Posts Tagged ‘mint’

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LHS Episode #077: North of the Border

March 5th, 2012 | Author:

Today Linux in the Ham Shack is graced with the appearance of an additional co-host: Harrison, VE2HKW, an amateur radio operator from Canada and sometimes host of the Mintcast, a podcast for Linux users from members of the Linux Mint community.

In the first segment, our hosts discuss three very useful Linux utilities for analyzing system performance on your desktop or server: iftop, ifstat and iotop. Get in-depth knowledge of how to use these tools in order to make your machine run better with fewer bottlenecks. And since Harrison is from a whole other country, it was decided he should tell all of us about amateur radio from a Canadian perspective, including licensing, regulations and operating practices.

Hamvention 2012 is coming up very soon. Please donate to the fund if you can. We hope to see everyone there!

73 de The LHS Guys (and Harrison, too)

LHS Show Notes #075

February 17th, 2012 | Author:

Introduction:

  • We’re a little light on content, but we’ll make up for it with enthusiasm!

Announcements:

Topics:

  • Linux Mint 12 Review
    • Richard has been using Ubuntu for some time, but he’s been unhappy with the latest version. He’s rediscovered Linux Mint! Version 12 is out, with Gnome 3, Gnome 2, MATE, and Cinnamon, and he gives a brief review.
    • His primary needs: browser, email, Audacity, XChat, and a few others.
    • Using the Gnome 3 desktop, as a desktop fills with icons, a new desktop is automatically created.
    • By moving the mouse to a hot corner, you’ll see a high-level view of all your open applications.
    • Russ has been using Linux Mint Debian Edition, so he’s missing out on the Gnome 3 goodies, at least for now.
    • Our hosts then drift into a discussion of various desktop managers and visual effects.
  • WINE: Wine Is Not an Emulator
    • WINE is a collection of libraries for Linux that support Windows library calls from a Windows application.
    • EchoLink, for example, is a Windows application works quite well under WINE on Linux.
    • If you can’t find a native Linux application that does what you want, you may find that WINE will allow you to run the Windows program.
    • There are a couple of different versions of WINE, all based on the core version of WINE.
    • Cedega: a version of WINE that supports a variety of Windows games.
    • CrossOver: a version of WINE that originally focused on supporting business applications such as Internet Explorer and MS Office, but has also expanded to include some games and running Windows applications on a Mac.
    • Richard browses the list of ham radio applications in the WINE application database.
    • Russ talks about installation and configuration:
      • Red Hat/Fedora: yum install wine
      • Debian-based: apt-get install wine
      • Some repositories may not have the most recent version of WINE (1.4 at the time of recording).
      • Under System Tools (in Linux Mint, or Debian) there is a WINE Configuration tool.
      • To install a Windows program under WINE, download the Windows installer application. At the command line, type “wine [name of installer executable]“, and the setup program should proceed just as with Windows. A program icon should appear under the WINE program folder, and the program will, hopefully, run just like in Windows.
      • Some Windows programs will run just fine under WINE; others won’t. Give your favorite a try and see!
    • One of the most-wanted ham radio applications, Ham Radio Deluxe v. 5.0, does not run at all under WINE. If you can find a copy of HRD v. 4, it should work under WINE. Remember, too, the native Linux application fldigi does much of what HRD would do.
    • Russ has also tried the N1MM Logger under WINE, and it worked fine.
    • The Winetricks tool might help get a Windows application running under WINE.
    • The WineHQ forum is a good resource for help.

Feedback:

  • We had a donation from William A. Thank you!
  • Leif, KC8RWR, continues a comment dialog about the origin of CUPS in Episode 67.
  • G8FXM, mentioned LHS in his blog. Thanks, David.
  • The Hoosier Hills Ham Club linked to the LHS site and we linked back. Thanks to W.W., KB9TMP.

Contact Info:

Music:

  • To be added.

LHS Episode #075: Cinnamon Kool-Aid & WINE

February 10th, 2012 | Author:

This episode we left up to the listeners because we hadn’t had enough time to prepare some content for ourselves. While waiting for some input, Richard decided to give an impromptu review of the improvements in Gnome 3 and his assessment of the technology, and where he thinks it’s going from here. You might be surprised by his analysis.

After that, we had a request to discuss WINE in a little more depth than perhaps we had touched on in previous episodes. So we take a fairly broad view of the WINE project, how to use it for your applications, what its can and can’t do, and how it can benefit you.

As a quick reminder, Hamvention in Dayton is coming up quickly, from May 18-20. As always, if you can spare a few bucks, quid, euros, drachmas, or whatever currency you currently use to help send LHS out to Ohio for the weekend, we’d love to see everyone there. Any little bit will help.

Thank you to all of our listeners, as always. We couldn’t and wouldn’t do it without you!

73 de The LHS Guys

LHS Show Notes #068

October 20th, 2011 | Author:

Introduction:

  • Who has a drawl?

Announcements:

  • Richard has been reading about Ubuntu 11.10, “Oneiric Ocelot”, due to be released on October 13th. Our hosts hope to have some sort of review in the near future. Richard is also considering trying KDE. (The version of Ubuntu with KDE as default is Kubuntu.)
  • Look for another episode of Richard’s Radio Adventures in the near future. It’s recorded mobile, and Richard wonders how to reduce the road noise with Audacity. Russ offers some advice on training the noise removal plug-in for Audacity.
  • Richard did not make it to the Belton hamfest this year, but maybe next spring. He’s looking forward to attending the Texoma Hamarama, October 21 – 22, 2011 at the Ardmore Convention Center, 2401 North Rockford Road, Ardmore, OK.
  • Richard is recruiting hams for the Kaufman County (TX) ARES group. Please visit the KCARES website for more information.
  • Richard re-tells the infamous badger story. Speaking of badgers, you can find the Kiss My Badger tee-shirt, and a lot of other good stuff, at the LHS store.

Feedback:

  • Danny inquires about an easy-to-use distribution for a senior and computer novice, perhaps Linux Mint. Our hosts suggest Linux Mint and PCLinuxOS. Note that the Mint live CD does not include the codecs, but the DVD does. If you install from the CD, you can install the codecs later.
  • Danny also asks if there is a way to ask the Mumble developers to support screen-reading software. Since Mumble isn’t a GTK-based application, it’s probably not well supported under Orca. You may wish to raise your concerns on the Mumble forum, or on IRC at irc.freenode.net, #mumble, or click the Live Chat Now button on the www.mumble.com website.
  • Burt, K1OIK, left a comment regarding Episode 61 entitled “South of the Border”: “I’d like to go south of your borders!” We’re a little worried about you, Burt.
  • Michael, KD8GIJ, asks for instructions on removing a dual-boot installation of Linux Mint if he decides he doesn’t like it. You can, of course, just wipe the whole drive and reinstall Windows. You may be able to boot the Windows install media and let it “repair” your installation. However, you don’t really need to remove grub; just make Windows the default and remove Linux from the grub menu. If that’s not acceptable, you’ll likely have to wipe and reinstall Windows to return it to the pre-Linux state.Other suggestions include:
    • install Mint as a virtual machine with Virtual Box.
    • use the Windows Ubuntu Installer (wubi) which will also allow you to uninstall Linux after testing.
    • install Linux to a flash drive and boot and run from that to try it out
    • make an image of the Windows drive before installing Linux, perhaps with PartImage or Clonezilla, and you’ll have an easy means of returning to the pre-Linux-install state.
  • John “The Nice Guy” Spriggs, G7VRI, asks about a live Linux distribution reviewed in Episode 62 that contained software to run EchoLink. (I think he’s referring to Andy’s Ham Radio Linux CD). svxlink is the Linux-native EchoLink client, but it is CLI-driven. The Windows client does run well under Wine. You may want to look at qtel, another Echolink client. It’s an older application. In fact, svxlink is based on Qtel.
  • John also wonders if the music played on the show is Creative Commons licensed. While most of the music is Creative Commons or podsafe, the music in Episode 62 is not CC or podsafe, but Russ did have permission from the artists to play them.
  • John pointed out that the description tags in the podcast audio files were empty. Thanks, John, and rest assured that Russ will be adding descriptions as time permits.
  • By the way John, please contact Richard at the email address below as you may be able to help him with some music for another project.

Contact Info:

Music:

LHS Show Notes #059

March 30th, 2011 | Author:

Introduction:

  • Apologies for the delays in releasing new episodes.
  • This episode is an interview with Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems and a user of the Linux screen-reading program, Orca.

Interview:

  • Orca is a screen reading program integrated with the Gnome desktop. It’s available for most Linux distributions.
  • Russ and Jonathan discuss how a sight-impaired individual might install Linux. There are a couple of Linux distributions that have screen-reader support during the installation: Talking Arch Linux and Vinux.
  • Speakup is another accessibility tool, but one that speaks the command line.
  • Vinux is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution with Orca built-in, allowing a sight-impaired individual to install it from the CD. Vinux is the distribtion Frostbite Systems normally installs for it’s sight-impaired customers.
  • Slackware has a Speakup kernel, and more distributions are including the Speakup module as well. Several distributions can be installed using Speakup. Some instructions are available at the Speakup site.
  • Russ mentioned the Quick Learning Techies Show (QLTS) that also occasionally discusses accessibility issues.
  • Jonathan discusses the pros and cons of Vinux, as well as his concerns about it being Ubuntu-based.
  • Richard asks Jonathan for more details about how Vinux talks a new user through the install.
  • If the application is GTK-based, it will likely work with Orca; if it’s QT-based, it probably won’t work with Orca.
  • Ted’s software (WA0EIR), including PSK31LX, works via ssh, so the programs are controllable from the command line and would work with the Speakup module.
  • Meanwhile, Russ attempts to install Orca during the show.
  • Jonathan mentions another podcast he does, This Week in Fedora, and says there is an amateur radio Fedora spin. (I could not find a link to a specific spin of Fedora for amateur radio, but there is a Special Interest Group. -Ed.)
  • Frostbite Systems sells desktops and laptops with Linux pre-installed. Customers can choose from Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, OpenSuse, Ubuntu and Vinux. A portion of each sale is donated back to the distribution chosen.
  • Russ asks Jonathan about the hardware he uses in Frostbite systems. All of the laptops/notebooks have all-Intel hardware, while some desktops have nVidia video cards. All are completely Linux-compatible.
  • Russ then examines the specifications of some of the Frostbite computers.
  • Jonathan also produces several podcasts through Frostbite Media:
    • Frostcast: interviews with project leaders of various GNU/Linux and Free/Open Source projects.
    • This week in Fedora: interviews with people involved with the Fedora project.
    • This week in Debian: interviews with people within the Debian community.
    • Orcacast is on hiatus, but should resume in the not too distant future.

Contact Info:

Outtakes:

LHS Episode #059: Orca and Outtakes

March 29th, 2011 | Author:

Welcome to Episode #059 of Linux in the Ham Shack. On this edition, we talk with Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems about Linux for the sight impaired. Jonathan, being a blind Linux user, has overcome many challenges when it comes to using his favorite operating system and he shares with us the ins and outs of accessibility on Linux systems. There is a Linux distribution dedicated to blind users called Vinux, along with an accessible version of Arch called Talking Arch. Even newer versions of Slackware are jumping on the bandwagon with a Speakup enabled installation kernel.

This is also the first episode of LHS with a blooper reel left in at the end. Listen all the way to the last so you don’t miss out on any of the fun. Many thanks to Jonathan for his time and expertise, and many thanks to our listeners for making our show so fun to do.

73 de The LHS Guys

LHS Show Notes #058

March 23rd, 2011 | Author:

Introduction:

Announcements:

Feedback:

  • Ilan Rabinovitch writes to tell us about the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 9X), February 25-27, 2011.
    Thanks, Ilan. Sorry we couldn’t include this earlier.
  • Kevin, KB9RLW, writes in response to Episode 51 that he agrees that Linux is a good fit for the amateur radio community for several reasons: added flexibility, security, and more choices. Even Windows 7 is still vulnerable and he points to a recent Sophos test. He keeps a WindowsXP virtual machine, in VirtualBox for those Windows applications he must run, though WINE usually works fine. He’s also a fan of The GIMP, OpenOffice, Inkscape, and Scribus. Good points, Kevin, thanks.
  • Dave, KA6YQ, points us to instructions for running the DX Lab suite in Linux, which, unfortunately, just says that you can run their software in a Windows XP virtual machine, which isn’t the same as running it on Linux.
  • Rick, K9AO, tells us of a native Linux EchoLink client SvxLink. Russ uses the Windows EchoLink program under WINE, but checked out the program. He tried building it from source, because he’s running Debian instead of Fedora, using the posted instructions, without success, but he’ll keep trying.
  • Joseph C. sent a donation to the LHS Dayton Hamvention fund. Thank you very much, Joseph!
  • Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems says that if you want to install the extra codecs in Debian, you must first add the multimedia repository to your sources list file (/etc/apt/sources.list). Add the repo, then install the codecs you want. Linux Mint Debian does much of this by default.
    Richard spent most of a day trying to uninstall Gnash and install Flash… without success. And it’s true that IceWeasel and IceDove are the same as Firefox and Thunderbird, but they are one release back. Richard prefers running the current versions.
  • Russ tells us that by adding the following line to your /etc/app/sources.list file
    deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free

    and then doing an apt-get update, you’ll be able to install the non-free codecs.

  • Russ and Richard then talk about removing Gnash:
    dpkg --remove --force-all gnash
  • Russ recommends GhostBSD if you’d like to play with BSD.
  • John, EI7IG, writes that Episode 53 was a “cracker” and that he’s a fan of fldigi, too. He also tells us of APRSISCE32, an APRS client for Windows written by Lynn, KJ4ERJ. John has been running IPV6 in the shack and points us to this article by Geoff Huston. Thanks, John.
  • Larry Bushey and Tom Chaudoir of the Going Linux podcast send their regards.
  • Russ gives an impromptu review of the Linux Reality podcast by Chess Griffin.
  • LHS is a sponsor of the upcoming Indiana LinuxFest, and Lord D. sent his appreciation.
  • Mogens, OZ1AKN, asks for help on a couple of topics.Question: Is it possible to automatically start a program under WINE?
    Russ responds with:To make a program under WINE start at boot, look at /etc/rc.d/skeleton for a sample. Copy the skeleton file to the name of the WINE app you want to start, then edit it to start whatever you want to start, such as /usr/bin/wine/echolink.If you want a program to start when the X session starts, click:
    menu -> system -> preferences -> statup applications -> Add a startup app
    In the dialog, give it a name and add the command: /usr/bin/wine <application path>

    Question: How do you reinstall Windows in a dual-boot setup?

    Russ responds with:

    It’s easier to install Windows first, then Linux, as the Linux boot loader will automatically detect Windows and include it in the boot menu. If you install Linux first, then Windows, Windows will overwrite the Linux boot loader.

    Otherwise, if you’re trying to repair a dual-boot system, try booting with a system rescue CD to repair GRUB.

    Google “linux boot ntldr ” to find instructions to tell the Windows NTLDR to also boot Linux.

  • Tom H. sent a donation to the Dayton Hamvention fund. Thanks, Tom!
  • Frazer writes that the LHS Facebook fanpage seems to be geoblocked in Canada. (Russ has fixed the problem. Thanks, Frazer.)
  • Jim, KG9EQ, discovered the podcast while searching for QSSTV and wrote to share his appreciation for the website. Thanks, Jim.
  • B.B. in the chat room asked if Jerry Taylor has resumed the Practical Amateur Radio podcast. (Richard’s comments were recorded before Jerry resumed recording episodes.)
  • Paul, KC9QYB, has resumed his Teen Radio Journey podcast.
  • Brady and Rich recently released another episode of the Low SWR podcast.
  • Finally, a note to the ICQ Podcast: We encourage Colin to talk more!

Contact Info:

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