Basic Ubuntu Stuff that might be helpful

(just a random selection, rather refer to the  Ubuntu user guide)

  • tar xzvf eclipse-SDK-3.2.2-linux-gtk.tar.gz (extract zipped file and be verbose)
  • How to integrate KDE with Firefox at default browser 
     enter "kcontrol" in the command line: a programm starts where you can set the "KDE Components" then WebBrowser
 or edit the file:
 /home/{your-home}/.kde/share/config/kdeglobals
 There should be a section named [General]
 Change or add the line to something like this:
 <<BrowserApplication[$e]=MozillaFirefox.desktop>>
 so (part of) the file looks like this:
 [General]
 BrowserApplication[$e]=MozillaFirefox.desktop
 If this does not work change it to
 [General]
 BrowserApplication[$e]=!/usr/bin/firefox
  • How to set up folder shortcuts in the console (or use links) 
     open .bashrc (e.g. with vi)
 jump to end of file (Ctrl G)
 press i
 enter "export NAME=Path"
 press esc
 press ":wq" and enter
 open new shell
 with "cd $NAME" the respective Path will be opened
  • Task management 
     ps aux (to see all running processes)
 ps aux | grep apache2 (to check if apache is running)
 ps aux | grep mysql (to check if mysql is running)
  • How to export the complete mysql database: mysqldump -u $USER $DATABASE -p > allData.sql
  • change owner: su - www-data
  • copy to server: scp -r {username}@raspberry.eecs.jacobs-university.de
  • displays all folders with the name ".svn": find . -name ".svn"
  • removes all of these folders: find . -name ".svn" -exec rm -rf {} \;
  • webcam (e.g., for  Sony Vaio VGN-FE41M)
    • enter  lsusb to get the device ID (e.g. 05ca:1836)
    • get kernel version with uname -r, for jaunty: ( see also)
    • install the deb-package at  https://launchpad.net/~intuitivenipple/+archive/ppa/+build/865396
    • load the driver in your linux kernel:  modprobe r5u870
    • add driver to autostart by inserting "r5u870" in the file /etc/modules ( see)
    • to test the webcam install  cheese or use skype, if cheese doesn't work try xawtv ( see here why)
    • if problems occur consider the following
      • You might have problems at boot-time with the uvcvideo and r5u870 drivers arguing over which should manage the camera. In that case, to manually sort it out, unload both drivers then load r5u870 first: 
        sudo modprobe -r r5u870
sudo modprobe -r uvcvideo

sudo modprobe r5u870
sudo modprobe uvcvideo
      • this must be run after every boot or automated 
        sudo modprobe videodev
sudo modprobe video-buf (outdated!)
sudo modprobe v4l1-compat
sudo modprobe v4l2-common
sudo modprobe r5u870
sudo chmod 666 /dev/video0 (or sudo chmod ugo+rw /dev/video0)
      • check if all the above is included in {{{/lib/modules/2.6.28-15-generic/kernel/drivers/media/video/}}, the director includes a number of  *.ko files (The kernel module extension for the 2.6.x series kernel)
      • check if modules are loaded  modprobe -l -t media (check which modules are currently used)
  • microphone (sony vaio): go to volume control > preference and switch on "inline mic" ( see here)
  • install nvidia-settings to support two screens or beamer-connection
  • java: 
    sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jdk
sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-6-sun (to make the Sun Distribution the default, by default Ubuntu is using its own java, which is much slower than the SUN distribution)
  • eclipse: don't install it via synaptic package manager (only old version), download from  http://www.eclipse.org (see here)
  •  file system hierarchy standard: 
    /bin (grundlegende ausführbare Dateien/Befehle – zur Verwendung durch alle Benutzer)
/boot (statische Dateien und Konfiguration des Bootloaders)
/dev (Gerätedateien)
/etc (spezifische Konfigurationsdateien; means ``et cetera'' but nowadays interprete as ``editable text configuration'')
/home (optional, Benutzerverzeichnisse)
/lib (Kernel-Module und dynamische Bibliotheken)
/lib<Spezifikation> (optional, alternative(s) Verzeichnis(se) für grundlegende dynamische Bibliotheken)
/media (optional, Einhängepunkt für auswechselbare Datenträger)
/mnt (optional, temporärer Einhängepunkt für Dateisysteme)
/opt (zusätzliche Softwarepakete)
/root (optional, „Home“-Verzeichnis des Systemadministrator)
/sbin (wichtige Systembefehle, vorwiegend zur Benutzung durch den Systemadministrator)
/srv (Daten, die von Diensten angeboten werden)
/tmp (temporary Dateien)
/usr (2. Verzeichnisebene,menas ``unix system resources'')
/var (variable Daten)
  • install  cups-pdf (to print PDFs)