How to Install OpenOffice.org 3.2 in Ubuntu 9.10

By | March 22, 2010 |

openoffice-logoFew free software projects have had as large of an impact as OpenOffice.org.  It is used by millions of users all over the world and is the primary competition to Microsoft Office in the desktop market.  The latest version of OpenOffice.org (3.2) adds a number of notable features worth trying.  Among them are:

  • Faster startup times (a 46% increase)
  • Better open and proprietary file format support
  • Better Asian language support
  • Numerous Calc (spreadsheet) improvements
  • and many others.

The upcoming release of Ubuntu (10.04 “Lucid Lynx”) will include OpenOffice.org 3.2 by default, and the release is on April 29 — just around the corner.  But if you happen to be a little impatient or just want to give it a try, there are packages available directly from the OpenOffice.org website that work well with Ubuntu 9.10.

To install, just follow these steps:
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How to Use Dropbox in a Non-Gnome Environment

By | March 17, 2010 |

dropbox-logoWithout a doubt, Dropbox is easily the best online storage and file sharing services around. Not only is it easy to use, its support for multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone) also make it one of the most versatile online services around.

Now, if you are using a Linux distro with Gnome environment, you can easily install the Dropbox client and get it to work with Nautilus. However, if you are using other desktop manager like KDE, Fluxbox, Openbox etc, you will have no luck with the installer. Here’s the fix to get Dropbox to work in non-Gnome environment.

Note: This tutorial is based on Kubuntu KDE desktop manager. The steps for other desktop manager are the same, except for the location of the autostart menu.
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Snippet: Troubleshooting Empathy “Network Error” Issue In Ubuntu

By | March 16, 2010 |

If you are using Empathy, there will be situations where you will see a “Network Error” message and you can’t log in to your favorite IM network.

The fix for this is simple:

1. Close your Empathy.

2. In the terminal, type:

killall telepathy-butterfly

3. Restart your Empathy.

It should work now.

Snippet is a short tip/trick or just a quick fix for a certain issue that we discover from time to time. Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed for more up to date tutoprials/tips/tricks.

A Brief History of Brown: Ubuntu Feature Timeline

By | March 16, 2010 |

historyofbrown-lucid-smallLove it or hate it, Ubuntu has changed the way Linux is perceived by many. What was once a mysterious hacker OS is now on the desktop of many technophobic grandmothers, and part of that success in recent years is due to Ubuntu. Next month, we’ll have the newest long-term release, 10.04 Lucid Lynx. A lot has changed since Warty Warthog, the first release, so we here at MakeTechEasier thought it was time to take a look at how Ubuntu has evolved over time with screenshots, software information, and the origins of some of the important features that we all now take for granted.
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How to Turn Your Linux Box into a Home Theater with Boxee

By | February 25, 2010 |

boxee-logoBoxee is a home theater PC software program that runs on Linux and has been designed to be used like an interactive TV, somewhat like the Xbox 360 interface. In fact it’s based on another program called XBMC which was originally created to run on the first Xbox consoles. These days, you can use Boxee to not only manage local music and videos, but stream audio, video, and image content from places all over the web. There are connections to popular media sites like Last.fm, Flickr and YouTube, and a custom web browser to get additional content without leaving the Boxee environment.
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How to Get Mac’s QuickLook Function In Ubuntu

By | February 21, 2010 |

gloobus-preview-mainIn Mac, the QuickLook feature allows you to preview your files without opening them. For Linux users, particularly for those with Gnome desktop, you can also get a similar QuickLook functionality in your desktop with Gloobus-Preview.

Gloobus-Preview is an extension for the Gnome desktop designed to enable a full screen preview of any kind of file. You can use it to preview your presentation slides, pdf files or even to listen to a mp3 track, all without having to open their default applications.
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Snippet: How to Create a Mac Boot Entry in Grub2

By | February 12, 2010 |

If you have just created a dual-boot system with Mac Snow Leopard and Ubuntu Karmic and find that the Grub2 does not boot up your Mac, you can follow the instruction below to add the correct boot entry in Grub2.

Boot into Ubuntu Karmic.

Open a terminal and type:

sudo gedit /etc/grub.d/40_custom

Add the following to the end of the file:

menuentry "MacOS X Snow Leopard" {
        insmod hfsplus
        set root=(hd0,X) #change X to the Mac SL partition
        multiboot /boot
}

Save and close the file. Back in the terminal, type:

sudo update-grub

That’s it. You should now see an extra entry in your Grub screen. Scroll down to the last entry and it will boot into your Mac Snow Leopard.
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13 Ways To Customize Ubuntu Netbook Remix For Better Usability

By | February 7, 2010 |

unr-main-screenUbuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) is a modified version of Ubuntu specially for the netbooks. The latest version of UNR runs Ubuntu Karmic in the backend, but the interface has been heavily customized to make it looks/functions good in small screen. Recently, I installed UNR on my netbook (as a replacement for WinXP). While I like the interface, I find that there are still many places that can be improved for better usability and performance. Here I will highlight several of my own customizations.
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OpenShot – An Easy-to-use Video Editor For the Average Linux User

By | February 1, 2010 |

openshot-logoVideo editing in Linux is never an easy stuff. While there are several top-notch video editing software available for Linux users, most of them are not meant for the faint-hearted. With the release of OpenShot, the averagae users (like you and me) now have an easy to use video editor that they can fire up, drag their photos into the time frame and quickly produce a slideshow movie.

OpenShot is a non-linear video editor for Linux. It can easily combine multiple video clips, audio clips, and images into a single project, and then export the video into many common video formats. Things that you can do with OpenShot include creating photo slide shows, edit home videos, create television commercials and on-line films, or anything else you can dream up.
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How to Run Enlightenment (E17) On Ubuntu Karmic

By | January 14, 2010 |

e17karmic-logoEvery once in a while we here at MakeTechEasier like to take a look at where things stand with the notoriously still-in-development Enlightenment window manager. I say “notorious” because version 0.17 (hereafter called E17) has been in development almost 10 years, long enough to invite a fair share of Duke Nukem Forever analogies. While some have got tired of waiting and just think of E17 as vaporware, the fact is that it has been making progress the entire time. Slow progress, sure, but progress nonetheless. These days E17, while not complete, is still a very slick and powerful desktop with some beautiful graphics and effects. Today we’ll cover how to install E17 onto a standard Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) system.
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