Soma-notes - User contributions [en]

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:32:23Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu, which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computers available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast the asteroids by typing in the correct answer to the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:30:36Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu, which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computers available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast the asteroids by typing in the correct answer to the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:29:50Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu, which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computers available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing in the correct answer to the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:28:52Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu, which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computers available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer to the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:23:29Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu, which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computers available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:21:42Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computers available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:20:04Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computers available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T05:17:04Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quiet computer without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T01:55:36Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu, and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired Edubuntu software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T01:50:32Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. Edubuntu meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T01:28:33Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like Edubuntu mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T00:28:16Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T00:26:34Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program <ref>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers</ref>. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu <ref>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids</ref>.</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<references />

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T00:17:30Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<ol>
<li><p>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from [http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers]</p></li>
<li><p>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from [http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids]</p></li>
</ol>

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-23T00:16:26Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

<ol>
<li>Every Student in the Republic of Macedonia to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations: (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2011 from [http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers]</li>
<li>Open Source Living (2011): Retrieved October 19, 2011 from [http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids http://osliving.com/web/operating-systems/qimo-4-kids]</li>
</ol>

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-22T23:35:30Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

<h1>References</h1>

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-22T23:27:18Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the software.</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T23:19:00Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal:</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
<p>Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
<p>Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed.</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open Aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using Aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using Aptitude:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running in Dream Studio when it boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts the processes getty and gdm-binary. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus and gvfs. It will also load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T23:13:09Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal:</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
<p>Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
<p>Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed.</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open Aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using Aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using Aptitude:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running in Dream Studio when it boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts the processes getty and gdm-binary. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T23:11:53Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal:</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
<p>Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
<p>Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed.</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open Aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using Aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using Aptitude:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts the processes getty and gdm-binary. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T23:05:55Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal:</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
<p>Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
<p>Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed.</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open Aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using Aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using Aptitude:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T23:01:21Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
<p>Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:</p>
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
<p>Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed.</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T22:56:22Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed:
</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T22:54:34Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.<p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed:
</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T22:53:03Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed:
</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T22:38:51Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. Dream Studio can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or USB flash drive. For ease of system updates and maintenance, Dream Studio does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</li>
</ul>
<h2> Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed:
</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-22T22:23:20Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. The distribution can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or a USB flash drive. It takes advantage of the Ubuntu base and does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu for ease of system updates and maintenance. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</li>
</ul>
<h2> Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed:
</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org http://inkscape.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org http://www.gimp.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Agave</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.7-1ubuntu2</td>
<td valign="top">[http://home.gna.org/colorscheme http://home.gna.org/colorscheme]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Blender</td>
<td valign="top">2.59-1ubuntu1~ppa1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.blender.org http://www.blender.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Hugin Panorama Creator</td>
<td valign="top">2010.4.0+dfsg-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://hugin.sourceforge.net http://hugin.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Synfig Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.63.00-20110605.master.8</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.synfig.org/cms http://www.synfig.org/cms]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Stopmotion</td>
<td valign="top">0.6.2-1.1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com http://stopmotion.bjoernen.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Scribus</td>
<td valign="top">1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">KompoZer</td>
<td valign="top">1:0.8~b3.dfsg.1-0.1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://kompozer.net http://kompozer.net]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Cinelerra</td>
<td valign="top">1:2.1.5-0.16~ppa1~natty5</td>
<td valign="top">[http://cinelerra.org http://cinelerra.org]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Celtx</td>
<td valign="top">2.0.1-1ubuntu1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://celtx.com http://celtx.com]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Linux MultiMedia Studio</td>
<td valign="top">0.4.12-0ubuntu1+fixed1~natty1</td>
<td valign="top">[http://lmms.sourceforge.net http://lmms.sourceforge.net]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<h3>Agave</h3>
<p>Agave is a very simple program for the GNOME desktop that allows users to generate a variety of color schemes from a single starting color. This is very useful for designing graphics or webpages. The latest stable release of Agave is 0.4.4 and it was released on January 14, 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package. This package has been modified by Ubuntu to fix small bugs and has not been modified by Dream Studio. Agave is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create color schemes for graphics, webpages, animations, videos etc.</p>
<h3>Blender</h3>
<p>Blender is an integrated 3D suite for modelling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (games). The latest stable release of Blender is 2.61 and it was released on December 14th 2011. The version of Blender installed in Dream Studio (2.59) is two versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Blender is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications and video games.</p>
<h3>Hugin Panorama Creator</h3>
<p>Hugin is a panorama photo stitching program. Stitching is accomplished by using several overlapping photos taken from the same location, and using control points to align and transform the photos so that they can be blended together to form a larger image. Hugin allows for the easy creation of control points between two images, optimization of the image transforms, and much more. The latest stable release of Hugin Panorama Creator is 2011.4.0 and it was released on December 2011.The version of Hugin installed in Dream Studio (2010.4.0) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Hugin is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning graphics.</p>
<h3>Synfig Studio</h3>
<p>Synfig Studio is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation program, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. It eliminates the need for tweening, preventing the need to hand-draw each frame. Synfig features spatial and temporal resolution independence (sharp and smooth at any resolution or frame rate), high dynamic range images, and a flexible plugin system. The latest stable release of Synfig Studio is synfigstudio-0.63.03 and it was released on December 15 2011. The version of Synfig Studio installed in Dream Studio (0.63.00) is three versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Synfig Studio is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p>Stopmotion is a program for creating stop-motion animation movies. Users can create stop-motions from pictures imported from a camera or the hard drive, add sound effects and export the animation to different video formats such as MPEG or AVI. The latest stable release of Stopmotion is stopmotion-0.6.2 and it was released on July 25 2008. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. Stopmotion is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stop-motion animations.</p>
<p><strong><em>Note:</em> </strong>Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The program Stopmotion allows users to use this technique to create 2D animations.</p>
<h3>Scribus</h3>
<p>Scribus is a desktop page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux. It can be used to design brochures, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, posters and technical documentation. Scribus has sophisticated page layout features like precision placing and rotating of text and/or images on a page, manual kerning of type, bezier curves polygons, precision placement of objects, layering with RGB and CMYK custom colors. The Scribus document file format is XML-based. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents, can be recovered with a simple text editor. A development version of Scribus (1.4.0.dfsg~rc2-1.1 ) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on April 1 2011. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Scribus is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create stunning and professional quality brochures, newspapers, magazines etc.</p>
<h3>KompoZer</h3>
<p>KompoZer is a complete Web Authoring System that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. It provides similar functionality as Adobe Dreamweaver or Apple iWeb (commercial software). A development version of KompoZer (0.8b3) is installed in Dream Studio and it was released on February 28 2010. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. KompoZer is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality websites.</p>
<h3>Cinelerra</h3>
<p>Cinelerra is a complete audio and video authoring program that is comparable to leading solutions like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Cinelerra contains more than 30 visual effects like motion tracking and chroma key, and supports both keyframing and nested sequences. It understands a lot of multimedia formats (QuickTime, AVI and OGG) and audio/video compression codecs (DIVX, XVID, MPEG1/2 etc.). The latest stable release of Cinelerra is 2.2 and it was released on November 21 2011. The version of Cinelerra installed in Dream Studio (2.1.5) is one version older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Cinelerra is included in Dream Studio to allow users to create professional quality video and audio compositions.</p>
<h3>Celtx</h3>
<p>Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production and screenwriting program. It has everything a user needs to take their story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share. Celtx helps users pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, video casts, and however else they choose to tell their story. The latest stable release of Celtx is 2.9.1 and it was released on April 14 2011. The version of Celtx installed in Dream Studio (2.0.1) is four versions older than the latest stable release. This package has not been modified by Dream Studio. Celtx is included in Dream Studio to allow users to pre-produce all types of media (film, video, documentary etc.).</p>
<h3><strong>Linux MultiMedia Studio</strong> (LMMS)</h3>
<p>LMMS is a program that allows users to produce music with their computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. Users can have fun with their MIDI-keyboard and much more; all in a user-friendly and modern interface. The latest stable release of LMMS is 0.4.12 and it was released on July 2 2011. Dream Studio is using the latest version of this package and it has not been modified by Dream Studio. LMMS is included in Dream Studio to allow users to produce music using their computer.</p>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 Distribution Sign-up 2011

2011-12-19T16:40:07Z

Smaqsood: Undo revision 16400 by Smaqsood (Talk)

Sign up for the distribution you want to report on here. Note that others are also editing page so verify that the page hasn't been mangled after you make your changes. To help with this, try to only edit the section for the appropriate alphabet range (e.g., Ubuntu should go under T-V).

Note that no more than two people may sign up for each distribution. If two people sign up for a distribution, you two '''should be working together''' on a joint report. If you are not working together, then note that the person who picked the distribution gets a 10% bonus: that person, after all, did the work to find the distribution.

Please sign up with your wiki name (which, generally, should be the same as your connect username). See [http://www.distrowatch.com Distrowatch] to see what distributions are out there. Also, search for types of operating system distributions.

Please '''do not''' sign up for a major distribution. This includes but is not limited to the major distributions listed by Distrowatch. Pick out something specialized and obscure! If in doubt, please email the instructors and TAs.

If you are submitting your report on the wiki, please add a link to it as shown in the example. Please title the page using the name of your distribution, not your name.

Further information on the report is [[COMP 3000 Distribution Report Specifications 2011|here]].

Example entry:

* [http://www.ubuntu.com Ubuntu]: asomayaj, snetimar ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Ubuntu|Report]])

==Distributions A-D==
[http://alpinelinux.org/ Alpine Linux]: mevans ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Alpine|Report]])

[http://www.apodio.org/ APODIO]: mbrowna ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: APODIO|Report]])

[http://www.artistx.org/site3/ ArtistX]: adangel2 ([[Comp 3000 ArtistX Report|Report]])

BackTrack: dcarson

[http://www.bodhilinux.com/ Bodhi Linux]: jboucha2 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Bodhi|Report]])

[http://Caine-Live.net/ CAINE Linux]: nyoung2 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: CAINE|Report]])

Chromium OS(Chrome OS): baathari

[http://crunchbanglinux.org/ CrunchBang]: drewmartin ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: CrunchBang|Report]])

[http://crux.nu/ CRUX]: ttian1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 report ttian1|Report]])

[http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ Damn Small Linux]: MartyV ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Small Linux|Report]])

[http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/dsl-n/ Damn Small Linux - Not]: dneray ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Small Linux - Not|Report]])

Damn Vulnerable Linux: amurphy7 , vsanthir ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Vulnerable Linux|Report]])

[http://www.deftlinux.net/ DEFT Linux]: deadlytea ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: DEFT Linux|Report]])

[http://www.doudoulinux.org/ DoudouLinux]:fmcyamwe,tchopel([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: DoudouLinux|Report]])

[http://dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio]: smaqsood ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio|Report]])

==Distributions E-H==

[http://www.funtoo.org/ Funtoo Linux]: porter.nicolas ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Funtoo Linux|Report]])

[http://www.gobolinux.org/ GoboLinux]: NameGoesHere

[http://haiku-os.org/ Haiku]: nhoda, thildebr ([http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~nhoda/haiku/ Report Parts 1 and 2]; [[COMP_3000_2011_Report:_Haiku|Part 3]])

[http://www.edubuntu.org Edubuntu]: smaqsood ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu|Report]])

==Distributions I-M==
Incognito Live System: bwernik ([[Report: TAILS]])

[http://www.inquisitor.ru/ Inquisitor]: atchekan ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Inquisitor|Report]])

[http://www.jolicloud.com/ Joli OS (Jolicloud)]: nkathrad tsukasa19([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Joli OS|Report]])

[http://knosciences.tuxfamily.org/doku.php KnoSciences]: nTierney([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: KnoSciences|Report]])

[http://www.dee.su/liberte/ Liberté Linux]: Murals

[http://www.spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm Lightweight Portable Security]: jeckhard ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: LPS|Report]])

[http://linhes.org/bugs/ LinHes]:jmarcha1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: LinHES|Report]])

[http://live.linux-gamers.net/ linuX-Gamers Live]: dlpkelly ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: linuX-gamers Live|Report]])

Linux Mangaka One: AsoCchahal ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Linux Mangaka One|Report]])

[http://lubuntu.net/ Lubuntu]: falaskar

[http://www.menuetos.net/ MenuetOS]: Caesar, Vangelis ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: MenuetOS|Report]])

[http://puppylinux.org/wikka/LegacyOS/ Legacy OS]:rnyssanb, zzhou6([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Legacy|Report]])

[http://macpup.org/ Macpup]: kbyrd, rcarrot1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Macpup|Report]])

==Distributions N-P==

[http://www.nova.cu/?q=en/start Nova]: jaze ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Nova|Report]])

[http://partedmagic.com/doku.php Parted Magic]: erhodes

[http://peppermintos.com/ PeppermintOS]: fmuhamma

[http://perllinux.sourceforge.net/ Perl/Linux]:

Privatix Live-System: gbooth, sbrett ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Privatix|Report]])

[http://puppylinux.org/ Puppy Linux]: mwooff, jnrahme ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: PuppyLinux|Report]])

[http://www.pinguyos.com/ PinguyOS]: ssivara, uramazan (pdawod)

[http://www.en.poseidonlinux.org/ Poseidon Linux]: 36chambers ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: PoseidonLinux|Report]])

PC-BSD : todetoyi([[COMP 3000 2011 Report:PC-BSD|Report]]), qliu1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu|Report]]) ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD|ReportII_todetoyi_qliu1]])

[http://www.parsix.org/ Parsix GNU/Linux]: tzhang1, jzhang ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Parsix GNU/Linux|Report]])

[http://www.pardus.org.tr/en/ Pardus]: ksubedi ([[Report: Pardus Linux|Report]])

[http://www.puredyne.org/ Puredyne]: Carlton

==Distributions Q-S==
[http://www.qimo4kids.com Qimo]: rwolfe ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Qimo|Report]])

[http://qubes-os.org/Home.html Qubes]: dneray ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Qubes beta 2|Report]])

[http://bkhome.org/quirky/ Quirky]: Qingming_no_lisca（[[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Quirky|Report]]）

[http://www.swiftlinux.org/ Swift Linux]: mabadeer, Yliu11([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Swift Linux|Report]])

[http://www.salineos.com/ SalineOS]: drhill ([[COMP 3000 2011 Drhill's Report: SalineOS 1.4|Report]])

[http://www.scientificlinux.org/ Scientific Linux]: kfourni1

[http://www.slackware.com/ Slackware]: sturnbu5 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Slackware 13.37|Report]])

[http://www.slax.org/ SLAX]: Andre Song

[http://www.slitaz.org/en/ SliTaz]: Bobbybobbets ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: SliTaz|Report]])

[http://www.stresslinux.org/sl/ StressLinux]: achaddad, nwaheed

[http://sourceforge.net/projects/suicide-linux/ Suicide-Linux]:

[http://www.sabayon.org/ Sabayon Linux]: mabdirah, selmoafi

==Distributions T-W==
[http://tails.boum.org/index.en.html/ TAILS]: Khorrus

[http://bellard.org/tcc/tccboot.html TCCBOOT: TinyCC Boot Loader]:

[http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/welcome.html/ Tiny Core Linux ]: aadegbem ([[Comp 3000 2011 Report: Tiny Core Linux|Report]])

[http://tinymelinux.com/doku.php TinyMe]: jaze ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: TinyMe|Report]])

[http://www.minimalinux.org/ttylinux/ ttylinux]: kmacmart ([[COMP_3000_2011_Report: ttylinux|Report]])

[http://www.uberstudent.org/ UberStudent]: akwiatko ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: UberStudent|Report]])

[http://ubuntustudio.org/ Ubuntu Studio]: Chashem and Jbyford ([[Editing COMP 3000 2011 Report: Ubuntu Studio|Report]])

[http://vectorlinux.com/ VectorLinux]: judethedude,Lkuate ([[ VectorLinux|Report]])

[http://www.planetwatt.com/ wattOS]: JPAL

==Distributions X-Z==
[http://www.zentyal.com/ Zentyal]: cyu3 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Zentyal|Report]])

[http://www.zenwalk.org/ Zenwalk]: mgizbert ([[Editing COMP 3000 2011 Report: Zenwalk|Report]])

[http://http://www.zeroshell.net/ ZeroShell]: bvardal ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: ZeroShell|Report]])

[http://www.zorin-os.com/ Zorin OS]: awillman ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Zorin OS|Report]])

[http://www.xbmc.org/ XBMC]: awallac1, ketsiagb ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: XBMC|Report]])

[http://www.xubuntu.org/ Xubuntu]: ernibek, Komarova

COMP 3000 Distribution Sign-up 2011

2011-12-19T16:38:03Z

Smaqsood:

Sign up for the distribution you want to report on here. Note that others are also editing page so verify that the page hasn't been mangled after you make your changes. To help with this, try to only edit the section for the appropriate alphabet range (e.g., Ubuntu should go under T-V).

Note that no more than two people may sign up for each distribution. If two people sign up for a distribution, you two '''should be working together''' on a joint report. If you are not working together, then note that the person who picked the distribution gets a 10% bonus: that person, after all, did the work to find the distribution.

Please sign up with your wiki name (which, generally, should be the same as your connect username). See [http://www.distrowatch.com Distrowatch] to see what distributions are out there. Also, search for types of operating system distributions.

Please '''do not''' sign up for a major distribution. This includes but is not limited to the major distributions listed by Distrowatch. Pick out something specialized and obscure! If in doubt, please email the instructors and TAs.

If you are submitting your report on the wiki, please add a link to it as shown in the example. Please title the page using the name of your distribution, not your name.

Further information on the report is [[COMP 3000 Distribution Report Specifications 2011|here]].

Example entry:

* [http://www.ubuntu.com Ubuntu]: asomayaj, snetimar ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Ubuntu|Report]])

==Distributions A-D==
[http://alpinelinux.org/ Alpine Linux]: mevans ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Alpine|Report]])

[http://www.apodio.org/ APODIO]: mbrowna ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: APODIO|Report]])

[http://www.artistx.org/site3/ ArtistX]: adangel2 ([[Comp 3000 ArtistX Report|Report]])

BackTrack: dcarson

[http://www.bodhilinux.com/ Bodhi Linux]: jboucha2 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Bodhi|Report]])

[http://Caine-Live.net/ CAINE Linux]: nyoung2 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: CAINE|Report]])

Chromium OS(Chrome OS): baathari

[http://crunchbanglinux.org/ CrunchBang]: drewmartin ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: CrunchBang|Report]])

[http://crux.nu/ CRUX]: ttian1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 report ttian1|Report]])

[http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ Damn Small Linux]: MartyV ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Small Linux|Report]])

[http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/dsl-n/ Damn Small Linux - Not]: dneray ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Small Linux - Not|Report]])

Damn Vulnerable Linux: amurphy7 , vsanthir ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Vulnerable Linux|Report]])

[http://www.deftlinux.net/ DEFT Linux]: deadlytea ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: DEFT Linux|Report]])

[http://www.doudoulinux.org/ DoudouLinux]:fmcyamwe,tchopel([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: DoudouLinux|Report]])

[http://dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio]: smaqsood ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report Part II: Dream Studio|Report]])

==Distributions E-H==

[http://www.funtoo.org/ Funtoo Linux]: porter.nicolas ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Funtoo Linux|Report]])

[http://www.gobolinux.org/ GoboLinux]: NameGoesHere

[http://haiku-os.org/ Haiku]: nhoda, thildebr ([http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~nhoda/haiku/ Report Parts 1 and 2]; [[COMP_3000_2011_Report:_Haiku|Part 3]])

[http://www.edubuntu.org Edubuntu]: smaqsood ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu|Report]])

==Distributions I-M==
Incognito Live System: bwernik ([[Report: TAILS]])

[http://www.inquisitor.ru/ Inquisitor]: atchekan ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Inquisitor|Report]])

[http://www.jolicloud.com/ Joli OS (Jolicloud)]: nkathrad tsukasa19([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Joli OS|Report]])

[http://knosciences.tuxfamily.org/doku.php KnoSciences]: nTierney([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: KnoSciences|Report]])

[http://www.dee.su/liberte/ Liberté Linux]: Murals

[http://www.spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm Lightweight Portable Security]: jeckhard ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: LPS|Report]])

[http://linhes.org/bugs/ LinHes]:jmarcha1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: LinHES|Report]])

[http://live.linux-gamers.net/ linuX-Gamers Live]: dlpkelly ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: linuX-gamers Live|Report]])

Linux Mangaka One: AsoCchahal ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Linux Mangaka One|Report]])

[http://lubuntu.net/ Lubuntu]: falaskar

[http://www.menuetos.net/ MenuetOS]: Caesar, Vangelis ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: MenuetOS|Report]])

[http://puppylinux.org/wikka/LegacyOS/ Legacy OS]:rnyssanb, zzhou6([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Legacy|Report]])

[http://macpup.org/ Macpup]: kbyrd, rcarrot1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Macpup|Report]])

==Distributions N-P==

[http://www.nova.cu/?q=en/start Nova]: jaze ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Nova|Report]])

[http://partedmagic.com/doku.php Parted Magic]: erhodes

[http://peppermintos.com/ PeppermintOS]: fmuhamma

[http://perllinux.sourceforge.net/ Perl/Linux]:

Privatix Live-System: gbooth, sbrett ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Privatix|Report]])

[http://puppylinux.org/ Puppy Linux]: mwooff, jnrahme ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: PuppyLinux|Report]])

[http://www.pinguyos.com/ PinguyOS]: ssivara, uramazan (pdawod)

[http://www.en.poseidonlinux.org/ Poseidon Linux]: 36chambers ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: PoseidonLinux|Report]])

PC-BSD : todetoyi([[COMP 3000 2011 Report:PC-BSD|Report]]), qliu1 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu|Report]]) ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD|ReportII_todetoyi_qliu1]])

[http://www.parsix.org/ Parsix GNU/Linux]: tzhang1, jzhang ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Parsix GNU/Linux|Report]])

[http://www.pardus.org.tr/en/ Pardus]: ksubedi ([[Report: Pardus Linux|Report]])

[http://www.puredyne.org/ Puredyne]: Carlton

==Distributions Q-S==
[http://www.qimo4kids.com Qimo]: rwolfe ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Qimo|Report]])

[http://qubes-os.org/Home.html Qubes]: dneray ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Qubes beta 2|Report]])

[http://bkhome.org/quirky/ Quirky]: Qingming_no_lisca（[[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Quirky|Report]]）

[http://www.swiftlinux.org/ Swift Linux]: mabadeer, Yliu11([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Swift Linux|Report]])

[http://www.salineos.com/ SalineOS]: drhill ([[COMP 3000 2011 Drhill's Report: SalineOS 1.4|Report]])

[http://www.scientificlinux.org/ Scientific Linux]: kfourni1

[http://www.slackware.com/ Slackware]: sturnbu5 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Slackware 13.37|Report]])

[http://www.slax.org/ SLAX]: Andre Song

[http://www.slitaz.org/en/ SliTaz]: Bobbybobbets ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: SliTaz|Report]])

[http://www.stresslinux.org/sl/ StressLinux]: achaddad, nwaheed

[http://sourceforge.net/projects/suicide-linux/ Suicide-Linux]:

[http://www.sabayon.org/ Sabayon Linux]: mabdirah, selmoafi

==Distributions T-W==
[http://tails.boum.org/index.en.html/ TAILS]: Khorrus

[http://bellard.org/tcc/tccboot.html TCCBOOT: TinyCC Boot Loader]:

[http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/welcome.html/ Tiny Core Linux ]: aadegbem ([[Comp 3000 2011 Report: Tiny Core Linux|Report]])

[http://tinymelinux.com/doku.php TinyMe]: jaze ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: TinyMe|Report]])

[http://www.minimalinux.org/ttylinux/ ttylinux]: kmacmart ([[COMP_3000_2011_Report: ttylinux|Report]])

[http://www.uberstudent.org/ UberStudent]: akwiatko ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: UberStudent|Report]])

[http://ubuntustudio.org/ Ubuntu Studio]: Chashem and Jbyford ([[Editing COMP 3000 2011 Report: Ubuntu Studio|Report]])

[http://vectorlinux.com/ VectorLinux]: judethedude,Lkuate ([[ VectorLinux|Report]])

[http://www.planetwatt.com/ wattOS]: JPAL

==Distributions X-Z==
[http://www.zentyal.com/ Zentyal]: cyu3 ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Zentyal|Report]])

[http://www.zenwalk.org/ Zenwalk]: mgizbert ([[Editing COMP 3000 2011 Report: Zenwalk|Report]])

[http://http://www.zeroshell.net/ ZeroShell]: bvardal ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: ZeroShell|Report]])

[http://www.zorin-os.com/ Zorin OS]: awillman ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: Zorin OS|Report]])

[http://www.xbmc.org/ XBMC]: awallac1, ketsiagb ([[COMP 3000 2011 Report: XBMC|Report]])

[http://www.xubuntu.org/ Xubuntu]: ernibek, Komarova

List of Processes Running in Dream Studio

2011-12-19T16:35:55Z

Smaqsood: Created page with "<pre>USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND root 1 0.0 0.1 2920 1808 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 /sbin/init root 2 0.0 0.0…"

<pre>USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
root 1 0.0 0.1 2920 1808 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 /sbin/init
root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [kthreadd]
root 3 0.9 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:06 [ksoftirqd/0]
root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [kworker/u:0]
root 6 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [migration/0]
root 7 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [migration/1]
root 9 1.1 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:07 [ksoftirqd/1]
root 11 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [cpuset]
root 12 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [khelper]
root 13 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [netns]
root 15 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [sync_supers]
root 16 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [bdi-default]
root 17 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [kintegrityd]
root 18 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [kblockd]
root 19 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/9-acpi]
root 20 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [ata_sff]
root 21 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [khubd]
root 22 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [md]
root 23 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [kworker/1:1]
root 24 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [kswapd0]
root 25 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN 16:36 0:00 [ksmd]
root 26 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN 16:36 0:00 [khugepaged]
root 27 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [fsnotify_mark]
root 28 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [crypto]
root 36 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [kthrotld]
root 38 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [kworker/u:3]
root 39 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/14-ata_piix]
root 40 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/15-ata_piix]
root 41 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [scsi_eh_0]
root 42 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [scsi_eh_1]
root 43 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/22-ohci_hcd]
root 45 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/12-i8042]
root 46 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/1-i8042]
root 47 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/8-rtc0]
root 67 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [kworker/1:2]
root 189 0.2 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:01 [irq/21-ahci]
root 190 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [scsi_eh_2]
root 212 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [jbd2/sda1-8]
root 213 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [ext4-dio-unwrit]
root 230 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [flush-8:0]
root 268 0.0 0.0 2412 608 ? S 16:36 0:00 upstart-udev-bridge --daemon
root 290 0.0 0.1 2880 1100 ? S<s 16:36 0:00 udevd --daemon
root 450 0.0 0.1 2876 1036 ? S< 16:36 0:00 udevd --daemon
root 453 0.0 0.0 2876 968 ? S< 16:36 0:00 udevd --daemon
syslog 467 0.0 0.1 27472 1332 ? Sl 16:36 0:00 rsyslogd -c4
102 471 0.0 0.1 3512 1748 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 dbus-daemon --system --fork --activation=upstart
avahi 497 0.0 0.1 3016 1456 ? S 16:36 0:00 avahi-daemon: running [sunny-VirtualBox.local]
avahi 498 0.0 0.0 3016 432 ? S 16:36 0:00 avahi-daemon: chroot helper
root 520 0.0 0.4 25748 4540 ? Ssl 16:36 0:00 NetworkManager
root 534 0.0 0.2 4660 2512 ? S 16:36 0:00 /usr/sbin/modem-manager
root 546 0.0 0.3 23660 3732 ? Sl 16:36 0:00 /usr/lib/policykit-1/polkitd
root 632 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [irq/19-eth0]
root 646 0.0 0.0 2412 608 ? S 16:36 0:00 upstart-socket-bridge --daemon
root 648 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:00 [kworker/0:2]
root 651 0.0 0.1 5172 1524 ? S 16:36 0:00 /sbin/wpa_supplicant -u -s
root 652 0.0 0.1 2552 1236 ? S 16:36 0:00 /sbin/dhclient -d -4 -sf /usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action -pf /var/run/dhclient-eth0.pid -lf /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient-66bdc1a3-888c-4c79-9633-b62ae7232f26-eth0.lease -cf /var/run/nm-dhclient-eth0.conf eth0
root 665 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:36 0:00 [kpsmoused]
root 698 0.0 0.0 1872 572 tty4 Ss+ 16:36 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty4
root 703 0.0 0.0 1872 576 tty5 Ss+ 16:36 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty5
root 720 0.0 0.0 1872 576 tty2 Ss+ 16:36 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty2
root 721 0.0 0.0 1872 576 tty3 Ss+ 16:36 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty3
root 726 0.0 0.0 1872 576 tty6 Ss+ 16:36 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty6
root 744 0.0 0.0 1864 672 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 acpid -c /etc/acpi/events -s /var/run/acpid.socket
root 756 0.0 0.0 3156 648 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 /usr/sbin/irqbalance
root 760 0.0 0.0 2064 836 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 anacron -s
root 762 0.0 0.0 2268 856 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 cron
daemon 763 0.0 0.0 2132 348 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 atd
root 828 0.0 0.1 3376 1120 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 /usr/sbin/spacenavd -v
root 843 0.0 0.1 13376 1532 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 /usr/sbin/winbindd
root 869 0.0 0.1 13376 1100 ? S 16:36 0:00 /usr/sbin/winbindd
root 908 0.1 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:36 0:01 [irq/21-Intel 82]
root 995 0.0 0.3 19564 3664 ? Ssl 16:36 0:00 gdm-binary
root 999 0.0 0.3 27192 3372 ? Sl 16:36 0:00 /usr/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon
root 1068 0.0 0.2 6792 2784 ? Ss 16:36 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd -F
root 1094 0.0 0.4 21000 4100 ? Sl 16:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-simple-slave --display-id /org/gnome/DisplayManager/Display1
root 1110 1.1 3.2 41316 32416 tty7 Ss+ 16:36 0:07 /usr/bin/X :0 -nr -verbose -auth /var/run/gdm/auth-for-gdm-FONbOG/database -nolisten tcp vt7
timidity 1322 0.0 0.6 16284 6752 ? S 16:36 0:00 /usr/bin/timidity -Os -iAD
root 1326 0.0 0.0 1872 576 tty1 Ss+ 16:36 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty1
root 1349 0.0 0.3 19740 3524 ? Sl 16:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-session-worker
root 1354 0.0 0.3 16720 3772 ? Sl 16:36 0:00 /usr/lib/upower/upowerd
rtkit 1360 0.0 0.1 18888 1220 ? SNl 16:36 0:00 /usr/lib/rtkit/rtkit-daemon
sunny 1442 0.0 0.3 43508 3632 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --daemonize --login
sunny 1461 0.0 0.7 37536 7328 ? Ssl 16:37 0:00 gnome-session ci=ubuntu
sunny 1495 0.0 0.0 3368 188 ? Ss 16:37 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-agent /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session --session=ubuntu
sunny 1498 0.0 0.0 3456 576 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session --session=ubuntu
sunny 1499 0.0 0.1 4752 1964 ? Ss 16:37 0:00 //bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session
sunny 1504 0.0 0.4 11044 4648 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2
sunny 1516 0.0 1.2 103404 12804 ? Ssl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/gnome-settings-daemon
sunny 1519 0.0 0.2 8784 2264 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd
sunny 1524 0.0 0.2 31084 2500 ? Ssl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs//gvfs-fuse-daemon /home/sunny/.gvfs
sunny 1528 0.1 1.3 108996 13192 ? Sl 16:37 0:01 metacity
sunny 1531 0.2 0.5 99060 5684 ? S<sl 16:37 0:01 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog
sunny 1533 0.5 4.1 496488 42012 ? Sl 16:37 0:03 nautilus
sunny 1536 0.4 2.5 73300 25236 ? Sl 16:37 0:03 qjackctl
sunny 1537 0.1 1.8 472440 18720 ? Sl 16:37 0:01bl gnome-panel
sunny 1538 0.0 0.3 20792 3340 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/pulseaudio/pulse/gconf-helper
sunny 1539 0.0 0.7 45868 7992 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 bluetooth-applet
sunny 1540 0.0 0.9 40172 9164 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/evolution/2.32/evolution-alarm-notify
sunny 1541 0.0 0.4 48148 4912 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 zeitgeist-datahub
sunny 1542 0.0 0.8 54656 8428 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 gnome-power-manager
sunny 1548 0.0 1.4 724768 15016 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 nm-applet --sm-disable
sunny 1551 0.0 0.6 27628 6448 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1
sunny 1554 0.0 1.3 33660 13248 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/zeitgeist-daemon
sunny 1561 0.0 0.3 10056 3200 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-gdu-volume-monitor
root 1563 0.0 0.3 14008 3240 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/udisks/udisks-daemon
root 1564 0.0 0.0 5564 716 ? S 16:37 0:00 udisks-daemon: polling /dev/sr0
sunny 1575 0.0 0.2 9660 2264 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
sunny 1579 0.0 0.2 19352 2252 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-afc-volume-monitor
sunny 1580 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? Z 16:37 0:00 [zeitgeist-datah] <defunct>
sunny 1587 0.0 0.0 5060 248 ? S 16:37 0:00 /bin/cat
sunny 1595 0.0 0.3 9376 3052 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-trash --spawner :1.10 /org/gtk/gvfs/exec_spaw/0
sunny 1597 0.0 0.6 28384 6980 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/notify-osd/notify-osd
sunny 1605 0.0 0.3 36484 3744 ? Ssl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/bonobo-activation/bonobo-activation-server --ac-activate --ior-output-fd=23
sunny 1612 0.0 1.3 380676 13592 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-panel/wnck-applet
sunny 1616 0.0 0.9 376276 9108 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-applets/trashapplet
sunny 1620 0.0 1.5 391356 15132 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-applet/indicator-applet-complete
sunny 1621 0.0 0.8 376520 8528 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-panel/notification-area-applet
sunny 1632 0.0 0.1 8588 2000 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-metadata
sunny 1634 0.0 0.2 21368 2352 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service
sunny 1638 0.0 0.6 61088 6912 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-datetime/indicator-datetime-service
sunny 1644 0.0 0.5 122640 5928 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-sound/indicator-sound-service
sunny 1646 0.0 0.4 59576 4460 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-messages/indicator-messages-service
sunny 1648 0.0 0.5 52160 5212 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-session/indicator-session-service
sunny 1655 0.0 0.3 18072 3860 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/geoclue/geoclue-master
sunny 1659 0.0 0.5 61360 5024 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-me/indicator-me-service
sunny 1663 0.0 0.4 56884 4048 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-application/indicator-application-service
sunny 1685 0.0 0.2 8916 2516 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-burn --spawner :1.10 /org/gtk/gvfs/exec_spaw/1
sunny 1689 0.0 0.5 28508 5912 ? Ss 16:37 0:00 gnome-screensaver
sunny 1696 0.0 0.6 20812 6596 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-disk-utility/gdu-notification-daemon
sunny 1698 0.0 1.6 468600 16460 ? Sl 16:37 0:00 gnome-terminal
sunny 1700 0.0 0.7 20644 7840 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/lib/bamf/bamfdaemon
sunny 1704 0.0 0.0 2068 708 ? S 16:37 0:00 gnome-pty-helper
sunny 1705 0.0 0.3 8300 3840 pts/0 Ss 16:37 0:00 bash
sunny 1776 0.0 1.6 34724 16872 ? S 16:37 0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/share/system-config-printer/applet.py
sunny 1781 0.0 1.3 382776 13828 ? Sl 16:38 0:00 update-notifier
root 1795 0.0 0.8 14724 8464 ? S 16:38 0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/lib/system-service/system-service-d
root 1798 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:41 0:00 [kworker/0:0]
root 1800 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:42 0:00 [kworker/0:3]
root 1801 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:42 0:00 [kworker/1:0]
root 1829 0.0 0.0 1912 504 ? S 16:46 0:00 /bin/sh -c nice run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly
root 1831 0.0 0.0 1836 496 ? SN 16:46 0:00 run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly
root 1835 0.0 0.0 1912 512 ? SN 16:46 0:00 /bin/sh /etc/cron.weekly/apt-xapian-index
root 1841 59.4 9.8 122740 98656 ? RN 16:46 0:17 /usr/bin/python /usr/sbin/update-apt-xapian-index --quiet
root 1851 0.0 0.0 1860 248 ? SN 16:47 0:00 /bin/cat</pre>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-19T16:32:50Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. The distribution can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or a USB flash drive. It takes advantage of the Ubuntu base and does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu for ease of system updates and maintenance. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</li>
</ul>
<h2> Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed:
</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Synaptic Package Manager</h3>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org/ http://inkscape.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org/ http://www.gimp.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>bash: </strong>The latest stable release of bash is 4.2-0ubuntu3 and it was released in February 2011, therefore bash is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore bash has not been modified by the author. Bash is a default shell that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>firefox:</strong> The latest stable release of Firefox is 8.0 and it was released in November 2011, the version installed in the distribution is two versions old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore Firefox has not been modified by the author. Firefox is the default browser that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>dpkg:</strong> The latest stable release of dpkg is 1.16.1.1 and it was released in April 2011, therefore bash is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore dpkg has not been modified by the author. dpkg is the default package management utility that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>libc6:</strong> The latest stable release of libc6 is 2.14.1 and it was released in October 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore libc6 has not been modified by the author. libc6 is the glibc library that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>apt:</strong> The latest stable release of apt is 0.8.10.3+squeeze1 and it was released in September 2011, the version installed in the distribution is two versions newer than the most stable release (the new version mostly consisted of security updates). As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore apt has not been modified by the author. apt is a front-end interface for dkpg that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>synaptic:</strong> The latest stable release of synaptic is 0.75.1ubuntu2 and it was released in April 2011, therefore synaptic is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore synaptic has not been modified by the author. Synaptic is an advanced GUI front-end for APT that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>software-center:</strong> The latest stable release of software-center is 4.0.5 and it was released in October 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore software center has not been modified by the author. software-center is an advanced GUI front-end for APT that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>evolution:</strong> The latest stable release of evolution is 3.2.2 and it was released in November 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore evolution has not been modified by the author. Evolution is the default mail client that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>linux kernel:</strong> The latest stable release of the Linux kernel (3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1) is 3.1.1 and it was released in November 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore kernel has not been modified by the author. A kernel is the core of Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>dash:</strong> The latest stable release of dash is 0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1 and it was released in November 2010, therefore dash is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore dash has not been modified by the author. Dash is a default shell that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: Dream Studio

2011-12-19T16:31:36Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Dream Studio Desktop.]]

<p>[http://www.dream.dickmacinnis.com/forum/ Dream Studio] is an Ubuntu based distribution that provides users tools to create stunning graphics, music, videos and websites. It is developed and maintained by Dick MacInnis, who originally designed the distribution for his work. The distribution can be installed to the hard drive, run from a DVD or a USB flash drive. It takes advantage of the Ubuntu base and does not modify the default packages provided by Ubuntu for ease of system updates and maintenance. The primary target audience for this distribution are designers, musicians or anyone developing multimedia (video, audio etc.) or design products. <br /></p>

<h1>Software Packaging </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses Ubuntu’s package management utilities to package and distribute software. Software is distributed in package files with a .deb extension to software repositories, and Dream Studio can download and install the software from these software repositories using a package management utility. Since Ubuntu uses Dobbin’s package management utilities, the base package management utility of Dream Studio is dpkg. Dream Studio has the following package management utilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg: </strong>dpkg is the base software of Dream Studio’s package management system. It is a low-level package management utility that can be used to create, install and remove packages. dpkg cannot get packages from remote repositories or manage complex package dependencies, therefore it is recommended that a higher level utility such as APT be used to install, update and remove packages in Dream Studio.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>APT (Advanced Packaging Tool): </strong>APT is a command line based front-end for dpkg. It allows users to install, update and remove packages on the system and, unlike dkpg it can download packages from remote repositories and manage package dependencies. APT can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility apt-get.</li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>Aptitude is a command line text-based menu front-end for APT. It can be used to install, update and remove packages on the system. Aptitude can be accessed in Dream Studio by using the command line utility aptitude.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>Ubuntu Software Center is the graphical (GUI) front-end for APT and can be used to browse, install, update and remove packages. It is the most simple application in Dream Studio to install packages but it can ignore certain packages (i.e. packages that don’t contain programs), and therefore the Synaptic Package Manager should be used to install complex packages or packages that cannot be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center.<br />
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The Synaptic Package Manager provides an advanced GUI front-end for APT. It can be used to browse, install, update and remove any package on the system. It is similar to the Ubuntu Software Center, but provides more information and complete control over the packages installed on the system.</li>
</ul>
<h2> Listing Installed Software</h2>
<p>A listing of all the software installed in Dream Studio can be obtained by using the package management utilities below:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>dpkg:</strong> A list of installed packages (software) can be obtained by using the following dpkg command in the terminal: <pre>$ dpkg –l</pre></li>
<li><strong>Aptitude: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Aptitude:
<ol>
<li>Type the command "aptitude" in the terminal: </li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Packages” from the menu.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Ubuntu Software Center: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using Ubuntu Software Center:
<ol>
<li>Select “Ubuntu Software Center” from the Applications menu in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the option “Installed Software” from the left pane in Ubuntu Software Center. List of installed software will be displayed in the right pane.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Synaptic Package Manager: </strong>The following steps describe how to obtain a list of installed software using the Synaptic Package Manager:
<ol>
<li>Open the Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu System > Administration in the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Adding and Removing Packages</h2>
<p>Packages can be installed or removed in Dream Studio by using any of the package management utilities listed below: (note: dpkg is excluded from this list because it is not recommended to directly install/remove packages using this utility)</p>
<h4>APT</h4>
<p>Search for a package by typing the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <search term></pre>
Example: To search for a graphics program/package type the following command in the terminal:
<pre>$ apt-cache search <graphics program></pre>
Select the package name from the search results and then use the commands below to install or remove the package if is already installed:
</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to install a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get install <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to install the package named "tux-math"</p>
<pre>$ apt-get install tux-math </pre>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> Type the following command in the terminal to remove a given package: </p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove <package_name></pre>
<p>Example: Type the following command in the terminal to remove the package named "tux-math":</p>
<pre>$ apt-get remove tux-math</pre>
<p> The following command can be used to remove a package and its configuration files:
</p>
<pre>$ apt-get purge <package_name></pre>
<h4>Aptitude</h4>
<p>Open aptitude by typing "aptitude" in the terminal:</p>

<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to select and install a package using aptitude: </p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Not Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be installed by pressing the “+” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to select and remove a package using aptitude:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Packages” from the menu at the top.</li>
<li>Select a category from the displayed list.</li>
<li>Select a package repository from the displayed list.</li>
<li> Browse the displayed list of available packages and mark a package to be removed by pressing the “-” key.</li>
<li>Press the “g” key twice to remove the selected package</li>
</ol>
<h3>Ubuntu Software Center</h3>
<p>Open Ubuntu Software Center by selecting it from the menu at the top: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Find the package to be installed by selecting it from the categories listed under the ‘Get Software” menu in the left-pane or searching for it using the “Search” box in the top right corner.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the results displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Install” option to install the selected package.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package: </strong>The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Installed Software” option from the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select a category from the options displayed under “Installed Software” in the left-pane.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the results displayed in the right pane.</li>
<li>Select the “Remove” option to remove the selected package.</li>
</ol>
<h4>Synaptic Package Manager</h4>
<p>Open Synaptic Package Manager by selecting it from the menu at the top: System > Administration > Ubuntu Software Center</p>
<p><strong>Installing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to install a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select the “Not Installed” option from the menu located at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be installed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Installation” option from the pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Apply” option from the toolbar at the top.
<br />
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Removing a package:</strong> The steps below describe how to remove a package using the Synaptic Package Manager:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the “Status” button from the Synaptic Packager Manager.</li>
<li>Select “Installed” from the menu at the top of the buttons.</li>
<li>Select the package to be removed from the list displayed in the right-pane.</li>
<li>Right-click on the package and select the “Mark for Removal” option from pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Select the option “Apply” from the toolbar at the top.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Software Catalog</h2>
<p>Dream Studio has 2141 packages installed upon the distribution's installation. These packages are more than enough for regular users, as they provide all the basic software that a regular user will need. This includes a web browser (Firefox), an email client/address book (Evolution), Image editor (GIMP), Office Suite (Open Office), Audio/Video playback software. In addition to the basic software, Dream Studio also provides a sufficient amount of multimedia and Graphic software to meet its design goals. The software catalog of Dream Studio is not as comprehensive as other distributions with similar design goals (Ubuntu Studio, ArtistX), this was done to keep the distribution light as it already provides users with all types of software that they might need. Rather than having redundant software offering the same core services, Dream Studio opted to provide the bare minimum upon installation and provide users the option to install additional software as required.</p>
<h1><strong>Major package versions </strong></h1>
<table border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="border:0px solid #003" width="700px">
<tr>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Package Name</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Version</th>
<th width="213" valign="top" style="background-color:#003;color:#FFF">Upstream source</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>linux-image-3.0.0-9-lowlatency</li>
<li>linux-lowlatency </li>
</ul>
<p> </p></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1</li>
<li>3.0.0.9.10ppa1~natty1</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.kernel.org/ http://www.kernel.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Libc6</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.13-0ubuntu13</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.eglibc.org/home http://www.eglibc.org/home]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">xserver-xorg-video-qxl</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.0.12-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-xorg/driver/xserver-xorg-video-qxl.git]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>gtkdialog and gtk2-engines-pixbuf</li>
<li>libqt4-core </li>
<li>tk8.5: 8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>2:0.7.20-4 and 2.24.4-0ubuntu2</li>
<li>4:4.7.2-0ubuntu6.2</li>
<li>8.5.9-2</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>[http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/natty/gtk+2.0 http://www.gtk.org/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/ http://www.qtsoftware.de/oxShop/]</li>
<li> [http://www.tcl.tk/ http://www.tcl.tk/]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Shells:
<ul>
<li>Bash</li>
<li>Dash</li>
<li>Mono-csharp-shell</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>4.2-0ubuntu3</li>
<li>0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>2.6.7-5ubuntu3</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash</li>
<li> [http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/files/ http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/dash/ ]</li>
<li> [http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Busybox-static</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://busybox.net/downloads/ http://busybox.net/downloads/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Software packaging (rpm, dpkg, etc.)
<ul>
<li>dpkg</li>
<li>aptitude</li>
<li>apt</li>
<li>synaptic</li>
<li>software-center</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>1.16.0~ubuntu7</li>
<li>0.6.3-3.2ubuntu1</li>
<li>0.8.13.2ubuntu4.1</li>
<li>0.75.1lubuntu2</li>
<li>4.0.4</li>
</ul></td>
<td width="213" valign="top"><ul>
<li>http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg</li>
<li>[http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/aptitude]</li>
<li> [http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files http://anonscm.debian.org/loggerhead/apt/apt/debian-squeeze/files]</li>
<li> [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/synaptic/ https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic ]</li>
<li> [http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center http://packages.ubuntu.com/natty/gnome/software-center]</li>
</ul></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Firefox</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">6.0+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.11.04.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Evolution</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.32.2-0ubuntu7</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/ http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Inkscape</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">0.48.1-2ubuntu2</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://inkscape.org/ http://inkscape.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Gimp</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">2.6.11-1ubuntu6.1</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.gimp.org/ http://www.gimp.org/]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213" valign="top">Imagemagick</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">7:6.6.2.6-1ubuntu4</td>
<td width="213" valign="top">[http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php]</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Package Information and Comparisons</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>bash: </strong>The latest stable release of bash is 4.2-0ubuntu3 and it was released in February 2011, therefore bash is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore bash has not been modified by the author. Bash is a default shell that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>firefox:</strong> The latest stable release of Firefox is 8.0 and it was released in November 2011, the version installed in the distribution is two versions old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore Firefox has not been modified by the author. Firefox is the default browser that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>dpkg:</strong> The latest stable release of dpkg is 1.16.1.1 and it was released in April 2011, therefore bash is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore dpkg has not been modified by the author. dpkg is the default package management utility that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>libc6:</strong> The latest stable release of libc6 is 2.14.1 and it was released in October 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore libc6 has not been modified by the author. libc6 is the glibc library that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>apt:</strong> The latest stable release of apt is 0.8.10.3+squeeze1 and it was released in September 2011, the version installed in the distribution is two versions newer than the most stable release (the new version mostly consisted of security updates). As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore apt has not been modified by the author. apt is a front-end interface for dkpg that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>synaptic:</strong> The latest stable release of synaptic is 0.75.1ubuntu2 and it was released in April 2011, therefore synaptic is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore synaptic has not been modified by the author. Synaptic is an advanced GUI front-end for APT that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>software-center:</strong> The latest stable release of software-center is 4.0.5 and it was released in October 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore software center has not been modified by the author. software-center is an advanced GUI front-end for APT that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>evolution:</strong> The latest stable release of evolution is 3.2.2 and it was released in November 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore evolution has not been modified by the author. Evolution is the default mail client that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>linux kernel:</strong> The latest stable release of the Linux kernel (3.0.0-9.13ppa1~natty1) is 3.1.1 and it was released in November 2011, the version installed in the distribution is one version old. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore kernel has not been modified by the author. A kernel is the core of Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>dash:</strong> The latest stable release of dash is 0.5.5.1-7.2ubuntu1 and it was released in November 2010, therefore dash is using the latest stable release. As stated by Dream Studio’s author, Dream Studio is using the main packages of Ubuntu without modification; this was done to allow seamless updates to the underlying software. Therefore dash has not been modified by the author. Dash is a default shell that comes installed with Ubuntu and that is why it was included in this distribution.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1>Initialization </h1>
<p>Dream Studio uses the same processes as Ubuntu to initialize the system. Specifically it uses a combination of System V init scripts and Upstart jobs to fully initialize the system. Attached is a [[List of Processes Running in Dream Studio|ps listing]] of all the processes that are running when Dream Studio boots up.</p>
<p>The boot process starts by loading the kernel and its associated modules. After the kernel is finished loading, it runs the init process located in “/sbin/init”. Init is the parent process of all other processes running on the system.</p>
<p>Next, Upstart emits a “start-up” event and init runs the jobs located in “/etc/init” that specify the “start-up” event in their “start on” condition. This includes the mountall job which mounts the disks and file systems.</p>
<p>Once the disks and file systems have been mounted, the message bus daemon (dbus-daemon) starts and the scripts located in “/etc/rcS.d” are executed. These scripts start the dynamic device management service (udev), load the AppArmor security module and X11-common (the file system infrastructure required for further installation of the X Window System).</p>
<p>Next, the rsyslog daemon (a system utility that provides support for message logging) is started, followed by processes to initialize network services (NetworkManager, avahi-daemon etc.) on the system. After this, the init process switches the system to run-level 2, which is the default run level set in the file “/etc/event.d/rc-default”.</p>
<p>Upon entering run level 2, the system starts the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>cron and atd:</strong> Daemons to execute scheduled commands on the system.</li>
<li><strong>acpid:</strong> Daemon that delivers ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) events. It listens on a file (/proc/acpi/event) and when an event occurs, executes programs to handle the event. The programs it executes are configured through a set of configuration files, which can be dropped into place by packages or by the admin. </li>
<li><strong>irqbalance:</strong> Distributes hardware interrupts across processors on a multiprocessor system.</li>
<li><strong>cupsd:</strong> Scheduler for CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix which allows a computer to act as a print server. It implements a printing system based upon the Internet Printing Protocol, version 2.1. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. This process runs in the foreground of the system. </li>
</ul>
<p>The system also executes scripts located in “/etc/rc2.d”, when it enters run level 2. These scripts run updates for Dream Studio and start the following processes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>spacenavd:</strong> User-space daemon that provides drivers for 3D input devices.</li>
<li><strong>winbind:</strong> Name Service Switch daemon for resolving names from NT servers.</li>
<li><strong>pulseaudio:</strong> Networked low-latency sound server for Linux.</li>
<li><strong>timidity:</strong> Software synthesizer that can play MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files without a hardware synthesizer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, the system starts getty and gdm-binary processes. The process getty opens and initializes a tty line, reads a log-in name and invokes the login process to log a user into the computer. The process gdm-binary starts the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) which is a graphical log-in program. Once the user is logged into the computer, GDM starts a user session. This will start processes such as metacity, nautilus, gvfs and load desktop and application settings for the user from “/usr/lib/d-conf/dconf-service” and “/usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2” respectively. Once the desktop is loaded, the system starts the process update-notifier, which scans the system for installed software and displays a list of updates.</p>
<p>The information in this section was found by reading how upstart initializes Ubuntu, in the [http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#system-phases Upstart Intro, Cookbook and Best Practises]. Next, I looked through the upstart jobs (.conf files) located in the directory “/etc/init.d” to find out how certain processes were started by the system. I also looked through the “/etc/rcS.d” and “/etc/rc2.d” directories to see how the old System V init scripts started some processes on the system. The description of all the running processes was taken from the [http://linux.die.net/man/ Linux man pages].</p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-19T16:25:49Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>

<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>

<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the applications. </p>

File:Pic12.png

2011-12-19T16:24:00Z

Smaqsood:

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-19T16:23:43Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right]][[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>
<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>
[[File:pic6.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic7.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic8.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>
[[File:pic9.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic10.png|100px|thumb|right]]
[[File:pic11.png|100px|thumb|right]] [[File:pic12.png|100px|thumb|right]]
<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the applications. </p>

File:Pic11.png

2011-12-19T16:17:00Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic10.png

2011-12-19T16:16:41Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic9.png

2011-12-19T16:16:22Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic8.png

2011-12-19T16:15:59Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic7.png

2011-12-19T16:15:38Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic6.png

2011-12-19T16:15:17Z

Smaqsood:

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-19T16:09:55Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|100px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic4.png|100px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic5.png|100px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 3.]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>
<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>
[[File:pic6.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic7.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic8.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 3.]]
<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>
[[File:pic9.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic10.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic11.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 3.]]
<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the applications. </p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-19T16:09:23Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|150px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic4.png|150px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic5.png|150px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 3.]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>
<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>
[[File:pic6.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic7.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic8.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 3.]]
<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>
[[File:pic9.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic10.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic11.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 3.]]
<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the applications. </p>

File:Pic5.png

2011-12-19T16:08:32Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic4.png

2011-12-19T16:08:09Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic3.png

2011-12-19T16:07:47Z

Smaqsood:

File:Pic2.png

2011-12-19T16:06:00Z

Smaqsood:

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-19T16:05:30Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic2.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
[[File:pic3.png|200px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic4.png|200px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic5.png|200px|thumb|right|Install screen capture 3.]]

<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>
<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>
[[File:pic6.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic7.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic8.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 3.]]
<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>
[[File:pic9.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 1.]]
[[File:pic10.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 2.]]
[[File:pic11.png|200px|thumb|right|Screen capture 3.]]
<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the applications. </p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-19T16:01:44Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic3.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>
<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>
<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>
<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the applications. </p>

COMP 3000 2011 Report Part I: Edubuntu

2011-12-19T16:01:14Z

Smaqsood:

<h1>Background</h1>

[[File:pic.png|200px|thumb|right|Edubuntu Desktop.]]

<p>Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu designed to be used in school classrooms and homes for education purposes. It is developed by [http://www.canonical.com/ Canonical Ltd] and an international community of developers, in collaboration with Educators around the world. The primary target audience of Edubuntu is users within the 6-18 age group and educators. The main goal of Edubuntu is to allow educators with limited technical knowledge to set-up labs and online learning environments for students. Thus, it is designed to be very easy to install, use and maintain for users with limited technical knowledge (i.e. students, educators). It also promises to provide the best set of education related applications for free, such as the ones included in the [http://edu.kde.org/ KDE Edutainment] and [http://gcompris.net/-en- GCompris] suites that come installed with Edubuntu. Edubuntu is being used in all primary and secondary schools of The Republic of Macedonia, as part of their <em>Computer for every child </em>program [1]. The Edubuntu community is working with the Qimo 4 kids project to bring Qimo games and artwork as an installable option in Edubuntu [2].</p>

<p>Edubuntu is built on top of Ubuntu and it incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) thin client and various education related applications. The LTSP thin client allows many people to use the same computer simultaneously. It does this by having one server containing all of the applications, where users can use an application by connecting to the server using a thin client terminal (low-powered, low-cost, quieter computers without a hard disk). LTSP thin clients also provide administrators more control over how computing resources are used on the network. LTSP thin clients can be used with Edubuntu to provide computing services in schools and classrooms (i.e. setting up a lab etc.).</p>

<p>Edubuntu can be downloaded from the [http://www.edubuntu.org/download Downloads section of the Edubuntu website] directly, or via bittorrent (preferred method). It can also be installed on top of Ubuntu by installing the desired Edubuntu packages using the <em>Applications</em> menu in Ubuntu or a package manager. Edubuntu can also be accessed in a browser by using [http://www.edubuntu.org/weblive WebLive]. Finally, it can also be ordered on a DVD disk from a [http://www.edubuntu.org/marketplace list of vendors] that carry it, such as [http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html OSDisc]. The approximate size of an Edubuntu installation is 2.66 GB.</p>

<h1>Installation/Startup</h1>
<p> Edubuntu was installed in VirtualBox (version 4.1.2) on a Windows 7 host. Below are the system specs of the host machine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: Intel Core i5 M 580 @ 2.67 GHZ</li>
<li>Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB</li>
<li>System type: 64 bit</li>
</ul>
<h2>Setting up the Virtual Machine (VM)</h2>
<p>VirtualBox guest additions were installed prior to setting up the VM for Edubuntu which made the experience of using Edubuntu in a VM very smooth. The following steps describe how the VM for Edubuntu was set-up in VirtualBox:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start VirtualBox and select the “New” option from the “Machine” menu at the top.</li>
<li>Press the “Next” button. In the “VM Name and OS Type” screen, type “Edubuntu” in the “Name” field and select Linux from the “Operating System” drop-down box. When done, press the “Next” button".</li>
<li>In the “Memory” screen, allocate 1500 MB of RAM to the virtual machine and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual Hard Disk” screen, check the “Start-up Disk” option and select the “Create new hard disk” option. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Use the “Create New Virtual Disk” wizard to create a virtual hard disk for the VM:
<ol>
<li>Select the “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk storage details” screen, select the “Dynamically allocated” option and press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>In the “Virtual disk file location and size” screen, set the size of the virtual disk to 20 GB by changing the value in the “Size” field to 20 GB from 8.00 GB. When done, press the “Next” button.</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the virtual hard disk.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Press the “Create” button to create the VM.</li>
<li>Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox, and press the “Settings” button from the top menu bar. This will open the settings of the Edubuntu VM.</li>
<li>Allocate 128 MB of video memory to the VM, by selecting the “Display” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Display” screen, change the value of the “Video Memory” to 128 MB from 12 MB.<strong> </strong></li>
<li>Select the “Storage” option from the left menu in the “Settings” screen. In the “Storage” screen, select the “Empty” option. In the “Attributes” section located to the right, click on the CD icon and select the “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file” option. Browse to the Edubuntu ISO file downloaded on the host machine, select it and press the “Open” button.</li>
<li>Press the “OK” button to save the VM settings.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Installing Edubuntu in a VM</h2>
<p> After the VM for Edubuntu is set-up, Edubuntu can be installed in the VM. The steps below describe how Edubuntu can be installed in a VM:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start the Edubuntu VM. Select the Edubuntu VM in VirtualBox and press the “Start” button from the top menu bar.</li>
<li>Select a language and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>Select the “Install Edubuntu” option from the Edubuntu boot menu and press the “Enter” key. Wait for Edubuntu to load the installation files.</li>
<li>Once the “Install” screen loads, press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Preparing to Install Edubuntu” screen, select the “Download updates while installing” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Edubuntu installation options (part 1)” screen, select the “Install” option under “Standard gnome 2.x interface” and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Installation type” screen, select the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” option and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li> In the “Erase disk and install Edubuntu” screen, press the “Install Now” button.</li>
<li>In the “Where are you?” screen, type your geographical location and press the “Continue button”.</li>
<li>In the “Keyboard layout” screen, select the “English (US)” option from the left pane and press the “Continue” button.</li>
<li>In the “Who are you?” screen, create a user profile for the VM by selecting a name, username, password and computer name.</li>
<li>After Edubuntu has finished installing, it will display the “Finished” screen. In this screen, press the "Finish" button to restart the VM and complete the installation.
</li>
</ol>
<h1>Basic Operation</h1>
<p>Edubuntu comes installed with LibreOffice as the Document Editing tool, Firefox as the default browser, Thunderbird as the mail client and Gimp/ Inkscape graphic editors. All these applications are very easy to use for novice users and are easily accessible from the top menu bar. There is also a Back-up and Firewall tool installed in Edubuntu to help users maintain the system.</p>
<p>One of the main features of Edubuntu is the number of educational applications installed on it. These applications can be grouped by grade level: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (ages 6-12), Secondary (ages 13-18) and University. I was unable to test the networking services/features of Edubuntu, because I did not have a network of computer available for testing. Instead, I chose to test two applications from Edubuntu’s extensive application suite and these are described below in detail.</p>
<h2>Tux Math</h2>
<p>Tux Math is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_Command Missile Command] style arcade game that helps kids practice their math skills in a fun and entertaining way. Kids can play the game alone or with other players. The game consists of falling asteroids containing math problems, and the object of the game is to blast these asteroids by typing the correct answer of the problem and pressing the “Enter” key. The game can be played in multiple modes where each mode allows kids to practice a different set of math skills. For example, there is a mode called “Math Command Training Academy”, in which players practice each math skill (i.e. addition, multiplication etc.) in a separate game. Another mode is called “Math Command Fleet Missions”, in which each level of the game contains different types of math problems (i.e. level 1 contains addition problems, while level 2 contains multiplication problems). Parents or teachers can also create a custom game which includes specific type of math problems that they want kids to practice.</p>
<p>The following example shows how students can use Tux Math to can practice their addition skills.</p>
<h3>Using Tux Math</h3>
<ol>
<li>Launch “Tux Math” by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Play Alone” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Math Command Training Academy” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Select the “Addition: 1 to 3” option from the game menu.</li>
<li>Once the game is started and the asteroids start falling, blast an asteroid by typing in the correct answer to the problem on the asteroid and press the “Enter” key.</li>
<li>When all the asteroids have been successfully blasted, the player will move on to the next level.</li>
<li>When the player has played all of the levels in a game, the game will end and the player will have the option to enter their game score in a High Score list.</li>
</ol>
<h2>KWordQuiz</h2>
<p>KWordQuiz is a flashcard learning program that can be used to learn vocabulary, a new language and many other subjects. Users create the content of their learning activity in KWordQuiz, and then test themselves by presenting the content in one of three forms: flashcards, multiple choice questions or short answer questions. During the testing activity, users can answer a question and then check to see whether they got it right.</p>
<p>The following example shows how KWordQuiz can be used by a student to study for a history test. Specifically, it shows how a student can use KWordQuiz to learn the states and capitals of USA.</p>
<h3>Using KWordQuiz</h3>
<ol>
<li>Launch KWordQuiz by selecting it from the Applications > Education menu.</li>
<li>Each learning activity in KWordQuiz has two columns, the first column (“Column 1”) contains the questions and the second column (“Column 2”) contains the answers to the questions. The values of the columns can be thought of as key/value pairs. </li>
<li>Rename the titles of Column 1 and Column 2 to “State” and “Capital” respectively:</li>
<ol>
<li>From the “Vocabulary” menu, select the “Column Settings” option.</li>
<li>Input the word “Capital” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 1”.</li>
<li>Input the word “State” in the “Title” field below the heading “Column 2”.</li>
<li>Press the “Ok” button.</li>
</ol>
<li>Enter the states of USA in the “State” column.</li>
<li>Enter the capital of each state in the “Capital” column.</li>
<li>Select a testing format (Flashcard, Multiple Choice, Question and Answer) from the left-column to test yourself:</li>
<ol>
<li>Flashcard: This format presents the name of a state one at a time. Users can press the “I Know” button if they know the name of the state’s capital, “I Do Not Know” button if they don’t and the “Check” button to view the name of state’s capital.</li>
<li>Multiple choice: In this format, users can select a state capital from a list of choices and press the “Check” button to see if they got it right.</li>
<li>Question and Answer: In this format the name of a state is presented to the user and they input the name of the state’s capital in the “Capital” field. They press the “Check” button to see if they got the answer right.</li>
</ol>
<li>The screen at the bottom of the question/answer area displays the progress of the testing activity. It displays the total number of questions, number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions answered incorrectly.</li></ol>
<h1>Usage Evaluation</h1>
<p>Overall, I really like this distribution mainly because of the number of educational applications installed on the system and their ease of use. The distribution meets its design goals as it is easy to use, easy to maintain (uses Ubuntu’s system maintenance tools) and contains a large collection of useful educational software. Some of the applications included in Edubuntu, such as the Graphing application (Lybniz Graph plotter) would cost money to users who want to use the same type of application in another OS environment (i.e. Windows).</p>
<p>Edubuntu works well in a classroom setting or in a network of computers because of features such as Desktop Sharing, Remote Desktop viewing and editing files collaboratively (Gobby Collaborative Editor). Since Edubuntu is based on Ubuntu, its installation takes time and is very resource heavy for home users. Therefore, home users who are only interested in the software packaged with Edubuntu and are not interested in its networking features are better off installing a light Linux distribution such as UberStudent and installing the desired software on it using a package manager.</p>
<p>A deficiency of Edubuntu is the lack of available user manuals for the educational software that comes packaged with the distribution. A how-to document for some of the software exists on the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide#Applications Edubuntu Wiki page], but it cannot be accessed from within the applications. </p>