Access your applications this way. Image credit: Jolicloud

With Jolicloud you’d have your netbook running Jolicloud and you sync it with your Jolicloud homebase. So that implies you’ve got your entired set up somewhere else. Somewhere in the cloud perhaps, hence the name? I don’t have any way to test it yet though but it looks interesting. gadgetmix.com has a review of Jolicloud.

Interestingly enough the review points out it’s basically Ubuntu with tweaks and the synchronization of your set up in your Jolicloud homebase. It makes everything work out of the box for those with netbooks. So it’s not entirely a rebranding of Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

For new Linux users it could be quite a good experience for the looks of things because there’s no need for other configuration and installation of things they need for multimedia especially. Although of course there’s always Ubuntu Netbook Remix but it depends on the user experience he/she wants to have. Ubuntu Netbook Remix is ready for you to use on a regular basis already. So if you want to use Linux on your computer right away maybe you wouldn’t want to wait for Jolicloud to be mature. But for others who are still thinking about it, Jolicloud could be worth the wait so you have a better idea of what it’s like to use Linux. It could be interesting to try. It’s still in private alpha so it could take a while to try it out.

Post from: New Linux User

Well, most things have been nice and shiny with Dom and Ubuntu. But not with Karmic Koala. He experienced kernel panic – not synching. His search for an answer led him to the ubuntuforums with this issue posted three weeks ago: Wubi – Kernel Panic – Not Synching – VFS…. Another place where this showed up is in Launchpad: Wubi/Karmic boot: kernel panic – not synching: VFS.

This mainly affects those who have installed Ubuntu via Wubi. That’s tough. Some people would rather install via Wubi than the regular installer. If there’s this bug that’s affecting them, then that would just be sad. And how would everyone else deal with it? I suppose one could back up all the files then just do an install from the desktop/Live CD or the alternate installer.

If I recall correctly, Linux Mint is based from Ubuntu. I wonder if this will affect their users too or if they’d do something about it to make the Linux user experience better. Well, I am not very familiar with how Mint4Win works but it’s basically Wubi but for Mint. If ever, I do hope that it will work just fine and maybe the two projects can learn from each other. I certainly hope this bug will get resolved soon.

Post from: New Linux User

What’s the initial impression that I got from using Karmic Koala?

• It’s shiny!
  Seriously. I found the new GNOME quite shiny. It’s a whole lot more polished compared to the older GNOME releases. It really looks clean and whoever passed by my desk would comment at how clean and professional looking it is. Tsk, them of little faith~! But I also like the choices of desktop backgrounds that came with it because they looked great even with an extended monitor. The stretched versions look decent.
• It’s pretty fast. In terms of boot-up time and going to a virtual terminal. It feels like it’s so instantaneous. Which is neat when I need the virtual terminal — this happens to me when my desktop hangs and I want to look for the processes that might be causing that.
• Hardware support is much better. I used to have so many issues on this machine. It used to be that wifi and sound would always come up as issues. Well, bluetooth too. I’ve been using it again and everything seems to be better supported. The driver for the Broadcom wifi card to work had to be downloaded first but that was fine. That seems to be the only driver that I had to get somewhere else. Sound was working perfectly fine when I tried it. That for me is awesome as I cannot work without music.

Now I don’t regret installing Karmic Koala on this baby. It doesn’t feel so old using Karmic Koala. At the same time, I really think that the release good overall. Well, I still have time to evaluate it but it does leave a good first impression on me.

Post from: New Linux User

So yeah, everybody seems to have Ubuntu 9.10 or Karmic Koala already. Well, except for me. Tsk. Next time I will check my things before leaving a building, just to be sure this doesn’t happen again.

Back to business.

And everyone but me has Karmic Koala. By this time it’s more practical for me to start looking for the rest of the world’s blog entries and screenshots. The Debian Admin blog has a 37 screenshots. You get to see the different aspects of Karmic so this is a good set. It also gives you a better idea of how things work in Karmic now, at least have a general idea. Also there are chances that other loco’s have probably pushed through with their release parties for Karmic already. Yes, I am envious that almost everyone has the latest Ubuntu release.

Because of that forgotten charger everything else could gloat to me about not having Ubuntu Karmic yet. Thankfully not everyone in the community thinks that way so I don’t feel so bad.

Others have given tips on what should be done first to your machine after installing Karmic Koala. One of them is to select download mirrors and set them up for your future needs. After all, you never know when these things will be handy. There’s also setting up folder sharing. This is especially for those who rely on shared files within the office network. One more thing you should do: synchronize time with atomic clocks. Just so you won’t find yourself in a different timezone all of a sudden. Great right?

Enjoy Ubuntu Karmic Koala!

Post from: New Linux User

Ubuntu Karmic Koala is scheduled to be released on the 29th this month. Just two days before Halloween! So don’t forget that ok? Everyone must be busy preparing for Halloween parties and other such events but before you do that, upgrade your computers first. ; )

Speaking of laptops and netbooks, we need to make sure that our laptops and netbooks are in good shape. After all, these are our tools to make our work easier. (Well, other stuff aside from work too! Like communicating on the go, etc.) If we don’t monitor our little babies we might find them having problems and conking out on us at the most inopportune moments. Gkrellm will save the day and your laptop for you. You will see a stack of information that gives you an idea of how your laptop is like. With Gkrellm you could see if your laptop is too hot and if you might actually have a very dusty laptop. You never know, right? Because all of those dust sometimes gets in and your laptop gets increasingly hot if you never bother to monitor the temperature. Thanks to Rob Reilly and his awesome article on Gkrellm. Now I know and it’s better now that I know about this. I’ve been travelling around with this netbook and goodness knows how much dust there is everywhere.

Post from: New Linux User

It’s  another derivative that’s specifically for those who would like to take advantage of LXDE. As Linux Mag points out: Lubuntu uses the least amount of memory after a fresh boot of the live CDs. And with everyday applications loaded, it still seems to be the most lightweight of them all.

This sounds like good news to me because there are those whose computers don’t have awesome specs. They need other options when it comes to installing a distro. If they like the Ubuntu way, then this looks like one way of installing it with nice defaults. Nothing fancy but usable and clean.

Of course, the actual needs and usage of the person installing it will vary so even if it’s lightweight in those mentioned aspects, it’s still possible that it might not be as great as one could be expecting. Of course, the memory footprint of applications vary greatly.

One possible question to Lubuntu is this: Will it be really beneficial to have yet another *buntu which has a desktop environment as the main difference? There are different perspectives on this matter. I personally think that it’s just fine. After all you wouldn’t want to download an entire DVD that would have all the possible set-ups of each *buntu. Something that’s light enough to be burned as an image on a CD or something for a USB drive is good enough for me to try. But, of course, this is my personal choice. I don’t have the bandwidth for huge downloads.

Post from: New Linux User

So… apparently there’s a better way to install Chromium on Ubuntu, the right way. Don’t worry. Even if there are command line instructions, they are straightforward. You basically need to add the Chromium PPA repo. That way you get automatic updates as it is being developed. And this guide tells us how to add an icon on the top panel.

Chromium

For Flash support

You could look at this guide that gives the details of the requirements for adding Flash support to Chromium. It also has some command line instructions but because they’re so direct to the point, you could follow them quickly.

I am still waiting for the download to be finished. I’d love to include some screenshots here so you’d know and have a better idea about it.

Post from: New Linux User

Sounds like an infomercial, doesn’t it? ;  )  But thinking about what defaults you might possibly have, there’s gotta be something better.  And I might be biased but there really are other things better on netbooks compared to Windows.  Whether you believe it or not, that’s what I personally think.  Windows looks too cluttered for me even though it’s not as sluggish as I thought it would be.

Anyway, no need to freak out that your netbook isn’t quite as fantastic as you thought it should be. Some changes in the latest version of Easy Peasy:

• It has a new look!
• It uses kernel 2.6.30 that’s been optimized for netbooks so that startup’s faster.
• Support for more netbooks! Hooray!
• An image which could possibly be installed from a Mac.
• Upgraded software like Picasa and OpenOffice.org.
• It uses Ext4 as a file system by default.

Easy Peasy. Logo from the Easy Peasy website.

I am waiting for my download of EasyPeasy to get done so I could blog about my first impressions too. As much as I am excited to try it out because of Ext4 and the latest kernel that’s optimized for netbooks, Ubuntu Karmic Koala’s just around the corner. Hrmm. I don’t know.

But yeah, those who are new netbook owners could benefit from distros whose teams are always seeking ways to make it easier for newbies to use Linux. They make sure that the applications that users will look for are there. Like Picasa or Skype.

And it’s really great that the Easy Peasy team has gone beyond supporting Asus EEE PC so other netbook owners could enjoy the benefits of this distro.

Just wait for me to check it out and I’d post my screenshots and write my impressions of this version of Easy Peasy. I already have the image and so I just need to put it on a USB flashdrive for a review later.

Post from: New Linux User

Image Credit: Sharp World

Features:

• Quick launching of applications
• Long battery time – but this could be affected by your usage. If you watch videos or listen to music a lot, this is going to be lessened.
• Touch screen LCD and keyboard. Your input is not limited to the keyboard. I suppose that a touch screen will come in handy compared to a touchpad because of the small size of the gadget. It will end up being easier to touch the screen to move a cursor. At the same time you will still have a keyboard to type your messages or input your selection, etc.
• You could also create documents if you need them. Although personally, I don’t think it’s going to be practical. Maybe if it’s that urgent and important, yes. But the screen will be too small for comfort.
• Wifi. Yes! Hooray for this. It’s just like having a DSi but better because it has more applications.

And why am I posting it here on New Linux User? It’s because this little baby will use a customized Ubuntu Linux. Sharp customized it so that they could already bundle Firefox, Adobe Flash Lite, Totem, Gedit, etc. on it. Also, because of the tiny screen size, this gadget would need an custom desktop environment or window manager. Interesting, right? It will be released in Japan in late September or around October this year. I hope that I’d encounter someone with it so I could play around with it. It looks more interesting than the Zaurus. Or maybe I am just interested because it’s shiny and new? Either way, I’d love to try something this small when I travel because the long battery life will be beneficial for me. I think that it will also be nifty to store maps on such a small device so that it will be easier to roam around. It won’t be too small for such a purpose, methinks.

In any case, just check it out. It really might be an interesting gadget for those who are more into emailing. But of course, this would be best for those who live in countries which have wifi spots that are open.

Post from: New Linux User

Enter Ubunchu – a manga specifically made to introduce Ubuntu to new

Ubunchu -- a manga about Ubuntu by Hiroshi Seo

users. It’s set in a high school where you have a club with three members: a Linux user, a Windows user and a Mac user. Interestingly enough, it’s through the Mac user that the other two end up trying Ubuntu.

It might not appear to be serious but still, it’s still amusing and others might find themselves relating in one way or another. Also, there are translations of the manga available now and if you find out that there’s no available translation for your language yet, then maybe you could try making one. It would be awesome if you could directly translate it from its original language.

Thanks to Hiroshi Seo for sharing his work with us!:)  I hope this manga will be updated often so there’s something new Ubuntu users could look forward to, especially those who love manga.

Post from: New Linux User