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I’ve ruined my Ubuntu Feisty Fawn Installations

Wel, a stupid mistake while configuring maemo development and testing environment has left me with an unsuable Ubuntu installation, the one that I’ve been using continuously for almost two years.

Looking at the damages, it seems far more simple to just backup stuffs in /home and start with a fresh Ubuntu Feisty Fawn reinstallation, and while i’m at that, maybe I should give a shot at Gutsy Gibbon Tribe 5 release.

Fortunately, backing up files in my Linux pc is as easy as tarring all the stuff inside /home and copying it to another storage media, and looks like I’m done with the copying part now. What left for me to do is to pop in the Ubuntu Feisty Fawn CD and reboot my pc to reinstall my operating system again.

If this were to happen on Windows XP, i think i’ll be looking at hours of browsing through my CD collections looking for various software installers and hardware drivers CD. phew….

This has reminded me to keep backups of my crucial works as a mistake like this can cause you efforts and months of works. Well it could been worse than this, like losing my sanity over crashed hard disk. Fortunately I’ve a policy of always making backups of my current documents once-in-a-month, well even that might not be enough, as disaster might caught you when you’re least prepared. Btw have you done your backup today?

[tags]feisty,ubuntu,feisty fawn,debian,maemo,nokia[/tags]

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HP Officejet 5680 – How to Send Fax from Ubuntu Linux Computer

This serves as a continuity from my previous post, I got myself a new and flexible Printer – HP Officejet 5680 All in One.

HP Officejet All-in-One Under Ubuntu
Its all seems rather easy at the way I left off, the printer is fully functioning by just plugging it to my Ubuntu pc, the scanner works well without I having to do anything special, the phone is fully functioning (yeah it is included with the printer) and I am able to send and receive fax without a hitch, something that I cant do without installing 350MB of companion application (half of it was crapware) under WIndows Vista.

Everything worked, what left to do?
What left to do is figuring out how can I send fax directly from Ubuntu (or other Linux base operating system) using only digital files (*.txt, *.pdf, *.ps, *.jpeg), so I don’t have to print those files and fax them one by one anymore.

HP Linux Imaging and Printing project
Through googling, I found that Hewlett Packard (HP) has published open source software tool to deal with their printers. Free and Open Source drivers and printer-specific application directly from manufacturer, which is very cool!

Fortunately Ubuntu already installed HPLIP tools by default with CUPS in my machine. The next step that I should take is to run ‘hp-setup’ as root to configure my printer port and run the ‘hp-sendfax’ application to send the faxes.

Both of these tool requires python-qt3 package which is available from Ubuntu software repository.

Now I can fax my pdf documents directly without having to print them first, a huge saving over ink and paper cost.

hpfax11.png

hp2.png

Conclusion
If you are planning to get a new printer, then I would suggest you get a HP printer. Not only because HP printers are reliable, but they also comes with Free and Open Source drivers and applications for the Linux based operating system. Well that’s a good reason to get HP printers.

Please visit HPLIP project website for more information about HP printers support under Linux based operating system.

[tags]hp,hewlett packard,printer,linux,opensource,ubuntu,foss,drivers,hardware,scanner,officejet[/tags]

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Introducing Ubuntu solar system Yahoo Pipes!

Like to keep updated with the latest news from Ubuntu community ? Then I suggest you subscribed to Ubuntu Solar System Feeds available from Yahoo Pipes!

The pipe is a collection of various planet Ubuntu feeds including planet Ubuntu, Ubuntu Women, Ubuntu Brasil, Ubuntu-fr, and Ubuntu-nl. All feeds published through the pipe are presented in English language so you don’t need to worry about language barrier here.

If you’re a kind of person who likes to read the rants and ramblings of the Ubuntu community, then I suggest you subscribe it here : Ubuntu solar system

[tags]ubuntu,debian,linux,open source,feeds,news[/tags]

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Software Freedom Day 2007 – KL Central Malaysia

Today is the third Saturday of September, and it is Software Freedom Day! SFD for short, is a day dedicated to educate public about software freedom and the benefits of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).

sfd.png

The objectives of Software Freedom Day are :

  • to celebrate software freedom and the people behind it
  • to foster a general understanding of software freedom, and encourage adoption of free software and open standards
  • to promote constructive dialogue on responsibilities and rights in the information society
  • to create more equal access to opportunities through the use of participatory technologies
  • to be pragmatic, transparent, and responsible as an organisation
  • to be inclusive of organizations and individuals that share our Vision

Let’s celebrate Software Freedom Day in Malaysia
The SFD is going to be celebrated in two locations in Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur Where it will be held in KL Central.

There will be a lot of activities tomorrow, including Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) demonstration, CD giveaways and FOSS advocacy. You can also have your USB drive loaded with Open Source software for free at the SFD local booth.

Come and celebrate Software Freedom Day with our local Malaysian Team there!

[tags]open source,sfd,software freedom day,opensource,foss,linux,ubuntu[/tags]

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How to open Microsoft OpenXML docx documents in OpenOffice

As of this time of this writing, the OpenOffice.org package included with Ubuntu Festy Fawn, Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon and Debian Etch still does not support opening Microsoft Office OpenXML (docx) document format.

Though the use of docx files are HIGHLY DISCOURAGED, it is still important for us to be able to read document in this format in-case if somebody forwarded docx files to us.

Here are some easy steps to follow in order to enable OpenOffice.org to read OpenXML docx files :

  • Download odf_filter.tar.bz2 file, and unzip it
  • The archive contains 4 additional files, MOOXFilter_cpp.xcu, MOOXTypeDetection.xcu, OdfConverter and README.txt
  • Follow instructions in README.txt and copy the 3 files into Openoffice installation directory as outlined below


sudo cp OdfConverter /usr/lib/openoffice/program/

sudo cp MOOXFilter_cpp.xcu

  • usr/lib/openoffice/share/registry/modules/org/openoffice/TypeDetection/Filter/

    sudo cp MOOXTypeDetection.xcu /usr/lib/openoffice/share/registry/modules/org/openoffice/TypeDetection/Types/

    • openoffice_docx.png

    After that, your Openoffice.org installation should be able to read/open Microsoft Office 2007 OpenXML docx file without any problems.

    Drawbacks
    This trick only works on Document (docx) files but not on Presentation (pptx) and Spreadsheet files (xslx).

    Original source – OpenOffice. OpenXML Translator

    [tags]docx,openxml,openoffice,feisty,feisty fawn,gutsy,gutsy gibbon,openoffice.org,microsoft,office,microsoft office[/tags]