Archive for the ‘ GNU/Linux ’ Category

What I miss of gnu/linux while forced to use MS windows XP

I will not compare windows (any version) to kde because that would be unfair, fluxbox is sufficient for this little confrontation.
1.A single desktop means that l waste a lot of time moving windows around.
2. I can‘t press Alt+F2 to launch programs, and windows menu is simply a mess.
3. It seems that there is no way to keep a window above the others when it looses focus, this is a very useful feature when you need to have important information at hand. Every widows manager that I know on linux has a list of options that you can use to customize windows behaviour.
4. No linux shell. Windows shell is no match and I would work much faster with a command line, especially on those tedious tasks that you could automate with some scripts.
5. No mid-button copy paste.
6. It get viruses.

And the most funny thing is that people still say “XP is better than vista/seven“. Well I‘m afraid that most of the arguments I have used are still valid for the new Microsoft OS.

2011
06/09
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GNU/Linux
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Enabling effects on KDE 4.4.x

KDE on my Debian testing has suddenly lost the ability to activate desktop effects. On systemsettings the message displayed was the following:

compositing is not supported on your system

I’m not a big fan of special effects like exploding windows, but plasma themes are often ugly without effects and I like to have shadows surrounding windows.
So, I have found that this is a known bug and can be solved by simply editing .kde/share/config/kwinrc. You will find this line:
CheckIsSafe=false
which you should change into:
CheckIsSafe=true
This will make you able to enable desktop effects in systemsettings again.

This experience allowed me to switch back to fluxbox again, which has been a most pleasant diversion.

For the sake of completeness, I have the following video card:
VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV710 [Radeon HD 4350]
and I am using proprietary drivers, but I have read about people having the same problems with other gpus too.

2011
04/27
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GNU/Linux
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No audio from headphone on Ubuntu on my Asus laptop

I have an Asus Notebook, A6Q00VM and it mounts this audio card:
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)

I’m using Ubuntu on this notebook, normally I would go with Debian Testing but I want to keep in touch with this famous distro so I keep it in my old notebook, just in case I get nostalgic. However, the problem is that I don’t get any audio from my headphones. Solution is to add the following lines in /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
options snd-hda-intel model=z71v position_fix=1
Don’t ask me what they mean. However reboot your system and you should be able to enjoy music without annoying your neighbors, or you may annoy them even more with your new speakers.

The funny thing is that I did the same thing with 7.10 (my first approach to linux!) to solve the same problem.

2011
01/03
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GNU/Linux
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How to write in Japanese on Debian Squeeze and KDE

I think that maybe this is the simplest way to write in Japanese on my Debian box.

aptitude install ibus-anthy
You can install other input methods for other languages too.

Add the following lines toyour .bashrc
export GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
export XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
export QT_IM_MODULE=ibus

Launch ibus-setup from a shell, then configure the input methods and the other options. Logout from your graphical session and login again. You should be able to change the input method in your applications now.

2010
12/26
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GNU/Linux
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Back to the fluxbox

At lest once per year there’s a moment when I start my fluxbox session instead of the usual kde one, and I begin to imagine how it would be cool to use fluxbox with a black and green theme, using only command-line-interface (cli) applications and just be a hopeless nerd.

The question is: can one use just a command line to do most the things he usually do? The answer obviously depends on what one wants to do.
This is the list of programs I usually use from a command line:
-Browser : w3m, lynx
-Instant Messaging : freetalk (xmpp), finch (everything else)
-Editor, programming : vim
-Players: mplayer
-Pdf: pdftohtml and w3m, or pdftotext.
-Downloading, torrent: aria2
-RSS feeds: canto
Notice that w3m can display images in a xterm terminal. I remember that I could even access gmail with w3m, but it seems that I can’t do it. The drawback is: no javascript, no flash (well, this might not be considered a drawback at all)
This will cover 90% of my common activities. I still need an email client, but I am working on it.

2010
11/28
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GNU/Linux
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