Some other ubuntu questions/comments

Fri Oct 23 02:26:33 UTC 2009

lots of questions...usually it's better to ask each separately, but
since they're not difficult, I'll just start from the top:

On Fri, 2009-10-23 at 01:10 +0000, mdovell at comcast.net wrote:
> 1)      This is rather minor but in the month or so that I’ve used it
> there’s been a few minor kernel updates. Within Gimp when my pc loads
> up it still lists all of them and their recovery modes as selectable
> functions. I’m not saying this is a bad thing but if this keeps going
> on I’m going to have a few dozen different things on my screen within
> a year

Firstly, Gimp is an image editor similar to Adobe Photoshop, but jusging
from your context, I assume you mean GRUB (the GRand Unified
Bootloader). Just clarifying.

Anyway, this behavior is normal. When installing a new kernel, the old
ones are still retained in case something about the new kernel causes
your system to goof up for some reason. That way, you can still boot
using an old kernel and get to a usable system. The problem can be
worsened by running pre-release software (such as 9.10, which isn't
actually 'released' yet). However, you usually don't need every single
old kernel (though it is recommended to at least keep the 2 most recent
kernel releases). You can remove the older ones you know you dont need
through synaptic, or the 'Computer Janitor' Tool (just make sure to only
select what you want to remove). 

Alternatively, if you're not running 9.10, you can just edit
your /etc/grub/menu.lst file, and remove the entries that you dont want
any more. This will keep the kernels, but just remove their menu
entries.

Finally, when you are installing a new kernel and it asks you about a
customized menu.lst file, if you select 'use package maintainer version'
from the dialog, then you wont have the perpetually-growing Grub
menu...just the most recent kernel listed (The old kernels themselves
are retained, just not the entries for them...so they still can be used,
but you would just have to edit your boot line as needed)

> 2)       I’m still a bit perplexed with web browsers. I’m not sure
> what I did but Opera seems to do nearly 99% of what I want to do.
> Firefox however hasn’t (although I know version 3.5 is due in another
> week) I don’t hate opera but I still hate this inconsistency that
> websites have with browsers. I can’t access my isp’s web based email
> on opera but I can with Firefox. I have a feeling maybe it has
> something to do with the sites metatags but o well.

This seems like more of a statement than a question, but your final
sentence is close to the truth. The fact of the matter is that most
websites are still (sadly) being designed to only work with a particular
browser (usually IE), or a particular group of browsers. Despite Opera's
'popularity', it does not currently occupy a large enough market slice
for most web devs to care about making pages work with it. Hence, the
problem usually ies with the design of the website, rather than with the
browser. This isn't always true, however, so you would need to clarify
how it 'doesnt work' with your isp's email in order to determine which
case it is.

This is an interesting issue where most people are still trying to
develop for a particular browser, rather than developing according to
web standards. People are trying to change this, but with microsoft
constantly trying to stifle growth by attempting to take over the
internet with IE, progress is slow.

> 3)      Open Office is kinda iffy. I can be typing something and it
> isn’t showing up or it is a bit slow. It is NOT crashing but it just
> seems like it’s not matching up with everything I’m typing. If I use
> the scroll on the mouse it instantly corrects it. For small things
> this isn’t that bad but if I’m going on to type pages worth of
> information it will drive me insane.

How powerful is your system? The only time I've ever experienced
anything similar was running OpenOffice under 9.04 on an old 700mhz
ibook. If you have a newer system (or you've got the resources) you can
boost the ammount of RAM that OOo is allowed to use, which may help a
little bit.

To do this from within OOo, open a new writer document, then go to
"Tools > Options | OpenOffice.org | Memory | Graphics Cache | Use for
OpenOffice.org". in that box, enter whatever value you like...the max is
256kb...i think the default is like, 64kb. That should speed things up
nicely.

Other problems could be a keyboard issue (if it's wireless,
particularly)... if you've got a USB keyboard (sireless or not) and it's
plugged into the front of your computer, try plugging it into the
back...sometimes that helps. 

Does any other program exhibit similar symptoms?
Also, what version of OpenOffice are you using?
For that matter, what version of Ubuntu are you using?

> 4)      Are there any other clients for the wireless internet to use?
> I mentioned this before that there’s a cisco system I use. It can work
> OK but seems to drop out for no real reason.

What do you mean by 'clients for wireless internet use'? do you mean the
network manager? If that's what you meant then there are basically two
big alternatives... Network Manager, and Wicd. Network Manager is
default installed on Ubuntu, and has always worked flawlessly for me,
both on desktops and laptops. I have no experience with Wicd, as i have
no need to use it, but there are many (particularly on this list) that
swear by it.  

If you're wireless network is dropping out randomly, then theres a
number of things that could be causing it. your wireless card could be
dying, your antenna could be crapping out, your wireless card's drivers
could have a bug, your access point could be going out, or you could
just have crappy signal strength/a lot of interference where you are. It
would take some experimenting to find out which is actually causing the
problem.

> 5)      This is sort of a biggie but just shooting at the hip here.
> Does anyone have any experience in making a mythpvr (some use ubuntu).
> I ask because my cable co is ending some of the analog cable and if I
> can make a cheap box so to speak it could save me money in the long
> run. I know obviously I’d need a hard drive, ATSC/QAM tuner, IR
> blaster etc.

I dont have one yet, but I'm in the process of setting one up. I highly
suggest heading over to the #ubuntu-mythtv channel on irc.freenode.net.
They're very helpful over there, and are usually happy to answer
questions, though you have to wait sometimes for 30-45 min for somebody
to answer.

Also check out http://www.mythbuntu.org/ to get more info, and a better
idea of what kidna hardware you'll be needing.

>        6) In the latest upgrade to the kernal I also noticed after
> rebooting that there was a significant drop in the amount of disk
> space used. Is this normal? 

how significant is significant? It could be that the upgrade removed
some old packages, old cache, or whatever, though I don't think it does
this by itself. However, provided that everything still works, and
you're not missing any files, I wouldnt worry about it.

Hope that helps!

-- 
Andrew
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