Table of Contents

Foreword xixPreface xxvAcknowledgments xxviiAbout the Authors xxixIntroduction xxxiAbout This Book xxxiChapter 1: Introducing Ubuntu 1

A Wild Ride 2

Free Software, Open Source, and GNU/Linux 3

A Brief History of Ubuntu 7

What Is Ubuntu? 12

Ubuntu Promises and Goals 18

Canonical and the Ubuntu Foundation 24

Ubuntu Subprojects, Derivatives, and Spin offs 28

Summary 30

Chapter 2: Installing Ubuntu 31

Choosing Your Ubuntu Version 32

Getting Ubuntu 34

Installing from the Desktop CD 36

Installing Using the Alternate Install CD 45

Post-Installation 52

Summary 54

Chapter 3: Using Ubuntu on the Desktop 55

Taking Your Desktop for a Ride 57

Using Your Applications 65

The Ubuntu File Chooser and Bookmarks 99

Ubuntu in Your Language 100

Customizing Ubuntu’s Look and Feel 101

Managing Your Files 103

Ubuntu and Multimedia 109

Summary 115

Chapter 4: Advanced Usage and Managing Ubuntu 117

Adding and Removing Programs and Packages 118

Keeping Your Computer Updated 125

Moving to the Next Ubuntu Release 128

Using and Abusing Devices and Media 129

Configuring a Printer in Ubuntu 132

Graphically Access Remote Files 139

The Terminal 141

Working with Windows 145

Summary 147

Chapter 5: The Ubuntu Server 149

What Is Ubuntu Server? 150

Installing Ubuntu Server 152

Ubuntu Package Management 162

Ubuntu Server Security 173

Summary 180

Chapter 6: Support and Typical Problems 183

Your System 184

Applications 199

Multimedia 204

Networking 210

Hardware 216

System Administration 227

Other 240

Summary 246

Chapter 7: Using Kubuntu 249

Introduction to Kubuntu 250

Installing Kubuntu 255

Customizing Kubuntu 259

Systems Administration 264

Managing Files with Kubuntu 279

Common Applications 287

Finding Help and Giving Back to the Community 308

Summary 310

Chapter 8: The Ubuntu Community 311

Venues 313

Ubuntu Mailing Lists 314

IRC Channel List 318

Teams, Processes, and Community Governance 331

Getting Involved 338

Summary 341

Chapter 9: Ubuntu-Related Projects 343

Partner Projects 344

Derived Distributions 346

The Launchpad 351

Bazaar 356

Summary 356

Appendix A: Welcome to the Command Line 357

Starting Up the Terminal 357

Moving around the Filesystem 357

Manipulating Files and Folders 359

System Information Commands 360

Searching and Editing Text Files 361

Dealing with Users and Groups 362

Getting Help on the Command Line 363

Searching for Man Files 363

Using Wildcards 364

Executing Multiple Commands 364

Moving on to More Advanced Uses of the Command Line 365

Appendix B: Ubuntu Foundation Documents 367

Code of Conduct 367

Ubuntu Code of Conduct 368

Ubuntu Philosophy 370

Components 372

License Policy 374

Appendix C: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Open Publication License 379

Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 379

License 379

Appendix D: Ubuntu Equivalents to Windows Programs 387

On the Ubuntu Desktop 387

Additional Applications 389

Index 393

Promotional Information

The "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means, "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world. The Official Ubuntu Book covers the hottest new Linux distribution and will be heavily co marketed and promoted by the Ubuntu community through its official sponsor, Canonical Ltd, with its founder Mark Shuttleworth providing a foreword. This book will show ordinary users how to seamlessly install and use this free operating system. It demonstrates how to customize Ubuntu for personal and small business use, and sets the stage for using its open source power in schools, government or businesses SEE PAGE # FOR KEY TOPICS! Remember Ubuntu won Linux Journal's Reader's Choice Award for Best Linux distribution award in October 2005.

About the Author

Benjamin Mako Hill is on the Ubuntu Community Council governance board, and on the founding Ubuntu team with the charge to help grow the Ubuntu development and user community during the first year. With the community off the ground, Mako returned to graduate school at the MIT Media Lab where he works on the One Laptop Per per Child project.

Jono Bacon is an Open Source consultant, speaker, and writer living in the United Kingdom. Jono spends his days helping people to move to Open Source and speaks at conferences around the world about Open Source and its community

Corey Burger is a member of the Ubuntu Documentation Team, the Laptop Testing Team, and has been involved with Ubuntu since December 2004. As leader of Ubuntu Canada, he works to promote Ubuntu to individuals and organizations across Canada.

Jonathan Jesse is a member of the Kubuntu Documents Team, works on bugs for the Kubuntu team, tests builds for the Laptop Testing Team, and helps out on the wiki as well.

Ivan Krstic is one of the Ubuntu Server Team administrators and has previously served as director of research at the Medical Informatics Laboratory at Zagreb Children's Hospital, where he depended on Ubuntu Server for mission-critical backend tasks. He is now developing software architecture for the One Laptop Per Child project

Reviews

"The Official Ubuntu Book was well written and covered all topics that is necessary for a new Ubuntu user who is either trying out Ubuntu for the first time or just got fed up of Windows. It was a great read and there were enough pictures to fully understand what the authors were trying to portray."--Michael Levy, Blogger, Gnuman.com “Benjamin Mako Hill et al have produced an excellent book that speaks to everyone who uses or is considering using Ubuntu. The book is traditionally organized, easy to read, and provides consistently useful content. The book is a winner and belongs on the bookshelf of the Ubuntu newbie and veteran alike. As an Ubuntu user, I found it interesting and helpful on several occasions and I'm sure as my use of Ubuntu lengthens, I'll have more occasions to consult this text.”-- James Pyles, Reviewer, The Linux Tutorial