[ubuntu-za] Ubuntu Indaba

[Jason Norwood-Young]

Ubuntu Indaba

Read this online at http://www.ubuntu-za.org/Wiki/News-0.3

Issue 0.3 (Skinny Salamander)

Friday 11 May

After over a week with little to no Internet, your editor is finally
back up and running on an MTN 3G data card. And boy, is it easy to get
running on Linux! But more on that later. Thanks to Don Hamilton for his
suggestion on a cool name for Ubuntu News – we are now officially Ubuntu
Indaba. On to the news.

* Ubuntu for small things *
You love Ubuntu on the desktop, but have that jarring experience of
Windows on your tablet PC, Windows on your handheld, and Windows on your
phone. It's no fun, is it? Don't fret, the Ubuntu team is planning on
once again giving us choice. 
The Ubuntu Mobile and Ubuntu Embedded editions will be specifically
designed to work on Intel's new low-powered processor and chipset
architectures, and will bring these flavours of Ubuntu to cell phones,
tablets and other light-weight handheld devices.
“Three years on, it is clear that new types of device – small, handheld,
graphical tablets which are Internet-enabled are going to change the way
we communicate and collaborate,” says Ubuntu's Matt Zimmerman. “These
devices place new demands on open source software and require innovative
graphical interfaces, improved power management and better
responsiveness.”
Embedded Ubuntu Wiki [ https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EmbeddedUbuntu ]

* Coming Full Circle *
A new online Ubuntu magazine, Full Circle, has been launched, but
disappointingly at time of writing the web site is down. We're hoping
that it will be back up soon so we can get some juicy info on Feisty
Fawn and the history of Ubuntu.
Full Circle [ http://www.fullcirclemagazine.org/ ]

* Corporates getting their heads around open source *
The Second Open Source Think Tank saw 100 top brains brainstorming the
challenges posed by open source development in the commercial
environment, reports Tectonic
[ http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1507 ]. The final 16-page report
is a must-read for companies looking to adopt open source and developers
looking for corporate business. It's not sugar-coated and discusses some
of open source's serious problems, including lack of understanding of
the core concepts, lack of skills and legal issues that face the
community and businesses alike. 
2007 Open Source Think Tank: The Future of Commercial Open Source
[ http://thinktank.olliancegroup.com/ostt2007report.pdf ]
Open source think tank findings published (Tectonic)
[ http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1507 ]

* Dellbuntu shows consumer power *
When Dell asked its users what they wanted most from the company
[ http://www.ideastorm.com/ ], the answer was loud and clear: Ubuntu
Linux on the desktop. Dell has responded by offering our favourite Linux
flavour pre-installed on select consumer notebooks and desktops.
Dell says that it's planning on offering Ubuntu Linux in the coming
weeks, but only “to customers in the United States”. 

* How'd you do that? *
Connecting Ubuntu to the Internet through a 3G modem can be more than a
little intimidating to newcomers to Linux. It's even intimidating to us
old hacks. But if you have a Vodacom or MTN data card or dongle (the
Huawei E620 or E220), Vodafone has released drivers and a cool front-end
to make connecting as simple as pie. Even better, it allows you to send
and receive SMS's on your PC, manage your contacts, and monitor your
connection strength.
It's written in Python and is completely open source, so if you're
skilled you can change it or add your own features, although the code is
quite poorly documented.
To install it on Ubuntu, download the latest .deb file
[ http://tinyurl.com/39u2c4 ], and tell Firefox to “Open with” the Gdebi
Package Installer. You'll need the Universe repositories enabled to get
all of the dependencies, but if you've already done that then installing
should go off without a hitch.
Once installed, the command line to launch the application is the
snappily-titled “vodafone-mobile-connect-card-driver-for-linux”. Rather
than typing it out each time, pop it in your menu system
(System->Preferences->Main Menu) so that you can launch it with a
click. 
Once you open the app, you may have to change your settings, depending
on your network. It didn't manage to autoconfigure itself for MTN, so I
entered the following info under “Tools->Preferences”:
Username: mtnwap; Password: mtnwap; APN host: mymtn; Primary DNS:
209.212.96.1; Secondary DNS: 209.212.97.1
The application is still in its early days of development, and has a few
bugs – it only worked after I tried to open it the fourth time. Once up
and running, however, it worked like a charm.
Vodafone Betavine Forge [ https://forge.vodafonebetavine.net/ ]
MyADSL forum discussion
[ http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=74067 ]

* Help us out *
Ubuntu Indaba is a community-driven affair. That means we need your
help! If you've been wanting to get involved in the Ubuntu community but
don't know how to code, help us spread the word instead. Ubuntu Indaba
needs the following:
* Writers
* Editors
* Subs 

If you think you could do any of these jobs, and you're keen to be
involved, drop us a line at jason at freespeechpub.co.za.

* About Ubuntu Indaba *
Ubuntu Indaba is a weekly newsletter written for the Ubuntu South Africa
community, by the community, and about the community. Deadline is
12:00pm every Friday.
Wanting to help promote Ubuntu but not sure how to go about it?
Ubuntu-ZA News needs your help and input. If you have interesting links
to share, articles you'd like to write, events promoted, or simple
suggestions, please mail us.

Ubuntu-ZA News is edited by Jason Norwood-Young.
jason at tectonic.co.za
+27-84-680-3445