Showing posts with label command line interface. Show all posts
Showing posts with label command line interface. Show all posts
Ubuntu, trying hard not to look like the GNU/Linux of old, gives it's users a single graphical pipeline to install software over the Internet, called the Ubuntu Software Centre. But under the candy coating of the Unity graphical interface, all the old ways of installing software still work, and many would argue they still work much better than the user friendly, lumbering Software Centre -- I say it's good to have choices. One benefit of understanding the various methods, is that it gives you the freedom to install most any Linux software, not just the wares in the Software Centre.
"I do like a lot about Ubuntu, but I find the same thing: too often when you are up against a roadblock, a google search shows that the answer is to bring up the terminal and type a string of random characters."
Posted by: Merlin, on Aug. 31st, 2012 to macobserver.com
In truth, when I took up with Ubuntu last year, I did so out of necessity more than just curiosity; I jumped at opensouce because it offered me a shooting-chance at meaningful computing on the kind of garbage computers I could get. I chose Ubuntu because of the readily available live CD; the comfortingly Mac-like aspects of the 12.04 desktop, and because it truly made a silk purse out of the sow's ear of a netbook I was using. It's fair to say that if my Macbook Pro had not been stolen, I wouldn't have had any incentive to switch to Linux; I was already tinkering with it in VirtualBox, and that's likely all I would have done.
So, after a year-and-some of daily Ubuntu use, have I been converted or would I run back to Apple if I could?
First-off; I'm grateful for Gnu Linux and Ubuntu, etc., for being there so i could have productive computing on obsolete hardware. I also believe in the goals of the FOSS movement; the results speak for themselves. A lot of Linux distros do a lot of things right. Ubuntu has had the (perhaps unintended) effect of making me much more comfortable with the Command Line Interface. So, no. I wouldn't exactly be running back to the Mac.
My dream computer at this point would be a well-built PC laptop with great build quality and hardware specs and it would triple-boot the unholy trinity of Windows, OS X, and some sort of Linux. There are still great programs unique to operating systems (Irfanview comes to mind). I think the hardware wars of the 1990s are over, and I think software won. If I'm surfing the Web, using Firefox, let's say, my user experience will likely be identical regardless of the platform. That's what counts these days.
After recently wiping out a perfectly good installation of Ubuntu 12.04 while playing around with DiskDump, circumstances led me to install Ubuntu 12.10. I promptly installed MATE, and then uninstalled a few MATE-related applicationss, and logged out of the MATE session. And then, oh, boy -- talk about curiosity killing the cat!
I was unable to login to Ubuntu or MATE; in fact, the MATE option wasn't there. Entering my password brought me back to the login screen; I could only do two things: start a Guest session, or start a terminal session (Ctrl-Alt-F1). The Guest session was frustrating as I has no access to the sqw user's files and the Guest space was only about 500 MB (?) -- I was unable to reformat a flash drive, or run Unetbootin, which I attributed to a Guest's lack of privileges. In the terminal I could start an x-session; this gave me a kind of access to my files but without Unity elements; launching Nautilus allowed me to somewhat navigate files but disks did not visibly mount and applications had to be launched from the terminal.
Ctrl-Alt-F1= terminal session from login screen
Ctrl-Alt-F7= back to login screen from terminal session
In C-A-F1 terminal session I tried a few things that I found in Ubuntu forums. I also removed the MATE installation -- none of this seemed to make any difference.
In C-A-F1 terminal session you can theoretically launch sessions from the prompt $ (after authentication):
startx -- default desktop
unity -- this failed; lots of compiz warnings
unity-2d-shell -- This option not recognized in 12.10 terminal
gnome-shell -- terminal responded there was no gnome-shell installed but could be via sudo apt-get install gnome-shell
sudo service lightdm start -- will start the lightdm Unity greeter login screen; this case terminal said it was already running
It seemed to me that it wasn't a permissions issue; I hadn't so much lost the key as missplaced the door. I crossed my fingers and installed the gnome-shell. At one point in the terminal install a graphical screen came up for the user to choose the window manager GWM or DM (which was checked) I left it that way. Install was very fast. At the prompt, "gnome-shell" resulted in an error. I restarted, and the login screen showed both Gnome and Ubuntu session options; I was able to login to a Gnome session, and then an Ubuntu session. Seemingly installing gnome-session had replaced what was missing.
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