Fedora 13 & Gnome Shell - looking great.

Having just declared my admiration of Ubuntu 10.04's slick new look, too soon has my in-built need to find something better kicked-in. Not that there's anything wrong with Ubuntu 10.04, but I've always been a Fedora fan, and with version 13 due for release on 25 May, I had to give the latest beta a try. And I reckon it's great.

Having installed the Gnome live CD to my hard disk, all my usual apps have installed well. Fedora's default theme though, despite some attractive wallpapers, is looking rather out of date in my opinion. Having enjoyed Ubuntu's latest look, I went in search of a way of improving Fedora's look, and installing Gnome Shell (a preview of the new user interface due in Gnome 3.0 later this year) seems to have done the trick.

Gnome Shell is still under development and therefore incomplete, but from my initial tests, it is already very usable and stable. If you want to learn more about what it does, I suggest you follow the official tour here. Otherwise, below is a quick guide to getting it working in Fedora 13:

1. Open the Add/Remove Programs package manager, and install the following package:

gnome-shell

2. Once installed (it only takes a few seconds to download), open the Desktop Effects settings, in which you will notice a new option for Gnome Shell. Enable this now:



3. That's it. Simple eh?

Below are a couple of screenshots of the new desktop in action. Of course, getting this working depends on your system having a compatible graphics card and drivers, but I believe if you are already able to run Compiz, then Gnome Shell should work too. My test laptop has in-built Intel graphics and works fine.

So I think I'll stick with Fedora & Gnome Shell for the time being (farewell Ubuntu!), and very much look forward to Fedora 14 later this year, which should hopefully include Gnome 3.0 and Gnome Shell by default.





Thanks for reading.

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx): By 'eck it's gorgeous!

After switching regularly between Fedora, openSUSE, and Ubuntu for years, I've finally found a Linux distribution I think I can call 'home'. The lovely Ubuntu 10.04 LTS is it.

I won't go into much technical detail here - by now there will be huge numbers of online reviews picking through the distro in minute detail. Below are a couple of pictures of how my desktop looks on my Acer Aspire laptop. I love the new Gnome theme, and choice of backgrounds. In my opinion this is the closest a Linux desktop has come to rivaling the sleek lines of Mac OS X, and maintaining an original modern look. And I like the new window control position in the top left corner. I tend to drag windows off to the right of the screen to temporarily hide them, so having the controls still visible, poking out from the edge of the screen when I do so, is just better.

Behind the scenes, everything seems to just work: apps install easily through the Software Centre; security is handled by the reasonably simple ufw firewall and Apparmor; and it all happens really fast, boot and shutdown especially so.

I've also installed Ubuntu 10.04 on my HP Mini 110 netbook (the full desktop, rather than the netbook remix) and it runs beautifully. Additionally I've upgraded my media server to Mythbuntu 10.04 from 9.04, and all is well. Finally, I have tried Kubuntu 10.04, but have yet to commit it to hard disk - Ubuntu's new Gnome theme is just too nice to leave!

So, go try it - it's awesome. I'll leave you with a couple of screenshots and an obvious 6 May pun: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS get's my vote!

Brooklands Hotel, Surrey. Boys with toys, check in now!

Last week I had the opportunity to stay a night in the new Brooklands Hotel in Surrey. Built within the original historic race track (and indeed, the foyer is slap-bang on the Solomon Straight), this is a modern contemporary hotel but with many cues from the 1930's racing scene.

Apart from a rather muddled on-line booking system (which I understand is now fixed) I found the hotel experience very positive. The hotel is beautifully decorated throughout (enjoy spotting the motor themes, such as the spark plugs in the lobby flower vases!), with excellent service from the staff, a great choice of drinks & cocktails in the bar, and excellent food. The evening menu is Italian themed, and delicious throughout. The breakfast buffet differentiates itself with a wonderful choice of freshly made fruit smoothies, along with the usual favourites.

On paper, the hotel is situated a little out of the way - you certainly can't stroll out in the evening and find any local bars or restaurants. It is, however, just across the road from Mercedes Benz World, and about half a mile from the Brooklands business park. I imagine then the hotel will be popular with overseas businessmen flying-in to meet in the offices of Sony, Proctor & Gamble, etc. I can also see great potential for a day's entertaining (either business or personal) at Mercedes Benz World to end comfortably at the hotel.

I can thoroughly reccomend the Brooklands Hotel for anyone who wants to enjoy the historic motor racing atmosphere, or just enjoy a comfortable contemporary hotel experience. It is sad, though, to see the Brooklands track in its current state - chopped-up to allow traffic in to the business & retail parks, and the old runway now filled by Mercedes Benz World. Such a shame the track is not still intact so cars old & new can still drive the circuit. And an even bigger shame that, in a site so important to the British 2nd World War effort, a German car company has such a dominant presence. A sign of the times I guess.

Now, if there was only a Bentley World there instead...

Ubuntu 10.04.

I've been testing Ubuntu / Kubuntu / Mythbuntu 10.04 over the last few weeks, and they all look great. I'll be posting some thoughts when the final releases are out and I've tested them properly. For now though, click below to learn more:

My perfect Android development environment #2

Awhile ago I posted an entry detailing an Android development system based around Kubuntu 9.04. I used this for a while but later moved back to my usual Fedora set-up, based on Fedora 12. Whilst this worked well, I've since been wanting to get back to a KDE based system, but one with good security which Fedora has, but which Kubuntu seems to lack (firewall, and SELinux / Apparmor).

Anyway, I've now completed a working installation using OpenSuse 11.2 on my new Acer Aspire 5332 laptop which I'm very pleased with. I've also found that there are no good guides on-line on how to get Eclipse / Android SDK / OpenSUSE 11.2 to all work together, so if you (like me) have been struggling with this, read on!

Firstly, here's a screenshot of what we're striving for:

• I used OpenSUSE 11.2 64 bit DVD for my installation. I assume these instructions also work fine for the 32 bit version. First step then, download the OpenSUSE 11.2 DVD from here: http://software.opensuse.org/112/en
• I installed the system using mainly the default settings. Once complete, I got the laptop on-line and installed all updates, ready to begin the Eclipse / Android SDK installation.
• Using Yast's Software Manager, I selected 'Patterns' from the 'View' drop-down, and then installed the following three patterns: Base Development; Linux Kernel Development; Java Development.
• Next to install Eclipse. I found the version in Suse's repository to be problematic, so instead I download the latest version straight from the Eclipse Project web site. The following link is a useful reference to help you do this: http://developer.android.com/sdk/1.5_r3/installing.html
• Firstly, download the 64 bit Linux version of Eclipse Classic 3.5.1 from here: http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
• Next, download the Android SDK from here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
• Assuming the two files you just downloaded are in your Downloads folder, follow these steps in a terminal to unpack and install them:

cd ~/Downoad/

tar -xvf eclipse-SDK-3.5.1-linux-gtk-x86_64.tar.gz

tar -xvf android-sdk_r04-linux_86.tgz

su

mv eclipse /usr/local/bin

mv android-sdk-linux_86/ /usr/local/bin

chown -R root:root /usr/local/bin/eclipse        #Do not do this for the android-sdk-linux_86 directory, otherwise you won't be able to install the SDK later!

• Then we create a custom start-up script to launch Eclipse to work-around a known GTK bug (see http://mou.me.uk/2009/10/31/fixing-eclipse-in-ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala/ for more details):

vi /usr/local/bin/eclipse/eclipse.sh

• and make it look like this:

#!/bin/bash

export GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=1

/usr/local/bin/eclipse/eclipse

• Save this, then make it executable:

chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/eclipse/eclipse.sh

• Next, create a new Start Menu item for Eclipse by right-clicking on the Suse KDE Start Button and selecting 'Menu Editor'. Then add the following to the 'Integrated Environment' section of the start menu:

Name: Eclipse

Location: /usr/local/bin/eclipse/eclipse.sh

Description: Java IDE

Icon: /usr/local/bin/eclipse/icon.xpm

• Start Eclipse, select the default workbench location.
• Then select Help -> Check for updates.
• Click 'Available Software sites'.
• Next set-up the following software sources:

Android SDK 

https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

Galileo 

http://download.eclipse.org/releases/galileo/

The Eclipse Project Updates

http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/updates/3.5/

• Install all updates then restart Eclipse. Then
• Help > Install new software....
• Select the Location: 
• https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
• If you have trouble aqcuiring the plugin, try using "http" in the Location URL, instead of "https" (https is preferred for security reasons).
• Select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Install...
• On the subsequent Install window, "Android DDMS" and "Android Development Tools"
• should both be checked. Click Next. 
• Read and accept the license agreement, then click Finish.
• Restart Eclipse. 
• Now modify your Eclipse preferences to point to the Android SDK directory:
• Select Window > Preferences... to open the Preferences panel.
• Select Android from the left panel.
• For the SDK Location in the main panel, enter: /usr/local/bin/android-sdk-linux_86
• Click Apply, then OK.
• Disable useage stats.
• Finally download the SDK packages using Window -> Android SDK and AVD manager.

Done! You should now be able to develop Android apps on your smart and secure new OpenSUSE 11.2 installation.

If you get stuck post a comment and I'll try to help. And if it works, post a comment and I'll just feel good!

Thanks for reading, Nick.

Apple iPad - oversized iPhone or svelte new computer?

Despite the on-line communities' best attempts to spoil the surprise, I still admire Apple's ability to keep a secret. The launch today of the iPad seems to have kept the usual Apple sparkle, despite Steve Jobs doing basically a sales pitch for the new gadget, albeit in his usual slick style.

Time will prove whether Apple have created a truly popular & new computing form factor. Personally, I like the fact the software will be custom-built for the device, ensuring the interface is smooth and capable. At the same time, this will restrict what can be run on the device, which would frustrate me. If you can make phone calls on it then I think that would be an advantage. The device does appear to be very desirable, something which the more generic competition might struggle to match. As 2010 progresses then, I'll be interested to see how many iPads are sold, and how the competing, lower-cost, and possibly Linux-powered competition pans out.

For me (a Google fan), a sub-£200 tablet running Google Chrome OS might be a perfect alternative.

Porridge - the ultimate camouflage?

Anyone like me who works in an office will have experience of the office kitchen, complete with communal fridge. If everyone plays fair, what you put in the fridge in the morning will still be there at lunch time. Not always the case in my office, as today I was reminded of an incident almost exactly three years ago.

A software developer (who remains anonymous to this day), having had his sandwiches stolen once too often (so, twice then), decided to apply his engineering skills to catch the culprit. The next day, along with a stern warning note pinned to the fridge, an out-of-place box of Weetabix Seriously Oaty appeared on the adjacent water cooler. Below are a couple of photos I snapped at the time on my mobile phone - can you spot the subtle modifications?

The box had no wires, and was fairly heafty when lifted - which I'm sure was not down to a full bag of wholesome oats within. I couldn't work out whether just placing a bare camera in the same spot would have been just as subtle, as the package stuck out like a sore thumb. It must, however, have been effective as after just two days the device had gone. No doubt the sandwich thief in our midst had been banged to rights. Well, either that or someone had made off with an expensive wireless video camera!