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Just a few days ago a friend told me that he uses a Linux distribution on a USB-stick whenever he has trouble with his operating system. Although I won’t tell you which OS that is, I guess you figured it out already.

Many Linux distributions are available and a few of them were designed especially for slow computer and/or USB-sticks (also called pendrives). This directly points to the first Linux distribution I would like to introduce you to, which is designed for an installation on a portable device: Pendrive-Linux. Other options are Damn Small Linux (DSL) and TinyCore (TC). The latter one requires only 10MB of space. The reason why I’m writing about these distributions is simply that not everyone has a 4GB USB-stick or bigger available to install Ubuntu and might just want to try out other distributions anyways. If questions remain on how to install these, please leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Installing Linux onto your USB-stick:

Get UNetbootin and install it, just like you would install every other software for Windows. Next to that, download the distribution that you would like to try out, for example Ubuntu. Check before you download, if the Linux distribution you would like to try out is supported. Now everything is pretty much self-explanatory. Choose the distribution you would like to install and the folder, you saved the downloaded file in. The good thing about this process is, that you don’t need to burn an image to a CD. Just choose the .iso file and choose the drive you woulod like to install it onto. Now lean back and wait. After the installation you will be able to restart your computer from the USB-device (if supported) and work with an operating system, which is portable and doesn’t expose you to the danger of deleting files from your harddisk. The ‘normal’ installation process of Ubuntu (for example) is so easy though, that everybody who is able to press Enter often enough can install it – seriously.

Update:

An article at lifehacker.com pointed out a nice piece of software called uSbuntu. This software allows to create a bootable version of Ubuntu (and apparently other Linux distributions as well) onto a USB-stick. While this software might not be as comprehensive as UNetbootin (see above), it sure is an easy way to create a bootable version of your favorite Linux distribution. As my heading suggests, this software is Windows only, which I find rather funny.

The easiest way to install Ubuntu is probably the installation from within Windows, using Wubi. To do so, you will have to get Ubuntu from here, where you can download it for free. If you know whether you will need a 32bit or 64bit version, click the Custom Options depending on what you would like to download. If you’re unsure, just click download from a place near you. You will get an .iso image file. This can easily be burned with any burning programme. Just visit this page, if you don’t know how to burn images. Once this is done, only two (possibly three)  more steps are necessary to install Ubuntu.

Before I tell you how to install Ubuntu, I would like to start with an introduction to Wubi though. Wubi is a nice little Windows programme, that allows you to install Ubuntu like any other software. This means that once you want to get rid of it, for whatever reason you may have, go to your Installed software list and simply delete it.

Installation:

Firstly, insert the Ubuntu-CD in your Cd drive. When the autostart-window opens, click on Wubi to install. If this shouldn’t be available, you can download and install Wubi from here, install and start as any other Windows programme. Once Wubi is running, you have to decide about a few options. For starters, there’s the harddisk you want to install it to. Choose a harddisk/partition of your liking, which is big enough for the next setting – the size. You will want to give Ubuntu 10GB, which should proof sufficient for most needs, but if you have more available and plan to install many applications and/or games, you might as well add the one or other gigabyte. Depending on how much space you have available (or plan to need), click on an option and then enter a username and password. This password is important, as you’ll need it to log in and furthermore to enter whenever changes in the system are made (e.g. the installation of software).

Attention: Although I haven’t heard of problems using Wubi, it’s a free application afterall and may cause the loss of data. So please safe your important files or make a backup before installing Ubuntu.

The installation will create a bootloader. That’s a software which will ask you which operating system you would like to load after starting your computer. So when you finished the installation, restart your pc and choose Ubuntu to start it. Now Ubuntu will start to install. Why? Because Wubi actually didn’t install the software but created a file, which Ubuntu uses like a harddisk. If you’re interested about that, you might want to read about virtualization, otherwise just enjoy the easy process. Once Ubuntu finished the installation, restart your computer and have fun using your new operating system.

It’s no secret that I’m using and loving Ubuntu. It’s so easy to use and does exactly what I want it to do. Can’t really say that from Windows Vista, which I’m running as well, but that’s a different story. Quite often I hear and read that there’s no reason to use Linux at all and after asking why, I get the usual answers like: ‘It’s too difficult’; ‘It doesn’t work with Windows software like MSOffice, which I need’; ‘Not all my hardware is supported’ and my personal favorite: ‘I heard so’.

Okay, so let’s clear some basic things here. Linux is an operating system based on the Linux-kernel, the engine of a car if you want so. Ubuntu is one of many distributions. This basically decsribes the look and feel of the car. (Some might hate me for saying such things, but relax, just trying to visualize things here. ) A few years ago Linux-distributions might still have been geek-only-territory, but these times are long gone. My parents are using Ubuntu on my old laptop and they can go online, create documents, burn their pictures and so on, without me having them to tell how it’s done. For the ‘I can’t use my Windows software’-argument, I will publish a post soon, which should clarify the mystery of using Windows software – if you really need it. The hardware issue, well…, I never really encountered big issues myself, but you might have a point there. Overall I would say, you should try and decide for yourself and not listening to others, who might never have done so and actually never spent time with Ubuntu or other Linux distributions.

Just yesterday I wrote about the Twitter client TweetDeck. If that isn’t really your cup of tea, because it’s too bloated, then Twhirl might just do the trick for you. It’s easily installed (especially if you already have Adobe Air) and includes pretty much everything one may need. It offers features such as shortening URLs, adding images, searching tweets and cross-postings of your updates to sites such as Facebook. Although I didn’t have enough time to test all these features yet, it looks like a promising alternative to TweetDeck.

In the long run I will most likely stumble across more and more clients like these, but if you find searching for the best Twitter client as exhausting as I do, I suggest you decide what you really need and what saves you time through easy handling of the application. When you then find a Twitter client (for example one of the two I suggested) you’re happy with, stick to it. That said, this shouldn’t stop you from trying other applications every now and then, as clients will evolve and new ones possibly suit your needs even more. Overall you shouldn’t forget the most important thing: enjoy twittering.

And again, it’s Conky-time. After writing a small how-to and integrating Amrok 2 into this nice little piece of software, I decided to write yet another Conky post. This time about starting the programme automatically with each start of Ubuntu. This is done by creating a script, containing the following:

#!/bin/sh
sleep 25
conky

Name the script .conky_autostart and save it. To make it executable type chmod a+x .conky_autostart. That’s basically it. Now you can add this file to your Autostart and enjoy Conky every time you boot. The time value (25) can be reduced. I achieved best results with such a high number but others might be happy with 10 or even less. The value describes the delay with which Conky will start. If you use Beryl and encounter starting problems, increase the value until it works. Flickering during the use of Conky is a known issue and can be solved by editing your settings in the .conkrc file: double buffer = yes and own window = yes.

Continuing my Conky post series, I will introduce you to the integration of Amarok 2 into Conky. I prefer this option over the OSD (On Screen-Display for song information) any day. The reason is that the OSD will only appear at the beginning of a song and while it does that, it tends to be in the way. I’m aware that you can change the position, but I’m still not happy with that. Wherever it is, it will overlay your internet browser, image editor or similar. Not being able to check what song is curently playing (if you missed the start) and sometimes simply not wanting to see every song are other reasons for me to implement Amarok 2 into Conky. I repeatedly said Amarok 2, because the integration of Amarok 1 is a different story.

Read my Conky article if you still don’t know where to start with Conky. Otherwise copy and paste this into your .conkyrc file:

${color #000000}Music ${hr 1}
${color #BBB3B3} ${execi 10 ~/.conky/amarok artist}
${color #BBB3B3} ${execi 10 ~/.conky/amarok title}
${color #BBB3B3} ${execi 10 ~/.conky/amarok album}
${color #BBB3B3} ${execi 10 ~/.conky/amarok year}
${color #BBB3B3} ${execi 10 ~/.conky/amarok genre}

For further questions on this, visit this forum, where additional questions and ideas on my code are available. Afterall, this is just a basis you can build upon. After you integrated the above text, you will need to install qdbus which is available in the software packages.

Until now, this by itself will not work. As you can see in the above text, I referred to ./conky. This is the folder you will need to create a new document in, I called amarok. As far as I know you can change both folder- and filename, but it must be changed in the above text accordingly. Now you can copy and paste the following content into the just created file (yes we’re almost done ):

#!/bin/bash
# based on: amaroK info display script by eirc <eirc.eirc@gmail.com>
# amarok2 info display script by fireandfuel <fireandfuel@hotmail.de>
#
# requirements: amaroK 2 (!)

esac

Once this file is saved, type the following command into your console: chmod u+x name_of_the_script. If the document (script) is placed elsewhere then your desktop, you will have to add the details about that into the command or change into the folder where the file is save and enter the command there. Restart Conky and enjoy Amarok 2 details on your desktop.

Conky is a really nice little programme when it comes to monitoring and displaying various system information on your desktop.

I’m a friend of tidy desktops, but need detailed information about my system, especially while using virtualisation software. This information should include my CPU and RAM usage as well as networking details. Conky does a great job with this, when set up correctly. While it isn’t a programme that shows off with it’s graphical user interface, simply because it has none, it’s easy on your resources.  Not having a GUI might sound annoying and like a lot of work at first, but it turns out to be not that big a problem at all.

Getting started:

To install Conky in Ubuntu type sudo apt-get install conky into your console or download the package and  compile it from source. Now create a texfile with an editor of your choice and name it .conkyrc. After pasting the following content, you can save it where you like. Keep in mind that you want to be able to find it quickly though, which is why I’m using the Home folder.

To give you an impression of what Conky is capable of, copy and paste this into the just created document:

# set to yes if you want Conky to be forked in the background
background yes
use_xft yes
xftfont HandelGotD:size=9
xftalpha 0.5
update_interval 4.0
total_run_times 0
own_window no
own_window_type normal
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
double_buffer yes
minimum_size 200 5
maximum_width 250
draw_shades no
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders no
default colour grey
default_shade_color grey
default_outline_color grey
alignment bottom_right
gap_x 12
gap_y 48
no_buffers yes
uppercase no
cpu_avg_samples 2
override_utf8_locale yes

TEXT

${color #000000}Time & Date ${hr 1}
${color #BBB3B3}${time %k:%M:%S}
${color #BBB3B3}${Time %A, %m.%d.%Y}

${color #000000}System ${hr 1}
${color #BBB3B3}Uptime $alignr $uptime
${color #BBB3B3}Power $alignr $acpiacadapter
${color #BBB3B3}Battery $alignr $battery
${color #BBB3B3}Temperature $alignr $acpitemp°C
${color #BBB3B3}CPU $alignr ${cpu cpu0}%
${color #BBB3B3}$cpubar $alignr
${color #BBB3B3}Ram $alignc $mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc%
${color #BBB3B3}$membar $alignr

${color #000000}Processes ${hr 1}
${color #BBB3B3}$processes processes ($running_processes running)
${top name 1} $alignr ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1}
${top name 2} $alignr ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2}
${top name 3} $alignr ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3}
${top name 4} $alignr ${top cpu 4} ${top mem 4}
${top name 5} $alignr ${top cpu 5} ${top mem 5}

${color #000000}Network ${hr 1}
${color #BBB3B3}Traffic ${time %B}:                ${color #BBB3B3}Down:  ${execi 300 vnstat -m | grep “`LC_ALL=C date +”%b ‘%y”`” | awk ‘{print $3 $4}’} $alignr
${color #BBB3B3}Up:  ${execi 300 vnstat -m | grep “`LC_ALL=C date +”%b ‘%y”`” | awk ‘{print $6 $7}’} $alignr
${color #BBB3B3}Inbound $alignr ${downspeed eth0} kb/s
${color #BBB3B3}${downspeedgraph eth0} $alignr
${color #BBB3B3}Outbound $alignr ${upspeed eth0} kb/s
${color #BBB3B3}${upspeedgraph eth0}

In addition to that, you would have to install vnstat if you would like to see information about your traffic and internet speed.

To start, type conky in your console. When you make changes to the .conkyrc file and you would like to see whether it works and/or looks the way you want, type killall -SIGUSR1 conky. This will restart Conky directly with your changes.

To find out more about Conky, check the documentary on settings or read forums such as Ubuntu Forums. Especially this is a good start in my opinion, as you can understand the different commands by looking at the screenshots and comparing the provided code.

Mac’s operating systems look stunning. No doubt about that. But what if you have a computer and no Mac? Well, if you’re using Ubuntu, you can check out Damien’s post at MakeTechEasier. This easy to follow step-by-step process provides you with all information necessary to achieve that look.

If you’re new to Ubuntu or don’t want to hassle through a guide for an afternoon, then Mac4Lin is probably the right option for you.