@misaac as for linux unpopularity, i think it has to do largely with ignorance. a lot of people, even the so called IT experts dont know that there is anything called linux and those that do, think it is just a black screen with a blinking cursor where u have to cram loads of codes and isnt useful for anyone but hobbyists. this is largely due to d fact that linux is voluteer based and most companies that do linux don't think that they need to advertise (e.g. ubuntu). so, linux spreads by word of mouth and that could be quite slow.

also, alot of people who have had encounter with ubuntu/other flavours of linux and were amazed by all d 3D and stuff still make the mistake of looking at it through the eyes of windows and when they find out that their .exe's dont install n they can't install thier pro and fifa and d likes, they then begin to ask questions like "what then can i use it for?". i have had at least one person who asked me to install ubuntu for him after seeing all d effects n d like and after a few weeks, he asked me to remove it again cos he didnt know what to do with it. ubuntu in my opinion, doesnt help much in this regard. an OS that doesnt come with media codecs and drivers for major graphics cards out of the box is useless to alot of people. i know that thier hands are tied as a result of the proprietary nature of those content but still, if u want to install linux for a new user with minimal support from u, i recommend mint or manhattan or pinguy http://www.webupd8.org/2010/07/pinguy-os-remastered-ubuntu-ubuntu.html but definitely not ubuntu. all dose other oses mentioned are based on ubuntu so u still have d solid base of ubuntu but with a boat load of all d softwares u need so u dont have to go installing things online immediately after a fresh install to get ur machine usable.

one thing that alot of people who complain about missing drivers on ubuntu don't understand is that, the case is arguably worse on windows. it has gotten much better with 7 but xp and vista were just terrible when it came to driver issues. the reason why an end user doesnt notice all these most of the time is that the OS is preinstalled by the OEM who makes up for all d drivers not available on the "vanilla" installation before shipping. people installing linux on thier systems dont get this treatment and so when the have some obscure hardware by backward companies (broadcomm wireless!!?) that doesnt immediately work on ubuntu, they cry foul and say d OS is incomplete.

admittedly, linux still has ways to go but in several ways, it is already ahead of the bunch. for e.g
i have not had to install any printer on ubuntu since i started using it. same can be said for most other distros
i have not had to format my system as a result of a virus attack. most of the time, when i format, it is due to my incessant tinkering or when i want to upgrade
i have not had to wait endless minutes for my system to boot only for it to tell me it has updates to install, install them and then restart again
i have not had my system give up on me for no apparent reason etc.

all these are things that windows users have to experience on a daily basis and they just take it as part of the overall experience of using a computer cos they havnt seen the light.

i guess i have digressed alot from the initial topic but i hope u see ur answer somewhere in this writing mass

muyiscoi:

thought d discussion was dead. nice to see u guys still like d idea. have been quite busy d past few days but i think we can give it a go now. maybe, we could just continue using ubuntunigeria on wordpress if we can get the admin details for it. @[n3rve] could u help us out with that?. we'll have to have at least 3 guys committed to posting stuff at least intermittently. u can also post links to interesting sites, e.t.c. do i hear someone say i commit?

i humbly commit, how do we come up with modalities?

i commit too. although i guess pple will have to ask questions cos i can't just write out of the blue. and sometimes, it may be easier to just link to articles that thrash the issues already and the only explain when folks have a problem.

what do you guys think?

still looking for a non console based bandwidth monitor that logs records for at least a month? anyone got ideas?

and also, what do you use to connect to the internet using gsm modems? Network manager, wvdial, kppp? which works for you? i currently use network manager but am not satisfied.

and back to ubuntu nigeria? yeah, we need to know the modalities. i ran accross liberian geek the other day and i must say they are doing a great job. naija should not be left behind.

and about pple hating linux, well it's just really annoying cos using linux would have made life much easier for them. like you said, drivers and stuff working out of the box.

i think windows also dumbs people down a bit. and one of the places where pple could get introduced to linux is cafe's but those guys insist on using 300 naira windows and reinstalling as many times as thier pc's crash.

schools also insist on using windows when they could be spending their budget on something far better, that is , if they are using properly licensed windows.

at least, our pple should know that they have an option and windows isn't the only way.

i run a cafe and i use ubuntu on my pc's. but just to make the pple comfortable, i had to install some stuff that makes the gnome desktop look like windows 7. i feel bad about it, but if i am to keep my job, i must otherwise oga go sack me.

ahhh!!! young man, u actuallyrun a linux cafe!!! great!!! man like your probably the laziest cafe admin in town!!

do u even do anything at all apart from battle with your isp?

anyway what do u do for timer? that has been my only ish else i would be commercially deploying linux cafes for pple

im guessing u use one theme pack that looks like windows? why bother, just use mint and put links to google chrome and firefox on the desktop, thats even less wahala (u dont have to even do anything after installation) as long as the menu thingy looks like windows im sure pple will be cool, afterall they is there to surf no? big ups men, nice one


agan, somebody pls help me write a script that does this:

f4ll3rbuntu@4ll3r:~$ cd '/home/f4ll3rbuntu/YF7'
f4ll3rbuntu@4ll3r:~/YF7$ sudo java -jar freedom.jar
[sudo] password for f4ll3rbuntu:
the place for the password just highlight so i can input and save the script as a custom launcher!

PLEASEEEEE!!!!!

then for dial up, well if am not mistaken, wvdial and network manager are your only options o. not entirely satisfactory true, but what can you do?
u want to know your total monthly usage shey? hmmn, well dont shut down but seriously maybe u shld just take inventory everytime b4 u shut down and put it in a doc somewhere, end of the month add it up!!!

@4ller
what's wrong with: "sudo java -jar /home/f4ll3rbuntu/YF7/freedom.jar"

have you tried: cd '/home/f4ll3rbuntu/YF7'; sudo java -jar freedom.jar

on kde-based distros i use kppp/wvdial while on gnome-based network manager/wvdial

when i was on a timed plan (like starcomms 100hrs) i prefered using wvdial on ubuntu
'cos the network manager never timed out when idle (very annoying if you fall asleep
while browsing)
doesn't kppp keep a connection log?

well, 4llerbuntu, i use mkahawa as a cafe manager software. its open source. hope you remember to share some of the money you make from deploying it with me.@black weaver i tried to use kppp but i keep getting this no carrier shit from it. i don't know, maybe i should remove network manager and wvdial before using it. and then wvdial, keeps telling me stories about permissions, it seems it wants me to run it as root b it works.

thats by the side, even when i run it as root, and it connects im unable to browse with it. sucks really but network manager has no problem connecting me and browsing. my problem with it is that it does not keep logs so once the connection is off, i don't know how much bandwidth i've used.

now there is this interesting program,vodafone 3g mobile connect for linux. it's great only thing is that it does not detect my modem and i have to do some programming to get it to detect my modem so thats on pause. i have a lot of more pressing things im doing than that. actually, i don't know how to program so to program it will mean i hav to learn programming or get a programmer to do it.

anyway, i don't use mint cos em, i don't think i need to waste my bandwidth downloading another os, when i already have ubuntu. and no i dont use a theme that looks like windows only. its more than that. if you use my pimped pc, you could actually be deceived that ur using windows 7.

and 4ellerbuntu, im having trouble with my isp o! which one do you recommend for cafe thats fast and reliable. im in abuja.

@ weaver, what i get is "there was an error creating the child process for this terminal"

religiously i may add!! oooohhhh, am tired of working my fingers over and over oooo!!!


@ missac, for ISP, well u on ur own o, i dont know any isp in nigeria worth vouching for!!! then again im in lagos. but then im guessing they are probably expensive but u could try talking to mweb/cool fm pple. i think they are quite good, (hang me not by my words).

It's interesting to see what y'all have done with this place in my Seun enforced absence. Keep it keeping on. . .

AAAAHHHH! THE MAN CHXTA, but u blokes have not done well o!!! u pple started sumtin great and took off.

without u pple the learning curve has been massively steep, now here i am i cant even write a script to start a jar file with privileges!!!!!

and its due to bad grooming, when my teachers were all absent.


welcome bro, hmmnn this one that all ya are coming outta the woodwork seems we may have sumtin going on afterall. ok lets see, am in for the blog too (on the condition that i dont speak to myself there like here)

i dont like monologues and this thread here is one big monologue for me most of the time!!

well, that's quite impressive. we already have 3 guys (4 if u count me). i will try to get in touch with bigbrovar over on twitter so we can see to getting the admin privileges for the site and what not.

Please, lets this not be a periodic thing but a continuous one. so that, in 2 to 3 years time, someone else like me will not have to start it all over again but will continue from where we stopped and keep up what will most likely be by then a very vibrant community. if we for some reason nolonger have d time to commit, i hope we will have the good nature to pass on d torch to someone else. that is the true nature of Open source and collaboration. lets get it started!

main main Chxta
Good to see ya. mehn its been ages. ive also been away, school work programming its been hectic as for Mr Seun i guess he's changed

chxta! the man that started it all here on NL. hope ur back for good and whatever caused u to leave in d first place is over now. it's good to have veterans like u guys around to guide us when we go astray . now if only we could get bigbrovar and d rest of d old crew to come back too,

adewaleafolabi, another veteran. na wah oh! wetin dey happen wey all of una just decide to dey come back to ubuntu thread on NL now? i won know oh. welcome back all d same. cant say dat i missed u since i wasnt even on the thread in ur days.

muyiscoi:

adewaleafolabi, another veteran. na wah oh! wetin dey happen wey all of una just decide to dey come back to ubuntu thread on NL now? i won know oh. welcome back all d same. cant say dat i missed u since i wasnt even on the thread in your days.

we're planning to execute a coup lol

4llerbuntu:

ahhh!!! young man, u actuallyrun a linux cafe!!! great!!! man like your probably the laziest cafe admin in town!!

do u even do anything at all apart from battle with your isp?

anyway what do u do for timer? that has been my only ish else i would be commercially deploying linux cafes for pple

im guessing u use one theme pack that looks like windows? why bother, just use mint and put links to google chrome and firefox on the desktop, thats even less wahala (u dont have to even do anything after installation) as long as the menu thingy looks like windows im sure pple will be cool, afterall they is there to surf no? big ups men, nice one


agan, somebody pls help me write a script that does this:

f4ll3rbuntu@4ll3r:~$ cd '/home/f4ll3rbuntu/YF7'
f4ll3rbuntu@4ll3r:~/YF7$ sudo java -jar freedom.jar
[sudo] password for f4ll3rbuntu:
the place for the password just highlight so i can input and save the script as a custom launcher!

PLEASEEEEE!!!!!

then for dial up, well if am not mistaken, wvdial and network manager are your only options o. not entirely satisfactory true, but what can you do?
u want to know your total monthly usage shey? hmmn, well dont shut down but seriously maybe u shld just take inventory everytime b4 u shut down and put it in a doc somewhere, end of the month add it up!!!

For the java stuff you could just create a file where ur java jar is. Name it whatever.sh
open in gedit
#!/bin/sh
exec java -jar whateverfilename.jar
save
right click set permission enable execution as a program.

For timer you could use a mikrotik router enabling its hotspot feature.

adewaleafolabi:

main main Chxta
Good to see ya. mehn its been ages. ive also been away, school work programming its been hectic as for Mr Seun i guess he's changed  

afo how far been awhile. hope everything is fine sha. cheers

@all I got a mention from @muyiscoi about renewed interest in the Ubuntunigeria blog. The idea of the blog and a loco group was actually conceived  me and Afolabi (adewaleafolabi) we came up with the name registered the blog and even did the logo. We also populated it with content. At that time Afolabi had some challenges with internet access so I did my best to keep the blog afloat. The idea of the blog was to have a place where we can direct  noobies to linux to create a place where there can come and have solution to teething problems and to also be an avenue where people can hold discussions and share tips and walk around some of the issues concerning linux usage in Nigeria. Ralvy later joined in and 3 of us all worked to generate interest in the blog. At that time I was running a program where I created offline cd based repositories which allowed users install popular ubuntu applications from their cds without requiring an internet connection. The scheme was quite successful but we had issues of distribution. At that time I was in school and had to use the little money I had to buy parks of dvds which I used in creating the aptoncds. many people around Nigeria wanted us to send cds to them but there was little resources and no interest at sustaining the few of us making this effort. Soon I lost interest in the blog cus I have my own blog to meantain and there was just lack of interest in the ubuntunigeria blog. Guess that is a short history to where we are now. If anyone is interested in picking up the touch I am always willing to him. you can reach me on #nglug @ freenode.net at least am always there during the hours of 8am -5pm u can come and leave me your email and I would make u and editor to the blog which would allow you to write post. anyway nice to see you guys flying the touch. I dont frequent here often cus of the general difficulty in posting to nairaland but I am always available on twitter and identica and also on irc.

bigbrovar:

afo how far been awhile. hope everything is fine sha. cheers

Almost, heard there was a python conference at ur place wish i knew i wud have been there though. By the way am almost thru with skool, how time flies.

see!!! when the pros come out stuff gets done!!!!

@afo, thanks man!!! but would sudo be out of place in that script, cos i prefer running that jar with elevated privs

well will try it sha!!!

i dont tink u can assign anything with permanent elevated priviledges in linux. that's d whole point. u can however, like d "pro" said earlier on, tell the OS that said file needs elevated priviledges to run so it will request for ur password before running it. "chmod" always does d job if u're a command line junkie

4llerbuntu:



see!!! when the pros come out stuff gets done!!!!

@afo, thanks man!!! but would sudo be out of place in that script, cos i prefer running that jar with elevated privs

well will try it sha!!!

If what you are running is a GUI program then it is better you run it with gksudo which is the recommended way for running GUIs

Your best bet however is to save the script with whatever name you choose and move the script to /usr/local/bin/myjavascript
(make sure that your have right click on the file and set it to execute)

now you can add the script to your sudoer list so that when you execute the script it runs as root automatically without asking your permission. (This is not advisable unless you know what you are doing)

to do this run the following command

visudo
and add this line to the end of the file
bigbrovar ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:/usr/local/bin/myjavascritpt

(edit the line as it relate to your case replacing bigbrovar with your username and myjavascript with the name of your script)

now the do ctrl + o to save what you have done and ctrl + x to exit

to make this a launcher which would show up in ur system menu

open gedit and create a file called nameofmyjavascript.desktop
populate the above file with the following

[Desktop Entry]
Name=myjavascritpt
Exec=myjavascritpt
Type=Application
Categories=Network
Terminal=false

save the file and move it (as root) /usr/share/applications

let me know how that went

adewaleafolabi:

Almost, heard there was a python conference at your place wish i knew i wud have been there though. By the way am almost thru with skool, how time flies.

yeah. i was there n it was great. got to meet bigbrovar too if only briefly

hi all, i have now become an editor on d ubuntunigeria site thanks to bigbrovar. i am still trying to get the hang of wordpress as i have been a blogger guy for a while now. hopefully, by d end of dis weekend, there will be some noticeable changes on the site. if u are also interested in being an editor (as we all should be), u can send ur email address to me as a PM on nairaland or as a DM on twitter (@muyiscoi) or to bigbrovar (@bigbrovar on twitter). or if you're comfortable with posting ur email address here, u could just post it on the thread. i dont know if i can create new editors yet (still exploring) but even if i cant, bigbrovar can take care of that for us.

at least, we're getting somewhere!

Lately, Linux has gained increasing popularity, Ubuntu especially. But the fact still remains that it is still years to come before a significant number of people can afford to have a Linux as their main OS of choice, afterall, it is still very much a Microsot world.

Personally, i have gone the way of virualization, whereby i run my major Microsoft OS side by side with my Linux distributions and even Mac Apple using virtualbox. I tend to shy away from dual booting to avoid unnecessary headaches.

Check out my post on virtualization on my web blog; www.artwales.biz/?p=10#more-10
It contains a step by step guide on installing Ubuntu in a virtual machine. Note that it is a five part series.

okay nairaland ubuntites. r u ready for this?

I spent a considerable amount of time today working on some of the things i think ubuntu nigeria needs in order to thrive. I do not want to list all those things here as it will constitute a duplication of efforts. I have created a new page on the ubuntu nigeria blog about what exactly i and others have done so head over there now and read through and let me know what you think in the comments. also, for those who said they would want to post on d blog, shoot an email to ubuntunigeria@gmail.com and we will see about making you an editor. tanx.

The URL is http://ubuntunigeria./how-to-contribute/

yeah, i've been to the site and have the facebook/twitter page. good to see we are really serious about this.

by the way, i solved my bandwidth problem using webmin. webmin is an all round sysadmin software not just bandwidth, a bit of an overkill but i like it.

im just wondering about this stuff: linux-headers-2.6.32-21 linux-headers-2.6.32-21-generic. they keep coming up in my updates. and im losing my precious bandwidth to installing them. i now have up to linux-headers-2.6.32-24 linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic its annoying.

ubuntu updates more often than any other os i have used. do i have to update every time?

how come u keep getting headers , 21, are u sure its , 21 all the time?

they are just new kernels, they are supposed to improve the system and hardware detction/drivers etc

no u dont have to always update, infact u can turn it off permanently, BUT I ADVISE GAINST THAT!!!


the reason why u see so many updates is probably because you have many apps installed. the updates are not just for the system but also for the apps, that way u dont have to manually uninstall and install apps all the time to enjoy the latest update. and usually the updates clear issues for me sef


u can uninstall older kernels in synaptic, jus search for them and uninstall, but be careful sha, dont uninstall the one u using else, . . . .

bigbrovar:

If what you are running is a GUI program then it is better you run it with gksudo which is the recommended way for running GUIs

Your best bet however is to save the script with whatever name you choose and move the script to /usr/local/bin/myjavascript
(make sure that your have right click on the file and set it to execute)

now you can add the script to your sudoer list so that when you execute the script it runs as root automatically without asking your permission. (This is not advisable unless you know what you are doing)

to do this run the following command

visudo
and add this line to the end of the file
bigbrovar ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:/usr/local/bin/myjavascritpt

(edit the line as it relate to your case replacing bigbrovar with your username and myjavascript with the name of your script)

now the do ctrl + o to save what you have done and ctrl + x to exit

to make this a launcher which would show up in your system menu

open gedit and create a file called nameofmyjavascript.desktop
populate the above file with the following

[Desktop Entry]
Name=myjavascritpt
Exec=myjavascritpt
Type=Application
Categories=Network
Terminal=false

save the file and move it (as root) /usr/share/applications

let me know how that went

@ brovar, i tried this, but i ended up with two entries in my menu, but they dont do nada when i click on them. i made all files to be executable tho!!

dunno what may be wrong?
{EDIT}
err dumb me, but i kinda like looked at it all and figured that there is nothing in the scripts which point to the java files i wanna execute.
well in the folders containing the java exec files the scripts run fine. but moving it elsewhere and trying to start it does nothing. . . . sorry i appear to be so dumb but eh, could u run that by me again

incidentally the .sh files contain the following:
#!/bin/sh
exec sudo java -jar freedom.jar

thanks 4llerbuntu. wasn't very clear in my post.

how come u keep getting headers , 21, are u sure its , 21 all the time?

i didn't mean that i keep getting that over and over. i just mean that i got 21, then 22, then 23, currently its 24. each time the kernel download size is about 30 mb. having to download that much on my personal connection is annoying.

why don't they just issue a patch to the kernel, why do the have to send an entire new kernel each time? if all my hardware are correctly recognised by existing kernel, do i still need to upgrade each time a kernel revision comes alive?

okay, i just checked my update manager know, i have 75 mb of updates to download! kai!

anyway, there is not much i can do about it. so i guess i just have to live with it.

4llerbuntu:

@ brovar, i tried this, but i ended up with two entries in my menu, but they dont do nada when i click on them. i made all files to be executable tho!!

dunno what may be wrong?
{EDIT}
err dumb me, but i kinda like looked at it all and figured that there is nothing in the scripts which point to the java files i wanna execute.
well in the folders containing the java exec files the scripts run fine. but moving it elsewhere and trying to start it does nothing. . . . sorry i appear to be so dumb but eh, could u run that by me again

incidentally the .sh files contain the following:
#!/bin/sh
exec sudo java -jar freedom.jar

for it to run in any location, you have to use tha absolute path in the script. try something like this instead. Note that you have to check the path to make sure it corresponds on your system

#!/bin/sh
exec sudo java -jar /home/4llerbuntu/freedom/freedom.jar

this should work anywhere.

^^ yeah thot as much, just wanted to be sure!!!

thanks.

my internet has been messed u else i would be on the other blog actively. gonna solve the ish soon sha so i will be there fully

NEW BLOG POST ON THE UBUNTU NIGERIA SITE!!!!!

I have just posted the first blog post written by yours truly on the ubuntu nigeria site. you all can check it out below

http://ubuntunigeria./2010/08/18/monitor-your-data-usage-on-ubuntu-easily-using-ntm/


@misaac i think this post will solve your issues with monitoring of bandwidth.

must read!. make sure you drop a line after reading in the comments.