The Perfect Desktop - Ubuntu Studio 11.04

This tutorial shows how you can set up an Ubuntu Studio 11.04 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge.

I want to say first that this is not the only way of setting up such a system. There are many ways of achieving this goal but this is the way I take. I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

To fully replace a Windows desktop, I want the Ubuntu Studio desktop to have the following software installed:

The GIMP - free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop Shotwell Photo Manager - full-featured personal photo management application for the GNOME desktopGoogle Picasa - application for organizing and editing digital photosFirefoxOperaChromium - Google's open-source browser Flash Player 10 FileZilla - multithreaded FTP client Thunderbird - email and news clientEvolution - combines e-mail, calendar, address book, and task list management functionsaMule - P2P file sharing applicationTransmission BitTorrent Client - Bittorrent client Vuze - Java Bittorrent client Empathy IM Client - multi-platform instant messaging clientSkypeGoogle EarthXchat IRC - IRC client Gwibber Social Client - open-source microblogging client (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)LibreOffice Writer - replacement for Microsoft Word LibreOffice Calc - replacement for Microsoft Excel Adobe ReaderGnuCash - double-entry book-keeping personal finance system, similar to Quicken Scribus - open source desktop publishing (DTP) applicationAmarok - audio player Audacity - free, open source, cross platform digital audio editorBanshee - audio player, can encode/decode various formats and synchronize music with Apple iPods MPlayer - media player (video/audio), supports WMA Rhythmbox Music Player - audio player, similar to Apple's iTunes, with support for iPods gtkPod - software similar to Apple's iTunes, supports iPod, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod photo, and iPod miniXMMS - audio player similar to Winampdvd::rip - full featured DVD copy programKino - free digital video editorSound Juicer CD Extractor - CD ripping tool, supports various audio codecsVLC Media Player - media player (video/audio)RealPlayer - media player (available for i386 systems only)Totem - media player (video/audio)Xine - media player, supports various formats; can play DVDs Brasero - CD/DVD burning program K3B - CD/DVD burning programMultimedia CodecsKompoZer - WYSIWYG HTML editor, similar to Macromedia Dreamweaver, but not as feature-rich (yet)Bluefish - text editor, suitable for many programming and markup languagesQuanta Plus - web development environment, including a WYSIWYG editorVirtualBox OSE- lets you run your old Windows desktop as a virtual machine under your Linux desktop, so you don't have to entirely abandon Windows TrueType fontsJavaRead-/Write support for NTFS partitions

Lots of our desired applications are available in the Ubuntu repositories, and some of these applications have been contributed by the Ubuntu community.

As you might have noticed, a few applications are redundant, for example there are two CD/DVD burning applications in my list (Brasero, K3B). If you know which one you like best, you obviously don't need to install the other applications, however if you like choice, then of course you can install both. The same goes for music players like Amarok, Banshee, Rhythmbox, XMMS or browsers (Firefox, Opera, Chromium).

I will use the username falko in this tutorial. Please replace it with your own username.

The installation of the base system is easy as 1-2-3 because the Ubuntu Studio installer doesn't offer a lot of options to choose from, so you cannot go wrong.

Download the Ubuntu Studio iso image from http://ubuntustudio.org/downloads, burn it onto a DVD, and boot your computer from it. Select your language:

Then select Install Ubuntu Studio:

Choose your language again (?):

Then select your location:

If you've selected an uncommon combination of language and location (like English as the language and Germany as the location, as in my case), the installer might tell you that there is no locale defined for this combination; in this case you have to select the locale manually. I select en_US.UTF-8 here:

Choose a keyboard layout (you will be asked to press a few keys, and the installer will try to detect your keyboard layout based on the keys you pressed):

The installer checks the installation CD, your hardware, and configures the network with DHCP if there is a DHCP server in the network:

You can accept the default hostname or specify your own one:

Please check if the installer detected your time zone correctly. If so, select Yes, otherwise No:

Now you have to partition your hard disk. For simplicity's sake I will create one big partition (with the mount point /) and a little swap partition so I select Guided - use entire disk (of course, the partitioning is totally up to you - if you like, you can create more than just one big partition, and you can also use LVM):

Select the disk that you want to partition:

When you're finished, hit Yes when you're asked Write the changes to disks?:

Afterwards, your new partitions are being created and formatted.

The Perfect Desktop - Ubuntu Studio 11.04 - Page 2

SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express Edition

Microsoft Word - Managing SQL Server Express with SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express Edition.doc Managing SQL Server Express with SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express Edition SQL Server Technical Article Writers: Eric Brown, Senior Consultant Quilogy Inc. Published: March 2006 Applies To: SQL Server 2005 Summary: Learn how to manage SQL Server 2005 Express Edition by using the free graphical management tool, SQL Server 2005 Management …

An Introduction to SQL Server Management Studio Express Edition SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express Edition (SSMSE) provides the database developer and administrator with a robust set of tools for working with Microsoft® SQL Server™ Express Edition. Based on the same technology and functionality as that in SQL Server Management Studio, SSMSE uses Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET 2005 user interfaces and IDE layout, so that switching between SSMSE and Visual Studio .NET 2005 easy. This familiar interface allows .NET developers to be productive more quickly. The features in SSMSE are limited to those that are needed to manage a SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database. While you can use SSMSE to manage other editions of SQL Server 2005, you cannot manage components of the server that are not in SQL Server Express. For example, you can connect only to the relational database engine only by using SSMSE because other services are not installed with SQL Server Express. SSMSE and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) cannot be installed together. If multiple editions of SQL Server are installed on your computer, you can only use SSMS and not SSMSE. Getting started The next sections provide a tour of the features in SSMSE. Because of its graphical user interface, many SSMSE features can be accessed simply by right-clicking. You can accomplish many tasks by using both script and dialog boxes. The beginning developer can use dialog boxes to accomplish basic tasks. By design, SQL Server always creates a default state that is secure and functional. Changes to default settings are for the purpose of setting up the database for the unique needs of users and applications. Assuming that SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express Edition is installed, let’s start by connecting to an instance. Connecting to servers This section covers how to connect to an instance of SQL Server Express. The Connect to Server dialog box allows users to provide both logon credentials and specific connection properties. You can use it to connect directly to SQL Server Express. For the authentication method, you can choose either SQL Server Authentication or Windows Authentication. By default, this is set to Windows Authentication. There are two tabs on the Connect to Server dialog box: the Login tab and the Connection Properties tab. To view the Connection Properties tab, click the Options button. Use the Connection Properties tab (shown in Figure 1) to input authentication credentials and server name….. 10 Microsoft Corporation ©2006 Figure 10: Specify Values for Template Parameters window Now, you have a basic understanding of how to create the basic objects that make up a database. In the next sections, we look at managing the database and server by using SSMSE. Basics of Database Administration Whether you are a beginning developer or a budding database administrator, you need to have some understanding of database administration. Following are the basic functions of database administration. • System management. Making sure the appropriate services and features are accessible and working. With SQL Server 2005, some features are turned off by default. Moreover, SQL Server Express is configured to not listen on the network via TCP/IP. • Security management. Managing access to the data. This starts at the operating system and ends with the database. This paper focuses on security topics related to users and logins. • Disaster preparedness. Recovering from user error and hardware and software failure. This paper covers backing up databases, understanding recovery models, and working with scripts to allow for the re-creation of database objects and data. In the following sections, we look at how to handle these database administration tasks by using SQL Server Browser, SQL Configuration Manager, and the SQL Surface Area Configuration tool. We review system management tasks, security settings, and backup and recovery models. System management When SQL Server Express is installed using the default settings, it is configured to be as secure as possible. Microsoft calls this configuration secure by default. After SQL Server Express is installed, you might need to reconfigure parts of the server based on your expected usage. For example, by default SQL Server Express allows only local connections. If you need to connect to SQL Server Express through your network, configure SQL Server Express to allow remote connections. A number of tools are available for accomplishing various configuration tasks. SQL Server Surface Area Configuration tool The Surface Area Configuration tool provides a scriptable interface for setting global security states for SQL Server features and services. Because SQL Server 2005 follows the security principle of secure by default, many features are turned off by default. Moreover, unless you indicate otherwise, the services you choose to install do not start automatically after installation is complete. Use the Surface Area Configuration tool to configure SQL Server and to manage SQL Server security. The Surface Area Configuration tool can be used to turn on and off services and features as well as to change configuration settings. It provides two basic sorting methods—View by Instance and View by Component. Use View by Component to quickly access and manage a certain grouping of features. View by Instance allows you to look over a specific instance of SQL Server and make changes

Getting to Know the SQL Server Management Studio

HOUR 3 Getting to Know the SQL Server Management Studio The Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express is the new interface that Microsoft has provided for management of your SQL … … Server database. It is the main tool that you will use when maintaining your databases and the objects they contain. In this hour you’ll learn:. The system databases that ship with SQL Server 2005 Express. What is available under the Security node of the Management Studio. The types of server objects that are available. What is available under …

Microsoft SQL Server Management StudioExpress 45 This not only provides you with standardization between databases, but provides you with a great jump start on creating the databases you need. If you modify Model, you do not affect any existing databases. All new databases will be affected by your changes. The MSDB Database The MSDB (Microsoft Database) databaseis used by SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, and SQL Server Agent. All three of them use it to store data, including scheduling information and backup and restore history information. For example, SQL Server maintains a complete backup and restore history in MSDB. There are several ways that you can add to or modify information stored in the MSDB database. They include . Scheduling tasks . Maintaining online backup and restore history . Replication The TempDB Database TempDB is asystem database that acts as a resource to all users working with a particular instance of SQL Server. TempDB holds the following objects: . Temporary user objects such as temporary tables, temporary stored procedures, temporary table variables, or cursors . Internal objects used by the database engine to perform tasks such as sorting . Row versions that are generated in data modification transactions The Security Node As its name implies, the Security Node enables you to manage SQL Server security. Using the Security Node, you can work with logins, add to and remove people from server roles, and create credentials. This chapter provides an introduction to security. For more information, see Hour 21, “SQL Server Authentication,” and Hour 22, “SQL Server Permissions Validation.” The Logins Node Logins representthe users and roles that have access to your system. Note in Figure 3.2 that two types of icons appear under the Logins node. One is granting a role access to the database, and the other is granting a user access to the database.
46 HOUR 3 Getting to Know the SQL Server Management Studio The Server Roles Node Server Roles arepredefined roles, supplied by SQL Server. Each Server Role possesses a pre-defined set of rights. Figure 3.3 shows the available Server Roles. You cannot add or remove Server Roles. FIGURE 3.2 Notice that Administrators is a role, and sa is a user. FIGURE 3.3 Each Server Role possesses a pre-defined set of rights.
Microsoft SQL Server Management StudioExpress 47 The Credentials Node Credentialsare new to SQL Server 2005. A credential is a record that contains the authentication information required for SQL Server to connect to an outside resource. Most credentials are made up of a Windows login and password. Server Objects Server Objects refer to a set of objects used at the server level (not at the database level). These objects include Backup Devices, Linked Servers, and Server Triggers. Backup Devices Backup devicesinclude the tapes and disks that you use to back up or restore your SQL Server. When creating a backup, you must designate the backup device that you want to use (see Figure 3.4). You select from a list of backup devices that you have created. FIGURE 3.4 When creating a backup, you must first designate the backup device you want to use. Linked Servers Linked serversenable you to work with other SQL Servers, as well as databases other than SQL Server databases, right from within Management Studio. This offers a few advantages: The Replication Node Data replication is the capability of a system to make copies of its data and application objects automatically in remote locations. You easily can propagateany changes to the original or data changes to the copies to all the other copies. Data replication enables users to make changes to data offline at remote locations. SQL Express synchronizes changes to either the original or the remote data with other instances of the database. The original database is referred to as the design master . You can make changes to definitions of tables or other application objects only at the design master. You use the design master to make special copies called replicas . Although there is only one design master, replicas can make other replicas. The process of the design master and replicas sharing changes is referred to as synchronization . To see an example of data replication at work, imagine that you have a team of salespeople who are out on the road all day. At the end of the day, each salesperson logs on to one of the company’s servers through Terminal Services. The replication process sends each salesperson’s transactions to the server. If necessary, the process sends any changes to the server data to the salesperson. Management The Management node contains tools that help you to manage your SQL Server. These tools include the capability to view both the SQL Server Logs and the Activity Monitor….. The Process Info page contains information about the connections. The Locks by Process page sorts the locks by the connection. The Locks by Object page sorts the locks by the object name. Creating a SQL Server Database Before you can build tables, views, stored procedures, triggers, functions, and other objects, you must create the database in which they will reside. A database is a collection of objects that relate to one another. An example would be all the tables and other objects necessary to build a sales order system. To create a SQL Server database, followthese steps: 1. Right-click the Databases node and select New Database. The New Database dialog appears (see Figure 3.5). 2. Enter a name for the database. 3. Enter a path for the database (see Figure 3.6). 4. Click to select the Options page and change any options as desired (see Figure3.7). 5. Click OK to close the New Database dialog and save the new database. The database now appears under the list of databases (see Figure 3.8) under the Databases node of SQL Server Management Studio. If the database does not appear, right-click the Databases node and select Refresh….