How to install Ubuntu the way you've never done it before.

I will tell you from the very start. This is neither my idea, nor my realisation. But I like it so much that I decided to share it with the wider public.

Have you ever installed any GNU/Linux distribution? Have you ever installed Windows, say, 98? Have you noticed the difference? I think you know what I am talking about: the choice you have of installed components .
While Windows installer allows you to choose the components you want to install, of course to a certain degree, I have not seen any Linux installers so far which give you the same level of choice. Unfortunately, most Linux installers only allow you to copy the contents of a distribution ISO image to the hard drive. Then you can do whatever you want: uninstall, re-install or add components.
The reader and commenter of my blog under the nickname Psychorat decided to change the approach and created... the script. Yes, this is a script which guides you through selection of different components for Ubuntu, and then installs them.
You could watch the development of the script as Psychorat commented under the Debian XFCE review.
And now the results are published to the wider public.
So, what do you need? Internet connection, CD or USB stick and some time.
Here are your further steps:
Grab a mini.iso image from official Ubuntu mirror and install a basic system without any extra packages.
After the reboot you have to login and run these 3 commands at the terminal (if you can't see the login press CTRL-ALT-F1) :
$ wget http://www.fileden.com/files/2012/1/23/3253730//rmc011.sh
$ sudo chmod +x rmc011.sh
$ ./rmc011.sh

Here is a short video showing one of the beta-versions of the script in action:

How much of resources does take Ubuntu after Psychorat's script?
Here are data measured without extra software installed:

Version	Disk size	Memory usage
KDE4-BASIC	2.3GB	300MB
MINT-MATE-BASIC	2.0GB	100MB
XUBUNTU-CUSTOM	2.4GB	100MB
XFCE-BASIC	2.0GB	70MB
LUBUNTU-CUSTOM	1.9GB	80MB
LXDE-BASIC	1.7GB	50MB
E17-BASIC	1.6GB	50MB

Psychorat also gives you some recommendations:

• Enabling Sound : Unmute and raise the levels of the "Master" and "PCM" channels in your system audio mixer.
• Chromium Browser : In "Preferences" > "Personal Stuff", change the "Appearance" option to "Use GTK+ Theme" to match your desktop theme.

And finally, here are some known issues:

GENERAL ISSUES

• I can't hear any sound.

Unmute and raise the levels of "Master" and "PCM" channels in your system audio mixer

• Some programs are icon-less.

This might happen in some naked core installations.Please install more icon themes from the package manager or internet.

KDE4-BASIC

• Gtk apps look ugly and not integrated to Kde theme.

You have to change the default gtk widget style to "oxygen-gtk" in > System settings > Application appearance > Gtk+ appearance.

• Gtk theme settings have no effect on gtk applications.

Kde uses .gtkrc-2.0-kde4 file to store the gtk settings but the applications are looking for .gtkrc-2.0 so you have to link .gtkrc-2.0-kde4 to .gtkrc-2.0 after the first login with this command : ln ~/.gtkrc-2.0-kde4 ~/.gtkrc-2.0


XFCE-BASIC

• Xfce panel Sound volume plugin.

You have to enter in the configuration at least once, in order to auto-set the alsa channel and work properly.


E17
E17-BASIC / E17-CORE

• LXDM login manager problem : Annoying error message about wrong window manager.

You have to change the session to "Enlightenment" instead of "Default", at Lxdm login screen.


LUBUNTU-CUSTOM

• The Obconf extension for Lxappearance removed because does not show previews. You can always change your windows theme with the Openbox configuration manager.
• The gnome-alsamixer replaced with alsamixergui because of a lubuntu related bug that make it crash on start.(i know that alsamixergui is not "fit" to desktop theme, but its better than nothin' :) The other alternatives are not working either).

---

And now my question to you: how do you like it? Is it the first step to the future of Linux installers?

EDITED 31.01.2012:
After some research I found the screenshot which proves my point about option to choose the components of installed Winsows Operating System. Unfortunately, the latest version I could find the screenshots for is Windows 98, but it still proves my point, doesn't it?

(Not) Just Another Birthday!

Hello, my dear readers!

If you read this blog for more than a year, you may know. Otherwise I tell you.
It is my own Birthday today!
Let me say it to myself, as I am quite modest person. ;-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

All the congratulations and wishes are accepted!

Katherine Noyes: I'm a Linux fan, and I enjoy helping to bring Linux to the forefront

If you have enjoyed two interviews I made with women in Linux world before, I am sure you will love this one too. I'll not talk too much in the beginning. Let me introduce my today's guest: Katherine Noyes.

DarkDuck: Hello, Katherine. I am sure most of readers of my blog know who you are. But anyway, could you please introduce yourself.

Linux for migrants: Zorin OS

Some Linux distributions try to find their own way in arrangement of the user desktop. Take, for example, Ubuntu with Unity. Whatever is your opinion about this Desktop Environment, you can’t deny that it brought some fresh ideas as to how to organize the user’s desktop.

At the other pole are Linux distros which intentionally adjust their look to something familiar to users of other operating systems, being it Windows or Mac. Zorin OS is one of those. The intent of such distros is to smooth the transition for users wishing to migrate from Windows to Linux.
Zorin OS exists in several options. Some of them are not free-of-charge, but there are some, namely Core, Lite and Educational, which are free.
This is not my first approach to Zorin OS. I have already written about Zorin OS 4 before. I enjoyed the system, although it lacked stability that time. Did it improve?
The latest version, ZorinOS 5.2, was released very recently, on the 10th of January 2012. I downloaded the Core version of it. The ISO size is 1.1 Gb. It meant I could not use a CD for it, and I went to the USB option. Unetbootin utility successfully "burnt" image to USB.
It was time to try Zorin OS 5.2 in action on my Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pi 1505 laptop. Reboot. Choose to boot from USB. Let’s go!

DragonFlyBSD: Desktop is not a target

This blog is called Linux notes from DarkDuck. As you may think from the name, it is dedicated to anything about Linux. And I write about using Linux-based operating systems on desktop from the point of view of regular user.

But from time to time I make exceptions. Today is one of these days. I will not tell you about Linux, but rather about an operating system quite close to GNU/Linux. It is BSD-based operating system DragonFlyBSD.
This operating system is a community supported distribution, initially forked from FreeBSD 4.8.
The current release of DragonFlyBSD is 2.10.1 and it was announced in April 2011.
There are 3 downloading options available for this stable release of DragonFlyBSD: CD, USB and GUI. I downloaded the last one, which offers to have a GUI on top of the operating system itself. The distribution comes as a 1.2 Gb bz2 archive which packs an .img file of 3.7 Gb. Basically, this saves you some time during the downloading. But, then you need to unpack the file on your local drive before using it. Generally speaking, this is not an issue since most modern archivers, both Windows- and Linux-based, support bz2 format.
Once I got the .img file on my hard disk, I used command dd to “burn” it to my 8 Gb USB stick.
So, the preparation steps are over. Let’s see what DragonFlyBSD has to offer. Reboot. Choose to boot my Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pi 1505 from USB. Let’s go!

Following the unique way of Trisquel

There are different general directions in GNU/Linux distribution development, taking into consideration the dilemma of free vs non-free software.

• Some developers don’t bother with this dilemma at all and include useful software in their distribution. 
• Others do not turn off non-free software initially, but allow users to decide themselves. They place non-free and restricted software in separate repositories. 
• And another stance is taken by developers who stick to free software only. The developers from this last group sometimes even get recognition from the Free Software Foundation, who include the distribution in the list of approved ones. 

I have written about several FSF-approved distributions already: Ututo, Dragora, dynebolic, Musix and so on. Today I will tell you about another free distribution: Trisquel.
Trisquel is a GNU/Linux distribution with geographical roots in Spain. The project started off as localization of GNU/Linux for the Galician language, and later became more than just a local GNU/Linux distribution.
Trisquel uses the kernel that is free from anything proprietary. This kernel is usually called “libre kernel”.
The latest version of this GNU/Linux distribution is Trisquel 5.0 Dagda, released in September 2011.
I downloaded the ISO image of Trisquel via torrent. I chose the image for Live run, which is 700Mb in size. There are different image options available, from 14 Mb netinstall to 3.7 Gb DVD with sources.
There were no issues in creating Live USB with Trisquel using the Unetbootin utility. So, preparations are over. Reboot. Choose to boot from USB. Let’s go!

Simply SimplyMEPIS 11.0

I had heard of this Linux distribution a long time ago. Different readers who commented on my blog mentioned it. But I continued postponing a review of it all for a long time. The last time the Mepis name was dropped was during my interview with Geek-in-Pink who mentioned this distribution as her favourite.
The time has come.

I made my way to the official site of Mepis to download it. There are several downloading options available. I used the most “community-oriented” one, i.e. torrent.
Actually, what I downloaded was named SimplyMEPIS 11.0. This version was released in May 2011. The ISO image size is about 1.3 Gb, which makes it impossible to run it from CD. You need to either burn the ISO image onto a DVD or use a USB drive.
Mepis is actually quite an old distribution. It was initially based on Debian, briefly flirted with Ubuntu, then finally settled on a combination of its own source code, a combination of Ubuntu and Debian, and enhanced by using the standard Debian Stable repositories.
With its history and roots, it was not a surprise that Mepis was supported by Unetbootin utility. I successfully created a Live USB using Unetbootin.
So, USB stick is in the port of my Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pi 1505 laptop. Reboot. Choose to boot from USB. Let’s go!