January 17th, 2010 | By Eli
Here’s how to add the universe and multiverse repositories.
- Open Software Sources. System > Administration > Software Sources
- Check the boxes for Community-maintained Open Source software (universe) & Software restricted by copyright or legal issues (multiverse)
- Click Close. Another box should pop up asking if you want to reload, click Reload.
- If you clicked Close, and a window didn’t pop up, then you must go to System > Administration > Update Manager
- Click the Check button.
- Now you can begin to install software from the universe & multiverse repositories.

January 17th, 2010 | By Eli
Enabling the Universe & Multiverse repositories will give you access to tons of software that your Ubuntu system doesn’t give you access to by default. Here is how to enable them.
- Open a Terminal. Applications > Accessories > Terminal
- Type in:
sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bak
This makes a copy of the file we’re going to modify, in case we need to restore it later.
- Then:
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
You can use nano, or your text editor of choice. For example, if you preferred gedit, you’d enter:
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
- Now, find the lines that look like these below, and remove the ” # ” that appears in front of them.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates multiverse
- Save the file and exit.
- Update with the new repository(s):
sudo apt-get update
Now you can install software from the Universe & Multiverse repositories. This software should appear in Add/Remove when you tell it to show you All available applications. Click the picture to enlarge.

January 16th, 2010 | By Eli
When I first installed Google’s Chrome browser, I noticed something odd the first time I ran the application. It’s window had no title bar. I thought that was strange, but I didn’t really mind its absence too much, so I used it like it was. If however, you do miss that title bar at the top of its window, you can enable it.
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December 19th, 2009 | By Eli
Google Chrome Beta is now available for linux. You can go here and download the .deb file for 32 or 64 bit systems. Select the version you’d like to download, and then you can simply click on Open from the box that comes up to download and install the package. It can then be found in the Applications > Internet menu. The install went smoothly for me on Hardy 8.04.3.

My initial observation is a good one. This browser let’s me switch between open tabs by using the scroll wheel, much like Epiphany and others. This is something that hugely increases productivity and makes my browsing experience smoother. Simply place the mouse over any of the tab names, and scroll, and you’ll be going through your open tabs. Simply an awesome feature.
It has other features that I’m anxious to try out. People have been raving about Chrome since it’s release, and it has taken a sizable chunk of the browser market relative to it’s age. We’ll see if it can compete with my current browser of choice, Opera.
December 11th, 2009 | By Eli
You can now download the Alpha 1 release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. Keep in mind that it is very much still in the testing phase, and you should not install it onto a production machine. However, downloading and running it on a test machine, and reporting bugs and issues will help with the development of what will become the final version of the Lucid Lynx.
It can be downloaded here.
December 5th, 2009 | By Eli
So, you’re reading an Ubuntu how to for something, and you come across the sudo command. What in the world is it, and why do you need it? The sudo command is used to allow a regular user to execute a command that requires root privileges.
In addition to the user name you provided at installation, Ubuntu creates a user called root, except it does not give it a password. This user has the power to do anything to your system. It can delete all of your system files, modify them, anything it wants to. For you to login as this root user, you must first assign it a password with which to login. This is pretty much never necessary for most users to do, so I won’t be explaining how to do that here.
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December 1st, 2009 | By Eli
Are you, like me, eagerly awaiting the release of Ubuntu’s next Long Term Support Release, Lucid Lynx? If so, then here are some dates to check out.
- December 10th — Alpha 1
- January 14th — Alpha 2
- February 25th — Alpha 3
- March 18th — Beta 1
- April 8th — Beta 2
- April 22nd — Release Candidate
- April 29th — Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
See the full release schedule here.
November 21st, 2009 | By Eli
The linux kernel is, among other things, something that gets updated periodically when you update your system. When this happens, the kernel that’s being replaced is not deleted, it’s left on your system, but just not used anymore. For example, as I write this, I’m using the 2.6.24-24 kernel. My system may still contain older versions, like 2.6.24-23, or 2.6.24-19, etc. I no longer need these older versions, and they are taking up space on my hard drive. Removing these older versions will free up some hard drive space. The first thing you need to do is find out which kernel you’re currently using, so that you don’t delete it.
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November 19th, 2009 | By Eli
Computerbank Victoria of West Melbourne, Australia, is a not for profit organization staffed by volunteers, who strive to bring computers to those in need. They’re using Ubuntu 9.04 on the machines they handle. Here is what they do…
“We reuse donated computers and refurbish them with quality free software. These computers are offered to disadvantaged individuals and community groups… We install a free version of Ubuntu Linux operating system on our computers. The system is customised to run efficiently on P4 and faster hardware.” — Computerbank website
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November 13th, 2009 | By Eli
Ubuntu 10.04, codenamed Lucid Lynx, will be available in April of 2010. This will be the 12th Ubuntu release to date, and they’ve got some lofty goals for it. The developers are striving for a lean and fast creature with this next LTS release. Some of what they’re aiming for…
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