Tech stuff and info dump

Ubuntu 10.04 & Synaptic Package Manager 0.63.1: Adding ‘Universe’ repository

July 01st, 2010

To add the ‘Universe’ repository, open Synaptic Package Manager by typing System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager and entering your password in the pop-up window.

In the main Synaptic window, go to Settings -> Repositories and then click the ‘Ubuntu Software’ tab. In the ‘Sources’ pop-up, click the tickbox next to the line that reads ‘Community maintained Open Source software (universe)’.

Click ‘Close’ on the pop-up.

This allows one to download programmes from the ‘Universe’ repository using either Synaptic Package Manager or apt-get install.


Filed under: Installation,Ubuntu 10.04
July 01st, 2010 19:26:09

Ubuntu 10.04: installing java and the CGoban 3/KGS client

May 10th, 2010

Now to get KGS working on the 10.04 machine….

First, java is needed:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-6-jre

A quick check of java -version tells me I’ve just installed

java version “1.6.0_18”
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.8) (6b18-1.8-0ubuntu1)
OpenJDK Client VM (build 14.0-b16, mixed mode, sharing)

Then, I downloaded cgoban.jnlp from the KGS CGoban Download page by clicking the link entitled “CGoban for Java Web Start”.

I put this file on my desktop.

Run cgoban.jnlp by typing

javaws cgoban.jnlp

from the command line or double-clicking or right-clicking the file and choosing “Open with OpenJDK Java 6 Web Start”.

This causes a file called CGoban_3.desktop to appear on the desktop and opens CGoban 3 (which provides an option for connecting to KGS). The first time this runs, a security warning about digital signatures pops up; I ticked the “Always trust content from this publisher” box and clicked “Run”.

After this, CGoban and KGS can be accessed by double-clicking CGoban_3.desktop (or by right-clicking and selecting ‘Open’).

Doing this gave me an warning message:

Untrusted application launcher

The application launcher “CGoban_3.desktop” has not been marked as trusted. If you do not know the source of this file, launching it may be unsafe.

The only option was to ‘Cancel’ the launch.

To allow this to run, right-click CGoban_3.desktop and choose “Properties”. In the “CGoban 3 Properties” pop-up, choose the “Permissions” tab and click the box near the bottom that says “Execute: Allow executing file as program”. (This caused the file to display on my desktop as “CGoban 3” with a KGS go stone logo.)

Double-clicking (or right-clicking and choosing “Open”) now opens CGoban and allows one to connect to KGS.

The cgoban.jnlp file can now be deleted or moved elsewhere.

Note: I get a significant delay between clicking the icon and the CGoban main menu appearing – long enough that I tend to think I haven’t clicked properly or that something is broken. It is a muuuuuch longer delay than the unnoticeable pause I get between clicking and menu coming up in Ubuntu 8.04 with Java 1.5.0_22.


Filed under: cgoban/KGS client,Installation,Ubuntu 10.04
May 10th, 2010 16:49:01

Long live xmms! (Ubuntu: Hardy, Jaunty, etc.)

February 10th, 2010

I’m an xmms girl. I’ve never needed the extra features in xmms2, so I was distraught when xmms was no longer available from my friendly neighbourhood Synaptic Package Manager once I moved to Hardy.

Thank the stars, this wonderful person provided all the information I needed to rectify the situation.

This also worked for me in Jaunty (Netbook Remix).

Long live xmms!


Filed under: Installation
Tags:
February 10th, 2010 13:30:33

MediaWiki installation

September 24th, 2009

Install mediawiki with Synaptic Package Manager:

sudo gedit /etc/apache2/conf.d/mediawiki.conf

Uncomment the line:

# Alias /mediawiki /var/lib/mediawiki

Restart apache:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Finish set-up by using favourite web browser to navigate to:

http://localhost/mediawiki/

After installing MediaWiki via the browser, move:

/var/lib/mediawiki/config/LocalSettings.php

to:

/etc/mediawiki

after which the wiki can be accessed here:

http://localhost/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page

Note: I did not “change file permissions for LocalSettings.php as required to prevent other users on the server reading passwords and altering configuration data” etc. etc. as recommended, nor did I do anything at all to secure, well, anything given that I’m not planning to make this wiki available outside of the house.


Filed under: Installation,MediaWiki
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September 24th, 2009 14:24:37