I grew up in one of the wealthiest towns in its state. If you told people you were from my town, they’d call you a “Richie.” Nevertheless, many people in my town identified themselves as “middle-class” or “upper-middle-class” instead of as “upper-class” or “rich.” There were many people in my high school who, when applying… Continue reading The varying degrees of rich
Tag: Ubuntu
Dell Inspiron Mini Pricing “Scandal”
Linux users love to be outraged. Ever since Dell started selling certain models with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled, Linux users on forums and blogs have been complaining that Dell hasn’t been doing Linux justice. Why did they pick Ubuntu instead of another distro? Why is Ubuntu available in that country and not my country? Why is… Continue reading Dell Inspiron Mini Pricing “Scandal”
Photorec saves the day again
Every now and then my friends seem to accidentally have their files deleted. You can read here about last year’s incident. This year, another friend, who keeps her photos on one laptop with no backups had some folders mysteriously go empty. I had no idea how they got deleted, but I assured her we could… Continue reading Photorec saves the day again
Installing Adobe Flash 10 Beta in Ubuntu
Some people have found the new version of Adobe’s Flash player to offer greater stability (fewer crashes) in the Ubuntu version of Firefox. Others just like to try cutting edge software. Either way, this is how you install Flash 10 beta in Ubuntu. Probably the easiest way to do it is to download the .deb… Continue reading Installing Adobe Flash 10 Beta in Ubuntu
Make a “browse as root” launcher in Ubuntu
Like Mac OS X, Ubuntu includes by default a privilege escalation system that invokes sudo, which allows certain users (in the admin group) to operate as limited-privileged users for almost all tasks and to temporarily escalate (after a password authentication) to administrative privileges for specific tasks. For more details about sudo, check out the Ubuntu… Continue reading Make a “browse as root” launcher in Ubuntu
Making a custom keyboard shortcut in Ubuntu
Ubuntu uses a graphical interface called Gnome (sometimes you may hear it referred to as a desktop environment), which allows you to easily define keyboard shortcuts for some common commands by going to System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts. Sometimes, though, you may want to define keyboard shortcuts for custom commands that aren’t available through… Continue reading Making a custom keyboard shortcut in Ubuntu
Using the Windows key as a modifier key in Ubuntu
In my experience, by default Ubuntu seems to make the Windows key on keyboards a single key for the purposes of keyboard shortcuts. In other words, if you want to set a keyboard shortcut for an action to be Windows+D (for example, to have the desktop shown and all windows minimized when you hold down… Continue reading Using the Windows key as a modifier key in Ubuntu
Should I trade my Eee PC 701 for a Dell Inspiron 901
I saw Leaked: Dell Inspiron 910 (Mini Note) Specs and Release Date today and I’m intrigued, but I’m not excited yet. I tend to be pretty cautious about computer purchases. I’ve heard rumors that the base model is supposed to be US$299, but I’m not sure what specs that’ll be. By the time you jack… Continue reading Should I trade my Eee PC 701 for a Dell Inspiron 901
Freedom for the short-term or the long-term?
As a Ubuntu Forums veteran, I’ve seen many disgruntled potential migrants return to Windows from Ubuntu because they wanted things to “just work.” They would say things like “I don’t really care about software freedom. I just want to be able to play video files and do what I need to do. The computer is… Continue reading Freedom for the short-term or the long-term?
Do comparisons have to be fair?
If you’ve spent any time on a Linux forum, you know people there love to debate about Linux v. Windows v. Mac OS X. Throw in the term user-friendly or easier, and you’ll likely fan the flames so they can be put out only by a discussion thread closure. One type of objection Linux defenders… Continue reading Do comparisons have to be fair?