Fabian Rodriguez

If the amount of people that called for support for their Dell Mini 9 over the holidays is any indication, we’re bound to see quite a few new users of Ubuntu that own this nice system!

If you know someone that uses a Mini 9, remember there is official documentation for the Ubuntu version (8.04) that ships in it at http://help.ubuntu.com . That may sound obvious but many experienced Ubuntu users don’t refer much to those docs and as a result don’t know it even exists

I also wanted to share a lot of tips, tricks and known issues as well as useful links (such as where to ask a question in Launchpad Answers) that have been put together at:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DellMini9

If you have a Mini 9 and know your way around Ubuntu, you may also want to make yourself available as a contact for Launchpad Answers:
https://answers.launchpad.net/dell-mini

That’s particularly useful if you know about things that are specific to your geographic location (like ISP-specific settings, broadband access with USB keys, etc.).

In no particular order…

• Bugmail
  
  Thunderbird 2.0 - 3.0b2pre
  
  A bugtracker bugmail companion - provides a nice header with bug status, upstream links, etc. work nicely with Launchpad bug mail
• Buttons!
  
  Thunderbird 2.0b1 - 3.0
  
  Adds buttons! Not sure how to explain them all…
• Compact Menu 2
  
  Thunderbird 2.0 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Duplicates the menubar on the toolbar as a menu of menus.
• Delete Junk Context Menu
  
  Thunderbird 0.5 - 3.0
  
  Adds ‘Delete Mail Marked as Junk’ to folders’ right click menu
• Diccionario de Español/España
  
  Thunderbird 2.0 - 3.0a2pre
  
  Diccionario de Español/España
• Dictionary Switcher
  
  Thunderbird 2.0b2 - 3.0a1
  
  Displays the currently selected dictionary in the status bar and allows to change it.
• Dictionnaire MySpell en Français - part of Ubuntu
  
  Thunderbird 1.5 - 2.0.0.*
• Display Mail User Agent
  
  Thunderbird 2.0 - 3.0a2pre
  
  Displays the mail program with which the selected mail was written - always useful to give some context to email - is the author using Windows, Linux, a Mac ?
• Duplicate Contact Manager
  
  Thunderbird 1.5 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Facilitates handling of duplicate contacts in your address books. You know you have some.
• Enigmail - provided by Ubuntu, but I install it manually
  
  Thunderbird 2.0 - 2.0.0.*
  
  OpenPGP message encryption and authentication
• Extension List Dumper - produces this list in nice HTML
  
  Thunderbird 1.5 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Dumps a list of the installed extensions.
• Lightning - I install this one manually too.
  
  Thunderbird 2.0 - 2.0.0.*
  
  An integrated calendar for Thunderbird (build 2008091718)
• Mail Redirect - a must to save some “here’s this email I got but it should go to you ” intros.
  
  Thunderbird 0.7 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Allow to redirect (a.k.a. “bounce”) mail messages to other recipients
• Provider for Google Calendar
  
  Thunderbird 2.0a1 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Allows bidirectional access to Google Calendar
• Quicktext - great for multiple signatures and templates
  
  Thunderbird 1.5 - 3.0a1
  
  Adds a toolbar with unlimited number of text to quickly insert. It’s also possible to use varibles like [[TO=firstname]]. With settings for everything.
• QuoteCollapse - you know, some people just looooove to quote.
  
  Thunderbird 0.7 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Collapse quotes.
• Remember Mismatched Domains - yes I use Dreamhost and SSL.
  
  Thunderbird 1.5 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Adds a ‘don’t ask me again’ option to the Domain Name Mismatch Security Error window.
• Remove Duplicate Messages (Alternate) - no comment!
  
  Thunderbird 1.5 - 3.0a1
  
  Locates duplicate messages in mail folders and removes them.
• Sender Verification Extension
  
  Thunderbird 0.6 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Protects you from phishing with SPF and DomainKeys.
• Tag Toolbar
  
  Thunderbird 2.0b1 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Add toolbar for toggling tags.
• Xpunge
  
  Thunderbird 1.0 - 2.0.0.*
  
  Empties the Trash folder and compacts folders in multiple Thunderbird accounts.

If you have any that make your Ubuntu life easier, let me know!

Following a long tradition, an Ubucon will be rocking Bogotá, Colombia no less! The date is this coming Saturday Nov. 29th. Save the date!

The Colombian LoCo Team has been very actively preparing for this event, they even lined up some sponsors. There will be 2 separate conference tracks and one workshop track, and the event will be streamed live. This looks to be a lot more than an informal gathering! All details are available on the website.

It’s exciting to see local business and enthusiasts getting together around Ubuntu. Make sure you file the registration form if you’re attending.

Don’ t miss them! There are going to be simultaneous parties this Thursday Oct. 30 at 6PM in Montreal and Quebec City. See:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QuebecTeam/IntrepidParty

The Direct2Dell blog is a great way to find out about new Ubuntu development and products at Dell from a reliable source one can actually quote publically
From my seat on the support side of things, I used to worry about such exposure - how can you give tech support to so many new Ubuntu users ? Granted, this is only but a small fraction of Dell’s business, but it is growing fast in many ways (and countries, as seen below). Many vendors understand the need to build their own support infrastructure and knowledge, not much new in that area. But being able to do so in your local language, in different markets, taking advantage of all the freedom LInux and in general Ubuntu offers is a huge new bonus. You get to decide if/when you need professional services (from Canonical or else) and you set the speed for that.

This ranges from pre-installing and supporting Ubuntu on certified servers to selling and supporting a boxed edition that includes 60 days support for $19.99 at Best Buy.

In Dell’s case, having part of their Linux wiki dedicated to Ubuntu and even forums and mailing lists means such initiatives have all the chances to success as Ubuntu’s strong community can complement all efforts from Dell and give traction to them. I also see how Ubuntu’s philosophy slowly infiltrates such offerings
From the blog post (emphasis mine):

Today we’re rolling out two new laptops and desktops that are designed to meet the specific needs of small businesses, government and educational facilities operating on a limited budget in the worlds top emerging markets. Take a look at either Steve Felice’s post or Kara Krautter’s post on the Small Business blog for a bit more context on that front.

Note: Click on any of the images in these post to see larger versions of them. You can also see these photos and more by viewing this photo set at the main Dell Flickr page.

One thing of interest to a lot of our readers is that we will offer Ubuntu Linux as an option on all four of these machines worldwide. Regular readers of Direct2Dell know that we already support Ubuntu on select systems several countries.

These new Vostro systems will be introduced in more than 20 countries over the coming months—including Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. They will be available primarily through authorized channel partners worldwide and also directly from Dell. Pricing for the products will vary by configuration, region and country. Additional Vostro products designed for emerging markets and high-growth economies will be introduced in the coming months.

I am thrilled to announce El Salvador Ubuntu LoCo Team will be hosting an Ubucon El Salvador next Saturday September 6th!

I’ll be spending next week in San Salvador and I thought it would be nice to meet some Ubunteros there. I wrote to their mailing list, one thing led to another and *boom* ! Having presented at Ubucons in Seville, New York City and San Francisco before I am really happy to add one to my list ! I am trying to think of any sentence in this post I wouldn’t end with an exclamation mark but I can’t !!!

A few emails and IRC chats were enough to settle on having a round table to discuss Ubuntu’s place in free software, Celvin Rivas will also be presenting about the state of Ubuntu in El Salvador. If there’s enough people interested there’s discussion about having some workshops - gotta love last minute things
From “Running an Ubucon“:

An Ubucon is a community driven, community organised event that is all about Ubuntu. These events often include a number of speakers, BOF sessions, demos, social events and more, and they are excellent ways to grow the Ubuntu community in your area, and to build an interesting and fun event. Ubucons are different to large Linux expos and conferences in that they are uniquely community focused and driven, and uniquely Ubuntu.

Today while helping a friend boot from BIOS so he could you-know-what I found this great guide illustrating how to set your BIOS to boot from CD-ROM… for 11 different BIOSes in one page! Booting from CD-ROM and actually burning an Ubuntu CD or DVD image remains the first (often) most difficult step when someone is moving to or trying Ubuntu.

That’s really awesome if you ask me. But how does one take screenshots of BIOS ? Well, you don’t. You just take note of the text positioning, colors and other details AND YOU HAND CODE IT IN HTML! Use your broser’s “View source” functionality to see that code. ANSI anyone ?

Man, let’s buy this person a camera so he/she spends more time doing other useful documentation, not hand-coding screenshots! I am still in shock.

This is an invitation to all who will be in or around Montreal, QC, Canada next April 24th. Full party info and details at:
http://www.ubuntu-qc.org/ubuntu-804-invitation

We’ll be partying real hard at St-Sulpice bar and I hear other parties are organizing in Quebec province.

I’d also like to challenge other party organizers, do you think you can have the biggest party out there ? Last time we had close to 200 people in Montreal, this time we are a bit better organized. One specific thing that has helped us a lot is inviting people IN ADVANCE and PERSONALLY We welcome all to copy and improve our french and english invitation.

We are also using a Facebook event for RSVPs, local mailing lists and contacting media. We’ve lined up a few sponsors too for swag (and more). Any further ideas ?

PARTY ON!

Combien seriez-vous prêt à payer pour un bidule qui:

• Permet de charger 4 piles AA (donc, chargeur)
• Inclût ces 4 piles AA
• Permet de brancher un fil usb normal, fournissant 5 V à 8 types de connecteurs pour étirer la charge d’un appareil “mort” (donc permet aussi d’y brancher tout autre bidule se chargeant sur une prise USB)
• Se branche dans une prise murale (combiné à la fonction antérieure, devient essentiellement un convertisseur 120VAC -> 5V USB universel)
• Inclût un file USB vers mini-USB (le fil mentionné auparavant, avec un des adaptateurs)

Combien ?

80 $ ?
50 $ ?

Mmmhhh… 24.95 $ chez Canadian Tire, ou chez tout vendeur de bidules utiles.

Plus d’information dans le manuel d’usager du Noma RX4:

• Noma RX4 User’s Manual

Passez le mot, et pour la faillite des autres fabricants d’adaptateurs, je suis persuadé qu’on va attendre.

The HP Linux Imaging and Printing (HPLIP) project really makes it easy to install and manage HP printers (and their extended functions like scanning and faxing) under Ubuntu. I only wish Samsung and Brother provided the same!

On Dapper and Edgy, the hplip package is available and provides command line configuration (very handy when assisting someone via ssh!). You can also optionally install the python-qt3 package if you want to use a GUI configuration.

On Feisty, HPLIP is installed by default but invisible from menus. Go to System > Preferences > Main Menu and then enable HPLIP Toolbox under System > Preferences. A bug report (now solved) details why python-qt3 is not a dependency in case you wonder:
https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/hplip/+bug/86893

Since Gutsy there is now an hplip-gui package that should be used when wanting full GUI love.

For network printers, from command line, first make sure your printer is visible to your workstation (either ping it or visit its management tools via web at http://”ipaddress”).

Then:
sudo hp-setup IP_ADDRESS

and follow the prompts. The default values for each question are fine. You may reject the proposed PPD driver file and specify the absolulte path to a new PPD file you download if you wish to use one from the OpenPrinting database.

You may also configure fax headers if your printer supports faxing. You can access all the printer functions (scan, copy, fax, status, etc) using the /usr/bin/hp-toolbox GUI to HPLIP.

To scan via network from your workstation, access Applications > Graphics > XSane Image Scanner. You can also insert scanned images directly into an OpenOffice document for example: Insert > Picture > Scan > Request (’Select Source’ should be pointing to the printer/scan device).

So, if you or a friend / relative / colleague are looking for printer suggestions for Ubuntu, you know what to recommend if you are “the Ubuntu guy” in their neighborhood
If anyone has suggestions or other printing tricks (for HPs or else), I’d be glad to hear about them.