Benjamin Mako Hill
Matthew Helmke
Corey Burger
With Jonathan Jesse,
Kyle Rankin, and Jono Bacon
Praise for The Official Ubuntu Book, Fifth Edition
This book is the perfect companion for users new to Linux and Ubuntu. It
covers the basics in a concise and well-organized manner. General use is covered
separately from troubleshooting and error-handling, making the book
well suited both for the beginner as well as the user that needs extended help.
the use of Ubuntu. All of them have been satisfied with their purchase and
have even been able to use it to help them in their journey along the way.
weeks of having it, I’ve used it as a quick reference a half dozen times, which
saved me the time I would have spent scouring the Ubuntu forums online.
This book is the perfect companion for users new to Linux and Ubuntu. It
covers the basics in a concise and well-organized manner. General use is covered
separately from troubleshooting and error-handling, making the book
well suited both for the beginner as well as the user that needs extended help.
—Thomas Petrucha, Austria Ubuntu User Group
I have recommended this book to several users who I instruct regularly onthe use of Ubuntu. All of them have been satisfied with their purchase and
have even been able to use it to help them in their journey along the way.
—Chris Crisafulli, Ubuntu LoCo Council,
Florida Local Community Team
This text demystifies a very powerful Linux operating system . . . in just a fewweeks of having it, I’ve used it as a quick reference a half dozen times, which
saved me the time I would have spent scouring the Ubuntu forums online.
—Darren Frey, Member, Houston Local User Group
 |
| The Official Ubuntu Book, Fith Edition |
SPECIAL THANKS TO Mark Shuttleworth, Jane Silber, and Billy Cina for all their efforts to get this book out into the world for both new and veteran Ubuntu users. Thanks also to Victor Ferns, director of Canonical, Ltd., for his attention to the project. Many people at Canonical, including Marcus
Haslam, Iain Farrell, Ivanka Majic, Tom Macfarlane, and Jorge O. Castro, provided immeasurable assistance in the production of this book.
We reached into the Ubuntu community for a top group of reviewers, each of whom greatly contributed to the strength of the manuscript, including Amber Graner and Joe Barker. Our thanks extend back to this group of reviewers for help with the previous editions: Alan Pope, Jonathan Riddell,
Oliver Grawet, Dennis Kaarsemaker, Matthew East, Quim Gil, Dinko
Korunic, Abhay Kumar, Jaldhar Vyas, and Richard Weideman. Also, Scott
Ritchie provided valuable assistance with the Wine information.
And finally, we appreciate the efforts of the Prentice Hall team, including
Debra Williams Cauley, Carol Lallier, Kim Arney, Linda Begley, Richard
Evans, Kim Boedigheimer, Mark Taub, John Fuller, and Elizabeth Ryan.
About The Author
Benjamin Mako Hill is a Seattle native working out of Boston, Massachusetts.
Mako is a long-time free software developer and advocate. He was
part of the founding Ubuntu team, one of the first employees of Canonical,
Ltd., and coauthor of The Official Ubuntu Server Book. In addition to some
technical work, his charge at Canonical was to help grow the Ubuntu development
and user community during the project’s first year. Mako is currently
a fellow at the MIT Center for Future Civic Media, and a researcher
and Ph.D. candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Mako has
continued his involvement with Ubuntu as a member of the Community
Council governance board, through development work, and through projects such as this book.
Matthew Helmke has been an Ubuntu user since April 2005 and an Ubuntu
Member since August 2006. He serves on the Ubuntu Forum Council, providing
leadership and oversight of the Ubuntu Forums, as well as on the
Ubuntu regional membership approval board for Europe, the Middle East,
and Africa. He has written articles about Ubuntu for Linux+ and Linux
Identity magazines, along with books and articles on this and other topics.
He recently closed his consulting business in Morocco and began a Master’s
degree program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.
Corey Burger lives in Victoria, British Columbia, and is a long-term user
and contributor to Ubuntu. A founder of the Ubuntu Canada group and
former member of the Community Council, he has been involved with
Ubuntu since its first release. Corey is currently a geography student and has
most recently worked for a Canadian Linux company. He also contributes to
OpenStreetMap and works to promote Ubuntu on Vancouver Island. Corey
speaks regularly about Ubuntu, OpenStreetMap, and open source to a wide variety of audiences.
Jonathan Jesse is a full-time Microsoft Windows consultant specializing
in IT lifecycle management products. Beginning with the Hoary Hedgehog
release, he joined the Ubuntu Documentation Team by proofreading
and submitting patches to the mailing list, then worked on the Kubuntu
documents. Currently, Jonathan is involved in working on bugs for the
Kubuntu Team, the Ubuntu Wiki, and the Laptop Testing Team. Ubuntu
and Kubuntu have given Jonathan a way to give back to the community
without having to be a developer, and he encourages everyone to come help him out.
Kyle Rankin is a senior systems administrator for Quinstreet, Inc.; the
current president of the North Bay Linux Users’ Group; the author of
Knoppix Hacks, Knoppix Pocket Reference, Linux Multimedia Hacks, and
Ubuntu Hacks; and he has contributed to a number of other O’Reilly books.
Kyle is also a columnist for Linux Journal and has had articles featured in PC
Magazine, TechTarget, and other publications.
Jono Bacon (www.jonobacon.org) is the community leader for Ubuntu.
Previously, he was a consultant for the United Kingdom’s governmentfunded
OpenAdvantage (www.openadvantage.org) center in England,
where he worked with businesses, educational and charitable organizations,
and individuals to help them move to open source software and
open standards. He is the cocreator of the popular LugRadio podcast (www.lugradio.org).
Introduction
WELCOME to The Official Ubuntu Book, Fifth Edition!
In recent years, the Ubuntu operating system has taken the open source
and IT world by storm. From out of nowhere, the Little Operating System
That Could has blossomed into a full-featured desktop and server offering
that has won over the hearts of users everywhere. Aside from the strong
technical platform and impressive commitment to quality, Ubuntu also
enjoys success because of its sprawling community of enthusiastic users
who have helped to support, document, and test every millimeter of the
Ubuntu landscape.
In your hands you are holding the official, authorized guide to this impressive
operating system. Each of the authors selected to work on this book
has demonstrated a high level of technical competence, an unbridled commitment
to Ubuntu, and the ability to share this knowledge in a simple
and clear manner. These authors gathered together to create a book that
offers a solid grounding to Ubuntu and explains how the many facets and
features of Ubuntu work.
About This Book
At the start of every book, on every bookshelf, in every shop, is a paragraph
that sums up the intentions and aims for the book. We have one
very simple, down-to-earth aim: to make the Ubuntu experience even
more pleasant for users. The Ubuntu developers and community have
gone to great lengths to produce an easy-to-use, functional, and flexible
operating system for doing, browsing, and creating all kinds of interesting
things. This book augments that effort. With such an integrated and flexible
operating system, this guide acts as a tour de force for the many things you can do with Ubuntu.
Screenshot
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Product details
Price
|
|
|---|---|
File Size
| 13,327 KB |
Pages
|
440 p |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN-13
ISBN-10 | 978-0-13-708130-1 0-13-708130-8 |
Copyright
| 2010 Canonical, Ltd |
Foreword to the First Edition xxi
Preface xxvii
Acknowledgments xxix
About the Authors xxxi
Introduction xxxiii
Chapter 1: Introducing Ubuntu 1
Chapter 2: Installing Ubuntu 35
Chapter 3: Using Ubuntu on the Desktop 59
Chapter 4: Gaining Greater Proficiency 113
Chapter 5: The Ubuntu Server 141
Chapter 6: More Applications for Ubuntu 181
Chapter 7: The Ubuntu Community 215
Chapter 8: Using Kubuntu 245
Chapter 9: Mobile and Netbook Editions 293
Chapter 10: Ubuntu-Related Projects 309
Chapter 11: Introducing the Ubuntu Forums 327
Appendix: Welcome to the Command Line 339
Index 355
Table of Contents
Foreword to the First Edition xxi
Preface xxvii
Acknowledgments xxix
About the Authors xxxi
Introduction xxxiii
About This Book xxxiii
The Scope of the Book xxxiv
The Menu xxxiv
CHAPTER 1 Introducing Ubuntu
A Wild Ride 2
Free Software, Open Source, and GNU/Linux 3
Free Software and GNU 4
Linux 5
Open Source 5
A Brief History of Ubuntu 7
Mark Shuttleworth 7
The Warthogs 9
What Does Ubuntu Mean? 10
Creating Canonical 11
What Is Ubuntu? 12
What Is a Distribution? 12
An Ecosystem of Distributions 14
The Debian Project and the Free Software Universe 16
The Ubuntu Community 17
Ubuntu Promises and Goals 18
Philosophical Goals 19
Conduct Goals and Code of Conduct 21
Technical Goals 23
Bug #1 25
Canonical and the Ubuntu Foundation 26
Canonical, Ltd. 27
Canonical’s Service and Support 28
Bazaar and Launchpad 29
The Ubuntu Foundation 30
Ubuntu Subprojects, Derivatives, and Spin-offs 31
Summary 33
CHAPTER 2 Installing Ubuntu
Choosing Your Ubuntu Version 36
Other Ubuntu Distributions 37
Is It Still Ubuntu? 38
Getting Ubuntu 38
Burning a CD 39
Installing from the Desktop CD 41
Language 42
Location 42
Configuring Your Keyboard 43
Disk Space 44
Identification 48
Migration 50
Finishing Up 50
Installing from the Alternate Install CD 50
Choosing Your Spot in the World 51
Hardware 51
Setting the Hostname and Time Zone 52
Creating Partitions 52
Configuring a User 55
Finishing Up 56
Installing from a USB Key 56
Installing from within Windows 57
Summary 57
CHAPTER 3 Using Ubuntu on the Desktop
Taking Your Desktop for a Ride 61
Starting Applications and Finding Things 62
Finding Your Files and Folders 63
Configuring Your System 64
Adding Additional Users 65
Shortcut Icons 66
Applets 66
The Notification Area 67
Network Manager 68
The Clock 69
The Taskbar 69
Shutting Down Your Computer and Logging Out 70
Using Your Applications 72
Browsing the Web with Firefox 72
Creating Documents with OpenOffice.org 75
Connecting with Empathy and Gwibber and
the Indicator Applet 78
Ubuntu One 78
Managing Your E-mail and Calendars with Evolution 79
The Ubuntu File Chooser and Bookmarks 84
Ubuntu in Your Language 86
Customizing Ubuntu’s Look and Feel 87
Changing the Background 87
Changing the Theme 87
Configuring a Screensaver 88
Managing Your Files 89
Selecting, Copying, and Moving Files and Folders 91
Using the Sidebar 92
Graphically Accessing Remote Files 93
Ubuntu and Multimedia 94
Installing Codecs 94
Listening to Audio Files 96
Playing and Ripping CDs 97
Buying Music 98
Interacting with Photos 99
Watching Videos 99
Creating Videos 102
Exploring the Ubuntu Landscape 102
Moving to the Next Ubuntu Release 109
Doing the Actual Upgrade 110
Summary 111
CHAPTER 4 Gaining Greater Proficiency
Adding and Removing Programs and Packages 114
Using Ubuntu Software Center 114
Terminology 116
Managing Software with Synaptic 117
Contents xiii
Keeping Your Computer Updated 120
Installing Updates 120
Learning about What Was Updated 121
I Want to Install an Application That Is Not
in the Repositories 121
Changing Your Menu Layout 122
Adding Additional Users 124
Using and Abusing Devices and Media 125
Using USB Keyring Drives 126
Burning CDs 126
Using Floppy Disks 127
Using Digital Cameras 127
Configuring a Printer in Ubuntu 128
Gathering Information 130
Launching the Wizard 130
Mission Accomplished! 132
Remote Printing 133
How Linux Stores and Organizes Files 133
Using Windows Files on Another Partition 135
The Terminal 137
Backup Strategies 137
Working with Windows Programs 139
Running Applications 140
Summary 140
CHAPTER 5 The Ubuntu Server
What Is Ubuntu Server? 142
Installing Ubuntu Server 144
A Couple of Installer Tricks 145
Partitioning Your Ubuntu Server 145
The Story of RAID 146
Setting Up RAID 148
The Story of the Logical Volume Manager 150
Setting Up LVM 152
Encrypted Home and Software Selection 154
You’re Done—Now Watch Out for Root! 155
Ubuntu Package Management 156
The Ubuntu Archive 156
APT Sources and Repositories 157
dpkg 158
Installing a Package Manually 159
apt-get and apt-cache 160
Running a Distribution Upgrade 163
aptitude 165
Tips and Tricks 166
Ubuntu Server Security 167
User Account Administration 167
Filesystem Security 169
System Resource Limits 170
System Log Files 171
A Sprinkling of Network Security 172
Final Words on Security 173
Advanced Topics 174
Virtualization 174
Disk Replication 177
Cloud Computing 177
Summary 178
CHAPTER 6 More Applications for Ubuntu
Creating Graphics with GIMP and Inkscape 182
GIMP 182
Inkscape 189
Desktop Publishing with Scribus 194
Playing to Learn with Educational Programs 199
Exploring the Future with GNOME-shell and Zeitgeist 206
Getting There Faster with GNOME Do and Docky 211
Summary 214
CHAPTER 7 The Ubuntu Community
Venues 217
Mailing Lists 218
Internet Relay Chat 219
Web Forums 221
Wikis 223
The Fridge 225
Developer Summits and Sprints 227
User Conferences 229
Planet Ubuntu 230
Teams, Processes, and Community Governance 231
Teams 232
Local Community Teams 233
Contents xv
MOTUs 234
The Community Council 235
The Technical Board 237
The SABDFL 238
Ubunteros and Ubuntu Members 239
Getting Involved 240
Advocacy 240
Support 240
Ideas and Feedback 241
Documentation 241
Artwork 241
Translation and Localization 242
Quality Assurance and Bugs 242
Programming and Packaging 242
Summary 243
CHAPTER 8 Using Kubuntu
Introduction to Kubuntu 246
A History of KDE 246
A History of Kubuntu 248
Installing Kubuntu 249
Where to Find Kubuntu 249
Can I Switch to Kubuntu If I Have Ubuntu
Installed Already? 249
Installing from the Desktop CD 250
Navigating in Kubuntu 254
Shutting Down Your Computer and Logging Out 255
Using sudo Instead of a Root Account 257
Customizing Kubuntu 257
Customizing Plasma 257
Get Hot New Stuff 259
System Administration 260
Installing New Packages 260
Managing Repositories 262
Upgrading Kubuntu 264
How to Keep the System Up to Date 264
System Settings 264
Look & Feel 265
Personal 265
Network & Connectivity 266
Computer Administration 266
xvi Contents
Add or Remove Software 267
Printer Configuration 267
Advanced Tab 267
Advanced User Settings 269
System 271
Managing Files with Kubuntu 272
Introduction to Dolphin 273
Changes to the File Structure 273
Introduction to Konqueror 274
Accessing Windows Partitions 275
Accessing USB Drives 276
Managing Music 276
Common Applications 277
OpenOffice.org 277
Web Browsing with Konqueror 278
Using Firefox for Browsing the Web 279
Burning CDs—Audio and Data 280
Instant Messaging 281
Internet Relay Chat 283
Kontact 283
Kiosk Mode 287
Exploring the Kubuntu Landscape 287
Tips and Tricks 289
Finding Help and Giving Back to the Community 290
Finding Help 290
Giving Back to the Community 290
Summary 291
CHAPTER 9 Mobile and Netbook Editions
Installing on a Netbook 294
Using the Launcher 296
Using the 2D Launcher 296
Window Listing 300
Maximized Windows 300
Switching Back to the Regular Ubuntu Desktop 301
Applications to Make Your Netbook Better 302
Cheese 302
Fbreader 303
Cellwriter 304
Xournal 304
Contents xvii
Other Changes from the Desktop Edition 306
Virtual Desktops 306
Summary 307
CHAPTER 10 Ubuntu-Related Projects
Officially Supported Derivatives 310
Kubuntu 310
Edubuntu 311
Ubuntu Server Edition 313
Recognized Derivatives 314
Xubuntu 314
Ubuntu Studio 314
Mythbuntu 315
Other Distributions 315
Guadalinex 316
gNewSense 316
Linux Mint 317
Lubuntu 317
Launchpad 318
Soyuz 319
Launchpad Translations 320
Launchpad Bugs 321
The Launchpad Blueprint Tracker 322
Launchpad Answers 323
Other Functionality 324
Bazaar 324
Launchpad Ground Control 325
Summary 325
CHAPTER 11 Introducing the Ubuntu Forums
What Are the Ubuntu Forums? 328
A Brief History of the Ubuntu Forums 328
How May I Participate? 329
Questions, Locations, Conversations, and Activities 334
Key People in the Forums 335
Fun Stuff 336
The Foundation of the Ubuntu Forums 337
Summary 337
xviii Contents
APPENDIX Welcome to the Command Line
Starting Up the Terminal 339
Getting Started 340
Building Pipelines 341
Running Commands as the Superuser 342
Finding Help 343
Moving Around the Filesystem 343
Manipulating Files and Folders 344
System Information Commands 345
Searching and Editing Text Files 347
Dealing with Users and Groups 348
Getting Help on the Command Line 348
Searching for Man Files 349
Using Wildcards 349
Executing Multiple Commands 350
Running Sequentially 350
Using Byobu to Manage Your Terminal 350
Using Byobu by Default in GNOME Terminal 352
Moving to More Advanced Uses of the Command Line 352
INDEX 355
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