The Ubuntu Book 1th Edition 2016 - DeLUXAS

8/16/2019 The Ubuntu Book 1th Edition 2016 - DeLUXAS

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NEW

Ubuntu


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Welcome to

Many people who want to make the move from their Windows systems to a Linuxdistribution choose Ubuntu as their first step. The reasons for this are clear, as it provides

a clean, attractive GUI with Unity, and usability by the bucket-load. It is the perfectenvironment in which to begin learning about the command line and creating a morecustomisable workspace, while still benefitting from the positives that you were usedto in Windows and other desktop systems. In this book, our aim is to guide you fromwhere you are now – whether that’s about to download Ubuntu, or looking for waysto supercharge your experience – to becoming a confident Ubuntu power user. You’ll

discover the best features of Ubuntu’s default software, and the best FOSS apps for youto download from the Software Centre. We’ll even suggest some re-spins of Ubuntu to

try, should you want to go beyond the basic Unity interface.

Ubuntu TheBook


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Imagine Publishing LtdRichmond House33 Richmond Hill

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recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the bookazine hasendeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change.

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The Ubuntu Book First Edition © 2016 Imagine Publishing Ltd

ISBN 978 1785 462 849

bookazine series

Part of the

Ubuntu T heBook


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Contents08 GetstartedwithUbuntuGet to know thispopular Linux distro

16 What’syourUbuntuavour?Discover differentdesktop environments

6 The Ubuntu Book

UbuntuBook

The

24 Navigate Ubuntu’s desktopFind your way around

26 Dual boot with UbuntuRun Ubuntu alongside Windows

28 Customising the desktopChange settings to your preferences

30 Discover System SettingsPersonalise your system details

32 Tweak Security Settings Ensure you are protected

34 Find your way around Dash This handy search bar is your gateway

36 Understand the le systemLearn about le system organisation

38 Accessibility in UbuntuMake Ubuntu easier to use

40 Sharing les in Ubuntu Transfer your documents with ease

42 Manage drives with DisksUse hard drives and removable media

44 Commanding UbuntuGet to grips with the command line

48 GNOME Terminal & XTermExplore the basics and benets

50 Secure les with Déjà DupCreate a copy of your valuable data

52 Use Startup Disk CreatorMake a bootable USB

54 Check the Time & DateView the calendar and make changes

55 Unleash Archive ManagerUnderstand this handy accessory

56 Using Disk Usage AnalyzerFind out where your disk space went

57 Manage StartupApplicationsAutomatically start your apps

58 Monitor Software

& UpdatesKeep your system up to date

59 Work with Universal AccessMake Ubuntu more friendly

60 Congure Network connectionsSet up a new connection

61 Tweak the Power settingsMake your laptop run longer

66 Explore the UbuntuSoftware CentreYour one-stop shop for new apps

70 Browse with FirefoxExplore the Internet

72 Manage emailswith ThunderbirdAll your email accounts covered

74 Communicate with EmpathySet up and use this instant messenger

76 Explore LibreOffi ce WriterDiscover the features of the FOSSword processor

78 Unlock LibreOffi ce Calc tricks Use the spreadsheets like a pro

80 Edit formulas in MathLearn about this LibreOffi ce extra

Ubuntu apps

Ubuntu essentials 62 Connect withOnline AccountsEnjoy convenient integration

63 Use System MonitorView and manage your resources


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The Ubuntu Book

82 Present with ImpressGet to know the FOSS presenting tool

84 20 LibreOffi ce tips & tricksMake your working day evenmore productive

88 Text editing with GeditUnderstand its features and uses

90 Create discs with BraseroCreate CDs and DVDs fast

94 Work with LibreOffi ce drawCreate cool vector graphics

96 View images with ShotwellMake viewing images seamless

98 Manage imageswith ShotwellKeep tabs on large numbers of image les

100 View movies with VideosView videos with Ubuntu’s default app

102 Listen to songswith RhythmBoxUse this background music app

Create

with Ubuntu

SuperchargeUbuntu114 Best free software

Enhance your Ubuntu experience

124 Partition with GPartedUse the GUI to handle partitioning

126 Remote controlworkstations withRemminaManage a remote server from yourdesk with Remmina

128 Switch languageswith FCITXMaster this extra feature

150 Mint 17.3 ‘Rosa’ CinnamonIs this variant better than Ubuntu?

152 Elementary FreyaDiscover this Mac-like, consistent distr

154 Netrunner 17 ‘Horizon’A plasma desktop with striking aesthet

156 LXLE 14.04.3A Lubuntu respin, great for old hardwa

158 Deepin Linux 2014.3An elegant HTML5 desktop

Beyond Ubuntu

104 Touch up photoswith GIMPEnhance your photos like aprofessional

108 Discover PulseAudioWe reveal its mind-blowing features

130 BitTorrent with TransmissionUpload and download data

132 Visualise data with Chart.jsDraw gorgeous graphs of all kinds

136 Command-line effi ciency Take the terminal further

142 Develop with Python Learn about this popular coding language


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Get startedwith UbuntuBecause of its free, open source and user-friendly nature, Ubuntu hasgained a lot of momentum in recent times. No wonder so many software

developers are using it for their projects

Ubuntu is a free, user-friendly Linux-basedoperating system that has found its place inevery corner of the world. The best thing about

Ubuntu is that it is absolutely free, including its futureupdates. Another thing that makes Ubuntu so popularis that it is extremely light on PC hardware, so you caninstall it on computers that are three to four years old,yet it still runs very smoothly. Ubuntu is the most widelyused Linux operating system – both for desktops andin the cloud. Consider Ubuntu as a complete desktopoperating system that is freely available – with bothcommunity and professional support. It can be notedhere that Ubuntu is suitable for both desktop and

server use. These are just some of the features thatmake Ubuntu the best operating system to go for in thedeveloper community…Ubuntu is everywhere – Almost all computermanufacturers are shipping models based on Ubuntu– this is one of the main reasons why you can useUbuntu everywhere.Ubuntu is well supported – There are few other Linuxdistros that provide the same kind of long-term supportas Ubuntu. Considering the amount of money and effortinvolved in developing software, it becomes even moreimportant to provide long-term support when it comesto open source projects.

Ubuntu is easy to use – It’s easy to pick up and use, evenif you come from a Windows background. Users don’tneed to do anything extra when booting Ubuntu for thefirst time.Ubuntu is pretty stable – For most users, Ubuntu justworks. This is because the OS is being tweaked andfixed all the time. Since all the latest packages are notintegrated during the development cycle, it also helps inproviding better stability.

Looking at the above features, it’s no surprise thatUbuntu is so popular. We will go into more detail duringthe rest of this feature, and will cover various aspectsthat will be of great help to new Ubuntu users.

Get started with Ubuntu

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You can try out Ubuntuwithout even installing it

Getting started withthe trial version

As mentioned earlier, as a newcomer to Ubuntu, you willbe able to try it without even installing it. This can bedone either an Ubuntu DVD in the drive or a USB stick withUbuntu on it in a USB port.

1 If using a DVD, put the Ubuntu DVD into the drive andrestart the computer. You will see a welcome screenwhich prompts you to choose your language and gives anoption to install Ubuntu or try it from the DVD.

2 If you want to use a USB drive, note that the latestcomputers can start up from a USB stick. Here also,

you’ll see a welcome screen that prompts you to chooseyour language and gives an option to either install Ubuntuor try it from the USB stick.

3 Irrespective of whether you are using the DVD or USBstick method, the next step is to select your preferredlanguage and then click on ‘Try Ubuntu’. Your live desktopwill then appear (as shown in the picture above).

4 As a nal step, when you are ready to install Ubuntu,you just need to double-click on the icon on yourdesktop: ’Install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS’.

If you want to useLinux, but still want

Windows installedon your computer,the best optionfor you is to installUbuntu in a dual-bootconguration. Justplace the Ubuntuinstaller on a USBdrive, CD or DVD. Onceyou have done this,restart your computerand select the InstallUbuntu option insteadof the Try Ubuntuoption. Go throughthe install processand select the optionto install Ubuntualongside Windows.You’ll be able to selectthe operating systemyou want to usewhenever you startyour computer. Headto p.24 for more.

The system requirements required vary among Ubuntuproducts. For the Ubuntu desktop release 14.04, a PCwith at least 768MB of RAM and 5GB of disk space ishighly recommended. For less powerful computers, it’sbest to use one of the other Ubuntu distributions.

Ubuntu can be booted from a USB drive or CD andused without even installing it. Let’s take a look at thethe different ways of downloading and using the trialversion of Ubuntu…

Live booting and virtual machinesOne of the easiest ways to get started with Ubuntu isby creating a live USB drive, CD or DVD. After placingUbuntu onto it, you can insert your USB stick or discinto any computer and restart it. The computer shouldthen boot from the removable medium you providedand you’ll be able to use Ubuntu without making anychanges to the computer’s hard drive.

You may be wondering how to create a live UbuntuUSB drive or disc. For this, you can download the latestUbuntu disk image from Ubuntu’s website. Use theUnetbootin tool to put Ubuntu on your USB flash drive orburn the downloaded ISO image to a disc. All you need todo now is to restart your computer from the removablemedium you provided and select the Try Ubuntu option.

Like any other operating system, Ubuntu can alsobe run in a virtual machine on your computer. In thisway, you’ll be able to try Linux without even restartingyour computer, although you should note that virtualmachines are slower than running the operatingsystem on your computer itself. To create a Ubuntuvirtual machine, first you need to download and installVirtualBox. Create a new virtual machine with it, selectthe Ubuntu operating system, and provide the ISOfile you downloaded from Ubuntu’s website whenprompted. The installation process is self-explanatoryand you can go through it in the virtual machine as if youwere installing Ubuntu on a real computer.

Boot Ubuntu from a disc or USB stick

Dual boot

“Ubuntu can be booted from a USB drive or disc and used without even installing it”

T he Ubuntu Book

Above You can installUbuntu or just try it out

Left If successful, youwill be presented with thestandard Ubuntu desktop


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New versions are releasedevery six months and aresupported for 18 months

As noted previously, Ubuntu is a very popular Linuxdistribution with many years of maturity under its beltand a huge user base. After becoming comfortablewith the initial few aspects of Ubuntu, now it is timefor you to take a deeper look at Ubuntu’s full version.Before you start with Ubuntu, you need to obtain a copyof the Ubuntu installation image. In addition, you willhave to ensure that your system meets the minimumrequirements. The most common method of obtainingUbuntu is to download the Ubuntu DVD image directlyfrom the official site: ubuntu.com/download . Fordownloading and installing it, you just need to selectwhether you require the 32-bit or 64-bit version and thenclick ‘Start download’.

It is important to understand here the two versionsthat Ubuntu is available in: 32-bit and 64-bit. They differfrom each other in the way the computer processesinformation. So if your computer has a 64-bit processor,you will need to install the 64-bit version; if you have

an older computer or you do not know the type of theprocessor in your computer, it is advisable to installthe 32-bit version.

Although 5GB of free space on your hard drive isrequired for installing Ubuntu, the recommendation isto have 15GB or more. This will mean you’ll have enoughspace to install extra applications, as well as to storeyour own documents, music etc.

You can note here that if you have an Internetconnection, then the installer will ask you if you wantto ‘Download updates while installing’. It is highlyrecommended to perform this step.

Options forinstallationYou can install Ubuntualongside another OS orreplace it

The Ubuntu installer will automatically detect anyexisting operating system installed on your machine,and present installation options suitable for yoursystem. Please note that the options listed belowentirely depend on your specific system and may notall be available:

• Install alongside other operating systems•Upgrade Ubuntu … to 14.04• Erase … and install Ubuntu• Something else

Out of the above four options, the most preferredis ‘Upgrade Ubuntu … to 14.04’. This is becausethis option will allow you to keep all your preciousdocuments, music, pictures and any other personalfiles on the computer. Installed software will be

Adopting thefull version ofUbuntu


It is important to have an Internet connection duringthe Ubuntu installation process. If you are notconnected to the Internet, the installer will ask you tochoose a wireless network, if available. You can followthese steps in such a scenario…1. Select ‘Connect to this network’ and then you need

to choose your network from the list.2. In the ‘Password’ eld, enter your router’s WEP or

WPA key.3. Then click ‘Connect’ to continue.

Internet connection

“If you have an older computer or you do not know the type of the processor it uses , it is advisable to install the 32- bit version”

retained when possible and system-wide settings willbe cleared.

The ‘Erase disk and install Ubuntu’ option can beused if you want to erase your entire disk. As expected,this will delete any existing operating system that isinstalled on that disk and install Ubuntu in its place.

When you choose the ‘Something else’ option, youwill be able to configure the partitions as you needbefore installing Ubuntu.

It can be noted here that in order to reduce thetime required for installation, Ubuntu will continuethe installation process in the background while theuser configures some important user details likeusername, password, keyboard settings, the defaulttime zone and so on.

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Ubuntu needs to know some information about you so thatit can set up the primary user account on your computer.As expected, when congured, your name will appear onthe login screen as well as the user menu.

On this screen you will need to provide the followinginformation to Ubuntu…• Your name• What you want to call your computer• Your desired username• Your desired password

After the installation has nished and your computeris restarted, you will be greeted with the login screenof Ubuntu. The login screen will present you with yourusername and you will need to enter the password thatyou provided previously to get past it. Click to enter yourusername and password; you may then press Enter toaccess the Ubuntu desktop.

Once we have our Ubuntu desktop ready, we may beinterested in viewing the hidden les. This can be easilydone by clicking View Options>Show Hidden Files.After successfully installing Ubuntu, you may want toencrypt your home folder. It takes very little time and is

pretty straightforward, and is considered as an importantstep before you proceed further.

You may notice that Ubuntu is a little different comparedto some other operating systems. The most importantthing to understand is the Ubuntu packaging system.Typically it includes:

/usr/var/bin/sbin/lib

The other thing to note here is cron job management.The jobs that are the under the purview of the systemadministrator can be found in the /etc directory. Therefore,if you have a root cron job for daily, weekly or monthly runs,make sure to place them under/etc/cron.{daily,weekly,monthly} .These jobs can be invoked from /etc/crontab .

There is a tool called ‘Ubuntu After Install’ available, whichcan be used to install some of the best and essentialsoftware after installing the Ubuntu desktop. It has a

bunch of useful applications, and will automate theinstallation process on a newly installed machine to obtaina near perfect desktop. This tool saves a lot of your timeand effort, and installs all latest versions of software onyour Ubuntu system.

Decode the menu bar, Launcher, Dash, home directory and moreAfter taking a look at the initial aspects of Ubuntu,now it’s time to delve deeper into the operatingsystem. To start with, you may notice many similaritiesbetween Ubuntu and other operating systems –mainly because of the fact that they are all based onthe concept of a GUI (graphical user interface). It isdefinitely a good idea to understand the applicationsand menus in Ubuntu so that we will be comfortablewith using its GUI. Any GUI-based operating systemmakes use of a desktop environment. The main

“T he menu bar incorporates the mocommon functions used in Ubuntu. Eacinstallation of Ubuntumay contain slightlydifferent types and quantities of icons”


User account details and beyond

T he Ubuntu Book 1

Navigate Ubuntufeatures provided by a desktop environment are relatedto the look and feel of the system and how easily a usercan navigate the desktop.

Let us take a quick look at the menu bar in Ubuntu.The menu bar incorporates the most common functionsused in Ubuntu. Each installation of Ubuntu may containslightly different types and quantities of icons basedon a number of factors, including the type of hardware.Some programs add an icon to the indicator areaautomatically during installation.

Left You can choose toemploy the terminal


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You should note that every application features itsown menu system wherein different actions can beexecuted within it (such as File, Edit, View and so on).

Appropriately, the menu system for an application isknown as the application menu.Another thing that we need to understand in

Ubuntu is the ‘Launcher’: the vertical bar of iconsavailable on the left side of the desktop. With the helpof this Launcher, one can easily access the variousapplications, mounted devices and trash. Note that anyapplication that is running will have its icon placed in theLauncher bar.

Above To run any application from the Launcher, you just needto click on the application’s icon

In Ubuntu, we commonly come across somethingcalled ‘Dash’. If you have used Windows in the past,you can consider Dash as something similar to theWindows Start menu. The Dash will help you to find theapplications and files on your machine.

“You can consider D ash as something similar to the Windows Start menu : it helps you to find applications and files on your machine ”

To explore the Dash, you need to click on the topmosticon on the Launcher. Now you will be able to see awindow with a search bar on the top as well as therecently accessed applications, files and downloads.

As mentioned above, Dash is a very powerful tool thatcan be used to search for files and applications on yourcomputer. In order to find files or folders, you simplyneed to type a portion of the file or folder name: as youtype, the results will appear in the Dash.

As expected, a standard Ubuntu installation comeswith many applications. And users can additionallydownload thousands of applications from the UbuntuSoftware Centre. The Applications lens on the Dash willautomatically categorise installed applications under‘Recently Used’, ‘Installed’ or ‘More Suggestions’.

You can also enter the name of an application (or apart of it) into the search bar in the Dash, and the namesof applications matching your search criteria will appear.Even if you don’t remember the name of the applicationat all, type a keyword that is relevant to that applicationand the Dash will be able to find it. Another thing that weneed to understand here is that in addition to searchingyour local machine for files and applications, Dash canhelp in searching various online resources.

Now let’s take a look at how to browse the files onyour machine. In addition to using Dash to search forfiles, one can also access them directly from their


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File A quick description/etc/issue Gives info about Ubuntu version that you

are currently running/etc/apt/sources.list Contains the available sources for

software installationlsb_release -a Prints out the Ubuntu version you

are running/usr/share/tomcat Installation directory for Tomcat

Another concept that users need to know about

is mounting and unmounting removable devices.Mounting a device means associating a directory namewith the device, and this in turn allows you to navigateto the directory to access the device’s files. When you’vefinished using a device, you can safely unmount it.Unmounting a device disassociates the device from itsdirectory, allowing you to eject it.

Ubuntu uses the Linux le system and it is basedon a series of folders in the root directory. Thesefolders contain important system les that cannot bemodied unless you are running as the root user or usethe sudo command. With this restriction, computerviruses will not be able to change the core systemles, and normal users will not be able to accidentlychange anything that is critical.

Ubuntu is considered as secure primarily due to thefollowing reasons…• Many viruses designed to primarily target Windows-

based systems do not affect Ubuntu system.• Security patches for open source software like

Ubuntu are often released quickly.• Open source software like Ubuntu allows security

aws to be easily detected.• The basic security concepts such as le permissions,

passwords and user accounts are also available withUbuntu. Understanding these concepts will help youin securing your computer.

directory. The home directory is used to store all of yourpersonal files (instead of system-related files).

Sometimes, you may need to make use of the

‘Files’ file manager window. Whenever you select theFiles shortcut in the Launcher, Ubuntu will open thisfile manager.

As you can see from the above screenshot, this windowcomes with the following features:

menu bar: It is located at the top of the screen. With thismenu bar, one will be able to browse andremove bookmarks, open a new window,connect to a server, quit etc.

title bar: This indicates the name of the currentlyselected directory.

toolbar: This displays your location in the file system, asearch button etc.

Sometimes, you may need to customise your Ubuntudesktop. Most customisation can be achieved via theSession Indicator and then selecting System Settings to

open the System Settings application window.

Once you are done with working on your machine, youcan select the option to log out, suspend, restart or shutdown through the Session Indicator.

Alhough Ubuntu provides a nice GUI, to fully utilise thepower of the OS you’ll need to understand the ‘terminal’.Any operating system has two types of user interface:

GUI: This is the desktop, windows, menus and toolbarsthat you click to get things done.Command-line interface (CLI): The terminal is Ubuntu’sCLI. It can be considered as a method of controllingsome aspects of Ubuntu using only commands that youtype on the keyboard.

Even though users are able to perform most day-to-day activities without ever opening a terminal, it isconsidered as a very powerful tool and is therefore wellworth investigating. With it, you will be able to performmany useful tasks.

Troubleshooting tasks: If you face any difficulties whileusing Ubuntu, then you may need to use the terminal.If you need to perform operations on multiple files at thesame time, then the terminal is the preferred method.System administration and software developmentskills can be significantly improved by having a goodunderstanding of the CLI.

A terminal can be opening either by hitting Alt+Ctrl+Tsimultaneously or by right-clicking the desktop and thenselecting Terminal from the menu.

Please note that all the commands in the terminalfollow the same approach: you can type the command,possibly followed by some parameters, and then pressEnter to perform the specified action. In most cases,

some type of output will be displayed to confirm theaction was completed successfully, although this candepend on the command being executed.

Ubuntu offers various text editors which are installedby default. The most commonly used command-lineeditor is vim. The table below gives quick informationabout some of the important files in Ubuntu.

“Mounting a device means associating a directoryname with the device , and this in turn allows you to navigate to the directory to access the device’s files directly”


Securing Ubuntu

Ubuntu le system structure

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Troubleshooting and softwaremanagement in Ubuntu

What next?

Sometimes when you are using Ubuntu, thingsmay not work out as expected. The good thing isthat the problems encountered while working withUbuntu can be easily fixed. The best practice for anytroubleshooting with Ubuntu is to complete all the stepsand document the changes you have made, so that youwill be able to track and undo changes (if necessary),and also to pass the details about your work to otherusers in the community. Let us take a quick look at someof the most common problems that users may facewith Ubuntu.

It’s all too easy to accidentally delete a file – we’ve alldone it. If this happens, the good news is that you shouldstill be able to recover the file from Ubuntu’s Trash folder.

The Trash can be considered as a special folder whereUbuntu stores deleted files before they are permanentlyremoved from your computer. Follow these steps inorder to recover a file…


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Forgot your password?In Ubuntu, if you forget your password, you can reset itby using ‘Recovery mode’. To start the Recovery mode,you need to shut down your computer and then startagain. As the computer starts up, press the Shift key andthen select the Recovery mode option using the arrowkeys on your keyboard. Once booted, instead of a normallogin screen, you will see a Recovery Menu. Select rootusing the arrow keys and press Enter. You will now be ata terminal prompt:

root@ubuntu:~#In order to reset your password, you can enter: # passwd username

…replacing ‘username’ with your own username. Afterthis, Ubuntu will prompt you for a new password. Typeit, press the Enter key, then retype your password andpress Enter again when you are done.

How to clean Ubuntu?Unused packages and temporary files will beaccumulated in Ubuntu’s software packaging systemand over a time, this can grow quite large. Cleaningup allows a user to reclaim space on their computer.We have two options – clean and autoclean – for thispurpose. In order to obtain the clean utility (activatedusing the clean command), open a terminal and enter:

$ sudo apt-get cleanOne can also use the autoremove option here to removeunused packages:

$ sudo apt-get autoremove

Open Trash folderIf you need to restore an item, select it in the Trash. Click‘Restore selected items’ and this will move the selecteddeleted items back to their original locations. Issues with the hardware

In some scenarios, Ubuntu may have difficulties runningon certain computers. The good thing is that the Ubuntucommunity has plenty of documentation that may helpyou to overcome many such problems. The completehardware troubleshooting guide is available on Ubuntu’s

support wiki at wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport .Let’s take a closer look at how software management

can be achieved in Ubuntu. Ubuntu uses a set ofsoftware utlities called a package managementsystem or package manager. Consider a packagemanager as a collection of tools that will make thelife of a user much easier when it comes to installing,upgrading, deleting and configuring software. A packagemanagement system has a database of all software,called the repository, and this repository provides a lot ofinformation about the software – including the version,the vendor’s name and the dependencies that are therefor the software to properly get installed. By default,Ubuntu provides two different ways by which one canbrowse the repositories for searching, installing andremoving software.

1. Ubuntu Software Centre2. Command-line apt-get

With the help of the Ubuntu Software Centre, one cansearch, install and remove applications easily andconveniently. It is considered as the most commonapplication management system used by both noviceand expert Ubuntu users. Since in Ubuntu, software isdelivered in the form of packages, it becomes a one-click process when we install the software by using theUbuntu Software Centre. You can consider the SoftwareCentre as a kind of app store that gives you instantaccess to thousands of applications.

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As can be seen from the screenshot on the previouspage, the Ubuntu Software Centre window has foursections – a list of categories on the left, a banner onthe top, a ‘What’s new’ panel, and a ‘Recommended ForYou’ panel. Note that clicking on a category will take youto a list of related applications. If you are looking for aspecific application, you may already know its specificname or you may just have a general category in mind.To help you find the right application, you can browse theSoftware Centre catalogue by clicking on the categoryreflecting the type of software you seek.

Another handy feature of Software Centre is thatit keeps track of past software management in theHistory section. This is very useful if you wish toreinstall an application previously removed and donot remember the application’s name. The SoftwareCentre also helps in recommending the software basedon the software already installed on your system.Although the Software Centre provides a large library ofapplications from which to choose, only those packagesavailable within the official Ubuntu repositories arelisted. Sometimes, you may be interested in a specificapplication that is not available in these repositories. Inthis scenario, we may have to use alternative methodsfor accessing and installing software in Ubuntu, suchas downloading an installation file manually from theinternet or adding extra repositories.

In summary, with Ubuntu Software Centre, one will beable to perform the following activities:1. Search for, download, install and remove software in

a single window2. Keep track of your software installation, update and

removal history3. Test-drive software without installation or purchase4. Read and write user reviews5. Receive software recommendations based on your

search and installation history6. Filter software searches by providers, like Ubuntu,

Canonical Partners, and For Purchase

7. Manage payment information and transactionhistory with a single Ubuntu account

In addition, Ubuntu allows the user to decide howthey want to manage their package updates. This canbe achieved through the Updates tab in the ‘Softwareand Updates’ window.

With this, you will be able to specify what kinds ofupdates you are interested in installing on your machine.The available options are:

1.Important security updates (trusty-security)2. Recommended updates (trusty-updates)

3. Pre-released updates (trusty-proposed)4. Unsupported updates (trusty-backports)

The middle section of this specific window allows youto customise the updates. You can customise thefrequency for the updates; it also provides options forinstalling the updates.

You should now be comfortable using Ubuntu.As a next step, you can enhance your knowledge byunderstanding various other Linux distributions (such asKubuntu, Lubuntu and Xubuntu). Another thing you maywant to take a closer look at is Ubuntu Server Edition.We can consider Ubuntu Server Edition as an operatingsystem that has been optimised to perform multi-user

tasks. Some of these tasks may include file sharing,website hosting etc. More official documentation aboutUbuntu is available at help.ubuntu.com and we advisyou to peruse it at your leisure.


The Ubuntu community provides users with a lot ofopportunities to get involved. Doing so will also helpyou to enhance your skills. Some of the ways for you tocontribute are:

• Providing technical support to end users• Fixing bugs in the existing software• Contributing to community documentation• Writing new software

Get involved with Ubuntu

As discussed, by default we will add applicationsvia the Ubuntu Software Centre that downloads therequired software from the Ubuntu repository. But insome cases, we may need to add software from otherrepositories. Using only recognised sources, such as aproject’s site or various community repositories is moresecure than downloading applications from an arbitrarysource. When using a third-party source, you will needto consider its trustworthiness, and be 100 per centsure about what you’re installing on your computer.

Trusting third-party software

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Canonical recognises Ubuntu avours - custom Ubuntu versions shippedwith different desktop environments, or designed for specic usage

What’s yourUbuntu flavour?Ubuntu is a Linux distribution that ships with the Unitydesktop. However, there are other desktops, such asKDE, GNOME, MATE, XFCE and others with their ownestablished communities. Technically, changing adesktop is about installing another set of packages, thatare all part of standard Ubuntu online repositories. Thisway you can install all of them and choose what desktopyou want to use at the login greeter. Ubuntu works finewith multiple desktops, but could always use a polishin terms of its user experience due to minor details, likeicons from one desktop appearing in a system tray of

another, or a mixed set of default applications.A custom Ubuntu remix with a desktop other

than Unit, or with specific usage focus is called the‘Ubuntu Flavour’. Everyone can build his or her own

clone of Ubuntu with custom settings, tweaks,added extra applications and so on, but here weare going to review so-called ‘official’ Ubuntuflavours. The difference between a custom-made Ubuntu delivery with an official flavouris that the latter has been recognised by theTech Board of main Ubuntu team and thusis officially supported by Canonical. Theofficial support means that Canonicalprovides its Launchpad infrastructure forbuilding and testing a flavour’s images,Ubuntu team members monitor bugsin the public bug tracker of a flavour,and also a community manager froma flavour’s party aligns his or her planswith the official Ubuntu release schedule.Recognised Ubuntu flavours are often

released a few days after the main Ubunturelease announcements and share Ubuntu

fixes and improvements once they are notdesktop-specific. There are no significantdifferences between Ubuntu and itsflavours in terms of hardware and softwarecompatibility, and almost any applicationfor Linux works with any of Ubuntuflavours once it is reported to work withthe flagship Ubuntu distribution.

Ubuntu flavours

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“T he KDE P lasma desktop is a heavyweight shell due to processes that run in the background ”

Above Windows Aero and OS XAqua are gone, but KDE Plasma ishere to stay!

Kubuntu has been the second most popular version of Ubuntu ever since itemerged in 2005, when KDE developers talked loud about the undisputedsuperiority of their beloved desktop environment and often added the ‘k’letter to an application name to make it clear to users that it was a KDE-centric one. Modern Kubuntu features the Plasma5 desktop, the version thatsuperseded the previous version called KDE Software Compilation 4.x. Kubuntuis about KDE, and KDE is about customising the UI. The KDE offers the samedesktop paradigm as the ‘older’ Windows versions (without the controversialMetro interface), with a taskbar along the bottom and the ‘K’ menu on the left forstarting programmes. In KDE you can change hundreds of settings, customise thetoolbar, add plasmoids (desktop widgets), redefine any aspect of the look and feel andhave your desktop behave the way you want it to. To accommodate this, KDE does eatup more system resources and sometimes can slow your system down (especially onlow-end machines). The KDE Plasma desktop is often considered as a heavyweightshell due to various processes that run in the background (like the file indexer forinstant searches) and sophisticated desktop effects. Besides the fact that you canconfigure KDE to run faster by disabling extra features, the desktop is improvingover time. Kubuntu with Plasma 5 runs very smooth and fluid, it has a much bettercompositing engine that removes flickering when you watch videos, and doesn’t loadyour system with heavy background tasks if it detects that you are running productivity

applications. Default applications choice does not differ much between Ubuntu andKubuntu, except for the fact that Thunderbird mail was replaced with KMail.

KubuntuAn Ubuntu avour with the KDEPlasma desktop, Kubuntu is reportedto offer the best KDE experience, andeven has the letter ‘k’ in its name!

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LubuntuA lightweight Ubuntu-based Linux distributionwith the LXDE desktop that provides fasterperformance and better energy saving

EdubuntuEdubuntu ships with Unity – the same shell you might have seen in the flagshipUbuntu distribution. However, it is almost impossible to mix this flavour with itsparent due to massive customisation. Edubuntu has clearly been tailored for schoolclasses. First, Edubuntu sticks to the LTS Ubuntu releases for its basis, that’s whymajor Edubuntu versions see the light once in two years, with smaller updatesinbetween. For that reason, the newest version in the time of writing is 14.04.2 LTS,not 15.10 as for many other Ubuntu flavours.

Second, Edubuntu’s installation image is quite large and needs a DVD or USBstick for preparing an installation media. When you launch the installation wizard,you will notice the Edubuntu-specific additions to it. You can add the GNOMEFallback session here or install LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) to makestudents’ machines boot via network from the tutor’s server machine. Edubuntuinstaller also lets you select package templates for required target audience(preschool) and course level (primary, secondary, tertiary).

When the system is up and running, you can guess that it is Edubuntu by themodified Ubuntu logo with raised hand and by the custom (and rich) set of pre-installed applications. These include Blinken memory game, Calibre booksmanager, Fritzing emulator for building electronic circuits, Chemtool for schemingchemical formulas and much more. It includes educational software from KDEproject and standalone learning applications, with high-grade scientific solutions.

The world of Linux is so big, that there has been no lack of lightweight Linuxdistributions. Still Lubuntu managed to become the most popular lightweight distrowithin the last few years. The secret is in the logical and balanced approach of the

great LXDE desktop complemented with a stable and widely recognised Ubuntubasement. LXDE was started in 2006 as a set of lightweight GTK-based accessoriesmade to accompany PCManFM, a quick and robust file manager. Since then, LXDEincluded but was not limited to home grown desktop modules with speaking names(LXInput, LXLauncher, LXPanel...) as well as third-party components: Openboxas a window manager, SDDM for login greeter, Leafpad for text editor and a fewothers. Following a trend to roll out a desktop-specific application store in everyother Ubuntu flavour, Lubuntu team has integrated the Lubuntu Software Centerinto its distribution. It lets users install or remove extra applications and looks like itis a happy blend of Ubuntu Software Center (with its ratings and screenshots) andSynaptic (with its detailed packages control).

From LXDE to LXQTLXDE developers had been unhappy with GTK 3 development some time ago, anddecided to move interface controls from GTK to Qt. Qt is the industry-standardgraphical toolkit that delivers very comfortable cross-platform development.Currently the future of LXDE with Qt happens under the new name LXQT. It isunder active development and while many people already use LXQT for testing andreporting bugs, it is not ready for everyday use yet. The modern LXQT has absorbedcontribution from Razor-Qt – another minimalistic desktop, with which LXQT wasmerged in 2013. LXQt already looks sleek and still works very fast. Lubuntu offers away to test LXQT with just three commands:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:lubuntu-dev/lubuntu-daily sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install lxqt-metapackage lxqt-panel openbox

Edubuntu offers a custom applications set foreducational purposes and is designed to beused in schools and universities

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Years ago there was no GNOME 3 (also known as GNOME Shell), and Ubuntufeatured the now-classic GNOME 2.x desktop. Since then GNOME 3 has evolved

into an original environment where mobile and desktop interface combine in grace.The team at the main Ubuntu distribution is focused on polishing Unity desktopfeatures, while very few devs actually care that Ubuntu still ships with very outdatedGNOME accessories. Sooner or later, a GNOME 3 based flavour must have beenmade. The first Ubuntu GNOME release took place during 2012 and was warmlywelcomed by GNOME fans, who preferred pure GNOME 3 desktop to Unity.

GNOME 3 has a trendy look, slightly larger UI controls (some of them are designedto be triggered by finger on touchscreens) and the original desktop layout. The topbar is fixed, with the Activities button on the left, while a clock with calendar andnotifications are at the centre, and applications indicators on the right. Similar toUnity, there is a vertical launcher panel along the left edge of the screen, but GNOME3 hides it by default (press the Super key to reveal it).

GNOME takes a different approach in offering settings to a user. There is the built-in System Settings, which is fine but quite basic once you want to customise systemlook and feel. A more powerful settings altering tool is called ‘GNOME-tweak-tool’,and it is available in Ubuntu GNOME standard repositories. GNOME Tweak Tool canbe combined with Unity Tweak Tool: even though we don’t have the Unity desktophere, the two tweakers complement each other and will prove useful.

Ubuntu GNOMEThough Unity incorporates lots of GNOMEapplications, some people want enjoy a pureGNOME Shell experience. Ubuntu GNOME isthe best solution for that

“GNOME 3 has a trendy look , with slightly larger UI controls , and the original desktop layout ”

MythbuntuMythbuntu is an Ubuntu version tailoredto deliver a smooth MythTV experience

The idea behind Mythbuntu is to bridge the gap between inexperienced usersthat still want to turn their PC into a media center, and Ubuntu geeks. Mythbunmakes installing and setting up the MythTV system a little easier – at least usersdon’t have to hunt down individual packages and stick to command line to entercommands. So, Mythbuntu is a comfortable and ready-to-configure deliveryof MythTV in Linux. MythTV offers the interface and the underlying routinesfor setting up a digital video recorder, or maybe a digital home multimedia/entertaining system. In short, it is an open source alternative to things likeWindows Media Center.

Client and ServerMythTV has a client-server architecture, so there is a foreground user-friendlypart (client) with a fullscreen interface, remote control support, and a backgroundpart (server) that runs the underlying routines, like converting media, interactingwith TV tuners, etc. The server side is very powerful: it supports ATSC, QAM, DMB-T/H and DVB sources – virtually all major formats for high-definition television.

Mythbuntu lets you create custom setups with client and server running on thesame machine, or a ‘frontend-only’ installation in case you already have a MythTVbackend running somewhere else.

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XubuntuXubuntu is an Ubuntu version with theXFCE desktop, which is focused onperformance and useability. XFCE is lighterthan Unity, but not as light as LXDE

MATE is the reincarnation of the classicGNOME 2 desktop, that used to be verypopular before GNOME 3 (GNOME Shell) tookover. Ubuntu MATE brings it to the fore

Ubuntu MATE

Xubuntu is fast, low on resources and offers a clean, uncluttered desktop. Doesthat sound familiar to you? It might remind you of what we said about Lubuntu.Xubuntu and Lubuntu share their target audiences by offering Ubuntu flavourswith similar features. Both systems are good for old or low-end computers, but

it seems like Xubuntu doesn’t slim down desktop features like Lubuntu does andgenerally is feature-rich rather than minimalistic.Xubuntu offers a clean XFCE desktop with the main launcher panel at the

top of the screen. There are now 5 presets of the panel and the backup andrestoration tool for the panel. Browse the XFCE main menu to explore thewonderful world of different default applications. Thunar is the default filemanager, Orage offers a calendar, and Mousepad is a text editor. In fact, XFCE hasa wide list of custom-made accessories and utilities (including a CD burner!), theoriginal Xfwm window manager, own frontend to Gstreamer media framework(Parole), and of course its own System Settings clone with original modules.

Reasons to go with XA lot of people can be left undecided with what desktop environment to gowith: XFCE or LXDE. Both are attractive and fine and have little footprint bothin RAM and occupied hard drive space. Remember that the underlying systemremains the same, and you can install both desktops at one time using standardUbuntu repositories. However, LXDE has been switching to Qt lately, and is notconsidered stable enough, while XFCE is older and generally very stable. Also,since LXDE is transforming to LXQT, there is the inevitable mix of GTK and Qtbased apps, whereas XFCE remains to be purely GTK based.

While certain Ubuntu flavours are targeted at low-end machines, or specificarea of usage, Ubuntu MATE is a mainstream distribution . It doesn’t competewith the main Ubuntu and its Unity desktop, but attracts the part of the audiencethat simply doesn’t like Unity. It doesn’t mean that Unity is bad, but Ubuntu usedto offer a GNOME 2.x desktop before version 11.04 and a lot of people got used toit. GNOME 2.x was appreciated for its clean and logical desktop layout and robustperformance. This version was left unmaintained since GNOME 3 took over, andit was forked for a new project called MATE. MATE looks exactly the same as theold GNOME 2.x, but brings modern improvements to user experience, such as fullsupport for modern GTK 3 toolkit, correct usage of application indicators in thesystem tray, fixed integration with Pulseaudio mixer, Bluetooth applet and more.

Different namingThe desktop is named after the South American plant ‘yerba mate’. To avoid collisionbetween modern GNOME 3 default applications and forked old-timers, MATEdevelopers renamed everything. Gedit is now Pluma, Nautilus is Caja, Evince is Atriland so on. Thanks to this, MATE can coexist with GNOME 3 on the same machine.

“Xubuntu and Lubuntu offer Ubuntu flavours with similar features ”

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Ubuntu Kylin is the ofcial Chinese version ofUbuntu, developed by joint forces of Canonicaland the Ministry of Industry and InformationTechnology of the People’s Republic of China

Left How the Ubuntu Kylin

interface looks

Ubuntu Kylin

“T he operating system was named after the mythical beast ‘Qi Lin’, a hybrid of a dragon and tiger”

This is an exquisite Ubuntu flavour, which is really unlike the others. Naturally, itis intended for use in China, by Chinese people in other countries and by studentsof the Chinese language, culture and traditions. The Chinese government used toinvest heavily into Kylin, a FreeBSD-based system that was designed to becomea ‘national OS’ in China. But later on, in 2013, the Chinese government agreed withCanonical to develop a customised Ubuntu version specifically for Chinese market,so the history of Ubuntu Kylin began. The new operating system was named after themythical beast “Qi Lin”, a hybrid of a dragon head and tiger body which representsgood omens, protection, prosperity, success, and longevity. The Ubuntu Kylin releaseschedule is aligned with the main Ubuntu Linux, and both systems are mutuallycompatible in terms of supported software. The difference is in default applicationsand, of course, localisation that goes far beyond simple change of UI language.

Ubuntu with a Chinese flair Installing Ubuntu Kylin is possible for non-Chinese users if they memorise the orderof the buttons in the original Ubuntu. You can change the UI language to English lateron. Ubuntu Kylin has tested the FCitx input module well, which supports Wubi, pen,Cangjie, breeze, spelling and more. The very lovely Kylin theme is also a bonus.

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24 Navigate Ubuntu’s desktopFind your way around

26 Dual boot with UbuntuRun Ubuntu alongside Windows

28 Customising the desktopChange settings to your preferences

30 Discover System SettingsPersonalise your system details

32 Tweak Security Settings Ensure you are protected

34 Find your way around Dash This handy search bar is your gateway

36 Understand the le systemLearn about le system organisation

38 Accessibility in UbuntuMake Ubuntu easier to use

40 Sharing les in Ubuntu Transfer your documents with ease

42 Manage drives with DisksUse hard drives and removable media

44 Commanding UbuntuGet to grips with the command line

48 GNOME Terminal & XTermExplore the basics and benets

50 Secure les with Déjà DupCreate a copy of your valuable data

52 Use Startup Disk CreatorMake a bootable USB

54 Check the Time & DateView the calendar and make changes

55 Unleash Archive ManagerUnderstand this handy accessory

56 Using Disk Usage AnalyzerFind out where your disk space went

57 Manage StartupApplicationsAutomatically start your apps

58 Monitor Software& UpdatesKeep your system up to date

59 Work with Universal AccessMake Ubuntu more friendly

60 Congure Network connectionsSet up a new connection

61 Tweak the Power settingsMake your laptop run longer

62 Connect withOnline AccountsEnjoy convenient integration

63 Use System MonitorView and manage your resources

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When Ubuntu first introduced its Unity desktop,some users threatened to move back to WindowsVista. However, as time went by, the desktopbecame more and more reliable: as of 12.04LTS,there is no real reason to dislike Unity.

Unity initially started out as a research producttrying to create a GUI that was better suited tonetbooks: their extremely wide displays did not workparticularly well with traditional desktop managersthat had been intended for workstations utilising thestandard 4:3 displays.

This explains two important changes to theinterface: first of all, the “launcher” was moved to theside of the screen in order to preserve the valuablevertical real estate. Secondarily, the menu bars of the

various different applications were grouped togetherinto one top bar that is always dedicated to thecurrently enabled application. This is one of the maindifferences you will find from Windows and otherdistros in terms of usability, but it is one that you willbecome accustomed to over time.

While getting up to speed with Unity might takeusers a bit of time, rest assured that the productivityincreases that you will eventually see are more thanworth it. Take a look at the annotations to find thehotspots you’ll need most quickly.

Navigating the basicUbuntu desktopGet to know where tond everything youneed on the intuitiveand attractive Ubuntudesktop screen

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Ubuntu essentials

“T he menu bars of the various different applications were grouped together into one top bar that is always dedicated to the currently enabled application on the screen ”

The dashUnity’s start menu is keyboard drivenand opening it in this way can savetime. Savvy users will open it using theWindows key on their keyboard. Youcan get a real productivity boost byfollowing it up with a few charactersdescribing the app you are looking for:for example, entering Thun after tappingthe Windows key virtually ensures thatthe Thunderbird icon appears right inthe middle of the application list

The quick launcherAll of the running applicationsare shown below the dashsymbol. The arrows locatedon the left side of the iconlet you know the number ofwindows that are currentlyopen. On dual-screenworkstations, an “empty”arrow here indicates that thewindow is not located on thedisplay that is showing thisparticular version of the bar

TrashJust where you’d expect tofind it, the trash can is alwaysvisible at the bottom of thequick launch bar


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T he Ubuntu Book 2

Navigating the basic Ubuntu desktop

The quicklauncherRight-click on thesymbol of a runningapplication to opena short menu.Selecting “Lock tolauncher” from theavailable optionsensures that thesymbol will alwaysremain in the bar forquick access to thatspecific application,even if it is notcurrently running

The indicator menuUbuntu will display symbolsalerting you about any events and/or important system state changesthat are taking place or need yourattention. Click on any of theseicons when they appear to reveala short menu providing you withfurther options about the situationat hand

The menu barMove your mousecursor up to the verytop of the screen toenable the menudisplay. This is areally helpful toolfor accessibilityas less dexterity isrequired to completeit. Simply flick thecursor to the top ofthe screen and letUnity take care ofany overshoot

The keyboard cheatsheetUnity comes with a set of helpfulkeyboard shortcuts that increaseproductivity and get things done faster.Press and hold on the Windows key tomake the desktop environment display alist of shortcuts for you in the middle ofthe screen that is currently active

WallpaperAs with practically anyother distro or OS, yourwallpaper is a canvasfor you to put your ownstamp on. The defaultUbuntu offering isn’t tooshabby, though

Active workspaceFront and centre, it’s thewindow you’re working on.To switch to another withoutclosing the current window, just click on or search for theapp you want to open next. Itcan be minimised if you hoverat the top of the window, whenthe classic three buttonswill appear: close, minimiseand maximise. Be aware thatclicking the close option willmean you need to start theprogram again


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Most users who want to try Ubuntualready have desktop PCs or laptops withthe Windows OS. Ubuntu can be installed

alongside Windows and both systems will coexist justfine, without interfering with each other.

Ubuntu’s installation wizard has an advanced diskpartition stage, where you can either trust the installerto automatically shrink the Windows partition and letUbuntu use the freed space, or do it manually. Shrinking

NTFS partitions from Linux is considered stable enoughand if you didn’t have any problems with your C drive inWindows (such as severe fragmentation), Ubuntu willresize it correctly. The installer will create the mandatoryroot partition (/) in the free disk area and sometimesalso create separate partitions for user data (/home)and swap space. After the installer copies Ubuntufiles to the root partition, it’ll perform post-installationarrangements and install the GRUB2 bootloader into

the master boot record (MBR) of the hard drive onolder systems, or GRUB2-EFI into the dedicated FAT32partition on modern systems with Windows 8 or 10 anda GPT-formatted drive. The Ubuntu installer supportsthe Secure Boot feature of many modern Windows PCsand installs the GRUB2-EFI bootloader correctly. Afterrebooting, you’ll see the GRUB2/GRUB2-EFI interface,where you can choose Ubuntu or Windows. You canaccess Windows files from Ubuntu, but not vice versa.

Dual boot with UbuntuGet Ubuntu running alongside your existing Windows installation

Meet the GNU GRUBGRUB in Ubuntu looks nearlyidentical on systems with a BIOSor UEFI setup. The version of theprogram is displayed on the top

Boot WindowsSelect the last entry to bootWindows. GRUB will redirect you tothe Microsoft standard bootloaderthat sits on the Windows partition

The default entryIf you do nothing, GRUB will load the defaultmenu entry, which is the first one in the list.It always points to the latest installed kernelversion with default parameters

Reveal the power of GRUBYou can instantly change boot settings bypressing the E key, editing an entry and thenpressing F10. This is a one-time solution: GRUBwill discard such custom settings after reboot

Discover bootloader menu Find out how to use the GRUB2 bootloader

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Dual boot with Ubuntu

Dare to go formanual setupUbuntu’s installation program has been polished in

recent years and now looks very smooth. Soon aftercompleting basic steps (like language selection), a userfaces the first real obstacle during the ‘Installationtype’ step. You can see that Ubuntu has automaticallydetected our Windows 7 copy and offered the simplesolution that does not require any extra user input. Ifso, you let the installer automatically guess what OSyou already have and how to keep it intact. It’s safe,and you’ll be able to define how much space you wantto allocate for Ubuntu in the next step.

Note the second option with the red Warning label– we are going to install Ubuntu and keep Windowsworking, so do not choose this. The last option is apath to a more expert-like drive allocation program.Dual-booting in UEFI mode introduces more routinesfor the Ubuntu installer. If you’re unsure what tochoose, go with auto mode. If your system uses a BIOSinterface, you can repartition your drive manually.

Select target drivefor the bootloaderThis option only requires your attention if it’s thecase that you have more than one hard drive insideor attached to your computer. Otherwise, if you hadpreviously installed custom operating systems onto

your Windows desktop PC or laptop, you might find ituseful to get to grips with this option as well. First ofall, in order to boot correctly, Ubuntu needs a properlyinstalled GRUB bootloader.

You can install it on a hard drive (eg /dev/sda) or ona drive partition (eg /dev/sda3). If you have a relativelymodern UEFI/Secure Boot setup, then Ubuntu willact differently: it will install GRUB2-EFI on /dev/sda1,which is a FAT32 partition, and mount it as /boot/efi.Furthermore, a special loader entry in your computer’sUEFI internals will be made by the means of the‘efibbotmgr’ utility. Don’t worry though, Ubuntu does allof this automatically.

The automatic partitioning optionin the Ubuntu installer is definitelymore comfortable for non-tech-savvy users, but it does havecertain limitations, such as theinability to add an extra Homepartition or define the swap spacemanually. Let’s use the fully fledgedpartitioning method by choosingthe ‘Something else’ option in theprevious step, or by clicking the‘Advanced partitioning tool’ linkin the ‘simple’ mode. First, you’llneed to resize the NTFS volume

and make it smaller by somenumber of gigabytes. Make surethat you don’t have excessive harddisk fragmentation in Windows,otherwise you may turn your NTFSvolume in Ubuntu installer unusable.Try to guess how much space you’llneed in the unallocated area aftershrinking. For instance, 10GB lookslike the bare minimum – go with atleast twice as much as that for theUbuntu root partition. Think aheadto cover aspects like swapping and aseparate partition for /home.

Define the space for UbuntuMake sure you give it enough disk space

Many older articles concerning theinstallation of Linux strongly adviseusers to create a swap partitionwith a size twice that of the RAMvolume (for instance, 2GB if youhave 1GB of RAM). However, moderncomputers generally have largeramounts of RAM and thereforethis rule is not that important anymore. That being said, you couldgo without the swap partitionaltogether unless you feel that youreally need it. The separate partitionfor your home folder in Ubuntu is

another aspect to consider. If you gowith a single root partition, thatmeans all your personal files andsettings will be kept together withthe rest of the system on a singlepartition (/), just like if you only hadthe C: drive in Windows for storingeverything. Sometimes it is moresensible to create another partitionand mount it as /home – thismeans that your files and settingswill not get lost, even if you decideto reinstall or remove Ubuntu inthe future.

Create Ubuntu partitionsOptions for partitioning your hard drive


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The default desktop environment inUbuntu is called Unity. It provides userswith a consistent and easy-to-use graphical

interface for doing common everyday tasks. The defaultsettings in Unity are quite simple, they are based onstudies that were conducted with the exact goal beingto find out what exactly people find comfortable andintuitive and other useful details. However, with so manypeople with so many different tastes, Unity allows all

essential features, such as appearance and behaviourof the desktop, to be customised to the user’s liking.

This is done with the Look and Feel settings,localisation, input options as well as privacy-relatedsettings. Some of the above don’t affect Ubuntubehaviour – such as various aesthetic settings (theme,icons), but some do .

It is worth mentioning that sometimes people needmore precise control over their Ubuntu installation and

require some extra features that are not part of the out-of-the-box Ubuntu. For that reason, there are differentways to work around it in the form of commands ($gsettings) and even stand-alone tweakers (eg Unity-tweak-tool). Such extras let you change advancedsettings like fonts, window control placement, desktopeffects and more. Next you can find out how youcan change the most common settings and resolvefrequently met issues.

Customising the desktopChange desktop settings and add a personal touch to Ubuntu’s exterior

Unity Tweak ToolIt’s not included right out ofthe box, but it is instantlyavailable in the standardUbuntu online repository. Getit with $ sudo apt-get installunity-tweak-tool

Default wallpaperYou can set the defaultUbuntu wallpaper to a photo(or maybe a drawing) of yourchoice in the Appearancesection of the standardSystem Settings

Change Specific settingsUnity is made up of various differentelements, including the main taskbarwhich is along the right side of thescreen, the main menu with a searchfeature (Dash), the top panel and thetask switcher

Window managerThere are ways in which youcan change the behaviourof window manager in Unity.Shadows, translucency,animations, hot corners,snapping, focusing rules etc

A Register Editor for UbuntuUse the command $ sudo apt-getinstall dconf-editor to install a twinpanel settings manager. It behaves

similarly to the Register Editor inWindows OS and lets you adjust manyhidden settings

System settingsUnity Tweak Tool offersadvanced system settings, egenabling desktop icons, extra

security measures, controlover scroll bars as well asmouse behaviour

Appearance settingsHere you can change GTKstyle, window decorationtheme and fonts separately,

change mouse cursor lookand move window buttons toanother edge of a window

Change the themeThis defines how variousUI controls look, and thisincludes buttons, scroll

bars, menu background,window decorations andlots of other details

Tweak desktop settings Use related sections in Ubuntu’s System Settings app

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“With so many people with so many different tastes , Unity allows all essential features , such as appearance and behaviour of the desktop ,to be customised ”

Tutorial Give a personal touch to your Ubuntu desktop

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Customising the desktop

01 Adjust the Launcher (taskbar)The taskbar panel or the Launcher works just ne, but sometimes you need to get rid of someof the default icons there and add your favouriteapps instead. To remove an icon, right-click on it andselect the ‘Unlock from Launcher’ option. To add anapplication to the taskbar you rst need to nd itin the Dash and then drag it onto the desired placeof the taskbar. You can also drag and rearrange theexisting icons on the taskbar. Use the Appearance>Look section in System Settings to change thetaskbar icon size. If you make it smaller, more iconswill t there, which is helpful for small displays. Also,check the Behaviour tab for auto-hiding option,enabling multiple workspaces and more.

02 Change privacy settingsUbuntu includes certain mechanisms forgathering users’ data and collecting statistics – ofcourse, this is meant entirely for the sake of betterusability in future Ubuntu releases. Some nd thisbehaviour controversial, so let’s adjust it a little.In System Settings>Security and Privacy go to theFiles & Applications tab and uncheck or maybeturn completely off les and applications usagestatistics. On the Search tab you can actually turnthe online search results in Unity Dash on or off. Ifyou don’t like shopping suggestions while lookingfor a local app on your computer, simply turn it off.

03 Change look and feelChanging the interface theme can

dramatically change the working experience andmake it more pleasant. It is perfectly safe: you don’tchange how your desktop works, you change how itlooks. By default Ubuntu ships with three themes:Ambiance (the default one), Radiance (light colours)and High Contrast (for visually challenged). You canadd more by installing new themes via command line(adding a PPA with a theme and installing its packagefor example), or download themes manually from sitelike gnome-look.org . Ubuntu looks for themes in thesystem-wide /usr/share/themes directory and in~/.themes inside your home.

04 Use hot cornersThe Unity desktop lets you assign an action to any corner of the screen, plus to any of its sides. In orderto do this, we need to access advanced window manager settings. Launch Unity Tweak Tool and go to WindowManager>Hotcorners. There are eight areas (four corners and four sides) with a drop-down menus next to each,letting you choose what action will be performed once you move your mouse to the respective area. You canset a corner or a side to toggle the desktop (for example, minimise all windows or bring them back on), spreadwindows or show workspaces. All changes are applied instantly, you can check it by driving your mouse to acorner or a side that has been set up.

05 Rule the indicatorsThe ‘System Tray’ area in Unity traditionallyresides the far-right corner of the top bar. Someindicators there can be congured individually (likedate and time), but you cannot have better control ofthem without dealing with Dconf-editor. This twin-panel app has a categories list on the left and thecontents on the right allows you adjust many aspectsof Unity indicators. Go to com>canonical>indicatorand explore what parameters each one has. Youcan turn indicator presence on the top bar on andoff by toggling the ‘visibility’ parameter and changeindicators’ display format by playing with ‘show-*’parameters. This way you can keep your systemtray area clean and tidy, or maybe add some extrainformation there.


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The System Settings application housesvarious settings and acts the same wayas the Control Panel in Windows. You can

launch System Settings from the farthest indicator inthe top bar, or even from the command line ($ unity-control-center). Of course, the set of system-relatedsettings here isn’t the only place where you can changesuch settings, but it is the most convenient and safeplace to do it. Traditionally in Linux (and Ubuntu is

no exception), system settings could be changed viaediting configuration files in the /etc directory, or byissuing certain commands while being in root. Whilethese work in Ubuntu, it requires advanced skills andsometimes involves putting your Linux installation atrisk. The System Settings shell in Ubuntu contains alimited number of neatly designed items that help youmanage essential system-related settings with easeand minimum skill. The System subsection contains

settings for Backup, System Details, LandscapeService, Software Sources, Time & Date, UniversalAccess and User Accounts. Some of the above areapplicable for enterprise Ubuntu users (such as thepaid subscription for technical support, which is calledLandscape), while other settings are covered in detailin separate chapters (Backup, Time & Date, etc). Thisoverview focuses on Details and User Accounts as wellas on certain hardware-related settings.

Discover System SettingsDiscover system details, manage user accounts and congure hardware

NavigationWhen you open a subsection, itloads in the same window. In orderto get back to the main overview, usethe ‘All Settings’ button here

Personal settingsMost settings here are user-specific. You can also changelook and feel settings here, adjustprivacy, manage online accounts etc

Hardware settingsYou might set up extra peripherals,input devices, change powersettings, or even manage colourprofiles for printers and displays

System-related settingsBackups, system details, updatesand software sources, accessibilityoptions, time and date and more, canbe managed within this category

Search for a settingIf you cannot find the required settings butyou know its name, type it into the searchbar and see how System Settings filter theresults according to your input on the fly

The important subsections Configure your Ubuntu installation

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“Follow the easy-to -use wizard to set up a printer ”

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Discover System Settings

Explore system detailsand change some defaultsSometimes you need to know what version of Ubuntu

you have. Is it 32 or 64 bit, how much memory thereis in your PC and so on. In order to not get lost, thereis a dedicated subsection in System Settings calledDetails. The main screen in Details shows a summaryof the most important specs of your system, includingCPU name and clock, graphics driver, hard disk volumeand more. You can also update your system with theInstall Updates button on the right. There are otheruseful tabs in Details – see the list on the left side ofthe screen. Go to Default Applications to change yourdefault web browser, email client, music player orimage viewer. Similarly, on the Removable Media tabyou can define what Ubuntu should do when an opticaldisc (CD/DVD/BD) is inserted. Again, all changes arethen applied immediately.

Set up a printerUbuntu automatically detects and configures localprinters in case it has a driver for them. Most consumerprinters are supported without any problems in Linuxnowadays, so if you open the Printers subsection, youshould see the icon for a configured printer. You canchange (edit) the printer’s preferences, change its driver,or you can create several instances of the same printerwith different settings.

Press the ‘Add’ button and follow the easy-to-usewizard to set up a local or remote printer – Ubuntudetects network printers automatically. In case youneed more control or you want to resolve a printingissue, use this tip: $ sudo service cups restart. This isthe command for restarting the system-wide printingservice in Ubuntu. To enjoy the feature-rich CUPS admininterface instead, then try going to http://localhost:631in your web browser.

Note that all changes to printer settings require theroot password of your Ubuntu system.

If your PC is mainly used as a privateor personal computer then perhapsyou are the only user in the system.Here’s what you do you need to do ifyou want to create another user fortesting purposes, or for guest logins.If there is actually already more thanone person that accesses the PC (in apublic place for example), you’ll needthe correct number of login accounts.

These are managed in the User

Accounts subsection. By default, youcan only see the list and the settings,but can’t change anything. To addor remove users you must click the‘Unlock’ button and enter the rootpassword. After that you’ll be ableto click the tiny ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttonsdisplayed at the lower left corner ofthe screen, watch an activity log ofother users (the History button) and

toggle their automatic login.

These settings mostly affect laptopusers, but they can help optimisedesktop power consumption aswell. In the Hardware category, go toPower and use the first drop-downmenu to set the inactivity period,after which your computer willautomatically suspend. The secondoption below lets you disable thebattery indicator for example. When

your laptop always runs from AC,

there is no need for this. Anotherpower-related tunable is screenbrightness. Either follow the link onthe Power tab or open the Brightness& Lock subsection directly. Hereyou can set a period of inactivity forturning the display off automatically,as well as lock it and define whetherthe user should be required toprovide a previously set password to

unlock the computer.

Manage Ubuntu usersAdd guest logins or other users

Tune up power settingsOptimise your power consumption


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Privacy is a cornerstone of securecomputing, meaning that your data shouldbe protected from loss or leakage, your

computer should prevent unauthorised access andthat you should be aware of what personal data issent from your system to remote servers. Ubuntuprovides a good balance between usability and security,for example you cannot log in to Unity desktop directly;instead you can actually use the ‘sudo’ prefix to run

commands as an administrator. For regular desktopactivities there is the System Settings>Security &Privacy subsection, where you can change most of thesecurity-related settings. The majority of them refer topassword protection, keeping logs and history for filesand applications, online search results in Ubuntu Dashand diagnostics information that Canonical would liketo have in order to fix bugs and collect users’ statistics.The reasons as to why you may want to change anything

may vary. You may not want others to see what you havebeen using recently, or maybe online search results inDash (Unity’s main menu) distracts you, or you simplydon’t want Canonical to know you better. There isanother security setting in Ubuntu outside its SystemSettings shell. When you launch Firefox for the firsttime it politely asks you to choose what data you’d like toshare. By default Firefox sends crash and help reports toMozilla, but still it’s you who decides and approves it.

Tweak the Security SettingsMake sure your Ubuntu setup provides proper privacy protection

Protect your PCIf your PC suspends orturns off the display aftera period of inactivity, youcan set Ubuntu to requirea password in order toresume using the PC

Related settingsThe first link takes you to the UserAccounts subsection, where you canchange your password; the secondlink is for Power settings, where youcan change the time period beforeyou system suspends

Exclude specific directoriesand appsUse the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons to select specificdirectories or applications that Ubuntuwill not log or trace. You can even createsophisticated combinations of apps

Choose what to includeThere are default places inside yourhome directory for Music, Pictures,Downloads etc. You can decide what

items you want to include in Ubuntulogging. Aside from directories, thereare also chat logs and office documents

Diagnostic reportingCanonical needs your feedbackin order to make Ubuntu better.If something goes wrong (eg a

program crashes), Ubuntu willsend details of the problem in areport to its headquarters

Find the security settings Check out the Security & Privacy tools on offer

32 T he Ubuntu Book

Ubuntu essentials

What about onlinesearch results?A rather controversial feature,which is why Canonical decidedto put in the Off mode in 16.04.You can always change thetrigger’s position here

Usage activities recordHere is the global switch thattriggers file and applicationusage logging. You can turn itoff with just one mouse click,or alternatively decide to makemore precise adjustments


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“Agood password contains lower and

uppercase letters , specialcharacters and digits.

T hankfully, Ubuntu can help you”

Tutorial Resolve typical security-related issues in Ubuntu

T he Ubuntu Book 3

Tweak the Security Settings

01 Generate a stronger passwordThere is no sense in setting your Ubuntupassword as something simple such as 12345678or P@ssw0rd. It is sensible to invent a combinationof symbols that is unique, complex, long enough andmost importantly something that you are sure youwill not forget. A good password contains lower anduppercase letters, special characters and digits.Thankfully, Ubuntu can help you deal better withstronger passwords via the APG utility. Install it with$ sudo apt-get install apg and run simply with $ apg.APG which will prompt you to enter a random wordof your choosing, and then converts your suggestioninto a stronger combination of characters, but stillsomething readable and not too hard to remember byheart – like WoudElIc6 (Woud-El-Ic-SIX).

02 Enable automatic security updatesLet’s go a little further and make Ubuntureceive important security updates without anyinteraction with a user. This feature is very usefulbecause not all updates are installed without yourawareness, but only security-related ones that xvulnerabilities, critical bugs, memory leakage andso on. To enable this feature, rst start by installingthe package along with the required scripts:

$ sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades.

Next, enable updates with the following command: $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure -priority-low

unattended-upgrades.

All you have to do is to add unattended upgradescommand to your Cron list on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Find more details at bit.ly/1EtLKFF .

03 Enable uncomplicated rewallFirewall is an effective tool for blockingnetwork intrusions from the outer world and limitingsuspicious network activity in both directions byblocking certain network packets in IPv4 and IPv6protocols. Linux has the ‘iptables’ tool for doing this job, but it is not very intuitive for newcomers. Luckily,Ubuntu has a nice front end to iptables called UFW

– the Ubuntu FireWall in its standard repositories.Install it with:

$ sudo apt-get install ufw gufw

You can control it either from command line ($ sudoufw --help), or within a graphical interface (searchfor ‘rewall’ in Dash or simply launch $ gufw).

04 Congure ‘sudo’The ‘sudo’ is a command that you can putbefore another command in order to make it runwith root priviliges. You can use sudo anytime andfor any command but practically you only need todo so if you haven’t got enough permissions withyour regular user account – for managing printers,or in case you need to write a le into a directoryoutside your home for example. Ubuntu comeswith sudo enabled by default, which lets you runany command, but requires entering your currentpassword (not the root password, root is disabledin Ubuntu by default). You can change the sudosettings by issuing the $ sudo visudo command,which will open the /etc/sudoers le in the Nanoeditor. You can discover the magic of sudo with $man sudo, but there are also instant solutions youcan use by changing the following line:

username ALL=(ALL) ALL

to the one below:

username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

to stop sudo asking for a password.


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It is very common for people switchingfrom a Windows platform to a Linux systemto look for the ever-popular Start menu.

Generally, the Start menu serves as the starting pointof your interaction with the computer, and once you getused to it, it feels like the most natural way to work onthe computer. Thankfully, Unity – the standard desktopenvironment for Ubuntu systems – offers Dash. Thinkof Dash as the equivalent Start menu of your Ubuntu

system. Dash allows you to search for applications, files,music and videos, and shows you items that you haverecently used. Dash also helps you to launch applicationand file shortcuts.

To start Dash, simply click on the Ubuntu logo on thetop-left portion of the menu bar. You can also press thesuper key on your keyboard (marked with the Windowslogo) to launch it. To exit Dash, all you need to do is clickthe ‘esc’ button.

Dash segregates the search results as a series ofscopes (or lenses). These are used to provide views toyour files, folders, applications and data. There are afew basic scopes installed by default with an option todisable them. Switching off a scope means you won’tsee any results from that scope in your search results.With so many configurable features, it is evident thatDash is more than a search box for finding files, butrather it provides a view of the whole operating system.

Find your way around DashLearn essential tips and tricks to use Dash like a pro

Text areaThis is the space whereyou type your queries intoDash. As you type in thetext, you will see the spacebelow being populated withresults dynamically

CategoriesYou can select thecategories fromwhich you’d liketo view resultsby choosing thecategories here

ApplicationThis sectiondisplays resultsrelated to theapplications scope.You’ll see all theapplications thatmatch the searchquery here

SourcesThis sectionallows youto select thesources fromwhere Dash willlook for resultswhen you entera search query

WeatherDash automatically detects the scopesthat may be relevant to the searchquery. Since there is a place calledDash, it automatically displays theweather forecast for that location

ReferenceThis is the Dash result sectionthat displays referencesrelated to the search qu

Documents

The Ubuntu Book 1th Edition 2016 - DeLUXAS