Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu - Entroware contact?

[alan c]

On 10/11/16 13:34, alan c wrote:
> Anyone currently using, or had recent contact with Entroware?
> https://www.entroware.com/store/
> It has a nice site and an interesting range of products. A friend
> contacted them recently, as I did also, with purchase inquiries,
> however neither of us has had a reply. A year ago I had a useful reply
> from an enquiry I made, but did not get a reply from a follow up
> question, so I gave up. Until I tried again recently. It does not bode
> well for viability.
> Does anyone know more please?
> 

Follow up:

Reply received. A good succinct reply, and useful.

In these days of greater transparency, I am still curious how it is
such a reply takes 10 days or so to happen. My guess is they have a
part time business model which I would have great respect for, but I
would need to know a little more of the background before I advocated
for them openly.
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[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu - Entroware contact?

[alan c]

Anyone currently using, or had recent contact with Entroware?
https://www.entroware.com/store/
It has a nice site and an interesting range of products. A friend
contacted them recently, as I did also, with purchase inquiries,
however neither of us has had a reply. A year ago I had a useful reply
from an enquiry I made, but did not get a reply from a follow up
question, so I gave up. Until I tried again recently. It does not bode
well for viability.
Does anyone know more please?

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Anyone available to help a brand new user in Derbyshire?

[alan c]

Sorry I can't help in person, however, just a reminder that under many
circumstances, the program Teamviewer is free of charge for amateur,
non business use. I have used it for remote friends, on one occasion
a friend had moved to France for some years.

It works well, if sometimes slow on the link.

In an extreme case:
If the remote novice had a completely separate spare machine, which
could be simply wiped etc with no worry of lack data backup etc and
loss of home internet (if an install somehow got screwed) then it is
even possible to do a fresh install by remote, via Teamviewer, caviat:
the remote friend would need to be calm accurate on keyboard, and have
good systematic use of the parallel phone conversation. Also at
(least) one key stage, a machine restart etc is needed, also the
install disk is best used at the remote location etc. With one very
systematic remote friend I have actually done this, it worked. However
some friends are nervous and may find difficulty in following an
instruction confidently.

Good luck

On 15/07/16 17:26, Barry Titterton wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> Is there anyone who lives near mid-Derbyshire and could spare an evening
> to help a brand new user do their first install? The user in question is
> an old friend on mine who has a Vista laptop that he wants to convert to
> Linux. He has limited technical skill so would benefit from someone
> walking him through his first install. I am not able to help him as I
> now live in County Durham which makes it quite a long round trip.
> Please PM me if you may be able to help and I will give you more details.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Barry T
> 

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] $5 Computer

[alan c]

On 27/11/15 16:17, Colin Law wrote:
> On 27 November 2015 at 16:02, alan c <aecl...@candt.waitrose.com> wrote:
>> On 26/11/15 14:46, Simon Greenwood wrote:
>>> On 26 November 2015 at 14:31, Alan Lord <alansli...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 26/11/15 14:03, Alan Pope wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I remember my brother getting music magazines with promo plastic
>>>>> records on the front :)
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> lol - *I* remember getting those bendy 45s on the front of magazines...
>>>>
>>>> ​
>>> Me too - I still have a few in my singles case​. Getting a record 
>>> player
>>> set up is scheduled for some time next year...
>>>
>>> ​s​/
>>>
>>
>> LOL LOL
>> My first job needed a slide rule use a LOT... One day I needed to calc
>> a large number of square roots. Went to a special large room
>> (cupboard)  with only a table chair and a 10-digit nixie tube display
>> mans powered calculator. Later on that day I went back to the shop
>> floor where we made valves. (Valves are glass things like old light
>> bulbs, only they had lots of stuff inside and lots of plug in
>> connecting pins). Said hello to the glass blowers, and skirted around
>> the mercury vacuum pumps, to get to my desk...
>>
>> Ah! Those were the days! #computing
>>
>> NB a slide rule is a special little stick with markings along it. Good
>> for lots of uses including I suppose building the pyramids.
> 
> Have you still got yours Alan?  I have mine.  A classy Thornton's
> plastic model.  My brother had a wooden one, mine was much smoother in
> operation, most superior.  If you only need three digits precision it
> can be almost as fast as a calculator and it forces you to think what
> the numbers mean in a way you don't with a calculator.  Much easier to
> make a stupid mistake on a calculator and never notice as you don't
> get an intuitive feel for the numbers in the same way.
> 
> Colin
> 

Hey yes. A mini slick plastic jobby in a swish leather case, (mobile),
for the top pocket, along with several pens :-) and the desktop model
wood and plastic faces a foot long (That I never fully fathomed out
all it functions LOL). This one is robust. On the last day of college
I accidentally drove my banger (car) back over it, squashing the outer
case. Probably improved it... :-)

Ahhh those were thay days

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] $5 Computer

[alan c]

On 26/11/15 14:46, Simon Greenwood wrote:
> On 26 November 2015 at 14:31, Alan Lord  wrote:
> 
>> On 26/11/15 14:03, Alan Pope wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I remember my brother getting music magazines with promo plastic
>>> records on the front :)
>>>
>>
>> lol - *I* remember getting those bendy 45s on the front of magazines...
>>
>> ​
> Me too - I still have a few in my singles case​. Getting a record player
> set up is scheduled for some time next year...
> 
> ​s​/
> 

LOL LOL
My first job needed a slide rule use a LOT... One day I needed to calc
a large number of square roots. Went to a special large room
(cupboard)  with only a table chair and a 10-digit nixie tube display
mans powered calculator. Later on that day I went back to the shop
floor where we made valves. (Valves are glass things like old light
bulbs, only they had lots of stuff inside and lots of plug in
connecting pins). Said hello to the glass blowers, and skirted around
the mercury vacuum pumps, to get to my desk...

Ah! Those were the days! #computing

NB a slide rule is a special little stick with markings along it. Good
for lots of uses including I suppose building the pyramids.

Bye all
;-)

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux on the cheap?

[alan c]

On 22/09/15 19:59, Alan Pope wrote:

On 22 September 2015 at 19:49, Steve Mynott  wrote:

Anyone any recommendations for very cheap laptops (ideally netbook
like form factor) with good linux support?



http://www.ebuyer.com/ubuntu

One of those perhaps.

Cheers,
Al.


When I looked at these, it seemed they used a slightly non standard 
Ubuntu, and probably would not boot from a standard live dvd, which I 
wanted, however, they were very attractive

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Pre installed - HP 'standard images' 'may not work' WTF

[alan c]

On 07/06/15 10:53, alan c wrote:

On 07/06/15 10:50, alan c wrote:

I was very interested in the HP laptops on EBuyer - Ubuntu pre installed.
'..HP ProBook 455 Notebook PC is powered by an AMD A10-7300 APU with
AMD Radeonâ„¢ R6 Graphics. ..'
http://www.ebuyer.com/705955-hp-455-quad-core-laptop-l8b56es

then I came across the caviat on the official certification site
==
2) Standard images of Ubuntu may not work at all on the system or may
not work well, though Canonical and computer manufacturers will try to
certify the system with future standard releases of Ubuntu.
==
Mmm. Not so keen now.

I dont mind mmc cards not working or some specific slowness, but
'Standard images of Ubuntu may not work at all' For heavens sakes?
Looks like a no deal, and something of a poison pill?
Comments please?



Woops forgot link apologies
http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201404-14968/



Unfortunately the EBuyer Staff replied to a recent question:
Q  Michael Crees asks:
Is this a stock Ubuntu install, or are there specific modifications to 
make it work with the hardware? Posted on 03/05/15 09:26

A  Rachael answered:
Hi, This will be standard Ubuntu, HP don't do any work on Linux OS so 
there will be no forking. I hope this helps. Thanks Rachael

Answered on 20/05/15 09:48

This is possibly very misleading, if the model is the G2 mentioned in 
the  link

 http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201404-14968/

My own recent question
Q 'Some versions of the hardware apparently do not work with standard 
images of Ubuntu - 
http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201404-14968/  I am a 
Ubuntu user, and standard images are very important to me. Does this 
item Run Ubuntu 12.04.4 standard image ok? Does this item run standard 
images in LIVE session please?'


has disappeared! it is not listed in the unanswered questions, nor is 
it in the answered questions. I trust it is being given careful 
consideration.



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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Pre installed - HP 'standard images' 'may not work' WTF

[alan c]

On 07/06/15 11:23, Colin Law wrote:

On 7 June 2015 at 10:50, alan c aecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote:

I was very interested in the HP laptops on EBuyer - Ubuntu pre installed.
'..HP ProBook 455 Notebook PC is powered by an AMD A10-7300 APU with AMD
Radeonâ„¢ R6 Graphics. ..'
http://www.ebuyer.com/705955-hp-455-quad-core-laptop-l8b56es

then I came across the caviat on the official certification site
==
2) Standard images of Ubuntu may not work at all on the system or may not
work well, though Canonical and computer manufacturers will try to certify
the system with future standard releases of Ubuntu.
==
Mmm. Not so keen now.

I dont mind mmc cards not working or some specific slowness, but 'Standard
images of Ubuntu may not work at all' For heavens sakes?
Looks like a no deal, and something of a poison pill?


My interpretation of that would be that the system will work as
supplied but if you replaced the supplied system with a standard
Ubuntu one there is no guarantee.  I don't see that is unreasonable.
One cannot expect them to guarantee that the machine will work with
all future versions of Ubuntu any more than if you buy a Windows
machine it is guaranteed to work with all future versions of Windows.

You are still better off than buying one without Ubuntu pre-installed,
as that is not guaranteed to work at all with Ubuntu.

However I think I would want one with 14.04 not 12.04.

Colin


Interesting, thanks. My take on it is that even a 12.04.4 live session 
may not work, nor in fact any live session  'may not work at all' 
that sounds like graphics etc. Certainly there does not seem to be a 
background of happy close cooperation between HP and [Ubuntru]. I have 
posted a question on EBuyer site about the caviat. Unfortunately such 
a public question is already an adverse sign. But, I am very glad to 
have found out about this before spending money. On a machine with no 
pre install, I would first confirm from other users that things were 
sensible before buying, Ubuntu does usually 'work'.


Look at the mess we will probably see when people buy this (G2 
version???) and ask the community for help with live sessions or going 
to a new release. It is likely to give Ubuntu a bad name. How is it 
that HP, a Ubuntu-friendly company has managed to release such 
machines in a situation where the formal Ubuntu comment includes 'may 
not work at all'? Have we got any inside information or community 
knowledge, that may suggest this situation will get responsibly 
supported without undue damage to Ubuntu reputation? Anyone please?


I am also concerned that there is no mention of a support comment on 
the sales site - with specific software one would hope that HP at 
least would have a support comment.

tia
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Pre installed - HP 'standard images' 'may not work' WTF

[alan c]

On 07/06/15 18:35, Simon Greenwood wrote:

It's probably more about the training that HP's support teams have been
given. Until very recently the support cycle of most PCs would assume that
they had the same OS throughout their lifespan because few people even
upgrade the version of Windows they use, so to allow the people on the
phones to be able to support the new laptops, the decision has been to go
with an old (but still supported) LTS release and to issue a caveat that
new releases 'might not' work but from experience the probability is fairly
low.

The big hardware companies have been very conservative with regard to
Linux. In a project I worked on in 2009 HP were advocating RHEL 4 as a
server platform when RHEL 5 was two years old. They've probably only just
got onto 5, or possibly 6.

s/


Thank you, yes perhaps.
Although I noted, a while ago that both Dell and HP were selling 
Ubuntu pre installed machines on the high street in - India
So hopefully the hardware  issues would then and now, be fairly well 
known and not come as a bad surprise to the central tech teams. 
Anyway, thankful for whatever.

From 2013:
http://blog.canonical.com/2013/10/01/ubuntu-pre-installed-and-in-retail-worldwide/

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[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Pre installed - HP 'standard images' 'may not work' WTF

[alan c]

I was very interested in the HP laptops on EBuyer - Ubuntu pre installed.
'..HP ProBook 455 Notebook PC is powered by an AMD A10-7300 APU with 
AMD Radeon™ R6 Graphics. ..'

http://www.ebuyer.com/705955-hp-455-quad-core-laptop-l8b56es

then I came across the caviat on the official certification site
==
2) Standard images of Ubuntu may not work at all on the system or may 
not work well, though Canonical and computer manufacturers will try to 
certify the system with future standard releases of Ubuntu.

==
Mmm. Not so keen now.

I dont mind mmc cards not working or some specific slowness, but 
'Standard images of Ubuntu may not work at all' For heavens sakes?

Looks like a no deal, and something of a poison pill?
Comments please?

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Pre installed - HP 'standard images' 'may not work' WTF

[alan c]

On 07/06/15 10:50, alan c wrote:

I was very interested in the HP laptops on EBuyer - Ubuntu pre installed.
'..HP ProBook 455 Notebook PC is powered by an AMD A10-7300 APU with
AMD Radeonâ„¢ R6 Graphics. ..'
http://www.ebuyer.com/705955-hp-455-quad-core-laptop-l8b56es

then I came across the caviat on the official certification site
==
2) Standard images of Ubuntu may not work at all on the system or may
not work well, though Canonical and computer manufacturers will try to
certify the system with future standard releases of Ubuntu.
==
Mmm. Not so keen now.

I dont mind mmc cards not working or some specific slowness, but
'Standard images of Ubuntu may not work at all' For heavens sakes?
Looks like a no deal, and something of a poison pill?
Comments please?



Woops forgot link apologies
http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201404-14968/

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Implications Of Secure Boot Lockout

[alan c]

On 06/04/15 12:38, Nigel Verity wrote:

Hi

I have been reading recently that Microsoft are removing the requirement for hardware 
manufacturers to provide a secure boot off switch, in order to gain Windows 
10 accreditation. If this comes to pass it will place Linux distros entirely at the mercy 
of Microsoft to sign their authentication keys, otherwise they will be shut out from 
installation on mainstream computers.

Given that Microsoft look like making a lot less money out of the Windows OS itself over 
the coming years, it seems reasonable to assume that they will seek to maximise whatever 
revenue they can generate. This points towards eventually shutting out even 
approved Linux distributions. Presumably Apple can do exactly the same to 
prevent installation on Macs.

If this comes to pass I have to admit to not having a clear view of where this 
will leave us. The only possibilities I can see are:

1) Being confined to installing on Chromebooks
2) Being forced to use more expensive specialist hardware (e.g hardware 
designed primarily to be a server)
3) A move to ARM-powered devices

I stress I am not an expert on this so my outlook may be unduly pessimistic, 
but it would be interesting to get the views of anyone with more insight into 
the implications.

Could something akin to Wubi be a way around the problem, albeit far from ideal?

I suppose ultimately I am looking for some reassurance that Linux on the 
desktop is not being forced onto a road to nowhere.

Nige


IIRC, China adopted Ubuntu as its 'official' OS a while ago, 
presumably on some sort of roll out over time. I expect they were not 
too keen on US based OS in future, if they ever were. India's Judicial 
system has been using Ubuntu for some time now. The French  Assembly 
has used Ubuntu for years now, and the 70,000 or so Gendarmerie PCs 
were reported as going to Ubuntu a year or more ago. I note that 
Ubuntu can be optionally downloaded as Kylin (?), Chinese version.
Ubuntu is sold on the high street(s) in India I believe in shops 
advertising a Ubuntu name.
The Ubuntu phone now exists; I suspect that Google Android is also 
affected by the suggestion that Google is a little too cosy with US 
agencies, more than some international users may be comfortable with.
Ubuntu phone has a European manufacturer, and, interestingly, a 
Chinese one also.


At some stage, people I know who have spent money on a Mac to escape 
Windows will realise Ubuntu is an interesting alternative approach.


This all looks like a useful future for Ubuntu

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Exposure

[alan c]

On 15/02/15 12:57, Sheila Farmer wrote:
 Hi ,
 My name is Sheila Farmer, I am a friend of the Professor Mike and his 
 machine, I have cured malignant brain cancer, my book is soon to be 
 serialised in the National Tabloids, called Blue Rooms www.sheilamfarmer.com, 
 Your party is mentioned in it, you will get extreme exposure from it.  The 
 content of the book was censored but I have found a way around it.  If you 
 would like to talk to me let me know.
 Thanks Sheila Farmer.  Michael Tellinger for president. 

Hi Sheila
Nice to hear from you, although I think there is a misunderstanding here.
For the benefit of others on this discussion list, I should say that I
guess you see the name 'Ubuntu', and go from there? This is
specifically a technical discussion list relating to a software,
Ubuntu. It is well established and in worldwide use, and is based upon
components which are strongly community based (of programmers,
developers) volunteers, in the true spirit of Ubuntu. The name was
well chosen by the founder of this brand of software, who is South
African. The software is free of charge to get and use, and as far as
possible in a commercial world we have, it comprises open code with as
little as possible kept secretive.
Background: http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

I do occasionally look into Michael Tellinger's  activities, including
his recent political initiatives (Ubuntu Party? in South Africa?) and
I wish him well. I very much hope your publishing venture also go
well. Best regards

(If you have questions re the Ubuntu software I will be happy to try
to answer them. By all means contact me at my email
aecl...@candt.waitrose.com  )
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Windows?

[alan c]

On 22/01/15 13:52, Barry Drake wrote:
 On 22/01/15 13:43, Dave Morley wrote:
 Why would it mention Linux it is a report on the Windows 10 tech 
 review launch yesterday
 
 Because it mentions Google Chrome and Android - both of which are 
 non-Windows operating systems (and both of which are Linux based).

I think that is an important point. The Word Linux, though it is holy
in my spirit, is not a positive part of the popular general
consciousness. Magazines of a type which cover Windows stuff may also
have a Linux section but it is geek-ified such that most Windows users
continue to feel justified in recoiling in horror, as they are
encouraged to do by the Windows retail ecosystem. Quite naturally,
real geeks who use and love Linux based systems, support and buy
specialised Linux magazines. These are also alongside Windows
magazines on many big book stores. Their presence further justifies,
to the 'helpless' Windows user, that 'Linux' is a particular
specialist culture. In one sense it is. It is also a Kernel. It is
also defended as the Name of an operating system. It is also in my
life as the *basis* of  several operating systems, Android,
Chromebook, and not least (!) Ubuntu.

An element of vagueness, an element of heady earnest discussion of
'differences', and the existence of well funded powerful opposition,
all, unfortunately, sustain a popular meme that 'Linux' is not for
most normal people.

In a public scenario, I use the 'U' word a lot, not the  'L' word.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] New netbook?

[alan c]

On 06/10/14 21:32, Barry Drake wrote:
 On 06/10/14 20:40, alan c wrote:
 Barry pls tell link? thx 
 
 Hi Alan .  The link is closed now as I bought the item - but the 
 seller has others and is at: http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/bnicomputers
 
 Kind regards,Barry.

Hi Barry
Thanks!

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] New netbook?

[alan c]

On 06/10/14 15:16, Barry Drake wrote:
 On 05/10/14 09:49, Bruno Girin wrote:
 I've had IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads for the last 10 years and they've all 
 run Ubuntu brilliantly. Thinkpads are one of the safest choices to run 
 Ubuntu (or any Linux distro): it generally just works.
 
 Thanks to all of you for your advice.  I've found a refurbisher on e-bay 
 who is willing to supply a Lenovo X201 with no OS and a full guarantee, 
 so I'm going for that.  The price is great and the seller seems to have 
 a really good reputation.  Thanks again.
 
 Kind regards,Barry.
 
 

Barry pls tell link?
thx

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Need advice (Devs?) Urgent - HP printer duplex not fully op with Libre Office

[alan c]

On 03/09/14 23:23, alan c wrote:
 Please point me in a useful direction here
 New HP printer does not print Duplex from Libre Office, as it should,
 or should I say, Libre Office does not work duplex. The printer works
 ok duplex on test page, and with Thunderbird emails for example. It
 seems to be Libre Office which screws the print config up.
 
 Using Ubuntu 12.04 updated.
 Details:
 https://answers.launchpad.net/hplip/+question/252277 ( comment #18 pp
  candtalan)
 
 As can be seen from my comment #18 an organisation has asked me to
 recommend a new printer for them. ASAP. Its nice to be famous...
 They certainly should be using Libre Office, and hopefully, Ubuntu
 also (?)
 
 Am I to recommend my favourite printer manufacturer HP and favourite
 App Libre Office, *knowing* that their essential need for duplex
 printing has a bug and will *not* work??
 
 HELP!
 
 What is best for me to do? Anyone have HP imaging contacts and or
 Libre Office? Or am I wrong in thinking that Ubuntu itself is ok?
 
 I cannot fix this, I need to get a dev to take interest in it and put
 in the (probable) missing colon into the code!!!
 
 Comments, help, much appreciated
 

For information:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/hplip/+bug/1352316#11  (sanjay)
has duplicated the bug and examined detailed errors, also filing a LO
bug and offering a temporary work around

Thanks again

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Need advice (Devs?) Urgent - HP printer duplex not fully op with Libre Office

[alan c]

On 03/09/14 23:23, alan c wrote:
[..]

 HELP!
 
 What is best for me to do? Anyone have HP imaging contacts and or
 Libre Office? Or am I wrong in thinking that Ubuntu itself is ok?
 
 I cannot fix this, I need to get a dev to take interest in it and put
 in the (probable) missing colon into the code!!!
 
 Comments, help, much appreciated

Thank you very much for the responses, deeply appreciated.
I am following up , and currently have received active response from
hplip support, ongoing.

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[ubuntu-uk] Need advice (Devs?) Urgent - HP printer duplex not fully op with Libre Office

[alan c]

Please point me in a useful direction here
New HP printer does not print Duplex from Libre Office, as it should,
or should I say, Libre Office does not work duplex. The printer works
ok duplex on test page, and with Thunderbird emails for example. It
seems to be Libre Office which screws the print config up.

Using Ubuntu 12.04 updated.
Details:
https://answers.launchpad.net/hplip/+question/252277 ( comment #18 pp
 candtalan)

As can be seen from my comment #18 an organisation has asked me to
recommend a new printer for them. ASAP. Its nice to be famous...
They certainly should be using Libre Office, and hopefully, Ubuntu
also (?)

Am I to recommend my favourite printer manufacturer HP and favourite
App Libre Office, *knowing* that their essential need for duplex
printing has a bug and will *not* work??

HELP!

What is best for me to do? Anyone have HP imaging contacts and or
Libre Office? Or am I wrong in thinking that Ubuntu itself is ok?

I cannot fix this, I need to get a dev to take interest in it and put
in the (probable) missing colon into the code!!!

Comments, help, much appreciated

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[ubuntu-uk] After XP - an experience re Ubuntu and printer

[alan c]

Just a snippet to report a nice experience. Below is a quote from a
*novice* who had been currently using only XP on a very old PC.  With
suggestions from me and others, he purchased a low end naked Novatech
PC after himself discussing his need with Novatech (and finding they
said this PC would be fine with Ubuntu). I installed 12.04 for him
and transferred email to it via Mozilla Thunderbird facilities.

Time ran out at the discovery that his existing Dell all in one
printer was not recognised. I briefly discussed printers and left a
firm offer to help in detail with a printer purchase when he was next
available.

I have now received an email from him containing this.

==
John Lewis at High Wycombe and spoke to an assistant re Ubuntu
and he told me that he had installed it on his machine at home and he
was very satisfied.
With this in mind I told him what I wanted and he came up with an HP
Photosmart 5524 machine for £56-00 which I bought and I think that I
have set it up  correctly
==

We are doing something right Guys!
Thanks to ALL.
;-)

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Should ubuntu play DVDs gratis? [OFF TOPIC]

[alan c]

On 02/03/14 12:40, Nigel Verity wrote:
 Hi
 
 The implementation of the law in the UK is already a laughing stock. I think 
 it would move into another league if an attempt were ever made to prosecute 
 somebody for using libdvdcss2.
 
 I would just install and be damned.
 
 Nige

OFF TOPIC:
Another possibility is to try to influence lawmakers, our
representatives(!)
I joined The Pirate Party UK, who are active and well informed, and
are consulted by organisations wanting good information. Pirate
Parties are well represented in Europe mainland, particularly where
representation is more than 'first past the post'.

You may know that such parties were first invented by Rick Falkvinge,
who is still active and has a website full of really interesting stuff.

To celebrate a big birthday of mine, also after joining up into PPUK,
I commanded a birthday cake from a big supermarket chain. Pirate
theme. The theme was fully available, but the age had to have a zero
put on the end ;-)  Caused much mirth and merriment.

Enjoy
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Problem with Linux Emporium website?

[alan c]

On 13/02/14 17:43, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:
 BTW, it looks like the Linux Emporium website is back up.
 thanks!

Why are they still advertising Ubuntu 11.10 on laptops for heavens
sakes? I cannot in conscience link that site to would be Ubuntu
novices saying it is a brilliant company (which I believe from my
experience,  it is)

Sigh

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Problem with Linux Emporium website?

[alan c]

On 01/02/14 12:39, Andres wrote:

 On 1 de febrero de 2014 12:22:00 GMT, Barry Drake 
 ubuntu-advertis...@gmx.com wrote:
[...]

I bought my most recent PC from Cougar Extreme.  They have a guy called

Patrick who knows Linux well, and the entire firm is very helpful. 
They 
sell laptops as well and are willing to say which hardware will work OK

with Linux.  I bought my PC with no OS, but they would have installed 
Ubuntu on request.  From my point of view, Cougar is handy - about half

an hour's drive away - but they will arrange delivery.
 
 There is always the brit  fsf approved
 http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/

Yes, wonderful, I will certainly keep them in mind.
However I am likely to be lacking the higher end stuff and it seemed
only second user, older(?) kit. I have my share (or more) of that.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Problem with Linux Emporium website?

[alan c]

On 31/01/14 12:02, Simon Greenwood wrote:
 That's a Magento error so it's a problem with the shop software. I wouldn't
 jump to the conclusion that they've stopped trading from that.

LOL
Its been like it for a while now, so if they are trading they are not
doing any business.
In today's world, a dead website is pretty well a dead business?

I loved them, and several friends bought laptops from them.
I bought my most recent PC from Elpatech, custom. Yes, I can make up
my own stuff but I am busy.
I will sometime, be looking for a Ubuntu laptop. Zareason (New
Zealand) keep threatening to set up in UK, but no recent news at all.
System 76 sound great but it would be nice to stay in UK, or Europe. I
am aware of Novatech but I have been disappointed with the quality, of
PCs, anyway. More than one failure not far outside warranty.

I currently have at least one ubuntu novice friend who wants to retail
buy a mid/low end Ubuntu desktop.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Problem with Linux Emporium website?

[alan c]

On 31/01/14 11:10, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:
 Is there a problem?
 Trying to access it and I get this:
 
 
   There has been an error processing your request.
 
 Error in file: 
 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/code/core/Mage/Core/sql/core_setup/mysql4-install-0.8.0.php
  - SQLSTATE[42S01]: Base table or view already exists: 1050 Table 
 'core_resource' already exists
 *Trace:*
 #0 
 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Resource/Setup.php(292):
  Mage::exception('Mage_Core', 'Error in file: ...')
 #1 
 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Resource/Setup.php(167):
  Mage_Core_Model_Resource_Setup-_modifyResourceDb('install', '', '0.8.13')
 #2 
 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Resource/Setup.php(155):
  Mage_Core_Model_Resource_Setup-_installResourceDb('0.8.13')
 #3 
 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Resource/Setup.php(121):
  Mage_Core_Model_Resource_Setup-applyUpdates()
 #4 
 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Config.php(263): 
 Mage_Core_Model_Resource_Setup::applyAllUpdates()
 #5 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/App.php(263): 
 Mage_Core_Model_Config-init(Array)
 #6 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/Mage.php(434): 
 Mage_Core_Model_App-init('', 'store', Array)
 #7 /home/magento-sites/emporium/app/Mage.php(455): Mage::app('', 'store', 
 Array)
 #8 /home/magento-sites/emporium/index.php(65): Mage::run()
 #9 {main}

My conclusion has been that - they have ceased trading?

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Windows free at last!

[alan c]

On 29/01/14 21:03, Barry Drake wrote:
 Hi there ...  A couple of weeks ago, I did a BIOS (UEFI) update as 
 requested after reporting a bug.  The result was that an installation of 
 Windows 7 which I had on a removable drive died completely and I lost 
 it.  How unstable Windows can be at times like this!
 
 When I looked at my very rare need for Windows, I found that I only have 
 occasional need to use Microsoft Word to open a docx file which is 
 heavily formatted and shows complete garbage in Libreoffice, and for the 
 very occasional publisher file I am sent.  I have now successfully 
 installed Word and Publisher under Wine and assume I will never need to 
 boot Windows again.  Oh, thank you
 
 Barry Drake.

Congratulations Barry! I am surprised you could hold out so long! I
said good bye to Windows years ago now and I actually think my health
improved! Yes, really.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] using workspaces.

[alan c]

On 07/12/13 13:50, Norman Silverstone wrote:
 I am starting to make use of more than one workspace and would like to 
 know whether each space should behave as if it were an individual 
 computer. I ask because if that should be the case then there may be 
 something wrong with my set up. For example I am using my web browser on 
 space 1. Leaving the web browser running, I change to space 2 to read my 
 email. There is a link to a web page in one of the emails so I click on 
 it and the page that was open in space 1 appears.
 
 The web browser is Google Chrome.

Example actions:

On workspace 1, open a browser window

Move to workspace 2, and using the launcher browser icon, right click,
and choose 'open a new window'. A new browser window opens in
workspace 2, (which is independent of the browser already running in
workspace 1)

Move to workspace 3, and open say a Libre Office writer text doc or
something.

Note the white dot marks around the icons of the apps which are running.
The white dot marks are triangles or empty chevron, context dependant
on workspace use. Current workspace shows solid dot.

Now, single left click on the browser icon in the launcher. You should
expect to see enlarged thumbnails of the two (possibly different)
browser windows, you can choose one. With  pc with 3d graphics
facility, you can drag and drop between the thumbnail workspaces.

Now click on the launcher icon for libre office. You are taken to the
relevant workspace and the app is the 'current' window

My personal preference is for  the workspaces to be arranged linear
(left- right, and not in a 2x2 matrix, which I loose track of

hth

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Bug 1251702

[alan c]

On 15/11/13 17:31, Dave Morley wrote:
 On 15/11/13 17:27, Barry Drake wrote:
 Hi there ...   I've just reported Bug 1251702 under Trusty.  I haven't
 checked out Saucy, but I wonder if it's in there too?  It's probably the
 first time I've wanted to burn more than one iso at the same time.  The
 first one burns fine, and Brasero closes with no error message.  I try
 to load another iso using Brasero and nothing happens.  I have to
 re-boot to do the next iso.  I've repeated the bug four times now. 
 Anyone care to confirm it?
 
 Regards,Barry Drake.
 
 
 This is a really old bug, the issue is once the first iso is burnt the
 process is never closed (bug in brasero/gvfs) the work around is simply
 open a terminal and type killall brasero


I have not bothered to use brasero for so long now I lost count.
I only use K3b
Long standing bugs in default apps give things a bad name..

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Heads-Up For Spotify Users

[alan c]

On 18/09/13 15:46, Nigel Verity wrote:
 I've been a Spotify user for the last 2 or 3 years; ever since its library 
 overtook Napster's in terms of depth and coverage. Officially the only 
 desktop clients are for Windows and Mac. However, there is also a preview 
 version of a Linux client which has never been formally released. It's 
 available on a no warranty or official support basis for use on 
 Debian-based distros.
 
 Over the last year or so, this Linux client has improved dramatically. It 
 used to freeze or crash so often that I had to rely upon the Windows client 
 running in a Virtualbox VM. I've had no problems of that nature in the last 6 
 months or more and, despite its unsupported status, the Linux client it is 
 now my standard means of using Spotify.
 
 The ability to download tracks for local off-line playback is a real boon 
 when you have a poor or slow connection. It avoids the buffering that you 
 might otherwise encounter with the web-based stream.
 
 The only problem I occasionally encounter is with the indexing. The list of 
 albums and tracks for a given artist may lack a particular item of interest 
 to you. An explicit search for that item by title will often find it. I 
 suspect that this problem could well be at the server end, in which case it 
 will not be unique to the Linux client.
 
 I know that FLOSS purists will not want to run proprietary software such as 
 this, but I am one of those people willing to turn a blind-eye when it 
 provides superior functionality.
 
 The Clementine media player for Linux now provides an add-on to give access 
 to Spotify for Premium Service members. This is a significant improvement on 
 browser-based streaming, as each track is copied to a local cache before 
 playing, thereby avoiding buffering with slow connections. It doesn't, 
 however, offer the off-line playback facility, which can be so useful if you 
 are on the move, away from an internet connection.
 
 For any Linux users who may have tried the Spotify client in the past, and 
 given up in frustration, I would highly recommend giving it another go.
 
 Regards
 
 Nige

Interesting and for us, timely.
On a PC that we have, we have a free account on Spotify (linux
preview). We just started to make use of it after a long period of non
use. Unfortunately, after a minimal use, it timed out saying we had
reached the time limit. This seems to be 2.5 hours per week, which I
am sure we have not used. So, this is a second chance for Spotify, and
it is rather unlikely we will continue. Internet searches suggest
Grooveshark, which seems to offer a free use, and so far Grooveshark
works via the browser, ok. Probably goodbye to spotify.
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] OT - secure email?

[alan c]

On 05/09/13 12:57, Jon Spriggs wrote:
 On 4 September 2013 12:28, Nigel Verity nigelver...@hotmail.com wrote:
 SNIP
 I suspect that the solution fundamentally relies on denying access to
 encryption keys to anybody other than the sender and the intended recipient.
 The system based on page, line numbers and word positions in a commonly
 available book worked well for the SOE during WW2. With so much digital
 media available today, perhaps an updated version of that approach might
 provide a pointer.
 
 Thank you for the mail as a whole, you've succinctly wrapped up the
 issues in a much clearer way than I could!
 
 With regards to your last comment (included above), just bear in mind
 that in the UK, should you be arrested and requested to hand over your
 decryption keys, you are required to comply with that request, by law,
 under RIPA 
 (http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Regulation_of_Investigatory_Powers_Act_2000/Part_III).
 For many that won't be an issue, but just bear it in mind.
 
 Regards,
 --
 Jon The Nice Guy Spriggs
 

It gets worse?
http://falkvinge.net/2012/07/12/in-the-uk-you-will-go-to-jail-not-just-for-encryption-but-for-astronomical-noise-too/

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Invalid open-id transaction

[alan c]

On 05/07/13 21:04, Muñiz Piniella, Andrés wrote:

Hello,
I just got this message ' Invalid open-id transaction' when clicking on the
login of the ubuntuone website. Using firefox on android.
I do not get this with the ubuntu one app.
Does anyone have this problem?


I am just using U1 from a samsung android tablet this morning, first 
time, in a little used (so far) U1 account. Got this message too. I 
decided that it meant I had not yet created an open id account, so I 
put a password in etc etc and  that seemed to do the trick. I think 
that having a U1 sign on is not quite the same as also having a open 
id (also known as single sign on, I think.)


Can anyone help to confirm this please?

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Twitter fail on 12.04?

[alan c]

On 13/06/13 20:39, SuperEngineer wrote:

Am I the only one who's noticed a complete twitter fail on 12.04 apps
recently? It is a is a possibility it is a fail on my behalf but...


I use 12.04 and for some time I have used only chrome browser for 
twitter. It is not perfect by any means, but at least I can keep my 
place more easily on a page refresh.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Imagine if Linux become massively popular?

[alan c]

On 13/06/13 11:25, Byte Soup wrote:

I have been wondering on one thing though, would we really want to see a
greater uptake of Linux by the general population?


I do not think of Ubuntu as 'Linux'.
Ubuntu it is supremely easy, Linux is not and never has been easy.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Ubuntu is going to blossom very well, 
hopefully massively.


As long as I know  what CTRL-ALT-T does, I dont care!
;-)

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Public library OS choice

[alan c]

On 11/06/13 23:17, Muñiz Piniella, Andrés wrote:

  a gnu/linux
admin could manage over more units, so turned out cheaper.


That is  - sort  of - most certainly my personal experience. I help a 
big bunch of friends  etc who, in the 'friends and family' network, 
looked to me to help them get onto Ubuntu.
Most of them are very non geek. For example, when I was installing 
Ubuntu onto his PC, one commented 'How did you do that?' I had just 
done a copy paste. This person subsequently used Ubuntu 10.04 LTS for 
a couple of years without any further questions to me, his 'support'. 
Recently though, he (by accident) clicked to upgrade versions to (I 
guess) 12.04 LTS (!) he apparently coped ok 'it took a long time' 
he said.

There is only a minor printer issue to be sorted.

I administered Ubuntu 10.04 on a PC in an oldies community cafe (I 
qualify) for a couple of years (XP had given trouble we could not 
fix). It was in common use, no customers asked for help with Ubuntu. I 
recently upgraded the PC to 12.04 (Unity) and awaited questions. None. 
There was a seamless continuation of use!

I literally got NO questions about how to use it as a changed UI.

Impressive.

I am seriously surprised at how little I hear from my 'flock' of 
novices. Ubuntu is VERY low maintenance.


If I had to get income from selling support, I would not get much 
income from doing Ubuntu support to my own crowd, it is not big 
enough. But I would be inclined to want to convince people that they 
should stay with the high maintenance OS, not Ubuntu.

$

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Public library OS choice

[alan c]

On 10/06/13 22:54, Muñiz Piniella, Andrés wrote:

Hello all,
I was hoping some of you could help me clear this up.

My local library is one of the only libraries that is actually getting
bigger in the near future. One of the improvements is that they are going
to install some new computers. I asked if there was a chance of it being a
good chance of installing on those computers something other than windows.

The response I got was that the people's network was a government funded
initiative and that they where not given the option of installing anything
other windows.


Bracknell Central Library recently upgraded to Windows 7 and surprised 
me by also upgrading to Open Office suite. I would have preferred 
Libre Office, but, yay. The back office and database software etc for 
Bracknell Forest Borough Council is Suse Enterprise Server. I had 
asked questions of my local Councillor and got myself a personal tour  :-)
In reality I believe that the IT department are well aware of benefits 
of FLOSS but the 'expectation' for public facing stuff is the Windows. 
It is the expectation which needs to be worked on.


UK Government now Mandating Open Source Software Preference
http://www.unpan.org/PublicAdministrationNews/tabid/116/mctl/ArticleView/ModuleID/1469/articleId/36389/Default.aspx

and for creation of software:
'The default assumption should be in favour of coding in the open 
and sharing software widely'
'...it remains the policy of the government that, where there is no 
significant overall cost difference between open and non-open source 
products that fulfil minimum and essential capabilities, open source 
will be selected on the basis of its inherent flexibility...'

https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/making-software/choosing-technology

good luck

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Public library OS choice

[alan c]

On 11/06/13 09:20, Simon Greenwood wrote:

it isn't going to change.


It will change if people act to encourage and promote change.

The library now using Open Office not MS is the same one which 
displayed my FLOSS leaflets regularly over the previous 2 years. Maybe 
they actually read them?


Money talks. Or the lack of it. Central Government is doing a lot more 
with open source philosophy, and standards. Libraries are closing. 
Schools are under pressure. There is a lot of change about to happen, 
much of it I suggest is unpredictable.


After years of displaying at my local Computer Fair I notice that few 
people now need to ask what (Ubuntu) is, they know. One of the traders 
at the fair is even selling my DIY CDs of Ubuntu at another Fair he 
attends.  A local trader in town is interested in selling Ubuntu on 
some of his second hand laptops. He has shown it to several customers, 
who were, he said, pretty surprised at how good it was.


I think much change has already happened.
Android is eating other companies' lunches, Chromebooks are looking 
very strong and simple. I went to help a person recently, but found he 
was very happily stuck, in Windows. However, he was desperate to buy a 
chromebook, for its simplicity.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Chromium - Memory Hog and Crashing

[alan c]

On 07/06/13 17:19, Simon Greenwood wrote:

On 7 June 2013 16:27, Jon Farmer j...@bctech.co.uk wrote:


Hi

I am getting daily freezes and crashes of Chromium on both Ubuntu and
Lubuntu machines. Sometimes it says it ran out of memory on a 8G ram
machine with no other applications running or other times just sends the
load average up to silly numbers and thrashes the disk.

Anyone else seeing this or know how to fix it?



I have had similar issues with Chromium in the past and switched to Chrome
which seems more stable and less memory hungry but I haven't found a
lasting solution to it. One of the issues is that Chrome opens a session
for each tab or window which will vary in real and virtual memory use but
can easily go over a Gb of real memory depending on the complexity of the
page or application - Gmail always hovers around 950Kb on my system for
example and with 10 tabs open it's using about 5Gb on my laptop. You can
see your usage by looking at Tools | Task Manager in the Chrome menu. There
is an extension called The Great Suspender that I've just found and might
use that claims to manage memory usage more efficiently, suspending idle
pages manually or automatically after a period of time.


I have found crashes for certain conditions when using Mega (kim 
dotcom etc which I particularly like for the encryption by default). I 
can not say it is from memory use, however, looking at the apparent 
memory use, I got the novice impression that memory was not being 
handled well. And then it would crash


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Deja-dup [lucky] backup

[alan c]

On 30/05/13 16:01, SuperEngineer wrote:
[...]

Deja-dup now runs weekly  backs up to the other disk in pooter that was
used for [in retrospect] non-essential stuff.

Whilst preaching to many of the converted here - there may be a few who
could take this as a reminder of rule 1  rule 2.  Rule 1 = *backup*.
Rule 2 = check your restore strategy!!

My next step - to buy that external disk I kept putting off buying!!  ;)


dejadup integrates well with UbuntuOne (use a password to ensure it is 
sent encrypted).
Downside is possible slow upload speed on the connection. However, 
careful choice of target folders and arranging and expecting a long 
time of transfer can help.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dixons/PC World response .....

[alan c]

On 09/05/13 12:34, scoundrel50a wrote:

On 09/05/2013 10:39, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:

On 05/06/2013 01:55 PM, Barry Drake wrote:

On 02/05/13 16:14, alan c wrote:

I have often got undesirable responses from almost ANY 'shops' selling
PCs, although I have not tried much now that Android is blossoming so
well, and Chromebooks.


I have posted my actions in full at: Ubuntu bug #1 - see:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1




I find it very interesting that nearly four years ago, when I bought
my Toshiba Netbook with Ubuntu Remix from Dixons, they were selling
like hot cakes, far better than the equivalent Windows machines.
Then suddenly, overnight, they disappeared. Now what retailer would
remove a best-selling line instantly like that, /unless /there was
some sort of external pressure to do so? ;-(




When I bought my Acer Aspire with Linux Lite on it, the guy in PCWorld
said that it might not connect to the internet and there was no support,
and they were getting loads returned because nobody knew how to use it,
so if I couldnt get it to work, I could get my money back..which
tells me that is why Linux based computers disappeared.


A few years ago, I requested, and was granted, a chat with the Manager 
of PCWorld (Reading). I  asked if I could do a small demo of (Ubuntu) 
near the door one weekend, and hand out leaflets. I showed one of my 
(computer fair) leaflets. It was a relaxed conversation. He simply asked

'Can I sell it?'
I said,
'Well, it is free.'
He responded, before hurriedly rushing off,
'Not interested.'

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dixons/PC World response .....

[alan c]

On 09/05/13 19:16, SuperEngineer wrote:

On Thu, 2013-05-09 at 09:39 +, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:

I find it very interesting that nearly four years ago, when I bought
my Toshiba Netbook with Ubuntu Remix from Dixons, they were selling
like hot cakes, far better than the equivalent Windows machines.
Then suddenly, overnight, they disappeared. Now what retailer would
remove a best-selling line instantly like that, unless there was some
sort of external pressure to do so? ;-(


Agreed - I bought my first netbook from PC World [during a sale] with an
XFCE Linux distro - not Ubuntu but I soon converted it - the point is I
bought it with a Linux distro.  It had a hardware fail a short time
after  once back from a replacement mainboard the shop actually
reloaded the OS on the spot.. with their instantly to hand distro CD.
Shop was actually impressed that they could do this so quickly and
easily!
I occasionally go back to same store - not a Linux machine in sight.
Those in the know at the store share my disappointment - but the average
comment is ..but we have to sell what the customers expect.

Therein lies the weakness - we must educate to expect better.



A blast from the past but still makes me smile:
'Thieves dont even want  Vista'
Video - (see from 2mins 8sec)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1uQ4veOTg

;-)

PS
The video is only slightly inaccurate, only a single laptop was 
stolen, that was all they had in the shop!

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] The problem with Bug #1

[alan c]

On 09/05/13 22:18, Sean Miller wrote:

If Ubuntu wants to become the OS of choice then let's PERSUADE rather
than force people to provide an option


Pre installation is a significant factor, as is investment, and risk, 
and several other aspects too, in the story. A head-on confrontation 
with a big monopolist who is very well funded is not good sense at 
all. Staying well under the radar, in all sorts of ways -does- make 
sense, although it takes a lot of persistence, resolve, and some courage.


I would suggest that -public- lists where strategy is formulated to 
take over the world, or whatever, might be seen as just a little, 
well, naive, when the competition is such as we find. It is more than 
easy to steer (a very polite way to express this) any meaningful 
discussion, without being too obvious. If I had a large pension 
depending on maintaining a good old monopoly, then I would be pretty 
much using all possible means to disrupt and deflect the possible 
competition, on all fronts.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] DSL provider (BT)

[alan c]

On 07/05/13 08:36, TT Mooney wrote:

Hi all - I've been a happy user of O2 broadband for years, but now
that Murdoch has laid his hands on it, I want to change provider.
Does anyone have a recommendation? I used to have BT, and they were
mostly useless. There is a bit of bittorent going on, so I'm
looking for an uncapped adsl2 service. Virgin Media is not
available in my area. Kind regards, Travis


I was also with O2 (Be) and also was motivated to jump ship for the
very same reason.

The good news was that BT fibre was already becoming
established in my area - it was frustrating to see all the cabinets go
in and not have a fibre related connection myself - and also that BT
had then recently changed policy to make their 'unlimited' options
truly unlimited - removing the restrictions on P2P activity and
uploads, for example.
I had been resisting choosing a fibre connection partly on principle 
because I think P2P is so important for the internet.
The connection activity went well (sigh of relief). And it continues 
to be good :-)


The bad news is that I am now dealing with a massive org which 
occasionally morphs into a dozy giant. The installer guy was well 
informed  technically, but on contract, so he reacted like an 
outsider, not relating to BT in company knowledge or attitude,
confirming the idea that - somewhere - I was dealing with an amorphous 
unknown lumbering org. I had gladly accepted a cashback (well, voucher 
back) deal for Sainsburys vouchers (50 pounds) and the claim 
registration web page had an incorrect date which would invalidate my 
own claim, which caused me anxiety. I got some reassurance from the 
live chat help - I noticed this at pre sales time -  but verbal
reassurance was only partially comforting. Ultimately I did receive 
the promised vouchers, but the claim web page was STILL indicating 
invalid dates.


Email accounts have been a pita.

BT makes use of Yahoo mail, and I found that to use (BTYahoo) as SMPT 
server

for my various outgoings I had to configure my BTYahoo settings to
accept each email ID separately. I have  a number of email IDs. 
Presumably because Yahoo see my mail initially, as alien. It does 
work, though, albeit  an inconvenient

hassle.

The other day, I got an email from BT about the possible closure of my
BTYahoo mail account. This was an offer that I could hardly ignore,
nor even refuse. But unfortunately I did not even understand it. My
contact to them yielded an explanation which I also did not fully
understand. My BT fibre connection username is allocated to be the
same as my BTYahoo email address, so I was confused that if I was one
of those who chose to allow closure from non use of the BTYahoo email
account, then I wondered what would happen to my connection username.
I have since concluded for myself that in such a case, the username 
continues as an ID
but even though it appears to be a real email address, it of course 
will not be. Such is the disconnect in an ISP which puts its email 
facility out to others. In my case because I make frequent use of the 
BTYahoo account to route my outgoing mail, I conclude I will not be 
seen as a non user of the BTYahoo account...


Incidentally, I was connected with two boxes, not  just one. A BT
modem, presumably related to fibre, and a wireless router (BT Home
Hub), whereas previously with adsl I  had a  single combined, modem
router.

For some reason, not sure what, I find that the BT router does not
easily connect to new wireless devices (Android tablet, phones)
although ok eventually. So far I have found that a router restart
(has a button) does help.

Oh, yes, as a Post Script:
I registered with the BT forums support community - to try to better 
undertsand the  promise of email account closure from 'non use'. I had 
some ROFL because - I used my real name (alan cocks), it was 
impossible because my surname got the response

'Bad word, please clean this up and try again'
What a way to treat a long and illustrious family name so well known
for its chickens business?
;-)

hth

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dixons/PC World response .....

[alan c]

On 01/05/13 13:55, Jones, Victor wrote:

Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:06:56 +0100 From: Barry Drake
ubuntu-advertis...@gmx.com To: ubuntu-uk
ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: [ubuntu-uk] Dixons/PC World
response . After a lot of contact making, including two
opposing e-mails from the support team, I got the following
response after copying in the CEO for the group. This seems to
represent the official policy of Currys, PC World, Dixons.co.uk and
Pixmania.com The message title was: DIX1928366CR, RE: very mixed
response . and includes the following paragraph: For the
pre-loaded Linux operating system on the product, the manufacturers
directly provide technical support. For PC peripherals such as
printer there is an option for customer to download drivers for
different operating system like Windows, Linux and MAC. We would
recommend customer to check or ask the store whether these drivers
are available from the manufacturer direct. Our store endeavour to
provide any assistance of different versions of operating system,
however, this cannot be guaranteed all the time. I have logged your
complaint under reference CC2000722. Mohammed Gulfraz - The
KNOWHOW? Team. Dated 29th April.

It might be good if list members could test this out at their local
branch by asking which peripherals do support Linux, and making a
complaint if the branch is opposed to giving this information. Kind
regards, Barry. -- Good Job.   Raising awareness of Linux among
retail companies is a long slog - with perseverance they'll slowly
get the message that customers want alternatives.   Kudos to you
for pursuing it.


I have often got undesirable responses from almost ANY 'shops' selling
PCs, although I have not tried much now that Android is blossoming so
well, and Chromebooks.

The adverse comments are usually quite firm, well rehearsed, and based
obviously on prejudice not experience.

The comments are ALWAYS aimed at 'Linux', not Ubuntu, for example.

This thread is in ubuntu-uk lists so perhaps the subtle difference
between 'Ubuntu'  and 'Linux' is relevant.

I have become aware that the fair criticism that linux kernel hacking
is only for geeks, not normal people, (present company accepted...)
has been effortlessly subverted by the opposition to include all OSs
based on the linux kernel.

'Linux' is very significant to hackers, but I suggest that we need to
be aware of the ease the word is used against us.

On a happier note -  have you seen the Jim Zemlin 20 minutes Ted talk:
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/What-the-Tech-Industry-Has-Lear
;-)

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] UEFI bios update

[alan c]

On 29/04/13 12:45, James Morrissey wrote:

Hi Dave,

Thanks for getting back to me.

This may work flawlessly.  However (and it's a big however) it may not.
To combat this I would suggest that before you did anything you back
up your systems and ensure you have install mediums for both windows 7
and Ubuntu. This would at least mean that the systems can be
reinstalled and your data retrieved if the worst should happen. combat this
I would suggest that before you did anything you back
up your systems and ensure you have install mediums for both windows 7
and Ubuntu. This would at least mean that the systems can be
reinstalled and your data retrieved if the worst should happen.
- This is frustrating as all my install media are packed in a box which is
being shipped from overseas.

  I would also suggest though that if you had no issues on Quantal but
are in Raring that it may be a kernel issue.  Just because it is
stable for everyone else doesn't mean it is for that particular
machine,  So I would file a bug first and see if there is any news
from that before you go all kung-fu on the bios/uefi system.
ubuntu-bug linux in a terminal will file most of the information on
a kernel bug for you.
- I thought as much, but the first instruction under filling bugs is that
you update your BIOS (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs)

Anyway, i have now filed a bug (
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1174275).

If anyone has any other advice i'd welcome it.


The question comes to mind that although in principle the uefi 'bios' 
should have a facility to disable uefi, at this stage of the game with 
a number of things unproven and unpractised, the worst that could 
happen is that uefi is installed, enabled, and the disable uefi is not 
working properly. If this should happen, would it be possible to 
refalsh the bios back to its existing state I wonder?


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Raring release .....

[alan c]

On 24/04/13 21:07, Barry Drake wrote:

I like this article about 10.04.  See:
http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=1175492787-eef0371bfa001c7b947750c9172a1ab3-bfbrand=ZDNETs=5
 I especially like the fact that wubi is out!  My time spent on the
help forums suggests that it has caused more problems than it has
solved.  of course, I could be wrong!


Wubi is a lovely idea but I have been advising against it strongly for 
some time already in my leaflets for newcomers (in my Computer Fair 
monthly events) because of the problems that can happen. It is also 
very confusing for a newcomer to use a cd/dvd in their machine, be 
invited to 'install',  proceed in good faith, only to find that later, 
if problems occur, they are hard to sort out, and that they have an 
installation which in some ways is deprecated.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Raring release .....

[alan c]

On 25/04/13 13:31, Muñiz Piniella, Andrés wrote:

On Apr 25, 2013 9:22 AM, alan c aecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote:


On 24/04/13 21:07, Barry Drake wrote:


I like this article about 10.04.  See:


http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=1175492787-eef0371bfa001c7b947750c9172a1ab3-bfbrand=ZDNETs=5

 I especially like the fact that wubi is out!  My time spent on the
help forums suggests that it has caused more problems than it has
solved.  of course, I could be wrong!



Wubi is a lovely idea but I have been advising against it strongly for

some time already in my leaflets for newcomers (in my Computer Fair monthly
events) because of the problems that can happen. It is also very confusing
for a newcomer to use a cd/dvd in their machine, be invited to 'install',
  proceed in good faith, only to find that later, if problems occur, they
are hard to sort out, and that they have an installation which in some ways
is deprecated.

--
alan cocks



Agree with Alan on this. To add, I have found it hard to remove.

Maybe separate instalation cd would be best?


Very good idea, hope it materialises

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu as a Disruptive Technology

[alan c]

Well done for your aspirations, I wish you well. Do you currently have 
contact with any FLOSS groups elsewhere to date?


On 15/04/13 05:43, Ramu Iyer wrote:

I want to make a conscious transition from Windows to Ubuntu. At the
office, everybody is required to use a Windows laptop because that is the
standard IT policy. As a Project Manager, I use the following applications:
* MS Outlook (for email)
* Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio
* Microsoft Project

[...]

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dual boot 12.10 64bit

[alan c]

On 03/04/13 20:01, andres wrote:

On Apr 3, 2013 8:50 AM, alan c-2 [via Ubuntu] 
ml-node+s5n5019943...@n6.nabble.com wrote:


On 03/04/13 07:01, andres wrote:
 My question is: how do i get the installer to ask us to install ubuntu

side

 by side as it used to?

Confirm that there are only 3 partitions (or less) existing - you need
two new partitions for Ubuntu (system and swap). You would maybe
expect to create an extended partition as a fourth primary partition,
and add the two ubuntu partitions inside that as logical partitions,
of suitable size. If ther aer already 4 primary partitions you cannot
add more partitions (for Ubuntu for example).
A few occasions I found  when the installer did not proceed  included
when  there were errors in the windows file system which were
previously not noticed. From windows, I did a chkdsk.

As a routine:
- a good backup first, and one you can be confident in (you may have
to use it!!)
- With ubuntu live session confirm that the various aspects work in
the hardware - display, audio, camera, wireless, etc
- with Ubuntu live session, check the hard drive is ok use 'disk
utility', there should be no errors at all

good luck


Thanks Alan!
The number partitions limit is problably what is getting in the way. But
will check the rest.

We did a bit of a check on the live cd for hardware. If the graphics card
needs an 3rd party software, I have seen in the past that it offers it in
the notification area. Is this only for nvidia?


I have occasionally found that the libre graphics drivers work better 
than the proprietary ones offered, but not always. I personally much 
prefer non proprietary drivers so my machines continue to use them if 
they are ok.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dual boot 12.10 64bit

[alan c]

In the apps (dash) in ubuntu , something like 'Additional drivers' can 
be run, and it will identify  if it is 'aware' of any available non 
free drivers. These can then be downloaded if needed and enabled.


alan cocks

On 04/04/13 19:11, Muñiz Piniella, Andrés wrote:

I am of the same opinion. Thanks. So the free ones, if needed, will be
installed automatically? I used to have to install the free one manually in
the past. ¿How would I know if I am missing it?
On Apr 4, 2013 5:51 PM, alan c aecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote:


On 03/04/13 20:01, andres wrote:


On Apr 3, 2013 8:50 AM, alan c-2 [via Ubuntu] 
ml-node+s5n5019943h24@n6.**nabble.comml-node%2bs5n5019943...@n6.nabble.com
wrote:



On 03/04/13 07:01, andres wrote:
 My question is: how do i get the installer to ask us to install ubuntu


side


 by side as it used to?

Confirm that there are only 3 partitions (or less) existing - you need
two new partitions for Ubuntu (system and swap). You would maybe
expect to create an extended partition as a fourth primary partition,
and add the two ubuntu partitions inside that as logical partitions,
of suitable size. If ther aer already 4 primary partitions you cannot
add more partitions (for Ubuntu for example).
A few occasions I found  when the installer did not proceed  included
when  there were errors in the windows file system which were
previously not noticed. From windows, I did a chkdsk.

As a routine:
- a good backup first, and one you can be confident in (you may have
to use it!!)
- With ubuntu live session confirm that the various aspects work in
the hardware - display, audio, camera, wireless, etc
- with Ubuntu live session, check the hard drive is ok use 'disk
utility', there should be no errors at all

good luck



Thanks Alan!
The number partitions limit is problably what is getting in the way. But
will check the rest.

We did a bit of a check on the live cd for hardware. If the graphics card
needs an 3rd party software, I have seen in the past that it offers it in
the notification area. Is this only for nvidia?



I have occasionally found that the libre graphics drivers work better than
the proprietary ones offered, but not always. I personally much prefer non
proprietary drivers so my machines continue to use them if they are ok.
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dual boot 12.10 64bit

[alan c]

On 03/04/13 07:01, andres wrote:

My question is: how do i get the installer to ask us to install ubuntu side
by side as it used to?


Confirm that there are only 3 partitions (or less) existing - you need 
two new partitions for Ubuntu (system and swap). You would maybe 
expect to create an extended partition as a fourth primary partition, 
and add the two ubuntu partitions inside that as logical partitions, 
of suitable size. If ther aer already 4 primary partitions you cannot 
add more partitions (for Ubuntu for example).
A few occasions I found  when the installer did not proceed  included 
when  there were errors in the windows file system which were 
previously not noticed. From windows, I did a chkdsk.


As a routine:
- a good backup first, and one you can be confident in (you may have 
to use it!!)
- With ubuntu live session confirm that the various aspects work in 
the hardware - display, audio, camera, wireless, etc
- with Ubuntu live session, check the hard drive is ok use 'disk 
utility', there should be no errors at all


good luck

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu unusably slow

[alan c]

On 07/02/13 10:03, Gareth France wrote:

On 07/02/13 10:01, Colin Law wrote:

On 7 February 2013 09:52, Gareth France gareth.fra...@gmail.com wrote:

On 06/02/13 23:41, Philip Stubbs wrote:

On 6 February 2013 23:05, Gareth France gareth.fra...@gmail.com wrote:

To the best of my knowledge I wasn't using Adobe Air at the time. And as
for Flash, of course I don't choose how others design their sites.


But you can choose what software to run on your computer. Have you tried a
flash blocker? Or a different browser? Or a different version of the flash
plugin? If you open the same tabs in Chrome, does it behave differently? I
seem to remember that Chrome comes with its own flash plugin, so may well be
worth a try. It could be that the new machine hits a bug in the flash plugin
that the old machine did not.


--
Philip Stubbs


Yes, I can choose not to use flash in much the same way as I can choose to
drive my car without wheels! It's an unfortunate fact of life that some of
the websites I use require it. I can try chrome and see how it goes.

Your first priority is to identify what is causing the problem.  If
you install flashblock then you have the ability to choose when you
use flash.  Initially do not use it at all and see if that cures the
speed issues.  Having identified that flash is the problem (if you do)
then you can decide on the best course of action.

Colin


Sounds like a plan. I'll give it a go and see what happens.


I routinely use noscript in firefox. It gives a lot of control, and 
you can disable it when you wish


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] My new computer won't boot Ubuntu ....

[alan c]

On 05/02/13 17:33, Barry Drake wrote:

Hi there    I've just got my new computer from pcspecialist.  I
can't get it to boot with any version of Ubuntu later than 10.04. It
also won't boot with the latest version of Mint although a Jan 2011
download boots OK.

The motherboard is  ASUS® F1A55-M LK R2.0: FM1 A-SERIES, SATA 3.0GB/s
and it has 2GiB of RAM.  I've gone through the UEFI settings.  Secure
boot is off. The boot process freezes on the live-DVD at about the point
when the cursor could appear.  I really want to install 13.04.  So far,
I can'tseem to get rid of the splash screen to see the messages - and
there is no message, only the splash screen when the freeze takes place.


Hi Barry
In my various hardware travels I have several times needed to use 
nomodeset. This is available as one of the live session boot options. 
In rare cases, some specific options have been needed also (re 
nomodeset) on more ancient hardware anyway. If required, then, after 
install it needs to be made permanent by file edit.


I have myself just this week taken delivery of a new PC from someone 
you contacted a while ago - ElpaTech, who now advertise preinstalled 
Ubuntu option (which I took). My reasonably powerful new PC - I am 
told - gave an unexpected problem by needing special action to run the 
on board wired ethernet (!) (I may simply fit a supplementary NIC for 
an easy life with normal kernel updates).
The point here is - this new production mobo has still got unresolved 
bug re the hardware, that is, the software has not fully caught up. In 
some years, I have bumped into two other examples of similar issues, 
which in time got sorted.


Good luck. And thanks for the introduction to ElpaTech in previous times!!

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Remote Ubuntu Users

[alan c]

On 13/01/13 02:14, Alan Pope wrote:

On 12/01/13 14:52, Dan Fish wrote:

His broadband is damn expensive and sometimes sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade may well use up much of his monthly
allowance.
Ironically, it's very cheap to post via snail mail a usb stick back and
forth! Any ideas how I can keep him up to date (albeit at monthly
intervals) via this method?
My google-fu has failed me.



It's not just updates he'd miss out on, but also new packages he may
want to install. You _could_ mirror the entire repository onto your hard
disk and then copy that to a USB attached drive and post that over.
Right now the entire repo (binary only) for precise takes up 53GB.

Like this:-

debmirror --nosource -m --passive --host=archive.ubuntu.com
--root=ubuntu/ --method=http --progress
--dist=precise,precise-updates,precise-security
--section=main,restricted,universe,multiverse --arch=i386
~/ubuntumirror/ubuntu --ignore-release-gpg

He could then point his apt sources.list at the usb stick and install
packages from it via apt or software centre, as well as update via
update manager.

Cheers,




Maplin are selling a 64 GB USB stick  for something like 30 pounds I think

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Installing Ubuntu on a machine with Windows 9

[alan c]

On 06/01/13 09:38, Rowan Berkeley wrote:

I am still wrestling with it, actually, having acquired this machine
only yesterday. I wasn't aware of how Windows have made it difficult to
install anything else.


Commiserations.
May I respectfully suggest that you can do many others around you a 
great favour - friends - relatives, acquaintances - etc - if you would 
please mention to them something about your experience  with this?


Thanks

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu operating system comes to Android smartphones

[alan c]

On 04/01/13 09:06, Alan Pope wrote:

On 03/01/13 21:48, Bruno Girin wrote:

Very interesting! It would be even better if Richard Collins didn't
sound like a politician and actually answered the questions though.



Harsh. Some questions are not easy to answer right now, a year before we
predict these things will hit the shelves. For example if we commit to a
straight yes/no in answer to things like will I have root access then
it will come back to bite us in 6 months if some phone vendor or
software partner decides that's not going to be the case for whatever
reason.

Some community people (thanks Alan Bell) have collated some frequently
asked questions and links to media reaction here:-

http://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuPhone



I thought Richard Collins did brilliantly well.
In fact it was the only video on the subject I actually watched all 
the way through 

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu operating system comes to Android smartphones

[alan c]

On 03/01/13 09:09, Andy Braben wrote:

The Ubuntu operating system has been adapted to run on smartphones.

Article at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20891868


I am confused by the difference - if any - between the 'Ubuntu on 
android' and the proposed Ubuntu (OS) phone?


I have a Samsung galaxy S3 android phone, which is near to a top of 
the range item, and I would like to make use of this in a ubuntu way, 
and not have to await another  different phone in a year's time


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Tablets for Ubuntu

[alan c]

On 30/12/12 16:38, Rowan Berkeley wrote:

Hiya people,

Do you have any thoughts about tablets? I have been googling around and
so far have found one on-market (very expensive):
http://www.ekoore.com/web/en/product/tablet-2/dylan-2/overview-10.html
and one soon to be released (quite cheap):
http://www.pengpod.com/


I am an expectant future owner of a pengpod

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu and UEFI

[alan c]

On 02/12/12 08:28, scoundrel50a wrote:

On 01/12/2012 17:37, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:

On 01/12/12 14:26, Bruno Girin wrote:

System 76 ship everywhere in Europe now, including the UK, have a
International UK Keyboard Layout option and come pre-loaded with
Ubuntu.

Thanks for the info - I looked at System 76 and their range seemed
better than the Linux Emporium


I like Linux Emporium because of their amazing after sales support,
epsecially for users like myself that have little Ubuntu knowledge, they
have got me out of quite a few scrapes over the phone, for no charge I
have a Lenovo laptop that so far has had no problems with
Unity..which that type of support is almost impossible to come by
nowadays, and they are even known to travel to the customers house if
things go really bad.


+1+1

LE are amazingly good, I have a couple of elderly friends who both 
bought from LE some years ago now. LE were always exceeding (my) 
expectations and were very helpful  to me when I took over the support 
from them.
I would always want to give LE my business, if they had items that I 
wanted.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu and UEFI

[alan c]

On 28/11/12 08:42, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:

Hi all,
Thought this might be of interest!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PyOYsQmetQ


Very nice to see a 'properly implemented' machine. That particular one 
is a bit pricey for my target audience of potential new Ubuntu users.


I look forward to a machine which is available in UK and also 
available without a Windows OS preinstalled.


It is interesting to speculate about just how I will be able to 
confirm that a chosen machine is, in the event, 'properly implemented'


Even with machines with bios, it has been onerous to determine in 
advance, before purchase, which hardware, particularly laptops, would 
work well out of the box (with Ubuntu). Fortunately, Ubuntu has 
achieved really good compatibility with many machines, and improving. 
It will be important to encourage that trend.


Is anyone in close contact with Novatech enough to know if their 
laptops are similarly 'properly implemented'?


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[ubuntu-uk] Distrowatch - initial experience of secure boot

[alan c]

Interesting reality experience with comments. Hopefully this will get 
a bit easier in the long term once the ecosystem adjusts?


Questions and Answers: Secure Boot has arrived
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20121126#qa

(also see the readers' comments)
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[ubuntu-uk] Chromebook Acer C7 - Ubuntu??

[alan c]

The Acer C7 Chromebook seems to be available in UK.
Does anyone know if it is possible (or easy) to install ubuntu dual 
boot on this machine please?


http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/chrome/devices/acer-c7-chromebook.html#specs

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Proposal for discussion

[alan c]

sounds good to me

alan cocks

On 12/11/12 11:55, Alan Pope wrote:

I have added an item for discussion at the next Ubuntu UK meeting. I'm
mailing the list so everyone is aware of the proposal and can have their
2p heard if they won't be at the meeting. I have proposed we reduce the
number of online resources / services we provide for the team. This
includes, but is not limited to:-

* Ubuntu UK Planet - http://planet.ubuntu-uk.org/
* Ubuntu UK Etherpad - http://pad.ubuntu-uk.org/
* Wordpress blog http://ubuntu-uk.org/

I propose we have a simple nicely Ubuntu themed but static home page
which links to resources we actually use and projects we work on as part
of the team:-

* This mailing list
* IRC channel
* LoCo Directory (for events)
* Podcast
* .. anything I missed?

Discuss.

Cheers,




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Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors

[alan c]

On 13/10/12 18:33, paul sutton wrote:

On 13/10/12 18:21, Anton Kanishchev wrote:




isn't there a company called naked computers,  who sell systems minus any OS


Unfortunately that will not verify that all functions are compatible 
with  - whatever - version of ubuntu.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors

[alan c]

On 13/10/12 20:13, Mark Einon wrote:


I can recommended novatech...uk based with some outlet stores, they sell bare 
systems but at a reduced price from the win versions. They're worth a look...


I have bought a number of machines over the years from Novatech, for 
this reason. However, even though they offer machines with no OS 
installed, they do nothing to verify that the hardware is compatible 
with Ubuntu of whichever version. They cannot even guarantee that the 
on board chips, camera, whatever, will remain the same from batch to 
batch. May not change, but they cannot be sure. However, they have 
various stores, and in my experience, by arrangement, they will 
happily run their own Ubuntu  live system media (or maybe  possibly 
yours) on your chosen hardware. Some retail days are busier than 
others  - so expect to use a non busy time. Unless they know you well, 
they will probably want to have a staff member with you - after all, 
it is their kit until you buy it.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors

[alan c]

On 13/10/12 18:00, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:

Hi!
I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba
Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a
laptop pre-installed.
I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than
Linux Emporium - are there any others?


Laptops are much more a problem than desktops, because they often have 
a higher level of customisation I believe, but you do say 'laptop'


In recent years I have helped three friends buy laptops from Linux 
Emporium, and in each case the service was excellent. They like you, 
wanted Ubuntu preinstalled for the reasons you mention. LE are not the 
cheapest  but you are buying more than just a preinstall. They have 
checked ot the compatibility of course, and there is a retail 
guarantee. You also will be supporting the Ubuntu wider ecosystem. Not 
only that, but over the guarantee period at least one of my (non tech) 
friends needed seriously heavy remote (online) support which sounded 
to me like it was a warm reinstall. LE were also utterly helpful in 
handing over to me as 'admin' later on. And when hard drive happened 
to fail (!) in later years, they managed to capture the HD image and 
replace and re image as with current user files, as if nothing had 
happened. This impressed me because with at least one current Ubuntu 
live CD which was tried the HD was not readable. Maybe luck, but I 
have no hesitation of pointing you to LE.


Zareason USA and new zealand are interested in opening a UK branch but 
 have no timescale.  They do not ship  to UK yet, which grieves me 
because I would LOVE  to use them.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors

[alan c]

On 14/10/12 16:01, Liam Proven wrote:

On 13 October 2012 18:00, Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi!
I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite
laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop
pre-installed.
I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux
Emporium - are there any others?


It's not something they advertise as of yet, but if you talk to
Simplicity Computers, they should be able to sort you out. Not a big
range but if they model they do appeals...

Mention my name as the person who sent you! Otherwise they might not
know what you're talking about. Wayne Cooper is probably a good chap
to talk to.

http://www.simplicitycomputers.co.uk/


Liam, the 'Ubuntu compatible'  market might be a very useful 
supplementary  business line for them. I personally do not need a 
preinstall nor any support, but as Gordon finds, I also would need a 
verified Ubuntu compatible laptop at some time. I can do my own 
install in a trice, but seeking out compat hardware is a hard task. I 
hope it will be worth them considering? There is a significant gap in 
the UK market here.They might get rushed off their feet!

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu One s/w centre payment

[alan c]

On 09/08/12 21:22, Bill Baker wrote:

I refer the honourable
gentleman to the current double dip recession  ;D


Nice one.
In case people have not yet seen it, or have a spare hour or two 
coming up soon:

F2C2012: Eben Moglen keynote - Innovation under Austerity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2VHf5vpBy8
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux User Group of Glastonbury (was High Wycombe LUG)

[alan c]

On 29/07/12 11:40, Bill B. wrote:

Make up an Ubuntu flag, stick it on a pole with a Tux flag adjacent
[above or below] and set up at the next Glastonbury festival.
The people you meet will [hopefully] be a nice surprise, more open
minded and may solve all those problems for you - and  maybe sow a few
seeds of their own.


Please let me know of any Ubuntu flag?
I would like to consider this, I also attend events where a flag would 
be a benefit. The Orange Ubuntu logo is less attractive than the 
multicoloured legacy logo. Before the logo changed I contacted the 
Ubuntu shop and also flag makers to see what could be done. It was 
deemed to be not shop worthy, and flags seemed surprisingly expensive 
as custom items.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Linux User Group of Glastonbury (was High Wycombe LUG)

[alan c]

On 29/07/12 18:26, Laura Czajkowski wrote:

On 29/07/12 17:56, alan c wrote:

On 29/07/12 11:40, Bill B. wrote:

Make up an Ubuntu flag, stick it on a pole with a Tux flag adjacent
[above or below] and set up at the next Glastonbury festival.
The people you meet will [hopefully] be a nice surprise, more open
minded and may solve all those problems for you - and  maybe sow a few
seeds of their own.


Please let me know of any Ubuntu flag?
I would like to consider this, I also attend events where a flag would
be a benefit. The Orange Ubuntu logo is less attractive than the
multicoloured legacy logo. Before the logo changed I contacted the
Ubuntu shop and also flag makers to see what could be done. It was
deemed to be not shop worthy, and flags seemed surprisingly expensive
as custom items.

We have the Ubuntu table cloths which are branded nicely and many teams
world wide use them at events. Some people also have pop up stands,
again leads to looking more professional as it has our branding on it.


Table cloths are good for close up, already captured, customers.
Pop up stands - I think I used one via Alan Pope a few years ago - 
signal 'corporate' which is really good in some contexts. In other 
contexts 'corporate' is a no no because 'community', 'voluntary'  and 
 'local group' are very non-corporate in the traditional sense.
However, a flag is a generally seen as happiness on a stick, and at a 
distance too. The world now (unwittingly) awaits  a wider advertising 
of Ubuntu, and flags could play a part in that.
I originally  had in mind car window flags, and also a larger flag to 
hoist at various non tech camping  type rallies.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Stickers, Was: Linux User Group of Glastonbury

[alan c]

On 29/07/12 20:54, Alan Pope wrote:

On 29/07/12 19:36, alan c wrote:

I originally  had in mind car window flags, and also a larger flag to
hoist at various non tech camping  type rallies.



I've always wanted an Ubuntu sticker for the back of my car. I had a
Debian one on there for some years, but it was on the outside and thus
faded quickly. I'd like to replace it some day with a plain white
sticker with Ubuntu in black and the logo in orange maybe.


Although it is counter intuitive, the ordinary (paper?) Ubuntu 
stickers actually have a surprisingly long life on bumpers. And bike 
mudguards too. And they are cheap enough to replace a couple of times 
a year.


Mmm. Unfortunately the sticker sheets currently on sale seem more like 
transfers than the original paper ones, worth trying though?

http://shop.canonical.com/product_info.php?products_id=718

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] (Team Meeting) Happy Hour

[alan c]

On 21/07/12 13:51, Alan Bell wrote:


One other thing I would very much like to restart is the happy hour pub
meetups http://ubuntu-uk.org/happy-hour/ . If someone would like to
volunteer to be in a particular pub at a certain date and time (this has
been Thursday evenings so far, but other suggestions are fine) for a
meetup in your area that would be great.


I have not been successful in connecting  via irc just now, which is 
the suggested procedure on http://ubuntu-uk.org/happy-hour/  however, 
SouthHill Park Bracknell is a nice venue, with easy free parking  with 
good road access. It is good for the bar, and also rooms for hire, a 
60 seat cinema, a large theatre, and a spacious atmosphere. Oh, and in 
the cellar bar there there are arranged events such as comedy, bands etc.


http://www.southhillpark.org.uk/138/your-visit/getting-here.html
http://www.southhillpark.org.uk/130/about-us/about-us.html
(food available until 8.30pm)
Their web site is not pictorial, unless you are thinking of hiring for 
weddings, but another local club has useful pictures:

http://www.bffs.org.uk/newsandevents/news/SNVS2.html

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] http://ubuntuadverts.org/

[alan c]

On 10/07/12 11:14, Barry Drake wrote:

On 09/07/12 23:10, Phill Whiteside wrote:

I must ask, who is going to take ownership of the new server for
updates etc?



I'd be willing to have a go, but as Alan rightly said, there isn't an
Ubuntu Advertising Team at the moment as nothing has appearred on the
mailing list in some time, and there hasn't been any IRC contact for
over a year .  I'd like to see Ubuntu Advertising re-started as a
team, but the last round was very frustrating.  A lot of work was put in
- if the Ubuntu Adverts wiki is still around it's all there to be seen.
But plans fell apart almost every time and it's not surprising that the
team died.

Any thoughts from you guys?


Hi Barry
I have been part of the Marketing team, list, and advertising etc over 
time,
 however I often got the impression that some list people were not 
clear about what was necessary or did not have a common focus. Not 
surprising since this is a long way from software, coding or even just 
enthusiasm.


My long term activity with displays (eg computer fairs over many years 
now) is that the commitment, ideas and actions are more suitable for 
a very small, mostly closed, group. In my case a group size of one!


The history of my own displays activity started (after Jono Bacon 
triggered it way back) with my ideas then being soundly criticised in 
at least one LUG. I had my own clarity and my particular formula still 
works as intended. It is my 'resource' after all.


The conclusion I drew then, and still believe, is that marketing, 
advertising or the like, is probably best sharply focussed to 
particular conditions. The commitment needed is such that helpful 
comments from less experienced (or less committed) others may not 
always be useful (being polite here). And in a public forum it is also 
not possible to guarantee honest objectives - far be it from me to 
think that mischief might ever be intended.


My thoughts would be to support a small group only, with sceptical 
entry conditions, including personal contact. Advertising resources 
might not need to be large at first. Proven track record could call on 
crowdfunding such as kickstarter - now soon in uk. And 'Just Do It!'


Some off list emails might be worth considering.
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Starting an IT workshop

[alan c]

On 28/06/12 22:49, Andres wrote:

I have just been to a local neighbourhood community [0] meeting and
thought ann IT workshop would help out. The group already does workshops
relating to gardening, bicycle maintenance and such.

My question is: how do I propose it in your experience?
What I have for the moment is an old laptop,
I would like to order a bunch ubuntu CDs if I can to hand out
I know my way around computers but I'm not a professional but I think I
have a lot of patience explaining IT stuff to children and adults.
I like talking to people about using libreoffice instead of MS office,
ubuntu instead of windows,...
The community can offer an enclosed place The little House or the
library. Both can take about 10 people.

Would it be best to start with something simple? or look alliance with
some other community that already exists and are looking for a place to
do some sort of mini workshop. This is what they did with the bicycle
workshop.

So I was asked to source some info to take back to the meeting for next
month. Can someone point me in the right direction?

[0] http://www.hamunitedgroup.org.uk


I run a couple of Libre Computing groups in my nearby clubs (U3A as it 
happens, aimed at older  and retired people, like me)(some members 
can barely walk). I chose the name carefully because I am not 
motivated to continue helping with the everlasting Windows problems 
people have (note).

http://www.bracknellu3a.org.uk/ComputerLibre.html
http://www.wokinghamu3a.org.uk/Computing_Libre.html

Web Manager typos and  web page design style aside, you will see that 
they are strongly Ubuntu centric, although retain flexibility. The 
clubs have a thousand members or more and I quickly found up to a 
dozen people interested in each group (1%). Some only wanted (ubuntu) 
dual boot  install, but are not into attending the meetings - ok with 
me - others are still using Windows but are keen enough to attend most 
meets. Some are ex IT admin variously or serious tech types. None 
would  even consider a LUG, I suggest  leave any such thoughts for a 
later date. Not even forums in most cases. It is surprising how much 
people like to gather and chat face to face. Just listen and help.


Initially I did live cd demonstrations and talked. I only use Ubuntu, 
no Windows for many years now, but I understand its siren pull. One 
person used a live usb (with help to create one) for many months then 
installed dual boot. And continued even when some Windows related 
security sw gave us serious trouble. Ended up using clonezilla by 
themselves to image a good PC state to make reinstall of  whatever 
much easier. Impressive, but just needed a bit of chat and confidence.


Topics are wide, but discussions are group introduced  - with a little 
prompting, it works well. I see my basic role as Ubuntu (FLOSS) support.


Internet access will be important.

Any more Q's?

Note: Time was, I helped 1000's of novice users with Windows by 
creating and running the age concern berkshire Computer Centre (Part 
of the then UKOnline facility)--

alan cocks


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[ubuntu-uk] [marketing] Good news feedback

[alan c]

Experiences at my displays at the Computer Fairs vary, however I 
received this by email yesterday (now anonamised)


This person was interested in trying Ubuntu and had a fairly new 
Windows 7 machine, a method of reinstalling Windows7 if necessary, and 
had an Ubuntu 12.04 CD from me. I do not know any more details than 
given here.


It reminds me of the likely importance of personal contact being 
available at 'street' level as it were.



I just thought I'd drop you a message on my new dual boot win7 / ubuntu
machine.
Can't thank you enough for the long chat and the disk, I have NEVER done
anything on a PC before that was this easy.
I even set it all up over wireless as I couldn't find my ethernet cable !!
Seriously though it really is the best OS I have ever used it found my
wireless printer and downloaded the drivers in a flash, this is
something windows has never managed.
I can see many evenings playing coming up.
Once again many thanks for you time today and giving me the confidence
to give it a go, I think windows will be redundant before next weekend.





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Re: [ubuntu-uk] ubuntu.com down?

[alan c]

On 05/06/12 21:29, Jim Price wrote:

  I have been
having issues with the UK update server, so I've changed to the main server.


This is something I seem to need to do quite a lot!
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] heads up - Secure Boot Problems for Linux Users Are Here Already

[alan c]

On 05/06/12 08:17, scoundrel50a wrote:

On 03/06/2012 23:00, Bruno Girin wrote:

 On 03/06/12 19:03, Andres Muniz wrote:



 thanks for the info guys! Got more than I need! I was a bit concernd
 that some servers were using arm as well. But clearly it will not be
 a problem.



 Well, until proved otherwise :-)

 Bruno





So what is the future of Ubuntu now that Microsoft are doing this.it
doesnt look too good..



 Keep calm, and carry on

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[ubuntu-uk] Passwords need prior to updates?

[alan c]

Is it my imagination, or have recent updates, not required my password?
(Ubuntu 12.04)
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] UEFI

[alan c]

On 02/06/12 20:23, paul sutton wrote:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFIBooting
Just found the above with regard to UEFI AND LInux


I would like to think that the very detailed information would help 
mean that in future, an Ubuntu live USB  or CD will work in all future 
PCs, and that If I installed a dual boot with Windows 8 for a friend, 
that it would also work??


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[ubuntu-uk] Heads up: Fedora pays Microsoft

[alan c]

From the Bad News department:

Lockdown: free/open OS maker pays Microsoft ransom for the right to 
boot on users' computers

By Cory Doctorow May 31
http://boingboing.net/2012/05/31/lockdown-freeopen-os-maker-p.html

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Heads up: Fedora pays Microsoft

[alan c]

On 01/06/12 08:02, mac wrote:

On 1 Jun 2012, at 07:48, alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com  wrote:


  From the Bad News department:

 Lockdown: free/open OS maker pays Microsoft ransom for the right to boot on 
users' computers
 By Cory Doctorow May 31
 http://boingboing.net/2012/05/31/lockdown-freeopen-os-maker-p.html


This is the sort of anti-competitive, monopolist behaviour from Microsoft that 
the EU should take action to stop. Again. :(


Other things being equal, (which they are not) it significantly 
affects dual boot possibilities.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] heads up - Secure Boot Problems for Linux Users Are Here Already

[alan c]

On 01/06/12 13:58, Matt Wheeler wrote:

On 1 June 2012 08:02, alan caecl...@candt.waitrose.com  wrote:

 Time has passed.
 The problem has now matured, and Fedora have accepted defeat and decided to
 pay to be allowed to use Microsoft restricted hardware.

 Implementing UEFI Secure Boot in Fedora Linux
 http://j.mp/KZykUS


According to an update to that article, the money actually goes to
verisign, and anyone can get a signing key from them for $99. So
actually (without having looked into it any further) this looks like
quite a reasonable solution to securing system booting in general.

Anyone have any further insight?


Only that Microsoft are the gatekeeper,  and can change the rules 
whenever their brass neck allows them to, as they have just done. 
Rather clever, I think. Never trust the smile on a crocodile. Or its 
love of open source.


On a day to day basis, if a machine has a mainboard which has a secure 
boot 'off' switch, then that is what I will use, because I do not want 
 nor need Microsoft stuff. But if someone wants what we used to know 
as 'dual boot', then they will need to run day by day on the mainboard 
which is set FOR secure boot (for Windows 8), so the GNU/Linux OS will 
need to be suitably signed in that situation.


For Ubuntu, WUBI comes to mind although I am aware that there are 
occasionally enough problems with some grub updates that I stopped 
recommending wubi  a long time ago except for very short term trials.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] 12.04 upgrade failure

[alan c]

On 25/05/12 11:22, Paul Tansom wrote:

I don't have full info on this failure yet as I've not been to the machine, but
in preparation has anyone had a similar issue to this?

The only info I have at the moment is:

Now when I switch on the computer it is not possible to use. The icons on the
lefthand side are ghosting with no words of pictures and there is no
mouse/pointer. Absolutely no control by keyboard either. After a short period
it decides to give a countdown and then switches itself off.

This is a clean install of 11.10 a couple of months ago that has been kept up
to date and then upgraded to 12.04 when suggested by the GUI prompt. All seemed
to go well until the reboot as far as I know.


Certainly try live sessions as a test.
If it is an older PC, keep in mind  use of nomodeset (available from 
the live CD boot choices)


Good luck
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] boot-repair utility ...

[alan c]

On 16/05/12 12:07, Barry Drake wrote:

I've just discovered boot-repair.  I seems to be available on a
stand-alone iso and on a customised Ubuntu 12.04 iso.  I've made a boot
SD card from the 12.04 version and it looks as though it might be a
useful way of rescuing a damaged grub2.  I just wondered if any of you
have used it?


The boot repair disc I have used, and it is close to miraculous IMHO is
http://sourceforge.net/p/boot-repair-cd/home/Home/

I note it seems to use an Ubuntu Font, but I do not know if it uses 
Ubuntu in fact.
I have used it for Windows and Ubuntu, including in I think fairly 
complex multiboot  PCs. I have only needed to use the basic offerings, 
however if they are anything to go by the other stuff must be good. 
The author posts too, I think, in Ubuntu forums. Development ongoing.


I recommend at least a try. Keep it around.
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] dual boot problem

[alan c]

On 12/05/12 21:04, Norman Silverstone wrote:

big snip


 Andy, all I know is that if there is one drive and the
 installer is
 instructed to install along side Windows, then the installer
 partitions
 the drive accordingly and gets on with the installation. So,
 are you
 suggesting that, because there are two drives one of which is
 empty, the
 installer decides to install on the empty one rather than
 partition and
 install on the one with Windows? I have heard of Artificial
 intelligence
 but surely this is not correct.





 When the partitioner first comes up it asks if you want to accept any
 defaults. I doubt if a default is what you want to do so you should
 choose Do something Else  On the next screen you should see two
 drives listed, one clearly marked as having Windows on it.

 Can you get as far as that before going any further?


Yes, no problem.


The 'Something Else' option is a manual one (so called advanced in the 
past). Using that CD with that option will expect you to first have 
created a suitable partition structure *before* proceeding further. 
Or, for example, in the partitions list, you will only see the Windows 
partition,  drive. It may be perfectly possible to resize stuff, 
create partitions, format etc  whilst inside the 'something else' 
option, however, my own strong preference would be to do all this in 
two stages. Use a live CD session to create partitions in the  free 
space on your windows drive. If it is vista or win7 then I would 
consider first asking windows to shrink ITSELF, you may get fewer 
subsequent problems in windows then.


Then
Create a large (for  /  ) partition (ext4) for ubuntu system and a 
smaller swap partition.
Then use the 'something else' option and 'change' the target ubuntu 
system partition to be used in the install as ext4, to be formatted, 
and to be mounted as   /


I think that should do it ok.

If your second (data) drive is formatted before install of ubuntu then 
I guess it will get picked up as a data drive when ubuntu installs 
into the targetted  place.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] My experience with 12.04 upgrade

[alan c]

On 09/05/12 21:34, Barry Titterton wrote:




 I have noticed that the reveal does not happen if the cursor is
 'gently' taken to the (left) side, it only works for a fairly vigorous
 'hit'. Even when sensitivity is turned up. There are many times when I
 am simply not feeling like hurling the cursor around the screen,
 although I can guess that if I was a dev I might  a lot more :-)

 If a bug is registered  give me a heads up I will contribute
 --
 alan cocks


Hi Alan,

I have turned the sensitivity up full but it still needs to be pushed
quite hard into the left side to get a reveal. I've also tried it in
Unity 3D with same result. I shall add myself to Neil's bug report
(982954).
Barry T


Thanks I have followed you there
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] My experience with 12.04 upgrade

[alan c]

On 09/05/12 07:56, Colin Law wrote:

  2. The launcher will not 'reveal' if there is an application, such as
  Firefox, set to maximum size. The launcher will 'reveal' once all
  windows have been minimised or closed. I have a work around for this
  problem by setting the launcher to be permanently visible. Is this a bug
  or normal behaviour for 2D Unity?

That is a bug, even with maximised windows the launcher should reveal
if you push the mouse against the left hand side.  On the appearance
settings have you got Reveal Location set to Left Side or Top Left
Corner?  I have it on Left Side on a Satellite A100 using 2D and it
reveals ok.


I have noticed that the reveal does not happen if the cursor is 
'gently' taken to the (left) side, it only works for a fairly vigorous 
'hit'. Even when sensitivity is turned up. There are many times when I 
am simply not feeling like hurling the cursor around the screen, 
although I can guess that if I was a dev I might  a lot more :-)


If a bug is registered  give me a heads up I will contribute
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu beginners course in North Tyneside

[alan c]

On 06/05/12 18:26, John Bottomley wrote:

Hi reading your comments on introducing Ubuntu I thought you might be
interested in our experiences of Ubuntu as a training medium.

We have been running a project in South Cheshire for 4 years.

The aim of the project is to support local communities by improving
access to IT.  We run a range of activities including 'drop in help
sessions, loan of recycled pcs and free internet access at both local
and neighbourhood levels.

Central to our activities is use of Ubuntu, we have about 250 Pcs on
loan all of which are Ubuntu based.  Many of our loan PCs are used by
school children and FE/HE students for their home studies.

All our workshop PCs/Laptops (about 25) are Ubuntu based.

We expect to see about 500 people per month in our workshops held at
community centres and rural village halls.


[...]

Really good to hear about this John, thank you for posting. (I would 
love to be able to help or support in some way, from distant 
Berkshire)

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Best way to contribute to Ubuntu? - was Re: 12.04 has locked me out of my account

[alan c]

On 04/05/12 17:05, Alan Pope wrote:

ubuntu-bug unity

(replacing unity with whatever package has the issue)

Then follow the prompts on the screen.


I can confirm that this is a very convenient and practical way to 
register a bug, and works pretty well. I cannot recall using it for 
very long so perhaps it is relatively new facility, or if I have just 
recently become aware of it.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Best way to contribute to Ubuntu? - was Re: 12.04 has locked me out of my account

[alan c]

On 04/05/12 17:32, Gareth France wrote:

  that new
people don't already know the routine


I have often forgotten how to do this (several times) and several 
times have used web, wiki or various searches, and I have been 
frustrated that this most convenient way is not generally the one 
which is first shown, I have had to thrash about a lot  to try to 
recall what to do. The Community and to some extent Canonical are not 
yet at all well tuned to an average newcomer, although it is getting 
noticeably better, particularly  about downloading and installing.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] 12.04 Installer Doesn't Detect Partitions

[alan c]

On 02/05/12 01:41, Joe wrote:

Hey guys,

Yet another poor person having trouble installing Ubuntu 12.04,
unfortunately :(.

Using the graphical installer on the LiveCD (clicking Install
shortcut on desktop) when asked how to install partition-wise
there's no option to overwrite Ubuntu 11.04 (not a big deal, but
I'm sure there's supposed to be some kind of similar option). The
bigger problem is, though, that when selected to choose the layout
manually, my current partitions are not detected, which leaves
formatting the entire drive as my only option. As happy as I would
be if I could do this and completely remove Windows, I do need
Windows for some work stuff, so I'm stuck unable to install 12.04
unless I can sort this out.


health warning:
On the occasions that a windows partition has not been recognised, or 
has not been accepted readily by say, gparted, I have found that there 
have been some sort of problem with the windows partition or the 
filesystem. At worst, the disc itself was giving bad sectors. I hope 
this is not the situation for you, but if it is, make sure your 
important files are backed up well (twice) and, from windows do 
standard stuff like checkdisk (chkdsk?) maybe do this more than once. 
If the apparent ubuntu trouble then persists then  make efforts to 
check the HD itself - if the ubuntu live cd runs ok then in live 
session , use the 'disk utility' to show its health


good luck

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Problem installing

[alan c]

On 01/05/12 00:10, David Smith wrote:

At the risk of someone having had a similar problem, I'm struggling
to install Ubuntu on my desktop.  My netbook accepted Xubuntu
absolutely fine, and I am getting to grips it.  My desktop however
won't accept Ubuntu x86.

I have tried with a CDROM and unetbootin, with the live CD and with
the alternative installler.  The best I have got is for it to
install using the alternative, but not boot up -- it just hangs
indefinitely after GRUB.

Intel E7300 CPU 3GB RAM ECS GF7050VT-M5 motherboard Nvidia 1GB 550
Ti (Asus) SATA 0 is 1TB Seagate NTFS Windows 7 x64 SATA 1 is 160GB
Maxtor NTFS data (2x 80GB partitions for some reason). SATA 3 is
TSST DVDRW IDE Primary Master is EXT4 Ubuntu, Linux swap and GRUB
loader.

Bearing in mind that I could not get it to boot with a live CD, it
is unlikely to have anything to do with where GRUB is, especially
as that was how I had it under Kubuntu 11.10.

Is there any way of getting some more details, like from a verbose
screen during boot?  Or does anyone see anything in my HW
configuration that has been resolved already?

Thanks in advace,

Dave Smith Windows technician and Ubuntu afficionado.

P.S., saw a UUKML user's email address as being
something@sohcahtoa.something.  Not thought of Sohcahtoa since high
school.  Funny how it all comes back!


One facility I have  begun to need to use more and more is the 
nomodeset option, might be worth a look?

main info:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1613132
it is needed in several machines I (or friends) have currently.
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04 ....

[alan c]

On 30/04/12 19:55, James Morrissey wrote:

 I found U1 to be very good with smallish files and a bit burdened with large
 files - I experimented with zipped files of 2GB or more, which would be
 useful for me. From Ubuntu 11.10 it was not too bad but it was hard to keep
 track of what stage it was at in a long upload process - my down / up is
 7M/100K. sending tens of GB up takes many many days and nights, non stop.


I have found UbuntuOne-Indiator to be pretty neat for monitoring how
things are going.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rye/ubuntuone-extras
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-ubuntuone


From the webupd8 12.04 tweaks:

http://www.webupd8.org/2012/04/things-to-tweak-after-installing-ubuntu.html



Thanks, Will look

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Annoying stuff about Ubuntu Unity

[alan c]

On 01/05/12 16:11, Alan Lord (News) wrote:

On 01/05/12 16:07, Tyler J. Wagner wrote:



 However, I then minimised my app and the little arrow disappeared from my 
Talend launcher icon and clicking on it it tries to start a new instance of the 
app.


 I really, really hate to suggest this, but log out and in again.


Lol; it's just like being back on Windows ;-)


LOL 'before you can overtake them, you first have to draw alongside?'

(mischievous grin)
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Annoying stuff about Ubuntu Unity

[alan c]

On 01/05/12 15:29, Alan Lord (News) wrote:

On 01/05/12 14:38, Tyler J. Wagner wrote:


 However, you can create a launcher in ~.local/share/applications, give it
 an icon, and execute the launcher in nautilus. Then once it is running,
 right-click on the launcher icon and Lock to Launcher. After that Unity
 seems to index ~/.local/share/applications (or at least that one application).


Thanks Tyler,

I had already created some desktop files, one for Talend  one for
eclipse (the deb packaged eclipse won't allow certain updates so I just
run a clean one from my ~/bin) but hadn't realised that starting it from
nautilus was the trick.

I appreciate it. I now have a launcher icon for Talend which seems to
start it ok.

However, I then minimised my app and the little arrow disappeared from
my Talend launcher icon and clicking on it it tries to start a new
instance of the app.

This *really* shouldn't be so hard!


I created a launch icon on the desktop yesterday and there were a 
bunch of ways to do this I discovered, some very esoteric. I chose an 
easy way (for me).


my forums question and thread:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11894085postcount=1
which I had used the nice suggestions  in:
http://askubuntu.com/a/128284
(As you might see i had a supplementary need to run my script inside a 
terminal, wwhich I did find how to do)


Summary:
In the Desktop create an Untitled Document, Just right click in the 
Desktop and select Create New Document.

Edit the file with Gedit and add the following lines:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Save the file and THEN rename it to whatever you want *but* at the end 
of the name add  .desktop, For example if wanted to make a 
shortcut for a wine program like photoshop I would put as a name 
photoshop.desktop
Now you should be able to right click the file and edit the file 
Launcher Properties, in my case I added the command to run  my script 
in a terminal (etc etc)


At this stage it is possible now to drag the icon, now a launcher 
icon, into the main Launcher at the left hand side, if wished. Mine 
goes in as Un-named, needs more work but I do not want mine in the 
launcher just yet anyway

hth

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04 ....

[alan c]

On 30/04/12 09:35, Alan Bell wrote:

  easily confuse an up'date' with an up'grade'.
  Whereas updates are usually fairly safe, upgrades are not.



that is the bit that needs fixing, an upgrade should be as safe as an
update.


Hi Alan
There are *two* bits that need fixing not only the one bit! I 
wholeheartedly agree that an upgrade should be as safe as an update, 
certainly. I can see that particular issue taking some time to fix, 
and being quite hard to test and verify. Meanwhile, it is easier, and 
I think useful to arrange visually and in text etc, an intuitive and 
even more clear separation between upgrades and updates, I have new 
and non techy users most in mind here. We obviously hope there will be 
many more of them soon.



  Upgrade and update sound similar and seem similar. They appear even in
  the same window in the same situation.



they do sound a bit similar,


You understate this. They sound and look a lot similar.


but it isn't the same window at all,


The windows I have in mind are the regular 'update is ready' windows 
which traditionally has (or had) a top banner with such as (link also 
below)


'New Ubuntu release '11.04' is available   [Upgrade] (button)

this is (was) at the TOP of the window, it suggests a priority 
accorded to things seen first, and in a top, upper, position. Also the 
word 'New' is a powerful attention getter.
Below this is a list of items, I recognise them as updates, and at the 
bottom of the windows to the right, are two buttons  [Check] 
[Install Updates]


Not far below, at the very base of the window are buttons
[Settings]   and  at the right hand side[Close]

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll248/candtalan/Screenshot-UpdateManager.png

So the key 'Updates' button does not have visual prominence. It is not 
even labelled simply 'Updates' It reads 'Install' 'Updates'. The word 
'Install precedes the 'Updates', which is seen last. Also the word 
'Install' is likely to be associated in a new novice users mind with a 
new installation of (Ubuntu), rather than perhaps the more mundane and 
routine maintenance. Perhaps.


I am talking here about people who are not expecting to actually read 
words (!)  When I used Windows for years, I became aware that I was 
conditioned to just click 'Yes' to choices, all choices, otherwise 
things did not actually work(!) What we present to new users  will be 
seen and used by people with eyes like mine used to be, they will 
click without reading, and more likely, without understanding, 
probably, without even wanting to understand. So a correct form of 
words is not the only GUI human computer interface (HCI) aspect to be 
considered, the whole interaction is relevant. Human computer 
interface stuff can be subtle yet important. Marketing in our very 
retail based society relies heavily on impression. People now expect 
marketing, and seeing something prominent I think made my friend 
vulnerable to a mistake. Having said all this, I am also aware that 
many of the new Ubuntu users and continuing non techy users that I 
help, typically would say they see the invitation to upgrade as 
clearly something to avoid, one said (I just asked here) they would 
avoid it like the plague or similar words. This is typical of a non 
techy user who has clear decisions to leave anything unusual alone and 
refer it to their 'admin' friend (me) their helper. My aged friend I 
mentioned earlier was brass necked enough to have confidence - and 
misunderstood what he saw. Interestingly, I notice that many long time 
Windows users, albeit not very skilled, are determined to do stuff 
themselves, and they simply do not call me first. This always 
surprises me but it is evidently a fact of life. And they do not use 
ubuntu forums as an early port of call either.  When I started using 
GNU/Linux I realised that its choices and yes/no offers were  much 
more real than I had gotten used to with Windows.
  (If I am getting detailed it is because I have seen this sort of 
thing cause significant probs (my friend) and in a previous 
incarnation I designed HCI for control systems where getting it wrong 
might shut down your water supply)


hth
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04 ....

[alan c]

On 30/04/12 13:49, Colin Law wrote:

On 30 April 2012 13:33, MSm...@hipcat2.plus.com  wrote:

 SNIP




 Update = minor updates to existing software, no big changes.

 Upgrade = major upgrade of the whole system, including new software
 versions, possibly significant changes in UI, needs a lot more time to
 do, etc. If worded correctly, it could act as a warning that it's an
 operation that takes time but also be an opportunity to highlight the
 new stuff that people may be interested in: get a few screenshots in,
 explain changes, a bit like what the installer does but before people
 actually commit to the upgrade.



 Is not the problem that the two words are so similar and the average punter
 may not appreciate the huge difference in meaning in Ubuntu-speak.

 Having said that I now need to think up some new terms as alternatives . . .


Made even more confusing by apt-get update and apt-get upgrade and
apt-get dist-upgrade which are entirely different meanings again.


yes, although using a CL one can more easily expect  some informed 
understanding of the terms.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04 ....

[alan c]

On 30/04/12 10:57, Daniel Case wrote:

Big clear warnings get a +1 from me - I was in #ubuntu and on the Ubuntu
Forums the last few days and have noticed others have also been screwed by
the upgrade - A lot of people assume it's safe, a lot of people have lost a
lot of data attempting it.

People also need a clear warning to backup their system - we assume it's
common sense, but apparently most don't.


I am staggered when most people have no idea of backup. Or they say 
that  I have nothing of valuable to get lost..
It is a shock when they find they 'had grown accustomed to the - 
'whatever.

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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04 ....

[alan c]

On 30/04/12 11:14, Colin Law wrote:

On 30 April 2012 09:35, Alan Bellalanb...@ubuntu.com  wrote:

 ...
 http://people.ubuntu.com/~alanbell/upgradepics/offer.png
 http://people.ubuntu.com/~alanbell/upgradepics/confirm.png


Perhaps it would be worthwhile to have a warning on one of these that
all important data should be backed up before proceeding.


A statement that data *loss* can sometimes occur is a useful 
complement to suggesting another course of action (do a backup).


I know someone who stopped installing ubuntu temporarily  because he 
had read on the CD packet that the 'default install' could wipe all 
his data. He took it seriously.


The current 12.04 wallet words are more targeted:

Explore and install
Try Ubuntu before you install it – simply boot your computer from
this CD. You can install Ubuntu alongside Windows or Mac OS X,
or you can replace your current operating system entirely. Just back
up your files and follow the installation instructions carefully.



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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04 ....

[alan c]

On 30/04/12 15:02, k...@sohcahtoa.org.uk wrote:

Hello All

Hum backups

Ubuntu One accounts get 5Gb free. I'm wondering if an option to
automatically sync the Documents folder with Ubuntu One might help
people not loose lots of work? I know it is getting into Google
Chrome OS territory, and, yes, potentially another annoying and
confusing choice when booting for the first time. Just a thought.

Hope the chap who has nowhere to copy his 19Gb reads this: 5Gb on
Ubuntu One, 2Gb on Dropbox and 5Gb on Google Drive. Use a local
coffee bar or arts centre free wifi to do the intial sync to avoid
topping out your broadband if it is capped. Better than loosing the
lot.


I have not used it much yet but I think that the backup app in 12.04 
- by default - tries to connect with ubuntu one! :-)
This is a good idea in principle. However I will be interested to see 
how it works out. There are a real lot of hurdles from novice needing 
initial backup through to successful use of U1 for backup, not least a 
typically slow-ish upload rate.
Most people are now familiar with usb sticks and external larger usb 
connected drives, and I suspect that is a more newcomer friendly route.


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Upgrading to 12.04 ....

[alan c]

On 30/04/12 15:03, scoundrel50a wrote:

I been following this because I posted on here a couple of days ago,
about me having screwed my installation...well I managed to find
somebody willing to help, and got talked through the actual
installation, and instead of installing over, just installing the
package and keeping my home directory there, and if I hadnt had that
person, I wouldnt have known how to set the / and /dev/sda2 and telling
the installation to to reformat..as it is, I did it, but the person
ended up having to log into my computer to fix the home directory and
other things, as I would never have had a clue where to look or what to
do, as it is, I now have the old home directory there, but as a separate
directory, which is enough for me, but how he did that, i have no
idea...problem is, I can not now get wireless, its gone, for some
reason, I can only use the ethernet cable to connect, which he is now
looking at

Just thought I would post to let you know how I got on reinstalling


Thanks for the feedback. Good that you found someone to help. Hope the 
wireless gets sorted ok, if not do come back and say?

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