Ubuntu 15.10

Somehow I never learned.

I had the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS running for a few months, with warts and all, like the most dreaded random reboots.  So again I forgot or ignored the pain I ran through and decided to upgrade to 15.10.  There isn't any direct upgrade path from 14.04 to 15.10 so I had to upgrade to 15.04 first.  And in the process something somehow wasn't done right, I got problems with stability and dependency and something was not installed in the course of the upgrade.  So in the end, the computer won't restart properly or booting into Linux.

Learning, surprise, from my last experience, I figured it's more time effective just to re-install or install the OS from an USB thumb drive than trouble shooting it forever.  So I downloaded the ISO image of 15.10 and made it into a bootable thumbdrive.

I was able to reboot into 15.10.  I thought I had an absolute clean install but I guess not.  I kept my partition as it was and thought I installed 15.10 over whatever I had.  When installing 15.10 it did say I had 15.04 which I guess was actually "installed."  I guess I had absolutely no luck with 15.04.

I experienced one random reboot after 15.10 in the few hours that I was using it.  I almost think it's a hardware issue now.  So it is pretty hopeless.

PCIe WiFi Card that Works with Ubuntu 15.04

My good old Ralink RT2561 card gives me too much trouble on 15.04.  The connection speed has never been great especially when compared to my other computers.  With 15.04, the WiFi is practically unusable.  In the event it got a connection, it can be as slow as 1Mb/s and tops out at 11Mb/s and then before I know it, it msysteriously disconnects.  I tried many cookbook method or snakeoils to fix it, alas to no avail.

So I decided it's about time to give the computer an upgrade.

I have to say since most things worked on my Linux box right up until 15.04, I haven't been following vendors that have been Ubuntu or Linux certified.

Long story short, my facebook friend gave me a link to ThinkPenguin and finally I got myself a PCIe card.  It's a housebranded card using b/g/n standard with dual antenna and allegedly can reach top rate at 300Mb/s.

I just did a iwlist rate and it gave me at 58.5Mb/s.  At times, it says 65Mb/s.  So it's a big improvement compared to the old one which is only b/g with top speed at 54Mb/s, which is simply an unobtainium speed.

The card is not 100% plug-and-play.  The wicd manager doesn't know or doesn't guess right the wlan number.  So I have to manually change that.  The second thing is when the computer wakes up from sleep or suspend, it cannot re-establish the connection.  Even human intervention is hit or miss.  Since I removed network manager--my snakeoil approach to fix my last card, I don't know if network manager would work better with the card.

lspci returns:
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

dmesg | grep AR92 returns:
[   17.965148] ieee80211 phy0: Atheros AR9280 Rev:2 mem=0xffffc900129e0000, irq=16

lshw returns:
           *-network
                description: Wireless interface
                product: AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
                vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                logical name: wlan3
                version: 01
                serial: 00:22:43:4c:ad:2f
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=3.19.0-25-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.1.14 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
                resources: irq:16 memory:fdaf0000-fdafffff

ThinkPenguin lists the chipset as
Atheros AR9281 and its model being TPE-N300PCIE4 ($29 PLUS USPS 6.95 = $35.95)

In any event, I can say that it works, 99% of the time, and definitely better than my last card on 15.04.  It no longer drops connection left and right or connects at ridiculously slow rate like 1Mb/s.  The only issue so far is once disconnected, like from suspend, it can't connect automatically or even manually with certain reliability.  Further investigation needed.

Maybe if you just go out and buy any Wifi card with the Atheros AR928X chipset, it would work on 15.04.  Who knows?

UPDATE
8/17/2015
Finally got the chance to remove wicd and reinstalled network manager for GNOME.  Now the wifi can reliably reconnect after suspend.  While I removed wicd, I got no wifi, I have to plug in my RJ45 cable to my MBP to share its wifi connection in order to install network manager--I can't install network manager if I have wicd installed.

Ubuntu 15.04 and Ralink rt61pci Problem

update 8/12:
The latest is I removed network-manager and use wicd to "manage" the network.  I think it's better than before but still iffy.  I know it sounds very not scientific but that's me because I am not scientific.  Basically the Wifi support for Ubuntu 15.04 has been terrible ... for me if not for everybody.  I think this article kind of resembles what I experience.  In the last post it says "removed network-manager package, and used netctl for managing wifi, and the problem is gone"  I am not wizard so I have a difficult time figuring how to install netctl in Ubuntu GNOME.  In the end I gave up and installed WICD.  At some point it got stuck at 1Mb/s but if I wasn't dreaming I think it did connect at 36Mb/s.  It now connects at 11Mb/s.  I am not exactly complaining as long as it is double digit.  All in all it's iffy.  Not good.
Before I did all the above I also ordered a card that supposedly works out of the box on 15.04, I will find out soon.  It's a b/g/n card with max rate at 300Mb/s.  I doubt I can reach that but I would be thoroughly thrilled if it reaches 50Mb/s, the top speed of the router.

I guess I was happy too soon.  The connection drops and wouldn't reconnect.  And when connected the rate drops to 1Mb/s, like modem or something.

I am counting on my new card now.

----------------

Basically I have very slow connection rate, from 1Mb/s to 11Mb/s or mostly no connection at all with this combination.  Prior to 15.04, 14.04 LTS or 14.10, the WiFi connection has been pretty stable and the quality has been satisfactory, I don't think I ever reach the 54Mb/s rate but at least I got some where at 20Mb/s.  (My WiFi connected MacBook Pro get more than 50Mb/s and noticeably faster)

I thought ndiswrapper would be the solution.  Alas it was, only momentarily.

So the struggle continues.

PS: I should have left it at 14.10 because seemingly the WiFi is solid and I have no random reboots like I have had on 14.04 LTS

PPS:  In addition to the WiFi problem, I have had a few random reboots in 15.04 already.

PPPS:  Shotwell unequivocally continues to suck.  Part of the library continues to disappear, the import is still very very problematic.  I wonder does anybody ever get it to work like normally?  Part of my motivation to get on board to 15.04 was to see if Shotwell would work better.  Now I know.

PPPPS: So in a nutshell, the 15.04 offers no benefits to me.


NOTES TO SELF:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1433233 back in 2010
https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/solved-ralink-rt2561-rt61-wifi-problem-15-04-beta2/828/7  this is where I got the idea.  Unfortunately just like one of them, the ndiswrapper doesn't quite work for me, it drops connection just like the Linux driver installed originally.

http://us.edimax.com/edimax/download/download/data/edimax/us/download/product/home_legacy_products/home_legacy_wireless_adapters/ew-7128g/ manufacturer's support site

http://www.mediatek.com/en/downloads1/downloads/rt2501pcimpcicbrt61rt2561rt2561srt2661/


http://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/30ish0/ubuntu_14041504_uefi_restartpower_off_problem/

Crappy WiFi HardWare That Works with Ubuntu 10.10 AMD64

My crappy Trendnet TEW-228PI has been on its last leg for a long time.  It gives me some connection but I really have to stay on top of it as it takes a long time to see my AP and drops connection randomly.  I was able to get the Windows driver to work with it but only barely.  I don't know if it has to do with its shorty antenna or what.  But bottom line, it doesn't work well at all.

Finally I had had enough.  I bought this super duper Wireless 802.11b/g PCI card from Edimax, model EW-7128G.  Wow.  I didn't have to type any command at all.  What a disappointment.  Perhaps it has this detachable antenna, the signal is much better than before.  The card just works and I feel like why didn't I buy it earlier.  

uname -a
Linux [redacted-desktop 2.6.35-25-generic #44-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 21 17:40:44 UTC 2011 x86_64 GNU/Linux

lspci
04:07.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI

sudo lshw -C network
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
vendor: RaLink
physical id: 7
bus info: pci@0000:04:07.0
logical name: wlan2
version: 00
serial: 00:1f:1f:a8:22:36
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rt61pci driverversion=2.6.35-25-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.1.108 latency=32 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
resources: irq:21 memory:fdef0000-fdef7fff

The Days of Living Dangerously is Over, Almost

I hate to manage files and storage.  I've never really done any backup or such.  Not systematically anyway.  And I hate any virus or malware scanning programs except when I really need them.  I've tried Simple Backup but I kind of messed it up or it's messed up like with some of my help.  I got it to work, but it's just too slow for my taste--I know even my PC is running on museum grade hardware.

My pictures have been growing and growing, though for the most part they are mostly from a 6MP camera and I don't take that many pictures.  I think I have less than 14,000 pictures amount about 47GB of garbage.  In terms of size I don't think it's big.  But still I dread to manage any storage.

Finally in this rainy day when the US Open is suspended, most likely postponed, I just cobbled together a very simple script to do my "backup."  It's so simple that I wonder why I didn't bother to do it in the first place.  Performance wise, it's not bad, I guess if I have better hardware it could even be better.

Here is the single line that does the job.

cp -aRvu /home/genius/Photos/ /media/externaldrive/

It's so simple that I am embarrassed to even mention it here.  But I got no shame anyway, and it's good to share and as some sort of note for myself.  It takes less than an hour to copy my 14,000 pictures or 47GB to the FireWire 400 external 7200rpm harddrive.  And the -u option is pretty neat.  (Note:-if you know some nifty options, please do share with me.  Just don't tell me to rm -R at / as root)

the options
a - archive or attributes I guess, to keep the attributes of the source files
R - recursive, copy the directories and files
v - verbatim, to show the files are being copied
u - update, if the destination has the same files, it won't waste time copying them

On another note, just in case your external harddrive all of a sudden stopped working, chances are it has some huge huge files under the hidden trash folder.  To delete them, type sudo nautilus in Terminal, then view Show hidden files.  Delete the Trash folder to reclaim your precious space.  That's all.

Again, because I really don't know what I am doing, if by following the above instructions or guides you mess up your system just a little or big time beyond repair, hey you have been warned and I can't be held responsible for that.

Adobe Flash Crashes

Adobe Flash still crashes my system. I suspect it has to do with my old AMD Athlon chip from what I gathers.

I am running Ubuntu 8.04. Flash 9 or 10, Firefox 3. Flash 9, the production version, definitely without a doubt crashes Firefox 3 big time. I have to force quit the browser. I downloaded Flash 10 beta. Things get a bit better. Flash plays but not correctly, the audio will speed up in the midst of playing but it won't crash the whole browser but essentially defeats the whole Flash experience. It's Flash 10.0.0 d525. This is anecdotal, so take it with a grain of salt.

Ubuntu 8.04 Is Coming

Ubuntu 8.04 is coming to a computer near you.

PC Hardware That Works in Ubuntu 7.10

If you were like me who basically takes a cookbook approach to Ubuntu, then this may help you somewhat. I have this old beige box which is the opposite of sexy that lies around in the basement. And I decided to give it a second life. I did some research on some ubuntu forums but they are mostly for whiners and moaners like myself. I was more into looking at what works but instead they are posts for what doesn't work. Like my sound card has no sound or my wifi doesn't work. I did my homework and with some blind faith I just ordered what I think would work.

Here I can tell you what actually works, or at least what works somewhat. I got my goodies from newegg. Notice that they aren't the latest and greatest. These are parts for the budget minded. My motherboard (the almost 5~6 year old K7S5A, which you can still find at eBay) is an old one that won't even accept the newish parts even I want to. If you are looking for a souped up machine, look elsewhere.

Video card:
EVGA 128-A8-N319-LX GeForce FX 5500 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video card.
Ubuntu has something called restricted driver and it works. I don't play games so this card works for me. Plus I am still using my very humble 17" Dell CRT monitor.
UPDATE: 4/28/08
I got myself a whopping 22" hp w2207 monitor with 1680x1050 resoluton. Sadly I can only cajole it to a resolution of 1600x1000, so I got short changed of 400 pixels. This has happened in both 7.10 and now 8.04. I did some research I suspect it's the DVI connection that limits the resolution. I read that if connected through the vga, I might be able to get it. Even I read about it many months ago, I never bothered to try it. Maybe I should. The thread mentioned this was referring to the fx 5200 card, I guess it's close enough.

RAM
pqi POWER Series 1GB (2 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR266 (PC 2100) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model MD641GUOE-X2
The ram works and is recognized by the system. Not much to write about.

to be continued....
DVD
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 8X DVD-R DL 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE Burner with LightScribe Technology.
I just used it to play my DVD and audio CD so I don't know if its other features work or not. I guess they will, somewhat.

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card.
I guess this is the piece that sort of gives me the most trouble. I have a pair of speakers from my 7~8 years PC. They work. The sound capture doesn't seem to work. I did some digging online and it seems to be a GNOME problem as opposed to the sound card problem. In the end I was able to make it work from the command line environment. But the Gnome still bitches if I dare to sound capture. I don't see myself using the mic often but I just feel like to make it work. The command I used is from the alsa project.

% arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav

Ctrl-c to stop the recording from the terminal.

And % aplay foo.wav

does play back the sound.

Ubuntu 7.10

Just updated my basement server to Ubuntu 7.10
Linux mybox-desktop 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Sun Oct 14 23:05:12 GMT 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

The blogger picture upload crashing seems to be gone.

But my wifi driver is not playing well with this kernel. It caused kernel panic when booting up. So I am now hard wired for the time being. On the other hand if I booted from an older kernel, the wifi just worked. Last time I unblacklisted the wifi driver, seems like this time, the kernel really can't stand that driver.

Wifi post, previously.

UPDATE (1/2/2008 and 4/27/2008):
I think ndiswrapper is now built-in in the GNOME menu. So all you have to do is to find the Windows INF file and dump it somewhere to use it. Again, they are making it easier to do wifi. Kudos to the developers.  ehhhhhh.  Not built-in, but I think if from Synaptic, you can type "ndis" to find the package and have it installed.  So, now, installing a Windows wireless driver is just a piece of cake instead of a pain in the butt.  Though this wireless feature doesn't even come out of the box in Hardy Heron, you still need to manually do so, and if you don't have a RJ-45 connection first, no worry, the ndiswrapper packages are on the Hardy Heron LiveCD, so just point your Synaptic manager there and you will be fine.

UPDATE (11/12/2007):

Get wifi working under my Ubuntu 7.10 box with kernel 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP (don't ask me I don't know what they mean, I just follow this thread from the ubuntu forum, the below is pretty much a rehash of the instruction found on that thread, kudos to the original poster m_bridge)

My card is the Trendnet 228PI with rtl8180 (or rtl8180L?) chipset. The module that comes with the distribution would cause kernel panic whenever I try to activate it. (Note: I don't know if WEP is a factor but I didn't test it without WEP)

The solution is to get ndiswrapper to nicely wrap around the driver designed for Windows. Don't say Windows is good for nothing. It's just a myth that Windows crashes left and right, I use XP and 2000, they don't crash. I digress. Remove the offending r8180 module. Configure the wlan, and that's it.

Here is the mini howto/cookbook (as I don't fully comprehend every step) from the thread mentioned above.

I have a RJ-45 wired network connection to do all these while the wireless connection is disabled.

Get ndiswrapper
System, Administration, Synaptic Package Manager
search for ndiswrapper, then check and install the found packages, in my case three of them.

Get NET8180.INF
Go to Realtek Taiwan and do some search on rtl8180, I downloaded the one that says for Windows 2000 version 1.73 here. Unzip and put it in some folder /home/me/8180/NET8180.INF

fire up your Terminal

1) see the rtl8180 module got loaded
$ lsmod | grep 818
see something with r8180
2) remove the offending module and blacklist it
$ sudo rmmod r8180
$ gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
add this line at the bottom
blacklist r8180
save the file

3) Reboot machine and make sure the module not loaded anymore
$ lsmod | grep 818
there should be no results

4) Install the Windows driver NET8180.INF
$ sudo ndiswrapper - i /home/me/8180/NET8180.INF
$ sudo ndiswrapper -l
I get net8180 driver installed

5) load ndiswrapper module
$ sudo depmod -a
$ sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

6) configure your wireless network
click on the little network icon on the upper right hand corner next to the date (assuming you are using the default nautilus desktop, and that's the one I know and use). At this point I removed the appending X to the ESSID that I added in order to make it work in 7.04. No more appending extra character for the ESSID.

7) if the card is working, and it "should" then do the following
$ sudo ndiswrapper -m
$ gksudo gedit /etc/modules
append below at the end and save:
ndiswrapper

8) reboot and it "should" work.

Ubuntu 7.10 Available

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is available. I am upgrading mine online as I type. It's going to take some time. I expect some screw up here and there otherwise where is the challenge? Last night I tried to do my basement wi-fi connected box but no dice. It couldn't get past the preparing the upgrade line. I suspect I better hard wire that puppy to do the upgrade or burn a CD to do the upgrade, what do I know. As for the 7.04 with my wifi setup I have unblacklist and to pad the ESSID with an extra character. So that may go away with Gutsy Gibbon, where do they come up with names like this? The Upgrade really takes hours.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading

http://technical-itch.co.uk/2007/10/19/ubuntu-710-upgrade-first-impressions/

UPDATES: It went through without any problem. So there is no screw up to report about.

Notes to Self

GIMP doesn't do a good job in their File | Open department. But in fairness, the solution is just a search away. If you are a Linux guru it shouldn't be a problem (sadly I am not, so I have to search).

I have to via the interface do a Places | Connect to Server ...
pick Windows share under Service type
type in the ip address of the Windows PC
then able to see MYPICTURES as share (the folder is My Pictures)
your Windows Box will appear on the desktop. But GIMP can't access that.

After that then I can issue the below command, but only on the 2nd time that it wouldn't complain. Is it a bug, maybe, maybe not as I really don't have a solid grasp of what's happening.

1st time failed
mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ sudo smbmount //PC/MYPICTURES /mnt/winshare -o username=yourusername,password=yourpassword
Packet send failed to 169.254.255.255(137) ERRNO=Operation not permitted

2nd time succeeded
mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ sudo smbmount //PC/MYPICTURES /mnt/winshare -o username=yourusername,password=yourpassword
mybox@mybox-desktop:~$

Even you unmount the Windows PC on the desktop, your shared Windows folder will remain on the Linux (Ubuntu) file system, in my case /mnt/winshare where GIMP can access.

Notes To Self

mybox@mybox-desktop:~/java$ java HelloWorldApp
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ClassFormatError: HelloWorldApp (unrecognized class file version)
at java.lang.VMClassLoader.defineClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(libgcj.so.70)
at gnu.gcj.runtime.SystemClassLoader.findClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(libgcj.so.70)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(libgcj.so.70)
at gnu.java.lang.MainThread.run(libgcj.so.70)


mybox@mybox-desktop:~/java$ sudo update-alternatives --config java

There are 3 alternatives which provide `java'.

Selection Alternative
-----------------------------------------------
1 /usr/bin/gij-wrapper-4.1
+ 2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj/jre/bin/java
* 3 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/bin/java

Press enter to keep the default[*], or type selection number:

mybox@mybox-desktop:~/java$ java HelloWorldApp
Hello World!

Notes to Self

I did not create the below files or scripts, it's more like I took them from the web see my prior ref here.

mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ cat .netrc
machine ftp-www.earthlink.net
login 1234@earthlink.net
password !@#$%^

mybox@mybox-desktop:~$ crontab -l
# m h dom mon dow command
01,31 * * * * /home/mybox/Scripts/up.sh


mybox@mybox-desktop:~/Scripts$ cat up.sh
#!/bin/bash
MyDate=`date`
MyIP=`curl -s http://myip.dk/ | egrep -m1 -o '[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}'`
echo $MyIP > ~/Scripts/.MyIP.now
if !(/usr/bin/diff ~/Scripts/.MyIP.now ~/Scripts/.MyIP.then) ; then
sed "s/~~~MyIP~~~/$MyIP/g ; s/~~~date~~~/$MyDate/g" ~/Scripts/index.html_source > ~/Scripts/index.html
echo -e "put index.html" | /usr/bin/ftp -v ftp-www.earthlink.net
cp ~/Scripts/.MyIP.now ~/Scripts/.MyIP.then
fi


mybox@mybox-desktop:~/Scripts$ cat index.html_source
<html>
<head>
<title>~~~MyIP~~~</title>
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="7;URL=http://~~~MyIP~~~/">
</head>

<body>
<p>
<p>

Good things come to those who wait 7 seconds...
<p>
you are being redirected to <a href="http://~~~MyIP~~~/">my basement server.</a>

<br><br>
</body>
<hr>
<p><i>Page last updated on ~~~date~~~</i></p>
<hr>
</html>

Notes to Self

We have LAMP installed. Now let's tackle Apache. How to configure your Apache (Apache2 2.2.3-3.2ubuntu0.1)

There are myriads of Howto's out there but this one is mine.

Fire up your firefox, at the URL, type http://localhost/ or http://127.0.0.1/ you should see some website. Good. Now configure the website.

To create your lame or state of the art web site:-
Change Apache default site to your own. Your index.html is going to be stored in /home/some_user/public_html/ (note replace some_user with user name in your system)

Fire up your terminal, call it terminal cutie
now type the following to copy the default site to mysite.

sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/default \ /etc/apache2/sites-available/mysite

Fire up another terminal, call it terminal cutier
now type the following to change the configuration, you can # or rem out the original line before changing it.

gksudo gkedit /etc/apache2/sites-available/mysite

Change DocumentRoot to point to the new location, /home/some_user/public_html/
Change the Directory directive, replace <Directory /var/www/> to <Directory /home/some_user/public_html/>

UPDATE: oh, and take out the Indexes to disable automatic indexing of directory, that's a personal preference of me. I did that by adding # in the front to rem out the original.

#Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews

Save the file.

Now deactivate the old site (the default) and activate the new one, mysite
From terminal cutie, type

sudo a2dissite default && sudo a2ensite mysite

To create an index.html under /home/some_user/public_html/
From terminal cutie, type

echo '<b>Hello World!</b>' > \ /home/some_user/public_html/index.html

Finally restart apache by typing at terminal cutie

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Now point your browser to http://localhost/ you should see Hello World! I know I did.

Original reference from here.

Notes to Self

How to setup LAMP in Ubuntu 7.04 fiesty fawn. (LAMP is Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP)

There are myriads of guides out there, but this one is mine.

As far as I know, which means not much at all, the Ubuntu way is rather easy. Everything you do is going to be GUI driven, and you don't have to know a lot to do a lot. But if there is some wrinkles, you are pretty much screwed. And then you really have to know what you are doing.

System / Administration / Synaptic Package Manager
You will be prompted to Enter your password to perform administrative tasks

From Synaptic Package Manager, Edit/Mark Packages by Task...
A dialogue window asks Which tasks should be performed by your computer?
Mark LAMP server and follow the onscreen instructions.

And you are done.

Notes to Self

The harbingers, geeks, cheapskates of Linux: How to set up a dynamic IP web server in your basement.

By Henry H. Lu and by Jason Bailey(?) circa year 1996 and 2001. I did it some years ago and got hacked into. And I never recovered until now.

Notes to Self

To Run Jar File

Ubuntu 7.04 has already JRE 1.4.2 installed but no go running a JAR file, gave me
java.awt.AWTError: Cannot loadAWT tookkit: gnu.java.awt.peer.gtk.GtkToolkit
....
Go to Application Add/Remove, Search Java for All available applications...
Download and install Sun Java 5.p Runtime.

$ java -jar some .jar

some's GUI comes out. It worked.

[just like most other things, I don't know why, but as long as I can get it to work, I am happy, if I know why that's better but I am not pushing it]

Notes to Self

Notes to self
You are an idiot, a masochist.
This is my n attempts to learn Linux ...
This is by far the easiest installation, Ubuntu 7.04

Ubuntu 6.06 did the live cd thing but crapped out on the harddrive installation, Error in removing some language packs.
Downloaded 7.04, burned a CD, live cd worked, harddrive installation worked, but wi fi didn't work.
The funny thing was in 6.06, the wi fi actually worked. I tried to boot Live CD from 6.06 but no longer worked. I have a PCI card from Trendnet TEW228PI, a discontinued product that uses the Realtek RTL8180 chipset.
Searched Internet on Realtek RTL8180 chipset and Ubuntu but to no avail.
Searched more, finally found the following instructions.
You need to be root to do edit the blacklist file.

From the terminal

sudo editor /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
rem out the line by prefixing the line with a #, like so
# blacklist r818x

Reboot system

And append a bogus character to the ESSID.

Now I am blogging using my Ubuntu.

The last time I got this card to work was years ago using Redhat, I think I used either a ndiswrapper or a Linux driver. But I am not sure anymore.

This is the easiest by far.

I Need A Computer

I need a better computer to suck my photos out my Nikon D70. And to store and process them en masse.

I just tested UFRaw-batch.exe running from Windows, I think it's good enough for me. And with GIMP I can have a total graphics interface that rivals Photoshop minus the big bucks, somewhat I guess. Anyway, I need a computer first... If I have more processing power, I may shoot more in NEF and just batch them in one stroke. So far Mac seems to be the only one that can run OS X, Windows and Linux all together in one machine. But my Mac iBook G3 experience hadn't been exactly pleasant.

Let's see what Nikon has to offer tomorrow, if anything.