Ubuntu Kung Fu

Extracted from:

Ubuntu Kung Fu Tips, Tricks, Hints, and Hacks

This PDF file contains pages extracted from Ubuntu Kung Fu, published by the Pragmatic Bookshelf. For more information or to purchase a paperback or PDF copy, please visit http://www.pragprog.com. Note: This extract contains some colored text (particularly in code listing). This is available only in online versions of the books. The printed versions are black and white. Pagination might vary between the online and printer versions; the content is otherwise identical. Copyright © 2008 The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher.

Contents 1

Introduction 1.1 How to Read This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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An Ubuntu Administration Crash Course 2.1 The Ubuntu Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Users, Passwords, and Files . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Command Line or GUI? . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Software Installation and Management . . 2.5 Using gconf-editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 Editing Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . 2.7 Making and Keeping Backups . . . . . . . . 2.8 Rescue Me! What to Do If It All Goes Wrong 2.9 Miscellaneous Things You Ought to Know .

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The Tips 1. Set Any Picture as Wallpaper with a Single Click . . . . 2. See (and Reuse) the Most Recently Typed Commands . 3. Add Cool New Visualizations to Totem/RhythmBox . . 4. Switch Monitor Resolutions with a Single Mouse Click 5. Closely Monitor the Power Consumption of a Laptop . 6. Stop the Cursor from Blinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Scroll Without the Mouse in Firefox and Evolution Mail Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Optimize Startup for Faster Boot Times . . . . . . . . . 9. Graph the System Bootup Performance . . . . . . . . . 10. Change Gedit’s Printing Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Shrink or Enlarge Images at the Command Line . . . . 12. View All a Digital Photo’s Technical Information . . . . 13. Have Ubuntu Speak to You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. Instantly Search for Files in Nautilus . . . . . . . . . .

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Take Photos or Record Videos with Your Webcam . . . Add RAR File Compression Support to Ubuntu . . . . . Add a Swap File or Expand Existing Swap Space . . . . Get Rid of the Virtual Console Legal Boilerplate . . . . Make Wubi Installations of Ubuntu Run Faster . . . . Make Website or Email Links Automatically Install Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Make Fonts Look Superb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Download Updates Faster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slow Down a Touchpad’s Scrolling . . . . . . . . . . . . Ensure Your Windows Partition Is Always Available Under Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Improve the GNOME Terminal Look and Feel . . . . . . Ensure Ubuntu Always Knows the Time . . . . . . . . . Get More Data onto CD-R Discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Share Files Across the Network (Without Tearing Your Hair Out) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Save Ink When Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Browse the Web from the Command Line . . . . . . . . Create an “Ubuntu Install” USB Stick . . . . . . . . . . Add a Menu Entry for Ubuntu’s Compression Tool . . . Quickly Run Applications Without Opening a Terminal Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Instantly Search Google for Any Word or Phrase . . . . Ensure You’re Informed About the Newest Releases of Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a File Delete Command That Uses the Trash . . Configure Ubuntu’s Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repair Windows from Within Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . Empty the Trash Even If Told You Can’t . . . . . . . . . Log On Automatically After Bootup . . . . . . . . . . . . Use an Alternative Wifi Connection Manager . . . . . . Make Evolution More Like Outlook (Just a Little Bit) . Give Ubuntu a Static IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . Format a USB Memory Stick (or Camera Memory Card) Protect Ubuntu So It Can’t Be Booted Without a Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dump the Text on a Virtual Console to a File . . . . . . Eliminate the Time Period During Which sudo/gksu Powers Hang Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Access Ubuntu Files from Windows . . . . . . . . . . .

C LICK H ERE to purchase this book now.

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Kill a Crashed GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Make Ubuntu Safe for Children to Use . . . . . . . . . . Run Two (or More) Desktops at the Same Time . . . . . Go Completely Full-Screen in Virtually Any Application Make Calculator Round Up (or Down) to Two Digits . . Follow the Moon’s Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Import Internet Explorer Settings into Firefox . . . . . Drag and Drop Files onto the Terminal Window . . . . Use Older Digital Cameras with Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . Use the Ultra-quick xterm to Bash Out Commands . . Install All the Program Compilation Tools You’ll Need . Avoid Network Slowdowns and Incompatibilities . . . . Print at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Find the Ubuntu Version and Code Name . . . . . . . . Get Your Webcam Working in Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . Downgrade to Firefox 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Install All the Multimedia Playback Codecs You’ll Ever Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Get Better DVD Movie Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Run the Terminal with a Single Keypress . . . . . . . . See the APT Cow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See What Firefox Plug-ins Are Installed . . . . . . . . . Kill the Network Connection Instantly . . . . . . . . . . Post Blog Entries from your Ubuntu Desktop . . . . . . Intelligently Select Only the Files You Want . . . . . . . Temporarily Disable a User Account . . . . . . . . . . . Take Complete Control of Desktop Effects and Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do Some Desktop Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Control Volume Levels at the Command Prompt . . . . Search the Ubuntu File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Remove the “Bad Password” Wait Period . . . . . . . . . Make Desktop Icons Really Big . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Run Ubuntu...Without the Linux Components! . . . . . Instantly Hide a File or Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scan for Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Temporarily Log In as the Root User at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Start the Screensaver from the Command Line . . . . . Get the Most Out of (or into) a Nautilus Window . . . . View Images at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . .


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Administer the Printer from a Web Browser . . . . . . Move a Window Without Clicking the Title Bar . . . . Connect to Shared Folders from the Command Line . Deactivate Caps Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Format Floppies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switch to a Lightweight File Manager . . . . . . . . . Use Syntax Highlighting in Gedit . . . . . . . . . . . . Stop ZIP Files That Are Emailed to Colleagues from Getting Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Use an Alternative Email Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ensure People Hear You When Using a Microphone . Quickly Browse to a Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turn Off the Beep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Add a Second Hard Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Update Ubuntu in the Background . . . . . . . . . . . Install 465 Open Source Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . Be Careful Not to Badly Name Files/Folders in Your Windows Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Make Your Windows Partition Read-Only . . . . . . . Stop Nautilus from Neatly Arranging Icons . . . . . . Run GUI Programs from a Terminal Window Without Tying Up Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set the CPU Speed from the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . Switch to Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu Without Installing from Scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SSH into Ubuntu from Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . Recover a Damaged Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recover a Damaged Desktop #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enable the Root User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quickly Create Graphical Text Banners . . . . . . . . Securely Erase Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Play Emacs Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fix Video Playback Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turn Any Text File into a PDF at the Command Line Avoid Repetitive Strain Injury When Using Ubuntu . Uninstall Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Ubuntu, Mac, and Windows ...Without Doing Anything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Access ISO Images As If They Were Disk Drives . . . Improve Ubuntu’s Microsoft Office 2007 File Support Use a Friendly Version of vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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123. Get Around Partitioning Errors If Using Boot Camp on Macs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124. Have Macs Correctly Refer to Ubuntu in Dual-Boot Mode 125. Sleep, Ubuntu, Sleep! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126. Instantly Create an HTML Slideshow of Photos . . . . . 127. Reveal the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128. Set Hard Disk Power-Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129. View the GNOME Desktop Version . . . . . . . . . . . . 130. Avoid GNOME Startup Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131. Use FTP Under Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132. Switch to Old-Fashioned Tree View in Nautilus . . . . . 133. Kill Any Crashed Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134. Increase the Number of Documents Remembered by Gedit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135. Utilize All of a Sound Card’s Features . . . . . . . . . . 136. Monitor Network Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137. Make the Command Prompt Colorful . . . . . . . . . . . 138. Make Windows Permanently Available . . . . . . . . . . 139. Give the Boot Menu Wallpaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140. Access All Removable Storage from the Command Line 141. Reconfigure Your Graphics Card from the Ground Up . 142. Unlock the Package Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143. Administer Ubuntu Using a Web Browser from Any Computer (or Operating System) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144. Give Nautilus Windows Their Own Wallpaper . . . . . . 145. Create an Encrypted File Store Accessible from Any Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146. Find Out How Much Disk Space Is Available . . . . . . 147. Make Ubuntu Blue (or Dark Gray or Dark Brown) . . . 148. Use Versions of Ubuntu That Are Entirely Free Software 149. Install OpenOffice.org’s Database Component . . . . . 150. Monitor Your Computer’s Temperature and Fan Speeds 151. Print Multiple Photos on One Sheet of Paper . . . . . . 152. Try Some Alternative Web Browsers . . . . . . . . . . . 153. Quickly Hide/Unhide Windows Using the Keyboard . . 154. Convert Images from One Format to Another at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155. Significantly Expand Gedit’s Functionality . . . . . . . 156. Make New Mail Windows Taller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157. Avoid Making Badly Burned CD-R/RW Discs . . . . . .


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158. Import Email Messages from Outlook and/or Outlook Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159. Use the Mac OS “Quit” Keyboard Shortcut . . . . . . . 160. Switch to bash If sh Is in Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161. Instantly Edit a File When You’re Viewing It in less . . 162. Access Ubuntu’s Desktop from Any Computing Device 163. Remove the Annoying Delay When Installing Firefox Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. View Technical Details of Your PC’s Hardware . . . . . 165. Switch to Old-Fashioned “Spatial Browsing” Mode . . . 166. Clear the Package Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167. Search man Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168. Convert a PDF to an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169. Use a Dial-Up Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170. Steal the Windows (or Mac OS) Fonts . . . . . . . . . . 171. Use Unusual Characters or Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . 172. Encrypt and Sign Emails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173. Get a Nice Trash Can on the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . 174. Create .zip Files Using Maximum Compression . . . . . 175. Create an Ubuntu “Updates” CD/DVD . . . . . . . . . . 176. Stop Ubuntu “Graying Out” Stalled Program Windows Quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. Get a High-Quality (and Free) Command-Line Word Processor with Microsoft Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. Create a “Superuser Terminal” Shortcut . . . . . . . . . 179. Find Out Who You Are! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. Install Ubuntu Partner Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181. Use a GUI Version of vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182. Rescue a Crashed GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183. See a Quote of the Day Whenever You Log In . . . . . . 184. Make GNOME System Monitor Appear When Ctrl+Alt+ Delete Is Hit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185. Change Your Computer’s Name (Hostname) . . . . . . . 186. Reduce the Wubi Boot Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187. Swap Around the Minimize, Maximize, and Close Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188. Add an Uber-Start Button to Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . . 189. View Technical Details of PDF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 190. Connect to a Remote Computer As If You Were Sitting in Front of It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191. Change Ubuntu’s System Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . .


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Move Around the Command Line Like a Pro . . . . . . . “Scroll” a Virtual Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do Math at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create Keyboard Shortcuts That Use the Windows Key Create a Text File Without a Text Editor . . . . . . . . . Turn Off the OpenOffice.org Splash Screen . . . . . . . See Which Virtual Console You’re Working At . . . . . . Periodically Change the Desktop Wallpaper . . . . . . . Get Warned When sudo Powers Hang Around . . . . . Add a “Similar Words” Sidebar to the Dictionary . . . . Add Drop Shadows to Screenshots . . . . . . . . . . . . Create a Backup ISO Image of Almost Any Physical CD/DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Change Firefox’s Spell-Checker Language . . . . . . . . Take Full Control of PulseAudio Sound Output . . . . . Use the Command Prompt to Sleep, Hibernate, Shut Down, or Reboot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mirror Commands and Output Across Different Terminal Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Instantly View a Load of Images as a Slideshow . . . . Use a Windows-Style Start Button and Taskbar . . . . Change Your Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Convert Hex to Decimal (and Vice Versa) . . . . . . . . . Quickly Save Pictures on Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . Quickly Send Web Links by Email . . . . . . . . . . . . Sharpen Images at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . View PDFs at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . Run Windows Programs Under Ubuntu . . . . . . . . . Uninstall Ubuntu If Wubi Has Been Used . . . . . . . . See a Visual Representation of File and Folder Locations Create Text Banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Use a Macintosh OS X–like Dock . . . . . . . . . . . . . Process Words at the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . View a Calendar at the Command Prompt . . . . . . . . Repair Ubuntu File System Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . Clone Your Ubuntu Installation onto a New Hard Disk Create a Boot Log to Help Solve Startup Problems . . . Install a Personal FTP Server for File Sharing . . . . . . Shut Down, Reboot, Hibernate, or Sleep Ubuntu with a Single Click . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delete Files Rather Than Trash Them . . . . . . . . . .


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Yank a USB Stick Even If You’re Told You Shouldn’t . . Rename Many Files at Once (aka Bulk Rename) . . . . Get an Alternative Media Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compare Two Files to See Whether They’re Different . Use the Mouse at the Virtual Console (complete with Copy and Paste) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See a Progress Display as the Desktop Loads . . . . . . Get Free-of-Charge Ubuntu CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . Make the GNOME Terminal Window Translucent . . . Automate the Downloading and Installation of New Theme Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Burn Ubuntu CD Images (ISOs) Using Windows—for Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quickly Create Links to Files, Folders, and/or Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monitor CPU Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See Whenever Caps Lock Is Active . . . . . . . . . . . . Make Files and Folders Entirely Private . . . . . . . . . Get Quick Access to Stuff You’re Working On . . . . . . Insert Command-Line Output and Files into the Clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Have a Cow Talk to You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Get Notified When New Mail Arrives . . . . . . . . . . . Increase Output “Remembered” by GNOME Terminal . Use Ubuntu’s Version of Microsoft Paint . . . . . . . . . Have OpenOffice.org Save in Microsoft Office Format by Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Password-Protect and Encrypt Files . . . . . . . . . . . Add Notes to Any File/Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Encrypt Files So That Only the Recipient Can Open Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See Your File-Browsing History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Define Your Own Menu Shortcut Keys . . . . . . . . . . Always Know Your IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See the Size of Files/Folders on the Desktop . . . . . . View Technical Details of Any Multimedia File . . . . . Convert PDFs and Images to Flash Slideshows . . . . . Create an Alias to Save Typing Long Commands . . . . Send Genuine Smileys in Your Emails . . . . . . . . . . Add an “Open in terminal” Option to Nautilus’s RightClick Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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262. Make Windows Bootable If Things Go Wrong During Ubuntu Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263. Edit the Name and Artist Information of MP3 Files . . 264. Never Touch the Mouse While Using Ubuntu (Well, Almost) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265. Alter Image Viewer’s Zoom Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . 266. Install Skype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267. Arrange Output into Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268. View Images Without a Graphical Environment . . . . 269. Synchronize Files Between a Laptop and Desktop PC 270. Rename Files Quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271. Have sudo Insult You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272. Make Nautilus Display “Traditional” File Permissions 273. See the GNOME Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274. Use Desktop Widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275. Read E-books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276. Make (Almost) Any Wifi Card Work with Ubuntu . . . 277. Connect to the Remote Desktop of a Windows Vista Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278. Use Ubuntu on Your Games Console . . . . . . . . . . 279. Use a “Legal” MP3 Codec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280. Use Look-a-Likes of the Microsoft Fonts . . . . . . . . 281. Play Old MS-DOS Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282. Install Google Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283. Install MS Comic Sans–Style Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . 284. Use Alternative Office Applications . . . . . . . . . . . 285. Have the Firefox Robot Talk to You . . . . . . . . . . . 286. Back Up Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287. Use the Ubuntu Install CD as a General-Purpose Partitioning Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288. Give Old Macintosh Computers a New Lease on Life . 289. Use Absolutely Any Picture as an Icon . . . . . . . . . 290. Install the GNOME Wallpapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291. Zoom In for More Info in Nautilus . . . . . . . . . . . . 292. Play MP3/Ogg Files at the Command Line . . . . . . . 293. Optimize Ubuntu’s Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . 294. Tweak Ubuntu into Oblivion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295. Do Just About Anything to a File by Right-Clicking It 296. Get Notified of New Gmail Messages . . . . . . . . . . 297. OCR Scanned Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298. Use Ubuntu’s Movie Player to Watch YouTube Movies


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CONTENTS

299. 300. 301. 302. 303. 304. 305. 306. 307. 308. 309. 310. 311. 312. 313. 314. 315.

Turn Your Desktop into Your /home Folder . . . . . . . Avoid Programs Quitting When the Terminal Is Closed Allow Terminal Server Client to Access VNC Desktops . Search All of Ubuntu’s “Supported” Software . . . . . . Install Windows on a Computer That Has Ubuntu on It Turn Your Computer into a Egg Timer . . . . . . . . . . Create a Portable USB Stick Installation of Ubuntu . . Enhance the Copy and Paste Clipboard . . . . . . . . . Be Told When Your Tea Has Brewed . . . . . . . . . . . Avoid Bad Formatting When Viewing OpenOffice.org Files on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fix USB Key Sticks That Wrongly Report They’re Full . Use Ubuntu’s Built-in Download Manager . . . . . . . . Avoid an F-Spot Startup Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Record Your Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Take Screenshots in Any Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trace Network Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Automatically Scroll PDF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Index


354 355 355 356 356 360 360 364 366 366 367 368 369 370 371 371 372 373

16

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