Since I’m new to this linux stuff, it took me some time to configure things like static ip address, host names etc. But once everything was setup, things started moving quickly. I initially had doubt in my minds about the font rendering of NetBeans (or any swing app for that matter) . . . → Read More: Ubuntu 8.10 – A Productive Java Development Environment]]> I recently started using Ubuntu 8.10 at my workplace as well. Till then, I have been using Ubuntu only at home. For me, Ubuntu@Work was very different from Ubuntu@Home. I mostly surf, blog, listen to music and play some games at home. But Ubuntu@Work was a completely different scenario.

Since I’m new to this linux stuff, it took me some time to configure things like static ip address, host names etc. But once everything was setup, things started moving quickly. I initially had doubt in my minds about the font rendering of NetBeans (or any swing app for that matter) under linux. I even wrote an post showing my frustration with NetBeans font rendering when compared to Eclipse. But with jdk.1.6.10, font rendering is smooth and NetBeans works like a champ! You can see some samples here:

But not everything is perfect at this point of time. For example, the combo boxes are not rendered properly. But apart from these minor glitches, NetBeans runs very well on Ubuntu.

I initially thought of using my already existing netbeans projects in a ntfs partition. But later, I decided not to go for it. I thought working on a native “ext3″ partition would give better performance and I can say that I’m not disappointed.

With my projects in a “ext3″ filesystem, opening projects and editing files are faster now. And with excellent subversion integration, working as a diverse team is not at all an issue. (I’m the only one using Ubuntu in my team so far. )

So far, I have been doing Java development on a Windows XP machine and I can say with absolute confidence that Ubuntu offers a much more better development environment. I can connect to other Windows machines in my network using “Terminal Server Client” which comes with the default Ubuntu installation. Yes you can argue that Windows has “Remote Desktop” by default as well. But Ubuntu supports not just “remote desktop” but also “VNC” by default. With VNC, I can connect to linux servers and other old windows machines (2000, NT).

Just in case if you want to connect to that old operating system, it’s very easy with Ubuntu on your side

And I use to depend heavily on WinSCP to share files between computers but I was stunned to see Ubuntu providing native support to ssh which is integrated into the nautilus file explorer as well. This feature alone saves me a lot of time!

What more, you get a powerful “Network Tools” which can do some simple operations like “ping” to scanning for opened ports in a remote computer.

There is an excellent partition editor as well in the form of “GParted” with which you can easily resize/create/delete/format partitions. I use this to manage partitions even in windows machines.

Remember that crappy “Disk Management” tool in Windows?. Yes there are tools like Partition Magic for Windows, but in Ubuntu, all these things are available by default and costs absolutely nothing.

Moreover, boot up and shutdown are very fast with Ubuntu 8.10 than with Windows XP. The OS itself consumes much less memory, so other applications get more resources. Especially when you have a system with minimal configuration, then Ubuntu Linux is definitely a better option than Windows.

Setting up a fresh system with Windows XP + drivers + other softwares normally take more than 2 hours but setting up a similar system with Ubuntu will take less than half an hour. And do I need to say that a default Ubuntu installation comes with softwares like Firefox, Pidgin, OpenOffice, GIMP etc. And you can find most of your favourite software in the Synaptic Package Manager. You will enjoy installing softwares like Picasa, Google Earth, Skype etc from within your operating system. No need to go to 101 sites to download 101 stuff!

And kindly note that Ubuntu Linux is not the only option you have. There are many other great Linux distros like Fedora, Linux Mint, OpenSuse etc. Since I use Ubuntu at work/home, I shared my views based on Ubuntu. I just installed Linux Mint for my wife which looks like a drop-in replacement for Windows. (Actually she couldn’t believe that it’s linux for quite some time)

With it’s excellent performance even on old hardware and with lots of bundled software tools which boosts productivity, Ubuntu certainly provides excellent environment for development. Add NetBeans/Eclipse/Intellij IDEA to this and you get a powerful java development environment that will cost you less and provide more value for your money/hardware.

Well, while there are so many great things that WUBI offers, there is one drawback that can make eyebrows rise. WUBI downloads the latest “iso” image from the web automatically when you run it. There is nothing wrong with that and infact . . . → Read More: Getting better results with WUBI]]> WUBI dramatically reduces the gap that prevents windows users to try Ubuntu. If you are wondering what WUBI is all about, you may get some idea from my post “WUBI – A wonderful little gem that helps windows users to try Ubuntu“. Yes, with WUBI, installing Ubuntu is just like installing Firefox or Thunderbird on a windows machine.

Well, while there are so many great things that WUBI offers, there is one drawback that can make eyebrows rise. WUBI downloads the latest “iso” image from the web automatically when you run it. There is nothing wrong with that and infact this is what makes WUBI a very very easy tool to use. Then what really is wrong with WUBI?

The problem is, WUBI does not seem to choose the fastest mirror near your location. And this makes the download take very long time. I installed Ubuntu in my machine using WUBI and it took nearly 12 hours to download the “iso” image (Kindly note that the size of the iso image is around 700 MB). And even worse, when I tried installing Ubuntu via WUBI in my wife’s notebook, it took nearly 18 hours and downloaded only 38% before I got frustrated and stopped WUBI.

But what makes WUBI great is that has so many “hidden” options that one can explore and I did exactly the same. I learnt from the WUBI guide that WUBI can detect any “iso” image found in the same location as “wubi.exe”. That means if you are “wubi.exe” from your desktop and if there is a ubuntu “iso” image on your desktop, then WUBI will make use of it instead of downloading one for you.

So I went ahead and made use of my “Free Download Manager” (a decent open source download manager) to download Ubuntu-8.10 iso image. FDM was smart enough to download the 700 MB iso image in less than 2 hours. Then I placed wubi.exe in the same place where the iso image was downloaded and I was surprised with the result.

WUBI installed Ubuntu in my machine in a couple of minutesand then asked me to reboot. Then in another 10 minutes Ubuntu was ready to use and then my wife tookover from me. However she likes the word “KUBUNTU” more than “UBUNTU” and now I should find ways to bring Kubuntu desktop in Ubuntu to make her happy.

So, if you have a pretty average or slow internet connection, you should not attempt running WUBI straight away. Download the respective iso image with your favourite download manager and then start WUBI. WUBI will obey your commands and it will get the job done for you in minutes.

If you have installed Ubuntu recently, you might find some useful tips from my posts,

- Customizing Ubuntu to provide stunning looks

- Good news for Google Talk users on Linux

I recently installed Ubuntu 8.10 in my notebook using Wubi. As a result I started using Ubuntu regularly at home and Windows XP at office. But as I used my Ubuntu more and more, I felt the pain of living with Ubuntu’s default font rendering, especially when I browse using firefox. I tried all . . . → Read More: Customizing Ubuntu to provide stunning looks]]> Disclaimer:
This blog is intended to help those who are new to the linux world (like me). So if you are a long time linux user, you might perhaps know/used the concepts explained here, but you can help me by providing your valuable comments and suggestions.

I recently installed Ubuntu 8.10 in my notebook using Wubi. As a result I started using Ubuntu regularly at home and Windows XP at office. But as I used my Ubuntu more and more, I felt the pain of living with Ubuntu’s default font rendering, especially when I browse using firefox. I tried all the options available under the “fonts” section in “Appearance Preferences” with no fruitful result.

Then when I started looking around for solutions, I came to know from this nice article that certain “font rendering features” were turned off in Ubuntu by default due to some legal reasons. The article went ahead and suggested a solution, which I successfully implemented in my Ubuntu. So, if you are struggling with fonts in your Ubuntu, please follow the steps mentioned in the article “Enable Smooth fonts on Ubuntu Linux“.

Ok, now my fonts look great and the web pages I surf looks the same as it use to be in Windows. But I don’t like the default brown theme of my Ubuntu. So I looked for other options in the “Appearance Preferences” window but none could satisfy me. So I started surfing around to find some alternatives.

But luckily I came across a great site called “www.art.gnome.org” which contains tons of themes for the gnome desktop. There is a section called “Desktop Themes” which contains so many options. I quickly found out that there are so many things you configure in your desktop like “Application” or “Control”, “Window Border”, “Icons”, “Login Manager”, “GTK Engines” etc. By making use of these themes you can customize the look and feel of your Ubuntu desktop much like how you configure firefox with various themes.

Application Themes or Controls:

They are responsible for the look and feel of buttons, tabs, scroll bars, progress bars, tables etc.

Some popular “Application Themes” available in art.gnome.org are:

- Aero-ion (For those dark theme lovers)
- Glossy P (For those who want Mac OS like looks)
- Cillop (A graphite theme)
- Water Vapor (Another mild grey theme)

You can also find some great themes from gnome-look.org as well.

How to install? – Open “System->Preferences->Appearances” and just drag and drop the downloaded file.

(But my current favorite is a theme called “Murrine“, which can be found in the “Synaptic Package Manager” of your Ubuntu. To install it, open System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager and then search for “murrine”. You need to install the murrine gtk2-engine if it is not already installed.)

Window Borders:

Window borders are responsible for how the title bar of a “window” (frames/dialogs/model panes) looks.

Some popular “Window Borders” available in art.gnome.org are:

- Vista Basic (Almost an exact replica of Vista window borders)
- Almond (My favourite window border)
- Graphite (Mac OS style window border)

How to install? – Open “System->Preferences->Appearances” and just drag and drop the downloaded file.

Icons:

Good icons can make a ordinary theme look better. So selecting the appropriate icon pack of your choice is very important.

Here are some popular icon packs available from art.gnome.org:

- Dropline Neu
- Unofficial Tango
- Gion

You can also have a look at some great icon collections from gnome-look.org.

How to install? – Open “System->Preferences->Appearances” and just drag and drop the downloaded file.

All the above three provide a rich set of icons, but my favourite is “Ubuntu Studio” icon pack. It is not found in art.gnome.org but can be found in your “Synaptic Package Manager”. Just search for “ubuntustudio” in your package manager and proceed further.

Login Managers:

Login managers define your login screen. So if you don’t like your default login screen, don’t worry, there are tons of options available from art.gnome.org.

Some popular Login Managers are:

- Brasillinux Eye
- DarkClean Linux (My current favourite)
- Blue Swirl

How to install? – Open “System->Administration->Login Window” and then navigate to the tab “Local”. Drag and drop  the login manager you downloaded.

GTK Engines:

You won’t need this most of the time but some themes work only with the respective GTK Engines.

Putting it all together. Creating a custom theme:

Once you have downloaded and installed the necessary components, it is very easy to create your own custom theme. Open “Sytem->Preferences->Appearance”. You can see the “Theme” tab by default.

Click “Customize” button. Now you can see an “Customize Theme” window.

Select the “Controls” tab and choose the appropriate “Application Theme” you installed previously. Notice how Ubuntu applies the changes dynamically.

Select the “Window Border” tab and choose the appropriate border. Your new custom theme is almost ready now.

Follow the same procedure by clicking the “Icons” tab as well.

Once you have finished your configuration, click the “Close” button. Now you can see a new theme called “Custom” in the “Appearance Preferences” window.

Now click the “Save As” button and give a suitable name and description for your theme. That’s it, your Ubuntu desktop now has a new cool theme.

Feel free to blend different combinations that suite your taste. So here’s how my desktop looks when I combine MurrineBlue control + XColorsLite window border + GNOME-Color Blue Bravo icons.

These screenshots might not amuse some of you , but there are so many great options available from sites like www.art.gnome.org, www.gnome-look.org.

CAUTION:
You can even customize your splash screens and boot up screens, but please use these options with caution as they can have some nasty effects on your system.

Conclusion:

There are still many options available but I haven’t tried them, so I cannot recommend it to you. One important thing to note is you need select appropriate combination of “Application Themes” + “Window Borders” + “Icons” to get a really pleasing and sometimes stunning looks.

So, don’t get bored of how your Ubuntu looks or renders your fonts. Ubuntu is extremely flexible and you can customize every bit of it to suite your taste. If you have already customized your Ubuntu desktop, kindly share your experience.

Resources:

- www.art.gnome.org

- www.gnome-look.org

More Ubuntu articles:

Convert audio files in Ubuntu with Sound Converter

Convert video files in Ubuntu with FormatFactory