Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Using EasyUbuntu

EasyUbuntu is a script designed to download and automatically configure common packages. It only supports about 40 widely used packages (not every available package) and it does not install any source code packages. This software has one other limitation: EasyUbuntu is not found in any of the main, restricted, universe, or multiverse repositories. Instead, you will need to visit the EasyUbuntu homepage (http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/) and follow the installation instructions. The installation itself is straightforward:

1. Apply all updates. EasyUbuntu can have problems if the system is not up to date. Fortunately, problems simply means that components are not installed; problems do not cause system instability.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

2. Go to the EasyUbuntu home page and follow the installation instructions. These are usually a few lines of code for installing and running EasyUbuntu. Be sure to choose the current release. For EasyUbuntu 3.022, the installation instructions are:
wget http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/files/easyubuntu-3.022.tar.gz
tar -zxf easyubuntu-3.022.tar.gz
cd easyubuntu
sudo python easyubuntu.in

3. Open a terminal window (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and paste the installation instructions into the terminal.

4. The final sudo command will prompt you for your password. After that, the graphical interface will start up.

If you use these commands as is, you will use EasyUbuntu version 3.022. Newer versions are periodically released as packages are updated. You should use the current version (whatever version number that may be). Newer versions may also include different installation steps. See the EasyUbuntu homepage for the latest installation instructions.

The user interface for EasyUbuntu displays four tabs showing the different package categories, and each tab displays the available packages. Since some packages are not available on every platform, only the available software is displayed. For example, since the binary audio packages gstreamer0.10-pitfdll and w32codecs, and the NVIDIA video drivers do not exist for the PowerPC, EasyUbuntu on a PowerPC does not display the Binary Codecs option.

EasyUbuntu uses dpkg to check which software has already been installed. If a package already exists on the system, then the check box is grayed out. This prevents you from trying to reinstall software. After making your selections, you can click OK to perform the installation. Depending on your choices and network speed, this may take a while.

Software sometimes changes faster than EasyUbuntu-the EasyUbuntu developers are constantly playing catch-up with other package developers. If an installation fails, EasyUbuntu will not corrupt your system. Instead, it will create a variety of popup windows that display errors and warnings. These are similar to the messages given by APT. You will need to manually install any failed packages.

EasyUbuntu cannot be installed using apt-get because it does not exist in any of the repositories. The reason is mainly based on legal issues. EasyUbuntu can help you install drivers that may not be legal in your country. For example the w32codecs enables you to play proprietary Windows multimedia files, and libdvdcss2 enables you to play DVD movies by cracking the DVD encryption. In some countries, these packages are illegal.

EasyUbuntu also supports packages from the Penguin Liberation Front (PLF) repository. As with main, restricted, universe, and multiverse, PLF is a specialized repository. It can be added to /etc/apt/sources.list and used to install software. The line to add is:
deb http://medibuntu.sos-sts.com/repo/ dapper free non-free

However, PLF has an interesting history: it distributes software that cannot be included in the standard repositories due to copyright, patents, or other legal restrictions. Installing software from this repository may also be illegal depending on your country's laws.

Source of Information : Hacking Ubuntu Serious Hacks Mods and Customizations

No comments: