Linux Educational Comicbooks
April 25, 2009 by Cath · Leave a Comment
Hackett and Bankwell is an educational comic/cartoon manual designed to teach readers how to get started with Linux-based operating systems. You can download copies of the ebooks here.
New users often feel overwhelmed by all of the new information they need to digest in order to confidently use Linux, and Hackett and Bankwell provides them a quicker way to get familiar with using Linux-based operating systems and master the material.
The publication is available to purchase here or you can make a donation which will help them to publish futher material, the comic is also available with Ubuntu on cd. This comic is suitable for all ages and has real educational value so by all means download the pdf and pass it on to younger readers, the illustrations are really fun.
Hackett and Bankwell can be instrumental in helping new users understand the various elements that comprise the operating system and how they work together.
Sharing Optus cable internet using Ubuntu Gnu/Linux
November 23, 2008 by Chris · 2 Comments
Theres many guides on how to share the internet using gnu/linux on the web, this one will be fairly basic and I’ll try not to ramble on about you could also use this or that device to do it this way or that way. This will just be the cheapest way to get it up and running.
All you need is an optus cable internet connection, 2 computers with network adapters and a crossover cable. Most computers have an onboard network adapater. In this guide we are using a computer running Ubuntu 8.04 and one running windows XP.
This guide is loosely based on a Howto Share internet connection from ubuntu forums but hopefully a bit more newbie friendly and specific to Optus cable internet.
The hardware setup
By default the optus cable modem uses a usb network connection so plug that into the modem and connect it to the computer running ubuntu in a spare usb port.
Plug the crossover cable into your ethernet port on the ubuntu computer and the into the windows computer.
On my setup eth0 is the ethernet card, and eth3 is the usb connection to the cable modem.
On Ubuntu systems, eth0 is the first network device (ethernet card) plugged into a slot. Additional ethernet cards plugged will become eth1, and so forth. I’m not sure why the usb connection is eth3, Im not very familiar with networking using USB, perhaps someone will enlighten us.
Windows called the connection Local area connection.
Software Setup
The configuration settings for both computers
Ubuntu
We’re going to use the command line on Ubuntu for this, you can find it under Applications > Accesories > Terminal.
Just copy and paste the commands after the “#” :
1. For this guide we will change to the root user, the root user is the administrator account or superuser account on unix-like systems.
# sudo -s
2. Assign an IP address to the network card that interfaces to the other computers on you network
# ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.1 up
3. Then configure the NAT as follows:
# iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth3 -j MASQUERADE
# echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
4. Install dnsmasq and ipmasq using apt-get:
# apt-get install dnsmasq ipmasq
5. Restart dnsmasq:
# /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart
5b. If you get an error message here that says the socket is in use, try.
# pkill named
6. Reconfigure ipmasq to start after networking has been started:
# dpkg-reconfigure ipmasq
7. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
Tip: check your internet is connected
# ping google.com
If theres not reply try
# dhclient eth3
then try ping google.com again
windows
Make sure you record your current setting before changing them so that you can change back later if you want to. You can click the images below to enlarge them.
1. We need to change the network settings on windows to assign it a static IP.
Open Start > Control Panel > Network connections
Right click on Local Area Connection and select properties
2. From the window that opens select “Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) and click on properties
2. Select the “Use the following IP Adress option and for the IP address: 192.168.0.2
The subnet mask should default to 255.255.255.0, for the default gateway and preferred DNS server : 192.168.0.1 and select OK and OK.
Final Notes
If you find your having trouble it should be easy to change your settings back to their original state on windows and on ubuntu you can reboot.
The Worlds Best Desktop Environment
February 7, 2007 by Chris · 3 Comments
Download video clip for play on a Free system
Download video clip for play on Windows
Download video clip for play on Mac/Apple
To enable your computer to play both video (Theora) and audio (Vorbis) files, please select a program from the listings here.
When it comes to designing digital learning environments we need a powerful interactive multimedia system that allows the user to control the experience and pace through self-selected hypermedia. Software Libre operating systems serve the personal needs of the user rather than focusing the user’s attention on the machine. The strengths of the Software Libre desktop for education, research, productivity, or entertainment are that it’s imaginative, making possible various tasks that can not be accomplished in other desktops.
We also need an environment that fosters a culture of cooperation, collaboration and social interaction. The Software Libre learning environment is optimized to provide access to information and communication technologies, express our imagination and creativity, process information which can be freely studied, applied, copied and/or modified, by anyone, for any purpose and distributed through self organising connective knowledge amplification networks for a more productive society and the benefit of humanity.
The video above is a good example of these principles in action, you can:
- Order a copy of Ubuntu through the mail
- Download the Kororaa XGL LiveCD
- Download the music used in the video
- Download the animated movie(Elephants Dream) featured in the video
- Participate in the above projects as a user and/or developer
A big thanks to Noiesmo for his help.
Kids say “Thank you to (Ed)Ubuntu Team”
Weve just installed these two donated computers in a community nursury and breakfast/after schol club in Lincolnshire, England. The machines are 600mhz/128mb/4.2gig and they took about 3/4’s of an hour to install and configure perfectly, and have cost the centre nothing!
The kids absolutely love them, most are from underpriviledged backgrounds and many of them have never used a computer before. As a result they will grow up computer literate. The Nursury just wanted to say a heartfelt thanks for all of the effort and long hours that the community has put into creating this supurb collection of software.
Keep Up the Good work!
Beryl
October 10, 2006 by Chris · Leave a Comment
Thanks to Noiesmo for the update. As far as I know Beryl is the community fork of Compiz. Beryl on Wikipedia. Here’s a Beryl video on Youtube. Hows your desktop looking today?
Edubuntu Arrives
July 24, 2006 by Chris · 2 Comments
Today I woke up and opened the front door to see something wonderful.
If you want me to put a copy aside for you then leave a message.
Here’s a look at whats inside the box.
iBook (“Clamshell”) dual booting Ubuntu with Mac OS 9
July 4, 2006 by Chris · 5 Comments
A friend has an IBook G3 and is dual booting Ubuntu and Mac OS 9. He used the Ubuntu for PowerPC CD and did a little research before installing it, he’s thinking about using Xubuntu. I’ll get some more info about that soon. Here’s the image.
Guitarist’s say give me Ubuntu any day
July 4, 2006 by Chris · Leave a Comment
A few guitarists I know are happy with the switch to Ubuntu. Mainly thanks to Rosegarden. Here’s an image of Jim showing his appreciation of Ubuntu, I couldn’t bring myself to use a rose garden as the background. :) Thanks Jim your a legend.
