Friday, February 16, 2007

1st things first on Kubuntu 6.10

I still use Kubuntu 6.10 and the first thing/s I do with it is to make sure I have all my apps I need to open, edit, and run my stuff.. mostly p0rn (heh).



And no, I don't believe in OSS-only preference. The people who keeps on flaming you at the mere mention of "mp3" or "wmv" should be hanged for hypocrisy since I believe they themselves have those kinds of files. Well, I myself don't use wmv and wma, but you can't prevent people from using them and posting them on their sites. Yes, most content/s online are either mp3, mp4, ra, rm, wma, and wmv and that is out of anyone's control. I can send them an email, but I don't think they'll listen especially if they assume/think that everyone uses Windows (Trust me, a lot of them will never believe you when you say that there's other OS besides Windows). Ok, I got a response from a friend... "DON'T VIEW PORN!!!!" Nice! Screaming your head off won't change a thing! That is until we influence them to, at least, post an acceptable file format.



I can understand that K/Ubuntu intentionally left out proprietary codecs from their distro due to license restrictions. But what I can't understand is why other distros has them working on your first install. What I can't understand is why won't a representative from K/Ubuntu (or any other distros) talk to the proprietor of those codecs and compromise on something. I know that you need to pay money for use of their codecs, but I don't think everyone will demand for money. Maybe they could strike a deal... Advertising their company name or logo ain't bad.... right? Placing a tiny Fraunhofer IIS Logo on the top-right or bottom-left of Amarok every time you play and MP3 ain't bad... right?



What matters right now is user-convenience. And you keep on asking why Linux still hasn't dominated the world. Just imagine... 500 people a day migrating to your favorite distro... Now that redefines the meaning of the word Dominance.



EDIT: Jucato just enlightened me on what K/Ubuntu stands for including licensing and philosophy. Yeah, already knows about those, but I'm still wondering why not make it easier for a user.



ANOTHER EDIT: Now this is what I'm talking about. No need to bother K/Ubuntu main, someone already created a fork... an ideal distro for migrants.

Please check it out here:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-Ultimate-Edition-45644.shtml



Hmm, I may eat what I just said. Certainly I wouldn't want seeing Microsoft's Logo anywhere near my precious desktop. MP3's, AVI's DivX', Real logos are fine, but not Microsoft....



So, anyway, there's a few ritual/s I love doing that it became a habit over time. Here's my list;

  1. I have an AOC LM525 LCD Monitor. So configuring my monitor is my first priority because I will stare at it all day long.

  2. Add an updated Kubuntu Mirror on my sources.list (if Kubuntu has been out for a while now)

  3. Use Adept Updater
  4. Make sure I have read write access to my storage (VFAT) partition on /media/hda5

  5. Install the latest Firefox release
  6. Install my favorite extensions and use the theme I like in Firefox
  7. Install codecs (for Amarok Kaffeine) and plugins (Java, Flash, etc.)

  8. Test if the codecs and plugins work
  9. Download and install VLC Xine, and XMMS.

  10. Create, Open, Edit, etc. my presentation, spreadsheets, word, bmp, jpg, gif, png, svg, etc. files in OpenOffice or other derivatives.
  11. Download and install GIMP
  12. Compile the latest kernel, 2.6.20 in this instance
  13. Make sure that everything works with my new kernel including my PS/2 optical A4Tech MOP-18 Mini Optical Mouse. I don't like using USB for my mouse because I'll have other hardware using it.

  14. Download KDevelop 3.4 and other C++ Tools
  15. Test out KDevelop
  16. Install and configure my HP Deskjet 5160 printer
  17. Install and configure my Genius Colorpage-Vivid 4X Scanner
  18. Configure my Desktop and Windows Behaviour. Make sure its' pleasing to the eyes.
  19. Install OpenSync because I have an Audiovox PPC4100 (Pocket PC 2003)
  20. Make sure it syncs with Evolution and/or Thunderbird
  21. Configure the mail servers of Thunderbird and download my GMail emails.
  22. (Optional) compile KDE
  23. Be Productive
My last post concerns setting up your box and I said that it will normally take around 2 days initially to configure everything that needs to be configured. Well, the list above is my todo list every time I install Kubuntu.



AOC LM525





Sources.list Update



I wanted the latest of what KDE (most specifically KDevelop) has to offer. So I have to edit my sources list.



 wget http://people.ubuntu.com/~jriddell/kubuntu-packages-jriddell-key.gpg

sudo apt-key add kubuntu-packages-jriddell-key.gpg
then add this line:



deb http://kubuntu.org/packages/kde-356 edgy main
Source: http://kubuntu.org/announcements/kde-356.php



And if you want to download commercial applications like Real Player or Opera, then add this line:



deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu dapper-commercial main


Firefox Extensions and Themes





Codecs and Plugins

Of course, I have to install everything there is to install... Efficiency!





etc. etc. etc.