Upgrading Ubuntu from 10.04 to 10.10 with a local mirror

I upgraded from Ubuntu 10.04 to Ubuntu 10.10 on my desktop today, using Update Manager. Since 10.04 is a Long Term Support release which features a long period of stability (bug fixes and security fixes only), 10.10 is not automatically offered. I had to hit the Settings button in Update Manager to bring up the Software Sources dialog, then the Updates tab and select "Normal releases" from the Show new distribution releases: drop-down menu in order to get the 10.10 upgrade to show up.

How to get help with Ubuntu on IRC chat

If you're new to Ubuntu or Linux, and you've ever run into a problem or question that you just can't seem to solve with Google searches, you will be happy to know that there is another resource available to you. Even if you're experienced, there's always going to be something new and obscure that trips you up once in a while. That's where IRC comes in.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is an ancient protocol for chatting on the Internet which is alive and flourishing. It is the predecessor to IM software, Web chatrooms and online gaming chat systems. IRC is commonly used for informal support and chat related to application software, operating systems, games, and a whole host of general interest topics like sports, politics and religion.

Building TrinityCore 9847 with TrinityDB r34 on Ubuntu 10.04

Well, another TrinityCore/TDB release has arrived (http://forum.trinitycore.org/topic/28139-tdb-3351134-love-hate-and-passion-has-been-released/), so I'm rebuilding my Trinity server from scratch and sharing the process again. Happily, I saw much fewer errors than when I built r33. No errors, in fact!

Accordingly, this guide describes the process of setting up TrinityCore revision 9847 with TrinityDB 335.11.34 (TDB r34) on an Ubuntu 10.04 system. The directions should work on Ubuntu 9.10 but have not been tested there. I got most of my clues from http://www.trinitycore.info/index.php?title=Installing_TrinityCore_on_recent_Linux-based_systems. I highly suggest you keep that document handy while following this guide, as it goes into detail on many explanations which I will be glossing over.

Installing TrinityCore dependencies on Ubuntu 10.04

This guide is meant to accompany my release-specific build guides for TrinityCore/TDB releases on Ubuntu, in order to cut down on duplicate content in those posts since these procedures for brand new installations don't change.

TrinityCore dependency packages in Ubuntu

First, install the Ubuntu packages required for building TrinityCore.

Building TrinityCore with TrinityDB r33 on Ubuntu 10.04

Setting up TrinityCore on Ubuntu 10.04

The awesomeness of 5-boxing localhost

IMPORTANT: USE UPDATED R34 GUIDE AT http://sectio-aurea.blogspot.com/2010/09/trinitycore-9847-tdb-r34-ubuntu-1004.html - THANKS

Building Xnee 3.06 on Ubuntu Lucid 10.04

Recently, I wanted to use Xnee (http://www.sandklef.com/xnee/) to automate some GUI application actions on an Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 installation, but I found that the version of Xnee available from the Lucid repositories still has some problems. Specifically, this older Xnee version, 3.02-2ubuntu2, still contains workarounds for some previously existing Xorg RECORD extension problems which have themselves now been fixed in Lucid. The outcome of this mismatch is that recording fails with any of cnee, gnee or pnee. This is resolved in the next release of Ubuntu, 10.10 "Maverick", which includes Xnee 3.06, but I preferred not to upgrade the entire system to a pre-release state just to get this one application working.

Installing Heroes of Newerth Beta on Ubuntu Linux 9.04 Jaunty

Well, I got my beta key for Heroes of Newerth through the recent Slashdot giveaways. I'm excited as I used to play Starcraft back in the day, but never got into DotA. Here is my experience installing this *early closed beta* version of the game and first playing it.

Berkeley Logo and the Turtle on Ubuntu Linux

Berkeley Logo drawing with the Turtle on Ubuntu

As a kid, the first programming language I ever saw was a variant of Logo on an Amstrad PC/M system. I discovered its graphic system, the "Turtle" and how it could be used to create Spirograph-like images in a totally different environment from the word processing application or the file manager (which resembled Midnight Commander!)

So naturally I have to see what it looks like now:

sudo aptitude install ucblogo

According to the user manual (http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/usermanual) "Berkeley Logo provides traditional Logo turtle graphics with one turtle. Multiple turtles, dynamic turtles, and collision detection are not supported."

I start the interpreter with 'logo' in a Terminal.

I put my pen down:

pd

Hide the turtle:

ht

And draw a fancy shape!

repeat 65 [fd 300 rt 165]

I was very pleased to get back up and running with Logo. However, I doubt I'll truly be satisfied until I can run an emulated version of the entire Amstrad PC/M system!

Edit: This post was originally published for Ubuntu 8.10. Tested working OK with identical commands in Ubuntu 12.10. Happy turtling!

A 3d File System Viewer: Building FSV on Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid"

FSV is a 3d file system viewer which reimplements FSN, memorable for its appearance in Jurassic Park. You can read about FSN here:

http://www.siliconbunny.com/fsn-the-irix-3d-file-system-tool-from-jurassic-park/

The FSV website at http://fsv.sourceforge.net/ provides the downloadable source code for FSV, and here is how to build it:

Linux Audio and Music blog talks about Hydrogen

Just found a blog called Linux Audio and Music which briefly mentions Hydrogen, one of my favorite apps:

Linux Audio and Music: Hydrogen drum sequencer