Full Circle

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ISSUE #90 - October 201 4

P R I S O N AR C H I T E C T
BUILD YOUR OWN OPEN SOURCE PRISON
full circle magazine #90

Fu ll Ci rcle M a g a zi n e i s n e i th e r a ffi li a te d wi th , n o r e n d o rse d b y, Ca n o n i ca l Ltd .

contents ^

Full Circle

HowTo
OpenConnect to Cisco

THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY

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Linux News

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LibreOffice

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Broadcast With WCS

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Arduino

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LinuxLabs

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Linux Labs

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Review

p.36

My Story

p.37

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p.42

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The articles contained in this magazine are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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Full Circle magazine is entirely independent of Canonical, the sponsor of the Ubuntu projects, and the views and opinions in the
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magazine should in no way be assumed to
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E D I T O R I AL

This magazine was created using :

WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FULL CIRCLE.

o Python or Blender again this month I'm afraid. Greg has injured his back and Nicholas
is now officially a father. Feel free to drop them both some encouraging emails. I've
written up a HowTo on using WebcamStudio this month. It stemmed from me trying to
stream my Euro Truck and X-Plane adventures with Stream Studio, but I wanted more control
over the video output. Hence, WebcamStudio. I wasn't having much luck with it to be honest,
but the developer, Karl, was very helpful over Google+ and I finally got there in the end with
video, audio and text merged into one video output.
Mark continues to show us how to use Inkscape, and my current Arduino project (the laser
trip wire alarm) is coming to an end. There are still a couple of months left of that project
before I start a new one. And this month Alan shows you how to finally get your kernel up
and running.
Another one from me is a review of MEGA file hosting. It's 50GB free, has a Linux client
and leaves Google as the odd one out with no Linux client as yet for Google Drive. Oscar
reviews the game Prison Architect. I've played this in the past and it's really quite fun, and the
developers are continually adding new stuff each month. Check out their YouTube channel
(Introversion Software) for their monthly update videos. For my fellow virtual pilots I've
written a piece on how to install plugins for X-Plane 1 0 (now finally up to 1 0.3 on Steam) and
then show how to use a plugin to show your position, in real time, on a map.

Full Circle Podcast

Released monthly, each episode

covers all the latest Ubuntu news,
opinions, reviews, interviews and
listener feedback. The Side-Pod is
a new addition, it's an extra
(irregular) short-form podcast
which is intended to be a branch
of the main podcast. It's
somewhere to put all the general
technology and non-Ubuntu stuff
that doesnt fit in the main
podcast.

Hosts:

Les Pounder
Tony Hughes
Jon Chamberlain
Oliver Clark

All the best, and keep in touch!

Ronnie
[email protected]

http://fullcirclemagazine.org

full circle magazine #90

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N E WS
HP I S THE N EW
O PEN STACK LEADER: WHAT
D OES I T M EAN FOR RED
H AT?

ed Hat (NYSE:RHT) is the

largest distributor of
commercial Linux products and the
undisputed leader in the Linux
enterprise market. The company
also was the first to achieve the
psychological billion dollars in
open-source product sales.
It therefore comes as a surprise
to learn that Red Hat could slowly
be losing its grip on the opensource universe. A recent report on
the top OpenStack contributors
revealed that HP (NYSE:HPQ), the
leading server vendor, has, for the
first time, surpassed Red Hat, longtime leader of the OpenStack
platform, as the top contributor of
code to the open-source platform.
HP contributed 20% of new code
to the OpenStack platform over
the last year compared to Red
Hat's 1 7%. That's quite a big
change from a year ago when Red
Hat was the top contributor with

1 9% and HP generated just 1 3% of

code. OpenStack is a set of opensource software tools that allows
users to build and manage their
own cloud platforms

record" processing without

customers feeling the pain of a
migration. IBM has worked with
SUSE and other Linux distributors
to make sure that many Linux tools
and applications are available on
Source:
both X86 and Power-based
http://seekingalpha.com/article/25 systems, and that they work in
23745-hp-is-the-new-openstackexactly the same way. This means
leader-what-does-it-mean-for-red- that using Power might be as
hat?source=cc
simple as moving data or changing
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht a pointer to where data might be
found. Does this mean enterprises
all sizes might be well served by
IBM WANTS ENTERPRISES TO ofre-hosting
their X86 applications?

CONSIDER P OWER 8

uring the event, the IBM

Power Architecture folks
discussed the Power 8 architecture
and how it can accelerate
performance for many workloads.
They also discussed IBM's work
with several Linux distributors,
using Flash memory as extensible
memory rather than either cache or
as a replacement for rotating
storage media for processing on
some new System p computers,
and how the combined platform
can easily support many Web, Big
Data and Analytics, and "system of
full circle magazine #90

MK902 II LE IS A TINY
U BUNTU PC WITH A
ROCKCHIP RK3288 CPU

sitting on my desk waiting for me

to find the time to put it through
the paces. While the box is
designed to let you run Android
apps on a TV, its basically a tiny
computer and, if you dont want
to use Android, theres a Linux
model. Rikomagic UK is now selling
the MK902 II LE (Linux Edition) at
its Cloudsto store for 1 1 0 ($1 79)
and up. That price may seem a bit
high when you can get an Android
model for $1 1 5. But at least you
wont have to install Linux yourself,
and Rikomagic UK tells me there
are a few small differences in the
hardware for the Linux Edition
model. The MK902 II LE features a
RK3288 quad-core processor, 2GB
of RAM, 8GB to 1 6GB of storage, a
microSd card reader, 802.1 1 n WiFi,
HDMI output, 4 USB ports, Gigabit
Ethernet, AV, and SPDIF jacks. It
ships with Xubuntu 1 4.04, which is
basically Ubuntu Linux with the
Xfce desktop environment.

ikomagic launched a new TV

box with a Rockchip RK3288
processor and Google Android
software this summer. Its called
the MK902 II, and Ive got one

Source:
http://liliputing.com/201 4/09/mk9
02-ii-le-tiny-ubuntu-pc-rockchiprk3288-cpu.html
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

Source:
http://www.zdnet.com/ibm-wantsenterprises-to-consider-power-870000341 00/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

R
4

contents ^

NEWS
LINUX-READY INDUSTRIAL
PCS ARE TOUGH AS NAILS

EN Micro announced two

rugged, Linux-ready box PCs
with 3rd Gen. Intel Core i7 CPUs:
the video storage oriented
BL70S, and the wireless focused
BL70W.

external, hot-pluggable HDD/SSD

shuttles. The BL70W stands out
with its four mini-PCI Express slots,
each with a dual SIM card, and its
wide support for wireless
technologies.
Source:
http://linuxgizmos.com/linuxready-industrial-pcs-are-tough-asnails/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

You'll find all the updated

hardware support in Ubuntu 1 4.04,
but Elementary replaces GTK 3.1 0
with the more cutting edge GTK
3.1 2, which gets Elementary a nice
combined window bar/title bar that
saves a bit of space and looks great
with the rest of Elementary's very
polished desktop theme.

Internet-capable platform. Back

then, any task ranging from word
processing down to video editing
had to be done from locally
installed software.
Flash forward to now; web
applications today have the ability
to offer office suite functionality
and make live edits to various
forms of video/audio media. In this
article, I'll explore the differences
between locally installed Linux
applications and their web-based
counterparts.

You'd be forgiven for thinking

Elementary is based on GNOME
Shell. It looks a bit like GNOME
A N ORSIFIED LINUX FOR
Shell, with a clock in the middle of
the top bar, an Applications menu
WINDOWS AND OS X
to the left, and some indicator apps
Source:
WOBBLERS
to the right. In Luna, the top bar
was black by default, which made it http://www.datamation.com/openirst things first: the name. The look even more like GNOME Shell. source/web-software-vs.-nativelinux-software-1 .html
next Elementary OS was
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
codenamed Isis as in the Egyptian Source:
goddess of magic and life. That was http://www.theregister.co.uk/201 4
until Islamic State became a thing, /09/26/elementary_freya_review/ B UILDING A LINUX LAB AND
and the distros team decided such Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Although the computers have
ITS GREAT POTENTIAL IN
associations were unwanted. Now
many features in common, the
its Freya, as in the Norse goddess
BL70S is designed for storage
WEB SOFTWARE VS. N ATIVE EDUCATION
of love and, er, war.
applications such as video
t was 1 995, and I had received an
recorders or content servers, while
LINUX SOFTWARE
email from my brother James
Conflict aside, what a nice
the BL70W supports wireless
computing, whether used alone or update to last year's Luna release
n years past, it wasn't uncommon asking if Id ever heard of Linux. I
connected to a display computer, of Elementary Freya is shaping up
to rely on a particular operating had, but barely. A high school
to be. The Norsified Elementary
says MEN Micro. The BL70S is
system because of the software it student at my alma mater had built
a web server with Linux.
builds on Ubuntu 1 4.04, though, as provided. Mind you, this was
notable for its 4-port gigabit
always, the Elementary developers before the popularity of web-based Eventually, out of curiosity, I
Ethernet switch, Power over
purchased a copy of Red Hat 6.0
pick and choose when it comes to
Ethernet (PoE) support, and
applications that can work on any
(which pre-dates Red Hat
the distro's base tools.
full circle magazine #90
5
contents ^
The BL70S and BL70W are
fanless industrial computers that
operate from -40 to 85C, and
feature aluminum fins that
facilitate conduction cooling.
Earlier MEN Micro box computers
had much the same appearance,
including the circa-201 1 , AMD GSeries based BC1 . Both computers
support Linux, as well as Windows
7 and WES7.

NEWS

Enterprise Linux or RHEL), and got LINUX F OUNDATION

it running with GNOME on a
LAUNCHES REFERENCE
Hewlett-Packard Vectra 75, which
PLATFORM FOR CARRIERhad a Cyrix processor upgrade
installed. RHEL 6.0 had a Mozilla
GRADE NFV
browser, OpenOffice 1 .0, and some
other software Id never heard of.
he Linux Foundation launched
its Open Platform for NFV
At that time, I was the
Project, designed as a carriertechnology director at Franklinville grade, integrated, open-source
Central School in western New
reference platform intended to
York State. I worked there for 26
accelerate the introduction of new
years and retired in August 201 3. I products and services.
shared it with my IT staff, and we
built a machine that we toyed
Founding members of the
around with that could read Yahoo program include a long list of
Mail using the browser, but we
companies participating in the
couldnt use it with Lotus Notes
software-defined networking and
which was our workplace official
network function virtualization
email system. Then, in early 2001 ,
space, including Platinum
after talking to a content filtering
members AT&T, Brocade, China
vendor about my displeasure with Mobile, Cisco, Dell, Ericsson,
content filters in general, the
Hewlett-Packard, Huawei, IBM,
vendor said, "Why dont you build
Intel, Juniper Networks, NEC, Nokia
your own?" So, I said, "With what?" Networks, NTT DoCoMo, Red Hat,
And, he answered, "Linux!
Telecom Italia, and Vodafone.
Silver-level founding members
Source:
include 6Wind, Alcatel-Lucent,
https://opensource.com/education ARM, CableLabs, Cavium,
/1 4/9/linux-education-publicCenturyLink, Ciena, ClearPath,
school
ConteXtream, Coriant, Cyan,
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Dorado Software, Ixia, Metaswitch
Networks, Mirantis, Orange,
Sandvine, Sprint, and Wind River.

full circle magazine #90

Source:
http://www.rcrwireless.com/201 40
930/bssoss/linux-foundationlaunches-reference-platform-forcarrier-grade-nfv-tag2
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

http://www.electronicsweekly.com
/news/design/embeddedsystems/linux-micro-computerruns-android-ubuntu-201 4-1 0/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

LINUX MICRO COMPUTER

RUNS ANDROID AND
U BUNTU

POISED TO ATTACK
O PEN STACK, SAYS LINUX
PROTECTION SQUAD

e have discovered another

Linux computer module, the
HummingBoard from Israeli firm
SolidRun.
The HummingBoard allows you
to run many open-source operating
systems such as Ubuntu, Debian
and Arch, as well as Android and
XBMC. It is powered by single or
dual ARM9 core Freescale i.MX6
processor with 51 2Mbyte or
1 Gbyte of memory. Graphics comes
from a Vivante GC880 GPU core
which supports OpenGL ES 3.0 API,
and capable of outputting multiple
1 080p videos. There are two USB
ports and an Ethernet network
port, as well as a standard array of
interfaces for UART, GPIO, SPI with
two CS, I2C. There is also an
optional 802.1 1 Wi-Fi interface.
Source:

EVIL PATENT TROLLS

group established to shield

Linux from patent trolls has
warned OpenStack will be the next
big target for intellectual property
hoarders.
The Open Invention Network
(OIN) reckons the open-source
cloud is ripe for plucking by trolls,
who would easily be able to box off
and claim core technologies as
their own. That would see
developers and customers using
OpenStack forced to hand over
fistfuls of cash in royalties
following either cases or, more
likely, closed-door deals that avoid
the expense of court. Keith
Bergelt, OIN chief executive, told
The Reg OpenStack lacks an IP
rights protection policy beyond its
basic Apache licences to protect
itself.
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NEWS

It creates a potential situation H OW GNOME 3.1 4 IS

for mischief and for people to start WINNING BACK
inventing ahead of where core
DISILLUSIONED LINUX USERS
technology is being invented, he
said. I have more than a little
NOME 3.1 4 is now out. Its a
concern this could be a flash point
release full of polish from the
or a battleground.
desktop environment once
preferred by most Linux
According to Bergelt, theres
distributions and almost a story
nothing to protect the cross
licensing of technologies between of redemption. After arguably
OpenStacks sub projects. Thats a losing its way around GNOME 3.0,
GNOME is back with a vengeance.
problem because OpenStack
meetings are open, so anybody can
GNOME Shell has matured
attend, take notes and walk away
immensely since their immature
to file a patent in an area of
launch. Thanks to solid releases like
prospective development.
GNOME 3.1 4, GNOME will once
Its a problem Bergelt said hes again be the default desktop on
Debian, pushing out Xfce. GNOME
raised with OpenStacks legal
3s classic mode offers enough
affairs committee, whose official
familiarity to be the default
members are drawn from
Canonical, SUSE, Hewlett-Packard, desktop on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 7, too.
AT&T, and Rackspace, with two
unofficial members from IBM and
GNOME 3.1 4 includes several
Red Hat.
redesigned applications. The
Weather app has been reworked
Source:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/201 4 with a new layout, and now uses
GNOMEs built-in geolocation
/1 0/02/oin_openstack_warning/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht features to automatically display
the weather for your current
location.

The Evince app GNOMEs PDF

viewer now has less interface
full circle magazine #90

getting in the way so it can display

BM's Power Systems platform
more of your documents at once. It
has been given a boost with the
also supports high-resolution
announcement of a partnership
displays and offers improved
between Linux firm Suse and
accessibility features.
database developer MariaDB to
drive a wider variety of applications
GNOME now has multitouch
on its Power8 systems. Announced
support, too. Gestures involving
at the IBM Enterprise201 4 event in
multiple fingers can be used to
Las Vegas, the first fruit of the
navigate the desktop interface.
partnership is set to be a version of
Evince, and GNOMEs image
the MariaDB Enterprise MySQL
viewer, Eye of GNOME, now
database optimised for the Suse
support pinch-to-zoom.
Linux Enterprise Server 1 2
platform on Power8 servers.
The Photos app gained support
for Google accounts, meaning
The partnership agreement will
photos uploaded from Android,
also provide customers with access
through Google+ or via Picasa, are to enterprise-class support from
now integrated. It already allows
both Suse and MariaDB. Suse Linux
you to access photos from
Enterprise Server 1 2 is due for
Facebook and Flickr. Photos can
release sometime in the fourth
also now access local photo servers quarter of 201 4, but the two firms
over the DLNA protocol.
did not indicate when the
optimised version of MariaDB is set
Source:
to be available. However, Suse and
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2 MariaDB stated that their intention
691 1 92/how-gnome-3-1 4-isis to go further and enable IBM
winning-back-disillusioned-linuxcustomers to be able to run a wider
users.html
variety of applications on Power8,
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht and have more flexibility and
choice within their existing IT
IBM POWER SYSTEMS GET A infrastructure.

BOOST WITH S USE LINUX

AND M ARIADB BACKING
7

Nils Brauckmann, president and

general manager of Suse, said that
contents ^

NEWS

the partnership is an example of

the opportunity that open-source
brings to the IBM Power Systems
ecosystem.

has made available.

certificate will mean something to

employers.

CoreOS is an "existential threat" to

Red Hat, Canonical, and Suse,
The Linux Foundation and edX
according to some suggestions.
never publicly set any specific
Source:
The question for Red Hat in
targets for the Introduction to
http://thevarguy.com/open-source- particular will be whether it can
Linux MOOC, but it's a pretty safe application-software"Working with MariaDB in our
embrace this new way of delivering
bet they're happy with the
strong ecosystem of partners
companies/1 0071 4/linuxLinux while keeping its revenue
response so far. As of this week,
offers our customers new and
certification-rising-popular-tough- model alive.
innovative ways to make the most 270,000 users, representing more
get-says-linux-f
from their existing IT investments, than 1 00 countries, have registered Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Linux vendors, particularly Red
while accessing the latest and most in the course, according to the
Hat, have built their businesses on
Linux Foundation. That's solid
powerful computing applications
meeting the needs of operations
W
HAT' S COREOS? AN
evidence of the demand for free,
and technologies."
professionals. Developers, as I
Internet-based, instruction in using EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO
wrote recently, have been a
Linux.
Source: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3secondary concern.
LINUX VENDORS
uk/news/2374246/ibm-powerAnd while taking the MOOC may
systems-get-a-boost-with-suseThat strategy worked great
pen-source has never been
impress some employers, the Linux
linux-and-mariadb-backing
while
operations ruled, but as
shy about eating its young
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Foundation is hoping its
developers have increasingly taken
or, in the case of CoreOS, its old.
Certification Program will prove
control, the ops-first strategy looks
more persuasive as a measure of
increasingly suspect. Indeed,
While sometimes dismissed as
LINUX FOUNDATION :
expertise in open-source systems
Gartner estimates that 38 percent
the newest entrant in the "just
CERTIFICATION M ORE
administration and programming.
of total IT spend comes from
enough operating system"
One figure that may help convince pageant, CoreOS threatens to
outside IT today, and will balloon
POPULAR B UT TOUGH TO
employers and the channel that the displace incumbent Linux
to 50 percent by 201 7 as lines of
G ET
certification means something is
business take more responsibility
distributions with a minimalist
the sub-60 percent rate at which
for their systems.
approach that seeks to emulate
he Linux Foundation's
how Google and other Web
"Introduction to Linux" MOOC applicants have successfully
completed the exams to date,
Source:
companies manage distributed
on edX has enjoyed impressive
according
to
the
Linux
Foundation.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/
systems. CoreOS uses Docker to
popularity since launching in the
That statistic may reflect, in part, a handle the addition and
2692889/open-sourcesummer. And the organization's
low level of preparation among
software/coreos-an-existentialmanagement of applications and
Certification Program for openstudents in the course, but it also
threat-to-linux-vendors.html
services on a system.
source engineers, which went live
speaks
to
the
certification's
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
in August, is also rising in stature,
seriousness, and bodes well for
Indeed, by changing the very
according to data the Foundation
candidates who are hoping a
definition of the Linux distribution,
full circle magazine #90
8
contents ^

NEWS
D RONE DEVELOPERS GET BIG
OPEN -SOURCE BOOST FROM
LINUX FOUNDATION ,
VENDORS LIKE 3D ROBOTICS
AND B OX

rones are a hot topic right

now, attracting not just big
names like Amazon and Google,
but thousands of independent
developers who want to use aerial
technology for fields like
conservation, commerce, search
and rescue, and scientific research.
On Monday, those developers
got a big piece of good news: the
Linux Foundation and ten
companies announced the
Dronecode Project, which will
offer a huge repository of opensource code for people to build
aerial operating systems,
navigation tools and other features
for unmanned aircraft.
While Linux code is already part
of many drone-related projects,
the new initiative consolidates
many of these assets under one
roof, providing a common platform
as well as communications and
governance tools. And, of course,
the code will be available to

anyone who wants to use it.

The Dronecode Project will be
overseen by the Linux Foundation,
but it is also receiving some highprofile industry support, including
from Chris Anderson, the former
Wired editor who now runs the
robot company 3D Robotics, and
Box CEO Aaron Levie.
The project is moving quickly,
according to Jim Zemlin, executive
director of the Foundation, who
says 1 ,200 developers are already
working on Dronecode, and that
some projects are receiving 1 50
contributions of code a day.
Source:
https://gigaom.com/201 4/1 0/1 3/dr
one-developers-get-big-opensource-boost-from-linuxfoundation-vendors-like-3drobotics-and-box/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

CHROMEOS DISSES LINUX

USERS, DROPS EXT2/3/4

ometimes people make

decisions that are so baffling
and so far out of left field that
you are left simply... dumbstruck.
Case in point: ChromeOS is
full circle magazine #90

dropping support for ext2, ext3

and ext4 file systems the file
systems used by the vast majority
of Linux systems.
Now, I hear what you're saying.
"Isn't ChromeOS... Linux? Don't
they simply get full support for
these file systems for free?" Yes, it
is. And, yes, they do. Which begs
the question... why, on Earth,
would anyone think this is a good
idea?
After digging through issue
#31 5401 (titled "Drop support for
ext2/3/4 from Files.app") a bit, it
turns out there are two reasons
given for dropping ext2/3/4 from
ChromeOS.
One, as stated by one
contributor, is that it is simply an
unnecessary feature: "Every
feature comes with complexity.
Complexity adds maintenance cost,
QA cost, slows down development,
and adds surface of security
exploits. We should add a feature
only if its benefit clearly outweighs
its cost, but this particular feature
was slipped in for some historical
reason."
Two things made me giggle
there:

The notion that having support

for ext3 is a possible security issue
is just plain silly. Note that there
isn't actually any security exploit
that people are concerned about
there just the nebulous threat of
possible security problems
because, you know, software is
involved. In other words... pointing
at an invisible boogie man that
nobody has reason to believe even
exists. Also, if there is an exploit in
these critical file systems, it would
undoubtedly be fixed at an
astounding speed.
The idea that ext2/3/4 support
was a feature that was added to
ChromeOS "for some historical
reason." Maybe that historical
reason is that, just maybe, you got
it for free. You know. 'Cuz Linux.
Source:
http://www.networkworld.com/arti
cle/2824764/opensourcesubnet/chromeos-disses-linuxusers-drops-ext2-3-4.html
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

M ACHINE VISION COM AND

CAMERAS GO LINUX

ision Components has

launched two Linux-based,
smart machine vision cameras, and
contents ^

NEWS

a COM built around a Xilinx Zynq

SoC, each supporting up to 4.2MP
video.
Over the last decade, smart
cameras for machine vision have
been transitioning from DSPs to
systems that combine DSPs or
FPGAs with ARM or x86 processors
running Linux. The latest to join the
Linux camp is Ettlingen, Germany
based machine vision manufacturer
Vision Components, which, with its
latest VC Z cameras, has switched
from a DSP-based system to a
tuxified ARM/FPGA combo. Thanks
to the Xilinx Zynq, the company
was able to accomplish this with a
single system-on-chip. The VC Z is
available in a VCSBC nano Z
computer-on-module, which also
appears to act as the foundation
for the new VC nano Z and VC pro
Z cameras.
The companys VC cameras,
which are still available,
incorporate freely programmable
DSPs combined with the
proprietary VCRT operating
system. The new VC Z devices
switch to the Zynq running Linux,
thereby using less board space
while becoming more easily
programmable, says Vision
Components.

Source:
http://linuxgizmos.com/machinevision-com-and-cameras-go-linux/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

Source:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/C
anonical-Details-Plans-for-Unity-8Integration-in-Ubuntu-Desktop4621 1 7.shtml
Submitted by: Silviu Stahie

CANONICAL D ETAILS PLANS

FOR U NITY 8 I NTEGRATION
KDE PLASMA 5 N OW
IN U BUNTU D ESKTOP
AVAILABLE FOR U BUNTU
1 4.1 0 (U TOPIC U NICORN )
buntu users now know for

certain when Unity 8 officially

arrives on the desktop flavor of the
distribution.
Users might have noticed that
Ubuntu developers have been
putting much of their efforts into
the mobile version of their
operating system, and the desktop
has received less attention than
usual. They had to focus on that
version because most of the things
that are changed and improved for
Ubuntu Touch will eventually land
on the desktop as well.
Not all users know that the
desktop environment that is now
on Ubuntu Touch will also power
the desktop version in the future,
and that future is not very far
ahead. In fact, it's a lot closer than
users imagine.
full circle magazine #90

are usually KDE-specific.

Source:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/K
DE-Plasma-5-Now-Available-forUbuntu-1 4-1 0-Utopic-Unicorn-462042.shtml
Submitted by: Silviu Stahie

VIRTUALB OX 4.3.1 8 H AS
B EEN RELEASED WITH LOTS
O F FIXES

he new KDE Plasma and KDE

Frameworks packages are now
out of Beta and users can test
irtualbox 4.3.1 8 has been
them in various systems, including
released, and brings many
Ubuntu. In fact, installing the latest different fixes for major operating
KDE is quite easy now because
systems such as Ubuntu Linux,
there is a PPA available.
Windows, and Mac OS X. The
potential misbehavior after
A lot of users are anxious to use restoring the A20 state from a
the latest Plasma desktop because saved state has been fixed,
it's quite different from the old
virtualbox does not crash anymore
one. We can call it "the old one",
in Linux hosts with old versions of
even if the latest branch, 4.1 4.x, is the linux kernel, a few remaining
still maintained until November.
warnings in the kernel log if
memory allocation fails have been
The KDE developers split the
fixed and the GNOME Shell on
project into three major
Fedora 21 is not prevented
components: Plasma, Frameworks, anymore from starting when
and Applications. Plasma is actually handling video driver display
the desktop and everything that
properties.
goes with it, Frameworks is made
up of all the libraries and other
Thanks to this maintenance
components, and Applications
release, Ubuntu users have now
gathers all the regular apps that
the possibility to use legacy full-

10

contents ^

NEWS

screen mode under Unity without

experiencing multi-screen issues.
Another important issue related to
Unity that has been fixed with the
release of 4.3.1 8 version is the
quirk in full-screen mode Unity
panels caused by mini-toolbar code
changes in last release.
Source:
http://www.unixmen.com/virtualb
ox-4-3-1 8-released-lots-fixes/
Submitted by: Oltjano Terpollari

AMAZON WEB SERVICES

AIMS FOR M ORE O PEN SOURCE I NVOLVEMENT

n 2006, Amazon was an Ecommerce site building out its

own IT infrastructure in order to
sell more books. Now, AWS and
EC2 are well-known acronyms to
system administrators and
developers across the globe
looking to the public cloud to build
and deploy web-scale applications.
But how exactly did a book seller
become a large cloud vendor?
Amazon's web services business
was devised in order to cut datacenter costs a feat accomplished
largely through the use of Linux
and open-source software, said

Chris Schlaeger, director of kernel

and operating systems at Amazon
Web Services, in his keynote talk at
LinuxCon and CloudOpen Europe
today in Dusseldorf.
Founder Jeff Bezos quickly
realized that [...] he needed a
sophisticated IT infrastructure,
Schlaeger said. That required
expensive proprietary
infrastructure with enough
capacity to handle peak holiday
demand. Meanwhile, most of the
time the machines were idle. By
building their infrastructure with
open-source software, and
charging other sellers to use their
unused infrastructure, Amazon
could cover the up-front cost of
data center development.
Source:
http://www.linux.com/news/featur
ed-blogs/200-libby-clark/791 472amazon-web-services-aims-formore-open-source-involvement
Submitted by: Libby Clark

SYSTEMD CREATOR SAYS

LINUX COMMUNITY I S
ROTTEN , POINTS AT LINUS
TORVALDS AS THE SOURCE
full circle magazine #90

he creator of systemd, Lennart

Poettering, had some very
harsh words to say about the Linux
community and about one of its
role models, Linus Torvalds.
It might seem that the Linux
community in its entirety is all
about rainbows and bunnies, but
the truth is that it's made up of
regular people and the likes. Most
of the other communities are
formed in this way and Linux is no
exception. The problem is that
Linus is pegged as one of the
people responsible by Lennart
Poettering.
There has been some small
friction between Linux and
systemd, when asked what he
thought about systemd, just a
couple of weeks ago, Linus
Torvalds was actually very tactful
about it.
Source:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/S
ystemd-Creator-Say-LinuxCommunity-Is-Rotten-Points-atLinus-Torvalds-as-the-Source461 21 9.shtml
Submitted by: Silviu Stahie

11

TEN YEARS OF U BUNTU :

H OW LINUXS BELOVED
NEWCOMER BECAME ITS
CRITICIZED KING

n October of 2004, a new Linux

distro appeared on the scene
with a curious nameUbuntu. Even
then there were hundreds, today if
not thousands, of different Linux
distros available. A new one wasn't
particularly unusual, and for some
time after its quiet preview
announcement, Ubuntu went
largely unnoticed.
Today, Canonical, the company
behind Ubuntu, estimates that
there are 25 million Ubuntu users
worldwide. That makes Ubuntu the
world's third most popular PC
operating system. By Canonical's
estimates, Ubuntu has roughly 90
percent of the Linux market. And
Ubuntu is poised to launch a
mobile version that may well send
those numbers skyrocketing again.
Source:http://arstechnica.com/info
rmation-technology/201 4/1 0/tenyears-of-ubuntu-how-linuxsbeloved-newcomer-became-itscriticized-king/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
contents ^

C O M M AN D & C O N Q U E R

B o we r

Written by Lucas Westermann

CLARIFICATIONS

received some feedback on my

last article from the author of
the script. As I find some of his
corrections/clarifications
important, here are the two main
corrections (there were others
that, while relevant when I was
writing the article, are difficult to
implement after the fact):
Where I said that the line /bin/sh
set the environment for Linux, he
suggested a more accurate
description would be assigning
the default interpreter (here
/bin/sh) in order to execute the
script.
This pattern can also be a basic
regular expression - He pointed
out to me that regular expressions
are the default, and you would
need the option -F in order to find
a literal . in the PDF.

n recent months, Ive dedicated a

few articles to web design
aspects (Node.js, npm, SASS), and
now Id like to add even more
information to this. Ive recently

starting using Bower to install and

manage various versions of
Foundation and Twitter Bootstrap
in various projects. As such, I will
cover installing Bower, configuring
it, and then configuring Grunt to
utilize foundation (after it was
installed with Bower).

run the following command:

WHY?

This will result in a bower.json

file (similar to the package.json file
from npm). It can be done
interactively, or you can simply
copy a framework file and edit it.
The interactive method will be run
using the following command:

You may ask why anyone would

want to use Bower to install
something like Foundation or
Twitter Bootstrap - and the answer
is relatively simple. Its their
supported method for installing
SASS versions of their frameworks.
This means youll receive SASS files
of Foundation or Bootstrap,
enabling you to enable/disable
features, and minimize the
overhead of your website. It also
gives you an automated system for
getting the newest versions.

I NSTALL B OWER

npm install -g bower

(That command may require a sudo

if it fails as a normal user).

CONFIGURE B OWER

bower init

Now youll be expected to fill in

certain information; its all
relatively straightforward - if you
have specific questions, bowers
documentation should suffice.

I NSTALLING PACKAGES

Once the bower.json file is

created, youre ready to install new
Assuming youve configured
packages. To do this, and configure
npm as explained in Issue #87, then the json file for it, you can use the
youve done everything required to following command:
full circle magazine #90
12

bower install <package> -save-dev

You can also use --save, which

will add the package to the
dependencies list in the bower.json
file. Since these frameworks fall
under development, it makes more
sense to put it in devDependencies
(with --save-dev).
An example:
bower install foundation -save-dev

This will install foundation into

bower_components within your
projects folder, and add a line to
your bower.json file that looks like
this:
"foundation": "~5.4.5"

This is the line that tells bower

it needs to install foundation as of
version 5.4.5, in case you need to
re-configure or update the project.

U SING FOUNDATION FROM

B OWER WITH G RUNT
contents ^

COMMAND & CONQUER

If you followed along the last
article I wrote on Grunt, this should
seem pretty straightforward. What
you need to do is point Grunt to
the foundation folder, under
bower_components. This means
that youll need to add (or edit) the
foundation line in the project
object of your Gruntfile.js. It should
look like this:
project: {
css: [
'bower_components/foundation/
scss/foundation.scss'
],
js: [
'javascripts/*.js'
]
},

Assuming you also want to

include the javascript from
foundation, youll also need to add
it to the js area, though generally
importing the foundation.min.js
file directly into your webpage
should suffice. If you use lots of
javascript files and want them
merged, you will need to point
Grunt to each of the files in turn,
and configure it to merge and
compress them.
And this (along with my
previous articles) concludes using
SASS within your web project. We

have covered: Installing Node.js,

npm, grunt, bower, and a
framework such as Zurb
Foundation. If you combine this
information with my articles on
setting up git repositories, youre
all set to configure your next web
project in a relatively robust way or to create a repository containing
your basic setup for any and all
future projects.
If anyone is interested in further
web design articles, please do let
me know by email at
[email protected]. If you
have any other suggestions or
requests, feel free to email me
those ideas too.

PYTHON SPECIAL EDITIONS:

http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py01 / http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py02/

FURTHER READING

http://bower.io/ - Bower website

containing documentation.
http://foundation.zurb.com/ - Zurb
Foundation website, containing
information on using the
Foundation framework.

http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-issue-three/

http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-volume-four/

http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-volume-five/

http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-volume-six/

Lucas has learned all he knows from

repeatedly breaking his system, then

having no other option but to
discover how to fix it. You can email
Lucas at: [email protected].

full circle magazine #90

13

contents ^

H O W-TO

O p e n C o n n e c t T o A C i s c o VP N

Written by Lev Lazinskiy

any businesses and

universities use Cisco
AnyConnect as their VPN solution.
Although there is a native Linux
client offered by Cisco, it is not
very well supported, and in some
cases the user does not have
access to the client. Fortunately,
there is a simple solution to this
problem thanks to OpenConnect.
OpenConnect is a client for Ciscos
AnyConnect VPN. It is free
software, and is released under the
GNU LGPL v2.1 .
Getting connected to an
AnyConnect VPN is easy with
OpenConnect and the TUN/TAP
kernel module that is built into the
Linux kernel.

ACTIVATE THE TUN

MODULE

Enter the following into a

terminal:

Enter the following into a

terminal:

terminal output should look

something like the image below.

Keep the terminal window open

while the VPN session is active.
Network resources such as shared
CONNECT TO THE VPN
folders, NAS drives, servers, and
workstations should now be
OpenConnect has many
available. To close the VPN session,
optional arguments that can be
type Ctrl+Z into the terminal
passed in the connection string.
window. Abruptly killing the
These arguments are explained
terminal window without properly
well in the OpenConnect
closing out of the VPN session can
documentation. The basic structure lead to issues when attempting to
of the connection string that
reconnect in the future. These
enables the VPN connection is
issues can typically be resolved by
shown below. In a terminal, enter: restarting the machine.
sudo apt-get install
openconnect

sudo openconnect
yourvpn.example.com

OpenConnect prompts for a

username and password. Once
these are authenticated, the VPN
connection is established, and the

As we have seen, OpenConnect

makes it easy to connect to a Cisco
AnyConnect VPN. If your employer
or educational institution utilizes
AnyConnect, this tool enables full
access to network resources with a

stable, secure, and reliable

connection.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Cisco AnyConnect VPN
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solu
tions/enterprisenetworks/anyconnect-securemobility-solution/index.html
OpenConnect
http://www.infradead.org/opencon
nect/
TUN/TAP
https://www.kernel.org/doc/Docu
mentation/networking/tuntap.txt

Lev is a graduate computer science

student at NOVA Southeastern

University, and works as a systems
engineer for a software company in
Cincinnati, OH. He has been using
GNU/Linux for over 1 0 years.

sudo /sbin/modprobe tun

I NSTALL OPENCONNECT
full circle magazine #90

14

contents ^

H O W-TO

Li breO ffi ce Pt.42 - Referen ces & Ra n g es

Written by Elmer Perry

didn't have to work for very long

in Calc before I needed to use
cell names to reference values in
different cells. This need was
followed by those same reference
names failing to do what I was
expecting from them. While
referencing cells is not
complicated, it sometimes requires
a little thought about what you're
trying to accomplish.
At its heart, there are two
reference types: relative and
absolute. Relative references refer
to a set of offsets from the current
cell. Absolute references refer to
the exact (or fixed) cell, column, or
row. With these two types we can
show references in four different
ways. Cell references can even
cross between sheets.
Sometime, you will need to
reference more than one cell. This
is done with cell ranges. You can
make a cell range relative or
absolute just like the cell
reference. You can even name a
cell range.

RELATIVE REFERENCES

A relative cell reference is a set

of offsets from the current cell. If
you put a reference to C4 in cell D6,
the reference is to the cell one
column to the left and two rows
up. If you copy this reference to
other cells, say D7, it will refer to
the cell C5, which is one column to
the left and two rows up from D7.
Let's create an example to clear
up any confusion. Create a new
Spreadsheet document. In the cells
B3 and B4 put the values 1 5 and 46.
In the cells C3 and C4 put in the
values 1 1 and 1 4. Select cell B5 and
enter the following formula (yes,
the equal sign [=] is necessary):
=B3+B4

When you press enter, it will

show a total of 61 , the sum of the
two values in B3 and B4. Now,
right-click B5 and copy. Select C5,
right-click, and paste. In C5 you get
the total 25, the sum of the two
values in C3 and C4. See how the
reference shifted to the new
column? Since we didn't change
rows, the row references stayed
the same. However, if we did, the
full circle magazine #90

relative cell reference would have

shifted to accommodate the
change.
So, when we make a relative
reference, it will move positions,
keeping the same offsets, when
copied to a new location.

ABSOLUTE REFERENCES
An absolute cell reference is
fixed. If you make an absolute
reference to cell C1 , then no
matter where you copy that
reference, it always refers to C1 .
We create absolute references by
adding the dollar sign ($) before
the column or row we want to
remain absolute. For example $C$1
is an absolute reference to the cell
C1 .
Let's do another example to
illustrate absolute references.
Imagine we need to multiply a
group of numbers by a factor. In
cell D1 we put 0.75. This is our
factor. In D2, D3, and D4 we put 1 0,
20, and 30. In the E column, we will
put our calculations. In cell E2 put
the formula:

15

=D2*D1

This will give us the answer 7.5,

which is correct. However, if we
copy the formula in E2 to E3 and
E4, we get answers of 200 and 600,
which are wrong. If you look at the
copied formulas, the references
shifted. This is because we used a
relative reference. We do want the
first number to shift when we copy,
but we need D1 to stay fixed. Edit
the formula in E2 and change it to
=D2*$D$1

We still have the right answer in

E2. Now, copy the formula in E2 to
E3 and E4. We get the answers 1 5
and 22.5, which are the correct
answers. If you look at the copied
formulas in E3 and E4, you find the
reference to D1 remained fixed.

FOUR WAYS TO REFERENCE

CELLS
With this in mind, this gives us
four different ways we can
reference a cell. They are relative,
absolute, and two partially
absolute references.
contents ^

HOWTO - LIBREOFFICE
D1 Relative, from cell E3, it is
one column left and two rows up
$D$1 Absolute, from any
position references cell D1
$D1 Partially absolute, column D
is fixed but the row is relative
D$1 Partially absolute, column is
relative but the row is fixed to 1

REFERENCE CELL IN
ANOTHER SHEET
To reference a cell in another
sheet, we use dot notation to add
the sheet name to the reference.
For example, Sheet1 .A1 . This is
handy if you need to carry a
calculation or figure from one
sheet to another. To illustrate, we
will rename our current sheet, add
a new one, and create a reference
from one to the other.
Right-click on the tab for the
current sheet and select Rename
Sheet. When prompted, name the
sheet MyData and click OK. To
create a new sheet, click on the
plus (+) at the end of the sheet
tabs. Select cell A1 in the new
sheet. Type in

from the cell E2 in the MyData

sheet.

NOTE: If the sheet name contains

spaces, surround the name with
single quotes, as in 'My Sheet'.C3.

Just like other references, the

reference to the sheet is absolute
or relative depending on whether
we put the dollar sign ($) in front
of it.

CELL RANGES
Sometimes, you need to
reference a group of cells rather
than just one. For such cases, we
use cell ranges. A cell range is
created by separating two cell
references with a colon (:). The left
cell references the upper left
corner of the cell range, and the
right cell references the lower

right corner of the cell range. For

example A1 :C2 represents a range
of six cells: A1 , A2, B1 , B2, C1 , and
C2. However, the range can also
represent just one column or row
as in C2:C1 00 or B3:H3.
The same rules for relative and
absolute references apply to cell
ranges. You can create a full or
partial absolute reference. You can
even apply a range across sheets.
Let's say you need a cell range of
all the A1 cells on all the sheets
named Sheet1 through Sheet1 0.
You would use the cell range
Sheet1 .A1 :Sheet1 0.A1 .
For convenience, you can name
a range. To name a range, select a
range of cells in the sheet. Insert >
Names > Define brings up the
Define Name dialog. Give the
range a name. Keep in mind that

cell range names can contain only

letters, numbers, and underscore
(_). Note the use of absolute
references in the Range field. You
can adjust your range as needed,
manually or by clicking the range
button and selecting the range
with the mouse or cursor. The
Scope field allows you to define
whether the named range applies
to the entire document or just a
certain sheet. Click OK to save the
range with the new name.
Cell references and ranges are
fundamental when you begin to
work on more complex sheet
layouts, functions, and formulas in
Calc documents. Understanding
how relative and absolute
references work can save time and
prevent mistakes when copying
formulas and references. While
simple, incorrect use of references
can lead to the wrong answer.

Elmer Perry's history of working, and

programming, computers involves an
Apple ][E, adding some Amiga, a
generous helping of DOS and
Windows, a dash of Unix, and blend
well with Linux and Ubuntu.
He blogs at
http://eeperry.wordpress.com

=MyData.E2

which will pick up the value of 7.5

full circle magazine #90

16

contents ^

H O W-TO

Written by Ronnie Tucker

here are several applications

out there in Linux land which
will let you stream/broadcast your
desktop, windows, games, etc.
Webcam Studio is different in that
it will, like the others, let you
stream, but it has the added bonus
of letting you mix many different
inputs into one single output. You
could, for example, have a window
input (lets say, a game), an input
from your webcam (you), the audio
from your game, the audio from
your microphone, and an input
which will overlay text on the
screen. Webcam studio will let you
input all that, arrange it as you like
(in a preview), then output it to
whichever broadcast service you
like (Twitch, YouTube, Google
Hangouts, etc.) using the
WSVideoDevice (aka: fake/virtual
webcam).

B ro a d c a s t i n g W i t h W e b c a m S t u d i o

you load/save studios and choose a

master output from FFmpeg,
AVConv, and GStreamer. The last
button is to clean up used RAM. Im
told by the creator, Karl Ellis, that
its best to use GStreamer so thats
what Ive set my WCS to use as
output, but feel free to try the
others as maybe theyll perform
better for you.
The left column is the preview
window with two tabs below it:

Channels and Mixer. Ive not used

the Channels tab much myself, but
it will come in handy if you want to
automate your broadcast a bit by
having playlists and such like. Mixer
Ill get to later.

Desktop, Text, and Audio. This

article will really focus only on the
Desktop, Text, and Audio inputs.
There are also inputs for animation
effects.

The right column is for output.

The middle of the WCS window Here you choose from: SkyCam,
is the Sources. Its here youll add
V4L2Loopback, Audio, Record,
your inputs using the buttons just UDP, and WSVideoDevice. Ill use
above that middle column. You can SkyCam, Audio, and WSVideo in
choose from: media, media folders, this tutorial, but you can easily
DVB-T, URL stream, IPCam, DVCam, record your output (rather than
stream/broadcast it) using the
Record button. Click it and choose
where to save the file. Click it again
to stop recording. Its as easy as
that.
Below the Output items, and
once you add an input, youll get
Properties tabs. These let you add
effects and what-not to your
inputs.

H OW I TS D ONE

STARTING A STUDIO

When you start WebcamStudio

(WCS from here on in), you have a
clean slate to work from (right).

Im planning to broadcast a
single window with some audio and
text. So, first things first, lets add
the window as an input.

Along the top are buttons to let

full circle magazine #90

17

contents ^

HOWTO - BROADCASTING WITH WEBCAMSTUDIO

Click the Desktop input:

Youll see a Desktop window

appear in your Sources panel, and
tabs in your Properties panel. The
desktop window has a couple of
options along the top (more
settings, refresh, etc.) but we want
to click the last icon to make sure
this desktop input is using
Gstreamer:

full desktop, or part of a desktop,

but you wont be able to select a
single window which is a handy
feature as even if you move
something over the chosen window
only the contents of the chosen
window are shown. The GStreamer
output will let you check the
Enable Single Window Capture in
the Desktop tab in Properties:

the preview looks OK, thats the

main thing.
Lets preview this in VLC. Click
the SkyCam button in the Output
panel. This will ask for your
password, its to set up a virtual
webcam. Next, click the
WSVideoDevice button:

It may not seem like it, but you

now have a virtual webcam
running. To check this, load up VLC
and, in the menu, go to Media >
Open Capture Device. Where it
says Video device name click the
drop down menu to choose the
/dev/video0 and click Play.

Im going to choose my Home

window that Ive got open.
Before doing a test, lets set a
few things. Click the Mixer tab in
the left panel and set the width
and height to what youd like to
output. Im going to choose 800 x
560. When youve done that you
must click the Apply/Reset button.
Why choose GStreamer? Well, if
you dont you can still broadcast a

Now click the blue PLAY button

in your desktop output.
full circle magazine #90

You may want to tweak the

width/height in the desktop output
Whatever I do inside my Home
window too, but youll see a
preview of your final output in the folder (scroll up/down, open a
top left of the WCS window. Dont folder, etc.) will be broadcast to
VLC from WCS.
worry that your desktop output
looks a bit squished up. As long as

18

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HOWTO - BROADCASTING WITH WEBCAMSTUDIO

LET THERE B E SOUND

WHATS THE SONG ?

Adding sound is a similar

procedure. You click the Audio
input:

Now you know that someone is

going to ask what the song is thats
playing.Lets show them the name
with some overlaid text. Click the
Text input:

Your audio input window will

appear, but it needs tweaking like
the desktop one did. Click the
Audio Source icon and select your
audio source:

going to play an audio file and click

PLAY on my audio input (above).
Click PLAY on the audio input
and a curious thing happens. Your
preview will black out. This is
because the audio input (with no
video) is equal with the video. You
need to change the Layer setting
for the desktop output to 1 . Its at
the bottom of the desktop output
window. Now your video is playing
above the audio input. Ive set my
audio input to broadcast whatever
my computer is playing, so Im

To have your audio as part of

the output, dont forget to click the
Audio Output button in the
Voila! Video and audio from two Output panel on the right.
different sources in one output.
You can drag the white on black
Checking the audio (live) in VLC
speaker icon to raise/lower the
is a bit tricky, but check it using the
volume. The green bars will
Record button (in the Output
raise/lower with your audio to let
panel). It will prompt you for a
you know the audio is actually
location and name. You can then
being input. To save on CPU usage, stop the audio and play the
you can click the X beside the PLAY recorded video to make sure it has
button to disable the waveform
recorded the audio.
from being created.
full circle magazine #90

19

This is a big input window which

lets you enter text to display,
change the X/Y coordinates of
where the text should display, how
big the text should be
(width/height) and the font and
color. Remember though, like the
audio input, youll need to change
the Layer setting to 2 this time as it

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HOWTO - BROADCASTING WITH WEBCAMSTUDIO

needs to be above the video.

And there you have it. Three

separate input sources in one
virtual webcam output (right).
Theres a lot more you can do
with WCS. You can apply video
effects to your input; have your
text flash or wobble around the
screen; add animations to your
output; tweak the Opacity to have
things faded on top of one
another. Lots, lots more. Click your
input window then check the
FX/GSFX tabs for effects.

EXTRA! EXTRA!
READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Our glorious news reporters
are now posting regular news
updates to the main Full Circle
site.

Keep an eye on your layers

though. If something doesnt show
initially it might need a higher
Layer setting.

Click the NEWS link, in the site

menu at the top of the page,
and you'll see the news
headlines.
Alternatively, look on the right
side of any page on the site,
and you'll see the five latest
news posts.

Ronnie is the founder and (still!)

editor of Full Circle. He's a part-time

arts and crafts sort of guy, and now
an Arduino tinkerer.

full circle magazine #90

20

Feel free to discuss the news

items. It's maybe something
that can spill back from the site
into the magazine. Enjoy!

contents ^

full circle magazine #90

21

contents ^

H O W-TO

I n ks c a p e - P a rt 3 0

Written by Mark Crutch

sing clones makes it easy to

create identical copies of
objects or groups in your image. As
we saw last time, breaking your
groups down into smaller chunks
to clone lets you add a little
variety, and you can always draw
extra objects on top of your clones
to further distinguish them. But
you can't make significant changes
to a clone altering the shape of a
path, for example without first
converting it to a normal copy.

unset. The quickest way to unset

the fill or stroke is to right-click on
the relevant swatch in the status
bar at the bottom of the Inkscape
window. Towards the bottom of
the context menu will be an option
for Unset fill or Unset stroke.
Select this item and the
corresponding color swatch will be
replaced with the word Unset.
You can also unset the fill or stroke
using the ? button in the relevant
tab of the Fill and Stroke dialog.

Although you can't make

significant changes to clones,
they're not entirely inert either.
I've already shown how they can be
rotated, flipped, scaled and
skewed independently of their
parent objects. But there's one
other little trick in the clones'
arsenal which requires a bit of
effort to set up, but can be well
worth it for some situations: clones
can change their fill and stroke
separately from their parents.
You can't just take any old clone
and give it a new fill and stroke,
though. Instead, the parent object
has to have its fill and/or stroke

Unfortunately, unsetting the fill

full circle magazine #90

or stroke on your object has side

the clone itself.
effects. An unset fill is rendered in
black which is often bad enough,
but an unset stroke doesn't render
at all which can be disastrous if the
object you want to clone is all
stroke and no fill making it
effectively disappear from the
screen! Because strokes are trickier
to illustrate (an invisible object
doesn't make for a great
screenshot), we'll start by just
considering unset fills, and come
The yellow clone has inherited
back to strokes later in the article. its shape, size and stroke from the
parent object, but carries its own
As a demonstration I've drawn
fill color. We can extend this
two identical circles, then unset
further by creating additional
the fill in the bottom one. You can clones from that one parent and
easily spot it because the fill has
giving each of them their own
been drawn as solid black. It's
color.
important to note that black and
unset are not the same thing,
though, even if they appear that
way on screen. Next, I've cloned
each circle, then set the fill color
for each clone to yellow. As you
can see, the top clone ignores the
fill that's been set, just like all the
clones we looked at previously. The
bottom clone, on the other hand,
has replaced the black unset fill
with the color that's been set on

22

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HOWTO - INKSCAPE
When dealing with something
as simple as a circle, there's
probably no real benefit in creating
clones like this compared with
simply duplicating the parent and
changing the fill. But the parent
object is rarely as simple as a circle,
and these clones can still also be
rotated, flipped, scaled and
skewed independently.
Furthermore, the fills don't have to
be simple colors: you can use
patterns and linear or radial
gradients, too. Admittedly the
Inkscape UI struggles a little with
anything other than simple colors
as the gradient editing handles
tend to appear out of place, and
the pattern scaling handles don't
appear at all but SVG itself allows
for all these possibilities.

Taking our previous example,

let's mix it up a little to
demonstrate some of these
capabilities. First I've converted the
parent circle to a path, then
tweaked its nodes to give a more
interesting shape. Then I've
squashed, skewed and rotated
some of the clones, and given
others different fills or
transparency. They're all still clones
a change to the parent path will
affect them all but combining
transformations with an unset fill
lets them each take on a distinctly
different appearance.

different colored T-shirt.

In this example, I've cloned a
group of five objects four shapes
inside a larger rounded square. The
circle and triangle have their fills
unset, whereas the star and square
have them set to specific colors.
You can see that in each clone the
shapes with the fixed colors appear
the same as the parent, but those
with the fill unset use the color
that's set on the clone itself.

If you really want to get extra

colors into your clones, there are
ways to do it by being
underhanded and devious. One
approach is to stack identical
clones on top of each other, each
In the previous article, I was
set to a different fill color, then use
extolling the virtues of cloning
clipping paths to only show the
groups rather than single objects,
relevant parts of each clone.
so you'll be pleased to hear that
Another technique I've used in the
you can use unset fills in cloned
past is to create a filter in the
groups as well. Any objects within
parent that rotates the color of
your group that have their fill unset
one of the unset objects more on
will be given the clone's color,
that when we get onto filters later
whereas other objects will be
You'll notice that both the circle in this series. For this example,
cloned as normal, inheriting their
however, I kept it simple: I
and the triangle take on the same
fill from the parent. This ability to
managed to use two colors in the
color in each clone. One major
mix normal and unset fills within
unset objects by using a linear
the parent can be very useful if you limitation of this approach is that
gradient as the fill. By creating a
SVG considers all unset fills in a
require a few similar copies with
couple of extra stops in the
clone to be identical. There's no
just part of the design changing
gradient and setting them to the
way to apply two colors to your
color with each clone consider
clone and have one affect the circle same colors as the start and end
creating some characters for a
points, I created gradients like this,
whilst the other affects the
crowd scene, each of which has a
to allow me to fake the appearance
triangle. Or is there...?
full circle magazine #90
23
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HOWTO - INKSCAPE

of having two separate fill colors.

At the start of the article I did

promise to come back to unset
strokes. Whereas an unset fill is
rendered in black, making it easy to
see and work with, an unset fill is
also rendered in black, but with a
width of zero! If your object has a
fill even an unset one it will still
be visible on screen. But, if you
unset the stroke of an object with
no fill, it will disappear from view
entirely. For this reason my first
rule of working with unset strokes
is to unset them as the last step.
Work with a colored stroke while
you're creating your parent object
or group, and unset it only at the
last minute.

The second rule is not to panic if

you do lose track of your object.
Just use the View > Display Mode >
Outline menu to switch to a mode
where even the most invisible of
Inkscape objects appears as a
skeletal outline. Even in this mode
you can still select and manipulate
your objects, and they will remain
selected when you switch back to
another display mode.
With an unset stroke in your
parent object or group, you can
now set not only the stroke color
(or pattern, or gradient) on each
clone, but also its width, join style,
end caps and dashes. In fact, at a
minimum you have to set the color
and width if you want the stroke to

full circle magazine #90

be visible. Unfortunately, you can't

set markers on a per-clone basis if
you want arrows or chevrons
marking the nodes of your path,
they have to be set on the parent
object.
With unset strokes, you now
have another method of getting an
extra color into your clones. With a
little lateral thinking, you can even
usurp the stroke to provide a
second fill color, if that suits your
needs better. In this final example,
I've used an unset fill on the left
hand shape, that's clear enough.
But where is the right hand shape
coming from?

You've probably already

guessed that there's an unset
stroke involved, but how does that
turn into a shaped fill in the clones?
The trick was to draw a single
vertical line in the parent and give
it a really large width value 40px

24

in this case effectively creating a

40px wide rectangle. Then I used a
path to clip that rectangle to the
shape I wanted, before finally
unsetting the stroke. On each
clone I have to only set the stroke
to the color I want, with a 40px
width, and my second filled
shape appears. You can also
perform a similar trick using masks,
which can be particularly useful for
faking a gradient in your clones.
The ability to use different fills
and strokes on clones can make
them extremely versatile, at the
expense of leaving you with black
areas or invisible lines in your
parent object. Being able to set
only two parameters on each
clone can be limiting, but hopefully
you've seen how, with a little
lateral thinking, the use of masks,
gradients, clipping and filters can
let you break that restriction to
some degree.

Mark uses Inkscape to create three

webcomics, 'The Greys', 'Monsters,
Inked' and 'Elvie', which can all be
found at
http://www.peppertop.com/

contents ^

H O W-TO

Ard u i n o

Written by Ronnie Tucker

ast month, our circuit could

determine whether a code
entered via keypad was right or
wrong. This month, Ive added to it
using a simple IF/ELSE statement
to do one of two things.
Ive added an LED and an
integer called armed. Initially
armed equals zero, and armedLed
equals A0. Im now having to tweak
the rules to use the analog pins for
digital components as Im quickly
running out of pins all together!
The main crux of this armed
change is the IF/ELSE command
thats embedded in the existing
IF/ELSE command in the
guessPassword() section of the
code. Basically heres whats
happening: if the password is
correct and armed=0 (in other
words: the system is off) then it will
clear the screen, display ARMED!,
change armed to equal 1 , and light
the red LED. Finally it will display
Code to disarm:. Otherwise,
armed must equal 1 (system is on)
so display DISARMED!, make
armed=0, and display Code to
arm:.

I have to admit to my faults and

I spent hours trying to figure out
why my IF/ELSE wasnt working
properly. Rookie mistake: I forgot
to use == in the IF statement.

To test that the LDR is actually

registering anything, youll notice
that Ive reintroduced the serial
code (again, using 9600 baud rate).
In the main loop, I have the code do
an analog read from pin A1 and
After getting success with
print the result to the IDE serial
armed/disarmed, I went and dug
window. In other words, the
out one of my 37-in-1 sensors and a number that the LDR is returning
photoresistor (a Light Dependent
via its analog pin. With no laser and
Resistor, LDR for short). The LDR
at room lighting, the serial window
goes to A1 with a 220 ohm resistor shows a stream of numbers
on one leg and taking its other leg averaging 400-450. When I cover
to ground. The laser sensor goes to the LDR, it drops to as low as 1 00the positive LED leg and to ground. 1 50. With the laser on, and pointing
Now, when the system is armed,
directly at the LDR, the serial
the laser flicks on and is made to
output shoots up to a touch over
point at the LDR.
1 ,000. Almost the maximum it can

reach. So, with the laser on, I place

an obstruction to the beam and the
LDR registers the loss of the laser.
Next time we meet, well
(hopefully!) have a working laser
tripwire alarm
Code:
http://pastebin.com/AjFDajHm

Are there any similar projects

youd like me to try? Drop me an
email at:
[email protected].
Remember: Im a beginner, dont
ask me to design the next NASA
rover!

Ronnie is the founder and (still!)

editor of Full Circle. He's a part-time

arts and crafts sort of guy, and now
an Arduino tinkerer.

full circle magazine #90

25

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H O W-TO

W ri t e F o r F u l l C i rc l e M a g a z i n e

Written by Ronnie Tucker

G UIDELINES

he single rule for an article is

that it must somehow be

document.

REVIEWS

Images should be JPG, no wider

than 800 pixels, and use low
compression.

G AMES/APPLICATIONS

linked to Ubuntu or one of the

many derivatives of Ubuntu
(Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc). Do not use tables or any type of
bold or italic formatting.

RULES

There is no word limit for articles,

but be advised that long articles
may be split across several issues.
For advice, please refer to the

Official Full Circle Style Guide :

http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/75
d471
Write your article in whichever
software you choose, I would
recommend LibreOffice, but most
importantly - PLEASE SPELL AND

GRAMMAR CHECK IT!

In your article, please indicate

where you would like a particular
image to be placed by indicating
the image name in a new
paragraph or by embedding the
image in the ODT (Open Office)

If you are writing a review,

please follow these guidelines :
When you are ready to submit
your article please email it to:
[email protected]

TRANSLATIONS
If you would like to translate
Full Circle into your native
language please send an email to
[email protected] and
we will either put you in touch with
an existing team, or give you access
to the raw text to translate from.
With a completed PDF, you will be
able to upload your file to the main
Full Circle site.
full circle magazine #90

When reviewing games/applications please state clearly:

title of the game

who makes the game
is it free, or a paid download?
where to get it from (give download/homepage URL)
is it Linux native, or did you use Wine?
your marks out of five
a summary with positive and negative points

H ARDWARE

When reviewing hardware please state clearly:

make and model of the hardware

what category would you put this hardware into?
any glitches that you may have had while using the hardware?
easy to get the hardware working in Linux?
did you have to use Windows drivers?
marks out of five
a summary with positive and negative points

You don't need to be an expert to write an

article - write about the games, applications
and hardware that you use every day.
26

contents ^

https://spideroak.com
full circle magazine #90

27

Get 25% off any SpiderOak package

with the code: FullcirclemagFans
contents ^

L I N U X L AB

C o m p i l i n g A Ke rn e l - P a rt 3

Written by Alan Ward

n the first part of this series, we

saw what the Linux kernel is, and
in the second chapter we saw the
various ways of obtaining the
source code and the other pieces
we need to compile it. Now that we
have all the bits and required
pieces, in this third part we are
about ready for the main course:
configuring, compiling and
installing the kernel.
In this part, I will be using
specifically the version of the
kernel source code from the
Ubuntu repositories. There will be
few differences if the reader
should choose to use the version
downloaded directly from the
Kernel.org project. One reason to
do so would be to work on the
most recent kernel version or
even, if we are feeling really
adventurous, on a release
candidate for the next version.

THE KERNEL
CONFIGURATION
SYSTEM
If we take a look at the source

code directories and the files

contained within, we can find a
series of files whose purpose we
can quickly understand. Files with
extension .c are clearly source code
files in the C programming
language, and those with extension
.h are header files for the same
code. In part 2 of this series, we
also learned that the Makefile we
find in each directory and
subdirectory is a file that gives the
compiler instructions on how to
compile the source code: which
source files to compile, how the
output files are to be named, and
what compiler parameters are to
be appended.
When we peruse each Makefile,
we can see that the file in each
directory refers only to the source
code placed in that directory. This
means there is a separation
between the different parts of the
kernel source tree: each directory
or subdirectory may be compiled
independently. When we come to
the concept of kernel modules, we
will see this means we will be able
to compile just a single module at a
time, without having to compile
full circle magazine #90

the entire kernel if it is not

necessary.
But what about the Kconfig files
we can also find in each directory?
The Kconfig files are instruction
files targeted at the kernel
configuration system. The Linux
kernel is a very large piece of code.
In fact, it hit 1 5 million lines of
code back in 201 1 (see
http://arstechnica.com/business/2
01 2/04/linux-kernel-in-201 1 -1 5million-total-lines-of-code-andmicrosoft-is-a-top-contributor/)
and 1 7 million lines in June 201 3
version 3.1 0
(http://www.extremetech.com/co
mputing/1 7591 9-who-actuallydevelops-linux-the-answer-mightsurprise-you). These two
references are quite interesting, by
the way, since both address the
question of who contributes to the
kernel source code.
With such a behemoth to
compile, we will need some sort of
automated configuration system.
This is where the Kconfig files
come in, giving instructions on

28

which options are available in each

directory, and helping create a
giant kernel configuration script.
For example, in source directory
security/selinux, the Kconfig file
contains the stanza:
config
SECURITY_SELINUX_BOOTPARAM
bool "NSA SELinux boot
parameter"
depends on SECURITY_SELINUX
default n
help
This option adds a kernel
parameter 'selinux', which
allows SELinux to be disabled
at boot. If this option is
selected, SELinux
functionality can be disabled
with selinux=0 on the kernel
command line. The purpose of
this option is to allow a
single kernel image to be
distributed with SELinux
built in, but not necessarily
enabled.
If you are unsure how to
answer this question, answer
N.

This should be largely selfexplanatory. The stanza indicates

the configuration script that the
user must be shown a boolean
(true/false) checkbox, through
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LINUX LAB

which the new kernel can be

configured to accept or not the
selinux boot parameter that
allows the Security Enhanced Linux
kernel module (SELinux) to be
deactivated at boot. Naturally, this
is not a very good idea on a
production system, which is why
the default option is n - for no.
In file net/ipv6/Kconfig, we find
a more complex example:
config INET6_TUNNEL
tristate
default n
config IPV6_TUNNEL
tristate "IPv6: IP-in-IPv6
tunnel (RFC2473)"
select INET6_TUNNEL
---help--Support for IPv6-inIPv6 and IPv4-in-IPv6 tunnels
described in
RFC 2473.
If unsure, say N.

N to exclude the module from

the new kernel.
M to compile the module as a
loadable file, that will not be
loaded into RAM at boot, but only
if required during system
operation.
The second stanza depends on
the presence of the above: if
present, the user may configure
support for RFC2473 tunnels in
either modular or built-in forms.
Now, we need to access the
configuration script itself.
However, before doing so, it is
usually recommended to begin by
clearing up any leftover
configuration. To do so, issue:

$ make mrproper

As discussed in part 2, we have

at least four different
configuration scripts we can use.
Two are based on text
environments: make config and
make menuconfig. Two more are
based on graphical toolkits: make
xconfig on the Qt toolkit, and
make gconfig on the Gtk
libraries. Take your choice as a
last resort, all of these scripts rely
on the same Kconfig files. In my
case, I will be using

since way back when (Slackware

days, to be precise). This is what
you should see something like the
image shown below.

CONFIGURING THE
KERNEL

Options within brackets are the

boolean choice widget that allow
us to activate [*] or deactivate [
] a feature. Some choices may be
forced upon us by other options
we have taken previously, in which
case the widget will appear as -*-.
$ make menuconfig
Options within keys correspond to
the tristate widget, that allow us to
largely because I am
activate a feature directly within
comfortable with this lightweight
the kernel <*>, as a loadable
environment that I have been using module <M> or deactivate the
feature < >. In this latter case, the
feature will not be available at all
to the new kernel.

The first stanza concerns the

module that allows the kernel to
create tunnels through IPv6
address space. The user will, in this
case, be shown a tristate option
box, that will give several options:
Y to compile the module
directly into the kernel. It will be
included in the vmlinuz file and
loaded at system boot, whether
used or not.

Options with the ---> tail on

their description indicate a submenu that can be accessed with
the ENTER key. Most navigation
keys are indicated on-screen, the
only prominent exception being
the SPACE key that is quite useful
to switch between option values.
Most available options will not
be immediately of use when
full circle magazine #90

29

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LINUX LAB

compiling our first kernel. I would

suggest the reader leave the
default options on, they are fine
for typical use patterns. Instead, I
would like to point out several
specific features that may be more
of interest.
The first place I would stop at is
the very first option presented in
the menu, 64-bit kernel. It does
seem likely that one could compile
a 64-bit kernel on a 64-bit platform
(computer and operating system),
since the appropriate C library
functions will be available, and
likewise for compiling a 32-bit
kernel on a 32-bit system.
However, it should also be possible
in theory to go a little further in
the Linux world, as for UNIX from
which it is derived. In these
systems, it should be quite possible
to perform what is called crosscompiling, in which a program
destined for one platform is
compiled upon another. This holds
both for compiling a 64-bit kernel
on a 32-bit machine, and the
opposite. Unfortunately, in
practical terms my experience with
the Ubuntu 1 4.04 distribution and
kernel source code version
3.1 3.1 1 .2 leads me to say that
things are broken and crosscompiled kernels will actually

compile, but will not run on the

target computer (the new kernel
will not find the init program, even
with the appropriate init= kernel
parameter). So the takeaway for
the time being is indeed that we
need to compile a 32-bit kernel on
a 32-bit operating system, and a
64-bit kernel on a 64-bit computer.
At the second option, General
setup, we have access to several
very basic choices for our new
kernel. We shall leave most of
these alone, except for Default
hostname and Arbitrary version
signature. These two options are
the ones that stamp each kernel
with the information that can be
retrieved in the /proc virtual file
system. Try this out on your
computer, it can do no harm:

the Arbitrary version option.

I have changed these in the
screen capture (below), since it is
always a GoodIdea to give your
kernels an identifying string. This
can help understand later on what
particular purpose you were
compiling a particular kernel for. A
version number can also come in
useful when a series of kernels are
compiled to try to solve a
particular problem: they can be
used to note and keep track of
progress.
Let us go back up to the initial
menu level, and enter the
Processor type and options

configuration setting. This is where

the heavy lifting starts, and we can
fine-tune our new kernel to the
hardware we wish to run it on. This
section also gives us a feeling for
the extreme range of different
physical architectures the Linux
kernel handles: specific microcode
for Intel and AMD range
processors, software options such
as Linux as a guest virtual machine
operating system within Linux
itself, etc.
If we stop a minute at the
Symmetric multi-processing
support option, this is where we
can deactivate multi-processor
support within the kernel. Some of

$ cat /proc/version_signature
Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.47-generic
3.13.9

In my case, no hostname is
indicated on which the kernel has
been compiled, so whoever
compiled kernel 3.1 3.0-24 for Linux
Mint left the Default hostname
option at its default (none) value.
On the other hand, the Ubuntu
3.1 3.0-24.47-generic 3.1 3.9
character string is what they had in
full circle magazine #90

30

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LINUX LAB

us still remember when multiprocessor support was a (paid)

extra on a Windows system, even
the server variants. In any case, it is
standard in the Linux kernel since
the 2.0 version series. Though it
can be deactivated, this really
makes little sense at this point in
time. Most current processors
contain multiple cores, or at the
very least HyperThreading which
makes a single core appear to the
operating system to contain
various logical cores (usually two
per physical core). SMP is the
subsystem that handles all this. On
the other hand, when compiling a
kernel for a very limited processor
on a machine with very little RAM,
it is possible to remove this part of
the kernel and release a few tens
of kBytes of RAM that otherwise
would be occupied.

Going down to the Processor

family sub-menu, we are given the
choice of a specific family of
processors to compile for. If we
have chosen to compile a 64-bit
kernel, the choice is between the
original Opteron/Athlon family, the
older and newer Intel Xeon
families, the 64-bit Intel Atom, and
finally a default Generic-x64-64
option. This latter is the most
conservative choice, and possibly
the best if our new kernel may
eventually get executed on more
than one computer.
If we have chosen to compile a
32-bit kernel, the range of options
is rather more vast, reflecting the
evolution of the IA-32 processors
over the years. The very early i386
has now been removed, and
choices start at the i486, going on

full circle magazine #90

up through the various generations

of 32-bit Pentium I, II, III and IV
processors, several variants by
AMD and other brands, ending up
with the Intel Core 2 and 32-bit
Intel Atom. As a general policy, it is
perhaps best to aim lower rather
than higher, since more recent
processors will usually have
backward-compatibility with older
offerings. Nowadays, compiling a
kernel with the PentiumIII/Celeron/Pentium-III Xeon is
probably a reasonable choice for
most use cases (below left).

Pentium III had this deactivated

within the hardware, so a kernel
that has PAE activated cannot work
on these processors. In order to
compile a kernel with PAE
deactivated, in the first place it
must be a 32-bit kernel: 64-bit
versions always contain a
mechanism similar to PAE since
these processors are built to
handle more than 4GBytes of
memory this is one of the
advantages of using numbers with
more bits in your architecture.

When you have chosen the 32As mentioned in the first part of bit kernel option, navigate to
this series, there has been some
Processor type and features, and
talk about the recent move by
towards the last third of the list
some distributions to include the
there is an option called High
Physical Address Extension (PAE)
Memory Support (shown below
feature by default in default
right). This needs to be activated in
kernels. Some versions of the
order to access the full contents of

31

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LINUX LAB

a 4 GByte RAM memory, or to go

further up to 64 GBytes. If the 64
GByte option is on, the PAE option
will be inserted into the menu a bit
lower down. If the High Memory
Support is either off (use up to 3
GBytes of RAM) or at the 4 GByte
choice, PAE should be
automatically deactivated.
Finally, if you wish to examine
and/or configure the additional
drivers contributed by Canonical to
the kernel source, navigate back to
the main menu and you will find a
separate Ubuntu Supplied Third
Party Drivers sub-menu (shown
below) that contains some of their
input. Naturally, this is included

only with the version of the kernel

To start this quite lengthy
code from the Ubuntu repositories. process, issue the command:
$ make
When you are satisfied with
your choices, exit the configuration
and the default Makefile target
menu, saving the configuration in
of
compiling
the kernel will be
the default file .config .
executed. Initially, this command
only the kernel proper,
COMPILING THE NEW compiled
however in recent versions of the
KERNEL
kernel source both the kernel and
its modules are compiled and
Compiling the kernel has two
updated.
different stages: compiling the
kernel itself, and compiling the
Be prepared for the processor
loadable modules though this
to work quite hard and for an
second part is performed only if
extended period of time. It is
the option for modules has been
important to make sure ventilation
activated, as it usually is.
is adequate since the computer will
tend to heat up (this is best done
on a desktop machine, if at all
possible), and will consume power
liberally so plug it in if running off
the battery! On a dual-core Intel
Core i5, the complete compilation
process took about two hours:
real 126m0.103s
user 117m35.622s
sys 13m31.106s

full circle magazine #90

If we make a change in the

kernel configuration, such as
changing the Arbitrary version
character string as above,
executing a new compilation
process will need to compile only

32

those parts that have changed. If

our alteration affects only the
kernel proper, all modules will
need to be checked, but not
compiled. Many subsystems of the
kernel itself will not need to be
recompiled whole directories of
the source code will be left
unchanged. Compilation time will
be significantly reduced, for
example:
real 5m51.928s
user 2m19.265s
sys 0m27.180s

On the other hand, if a

modification has been made in one
of the modules, we can specify that
just the modules need to be
checked for alterations and
compiled if needed, and not the
kernel itself. This is managed with
command:
$ make modules

and can considerably shorten

compilation time, depending on
the number of modules changed
and the importance of these
changes. For example, on my
system:
real 2m42.214s
user 1m29.390s
sys 0m16.867s
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LINUX LAB
INSTALLING THE
KERNEL
Once the kernel and modules
have been compiled, they can be
found in the very same subdirectories as the source files. For
example, in the mm (memory
management) subdirectory, you
will find both memory pool
routines source in mm/mempool.c,
and the compiled object file
mm/mempool.o .
Once each source file has been
compiled into an object, they must
be linked together into an
executable file for the kernel, and
transformed into loadable module
files for each module. The kernel
itself is file vmlinux in the tree
root, and should weigh in at about
1 58 MBytes. This file will need to
be compressed and placed in
directory /boot. Once compressed
using gzip, bzip or LZMA, the
kernel size can go down to the 5-6
MBytes that can be expected of
Linux kernel files.
As for the drivers, their
compiled and linked loadable
module files have extension .ko

(kernel object), and are

distributed around the source tree
side-by-side with the .c and .o files.
For example, the IPv6 tunnel
module will be found in compiled
and linked form as
net/ipv6/ip6_tunnel.ko.
In order to execute our new
kernel, we will need to perform
four distinct actions:
The modules must be separated
from the source files, and copied
into directory
/lib/modules/<kernelname>/kernel.
The kernel itself must be
compressed, and the compressed
file placed in /boot.
The modules must also be
integrated into an initrd (initial file
system) compressed file, also
placed in /boot.
We must also update the GRUB
bootloader configuration so as to
include the new kernel in the boot
options.
Luckily, there is a specific make
target available to do all this
automatically. Since we will be
making changes in the system
configuration, we will need to do it
with administrator privileges thus
the sudo command. It is also the
time when we can seriously break
full circle magazine #90

things in our system, so proceed

with caution and only when
satisfied the previous steps have
taken place correctly. Then, to
install the modules in /lib (step 1
above), issue:
$ sudo bash
# make modules_install

a table of the symbols in the

kernel, and their corresponding
positions in memory;
initrd.img-3.1 3.1 1 .2: the
compressed file system (with
modules generated from /lib)
needed to perform initial system
boot.

TRYING OUT YOUR

You will see each .ko file pass by NEW KERNEL

on screen as it is copied over. Now,
we are ready to do the kernel itself.
Since the automatic install
Issue:
process has taken care of the GRUB
configuration for us, all we have to
# make install
do now is reboot our computer. In
and the script will perform steps the GRUB menu, the first entry we
2, 3 and 4 all together for you. You find is simply labeled Ubuntu, and
this is the one corresponding to
will now see the output of the
our new kernel. At least one other
GRUB configuration tool grubentry will be found underneath,
mkconfig on screen, and in
labeled Ubuntu 1 4.04 LTS or
directory /boot the new files will
similar. This is the older kernel, still
make their appearance:
vmlinuz-3.1 3.1 1 .2 (or similar): the available as a backup just in case
the new kernel does not work as
compressed kernel;
System.map-3.1 3.1 1 .2 (or similar): expected.

33

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LINUX LAB
Boot into the new kernel -just
hit ENTER- and hopefully the
system should come up. In fact, it
should be rather difficult to note
that the new kernel is being used.
However, if we open a terminal and
use the uname command, we
should see the description and
compile date of our new kernel:

memory usage?
In the next part of this series,
we will be looking into how to
make some changes and apply
simple tweaks to our kernel, and
how they affect system
performance.

$ uname -a
Linux alan-lenovo 3.13.11.2
#5 SMP Sat Jul 19 21:32:47
CEST 2014 x86_64 x86_64
x86_64 GNU/Linux

This information can also be

found by listing file /proc/version ,
while /proc/version_signature
contains the free-form Arbitrary
version character string we
entered during configuration:
$ cat /proc/version_signature
Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.47-genericalan

If you have managed to follow

us so far, congratulations! What
you have just achieved is quite
difficult - or nearly impossible for
mortal humans - with most current
operating systems. Now, have
some fun and try out your new
kernel. How does it compare with
the old one? What about speed and

Alan teaches computer science at

Escola Andorrana de Batxillerat

(high-school). He has previously
given GNU/Linux courses at the
University of Andorra and GNU/Linux
systems administration at the Open
University of Catalunya (UOC).

full circle magazine #90

34

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HTTP://BIT.LY/1 RG1 QDE

full circle magazine #90

35

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R E VI E W

M E G As yn c

Written by Ronnie Tucker

fter the notorious

Megaupload was disbanded
its founder, Kim Dotcom, founded
MEGA. MEGA is a cloud hosting site
which offers users a whopping
50GB of space for free. Theyve
always said thered be a Linux
client, and now there is.
Heading over to
https://mega.co.nz/#sync youll be
greeted with a choice of several
Linux distros (both 32 and 64-bit)
and a download button.

Youll need to sign up for a free

account on the site too. Youll use
these login details when installing
MEGA. During the install youll also
get to choose where to put your
main MEGAsync directory (in
/home/username by default) and if
there are any other directories you
want to keep syncd to the cloud.
Once its installed youll see, in
your taskbar, a red circle with a
white M in it. Clicking that gives
you some basic stats on your MEGA
account.

Assuming you did

a default install then
youll also see a new
folder in your home
directory, its called MEGAsync.
Anything you put/save in this
folder will automatically be
uploaded to your MEGA cloud
space. This folder acts just like
Dropbox currently does. And, like
Dropbox, you can access your files
via the web interface.
In the web interface, you can
upload/download files and the
MEGAsync folder will update
accordingly. You can also use their
Chrome/Firefox plugins, or their
mobile apps, to access your space.
Credit where its due. Dotcom

For Ubuntu (and variants) youll

download a DEB file which you can
double click to install as normal.
full circle magazine #90

36

and his crew have certainly put a

lot of work into this. There arent
many other hosting sites offering
50GB for free (with, of course,
upgrade options), mobile/browser
apps, a slick interface, and a pretty
damn secure hosting service.
Dotcom has regularly paid out
bounty awards for people spotting
bugs/vulnerabilities
(https://mega.co.nz/#blog_1 9).
My only criticism of MEGA is the
lack of a timed update. My Internet
upload speed is pretty dire, so Id
prefer my folder(s) to sync at 4am
when Im sleeping. Im hoping
thatll be a feature in a future
update.
So, this just leaves you, Google,
to give us a Linux client for Google
Drive. Hello? Are you listening?

contents ^

M Y S TO RY

Written by AURO KUMAR SAHOO

am a very basic user and just

migrated from Windows
completely.
My first encounter with Linux
was in my office where I saw the
servers were running on some
other OS. When asked what it was,
the reply was Red Hat Linux, and
they told me it was mostly for IT
and Computer people, and it had
less support for multimedia
compared to Windows or Mac
which support Adobe, Corel, and
like programs.
I am a Cinematographer who
graduated from a Govt. Film school
with in-depth knowledge on
celluloid, chemical processing, and
studying optics. When I entered
industry in Odisha, India; I noted
that it is slowly transforming to
digital, and one part of my country
(Mumbai) is almost digitized as far
as multimedia creation is
concerned.
As a struggling cameraman, I
came to Mumbai, and my
surroundings were all digital, so
slowly I started exploring digital

things, and, after 4 to 5 years, Ive

gained extensive knowledge in
handling an OS (here Windows XP),
re-installing it, installing programs
like Adobe, Corel, etc, and
understanding cleaning an OS, and
maintaining system like defragmentation, cleanup, etc. During
my self-gained knowledge (thanks
to WWW and Google), I destroyed
much of my data, many times. I
install and uninstall programs, even
OS, but I know only the very basics
of computing by the way.
Then I was gifted with a Laptop
which had windows XP preinstalled, and I used it, but I was
frustrated with its start up, slow
processing, hanging and virus
problems. These lead me to search
for another OS which would be
more stable, and which I could use
for home computing like
processing a word file, creating
some presentations, viewing
photos and videos, and listening to
music.
Truly speaking, I am unable to
buy a Mac as its much costlier, so
my Google search leads me to
full circle magazine #90

Ubuntu. I had also seen it

previously on my sisters PC, but
never thought of it, as when I asked
what it was, she replied that she
was doing programming for her
engineering on it.
So my impression was that it is
an OS for programmers and
advance system engineers or
computer personnel, but not for
basic users.

reappeared. As an experimenting
guy, I started exploring it, and as a
very new user and basic user, who
never used even MS DOS, you cant
imagine what happened to me.
When reading different articles, I
didnt understand it when they
were writing about sudo, or get
apt, etc. One day, in the software
center, I found Full Circle Magazine
(its 80th), and then I download all
from zero to 79 and read them
from the start. I got an
introduction to Linux, and learned
many more things, and about
available distros. I downloaded
Bodhi Linux, Kubuntu, LXDE,
Lubuntu, Pinguy OS, Crunch bang
and Ubuntu studio, and explored
them all.

Then, after a year, when I asked

a colleague, who is an IT
professional, about a substitute
OS, and explained my
requirements, he suggested to me
on an afternoon tea that Ubuntu
would meet my needs as a home
PC, and it does everything, and its
free. It was December 201 3, and on
I have spent much time in
Windows sites, they were
learning it at home I read your
constantly advising to upgrade XP PDFs all the time, like preparing for
to 7 or 8 before April 201 4.
exams. And Ive spent much money
(in India, internet is slow, and data
I upgraded, but to Ubuntu
plans are costly too and cloud
1 2.04. I went through their
computing is still a nightmare,
website, read how to install and
except in big cities) I have
use the software center, etc.
upgraded my XP with it, but I am
happy because I now have the
Now my 1 0 years previous era
freedom of choice.

37

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MY STORY
I am installing a new Linux
distro every 1 or 2 weeks for my
own satisfaction, and I am now 2
months with Linux and more than a
month with FCM. I am happy to
choose and get programs to
substitute for Windows for my
home computing (Im not yet
prepared to suggest its use it in the
office as I am still exploring the
power of Linux), and Im even
creating home multimedia, even
some level of professional
multimedia creation is possible
with Ubuntu Studio.
I have also posted some
suggestions to Ubuntu and
Canonical on their mail, and I want
to suggest them to you too, and
Im hoping for some articles
considering my knowledge is 0.1 %
and mostly in Graphical
representation as I am a very new
user.
1 . Can we make Ubuntu more
GUI than command-line, as I think a
person having zero knowledge can
start using Windows even without
community support, and you can
consider Android also. People
using smartphones even don't
know it is an OS, they just use it.
They download apps from the

store, edit photos, share videos,

etc.

was introduced. My suggestion is:

can Ubuntu be installed with
different desktop environments,
So, personally I think Ubuntu
and the user can then select one
should be more user friendly rather during login like (s)he can now do
than as it is today. Just install it and with 2D & 3D Unity.
use it.
4. I understand the differences
2. As everyone doesn't have
between Deb and exe. Deb has
internet, or may have only a slow
many dependencies but can we
internet, and as Ubuntu is only less make a package and when clicked
than 1 GB (with much free space
on the link, it offers to save or
left over), you should add some
install. So one can save the
additional software's like Gimp,
download files and can distribute
Inkscape, VLC, to applications in
them, or install them in offline
the repository. Because I saw
system. We should make available
people install them and then
applications in ISO files so one can
removed them because they can't download all ISOs and write them
play a mp4, or some image and
to DVDs and make an offline
audio files.
repository easily. I also suggest
that although there are many
My suggestion is: can we add
solutions like aptoncd, but there
some more applications as we have should be programs like application
space in a DVD. If theres a problem backup, super backup, etc, like in
in some countries, then we can
the Android sector that saves
make different distribution ISOs
Android apps like Angry Birds,
for USA, China, UK, India, etc.
Gmail, Temple Run, etc.

6. I know many of my
suggestions have answers, but I
want Ubuntu to be more user
friendly even for those who
migrated from another OS, or for a
new one to Ubuntu or computers
without a fear of the commandline. Let the OS do most of its work
through a GUI.
7. The last line I may suggest:
can Ubuntu give users freedom to
make ones own OS; in a browser,
ask what kernel they want, what
software should be included, what
desktop environment is needed. It
will be then called Linux for
freedom, or MY LINUX.
Now, some personal problems;
can you send it to the right person
on my behalf, and help me please?

I am still confused on which

distro to use; some say Debian is
best, some say it needs skill and
knowledge; some say Ubuntu as it
is community driven, and some say
As an example, openSUSE has
5. One of my strong suggestions its now gone its own way rather
additional packages and languages is that as Ubuntu is a community
than what users want and
in ISO form to be downloaded for
driven system, it should use
collaborated with. Some say Mint
systems which have no internet
opinion polls during its release, at and other distros. As I told you
connection.
least for LTS, to establish what
before, I have tried many distros,
users want, what programs to be
Ubuntu Studio I liked (as a
3. Many people migrated from
included or removed.
cameraman), Mint also I liked (now
Ubuntu to other distros when Unity
I am on Mint 1 6 and its fully
full circle magazine #90
38
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MY STORY

loaded). Pinguy is also very feature

loaded. I am now confused.
When I first used Ubuntu, and
when reading your previous
articles and looking at my desktop,
I got a different feeling, and I now
think that Ubuntu has fixed itself
on Unity. When I tried Mint, I got
much more freedom to customize. I
am confused which one to use,
which is more stable. Ubuntu
requires extra work after
installatio, such as getting an
image editor like GIMP, Raw,
Darktable; a video editor like Pitivi,
a software manager like Synaptic
and Gdeb, or a video player like
VLC, and Java, Flash, and
multimedia codecs. MINT is mostly
loaded and customisable. But
Ubuntu is the parent on which Mint
is based. I am confused, Ubuntu is
less than a GB and it has much free
space, then why dont they provide
other user interfaces along with
Unity, or some more softwares
(like Ubuntu studio)?
I am now using a Lenovo B560
laptop and I posted a question in
ask but didnt get any reply. I have
finger scanner hardware, and it
worked with XP but there is
nothing in any distro of Linux which
detects it. I have one key recovery

button located just near to the

power button, but don't know how
to use it with Linux, so some of my
laptops potential is unused.
Which Linux distribution do you
prescribe for my Lenovo B560.
Specification- Processor: Intel
Pentium CPU p6200 @ 2.1 3GHz x 2
Memory: 2.8 GiB
I have heard many times that
there are Linux viruses in the wild
As I am using only Linux Mint and
have completely removed
Windows, what is your basic
security advice? I know you may be
protective in making a statement,
but should I really use any antivirus
or firewall for accessing the
internet, and for distributing some
files by flash drive which maybe
came from a Windows or any other
Linux system. If yes, then please
advise on some home computing
system protection against viruses,
worms, etc.
How can I backup my
applications which I have
downloaded, as I am thinking about
a fresh installation rather than
upgrading, so I have to avoid redownloading these applications?
full circle magazine #90

39

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LE TTE RS
WEBMIN

If you would like to submit a letter for publication, compliment

or complaint, please email it to: [email protected] .
PLEASE NOTE: some letters may be edited for space.

servers, I missed the ease of use of

GUIs for management. I felt I had
gone back to the 80s and DOS.
Then I started to use Webmin for
server management; it became
easier and more effective.

am a new reader of Full Circle. I

read the article on server install
and management.with interest. I
noted the use of Putty for remote
management. While Putty is useful
Webmin for Linux can be
for remote shell access (ie,
command-line instructions), a more downloaded from
www.webmin.com. A cookbook
effective solution for day-to-day
and manuals are also available.
server management is Webmin.

What is Webmin?
"Webmin is a web-based
interface for system administration
for Unix. Using any modern web
browser, you can set up user
accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing
andmuch more. Webmin removes
the needto manually edit Unix
configuration files like /etc/passwd,
andlets you manage a system from
the console or remotely. See the
standardmodules page for a list of
all the functions built into Webmin,
or check out the screenshots."

source: www.webmin.com
When I transferred from Novell
and Microsoft servers to Ubuntu

Once Webmin is installed on

your server and set up, it can be
accessed by a web browser from
anywhere.

Neil

CHEATING

t's a slippery slope, like smoking

or drinking. You finally quit
Windows, but little things suck you
back in. "Come on man, just one
drag just one drink."

bought Google Sketchup. That is

what brought me back to Windows.
I feel dirty everytime I boot up,
especially when I pass by Linux and
go into Windows to do something
Linux could do. And if I get
distracted and end up just looking
at the internet on Windows, am I
really cheating on Linux? Probably.
But when I want to get stuff done, I
use Linux. If I want to recover
erased photos or an accidentally
formatted drive, I'm in Photorec on
Linux. If I want to make a standalone motion detecting camera out
of an old IBM Thinkpad, I use Linux.
If I want to upload firmware to my
3D printer, I use Linux. But, to be
honest, I feel like it's like cheating
on my wife; the mistress does
things my wife won't... But I worry
about viruses. That's my two cents.

Peter Liwyj

goo.gl/FRTMl

facebook.com/fullcircle
magazine
twitter.com/#!/fullcirclemag
linkedin.com/company/fullcircle-magazine
ubuntuforums.org/forum
display.php?f=270

FULL CIRCLE N EEDS YOU !

Without reader input
Full Circle would be an
empty PDF file (which I don't
think many people would find
particularly interesting). We are
always looking for articles,
reviews, anything! Even small
things like letters and desktop
screens help fill the magazine.
See the article Writing for Full
Circle in this issue to read our
basic guidelines.
Have a look at the last page of
any issue to get the details of
where to send your
contributions.

You need one program for

work, you want iTunes because the
company gave you an iPhone. You
full circle magazine #90

Join us on:

40

contents ^

full circle magazine #90

41

contents ^

Q &A

If you have a Linux question, email it to: [email protected] , and

Gord will answer them in a future issue. Please include as much
information as you can about your query.

Compiled by Gord Campbell

Can the free version of

Q Macrium
Reflect create an

image of a complete hard drive on

a desktop machine running
Ubuntu?

been identified, and fixed in

versions for other operating
systems.

I used Bluefish to create a

Q website;
however, I'm going

with a third party hosting site. Can I

use bluefish to upload and manage
my site from their server?

I'm using an old laptop with an

Intel Core 2 duo at 1 .5 GHz
(Thanks to John P. at Macrium
Have a look at Filezilla, one of
with 2 GB of memory and an Intel
Support) Yes, providing:
several FTP options.
1 ) You boot from the PE rescue CD. GM965/GL960 graphics card, It
runs Ubuntu 1 4.04. When using the
2) The system is MBR/GPT
Chrome browser to navigate to the
partitioned. LVM configurations
Chrome Web Store, Ubuntu
are not supported.
In my effort to enjoy cycling
completely freezes for about 1 0
even more and also improve
seconds, and then the screen goes fitness, I bought a Garmin Edge
blank and the entire system is
Touring. Great, all excited and can't
1 00% unresponsive.
I am running Ubuntu 1 4.04.
wait to download maps and
What should I do about
reference points. Garmin web site
(Thanks
to
vasa1
in
the
Ubuntu 1 4.04.1 ?
tells me "Garmin does not support
Ubuntu Forums.) Please type
your OS, only Windows and Apple."
chrome://settings in Chrome's
Ignore it. It just includes the
I despair!
address bar and hit enter. Then go
updates you have already
to the bottom of that page and
installed.
Garmin Edge Touring is a
click on Show Advanced Settings.
standalone GPS navigator. It
Then go to nearly the bottom of
doesn't require a computer to
the new page and see if "Use
work; it may require a computer to
hardware
acceleration
when
Is the Adobe Reader for
update its firmware and maps but
available"
is
ticked.
If
it
is,
try
the
Ubuntu up to date?
if the manufacturer doesn't
Web Store after you untick that
provide solutions for Linux then
setting and restart Chrome.
No, the Linux version of
theres little to nothing anybody
Adobe Reader has not been
else can do. Use it with a Windows
updated since May, 201 3. Since
PC for the occasional update you
then, several vulnerabilities have
might need.
full circle magazine #90
42

A
Q

TOP QUESTIONS AT
ASKUBUNTU
* How would I speed up a full disk
dd?
http://goo.gl/In2QXr
* How do I find number of NICs in
my system?
http://goo.gl/mN49HH
* Where are my browser
passwords stored?
http://goo.gl/uBD3Kt
* Why do I get "connection
refused" errors connecting to a
server via SSH?
http://goo.gl/IbymB3
* What is the CVE-201 4-6271 bash
vulnerability (Shellshock) and how
do I fix it?
http://goo.gl/ym8j0J
* Identify the server I'm working at
http://goo.gl/wy3YJz
* Why does Ubuntu 1 4.04 keep
shutting down when playing video?
http://goo.gl/uqEIiO
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Q&A
* How do I change the GRUB 2
menu?
http://goo.gl/2hT2Wk
* How to safely remove
proprietary Intel driver
http://goo.gl/3yaBBo

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

Corporate versus personal
computing

s my client prepares to move

to a new location, I'm seeing
how the gap between home
computing and corporate
computing has become a huge
chasm.

are weeks when it is not up to date. applications are email, web

browsing and an office suite. My
The company is not huge; I
client's essential applications
bought three, 2 TB hard drives to
include Taxprep and Quickbooks,
hold the extra backups, and that
and a bunch more along the same
will be more than enough storage. lines -- and none of them run under
At home, there is almost that much Linux. A couple of the applications
in various media files, with far
include server components, so I
fewer people.
can't even suggest using Linux on
the server.
If a computer does not survive
the move, we will have a credit card
When there's a Quickbooks for
at the ready to replace it, and an
Linux, we will know that Windows
image backup ready to restore.
is doomed.
When I buy a computer for home
use, I agonize for weeks over the
configuration.

Expectations are also rather

different. If the Internet is not
working at home for four hours, it's
inconvenient, but we survive. At
the office, if the network is down
for four hours, all work stops. My
Before the actual move, I need
boss expects to shut down at the
to make sure that all the in-wall
old location at noon on a Friday,
cables are working properly, that
and be fully functional at the new
the new server rack is ready to hold location sometime Monday
the switches and firewall
morning -- well, except for that
computer, and that we have as
computer that was destroyed in
much backup as possible. At home, the move. And if it was the main
my router knows about 20 devices, server, we should have the backup
but there are no in-wall cables, no running by noon.
switches, no dedicated firewall and
no equipment rack. I think my
The chasm extends to operating
backup is pretty good, but there
systems. At home, my essential
full circle magazine #90

Full Circle Podcast

Episode 41 , Trusted
To Fail!!
Welcome to our new format
show, there are several
changes from the previous
format, the most important
being we are now recording
together at the Blackpool
Makerspace in the office.
This Episode we Test Ubuntu
1 4.04, Review of Official
Ubuntu Server Book.
Your hosts:
Les Pounder
Tony Hughes
Oliver Clark
from the
Blackpool (UK) LUG
http://blackpool.lug.org.uk

Gord had a long career in the

computer industry, then retired for

several years. More recently, he
somehow found himself "The IT Guy"
at a 1 5-person accounting firm in
downtown Toronto.

43

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U B U N T U G AM E S

P ri s o n Arc h i t e c t

Written by Oscar Rivera

ave you ever been to prison?

Have you ever wondered what
it's like to work at a prison? Better
yet, have you ever had the oddball
desire of building your own prison?
Regardless, you may want to check
out the video game Prison
Architect.
Prison Architect is a
Construction and Management
Simulation (CMS) video game
released by Introversion Software,
and is available for Linux, Windows
& Mac OSX. As of September 25th
201 4, the video game Prison
Architect is on its 25th Alpha
release, although its initial Alpha
release was exactly two years
earlier in September 25th 201 2. It is
currently available through the
Introversion Store and through
Steam as a Steam Early Access
game. According to Introversion
Software, Prison Architect is
expected to stay Alpha for a long,
long time. Here's what the
developers had to say, as quoted
on the Steam Store page: Prison
Architect is currently in Alpha, which
means we haven't finishedit yet - it's
full ofbugs andglitches, andyou're

not going to get a polished

experience ifyou buy it at the
moment. What you will get is early
access to a bullfrog-style Prison
Management Sim (Simulation) that
over 250,000 gamers have already
thought is worth a look at.

Prison Architect is definitely

worth taking a look at, and that's
just what I did this month. I got
lucky and found Prison Architect as
part of the Humble Indie Bundle at
the end of September. I ended up
paying a third of the $30 price tag
because it was part of the Humble
Bundle. Would I pay the full $30

full circle magazine #90

now that I've played it? Most

definitely. In fact, I considered
paying a little extra to have a
prisoner look like me by sending in
a picture of myself. Unfortunately,
by the time I decided to do it, that
option had already sold out.
However, according to the
Introversion Prison Architect
website, it's still possible to pay
$50 to Immortalize yourself, by
getting a prisoner namedafter you,
andsupplying the info for his rapsheet. Your prisoner will be in the
final version ofPA, andeveryone
will know that *YOU* helpedmake
the game a reality.

44

These are a couple of examples

of the added bonuses we get from
playing Prison Architect while still
an Alpha early-access release. This
is not to say that Prison Architect is
unplayable and filled with bugs; on
the contrary, the game is in fact
very smooth and entertaining.

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS
PRISON ARCHITECT?
The purpose of the game is to
build your own for-profit prison
from the ground up. You are in
complete control of building your
prison, which includes laying down
the foundations, putting up walls,
doors, windows, connecting the
utilities, the toilets, the beds, the
shower heads, etc. In short,
providing everything a prison
might need to be able to run itself.
Not only must you build the prison,
but you're also expected to micromanage the prison's economy, its
staff, and the prisoners
themselves. So, in a way, you act
not only as the main architect but
also as the warden (who by the way
is the first person you hire). You
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UBUNTU GAMES

get grants for certain goals which

you must accomplish thus
enhancing and upgrading your
prison while also making a little
money. Besides these goals, it's
also wise to try and get your
prisoners released and
rehabilitated enough so as to lower
their recidivism rate through the
use of programs such as education,
workshop training, gardening, drug
and alcohol counseling, etc. One
thing you definitely don't want is
prisoners escaping, getting killed
(or killing staff members), having a
bankrupt facility, or dealing with a
riot (which is very hard to control
once it gets going).

The solution is simple: if you install

a 2nd power station, you need to
make sure to have two separate
grids, one for each power station. I
didn't know this and simply added
the 2nd power station but kept
everything connected in a single
grid instead of two which is what
was causing my entire prison to
short out after a few seconds. All it
took to solve the problem was a
little re-wiring so I could keep one
power grid per power station
instead of a single grid for two
power stations. I've run into a
couple of other similar problems
that, once I followed simple logic,
the problems went away almost
instantly.

seem to be a soundtrack at all, or,

for that matter, any type of
background music. The sounds you
hear are minimal when looking at
the prison from afar, but, much like
the graphics, the sound also gets
more detailed as you zoom in. For
example, when there's a fight
going on, you don't really hear
anything until you zoom in, then
you actually hear the people
fighting as well as the other
prisoners cheering on.

Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Ubuntu 1 2.04 or later

Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2.4Ghz
or Higher / AMD 3Ghz or Higher
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia 8600 / Radeon
equivalent (2009 era)
Hard Drive: 1 00 MB HD space

M Y G AMING SETUP

I played Prison Architect with

my custom made desktop PC
consisting of an AMD FX-61 00
All in all, the game is very
3.3GHz CPU, an Asus M5A97-EVO
entertaining, and I highly
motherboard, a Sapphire Radeon
recommend it, as long as you keep HD 5770 graphics card, 8GB of
in mind that it's still in Alpha stage. Kingston Hyper X RAM, and a 1 TB
The $30 that you spend on the
Seagate Barracuda hard drive. The
On the Prison Architect bug
game now will buy you every single software used was Ubuntu 1 4.04.1
forum, it is mentioned that (at the
The game's graphics are nothing update from now on, including the LTS with Unity and AMD 1 4.6 Beta
time) there are at least 3,000 bugs to brag about, but, although they
official final release. Who knows,
Catalyst proprietary graphics
tracked so far. Personally, I haven't seem simple from a distance, when by then there might be a character driver.
come across any bugs yet in my 40+ you zoom in then you can see some named after you.
hours of play so far. Most of what I pretty detailed cartoonish artwork,
thought were bugs were actually
that can be funny at times, but it's
not bugs but rather illogical steps I always informative. There doesn't
took that once corrected made for
a smooth playing experience. For
example, after installing a 2nd
Power Station for added
Oscar graduated from CSUN, is a
electricity, my entire grid was
Music Director/Teacher, beta tester,
Wikipedia editor, and Ubuntu Forums
constantly going off, causing my
contributor. You can contact him via:
prisoners to quickly escalate to
www.gplus.to/7bluehand or email:
full-fledged riot because of a lack
[email protected]
of electricity in the entire prison.
full circle magazine #90
45
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U B U N T U G AM E S

X- P l a n e 1 0 P l u g i n s

Written by Ronnie Tucker

ast month, I reviewed X-Plane

1 0; this month, I thought Id
show how to extend X-Plane using
Python and several other scripts.

by Sandy Barbour and is available

from
http://www.xpluginsdk.org/python
_interface_latest_downloads.htm.

should see a folder called

PythonInterface.

Before doing anything else,

youll need to install Python. I
would recommend installing the
package named python via your
package manager (or a terminal),
but be sure to install some version
of Python 2.7. As of writing, I have
2.7.5-5ubuntu3 listed in my
package manager.

What youll download is a ZIP

file which should be unarchived to
your X-Plane plugins folder. I have
X-Plane via Steam, so I unarchived
the ZIP file to
/home/ronnie/.local/share/Steam/S
teamApps/common/X-Plane
1 0/Resources/plugins. You may
need to show hidden folders to see
the .local folder. Your desktop
window manager should have an
option under View for this. So, if
you go into your plugins folder, you

Download the Python file from

https://github.com/der-On/XPlane-FlightPlanner/raw/master/python_interf
FLIGHT PLANNER
ace/PI_flight_planner.py and
save/copy it to Plugins >
Im a complete beginner at XPythonScripts (shown bottom left).
Plane and flight simulations, so I
like to see my position, in real-time, If you dont have a PythonScripts
folder, then youll need to make
on a map. The site X-Plane Flight
one. In that same folder, save/copy
Planner is completely free, and
the file https://github.com/derexcellent for this. Its at
http://xplane.anzui.de:3000/flight- On/X-Plane-FlightPlanner/raw/master/python_interf
planner. Lets install their Python
ace/flight_planner_server.sh and
script to use X-Plane outputs to
plot our location, in real-time, on a https://github.com/der-On/XPlane-FlightGoogle Maps style map.
Planner/raw/master/python_interf
The site gives good information ace/flight_planner_server.py.
on installing the script

PYTHON I NTERFACE
The Python Interface is written

full circle magazine #90

On loading X-Plane, you should

now see Python Interface
mentioned in the Plugins menu at
the top of the screen.

46

(https://github.com/der-On/XPlane-FlightPlanner/wiki/Quickstart-Guide), but
heres the basics.

contents ^

UBUNTU GAMES

Now, open a terminal and cd

into your PythonScripts folder.
Once in there, do:
./flight_planner_server.sh

Planner site (the pink plane beside

the big yellow one is me).
If I was to move off from there
(in X-Plane) and taxi to the runway,
youd see it in real-time in the
Flight Planner site.

(shown in the screen capture

below). Fly With Lua goes into your
Plugins folder, and Real Terra Haze
goes inside the Fly With Lua folder.

If theres interest in more XNow start X-Plane. Once XPlane, then next month Ill discuss
Plane has gone through some of its
using the X-Plane Flight Planner
loading, youll see it start to send
site to plan your route; and then
Be sure to click the + symbol
info in your terminal.
and check the follow box so that how to enter it into your flight
it centers your plane on the screen. management computer (FMC).
To stop the server you can run
the file https://github.com/derNow that youve got Python
On/X-Plane-FlightInterface installed, and you know
Planner/raw/master/python_interf how to install a Python script, I
ace/flight_planner_server_stop.sh highly recommend (if your machine
(again from your PythonScripts
can handle it) installing the Fly
folder), but I usually just stop the
With Lua plugin (http://forums.xserver by pressing CTRL+C in the
plane.org/index.php?app=downloa
terminal.
ds&showfile=1 7468) which extends
the scripting abilities of X-Plane.
Shown below left I am in XWith it installed, you should install
Plane, parked up at Glasgow
Real Terra Haze (http://forums.xAirport (EGPH).
plane.org/index.php?app=downloa
ds&showfile=22387). It will give
Below right is the X-Plane Flight you fantastic atmospheric effects

full circle magazine #90

47

Ronnie is the founder and (still!)

editor of Full Circle. He's also a selftaught (part-time) artist who draws
both serious and silly things. His
work can be seen at:
http://ronnietucker.co.uk.

contents ^

M Y D E S KT O P

'm a Linux user and I follow your

magazine. This is Lubuntu
1 4.04x86_64
My PC is a notebook HP G62.

Screen: 1 5.6 inch LCD 1 366x768

pixels
CPU: AMD Turion 2 P540 (DualCore)
full circle magazine #90

Your chance to show the world your desktop or PC. Email your screenshots and
photos to: [email protected] and include a brief paragraph about your
desktop, your PC's specs and any other interesting tidbits about your setup.

GPU: AMD/ATI Radeon HD 4250

RS880 (open driver)
RAM: 4 GB DDRIII
HD: Sata 500 GB
Other OS: Windows 7 ultimate x64

48

Daniele Spina

contents ^

MY DESKTOP

anting to show off one of

my virtual machines. It's
pulling 2 cores and 2GB of ram for
the settings. Despite having Unity,

it's not as slow as 1 3.04 and 1 3.1 0

were. Sporting the Numix GTK
theme as well as the Numix Circle
icon set with a Google Now Conky
full circle magazine #90

theme, and a ChromeOS wallpaper. Dual Core CPU

2GB of RAM
Ubuntu 1 4.04.1
VirtualBox
Don McCollough

49

contents ^

H O W TO CO N TRI B U TE

Full Circle Team

FCM#89

FULL CIRCLE NEEDS YOU!

A magazine isn't a magazine without articles and Full Circle is no

exception. We need your opinions, desktops, stories, how-to's, reviews,
and anything else you want to tell your fellow *buntu users. Send your
articles to: [email protected]

Deadline :

Sunday 09th Nov. 201 4.

Release :
Friday 28th Nov. 201 4.

We are always looking for new articles to include in Full Circle. For help and advice please
see the Official Full Circle Style Guide : http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/75d471
Send your comments or Linux experiences to: [email protected]
Hardware/software reviews should be sent to: [email protected]
Questions for Q&A should go to: [email protected]
Desktop screens should be emailed to: [email protected]
... or you can visit our forum via: fullcirclemagazine.org

Editor - Ronnie Tucker

[email protected]
Webmaster - Rob Kerfia
[email protected]
Podcast - Les Pounder & Co.
[email protected]
Editing & Proofreading
Mike Kennedy, Gord Campbell, Robert
Orsino, Josh Hertel, Bert Jerred, Jim
Dyer and Emily Gonyer
Our thanks go to Canonical, the many
translation teams around the world
and Thorsten Wilms for the FCM logo.

Getting Full Circle Magazine:

EPUB Format - Recent editions of Full Circle have a link to the epub file on the downloads page. If you have any problems with
the epub file, you can drop an email to: [email protected]

Issuu - You can read Full Circle online via Issuu: http://issuu.com/fullcirclemagazine. Please share and rate FCM as it helps to
spread the word about FCM and Ubuntu Linux.

Google Play - You can now read Full Circle on Google Play/Books. Either search for 'full circle magazine' or
click this link: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Ronnie+Tucker

full circle magazine #90

50

contents ^