Linux Tutorial

If the latest edition of Ubuntu will have disappointed or you do not completely convinced, Linux Mint “Debian Edition” is a candidate to become a practical alternative. Increased speed, lightness in startup and in memory, compatibility with packages. Deb and GNOME are just some of the strengths of this distribution.

Installed the system and presented some of its aspects, we pass to the initial configuration needed to get the most out of Debian Mint.

Updates

Once installed you should immediately update the distribution to get the latest versions of programs and receive the improvements made to system files.

Just click on the icon shaped like a shield present in the system tray.

We will ask the system password. We type and click OK or press Enter.

After entering the password, the operator will connect to the server Mint to check for updates.

Click Select All at the top, followed by Install updates.

The first update can be quite long, because of the numerous packages available for download.

After downloading the necessary packages must close the log window to start the update

During the upgrade confirmation window may appear or configuration, in particular if the update is GRUB or other vital components for the system.

Simply respond yes to every request, for example, clicking on Replace.

When upgrading the GRUB window looks like this.

Simply select the first item (in my case /dev/sda) to install GRUB to the MBR of the new hard drive.

The first update may take away over half an hour, but subsequent updates are much lighter and faster.

Language and Translation System programs

Unfortunately, the distribution is not equipped with a graphical tool to change the system language or to “translate” the programs of the distribution.

The only way to change the system language is to act as terminal.

Open a terminal window and type sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales and insert the system password.

The configuration window will allow us to choose the desired language.

For the Italian language select en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8, using the scroll keys on your keyboard and pressing Enter to continue.

The next window will let us choose which language to use package.

Choose your language Italian en_US.UTF-8 with the keyboard and press Enter.

The translation of the warning messages and certain components of the system is not complete: you can get a full translation by activating only the repository of Mint Debian unstable (Romeo), shown later in the article.

Translation Programs

The packages to translate the individual programs are installed from package manager.

Just look for the string l10n followed by the name of the program that interests us.

To translate Firefox for example, type firefox l10n

Scroll down the list and install the package selected in the figure.

Just give to translate OpenOffice openoffice l10n

Install the package highlighted.

To update and install Thunderbird Thunderbird l10n insert its package for the language

Selected packages of interest to us, we click on Apply at the top to make the changes effective.

Other programs are looking for translatable language pack.

Video driver installation and activation 3D Acceleration

Let’s see how you can install the appropriate video driver for the type of video card and how to activate 3D acceleration.

Open source video drivers

The driver works with pre-installed in the system and used upon any VGA: ATI/AMD, NVIDIA and Intel.

It is recommended if you do not want to install proprietary drivers, or if they are not compatible.

If you have a model AMD / ATI does not fall into the category “HD series” or an Intel graphics card can only use this driver and if you use a model AMD / ATI HD series or NVIDIA can use the proprietary driver, usually much more powerful and stable than Open.

Open the driver should not be installed, but is disabled by default.

To activate open the package manager and look for the package libgl1-mesa-dri

Install the package by double-clicking, then click on Apply.

After installation, reboot the system.

Now to test the graphics acceleration drivers and launch a terminal glxinfo | grep render

If the output is similar to that of the image, the driver is up and running.

NVIDIA Video Driver Owner

If we want the most out of our card we have to install the NVIDIA proprietary driver.

To do this open the terminal and type

displays in pure Text printed copy of notes?

    at -> enter password
    apt-get install module-assistant
    apt-get install nvidia-kernel-common
    apt-get install nvidia-glx
    apt-get install kernel-source-NVIDIA
    apt-get install nvidia-xconfig

Installed packages activate the driver by running from the same terminal

    m-to prepare
    m-a a-i nvidia
    modprobe nvidia
    nvidia-xconfig

Reboot the PC.

Test the driver by running the command from terminal glxinfo | grep render

Proprietary Video Drivers ATI / AMD

Proprietary drivers are available only for newer models, those identified by the initials “HD series.”

All previous models can only use the open drivers.

Here’s how:

• We download the correct driver from here

• The downloaded file is moved to the Home of your system

• Rename the file driver.run

• Open a terminal and type cd/home username (insert our user name)

• We make the file executable by typing chmod a + rwx driver.run

• Execute the file by typing sudo /driver.run

• We follow the prompts until installation is complete.

• To activate the driver by typing sudo always aticonfig - initial-f

• Reboot and check the operation of the driver with the command glxinfo | grep render

See the next :

- Guide to Linux Mint “Debian Edition” : Presentation distribution
- Guide to Linux Mint “Debian Edition” : Initial Configurations

If the latest edition of Ubuntu will have disappointed or you do not completely convinced, Linux Mint “Debian Edition” is a candidate to become a practical alternative.

Increased speed, lightness in startup and in memory, compatibility with packages. Deb and GNOME are just some of the strengths of this distribution.

If previously you’ve seen Guide to Linux Mint “Debian Edition” so this time we will show some applications that in Debian Mint.

Welcome us to reboot the login screen.

Click on our user name and enter the password.

We welcome your desktop Mint Debian.

The GNOME desktop environment is used, then those who have already used Ubuntu will not feel completely lost.

Menu Bar located at the bottom and compact Windows-style.

The first news are visible by opening the menu, clicking on the homonymous button at the bottom left.

The menu is divided into sections and allows you to control every aspect of the OS:

The Resources section (1) allows:

• access to PC peripherals (Computer icon)
• to open the user folder (Home Folder Icon)
• access to shared folders on your PC or network (Network icon)
• shows the desktop and the Recycle Bin

The System section (2) allows:

• install / uninstall programs (Icon Management Software)
• install / uninstall system packages (Package Manager icon)
• to manage and administer the operating system (Control Center icon)
• to open a command shell (Terminal icon)
• to lock the screen from prying eyes (Lock screen icon)
• Terminates the current user’s session (Icon End Session)
• to turn off / reboot / suspend / hibernate the system (Exit icon)

The Favorites section (3) lays down a list of programs for quick access, the section is fully customizable, we can add or remove programs according to our needs.

Clicking on the All Applications (4) we have access to all applications in the operating system, including tools and programs management system.

All programs are divided into categories for simplicity and order.

The search bar (5) allows you to search for a specific program or tool, without going crazy between the various categories.

Activating the team repository Mint (more information later in the article) the bar then capture new and interesting functions: allows you to search for the software you want on Google, Wikipedia, among the files on your PC, or seeking the meaning of a word entered Dictionary . If the server software is available in Mint just click on “Install Package” to install.

A Search Bar “Intelligent”.

Presentation Programs

Like all GNU / Linux, Debian Mint has a broad range of software preinstalled, can meet all the needs in the home.

Here is an overview of the various categories:
Accessories

On the menu are various tools like the calculator, the manager of the archives, the viewer virtual post-it notes and a text editor.

Audio and Video

In this menu there is everything you need for multimedia: Burn program, many audio / video players (including VLC) and a number of programs to manage the audio system.

The distribution is already equipped with all the necessary codecs, do not install anything else.

Graphics

The menu for those who love the graphics: there is GIMP, a Photoshop substitute, F-Spot to organize your photos; Draw to draw and a valuable tool to capture images from the scanner.

Internet

The menu dedicated to programs to access the network: a web browser (Firefox), a messaging client (Pidgin), an email client (Thunderbird), a BitTorrent client (Transmission), an IRC chat client (Xchat) a client for microblogging and Facebook (Gwibber) and a client for sharing files (Giver).

System Tools

A menu of “administrative” allows you to manage disks and get more information on performance, you can open the system monitor (task manager Mint) interesting and other administrative functions.

Office

This menu is available in the OpenOffice.org suite of programs, there is also a multilingual dictionary.

You need not install anything else: the distribution has all the tools to create and edit documents, presentations, spreadsheets and databases.

Administration

The second tab “administration” offers advanced configuration of the system.

Among the most interesting: the tools to block certain domain names, the tool to install the Windows driver for the wireless card and the update manager.

Many of these features are available on one screen by clicking on Control Panel in the Start menu.

Preferences

In this menu, highlight: Application startup, to manage the autostart programs; Appearance (to customize the interface and menu system), Keyboard Shortcuts and other useful administrative tools.

The ability to customize the distribution are indeed numerous.

See the next :

- Guide to Linux Mint “Debian Edition” : Presentation distribution
- Guide to Linux Mint “Debian Edition” : Initial Configurations

If the latest edition of Ubuntu will have disappointed or you do not completely convinced, Linux Mint “Debian Edition” is a candidate to become a practical alternative. Increased speed, lightness in startup and in memory, compatibility with packages. Deb and GNOME are just some of the strengths of this distribution.

The latest edition of Ubuntu, the 10.10 “Maverick Meerkat”, there has been widespread concern among longtime users and fans of the Canonical distribution.

The criticisms are numerous: interface very greedy of resources than in the past, many software useless, some questionable choices as the replacement of F-Spot Shotwell, the total absence of the GIMP, various incompatibilities and other problems.

The discontent increased when Canonical seems to have decided to abandon the current desktop environment in favor of a minimalist interface internally-developed, poorly digested by loyal users GNOME environment, or Unity.

This has led many people to look around in the world of GNU / Linux in search of a viable alternative to Ubuntu.

The reason for our choice

Among the thousands of available distributions, our attention has fallen on a brand new distribution released in September: Linux Mint “Debian Edition”.

The Linux Mint is based on the original releases of Ubuntu, which is improved and corrected by the team itself, providing its users a distribution even more user-friendly, fast and thorough.

Unfortunately, for this very reason, Mint brings the advantages but also the defects of the Canonical distribution, including the most limiting distribution of success (according to some users): the release of a new version every 6 months.

As such, this aspect of Mint and Ubuntu is not negative, the problems start when you switch from the previous release version: several errors, malfunctions, programs gone … few times the result is positive, forcing the user to format and install the new version from scratch.

Format every 6 months just to try the latest innovations introduced only to discover that the previous version was better than the new one you just installed, can only bring frustration and disappointment.

All these problems do not exist on Mint “Debian Edition”: it is a rolling-release, the latest improvements and a new release is transmitted via the system also updates the previous release, without bleeding or incompatibility between the various repositories to disable; all updates are delivered as they are released, just update the system.

But the news does not end there: more speed, lightness in startup and in memory, compatibility with packages. Deb and GNOME are some of the strengths of this distribution.

In this guide we will analyze in detail the distribution, from installation to customize the system to make it more accessible for both beginners to the world of the penguin is devoted to Ubuntu users.

If the latest edition of Ubuntu will have disappointed or you do not completely convinced, Linux Mint “Debian Edition” is a candidate to become a practical alternative. Increased speed, lightness in startup and in memory, compatibility with packages. Deb and GNOME are just some of the strengths of this distribution.

DOWNLOAD distribution from http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=66, download the ISO, burn it to DVD and set the right boot order to boot the live CD.

We present the boot screen of the distribution.

Linux Mint select Start and press Enter.

It will start loading the operating system, visible from many strings that scroll across the screen.

After few minutes we will welcome the destkop colored.

We can test the system, peripheral, and navigate the menus to get familiar with the distribution.

To install the hard disk icon located Linux Mint on the desktop.

We select the Italian language in the menu and click on Forward in the lower right.

We select the correct time zone, ie Europe / Rome, and click on Forward.

Now we have to choose the keyboard layout, the setting is fine Default shown.

Click on Forward.

The installer now we propose the system which partition to install.

In my case the installation is quite simple due to the absence of other partitions, just create the partitions right clicking on Edit Partitions.

To create partitions and install Mint even in the presence of other operating systems you should read this guide.

In any case you must manually create the partition for the system (root) and the partition for swap, even in this case you can read here to get an idea of ​​how to work with Gparted.

Create the partitions, the installer looks like this:

We click the right button on the partition to dedicate to Mint, in my case /dev/sda1 …

… and select Assign to / to assign the partition where to install the system.

The swap should be assigned automatically (in theory), so no need to assign anything.

Upon completion of this stage, click on Forward.

Insert the data of our accounts, a full name and choosing a username, which can also coincide.

Important to the password field: as on other GNU / Linux, the password not only protects your account from prying eyes, but you can install and run the same programs with superuser privileges.

After compiling once we click on Forward.

The next step shows the screen to install GRUB:

The choice has to be taken based on the operating systems used:

• If you only have Mint on your system, you definitely want to install
• Mint If you have a Windows partition, is to be installed
• If you Mint with another GNU / Linux, and this has already installed its GRUB or have it customized to specific needs, you can not install it, remember that you edit the GRUB already present to add a new entry, otherwise you can not make Starting Mint.

The page allows you to choose where to install GRUB if you chose to install it, it is highly recommended that the Master Boot Record (indicated by the name of the disk, in my case /dev/sda ) and not a single partition.

Click on Forward to see the summary window before the installation itself.

When we are ready, click on Install at the bottom right.

Begin the installation process, which usually takes about 15 minutes.

Expect the appearance of the alert that informs us of the completion of the installation and click OK.

Reboot, remove the CD from the player.

See the next posts :

- Guide to Linux Mint “Debian Edition” : Presentation distribution

- Guide to Linux Mint “Debian Edition” : Initial Configurations