May 2012 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Introductory ebook for new LPI exam released
by Peter Reutemann 21 May '12

21 May '12

"German company Linup Front has released its teaching materials for the new Linux Essentials exam from LPI as a free ebook [en + de]. The book aims to cover all the basics of using a Linux-based operating system." "Linux Essentials – The LPI Introductory Programme is designed for introductory courses in high schools and colleges but is also well suited for private study." -- source: http://h-online.com/-1580981 Direct download links for the eBooks: -en: http://shop-download.linupfront.de/cc/lxes-en-manual-cc.pdf -de: http://shop-download.linupfront.de/cc/lxes-de-manual-cc.pdf Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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Presentation at Hamilton Council 10 Year Plan Hearing
by Ian Stewart 21 May '12

21 May '12

Hi Folks, Just to let you know that I delivered my 5 minutes of Open Source to Hamilton City Council. Rob, Peter, Kyle, Noel and Bruce; many thanks for your e-mails with hints/comments on the presenting. My 20 x hand-out's included my home made copies of ubuntu 12.04 desktop i386. I did investigate Peters suggestion of handing out the Ubuntu "business re-mix", but decided against it on the grounds of having to agree to some EULA's before downloading didn't make it suitable. I parallel the handing out of home made Open Source CD's somewhat like... going along to Council to promote a new type of muffins, and in doing so I bring along a batch of muffins that I've baked at home. The Councillors are welcome to eat the muffins themselves, or take them home and give them to their kids. At the end of my presentation I got in a plug for Peters submission #365. This was somewhat like stating, that Peter has supplied the recipe for the muffin's, and Council can get their chief cook to investigate Peters recipe in more depth to see if the Council want to get into making muffins. So I don't think it mattered that my CD's had a "home made" look about them. The goal of my submission was: "To have included in the Hamilton 2012-22 10-year Plan: Reduce the costs of Hamilton City Council's Information Technology, through the implementation of Open Source Software." On May 29-30 Council will decide on the submissions, and on June 29 the final plan will be adopted. So we will have to wait and see if Open Source gets its foot in the door this time round. cheers, Ian. PS: One Councillor asked me if he'd be able to use the ubuntu 12.04 i386 desktop CD on his Mac. I told him that I was not knowledgeable on Mac's and I'd get back to him. I see there's this... https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MactelSupportTeam/AppleIntelInstallation ...on installing ubuntu on Mac's that use intel chipset. I'm not sure if I'd like to recommend he gives this a go unless he's 100% sure his Mac has no data on it. Maybe I'll suggest he comes along to a wlug Saturday workshop and hopefully someone is there that's done this sort of thing on Mac's. cheers, Ian.

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Dolphin file brower issue on Ubuntu 12.04
by Peter Reutemann 21 May '12

21 May '12

Hi there Unfortunately, Nautilus got a bit neutered in Ubuntu 12.04, by removing the "Home" and "Up" buttons. Hence I switched to using KDE's Dolphin file browser instead, in my Gnome classic session. But, of course, this isn't without problems... The most annoying thing is that a selected file/directory fades from white font on orange background (dolphin-selected.png) to white font on white background, when hovering with the mouse above the selected file (dolphin-selected_mouse_hover.png). Can this "fading" be turned off? I couldn't find anything obvious in the KDE settings and changing themes didn't seem to do anything either (window+gtk theme: Radiance, icon theme: ubuntu-mono-light). Any KDE power-user out there that can help with that? Thanks. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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MK802 micro-PC runs Android 4.0 and Linux
by Peter Reutemann 20 May '12

20 May '12

More expensive, but also interesting: "The computer is the size of a USB stick and features a 1.5GHz Cortex A8 processor with 512MB of RAM and a MALI400 GPU. It can decode 1080p video via its HDMI output and has two USB connectors". -- source: http://h-online.com/-1578994 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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Re: [wlug] Presentation at Hamilton Council 10 Year Plan Hearing
by GJB 18 May '12

18 May '12

Personally I think the idea of 10-year plans are terrible for many reasons. Also seems a little incongruous with such a fast moving scene as OSS, 10 years from now who really knows what OSS will look like? > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [wlug] Presentation at Hamilton Council 10 Year Plan > Hearing > From: Michael McDonald <mikencolleen(a)gmail.com> > Date: Thu, May 17, 2012 6:43 pm > To: Waikato Linux Users Group <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > > > On 17 May 2012 15:56, Ian Stewart <ianstewart56(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > > PS: One Councillor asked me if he'd be able to use the ubuntu 12.04 i386 > > desktop CD on his Mac. I told him that I was not knowledgeable on Mac's and > > I'd get back to him. I see there's this... > > https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MactelSupportTeam/AppleIntelInstallation > > VirtualBox works well on Macs. Create a virtual machine and you're > away. Haven't tried Linux, but I did set up Windows 8 on one Mac. It > works well on other computers too! > > Michael > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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LISWire: Australian Public Library Chooses Koha
by Peter Reutemann 17 May '12

17 May '12

Maybe this would be a useful example for the HCC on how to save money running their libraries? http://blog.cr2.in/2012/05/16/liswire-australian-public-library-chooses-koh… "Koha is the first free and open source software library automation package (ILS). Development is sponsored by libraries of varying types and sizes, volunteers, and support companies from around the world." http://koha-community.org/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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LinuxMint13 RC Is Available For Testing
by Peter Reutemann 17 May '12

17 May '12

Slowly getting there! http://linux.slashdot.org/story/12/05/16/1719208/linuxmint13-rc-is-availabl… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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pirate party news
by Peter Reutemann 16 May '12

16 May '12

Look who's in the news: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6933846/Pirate-Party-from-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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OSI / FOSS Submissions to Hamilton City Council 10 year plan. - Ian to deliver presentation at Hearing
by Ian Stewart 16 May '12

16 May '12

The Hamilton City Council received 724 submissions to their 2012-2022 Draft 10 Year Plan. Just under 200 of those that submitted plans, have indicated they wish to attend the hearing and deliver a presentation. These hearing are being held this week, 14th May to 18th May. The submissions have been split into 12 categories. The last category, "Other Issues Raised" has 78 submissions and 25 of those submitters wish to present at the hearing. Of these 78 submissions I found two regarding Hamilton City Council's IT strategy. Both promote the implementation of the Open Source Initiative /FOSS. Peter Reutemann's submission (#365) can be read here... http://www.hamilton.co.nz/our-council/council-publications/10yearplan/10yea… My submission (#294) can be read here... http://www.hamilton.co.nz/our-council/council-publications/10yearplan/10yea… Peter opted not to present, while I have opted to make a presentation. I have been invited to present at 12 noon on Thu 17 May for 5 minutes at the Municipal Building in Garden place. It is requested that the 5 minutes includes time for questions. I welcome anyone from wlug that would like to provide ideas or suggestions for my presentation to send an e-mail to me: ianstewart56 at hotmail dot com. Alternatively, I will go to The Hilly bar, (off clyde St.- next to the Warehouse) at 7pm this Tuesday night (15th). Drop by and we can discuss presentation ideas over a beer. In my quick glance through the 78 "Other Issues Raised" submissions, apart from Peter and my submissions, none of the others appear to be promoting something that is designed to reduce the costs of the Councils operations to the rate-payers. For my presentation I believe that the focal point needs to be that I'm proposing the implementation of something that "reduces costs". cheers, Ian. FYI: My draft presentation strategy is currently along these lines: o. 5 minutes is 300 seconds. I make 10 x 24 second points = 240 seconds = 4 minutes. o. Allow 1 minute for questions. o. Mention "cost saving" in each of the 10 points. o. Don't use a slide presentation. Have printed up hand-out's for the Councillors. o. Hand-out's have a page to write questions on. o. Don't get technical. E.g. Don't even say the word "Linux". o. Mention where Open Source saves costs: Initial "purchase" lower, Lower support centre calls, Reduce h/w replacement. o. Promote Council to review Peter's submission #365 containing many examples and references. o. The global IT strategy for the future is Open Source. The council is only deciding "When" they start. o. Only answer non-technical questions. Don't get into a technical jargon wrestling match. o. Collect up written questions at the end, and agree to submit written responses to Council by the next day. o. Be jovial and happy. o. Give all the councillors at the hearing a copy of Ubuntu 12.04 CD, and tell them its legally theirs. o. ? o. ? o... more ideas welcomed from wlug!

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Ubuntu 12.04: 1 pixel wide window borders
by Peter Reutemann 11 May '12

11 May '12

Hi there One of the most annoying usability bugs in the Ubuntu 12.04 gnome-fallback desktop is that the window borders are a mind-boggling 1 pixel wide. Unless you are super patient or have super motor skills, resizing windows is a futile exercise. I've added a blog post of how to fix this: http://elgg.wlug.org.nz/pg/blog/read/8309/ubuntu-1204-window-borders HTH Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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