The Summer of Linux

This summer was “The Summer of Linux”; we experimented with Linux for the desktop, Linux for the server, and Linux in clustering. We used the Ubuntu distro for the desktop and server. We actually used the Long Term Support (6.06) version for the desktop, the older version of Ubuntu. I learned that the newest isn’t always the best, as version 7.04 would not install on our hardware. I got a chance to ask my questions about LTSP, to a developer on the Edubuntu irc channel, and we were successful in creating a thin client environment. Of course clustering was a great project where we hit some dead ends, but we recovered before the summer ended, having a functional cluster. Although I had some experience with Ubuntu, using it on my computers, this was a very educational summer. We became the admins and got a chance to implement Linux in a test environment, emulating a school computer lab, where we had to make sure the end users would be able to use Linux without any discomfort. We had to cover everything, from managing user rights to making sure every program a school computer would have, would be included in our Linux machines. In addition, we gained some experience in networking; we received some managed and unmanaged switches, configured them, and had thin clients boot over our network.

Linux has become more user friendly over the years. Ubuntu, for instance, has the nice Gnome interface, a GUI. If this were to be implemented in a school, most end users would be able to adjust. Instead of having a list of programs at the bottom, we have everything at the top. Some applications may be different, the OpenOffice suite vs. Office. It may be slightly more difficult for the end user at home installing it on his/her computer, though, especially if you run into problems. However, if one is dedicated enough, solutions to problems are all over the internet, and you can also ask questions on the Ubuntu irc channel. Once you become used to how Ubuntu works, Synaptics for downloading applications, the Linux alternative software… etc, it becomes easier. If you have to do something beyond the basics, though, you may have to use the terminal. For instance, the Grub bootloader wasn’t booting to the correct partition once, so after determining the path looking at GPart and a little bit of guessing and checking, I accessed the Grub file though the terminal. Or, you may want to install something using the terminal. Personally, I think Linux, due to distros like Ubuntu, has become more appealing, because for basic needs, it can be used without much difficulty.

This was a great summer where I was able to test several environments in which Linux can be used. I am thankful to Mr. Birchall who let us have this experience, allowing us to experiment on our own as long as we documented. We were able to finish all our projects with success, and I was glad documenting our experiences has helped people with their own Linux adventures. Linux and distros like Ubuntu with a cost of nothing are very appealing. Although many people begin using Ubuntu because of the free CDs their friends give them, if some loose ends were tied up (like the bootloader attempting to boot from the wrong partition) and marketed more, we could see an even greater rise in Linux usage.

Edubuntu 7.04 Server Edition…our server operating system edition of choice

    When we tested the desktop versions of Ubuntu, we decided upon Dapper (6.06.1) for its long term support, and the fact that Feisty (7.04) was not installing due to some bugs.  We settled on Ubuntu at the end because we felt Edubuntu was Ubuntu with some childlike icons. However, it was a different story with the server. We switched to Edubuntu when we began, because it had ltsp support built in–all I had to do was install it and a thin client booted up from the start. In addition, it was Ubuntu, which we already loved, and we just changed the theme and icons. However, ltsp in Edubuntu Dapper did not support local devices such as flash drives, and an ltsp developer highly recommended we go to Feisty for its better ltsp features. We did, and we have not had the problems we encountered when using the desktop editions.

Even while we were using the older version, we continued to test software and other settings to emulate a real environment. I used my old list of software and plugins, configured all of them and made sure they worked on the thin clients. A change I made was instead of using realplayer, I found that through synaptics I could get the Fluendo mp3 codec, so music and audio would work using Ubuntu’s default Rhythmbox music player. I had also scrapped Audacity due to the other plugins it was coming with. In addition, a small change I made was the stopping of the bluetooth service at startup. The only other software type changes I made were documented in my previous blog entries.

Regarding user permissions, Ubuntu is already good about limiting people. Even if a limited user knew the root or administrator password, they would not be able to install software or make changes through their own account. Of course they probably be able to login to our account if they knew that much…but they would never find out any of that. In addition, we edited the menus so it would be difficult to see anything important, using the Alacarte menu editor that comes with Ubuntu. One last thing we are going to check is if we can remove Bittorrent and other packages we don’t want that come with Ubuntu completely, although it says it is going to remove the entire desktop. From my research, it won’t be a problem, and if that is not a plausible method, Bittorrent has been disabled since we edited some settings in gconf-editor. In addition a great tool we should use if we deployed this in our environment was sabayon, which I documented earlier, that made configuring users extremely simple, along with our shell script.

Other than the testing to see if some programs that are “locked to ubuntu-desktop”  can be removed (once our backup finishes), we hope to have completely exhausted our research on Ubuntu server editions.

Login Problem With Sabayon-Fixed

We discovered this morning that we had problems logging in at the thin clients with our administrator accounts. I knew that not much had changed other than the fact we updated our computer and install sabayon to customize the user profiles. I was pretty sure the problem came from the new software, so I googled it and found out that it was indeed sabayon’s fault. Only users under the sabayon “group” would be able to log in. Meaning, unless they were added under the group manually, only the users under a sabayon profile like our student profile would be able to log in. The fix was easy-we selected the “add every user” option for student so it would be easier if we had to make hundreds of students/faculty. However, we also made a blank administrator profile, and added ourselves to that one, and still maintained our privileges.

Configuring Many Users In Edubuntu / Ubuntu

A big concern for us was that we would have to add hundreds of users in a real environment. We have a server with a few test users set up and thin clients which work, but we would have to set up hundreds of users with the same settings including the theme (a normal one, not the elementary school one), permissions, menus (so you cannot see administrative functions), and other settings edited in gconf-editor that for instance prevent locking of the screen. After googling for a long time and asking on the Edubuntu and Ubuntu irc channels, someone finally suggested I try Sabayon, which configures user profiles. It is a really great tool; you make a profile, I called ours student, and when you select edit you get a small window which simulates a real desktop. So whatever changes I made were saved and applied to any user I selected. After this was working, there was still the task of adding many users that we would be able to apply the student profile to. I knew that we needed a shell script, so I asked around again and I found the exact syntax. We would still need to enter the password for each person, but that could be done. The syntax goes something like this.

Getting Sound to Work On Flash Applets and Local Devices on Edubuntu Thin Clients

After installing the server, I checked to see if everything worked. I played some test sounds and music…all good. Local devices didn’t work at first. After consulting ogra again on the Edubuntu irc channel, I found I had to allow the use of fuse filesystems in my user account and all other user accounts, guide here. In addition, when I wanted to show this video to Brian during a break, we discovered there was no sound. After asking ogra today, I discovered I had to install another package to get that working, instructions here. It works now! All we have left is to get user accounts set up in an easy manner with the same privileges and settings.

Edubuntu Feisty Server

Edubuntu completed installation during lunch, and I have begun configuring it…setting up a root password, installing packages such as Automatix, and updating the computer. Currently I am setting up everything from my laptop which serves as a thin client. This is what I love about Edubuntu– I popped in the disc, configured it like I did before, and just network booted my laptop, and the other computers connected to the switch, and it just worked. Plus, Feisty comes with a thin client manager which was interesting to play around with.

Linux Server Updates

I spoke with an LTSP developer yesterday who suggested moving to Feisty. To get local devices working on thin clients, we would need to do some intense reprogramming. Therefore, we first tried getting Ubuntu 7.04 server working on the other HP server. We decided today that we should stick with the trusted and true Edubuntu, and use the 7.04 version of that since LTSP support is better and it works out of the box. It is installing right now, and I’ll keep posting more updates.

Localdev Nonexistent in Dapper

After some googling, I found I had to add a file, lts.conf in /opt/ltsp/i386/etc. I added SOUND=TRUE, and LOCALDEV=TRUE. This was to enable sound on the thin clients, and the localdev to enable the use of flash drives and cds. However, the flash drives didn’t work, so I jumped back on the Edubuntu IRC channel. I found out that both sound and local devices are better in the newer versions of Ubuntu. In addition, LOCALDEV would not work with Dapper. Sound works, but it cannot be controlled through the volume control at the top.

Disable Hibernation in Ubuntu / Edubuntu

I just mentioned one of the big problems we discovered was that hibernating the client would cause the server to hibernate or sleep. To discover how to disable hibernation, I thought the quickest way would be to jump on the the freenode channel of Edubuntu, irc://freenode/edubuntu, then the much more active Ubuntu one, irc://freenode/edubuntu. On the Edubuntu one, I discovered that I had to change a hibernate setting in gnome-power-manager. The Ubuntu one helped me locate it; I had to enter gconf-editor in the terminal, find gnome-power-manager, and then uncheck can_hibernate. One problem solved thanks to the support from the community!

Potential Problems and Stuff to Still Work On

As mentioned in my last post, the thin clients and server work very well. In fact, I am writing this post from my laptop which is functioning as a thin client and also allows me to do administrative stuff without actually being at the server’s keyboard and monitor. However, Brian and I discussed some stuff we have to work on during lunch. One major thing we found accidentally was that selecting hibernate from a thin client actually hibernated the server……very bad. The other which should be a simple line of code in a config file is the use of cds and flash drives at the clients.  Some things we still have to work on is perfecting user accounts and doing performance tests making sure things work when multiple applications are being used at multiple stations.

DHCP and Internet with an Edubuntu LTSP Server

We received a network switch to allow us to have an ltsp server and thin clients, which worked fine. However, we were told to keep the switch off the network. We need the internet to update the server and so we added another NIC (network interface card) to the server, and changed the configuration so the new NIC was set to DHCP, and the old one maintained the static ip and was the DHCP server for the thin clients. However, this did not allow us to access the internet. In addition, every time we restarted, the new NIC would change between eth1 and eth2 in the network manager. I edited the interface file (sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces) through the terminal, and commented out every mention of eth2. This did not alleviate the problem, therefore, I turned to a guide I had read before, here. I just had to make one modification, instead of /etc/default/dhcp, which did not exist, I edited /etc/default/dhcp3-server like the guide said, making eth0 the default for serving DHCP requests. After this, the internet works fine and the thin clients work as well. Even better, the thin clients receive internet, and we manage to separate the switch from the network.

Thin Clients With Edubuntu

When we received our first server, we planned on creating an ltsp server with Ubuntu, and have 4-5 thin clients. We followed instructions that were on the internet, but we could not get it working on the first try. The second server came, and we had a chance to split up and see if we could get something to work. I did some more research and found Edubuntu came built-in with ltsp–all I had to do was install it and it would already be set up as a server. I set it up using these instructions. As soon as it finished installing, I decided to see if it worked without doing anything else. Using a network switch, I connected a computer without a hard drive but built-in network booting support, and my new server. I turned on the new thin client, and…it worked perfectly. I moved all the computers Mr.Birchall gave us to the other side of the lab, Rudder North. I was able to set up four thin clients and they are all on the switch, but not the internet, and they are all working perfectly it seems. My goal for tomorrow is to test to see if there are any problems, and then work on setting up users and all the packages we need. When looking at desktop Ubuntu flavors, I had dismissed Edubuntu because it was Ubuntu, just with childlike icons. However, I was impressed by its ease of use in setting up an ltsp server and thin clients, and the icons aren’t that bad. So I will also work on the icons, and see if I can get the more generic Ubuntu feel.     

Ubuntu “Model” Machine

To show that everything on our Windows school computers has a Linux equivalent, I had compiled a list, here. Next, I began configuring a machine to use as a model with all the software. However, when I installed Audacity through Automatix, I realized it was also installing packages such as LAME, and others such as Quicktime encoders. There were too many obscure ones to delete individually, and removing Audacity would not get rid of them. Therefore, I reinstalled Ubuntu and the other packages with the exception of using RealPlayer instead of Rhythmbox, although Rhythmbox is still present- it’s just not the default. So I finished setting up a model machine with all the software. Now, we are playing around with user privileges some more, although it may be a bit different if we set up clients and a server.

RealPlayer with Ubuntu

I wanted to make sure there were no issues with using an mp3 codec. I looked up what Thompson, the owner of the mp3 patent had to say, and it seemed that they did not charge royalties unless there was some sort of money involved. The link to that, here. However, I also read LAME (an mp3 codec) was distributed as source code so it was legal, but then you would have to compile it. However, Thompson also said that a free client would be fine, and of course that would include the codec. So, I have been researching this for days now, and I asked Brian to help. While we were searching, Brian found a discussion on a college forum, here. It suggested something I had not thought of, RealPlayer. I found it in Synaptics, and it was already installed. I realized this was a computer on which I had installed multimedia codecs through Automatix. Therefore, I went on a computer without Automatix, and did not find it. I installed Automatix, and it updated the repository. I now found I could install RealPlayer, and that only, from Synaptics Package Manager. I made it the default music player, and it opens mp3 and works fine. This avoids any potential issues. I did not use it, but the bin install is at the RealPlayer site, http://www.real.com/linux/. Here is the Automatix2 install site again,

Possible Ubuntu Server Specifications

Brian and I have been researching possible Ubuntu server specifications. We found a few interesting links, http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/linux_terminal_server?page=0%2C0, http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/ServerSizing. Using these links we determine for 10 clients we would need at least a 1GHz processor. One modern processor (like a Pentium 4) would work fine, or perhaps two Pentium 3s to compensate for their lower bus speed. 1GB of RAM would be sufficent, but slightly more would be safer. For hard drive space, we allocate 20GB which will be more than enough for the operating system and packages, 5GB as swap, and if we would give 500 users 50MB, that would be another 25GB. Therefore, 50GB should be enough. We could be on the safe side and also implement a RAID array.

Tedious Work

I have started adding the final applications we have selected to the Ubuntu image machine. I will praise Automatix2 once again for its ease of use when doing this. I don’t have to add any suspicious repositories to access the packages we need, the official Ubuntu ones and Automatix include everything we need. By the end of today, the image machine will be almost completed. However, I want to look over the mp3 issue again and make sure it’s ok to include the codec for school computers. I will also make sure I haven’t missed anything in terms of useful or better applications.

Linux Alternatives to Windows Programs

Below is a chart of typical Windows programs installed on our school programs and their Linux alternatives. Many were available in Linux as well.

Quicktime with Ubuntu: Not a Great Pair

I played around some more with Wine. I was interested in seeing if I could get Quicktime player to work with Wine, and I was sure it could. I tried with the latest version, however it reported an error right at the end. I tried some other versions unsuccessfully, when I found a good guide from http://tsx.nl/index.php?p=qt4linux, actually found from Frank’s Corner at http://frankscorner.org/. It installed, but it wasn’t perfect. After the installation, the screen went black and portions returned after I moused over them. Quicktime seemed to work, however, the screen would become black. So even after everything, my attempts at implementing Quicktime were futile. We are better off using a similar Linux program instead.

WINE is Not an Emulator…but it is

The bulk of today’s work is finding the Windows programs people use and their Linux equivalents. Most of the programs in the list were easy to find, such as the Office suite. However, there were a few such as Geometer’s Sketchpad and Photoshop that are Windows only and some people may want the exact program. Therefore, we used Wine, and we downloaded a trial version of Geometer’s sketchpad. It worked wonderfully. Although the program doesn’t have much documentation on the Wine HQ site, there is some here http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iAppId=1549. Since we didn’t have Photoshop to play around with, I trusted the site on what it said. http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iAppId=17. It seems perhaps Photoshop 7 may work using Wine. Now, I will complete the list of programs and then work on the model computer.

End of the Day Update

After researching MP3 and DVD codecs, I have set up a machine with a new Ubuntu install that will be the model, the ideal machine that could be used at our school. After testing programs on the test machines, they will be added to the model machine and added to the log. I have also compiled a list of software that runs on a standard school machine, and will find versions that work in Linux or alternatives. In addition, I have installed Wine to play around with.

MP3s and DVDs in Linux

One thing I discovered was that DVD codecs would be illegal to install on our systems since we are in the United States. I also checked out MP3 codecs, which Ubuntu was not packaged with. I found one codec from a company that sells legal codecs called Fluendo. They offer all these codecs including Windows media codecs for a price and supposedly the legal issues are covered. They offer MP3 codecs for free, however, and so I downloaded it. I had to add it to a library of codecs to which only root has access, so I had to use the terminal and do a simple chown command. Even after I added the codec, Rhythmbox wouldn’t play MP3s. So I researched some more and found there were no issues for MP3 codecs for personal uses, so I dropped the Fluendo codec and added one from Automatix. I still have to research DVD codecs however, and see if there is some legal way to play DVDs in Linux.

EDIT: Due to the legal issues, it seems we will not be able to play DVDs on our Ubuntu machines.

Back to Ubuntu

I have been playing around some more with Ubuntu. I liked using Automatix2 to install basic programs such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. However, I occasionally had problems downloading Java JDK and the JRE, which is when I would install it through Synaptics. Firefox was good about downloading and installing Flash, although I could have done that though Automatix2. For learning bash commands, I found some handy reference guides, http://www.ss64.com/bash/ and http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/linux/cmd/. In addition I have been reading this guide http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/cli.html. Although distros such as Ubuntu use a gui that helps beginners and end users who only need basic functions, the terminal is still important to accomplish more advanced functions.

The Final Selection: Ubuntu

After testing the various flavours of Ubuntu, we feel that Ubuntu is the best for our applications. The final competitor it faced was Kubuntu. One of the reasons we recommend Ubuntu is because of the interface. The interface is simpler in Ubuntu versus the clutter of Kubuntu. However, it is still fairly intuitive. In addition, there is a better method of managing the privileges of users. For instance, in Kubuntu, to add a user, you can go to the Users and Groups section. It is visible but grayed out, and you need to click a button saying administrator mode, enter the password, and then you can make changes. In Ubuntu, a person with restricted privileges would not even see the option of User Accounts in the menu. Although not a major issue, we appreciated the fact that Ubuntu came with almost everything we needed. Only a few more repositories and packages needed to be added. Therefore, with great confidence, we can recommend Ubuntu as the Linux distribution to consider in a school environment such as ours.

In addition to choosing the Ubuntu version both Brian and I liked best, I have been brushing up and learning more shell commands to fully understand Linux.

Desktop Managers

Since it is possible to add the desktop manager from Ubuntu to Xubuntu or Kubuntu or vice versa, I decided to see what would happen if I did. I decided to add the Ubuntu desktop to Xubuntu via Synaptics. Once it completed, I restarted and selected Gnome instead of Xfce for the window manager. Upon comparing the processes and everything to a standard Ubuntu install, we discovered it was the same. So we discovered that they all have the base components and we can add the different desktop managers as we like.

Ubuntus Day 3

We have all the flavours of Ubuntu on the computers: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu. As Edubuntu is Ubuntu with some useless packages for third graders, we cannot make a recommendation for it. As much as we like Ubuntu, Edubuntu is geared towards children; we are better off just using Ubuntu. Kubuntu is the most like Windows with the taskbar at the bottom and a “start” button. However, I feel everything about the operating system is cluttered. It feels there is too much in the taskbar even after removing almost everything, especially when you have too many programs minimized. The computer tends to freeze as well, even with only Konqueror open. Nevertheless, we will keep testing it to see if we can alleviate the clutter and make it more user-friendly. Xubuntu is very minimal and is supposed to be for older machines. We don’t have that problem. Too much is being sacrificed for performance as well; the desktop has nothing and nothing can be added. The only way to do anything such as make a new OpenOffice document is either go to the only menu on the taskbar or right click and get a whole bunch of menus. Ubuntu and Kubuntu are the only ones practical for our uses so we will continue to test them and narrow it down to one or the other.