I’ve heard that Linux is for geeks. Is that true?

Not at all. It might have been the case a decade ago, but today you’ll find many beginner-friendly Linux distributions. They use graphical desktop environments like KDE, Gnome, or Xfce that don’t require any particular skills beyond point-and-click. In fact, there is even a book with that title.

Linux distributions, KDE, Gnome, Xfce? I’m confused!

OK, let’s start from the very beginning. Linux is an operating system that manages your hardware and allows you to perform basic operations using the bundled tools. The base system is too technical for most users, so on top of it often sits a so-called graphical desktop environment that shields you from the complexity of the underlying system. The most popular graphical desktop environments include KDE, Gnome, and Xfce. Installing the Linux system on your machine, then adding a desktop environment, and finally installing the applications you need sounds like a laborious and time consuming process. Fortunately, you can get everything you need in one neat package called a Linux distribution. A typical Linux distribution (or distro) comes with one or several graphical desktop environments, a user friendly-installer, and a collection of utilities that can help you to configure your system. Often a Linux distro uses a specific graphical desktop environment as its default. For example, Ubuntu prefers Gnome, while Mandriva favors KDE. Virtually every Linux distribution comes with configuration tools that can help you to set up your computer. Using them, you can tweak your desktop’s appearance, connect to a printer, configure a network connection, etc. Moreover, any distro worth its salt comes with an assortment of applications, so you can use your computer for pretty much any task — from browsing the Web to editing your photos — right out of the box.

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If you usually work on several machines (e.g., a desktop machine at home and a notebook on the move), the Dropbox service can help you to keep your files and documents in sync with minimum fuss. For example, I use Dropbox to keep documents on my Linutop in sync with my Eee PC. That’s all fine and dandy, but if you visit the project’s download page, you’ll discover that the packaged version of Dropbox is available only for a handful of distros. You can compile Dropbox on your system using the provided source code package, but there is an easier way to make the software work with your particular distro. First, head to Dropbox’s forums, grab the latest build (0.6.427 at the writing moment), and unpack it into your home directory. The result should be a hidden .dropbox-dist directory. Now launch the terminal and run the following command:

~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

This launches Dropbox and starts the registration wizard. Follow the instructions to link the machine to your Dropbox account, and you are all set. While the described technique allows you to install Dropbox on virtually any Linux distro without going through the rigmarole of compiling the software, it does have one drawback: it doesn’t add status icons to files and directories. But that’s a small price to pay for the sheer convenience of the described installation method.

Par Dmitri Popov (*)

Les polices c’est un peu comme les bonbons : vous n’en avez jamais assez. Ainsi, si vous êtes fatigué des polices fournies avec votre système, voici sélection de quelques polices en licence Open Source qui méritent l’attention.

Les « Liberation fonts » sont conçues pour se substituer aux polices largement diffusées comme Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Courier New, etc …, mais présentant le défaut d’être sous licence propriétaires. Le pack « Liberation fonts » se compose de trois ensembles : Sans (un substitut à Arial, Albany, et Helvetica), Serif (un substitut à Times New Roman) et Mono (un substitut à Courier New, Cumberland, et de Courrier).

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Fonts are like candies: you can never get enough of them. So if you are getting tired of the fonts that come with your system, here is a hand-picked collection of a few open source fonts that deserve a closer look.

The Liberation fonts are designed as drop-in replacements for the widely-used proprietary fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Courier New, etc. The Liberation font pack consists of three sets: Sans (a substitute for Arial, Albany, and Helvetica), Serif (a substitute for Times New Roman) and Mono (a substitute for Courier New, Cumberland, and Courier).

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Although OpenOffice.org comes with a decent online help, it can only get you that far. But there is a plethora of Web resources, support forums, and books that can help you to get the most out of the productivity suite and solve any problems you might have. And often, you don’t have to pay a dime to get the help you need.

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Paris, July 1st, 2008

Linutop is pleased to announce today Linutop 2.2 the latest version of Linutop.

Linutop OS 2.2 now includes :

- FireFox 3.

- OpenOffice 2.4.

- Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron.

Linutop 2 owners can order a USB key upgrade or download it from our wiki.

Linutop2.2 Press release

Linux User (April P18 German edition) : “Green Computing auf dem Desktop”. PC Expert (April P34-41 French edition) : “PCs under 300 euros, basket new balance Green PCs,