Category Archives: Natty Narwhal 11.04

[HOWTO] Add Launchpad Ubuntu PPA in Debian Squeeze Testing

I have installed Debian Squeeze Testing replacing Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat and miss some applications only available via Launchpad PPAs. Not that they can’t be compiled from their sources or installed by downloading debs, but it would be great if updates were available from update manager like in Ubuntu. So I decided to add some Ubuntu PPAs and they are working fine. So, I decided to share here with the hope that it would be helpful to my readers.

If you want to install a PPA in Squeeze Testing, make sure that the PPA has an entry for Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. Not that it will never work with Maverick PPAs, but Lucid is a better choice as Debian Squeeze has package versions more similar to Lucid than Maverick or Natty. Thus, it is a better choice to use Lucid PPAs. Instead of using just the PPA name (for example ppa:tiheum/equinox for Equinox theme PPA) use the deb line for Lucid (eg. deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tiheum/equinox/ubuntu lucid main ) and add it to /etc/apt/sources.list or Software Sources (or Synaptic>Settings>Repositories>Third Party Source). After adding that, copy the PPA signature (available in “Signing Key” section in PPA page), eg. 1024R/4631BBEA for Equinox Theme PPA. Just use the part after “/” (i.e. 4631BBEA for this example) and use the following command in the terminal to get GPG keys for the PPA:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 4631BBEA

Note: If you are not able to sudo, you may either enable it or use su followed by commands instead.
After that, reload the package list and install the package.

This may not work for every program that there is but it works for many. Hope this helps.

Fixing Slow, Choppy and Laggy Maverick Meerkat (Ubuntu 10.10)

A lot of Ubuntu 10.10 users have been complaining about Maverick being too slow, typing becoming laggy and video performance being choppy.   Here are few things you can try to make it fast again. These have been collected from the user experience discussed in this post in Ubuntu forums.

Update your kernel to latest Mainline kernel

Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat uses version 2.6.35 of Linux Kernel. A lot of users have solved their problems by upgrading to version 2.6.36. You can do so by downloading the deb files and installing them from the Ubuntu Kernel Mainline PPA: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/ Open the latest version that is available (rc8 is the latest in the time of writing this, however only 64bit is available, if you have 32-bit, use rc7) and download the following files:
linux-headers-VERSION_all.deb
linux-headers-VERSION-generic_VERSION_amd64.deb
linux-image-VERSION-generic_VERSION_amd64.deb

If you have 32bit, choose the ones that contain i386 instead of amd64 in the name.
Install them one by one in the same order as listed above and reboot.

Note that if that does not help and if you want to switch back to 2.6.35 kernel again, you can always remove 2.6.36 kernel from Synaptic Package Manager (Alt+F2>gksu synaptic). Also note that you will not get updates to 2.6.36 even if newer versions are out, so you should update manually later if you find newer versions of 2.6.36 kernels.

Clean install

If upgrading the kernel doesn’t help you, you may want to clean install in case you have upgraded from previous versions. That may not help most of you, but still might. If you have installed 64-bit version, you may even want to switch to 32bit version as many users have reported to have no problems with 32bit version. If you install 32-bit version and have 4GB or more RAM, you should install linux-generic-pae kernel from Synaptic Package Manager so that your system can make use of all of your RAM. Some users have also mentioned going to LinuxMint has solved their problems. Or if all elese fails, go back to Lucid (10.04) and wait for Natty Narwhal (11.04) to be released.

Hope this helps.

Unity shell to be the default user interface for Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

Mark Shuttleworth, at the Ubuntu Developer Summit held on October 25th 2010, has announced that the next version of Ubuntu i.e. Natty Narwhal, which is scheduled to be released in April 2011, will feature Unity Shell as the default interface. The Unity Shell was introduced in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition.

Additionally, since Mutter has been disappointing, they have decided to change the Window manager to Compiz in Unity interface for Natty. Shuttleworth also emphasized on commitment to use Zeitgeist, which was declared earlier to be a part of Gnome 3 but later rejected.

Shuttleworth said that this change is the most significant change ever for Ubuntu. With control button moved to the left and several small modifications to the default Gnome interface, Ubuntu seemed to part away from the default Gnome interface. This change will help it even more. However, Shuttleworth has emphasized that Ubuntu is still committed to Gnome and these changes will encourage innovation and benefit the Gnome ecosystem.

Since Gnome Shell is still not ready for prime time and Gnome 3 is not coming anytime soon, this change may be refreshing for many Ubuntu users. But Ubuntu can also lose users that are committed to Gnome in the long run. Also, since people resist change, they may want to change the look and feel back to the original Gnome and continue to use Ubuntu. However, many users may move to other distros which use Gnome as is and are contributing in the development of Gnome Shell instead.

Personally, I think this change was required. The Gnome 2.x interface is too old and many users already use docks like Avant Window Navigator or Docky and remove the bottom panel anyways. If Gnome 3 would have made it by now, there would be not much reasons to choose Unity over Gnome 3. However, that is not the case and Unity will provide a visual and usability refresh for those who were bored with similar look and feel. Also, the Compiz Project, which is one of the wonderful things that have happened to Desktop Linux will continue living with the endorsement of Ubuntu.

There will be disappointed people who will speak against the change. But we have always opposed change and will continue to do so. Computerizing your workplace, upgrading from Windows 9x to NT or moving from Windows to Linux, all of these are/were not easy but once it is done, it feels way better. As a Linux user, I am all for positive changes, diversity and innovation.

[SOLVED] Installation/Upgrades extremely slow in BTRFS partition

UPDATE: I installed a modified version of dpkg which makes it pretty much faster. Brian Rogers posted the patched dpkg ppa in the bug page.
The patched dpkg can be installed by executing the following commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:brian-rogers/btrfs
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Older Post follows for historical reasons:
I am using Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Beta and was experiencing extremely slow installation/upgrades. I was using Maverick Alpha 2 which I replaced with Alpha 3 with clean install and changed the root partition to BTRFS. Copying was normal but for some reason, package installation and upgrades took ages.

Later, it was also declared that BTRFS was not making into Maverick final and we would have to wait till the release of Ubuntu 11.04, Natty Narwhal. I read in a bug report that a patch had been issued but this has not made into the latest 2.6.35-22. Hopefully, this will be included when the final version of Maverick comes out.

Meanwhile, I decided to upgrade to 2.6.36 kernel from Kernel Mainline PPA. The latest version as of today is 2.6.36-020636rc5 (2.6.36-rc5). I downloaded the following files and installed them in the same order:
linux-headers-2.6.36-020636rc5_2.6.36-020636rc5.201009211328_all.deb
linux-headers-2.6.36-020636rc5-generic_2.6.36-020636rc5.201009211328_i386.deb
linux-image-2.6.36-020636rc5-generic_2.6.36-020636rc5.201009211328_i386.deb

If you have a 64-bit installation, you should download the following instead:
linux-headers-2.6.36-020636rc5_2.6.36-020636rc5.201009211328_all.deb
linux-headers-2.6.36-020636rc5-generic_2.6.36-020636rc5.201009211328_amd64.deb
linux-image-2.6.36-020636rc5-generic_2.6.36-020636rc5.201009211328_amd64.deb

I rebooted and tried installing some packages. The bug still remains. It is definitely not fast as I’d expect it to be. It is still very slow compared to previous experiences with ext3/ext4. I will wait for the new version of 2.6.36 to appear on Kernel Mainline PPA.

Ubuntu 11.04 to be named Natty Narwhal

Mark Shuttleworth mentioned in his blog that the new Ubuntu after Maverick Meerkat 10.10 will be named Natty Narwhal.

Here is what he writes in his blog:

So the Narwhal, as the closest thing to a real live unicorn, is an auspicious figurehead as we lay down the fabric from which dreams will be woven. Dreams of someone’s first PC, dreams of someone’s first million instances in the cloud: whatever your vision of the future, we hope the Natty Narwhal will have something to offer.

Lets hope Natty will make Linux user’s dream come true.