Two Ubuntu Tips

Two things that I found useful this weekend when working on my Ubuntu Linux system. There are a lot of good Linux distributions to choose from; we use Debian at work, so Debian-based Ubuntu is a logical choice for home usage.

Disable Desktop Effects

If you turn on Desktop Effects and your hardware doesn’t support it, you can end up with an unreadable display. Even power-cycling and rebooting won’t help.

The easiest way to fix this is to switch to another console (ctl-alt-f4, for example), login, and run the following command, which removes the desktop-effects package:

sudo apt-get remove --purge compiz-core desktop-effects

More information and discussion is available at ubuntuforums.

Change Resolution

The typical way to change screen resolution is to click “System->Preferences->Screen Resolution” and select the desired setting. If the resolution you want isn’t available, you need to reconfigure your X server.

Begin by exiting X windows (by stopping gdm or kdm):

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop #(or kdm for KDE)

Reconfigure X; you may need to know your video card’s specs as well as your monitor’s specs; these are usually available online.

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

To start Gnome/KDE again:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start #(or kdm for KDE)

More information and discussion is available at ubuntuforums.

Tim O’Reilly writes an interesting perspective piece regarding open source vendors, how s/w is actually used, and some finishing comments regarding the politicization of the whole process.

O’Reilly Network: The Strange Case of the Disappearing Open Source Vendors [Jun. 28, 2002]

HP, selling recently acquired Compaq Proliant servers running Red Hat linux, recently won a deal to migrate Reuter’s key financial software, known as the Reuters Market Data System (RMDS) from Sun’s Sparc/Solaris combo. This software provides the ability for traders to retrieve and digest their financial news and numbers, make trading decisions, and interact with the markets.

Reuters Deal