With the changes coming to the desktops of some major Linux distributions, it looks like we’re beginning to see some welcome differentiation between how each distro presents itself to users. Fedora and Ubuntu are of course well known as some of the most popular and user-friendly Linux systems, and while they have many similarities, their next major releases are both taking a new approach to the desktop. Ubuntu has decided to drop their Netbook spin and run their homegrown Unity desktop across the board. Fedora however has jumped on board with Gnome 3, confident that it will have all the form and function their users want. While we’ve already discussed both desktops before, Fedora and Ubuntu are both offering more than a makeover, and it’s time to dig deeper.
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Joshua Price
Fedora 15 vs Ubuntu Natty Narwhal – The Battle for Your Next Desktop
How to Colorize Your Black & White Photos with Gimp
Ever come across an old family photo that would really look great if it had some color? Or perhaps you found a gorgeous wallpaper online but the monochromatic color scheme just doesn’t fit with the desktop of your dreams. Thanks to modern photo editing programs like the Gimp, this process is a lot easier than you may be thinking. To get the obvious out of the way – no, we can’t magically recover the color of flowers at your grandmother’s wedding, but we can give color to those flowers to make them look however you’d like. All it takes is a good eye for color and some careful clicking.
Note: The quality of the end result depends largely on your eye for color. I, the author of this post, do not have a very good eye for color. Those who do would likely end up with a much more realistic final product.
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Linux Startup Taking Too Long? Chart It!
Hardware keeps getting faster and faster, and most of us are running machines that would have been unthinkably speedy a decade ago, yet somehow it never seems to feel that way. As the hardware gets faster, the software seems to get bigger and slower and we always seem to end up with something that dances around the line of usability. Linux has been no exception to this, with each new advance in hardware bringing a matching increase in the complexity of the software. If your system takes too long to boot, the best way to fix it is to know what’s bringing you down. For that, there’s Bootchart. This little utility will show you exactly what’s launching when and how long it each step takes.
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Googsystray: Keep Track Of Your Google Apps Activities In The System Tray
While it may not have the world’s catchiest name, Googsystray is a heck of a useful app. That is, if you use a lot of Google apps like GMail, Reader, and especially Voice. It doesn’t just show you unread counts like so many other utilities, Googsystray integrates tightly with the Google services to give you the ability to make phone calls through Voice or send SMS text messages directly from your system tray. It works on most Linux and Windows systems, and can save you quite a bit of hassle (and several browser tabs).
Note: This article will focus on the Linux implementation. Past the installation step, the usage should be identical.
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How to Manage Ruby Installations Easily with RVM
Those unfamiliar with software development may be surprised at how many so-called grey areas there can be. Even if you know you want to write, say, a Rails app, you’ve got several more specific decisions to make. What database should you use? Which version of Ruby? Which gems should be installed? Will it conflict with any other Ruby versions or gem sets? RVM, the Ruby Version Manager, can take care of that. RVM allows you to install, manage, and switch between Ruby versions on the fly so you can develop and test software in multiple Ruby versions with no hassle. This guide will show you how to install RVM on Ubuntu and use it to manage your Ruby environment.
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Gnome Shell is Almost Ready to Rock Your Desktop
When Gnome Shell was first becoming available over a year ago, we took a look at it to see what the foundation was like, and to see what direction the Gnome desktop was likely to go. At the time, we liked it, though it was clearly a “rough draft” of what it could eventually become. Since then, time has gone by, and while Ubuntu may have decided to go with Unity instead, others have taken Gnome Shell up to the next level. Fedora, among others, will be putting it front and center in future releases. Today we’re going to take a look at one of the most recent builds available to see what this slick desktop environment has got to offer.
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Batch Image Processing the Easy Way with Phatch
Have a bunch of photos you need to shrink? Or watermark? Or tag? Maybe add some shadows, round some corners, or stick your blog’s address into the corner? We’ve covered batch image processing a little bit before, but for the serious image processor, GIMP might not be enough. For that, we’ve got Phatch – a simple, lovely, amazingly useful utility that can handle all your batch image processing needs on Linux, Windows, or Mac. Oh, and it’s free.
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A Week with Pinguy – The Slick Ubuntu Remix
These days, Linux distros are a dime a dozen, especially in the field of the Ubuntu remix. Just about anyone thinks they can create a usable spinoff (they’re probably right) and that it’ll be wildly successful (they’re probably wrong). For this reason, we don’t often give a full writeup to an Ubuntu remix on MTE unless it offers something really unique or interesting. Pinguy isn’t exactly revolutionary, but it is among a rare breed: an Ubuntu spinoff that might actually have some real improvements over the original.
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Quick Tip: Adding Unread Count to GMail Favicon
The ability to “pin” tabs has been showing up in more web browsers these days, and it’s often a handy way to keep your ever-present favorite sites from taking up all the space in your tab bar. What’s often missing however is the information that is sometimes displayed in the title, such as GMail’s unread count. Lucky for us, Google has added a Labs feature to let you include the unread count in the page’s icon, so that you can pin the tab and still keep and eye out for fresh messages. Here’s how to enable it.
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How to Supercharge Your Shell with Bashish [Linux]
If you’re a Linux (or even Mac) user, and you’ve never toyed with your shell prompt, you might not realize just how useful a good prompt can be. Sure, it can show your user and host names, and perhaps the current directory, but a really good prompt can do a whole lot more. Those who spend a LOT of time in the terminal might even want to take it a step further and move into a custom semi-graphical shell with all kinds of bells and whistles. If you’re one such shell enthusiast, then check out Bashish – a way to theme your command prompt. Yep, you read that right.
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