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Setup Extlinux Instead of GRUB for Booting Ubuntu

2008, December 1 - 3:48pm — vyvy

Last Updated: 01-Dec-2008

After installing Ubuntu on a desktop PC, you may want use a bootloader other than GRUB for some reasons. (And this, a very nasty one, is mine.) You can choose to use extlinux [syslinux.zytor.com], which is a variant of the famous syslinux [syslinux.zytor.com] bootloader for ext2/ext3 filesystems. The steps here have been tested on Ubuntu 8.10 but should be applicable to other Linux distros as well.

1. Preparation

You need to have a Ubuntu Live Installation CD / USB stick to do the job.

GNU/Linux Installation Notes (Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex)

2008, November 6 - 5:06pm — vyvy

Things I have done to install my GNU/Linux boxes with Ubuntu 8.10.

Last Updated: 01-Dec-2008

1. Requirements

My requirements for my GNU/Linux box:

  • Do not compromise system performance for fancier graphics
  • A comfortable environment for software development + entertainment!

Disable the Activation of Access Keys in Konqueror

2008, May 15 - 2:27pm — vyvy

I turn on my Xubuntu box and fire up konqueror. I press Ctrl+F2 to switch to another workspace, do something there, and then press Ctrl+F1 to switch back to the workspace with konqueror. Behold! The last Ctrl key has summoned several small yellow boxes (with letters in them) waiting to serve me. The status bar of konqueror tells me what happened: "Access Keys activated". I don't want any of them. What can I do?

  • Press Esc key every now and then to send all these boxes away; or
  • Disable it once and for all! 
    $ kwriteconfig –file konquerorrc –group "Access Keys" –key Enabled –type bool false

Restart konqueror. Behold! Ctrl key summons nothing from konqueror now!

Ubuntu vs Mac OS X in Veronica Mars

2008, May 5 - 6:25pm — vyvy

I happened to come across an interesting and probably the geekiest conversation in the TV series Veronica Mars [www2.warnerbros.com]. The conversation is from the Episode 18 of Season 1, and is an argument between Pete, a male geek, and Cindy, a female geek:

Pete: Wait, how can you even have an opinion on Ubuntu if you haven't tried it? Two six kernel, Live CD, they even had GNOME 2.0 the day Warty Warthog came out.
Cindy: I'm sorry, I'm perfectly content with OS X. I have all the awk/grep-ance that I want without any need for that pitiful font de-uglification.
Pete: But the fonts are de-uglified, and it's free! You know, fine, you know, living in the dark ages.
Cindy: I know what I like! And I like what I know.

I counted about 9 geek terms here if you want to fully understand the conversation: Ubuntu, Two six kernel (2.6), Live CD, GNOME, Warty Warthog, OS X, awk, grep, font de-uglification. (^_^) How many do you know?

GNU/Linux Installation Notes (Xubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron)

2008, April 28 - 3:04pm — vyvy

Here are the things I normally do to prepare my GNU/Linux box. I will update the post for the latest GNU/Linux distro I install on my computers.

Last Updated: 4-Jun-2008

1. Requirements

My requirements for my GNU/Linux box:

  • Do not compromise system performance for fancier graphics
  • A comfortable environment for software development + entertainment!

Over the years I find that the excellent Xfce provides me the best user experience. So I stick to a user-friendly GNU/Linux system with its GUI powered by Xfce:

  • Distro: Xubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)
  • Installation CD: Xubuntu [PC (Intel x86) desktop install CD]

Setup Extlinux Instead of GRUB for Booting Ubuntu 7.10

2008, March 4 - 4:12pm — vyvy

Note: Please check out the new post here if you use Ubuntu, as this post has become obsolete since the Ubuntu Live CD / USB stick is now shipped with extlinux. This post is however still useful for those distros that are not shipped with extlinux.

After installing Ubuntu on a desktop PC, you may want use a bootloader other than GRUB for some reasons. You can choose to use extlinux [syslinux.zytor.com], which is a variant of the famous syslinux [syslinux.zytor.com] bootloader for ext2/ext3 filesystems. The steps here have been tested on an Ubuntu system but should be applicable to other Linux distros as well.

1. Preparation

Prepare these:

  • Prepare a working SystemRescueCd [www.sysresccd.org], an excellent GNU/Linux system specifically design for repairing computer system and recovering data after a crash.
  • To be safe, the /boot directory of the GNU/Linux installed should reside in a primary partition. (It has been reported that extlinux may not always be able to locate a bootable logical partition successfully.)

Set up a LAMP Web Server on Ubuntu

2007, November 20 - 5:34pm — vyvy

Update (06-May-08): Updated for Ubuntu 8.04.

This is a quick guide or refresher for setting up a basic LAMP sever on Ubuntu/Xubuntu 7.10/8.04.

1. Basic Installation

What Packages Required Configuration / Remarks
GNU/Linux Refer to my GNU/Linux installation notes for installing Ubuntu
Apache apache2 Settings: /etc/apache2/
Loggings: /var/log/apache2/
MySQL mysql-server libapache2-mod-auth-mysql php5-mysql Settings: /etc/mysql/
Loggings: /var/log/mysql/
PHP php5 Settings: /etc/php5/
Errors: Displayed by default; For production server, set ini_set('display_errors', false); ini_set('error_log', 'log_filename');
PhpMyAdmin phpmyadmin Access via http://localhost/phpmyadmin/
MySQL Administrator mysql-admin Access via $ mysql-admin
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