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Kontact in Kubuntu

Thursday, January 10, 2008

This is going to be a lofty goal, detailing the rich feature-set of the free KDE-based PIM known as Kontact.

Because many things integrate into Kontact, I’ll start with the base install on Kubuntu.

Kontact is built from the components of KOrganizer, KMail, KAddressBook, Kolab, and the ever-important Summary. Other components, such as a news reader like KNode, integrate as well.

Summary is important because it aggregates the other components into a view that allows the addition of any RDF source (such as news feeds, etc).

KOrganizer is the well-rounded groupware-enabled calendar system for Kontact.

KAddressBook is implemented as the contact manager for Kontact. A significant feature here is the integration with Kopete for instant messaging and online status.

KMail is awesome. It handles encrypted email of many different types. I use it for IMAP because it’s the best offered by my ISP. Fortunately Google recently added IMAP to it’s list of supported mail client protocols for GMail, however Kontact will still handle GMail through POP3 if desired. Other significant features of the KMail component include the ability to digitally sign and encrypt content using GnuPG. It also packs a powerful punch in the fight against unsolicited junk/commercial email with the integration of SpamAssassin from the Apache Foundation.

You should also take the time to install some add-ins.

Knode for example is a great news reader. You might like Pan or one of the others better just because you’re used to it or have been using it for a long time, but I urge you to at least try it out. It may not be the best for binaries, however the messaging is great, and I like the convergence with the mail and calendar functions.

Knotes is already included, but very plain with regards to functionality. Replace it with Basket notepad, which provides rich text, application and url launching, amongst other impressive features.

If you’re new to the world of RSS or new to the operating system, spend some quality time with Akregator. It can save you some time. I use it in conjunction with KTTS, and have it read aloud lengthy articles that I’m interested in. I use Google Reader to manage most of my RSS subscriptions, but here again, the tightly integrated KDE applications have some special benefits for their users.

I’ve probably overlooked some awesome plug-ins, so leave a comment and make a suggestion.

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Filed in Akregator, BasKet Notepad, Groupware, IMAP, KAddressBook, KDE, KNode, KNotes, KOraganizer, Kontact, Kubuntu | Comments (0)

My work-around for problems with suspend to ram in gutsy

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

I’ve been having some serious difficulty with my laptop and using suspend to RAM. Suspend to disk is another issue, with similar symptoms. This is pretty regular for a Linux laptop. In many of these cases, the cause of the problem is a hardware vendor’s poor implementation of the ACPI. I’ve checked and I am already using the current version of the BIOS.

Here’s the good news about it for me. If I use the keyboard to switch to a tty login, the monitor wakes back up. I can then use the keyboard to switch back to my KDM.

I have not tested it with suspend to disk yet. Let me know if this works on your laptop (comment on the bug report).

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Filed in ACPI, Laptop, Launchpad, Suspend | Comments (1)

Kubuntu LTS Put On Hold for Hardy Heron

Sunday, December 30, 2007

There’s been a great rift with the Canonical Community as of late surrounding Kubuntu. The update from KDE 3.5 to KDE 4.0 is such a great shift that Canonical feels they’re unable to commit to Long Term Support for Kubuntu 8.04. Frankly, I don’ blame them. This is a pretty good move for them as far as any business relationships and future investors.

I don’t think it’s a problem. However, you kind of have to wonder how it affects the users who install using Ubuntu 8.04 and then add the kubuntu-desktop package, or will it be disabled?

Others have noted that there’s been a lack of reports from users with their experience regarding Hardy Heron. I noticed the torrent activity was kind of slacking. This is an excellent time for us to step up the testing on this. I suggest testing the .ISO image from a LiveCD and from some sort of virtualization application, such as VMWare or VirtualBox. If you’ve got the resources, it’s definitely appreciated for a full install and all the reports that you get from that experience.

I’ve encountered a few bugs that I’ve reported at Launchpad. Here I found other users reporting the same kind of problems I experienced. I wasn’t able to find the bug reports doing a simple search, instead it found them for me when I attempted to report the bugs, so go ahead and just attempt to report the bug you encounter. If it doesn’t find it for you, someone will catch it in triage. So, to re-iterate. If you haven’t tried it yet, go ahead and take the time. This is one of the easiest ways to contribute to the community.

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Filed in Canonical, Community, Hardy Heron, Kubuntu, LTS, Launchpad, LiveCD, VMWare, VirtualBox | Comments (0)

Hardy Heron Alpha 2 Bugs and Fixes

Sunday, December 30, 2007

I tried out the new Hardy Heron Alpha 2 release of Kubuntu today and was kind of disappointed and kind of pleased. The wireless card, a broadcomm based 43xx Dell 1390 adapter still is not automatically installed properly. I didn’t bother getting it to work because I was disappointed the scroll function doesn’t work with my Touchpad on my Dell Inspiron 1520. I did however notice that it seemed my sound was fixed.

There’s obviously still plenty of work to be done on this, so we need everyone to try downloading it and report the bugs and issues that they find.

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Filed in 1520, Broadcom, Dell, Hardy Heron, Kubuntu, Touchpad, Wireless | Comments (0)

Init: Error parsing configuration no such file or directory

Friday, December 21, 2007

I recently got a new Dell laptop, an Inspiron 1520. It came pre-loaded of course with Vista. I of course wanted Kubuntu on it, and that’s been an adventure.

Now… first things first. I setup the notebook using Vista and made sure that everything worked. Fortunately, everything worked… and worked perfectly.

Next, I moved into using GParted/CloneZilla from their LiveCD so that I can resize the NTFS partition. At first when I opened it, I noticed that it had a couple of partitions, including a recovery partition, the OS partition, and two others that I was uncertain of their purpose. It’s my first Dell, so I left those alone for now.

I resized the largest partition, the one used by Windows, so that I would have enough free room to support Ubuntu and all my desired files. I rebooted and attempted to let Vista load. Windows Vista noticed something had changed and spent the next 25 minutes checking integrity. It then allowed me to proceed to log in and everything again worked as expected.

I rebooted to use the GParted LiveCD again, this time with the intention of creating my desired partitions and this is where the problem began. I was unable to create any additional partitions because Dell had created all 4 partitions as Primary partitions, and that’s the limit. I opted to delete the last partition on the drive for convenience. The unallocated space was before this partition, so it just made the most since and required the least amount of data to be moved. I later found out this partition held the wonderful MediaDirect 3.0 software, that must be reinstalled prior to any OS.

I put the Hardy Heron Alpha1 disk in the tray, rebooted, and allowed it to install. I could not let it use a guided setup because I wanted /home on a separate partition. I also chose to put /etc on it’s own separate partition, and the Install program let me do it.

After rebooting, on the Ubuntu loading screen with the sliding orange progress bar, my caps lock and scroll lock lights begin to blink/flash. I rebooted and chose the Recovery mode from GRUB. This time, I see where it stops and it shows this error:

init: error parsing configuartions no such file or directory.

After searching the internet for reports of bugs with the flashing lights, I found a bunch of irrelevant stuff. Searching for the specific error message, I found the problem in a this bug report on Launchpad.

I re-installed and put /etc on the same partition as / and it now boots properly into Hardy Heron.

It seems that /etc can’t be on it’s own partition. Who knew? Not me. Not the install program. To me, it’s a bug that it wasn’t able to tell me : DO NOT install /etc on a separate partition.

Now that it boots, my next step is to get the wireless and audio working.

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Filed in 1520, Bugs, Dell, GParted, Hardy Heron, Inspiron, Kubuntu, Laptop, Launchpad, LiveCD, Vista, Windows, ntfs | Comments (0)

SpeedCrunch In-Depth

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

After Top 10 Kubuntu Applications Part 1 I noticed the fellows at SpeedCrunch linked to me, and it prompted me to look into the software a little further. I am always interested in active open-source projects, and here is a group that is really interested in their software.

Researching it further, I am very happy with what I have found, and there are a few features I overlooked I’d like to share.

I began with the menus and checked out the Tip of the day. With the nice animated effects, it is very helpful in revealing some not-so-obvious features.
Visually, “Syntax” highlighting is helpful for inputting functions or calculations with more than a few operations. Parentheses grouping is also available and helpful for the same purposes.

Insert function list via Control-F is awesome. This present us with a quick list to some commonly used functions we are bound to use over and over.
The Inline result display I find essential. It calculates and displays the current result as you type your operations. This is helpful to double check your work as you go.Another area I have seen grow since 0.8 is the built-in lists of functions and of constants.

Important to me, is the sophisticated Qt interface that allows users to drag and drop panes which contains lists for functions, history, variables, constants. These are also undockable, if that’s the way you want to calculate.

Unfortunately it lacks a Load session feature, however the user is given an option to save a file, yet so far the result has always been an empty file. It has been reported at their bug tracker as a reproduced error though.

It needs RPN input, which I also saw is being developed.

Also in-development, but of more interest to me, is a huge project of an open-source math book being integrated with the application. This is a lofty goal, but one that can really help to make the software stand out on it’s own even more.

Overall, I think I’ll be using SpeedCrunch more and more for doing my mathematic evaluations.

It works on Windows too, so if you’ve decided to stick with that operating system, here’s a better replacement for the included calculator, and at a great price with code you can trust that is actively being enhanced.

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Filed in KDE, Kubuntu, Software Review, SpeedCrunch | Comments (0)

Using kTorrent in Kubuntu

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Having been an Internet user for a long time, I am well versed with a few topics related to peer-to-peer file sharing using the torrent system. On Windows, I used uTorrent, and initially after my switch to Linux, I continued to use uTorrent, just because it used less memory than Azureus. Eventually, using applications under Wine became a problem. uTorrent would disappear… randomly.

I tried Azureus, and it ate more and more and more RAM.

I was happy when i switched from Ubuntu to Kubuntu, mostly because of the inclusion of kTorrent. While kTorrent is not on the whitelist of acceptable clients at some of my favorite trackers, it conveniently has an integrated interface where all torrents are easily available through one window in the same view. Compared to BitTornado, this is a relief for those like me who desire an easy to manage (note, not understand, but manage) interface.

A sophisticated plug-in interface for expandability provides a range of extensions created by open source developers. It already comes with several plug-ins, and many of the features I discuss will be implemented through a plug-in, for example the interface for UPnP connectivity is through an included plug-in.

Of note, I appreciate the UPnP support. This helps eliminate the messy configuration and hassle of adjusting a firewall/router.

It also allows us to schedule bandwidth limits, much the same way uTorrent does. This again is through a plug-in. It also provides a lo-fi version for systems with limited video capabilities. This is definitely something I use, just because of simplicity.
Another feature I haven not found as useful has been the integrated search engine. I have been disappointed with the implementation of this feature in torrent clients in the past, so I was interested in trying this. It works moderately well. I have not been able to browse to next pages of results when using the integrated browser, but it forces me to be more precise in my searches. Since I am capable of using a browser on my own, I have forgone attempting to use the external browser integration. Please leave me a comment and describe your experience with this, because if it works better I would be willing to try it.

We are able to manage our torrents in kTorrent from any web-enabled computer in the world via WebInterface. I use this for checking the status from my laptop. This is convenient when I don’t have a remote desktop connection open and quickly want to view my queue and statistics.

Because I take other precautions, the Integrated black list manager I have skipped using. I am not for certain why it needs duplicated here, because if this is your only protection, it applies to kTorrent only, and really lacks in effectiveness. For those that choose to use it, it does support wild cards. Otherwise it supports the use of two ipfilter list file formats.

I believe kTorrent will be a regular in my peer to peer tool box, but the client is only as good as what the tracker supports, which makes me need to use something else from time to time.

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Filed in Gutsy Gibbon, Kubuntu, Laptop, Peer-To-Peer, Remote Desktop, UPnP, Windows, kTorrent | Comments (0)

Kubuntu Software Review – Konversation

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

My first install of Ubuntu was Dapper Drake, and it was the original flavor, with the Gnome desktop. It included XChat, which seemed an easy transition from mIRC. Since I’d previously managed IRC connections using telnet, it wasn’t daunting. However, after switching to Kubuntu, I found myself presented with Konversation. It might have been my previous experience with mIRC, but I almost felt right at home.

In comparison to XChat, I feel it’s better at managing connections to multiple servers. The servers are spawned as separate tabs, where XChat *tried* to do it in a tree-like view, it failed and inserted the additional servers as child-nodes of the first-connected server.

Using bash scripts, we can make Konversation take action. It requires the DCOP protocol, a newer method permitting KDE applications to communicate between each other. Known as an Inter-Process Communication, DCOP providesthe ability to send DCOP messages to/from any other KDE app, allowing Konversation to integrate nicely with Amarok (i.e. to announce the “now-playing” track) and other KDE software (i.e. getting data from “weather” or sending/retrieving information with “kate”).

One of my favorite features, is the On-Screen Display, abbreviated as OSD. This feature provides a miniaturized display of text in a separate screen area. For example, we can see entire messages directed to us, even when Konversation is minimized, through the OSD, when Konversation is able to determine our nick.

You can also configure notifications, or specific actions when selected events occur, including pop up messages (optionally passive), sounds, shell commands, log insertions, etc.

I have plans for a couple of scripts for the application, so I think I’m going to try my hand coding something different.

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Filed in Amarok, Konversation, Software Review, bash | Comments (0)

Hardy Heron Coming Soon

Thursday, December 6, 2007

With the release of Hardy Heron’s Alpha1 ISO, I thought it wise to check the release schedule as I’m trying to get a friend switched, and he’s got the Feisty disk. I did get the Kubuntu Hardy disk burned for him.

Having two computers, I’m ready to begin testing Hardy on one of them… I think… I may try it in a virtual machine. That would prompt me to setup VMWare again so that I can test it out in a virtual machine.

 One of the things I’m looking forward to is the inclusion of KDE4. KDE’s my preferred desktop environment and I really only started using it with 3.5, so I’ve got high hopes.

I also hope that there’s some big advances on Dolphin. Since it’s included as the default file manager, I’m finding myself using it from time to time. It occasionally errors out and closes/disappears and I find that irritating, but I’ve found it’s interface quick and responsive. The shortcut keys for view changing save me from doing the hunt-click-hold target on the toolbar.

Also excitement-worthy is the new mega Debian Merge. I noticed that the Debian Merge is coming and bringing with it a list of new applications (that I still cannot find).  Perhaps it will put an end to having to compile transkode and some others.

With April 2008 less than 6 months away, the release of Hardy’s just around the corner. I plan to try testing out the Hardy Alpha1 LiveCD over the weekend, and will report back with my findings.

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Filed in Dolphin, Hardy Heron, KDE, LiveCD | Comments (0)

Top 10 Kubuntu Apps Part 2

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

I’m going to highlight my top 10 Kubuntu apps that are not a part of the base install system. This post is more advanced, and some of the software listed may require compiling from source.

  1. Miro – instant access to recorded video from internet sources such as Google Video, YouTube, etc. Formerly known as DemocracyTV player, this gets you relevant video news in an instant.
  2. Transkode – transKode I use to convert my OGG and FLAC files to MP3 for use on my Rio Carbon. This might not be as essential for everyone else, but there’s definitely some divergence as far as the best convertor, and I really think transKode needs the recognition it deserves for expertly accomplishing such a task.
  3. amarok – It’s better than kaffeine. It’s a little slow, but is completely feature packed. It’s able to get ID3 tag info from MusicBrainz, for example is a feature which I have really been enjoying.
  4. kmymoney – If you need to keep up with your money on something other than your bank’s page, this is a great, free way to do it. It is an excellent open source alternative to the major commercial software, which has become more of a marketing vehicle for other products.
  5. inkscape – a scalable vector graphics editor. Use this program to draw using vector graphics, Inkscape is much more than a bitmap editor. If you’re familiar with Macromedia/Adobe Fireworks, then you’ll have an easy transition into Inkscape. While the interface is not identical, much of the concepts are the same.
  6. ksquirrel – a quicker replacement for the included GwenView. I find GwenView notoriously slow, so I choose ksquirrel instead.
  7. BasKet note pads – Integrates into Kontact, and allows you to work with notepads. I consider this an awesome alternative to Microsoft’s OneNote application. It’s superior to kNotes or even Tomboy.
  8. Tellico – If you’ve got a collection of anything, and want to track that collection’s information, this is the best software to use for documenting that collection.
  9. Quanta+ is an impeccable Web Development suite. It features integrated real time previews, syntax highlighting for several different languages, project management, and templates.
  10. AllTray is there for you when you want to iconize a piece of software. I’ll use it to remove clutter caused by the bittornado windows.
  11. Moblock is this issue’s bonus. It’s just good layer of protection to keep your computer away from remote prying eyes.
  12. XSane is great for the ability to perfectly scan. It seems to be an often overlook function during conversations, however if you have a need to scan from paper sources, this program does a bang up job.
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Filed in Amarok, Audio, DNS, DemocracyTV Player, Gutsy Gibbon, GwenView, Image Viewer, Inkscape, Kubuntu, Miro, Quanta+, Software Reviews, Tellico, XSane, kMyMoney, ksquirrel, moblock, mp3, transKode | Comments (0)