy
scp username@server:/absolute/path/to/file /home/user/Desktop
scp username@server:relative/path/from/users/home/to/file /home/user/Desktop

SSH w/o PASSWORD PROMPT
-create public private keypair
ssh-keygen -t rsa
-copy public key to server
scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub username@<your server>:~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Coding: MySQL

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:25:46 +0100

Assumes you already have MySQL installed (and have set root password during installation)

CREATE DATABASE
-must login as root: mysql -uroot -p
CREATE DATABASE dbname;

MODIFY USERS
-again, must be root
-create username: jack, with password: mypassword who can access the MySQL databases on server: localhost
CREATE USER 'jack'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypassword';
(@'localhost' is optional, but good to limit user's reach)
-drop (remove) user: jack
DROP USER 'jack'@'localhost';
(if had not defined @'localhost' during the user's creation, it would just be DROP USER jack;)
-grant user: jack access to database: dbname (with privileges: ALL the basic ones... could have just listed a few e.g. GRANT SELECT, INSERT ON dbname...)
GRANT ALL ON dbname.* TO 'jack'@'localhost';
-NOTE: a user can then login and change their password with SET PASSWORD = PASSWORD("newpassword");

MODIFY TABLES (NORMAL USER LOGIN)
-login as a normal user. Last argument is the dbname (must have permissions on it)
mysql -ujack -pmypassword dbname
-can change the currently USED database at any point with use dbname;
-create a new table (auto-increment id field, auto-set-to-current timestamp field, an optional character string field, then a non-optional long string field)
CREATE TABLE messages(
messageId INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
timeStamp TIMESTAMP NOT NULL default CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
name VARCHAR(30),
message TEXT NOT NULL,
);
-insert a couple of new rows
INSERT INTO messages(name,comment) VALUES('tom','this is my message');
INSERT INTO messages(name,comment) VALUES('james','this is another message');
-update a row
UPDATE messages SET name='fred' WHERE name='james';
-delete a row
DELETE FROM messages WHERE name='tom';
-delete a table
DROP TABLE messages;

SELECT
-login as normal user
-simple query - select all fields that match a constraint
SELECT * FROM messages WHERE name='tom';
-advanced query - select just a couple of fields that match a complex constraint (use LIKE and percents in the string for wildcards), order the results using a particular field (DESC means descending, where the default would have been ascending), and limit the results with a maximum quantity:
SELECT message,timeStamp FROM messages WHERE message like '%my%' ORDER BY timeStamp DESC LIMIT 5;
-terminal select queries overlapping and looking UGLY? You can put a max size on any text fields:
SELECT timeStamp,name,LEFT(message,30),page FROM messages ORDER BY timeStamp DESC;

Finally Dynamic

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 19:25:00 GMT

Ubooboo finally goes dynamic, meaning it is full of juicy content, and will be updated frequently. It probably still contains loads of swear words and terrible formatting, but that will be ironed out over time. In other news, there is now a sweet little about page, which you can reach by clicking the title of this feed item, or the link in the footer on the site. Features coming soon: location bar and a working rss feed of new pages.

Revenue

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:52:00 GMT

Firstly, please delete this feed subscription and subscribe to this one instead: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/ubooboo as I'm now using a 3rd party service provided by feedburner.com. Now for the important news: thanks to Google AdSense, we now have some clever targetted ads at the side of every page. They should be interesting and relevant to the content of the page being viewed. Then there's the search feature: it is now fully operational, and so you no longer need to navigate to your favourite article, you can just search for it! In other news, I have put real article-snippets on the homepage, and changed the generic comments, which are currently the same on all pages, to make them more interesting ;). The next stage will be dynamic content, coming over easter! Lots of love, Jack.x

INFESTATION ALERT

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 22:19:00 GMT

This coursework submission involved animation. As I couldn't think of anything useful to do, we now have a friendly pet ant called Clancey. Please welcome him into the community. In other news, you can now toggle the view of the (not yet working) comment submission form. And links everywhere are getting crazy mouse-over colours. As always, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.x

New Logo

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 11:42:00 GMT

Ubooboo has a new logo, and slogan. Please give feedback! Fonts good/bad? Size/Positioning? Dodgy slogan? Thanks, much love, Jack.x