Bitten by the Penguin PDF  | Print |  E-mail

Bitten by the Penguin (picture at right) is my introductory book on Linux in general, and on Ubuntu in particular. It has a mixture of background information, new terminology and simple techniques to help beginners find their feet in the new world of Linux. The book has a practical focus and assumes that users are migrating from Windows or Macintosh systems and have some prior knowledge of applications programs.

The second edition was published at the end of 2009 and contains up-to-date material on current distros and applications programs within Linux. Here is the Table of Contents:

  • Structure of this book 6
  • Abbreviations and acronyms 7
  • Introduction 9
  • A distro for everyone? 13
  • Distros for beginners 16
  • How to get Linux 22
  • Testing a distro 26
  • What to expect from Linux 27
  • How to do it 35
  • Windows software on Linux 41
  • Support 43
  • Appendix A: Major Linux distros 45
  • Appendix B: Linux on a memory stick 48
  • Appendix C: Website addresses 50
  • Appendix D: The Ubuntu Book of Lists 51

The book on paper is available for purchase through Lulu (http://tinyurl.com/y9u8wyz) or directly from the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for $AU20 plus postage. PDF copies are available for $AU15. Payment by PayPal, cheque or direct deposit. Please contact me for more details.
 
Linux, Ubuntu and Us PDF  | Print |  E-mail

In seven words:

Ubuntu is a free alternative to Windows.

But there is a lot more to it than that. By providing Ubuntu training to Australians and others around the world, we plan to introduce many new users to this extraordinary product, and through Ubuntu to the Linux operating system behind it.

In seventy words:

Ubuntu is a graphical operating system which allows users to carry out word processing, database and spreadsheet operations, provides web, email, internet phone and conferencing capabilities, and all the other routine operations which we have come to rely on computers for. Unlike Microsoft Windows. Ubuntu is available for free, and all standard Ubuntu software is also free, including Office suite software comparable with the Microsoft products Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Ubuntu is built around the operating system Linux, which in turn derives from Unix, a long-established and well-regarded operating system still used in many universities, government installations and commercial enterprises around the world. You can find a detailed history of Ubuntu on this site, along with a history of Linux and descriptions of the many other Linux spin-offs that have become available over the years, including some of Ubuntu's close relations.

You can also find out more about our trainer and founder, Jon Jermey. Jon has been teaching people about computers (and vice versa) for over twenty years. After many years as a Windows enthusiast and power user, Jon decided to look into Linux, the 'new kid on the block'. What he discovered impressed him so much that he decided to abandon Windows training and start a new career as the first exclusively Ubuntu trainer in Australasia. Jon has now been using Ubuntu and its variants for over two years and has extensive experience in their use and installation.

If you are thinking of Ubuntu for your home or office computing requirements, please consider our training and installation packages. Face to face, classroom-style or email based, Jon can provide training to get you up and running faster and much more smoothly.

What is Ubuntu? In seven hundred words...

Why not try it now?
 
Newsletter 5: 2010-03-23 -- Packing light PDF  | Print |  E-mail

There are many people who are keen fans of Linux at home, but still have to do their work on Windows-equipped computers -- and for all I know the reverse may be true. So it's nice to know that an increasing number of programs are being written and revised in such a way that they will work on both platforms -- and sometimes even on a Macintosh. Equipped with these applications programs, you can confidently carry your files back and forth from one platform to another, confident in the knowledge that they will look and behave in exactly the same way; and meanwhile you can focus on learning one type of software thoroughly, rather than dividing your attention between two or more.

So here is a list of major programs that work -- and work more or less the same -- on both Windows and Linux platforms. What's more, they're all free!

1) OpenOffice

The OpenOffice package consists of five modules: a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation manager, a simple drawing module and a database module. The first four are installed by default in most major Linux distros; the last is an optional extra that can be downloaded. OpenOffice is modelled on Microsoft Office -- specifically its older, more rational incarnations, before Windows Vista came along. It will do just about anything MS-Office will except run Visual Basic macros -- but it supports, not just one, but four macro languages of its own (including the popular Python) to make up for it. Windows, Linux and Macintosh versions of OpenOffice 3.2 can be downloaded from www.openoffice.org.

2) Firefox

Is there anyone who hasn't yet heard of Firefox, the alternative web browser? Having captured a large proportion of the browser market over the last few years because of its superiority to Microsoft Internet Explorer (particularly its multiple tab option), Firefox is still holding its own against a reinvigorated opposition. One great strength of Firefox is the enormous number of extension programs that can be integrated into the program, supporting features like advertisement blocking, Flash blocking, video downloads, readability options, and bookmark and password managers. Firefox 3.6 is available from www.mozilla.com/firefox for Windows, Linux, Macintosh systems and even mobile phones and PDAs.

3) Thunderbird

Thunderbird is the email program from Mozilla, the distributors of Firefox. It handles multiple accounts, spam filters, subfolders and subsubfolders, Usenet newsgroups and attachments. Like Firefox, can be enhanced with extension programs which add features like boilerplate text, colour settings, ad blocking, automatic zipping of extensions, and so on. One popular extension is Lightning, which add a basic calendar and events management list. Thunderbird 3 is available from www.mozilla.com/thunderbird for Windows, Linux and Macintosh systems.

4) GIMP

GIMP is the open source and free software movement's answer to Adobe Photoshop: a powerful bitmap editor with layers, colour manipulations, many filters and special effects, masks, transformations, auto corrections, batch image manipulation and all the paraphernalia of a sophisticated graphics package. The name is unfortunate (it stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, and it seemed funny at the time), and may be changed in the near future, but there is nothing childish about the power of the program and what it can do. GIMP is available from www.gimp.org for Windows, Linux and Macintosh systems.

5) Inkscape

Inkscape is an Adobe Illustrator killer: a free program which allows for powerful design, technical drawing and illustration work with vector graphics. Inkscape produces compact images which can be rescaled and distorted without any loss of image quality. From precise scale diagrams to free-flowing psychedelic designs, Inkscape 0.47 can handle them all. It supports drawing tablets and is available from www.inkscape.org for Windows, Linux and Macintosh systems.

6) Adobe Reader

Kudos to Adobe for making their reader program available in Linux -- even if they could probably have done it better. Adobe Reader for Linux works in the same way as the Windows version. Weighing in at 60Mb, it makes for a hefty download, and there are many Linux programs which provide the same functions, notably ePDFView. But if you need to have it, now you can have it in Linux as well as for Windows and the Macintosh. Version 8 is available for download from get.adobe.com/reader.
 

Bitten By the Penguin