Getting Wi-Fi up and running in Ubuntu!

If you've been facing problems getting your wi-fi connection up and running in Ubuntu 10.10, look no furthur.
Resolving such issues is a matter of installing and activating third party proprietary drivers.

Go to System >> Administration >> Additional Drivers.



What you get here is a listing of available wireless drivers. If not activated, activate them by clicking on the 'Activate' button at the bottom right of the window.



Installing and activating these drivers would resolve Wi-Fi issues immediately.The 'NetworkManagerApplet' would notify in no time.

Furthur Uncomplicating The Uncomplicated Firewall!

Worried about unauthorized access to your system or other security issues ? Let Ubuntu handle it with its inbuilt "UFW" or the "Uncomplicated Firewall" , which is the standard firewall configuration manager in Ubuntu.
"UFW" is a command line based firewall manager.To furthur uncomlicate matters , you could a GUI based version from the "Synaptic Package Manager".



"GUFW" finds itself under the "Administration" menu. Using a simple check box, the firewall can be enabled or disabled. By default "GUFW" would deny access to any program or service. The default behaviour may be altered by using the drop-down menu provided alongside.



To allow or deny access to a specific program or service, click on the "Add" button at the bottom right corner of the window. Using different configuration options , you would , in a way,be creating a rule for a program or a service.
The list of programs obviously includes file transfer programs like torrent clients and services include various protocols like FTP, POP ,IMAP etc.


GUFW also provides log creation services . Use the "Edit" menu to enable logging options.

Clean Up Your System With The 'Cruft Remover'.

'Cruft-Remover' is an application that detects Debian packages that are no longer supported by Ubuntu or in other words it compiles a list of obsolete packages and gives the user a chance to remove them.


This brings the system to a more of a fresh installation state.'Cruft remover' gives a warning before cleaning up the system.The user also gets a chance to prevent a specific package from being removed.


So, get rid of those obsolete packages with the 'Cruft-Remover'.
Install 'Cruft-Remover' from the 'Synaptic Package Manager'.Simply search for 'System-Cleaner' and mark for installation.

Install Xubuntu/Xfce within Ubuntu.

If you have been using Ubuntu for quite some time now,then you must be knowing that there are a couple of more variations of ubuntu like Kubuntu and xubuntu.

What do these variations offer? The difference really lies only in the environment you get to work in with these variations.The Kubuntu version provides you with the KDE or the K Desktop Environment and the Xubuntu version provides you with the Xfce environment.

Lets talk about Xubuntu environment.The Xfce environment provided by Xubuntu is very light on resources as compared to the Gnome and the KDE.It serves as a great option for low-end computer systems that face problems running the more recent and advanced versions of the more popular Gnome and KDE.Even if you have Ubuntu up and running ,you should give Xubuntu a try.There is absolutely no need to install Xubuntu as a separate OS on the hard disk.

You can get the Xfce environment right in your current Ubuntu System.

Go to the Synaptic Package Manager and click on the Edit menu.Now click on Mark Packages By Task.Now tick mark the option of installing the Xubuntu Desktop.The package manager will automatically mark the essential packages to be installed.Click on Apply to install the xubuntu desktop.

After the completion if the installation ,log Out of your Gnome desktop.At the Login menu,enter your user name and password.Now click on "sessions" and choose Xfce.Make it the default environment if you like.Now hit return and enter the Xfce desktop.

You would not see the familiar Application menu.To access your applications right click anywhere on the desktop and browse through the menu.Now configure your desktop a bit.

Right click on  the small rectangular box that you see at the top left of the screen.This is your Xfce panel.Click on "customize Panel" to change its appearance.
Add items to your panel by right clicking on the panel.Add the Xfce Menu,Trash,Clock,Action Buttons etc.Do not forget to add the Window List.The clock that you added provides a new LED mode also.
You can drag this panel anywhere on the desktop.

Now browse through the applications and folders to get a sense of the Xfce desktop.It is pretty configurable and light on eyes.You may also notice some additional applications installed with the Xfce desktop.

Please do share your experience of Xubuntu/Xfce in ubuntu.

Mark Packages by Task in Synaptic.

Marking packages by task is a feature available in the Synaptic Package manager ,which makes installing complete desktop environments and other packages very simple in ubuntu.Suppose you want to install KDE or Xubuntu in you Gnome Desktop Environment.Then,instead of searching for individual packages and marking them separately,you can use the Mark Packages By Task option.It gives you some predefined options such as installing different desktop environments,servers and even 2d/3d editing suites.Simply mark a task and apply.Synaptic would itself mark the individual packages and install them.This is very handy feature that saves a lot of time.
Use this feature to install the KDE 4 package.

Startup Manager

Startup Manager is a must install for any ubuntu/linux newbie .It can be used to customize the boot loader menu .For the users who setup a dual boot system,the default OS, display resolution and color depth can be selected .Under the appearance tab display colors can be customized. Getting those snazzy upsplash themes to work with ubuntu becomes very easy using the Startup Manager .Upsplash themes (.so extension), downloaded from various sites can be installed using the manage upsplash themes ... button. If you are not happy with the number of entries in the boot menu, then under the Advanced tab limit the number of kernels to one. Uncheck boot option for memtest86+ and recovery mode if you don't use these options. Don't try to edit the options under the security tab,if anything goes wrong ,it might make your system inaccessible. Problem:The boot loader themes option under the Appearance tab never seems to work (check the background image option).

If you have a solution, kindly put it in the comments box (anonymous comments enabled) for others to see. Caution: Be very careful in using this application .Just think before editing anything and don't be in a hurry. Install via the synaptic package manager.