Upgrade to Ubuntu 10.10 from Desktop version of Ubuntu 10.04

You want to upgradet to latest Ubuntu version(10.10) and you don't get it in your update menu(upgrade to Ubuntu 10.10), then you need to read the following :

Network Upgrade for Ubuntu Desktops (Recommended) :

1. System -> Administration menu->Software Sources application
2. Open Updates from the Software Sources application window
3. Change the Release Upgrade drop down to "Normal Releases" and close the application
4. Press Alt-F2 and type update-manager
5. Click the Check button to check for new updates.
6. If there are any updates to install, use the Install Updates button to install them, and press Check again after that is complete.
7. A message will appear informing you of the availability of the new release.Click Upgrade.Follow the on-screen instructions.

Source : Ubuntu Community

install deb packages in terminal, Ubuntu

Open terminal & write the following :
sudo dpkg -i

compiling and installing software from Source Code

Some software is distributed in "Source form". This means you download a file containing all the source code for the application you want to install, unpack it, and compile it on your system. Compiling is the process of turning the source code into an executable binary. The common myth and newbie assumption is that this is very hard todo, or it is only for programmers. Wrong. It is a fairly straight forward process, and you will find that a lot of software you install will need to be built from source.

Typically applications you must compile from source will come as a ".tar.gz", ".tar.bz2", or ".zip" file.

You'll probably want to operate from inside your home directory. If your user is (for example) username, your home directory will be /home/username/. For the rest of this section we will assume you have downloaded your zip file to /home/username/src. If you do not have a src directory, you can create it with the following "mkdir" (make directory) command:

Code:

mkdir /home/username/src/

So, we have our source package in /home/username/src/.

Change to the /home/username/src/ directory with the "cd" (change directory) command like so:

Code:

cd /home/username/src/

Use the "ls" (list directory contents) command, to see the file is present:

Code:

ls

We now need to unzip the zipped file, this is done differently depending on the file extension.

for files ending in .tar.gz, use:

Code:

tar -zxvf 

(replacing with the name of the file).

for files ending in .tar.bz2, use:

Code:

tar -jxvf 

for files ending in .zip, use:

Code:

unzip 

You should now have a new directory, containing all of the source files. To confirm it exists, and to get its name, use the "ls" command again.

Code:

ls

we now need to go into the new directory, so use the cd command:

Code:

cd 

This is where things will differ. Some packages will have an INSTALL or README file which will contain installation instructions. use "ls" to see if the software has an install or readme file. If it does have one, you can use the "more" command to read it, like so:

Code:

more INSTALL

Generally, the final 3 stages are as follows:
- Configure the installation
- Compile the software
- Install the binaries

The pre-installation configuration is done by executing ./configure:

Code:

./configure

This will perform some requirements testing on your system, and create a "Makefile" which will explain to the "make" utility how the software should be compiled. If you receive any error messages during this stage, you may wish to search the forums to see if they have been found and resolved by someone else already, if not, feel free to post a question on the forums - Please include all of the output including any error messages, and some details about your system - what distro you are using, what are you trying to install etc etc


The next stage is to compile the software, this is done using "make". When you run "make" it will read the instructions in the Makefile and build the application binaries.

Code:

make

The final stage is to install these binaries, ie, copy them to a more permanent location. Typically only the "root" user can do this, so you will need to swich to the root user with the "su" command:

Code:

su

Once you are root, install the binaries using the "make" command, followed by "install", like so:

Code:

make install

That is it! Check the user documentation of the software you installed for details of how to run the application.

Remember that if you have any problems, please post in the most relevant section of the forums. - When posting, remember to include as much info as possible, including all output and error messages.
SOURCE

RAR @ Fedora ...

By default, Rar is not available in Fedora 10. If all you need to do is extract files from a Rar archive, unrar from RPM Fusion's YUM repositories will work. If you need to create Rar archives, then you will have to download and install the complete Rar package from DAG. The instructions below show you how.

Only Need to Extract Files?

First, install RPM Fusion's free and nonfree YUM repositories. For detailed information about installing RPM Fusion, see: http://rpmfusion.org/Configuration

su -c "rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm"

su -c "rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm"

Next, install the unrar packages from RPMFusion's nonfree repository.

su -c "yum install unrar"

Done! You now have unrar in /usr/bin/unrar. This binary can only extract files from Rar archives. Use this command to see all available options:

/usr/bin/unrar -?

Need to Create Rar Archives?

First, download the source RPM from DAG: http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/rar

wget -c http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/rar/rar-3.5.1-1.rf.src.rpm

Now, install the source RPM. This will create a $HOME/rpmbuild tree. Please note that you do not need to be root.

rpm -iv rar-3.5.1-1.rf.src.rpm

Next, build a binary package in $HOME/rpmbuild. Again, no need to be root.

rpmbuild -bb ~/rpmbuild/SPECS/rar.spec

Finally, install the built RPM as root:

su -c "rpm -Uvh $HOME/rpmbuild/RPMS/$(arch)/rar-3.5.1-1.rf.x86_64.rpm"

Done! You now have rar in /usr/bin/rar. This binary can build and extract Rar files. Use this command to see all available options:

/usr/bin/rar -?

Flash Fix @ Ubuntu ...

My flash If you want to completely remove all flash plugins(& install again later), run the following command and then delete the related plugins inside ~/.mozilla/plugins, if there are any:

Code:

sudo apt-get remove swfdec-mozilla
sudo apt-get remove mozilla-plugin-gnash
sudo apt-get remove adobe-flashplugin
sudo apt-get remove flashplugin-nonfree

Keep in mind this will also remove flash plugin from Opera, since it's not Firefox that installed the flash plugin. The flash plugin installation is generic for all browsers.

Nevertheless, I believe your problems is due to conflicting plugins. So before trying to remove all flash plugins, try this(IT WORKED FOR ME):

Code:

sudo apt-get remove swfdec-mozilla
sudo apt-get remove mozilla-plugin-gnash
sudo apt-get remove adobe-flashplugin
sudo apt-get remove flashplugin-nonfree
sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

From my experience, flash does not play well on any browser. Nevertheless, you might experience better performance with Firefox 3.5.3, which is faster than Opera. The alpha releases of Chromium and Firefox 3.6.1a are the best for flash.

You can also try to improve your flash experience using my tutorial Firefox optimization and troubleshooting thread.
Source : Ubuntu Forums

List of installed programs or packages on Ubuntu

List installed (ii) programs (packages):
$ dpkg -l

$ dpkg -l | less

$ dpkg -l | grep nano

See also
$ ls -l /usr/bin | less

$ man dpkg

quickly resize or rotate images within nautilus

If you are looking for a way to batch resize many pictures at the same time with just 2 easy steps, you have found the right tutorial. I found a way by blogging on Internet to add resize and rotate option to your right click and have it always there right beside your hand ;-)

Installation

To add this functionality we’ll need to install the nautilus-image-converter package:

#sudo aptitude install nautilus-image-converter

Use

Before you’re able to use this functionality you’ll need to restart nautilus or simply logout and back in. You’ll now be able to right-click on any image on your machine and you’ll see two new menu items:

"resize images"

"rotate images"

Check out the screen shots down here ...
You can also choose to resize by percentage or by exact dimension.

Source : Modifed but direct tutorial from Ubuntu Tutorials Dapper

Open / view .chm file under Linux or FreeBSD

Chm file is a Microsoft Compressed HTML Help file in a proprietary format for online help files. Under Linux/FreeBSD or UNIX you can open .chm file using following three different programs which makes it possible to browse native Windows CHM files:

Install chm viewer

Use apt-get or yum command to install chm viewer:

Fedora :

First you have to login as root :
$ su
Password:
# yum search gnochm
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit
================ Matched: gnochm ==========
gnochm.noarch : CHM file viewer
python-chm.i386(package name) : Python package for CHM files handling
# yum install -y python-chm.i386(package name)

Ubuntu :

For Gnome :
# apt-get install gnochm
OR for KDE
# apt-get install kchmviewer

Gnome Desktop User

Use gnochm program as follows
$ gnochm file.chm

KDE Desktop User

Use kchmviewer (very nice and highly recommended) program as follows
$ kchmviewer file.chm

Other tool

xchm program is quite outdated but works:
$ xchm file.chm

Source(Ubuntu part) & modifed by me for Fedora

.sh files, How to run ...

Generally, .sh-scripts are Bourne Shell scripts or Bourne Again Shell scripts. So long as a script has a proper shebang-line, you should be able to run them as follows:

Code :
chmod +x file_Name.sh
./file_Name.sh

This works only if the execute-flag is set. If not you have to run the code called chmod to set the execution flag. The code is chmod +x. After the proper execute permissions have been set, they can be executed just like any normal executable. The shebang line* takes care of the executable that will interpret the file.