Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash Beta Book Agile publishing for agile developers The book you’re reading is still under development. As part of our Beta book program, we’re releasing this copy well before we normally would. That way you’ll be able to get this content a couple of months before it’s available in finished form, and we’ll get feedback to make the book even better. The idea is that everyone wins! Be warned. The book has not had a full technical edit, so it will con- tain errors. It has not been copyedited, so it will be full of typos and other weirdness. And there’s been no effort spent doing layout, so you’ll find bad page breaks, over-long lines with little black rectan- gles, incorrect hyphenations, and all the other ugly things that you wouldn’t expect to see in a finished book. We can’t be held liable if you use this book to try to create a spiffy application and you somehow end up with a strangely shaped farm implement instead. Despite all this, we think you’ll enjoy it! Throughout this process you’ll be able to download updated PDFs from your account on http://pragprog.com. When the book is finally ready, you’ll get the final version (and subsequent updates) from the same address. In the meantime, we’d appreciate you sending us your feedback on this book at http://books.pragprog.com/titles/ktuk/errata, or by using the links at the bottom of each page. Thank you for being part of the Pragmatic community! Andy Hunt Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash Ubuntu Kung Fu Tips, tricks, hints and hacks Keir Thomas The Pragmatic Bookshelf Raleigh, North Carolina Dallas, Texas Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their prod- ucts are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial capital letters or in all capitals. The Pragmatic Starter Kit, The Pragmatic Programmer, Pragmatic Programming, Pragmatic Bookshelf and the linking g device are trademarks of The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC. The Ubuntu logo is a regis- tered trademark of Canonical, Ltd. Every precaution was taken in the preparation of this book. However, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages that may result from the use of information (including program listings) contained herein. Our Pragmatic courses, workshops, and other products can help you and your team create better software and have more fun. For more information, as well as the latest Pragmatic titles, please visit us at http://www.pragprog.com Copyright © 2008 Keir Thomas. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmit- ted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN-10: 1-934356-22-0 ISBN-13: 978-1-934356-22-7 Printed on acid-free paper. B2.0 printing, July 15, 2008 Version: 2008-7-15 Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash Contents 1 Introduction 15 1.1 How to read this book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 1.2 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2 An Ubuntu administration crash course 19 2.1 The Ubuntu desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 2.2 Users, passwords and files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 2.3 Command-line or GUI? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2.4 Software installation and management . . . . . . . . . 35 2.5 Using gconf-editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 2.6 Editing configuration files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 2.7 Making and keeping backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 2.8 Rescue me! What to do if it all goes wrong . . . . . . . . 55 2.9 Miscellaneous things you ought to know . . . . . . . . 57 3 The tips 62 1. Set any picture as wallpaper with a single-click . . . . 62 2. See (and reuse) the most recently typed commands . . 63 3. Add cool new visualizations to Totem/Rhythmbox . . . 64 4. Switch monitor resolutions with a single mouse-click . 64 5. Closely monitor a laptop computer’s power consumption 65 6. Stop the cursor blinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 7. Scroll without the mouse in Firefox and Evolution mail windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 8. Optimize startup for faster boot times . . . . . . . . . . 66 9. Graph the system bootup performance . . . . . . . . . 70 10. Change Gedit’s printing font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 11. Shrink or enlarge images at the command line . . . . . 72 12. View all of a digital photo’s technical information . . . 73 13. Have Ubuntu speak to you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 14. Instantly search for files in Nautilus . . . . . . . . . . . 74 15. Take photos or record videos with your webcam . . . . 74 Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash CONTENTS 6 16. Add RAR file compression support to Ubuntu . . . . . . 75 17. Add a swap file or expand existing swap space . . . . . 75 18. Get rid of the virtual console legal boiler-plate . . . . . 76 19. Make Wubi installations of Ubuntu run faster . . . . . 77 20. Create website or email links that automatically install software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 21. Make fonts look superb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 22. Download updates faster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 23. Slow down a touchpad’s scrolling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 24. Ensure your Windows partition is always available under Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 25. Improve the GNOME Terminal look and feel . . . . . . 82 26. Ensure Ubuntu always knows the time . . . . . . . . . 83 27. Get more data onto CD-R discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 28. Share files across the network (without tearing your hair out) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 29. Save ink when printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 30. Browse the web from the command-line . . . . . . . . . 87 31. Create an “Ubuntu install” USB stick . . . . . . . . . . 88 32. Add a menu entry for Ubuntu’s compression tool . . . 90 33. Quickly run applications without opening a terminal window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 34. Instantly search Google for any word or phrase . . . . . 91 35. Ensure you’re informed about the newest releases of Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 36. Create a file delete command that uses the trash . . . 93 37. Configure Ubuntu’s firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 38. Repair Windows from within Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . 98 39. Empty the trash even if told you can’t . . . . . . . . . . 99 40. Logon automatically after boot-up . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 41. Use an alternative wifi connection manager . . . . . . . 100 42. Make Evolution more like Outlook (just a little bit) . . . 101 43. Give Ubuntu a static IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 44. Format a USB memory stick (or camera memory card) 104 45. Protect Ubuntu so it can’t be booted without a password 107 46. Dump the text on a virtual console to a file . . . . . . . 109 47. Eliminate the time period during which sudo/gksu pow- ers hang around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 48. Access Ubuntu files from Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 49. Kill a crashed GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 50. Make Ubuntu safe for children to use . . . . . . . . . . 113 Report erratum Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash this copy is (B2.0 printing, July 15, 2008) CONTENTS 7 51. Run two (or more) desktops at the same time . . . . . . 116 52. Go completely fullscreen in virtually any application . 117 53. Make Calculator to round-up (or down) to two digits . . 118 54. Follow the moon’s phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 55. Import Internet Explorer settings into Firefox . . . . . . 118 56. Drag and drop files onto the terminal window . . . . . 119 57. Use older digital cameras with Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . 119 58. Use the ultra-quick xterm to bash-out commands . . . 120 59. Install all the program compilation tools you’ll need . . 121 60. Avoid network slowdowns and incompatibilities . . . . 121 61. Print at the command-line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 62. Find the Ubuntu version and code-name . . . . . . . . 123 63. Get your webcam working in Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . 124 64. Downgrade to Firefox 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 65. Install all the multimedia playback codecs you’ll ever need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 66. Get better DVD movie playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 67. Run the terminal with a single key-press . . . . . . . . 127 68. See the APT cow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 69. See what Firefox plugins are installed . . . . . . . . . . 128 70. Kill the network connection instantly . . . . . . . . . . 128 71. Post blog entries from your Ubuntu desktop . . . . . . 128 72. Intelligently select only the files you want . . . . . . . . 129 73. Temporarily disable a user account . . . . . . . . . . . 130 74. Take complete control of desktop effects and animations 131 75. Do some desktop publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 76. Control volume levels at the command-prompt . . . . . 133 77. Search the Ubuntu file system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 78. Remove the “bad password” wait period . . . . . . . . . 137 79. Make desktop icons REALLY big . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 80. Run Ubuntu... without Linux! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 81. Instantly hide a file or folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 82. Scan for viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 83. Temporarily login as root user at the command-line . . 142 84. Start the screensaver from the command-line . . . . . 143 85. Get the most out of (or into) a Nautilus window . . . . 143 86. View images at the command-line . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 87. Administer the printer from a web browser . . . . . . . 144 88. Move a window without clicking the titlebar . . . . . . . 144 89. Connect to shared folders from the command-line . . . 145 90. Deactivate Caps Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Report erratum Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash this copy is (B2.0 printing, July 15, 2008) CONTENTS 8 91. Format floppies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 92. Switch to a lightweight file manager . . . . . . . . . . . 147 93. Use syntax highlighting in Gedit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 94. Stop zip files sent colleagues getting lost in the email . 150 95. Use an alternative email client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 96. Ensure people hear you when using a microphone . . . 152 97. Quick browse to a location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 98. Turn off the beep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 99. Add a second hard disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 100. Update Ubuntu in the background . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 101. Install 465 open source fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 102. Be careful not to badly name files/folders in your Win- dows partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 103. Make your Windows partition read only . . . . . . . . . 156 104. Stop Nautilus neatly arranging icons . . . . . . . . . . . 157 105. Run GUI programs from a terminal window without tying up input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 106. Set the CPU speed from the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . 158 107. Switch to Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu without installing from scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 108. SSH into Ubuntu from Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 109. Recover a damaged desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 110. Recover a damaged desktop #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 111. Enable the root user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 112. Quickly create graphical text banners . . . . . . . . . . 161 113. Securely erase data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 114. Play emacs games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 115. Fix video playback problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 116. Turn any text file into a PDF at the command-line . . . 164 117. Avoid repetitive strain injury when using Ubuntu . . . 165 118. Uninstall Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 119. Network Ubuntu, Mac and Windows... without doing anything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 120. Access ISO images as if they’re disk drives . . . . . . . 167 121. Improve Ubuntu’s Microsoft Office 2007 file support . 168 122. Use a friendly version of vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 123. Get around partitioning errors if using BootCamp on Macs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 124. Have Macs correctly refer to Ubuntu in dual-boot mode 170 125. Sleep, Ubuntu, sleep! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 126. Instantly create a HTML slideshow of photos . . . . . . 171 Report erratum Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash this copy is (B2.0 printing, July 15, 2008) CONTENTS 9 127. Reveal the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 128. Set hard disk power-saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 129. View the GNOME desktop version . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 130. Avoid GNOME startup errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 131. Use FTP under Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 132. Switch to old-fashioned tree-view in Nautilus . . . . . . 175 133. Kill any crashed program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 134. Increase the number of documents remembered by Gedit176 135. Utilize all a sound card’s features . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 136. Monitor network speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 137. Make the command-prompt colorful . . . . . . . . . . . 178 138. Make Windows permanently available . . . . . . . . . . 180 139. Give the boot menu a wallpaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 140. Access all removable storage from the command-line . 183 141. Reconfigure your graphics card from the ground-up . . 183 142. Unlock the package database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 143. Administer Ubuntu using a web browser, from any com- puter (or operating system) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 144. Give Nautilus windows their own wallpaper . . . . . . . 187 145. Create an encrypted filestore accessible from any oper- ating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 146. Find out how much disk space is available . . . . . . . 192 147. Make Ubuntu blue (or dark grey, or dark brown) . . . . 192 148. Use versions of Ubuntu that are entirely Free Software 193 149. Install OpenOffice.org’s database component . . . . . . 194 150. Monitor your computer’s temperature and fan speeds . 194 151. Print multiple photos on one sheet of paper . . . . . . . 195 152. Try some alternative web browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 153. Quickly hide/unhide windows using the keyboard . . . 197 154. Convert images from one format to another at the command- line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 155. Significantly expand Gedit’s functionality . . . . . . . . 198 156. Make new mail windows taller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 157. Avoid making badly burned CD-R/RW discs . . . . . . 199 158. Import email messages from Outlook and/or Outlook Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 159. Use the Mac OS “quit” keyboard shortcut . . . . . . . . 200 160. Switch to bash if sh is in use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 161. Instantly edit a file when you’re viewing it in less . . . . 201 162. Access Ubuntu’s desktop from any computing device . 201 Report erratum Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash this copy is (B2.0 printing, July 15, 2008) CONTENTS 10 163. Remove the annoying delay when installing Firefox exten- sions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 164. View technical details of your PC’s hardware . . . . . . 202 165. Switch to old-fashioned “spatial browsing” mode . . . . 203 166. Clear the package cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 167. Search man pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 168. Convert a PDF to an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 169. Use a dial-up modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 170. Steal the Windows (or Mac OS) fonts . . . . . . . . . . . 206 171. Use unusual characters or symbols . . . . . . . . . . . 208 172. Encrypt and sign emails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 173. Get a nice trashcan on the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 174. Create .zip files using maximum compression . . . . . 214 175. Create an Ubuntu “updates” CD/DVD . . . . . . . . . . 215 176. Stop Ubuntu “greying out” stalled program windows as quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 177. Get a high-quality (and free) command-line word pro- cessor by installing Microsoft Word . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 178. Create a “superuser terminal” shortcut . . . . . . . . . 218 179. Find out who you are! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 180. Install Ubuntu partner software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 181. Use a GUI version of vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 182. Rescue a crashed GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 183. See a quote of the day whenever you login . . . . . . . . 221 184. Make GNOME SystemMonitor appear when Ctrl+Alt+Delete is hit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 185. Change your computer’s name (hostname) . . . . . . . 225 186. Reduce the Wubi boot delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 187. Swap around the minimize, maximize, and close buttons226 188. Add an über-Start button to Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . 227 189. View technical details of PDF files . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 190. Connect to a remote computer as if you are sitting in front of it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 191. Change Ubuntu’s system sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 192. Move around the command-line like a pro . . . . . . . . 231 193. “Scroll” a virtual console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 194. Do math at the command-line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 195. Create keyboard shortcuts that use the “Windows” key 234 196. Create a text file without a text editor . . . . . . . . . . 235 197. Turn off the OpenOffice.org splash screen . . . . . . . . 236 198. See which virtual console you’re working at . . . . . . . 236 Report erratum Prepared exclusively for J.S. Ash this copy is (B2.0 printing, July 15, 2008)