Linux Software

As you might have seen in my previous post, I recently installed Xubuntu 8.04. One of the few visual improvements in this new version of Ubuntu is on the clock that sits on the Gnome panel. It now shows much more information. Apart from time and date, it now shows the weather conditions for your current location. But, the best part is when you click on it: it shows the usual calendar, but below it, appears the times of other world locations. Well, after you configure it, of course. First you need to set your home location and other optional locations. It also shows the weather conditions on those locations. And it looks great.

So, it was disappointing to see that Xubuntu didn’t have it. Instead the same old plain clock. The world clock is a gnome panel applet, so it’s normal that it doesn’t run in the XFCE panel. However there’s an easy workaround.

 Step 1 - Download Xfapplet, available in the repositories. This is XFCE applet that allows Gnome applets to run on the XFCE panel. It’s basically a wrapper for Gnome applets.

 Step 2 - Download gnome-applets, also available in the repositories. This will install a collection of gnome applets (sadly along with a bunch of Gnome libraries and applications…I miss Gentoo sometimes) and among those is the world clock applet.

 Step 3 - Right-click on the XFCE panel an add a new item. Choose the previously installed Xfapplet. As it loads, XFapplet will bring up a list of Gnome applets available. You just have to find the one named clock (surprise!).

And there you have it. XFapplet can be used to install any of the other gnome applets in XFCE, in case you miss some other applet.

I’ve been busy upgrading my Ubuntu machine to the new version Hardy Heron 8.04. Normally, it’s a painless process, but I had an hardware accident between the upgrade. And the result it’s not pretty. I then had to re-install Ubuntu from CD. So, after downloading the image and burning the CD, I couldn’t get it to install properly. Somehow, the installer always froze at some point in the process. Then, I decided to install the variant Xubuntu, which basically was what I wanted. I was using XFCE before as my desktop manager, but I had installed it normally from Ubuntu. Surprisingly, this time the installer didn’t froze and everything got installed smoothly.
The difference between Ubuntu and Xubuntu is not much. It’s the same base distribution with the same configuration options. The difference lies in the desktop manager and a few software choices. In Xubuntu, XFCE is the default desktop manager, instead of Gnome. It’s basically a lighter version of Gnome. I prefer it not only for that, but because it brings Thunar instead of Nautilus. I really like Thunar, it’s fast (unlike nautilus), intuitive and has everything I need.
Other differences in Xubuntu are the software that is bundled. I haven’t done any extensive comparison and the only big difference I spotted was the absence of Open Office in favor of Abiword and Gnumeric.
I didn’t find much differences in this new version. Many focus the inclusion of Firefox 3, but I was already using it :) One of the cool things related to Firefox is the Ubuntu Firefox Modifications. In the previous version, installing plugins (for flash or media files for example) was problematic. But in this version, everything worked fine. It gave me 3 options (3 different plugins to choose from) for flash and about 6 for handling media files.

This Ubuntu is more of a maintenace release, correcting some bugs and making a solid distribution not only for the ocasional geek, but for everyone, including companies.

Happy Ubunting