Shoby - Friendly Tech Advice

Installing Software in Ubuntu 13.04

2013-04-08T11:21:00Z

Today I’d like to show you how to install software in the newest version of Ubuntu. One of my favorite features of Ubuntu and other Linux distributions is that they have always come with a huge repository of open source software that you can install and use for free. Ever since the first release of Ubuntu in 2004, users have had access to a massive online repository of apps, something similar to Apple’s App Store for Mac and iOS or the Google Play Store for Android.

In the early days, you had to be a bit of a geek to install apps, either entering commands into a terminal or fiddling with less-than-user-friendly programs like Synaptic. Thankfully, in the latest versions of Ubuntu, things are a lot more user friendly and finding apps to install is easier than ever.

Newer versions of Ubuntu feature the Ubuntu Software Center, which provides a very user-friendly interface to the online software repositories. Here, you can browse and install thousands of free apps by category or use the search feature to quickly find what you’re looking for. You can click on an app to see a description, screenshots and reviews.

Once you find an app you want to try, simply click the “Install” button and the software will automatically be downloaded and installed on your system. After it is installed, you will find your new app in the launcher on the left-hand side of the screen. If you ever decide that you want to uninstall the app, simply click the “Remove” button.

With Ubuntu version 13.04, you can also install apps directly from the Dash. The Dash is the central place to search for things on your computer. Click on the Ubuntu icon at the top left of your screen to launch the dash. To search for apps, click on the Apps lens at the bottom of the Dash, then search for the app you want to install. Clicking on the app’s icon will bring up a preview window with screenshots, information and reviews. Simply click “Free Download” to start the installation process. You can see the progress of your installation in the launcher. Once it’s fully downloaded and installed, simply click on the app’s icon to start using it.

That’s all there is to it! You no longer have to be a Linux geek to browse and install apps in Ubuntu!

AMD Starting Ultrabook Price War

2012-05-21T11:01:00Z

Chip maker AMD has introduced their second generation Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) aimed at high performance, low power notebooks. With these new chips, AMD is hoping to take on Intel in the Ultrabook market. AMD says that with these new processors, they can push the price of Ultrabooks down to the $750 range. Intel is pushing for a $699 low-end price by the end of 2012.

The new Trinity chips embed AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series graphics technology right into the main CPU. This allows notebooks and Ultrabooks to be both more powerful and use less energy by combining the CPU and GPU. We’re not sure how well the AMD processors will stack up against the Intel chips, but we’re glad to see some new competition in the market to help push prices lower.

Dell's Project Sputnik: Linux Hardware for Human Beings?

2012-05-08T11:41:00Z

Original scan by Per Olof Forsberg

When I first saw news of Dell’s Project Sputnik, I was pretty excited. I’ve been looking for a good Ultrabook and have been considering buying a Macbook Air to run Ubuntu. As a developer, I was intrigued by the idea of an Ultrabook running Ubuntu and aimed specifically at programmers. After reading more about the project, I feel like this would not only be a great notebook for developers, but something I would suggest to all of my friends and family. Dell is simply focusing on too narrow of a market, instead of making an Ubuntu Ultrabook for developers, they should be making an Ultrabook for human beings!

Let me say that I in no way want to criticize the guys behind this project. Helping developers is a good cause and any work done to make Linux run better on Dell hardware is very much appreciated. I simply think that focusing on developers is not the best idea for Dell. Here are a few reasons why I think Dell should change their focus from developers to general users.

Developers are a small market

While there is a growing community of developers that use Ubuntu as their platform of choice (of which I am one), we must admit that this is a pretty small group of people. Sure, there are a lot of developers out there, but most are programming on Windows or OS X. Even with if you could convince every developer who likes Ubuntu to buy one of these notebooks, I’m afraid that it simply would not be a large enough market for a big company like Dell. Because of this, I predict that we will never see any Project Sputnik notebooks selling on dell.com, and if they do, their life will be short lived. While I love the idea of someone making a notebook designed just for me, I think the economics just don’t make sense. Why not focus on general users instead? After all, this seems to be where Canonical’s focus is these days.

Developers are picky about hardware

Spending a lot of time behind the keyboard makes developers picky about hardware. Soon after the announcement was made, developers were already arguing about keyboards and glossy screens in comment threads around the net. Wouldn’t it be more productive to spend time making sure that a larger variety of your hardware works well with Ubuntu. Yes, Dell does have a lot of Ubuntu Certified notebooks, but as an owner of one of these notebooks, I can say that my trackpad and suspend have never worked correctly. As a developer, I’d much rather be able to choose from a larger selection of hardware and be reasonably sure it would function correctly instead of having a single notebook to choose from.

Developers are picky about software (and smart enough to install it)

I’ve never talked to a developer that didn’t have his or her “perfect” setup for programming. This is even more true when talking with open source developers and those who use Linux. Everyone has their favorite text editor, their favorite desktop environment (the first suggestion on IdeaStorm was that they ship Ubuntu without Unity), their favorite tools and workflow, their favorite everything!

Dell says they want to make “a software management tool to go out to a github repository to pull down various developer profiles.” Doesn’t this already exist? We already have the software center, apt-get, puppet and juju charms. I think developers would be better served by Dell focusing on Linux drivers for their notebooks instead of trying to re-invent the developer experience or pre-installing a few packages. Developers are smart enough to install and configure their own machines; it’s not so difficult. It is, however, more difficult for general users.

Create Linux hardware for human beings

Ubuntu became popular by developing “Linux for human beings”, I would encourage Dell and other hardware makers to create Linux hardware for human beings! Canonical has already done the hard work for you and left you with some amazingly low-hanging fruit to harvest. Over the last 7 years, Canonical has made a huge investment in development, design and user testing in order to deliver the absolutely most user-friendly Linux desktop ever. Ubuntu 12.04 is new user friendly, polished and ready for you to take and put on your machines.

Dell, if you’re listening, please take the work that Canonical has already done for you and use it! Choose a few really great notebooks, solve any remaining driver issues, make a custom repository for those drivers and start pre-loading Ubuntu. Make Dell the place where we can send our friends and family when they ask where to get an Ubuntu notebook. Right now, dell.com/ubuntu offers only 2 low-end notebooks with an old version of Ubuntu. It makes me depressed to even look at that page, especially when I hear that you’re selling Ubuntu notebooks in other parts of the world, why not in America and Europe? Ubuntu users (including developers) will buy your hardware if it’s nice and well supported. It’s up to you to simply do it before your competition!

So, what do you think? Is Dell on the right track here? Is focusing on developers a good idea or should they be focused on the consumer market? Leave your comments and ideas below.

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Mountain Goat: Ubuntu on Apple Hardware

2012-05-07T12:01:00Z

Photo by Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

There’s no doubt about it, Apple hardware is hot these days. It seems like everywhere you look, someone is using an iPhone, iPad or Macbook. Apple is now the top computer maker in the world, outselling giants like HP and Dell. They also have some of the best consumer satisfaction ratings in the industry. Simply put, Apple is currently making the most reliable, desirable and fashionable computer hardware on the market. Some people, however, have issues with Apple’s OS X operating system and Apple’s ever growing control over the software that runs on their devices.

One such person is Adam Curry, the outspoken host of the No Agenda show. Adam recently surprised his co-host, John C. Dvorak, and many listeners when he announced that he was moving to Ubuntu for his daily computing. He installed the latest Ubuntu on his Macbook Air and dubbed it Mountain Goat. Here’s the conversation from the show.

So, in the end, was Mr. Curry happy with Ubuntu? According to his blog and several other mentions on No Agenda, his transition to Ubuntu seems to have been a success! He got his OPML software working in Wine and found a love for Thunderbird as his email client. It seems that the combination of the new Unity interface, which brings a new level of polish and sophistication to desktop Linux, and the wide variety of open source software is something that Mr. Curry finds not only useful but enjoyable to use.

This is an experience that could be repeated for millions of users. With the latest release of Ubuntu, Canonical has created an OS that the public at large can easily use. For those of us with special software needs, most of the time, we can find Linux software to do what we need, or find a way to run our Windows apps in Linux. It might take a little getting used to, but the benefits of having a totally open and free software stack is often worth any temporary discomfort.

As Apple moves more and more towards a locked-down OS that resembles the iPad, we might see more people wanting to abandon OS X but still finding that they love Apple hardware. Providing excellent Apple hardware support, especially for the Macbook and Macbook Air lines, seems like a great way for Canonical to gain significant market share in the near future.

What do you think? Should Apple hardware support be a priority for Canonical? Is running Ubuntu on Apple hardware something you do or would even consider? Leave your comments below!

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Deep Discounts on Ultrabooks at Amazon

2012-05-02T07:01:00Z

Amazon has announced a major sale on Ultrabooks through May 13, 2012. The online retailer has discounted Ultrabooks up to 30%. Perhaps they are clearing inventory before the new Ultrabook models come out this summer or perhaps this is a marketing deal with Ultrabook makers and Intel. Whatever the case, some of these deals are just amazing. Some models were so deeply discounted that they are already sold out, so be quick and head over to Amazon and pick up a new Ultrabook before they are all gone!

New Ultrabooks Coming in Summer

2012-04-25T11:01:00Z

Digitimes is reporting that Intel is expecting to sell a whole lot of Ultrabooks in 2012 and even more in 2013. The site has published information saying that second generation Ultrabook models will be coming after May 2012 and new hybrid models that share features with tablets will be coming at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Intel is prepping a huge ad campaign where they plan to spend “hundreds of millions” of dollars promoting Ultrabooks. It is clear that Intel is trying to change the market focus for notebooks from cheap and bulky beasts with poor user experience into something which looks more like the Macbook Air. With such a big marketing budget behind the idea, perhaps 2012 really will be the year of the Ultrabook.

Welcome to Shoby!

2012-04-24T11:00:00Z

Most people who work with technology (programmers, IT specialists, and geeks of all varieties) usually come to a point where they find themselves constantly answering questions for friends and family about the last technology. Often, people ask us for advice on what is the best solution for their problems, which new gadget to buy, or what software package they should use. This website was born out of a desire to continue helping our friends and family with their technology questions and also create an online resource that we can point them to in the future. Hopefully, others will find what we present to be useful too.

Our goal at Shoby is to help you find the best solutions for whatever it is you’re looking for. If we have the knowledge and have done the market research, we’ll share it here with you. So, welcome! We hope you’ll find something useful and enjoy our site.