Login Options with Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

Here you can see the default login screen for Ubuntu 8.10. You simply add username and password and you have access to the Desktop. Simple, however, as you will see there are many options that can go with this login process.

If you will go to System/Administration and select Login Window you will find that you have a lot of options available for login. You will need to supply the administrator password to gain access to the Login Window Preferences. You can see that it has 6 tabs for options.

The General tab allows you to hide black dots when you type your password in the login. By making the password invisible, no one can guess the length of your password. By default users can only login once at a time. The Default session will determine your which Desktop you will use. The default is the Gnome Desktop. However you can add many different Desktops inclduing KDE, OpenBox, BlackBox, etc. Actually, some of these are just window managers but the look and feel is much different. If you wanted all users on your machine to use a lighter weight Desktop like BlackBox you could set that here. Automatically Ubuntu 8.10 uses the 24 hour clock.

Your local login has a number of options which you can set with the Local tab. You are able to set the theme, colors and determine the Menu bar.

The Remote tab by default will disable the graphical login. This is surely a security decision as you will want to be careful if you enable this option. You still can login using SSH for example, this option only controls the login for the Xwindow.

Ubuntu 8.10 has a stronger focus on Accessibility features which is a great enhancement. Having worked with individuals who have disabilities this is surely a focus that should be made by every Linux distro…thanks. The options are clear and easy to modify.

The Security tab allows you to automatically login, which is a nice feature if you are not worried about intruders on your desktop. You can place a timeout so that a user has limited time to login to stop people trying to hack into the system. The Login Delay is one second….you could increase this if you have a problem with others trying to get into your box. The minimal UID is a security option that will only allow normal users to login, not system users that are created by programs or daemons on the machine. Users are created by default with UID or User Ids over 1000. By default you can only login if you have a home directory. This may sound strange but many times users are created for mail services who do not have home directories as a security feature, they only pick up mail from the server with no local account.

The face browser can be used to choose a user when you login. With this tab you can select who is able to login with the face browser. You can add pictures of users in the face browser.

Ubuntu…Please Don’t Release on Time!

The update process in Ubuntu has …. well it has gotten out of control. There is no doubt that updates are a necessity for security patches and bug fixes…no argument there. However, Ubuntu seems to want to build the operating system as they go… having you download huge numbers of updates, often daily. Many users have complained bitterly about this as they do not have the bandwidth to justify the updates and they do not enjoy the experience being forced to update almost daily.

I believe this whole issue is forced on the developers because of the release schedule which is rigid. Now Canonical may be proud that they release on time but they should be ashamed in releasing too soon.

Take a look at the LTS version of the server. When it released it did not have LVM2, it did not have all of the updated software raid tools, it did not have acls installed either. Each of these is a standard option that any administrator would want available, especially in the LTS version. They could be installed manually once you installed 8.04 but they were later installed via the update process. The point is, Ubuntu should have released a solid up to date server version in 8.04, not build it as you go with updates. Administrators depend on their servers being up to speed when they install. In addition, adding LVM2, raid tools and acls at a later date after the installation are problematic.

The LTS version of the Desktop was even worse. In fact, there were so many updates that the 8.04.1 version had to be released. Canonical created many angry users over the fact that since 8.04.1 many users thought it was a whole new version so they wiped out there system and installed new. The process was confusing to users and unpleasant. In fact, if users kept up with the updates they had 8.04.1 already installed.

The 8.04 or now 8.04.1 version was supposed to be the long term support version that was more stable and would be a solid foundation for a long time. Unfortunately the constant updates has put that in question.

America’s Schools: Held Hostage by Microsoft

Schools in America are held hostage by Microsoft and are being choked one school at a time. We have allowed Microsoft and our State and Federal governments to force us into financing cycles that schools cannot afford.

I have lived in Montana most of my life and worked with schools to get technology funding for 14 years now. The districts I work with use Linux on 75% of the Desktops and all of the servers. I have pushed Open Source applications and operating systems in schools for a long time and there is some progress. However, Microsoft has a serious choke hold on schools. Here is how the choke works.

1. Unlicensed Software Installs
One way schools get in trouble is when they feel they do not have enough money so instead of purchasing licenses they install more products without the proper license. To Microsoft, this is piracy and theft. I agree with Microsoft here, if they have a product and a price you either pay or do something else. I am amazed when I hear schools that steal software from Microsoft but then tell kids there are rules and ethics that they must follow. Schools that cheat on licenses are placing themselves at the mercy of Microsoft.

2. Software Updates
Software purchases must always be made with the recognition and the funding that the software must be updated both in terms of license and hardware. Here is how this works. A school gets a grant for technology and purchases Library software in year one. Not only must the school continue to purchase Library software updates each year, they must also purchase the Microsoft license that allows you to run the software. Oh…and also you must purchase the hardware that runs the software for Microsoft. This is called the Domino effect…one purchase forces the next purchase and schools are locked into these scenarios where they cannot get out. Microsoft controls the software, the cycle and the cost of schools teaching students.

3. State and Federal Requirements
One of the most damaging trends for schools in America is the demand that they purchase Microsoft products in order to report to Federal and State authorities. The State of Montana requires that you provide information from the school to an online sources for the state.  The Office of Public Instruction says that they are creating an online interface for schools that is easy to use and will facilitate all operating systems.  Well,only if your operating system is Windows (at least Windows 2000) and Internet Explorer 6-7. If you use Linux you cannot report to the state.

Schools and Libraries is a site used by the Federal government to provides funding so schools can get Internet access and help with technology. However, you cannot apply for this Federal funding, provided especially for poor schools, unless you have Internet Explorer 6-7.

What is worse is that each year the requirements for school reporting are tied to State and Federal funding outside of technology and the technical requirements to make those reports is tied to the updated versions of Windows and Word or Excel. I talk with people involved in schools in Europe on a weekly basis and they always talk about the freedom that the government allows in terms of which operating system and applications are used in schools.

What’s up with the U.S.? Why are schools locked into these strangle holds?

Long live Open Source!

Add Swap Space to Desktop or Server

If you add additional RAM or if you are seeing that your system is doing a lot of page swapping you may want to add SWAP space on a drive. In order to review your current SWAP space use the swapon command:

/sbin/swapon -s
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/hda5 partition 771080 0 -1
/dev/hdb1 partition 771080 0 -2

The recommendation for an Enterprise Edition is to use twice as much SWAP space as RAM up to 4 GB and then use an equal amount of RAM vs. SWAP after 4 GB.

When you add SWAP space make sure the file system is 82 when you set it up with fdisk.

This is the process to create an emergency SWAP file so that you can add a drive with SWAP later. This process could slow your system down as you may be swapping to a file a great deal. However, this will get you to the point that you can make it for a short time.

The exercise shows how to setup a temporary SWAP file. Once you restart this will be gone unless you add it into the /etc/fstab file. Use this at your own risk because if you make a mistake in editing /etf/fstab your box will not start.

/sbin/swapon -s

Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/hda5 partition 771080 0 -1
/dev/hdb1 partition 771080 0 -2

dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/SWAP-TMP bs=1024 count=20000

20000+0 records in
20000+0 records out

chmod 600 /tmp/SWAP-TMP

ls -la /tmp/SWAP-TMP

-rw——- 1 root root 20480000 Jul 19 10:22 /tmp/SWAP-TMP

/sbin/mkswap /tmp/SWAP-TMP

Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 20475 kB

/sbin/swapon /tmp/SWAP-TMP

/sbin/swapon -s

Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/hda5 partition 771080 0 -1
/dev/hdb1 partition 771080 0 -2
/tmp/SWAP-TMP file 19992 0 -3

Mandriva 2009.0 New Features

Mandriva 2009 has been released and it is centered around a good selection of valuable new features. The release features KDE 4.1 desktop by default, Linux Kernel 2.6.27, X.org 7.3, a new installer, control center and more. Gnome 2.24 was included along with some useful newer applications like OpenOffice 3.0 and Firefox 3.0.
Mandriva 2009.0, as in previous releases, comes in a few different versions. “One” is an installable live CD including the latest proprietary drivers and is available for free. “Powerpack” includes services, support, a wider range of packages included, and third party proprietary apps. The “Free” version includes only open-source or free software.

Mandriva 2009 Tour
Buy Mandriva 2009 on CD