Boombatower Blog

The latests and greatest version of openSUSE has been released. I have been waiting for SUSE 11.0 for some time and will be upgrading immediately. I have already backed up my system and have begun downloading the 64 bit DVD via torrent.

This release has been praised as the Mercedes-Benz of Linux. The release has lots of updated programs, new features, and performance upgrades.

A good article can be found at one of my favorite blogs.

Due to Google Talk's lack of support for Linux or Mac users are forced to use the gmail AJAX interface or the flash gadget. Personally I don't like having them open in my browser and neither of them have the capabilities of an application.

So I decided to see if it was possible to setup Kopete, a common Linux chat program, to work with Google Talk. As I found out it was very simple.

This article describes how to set it up.

Rather interesting article I found a while back.

http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT5836989728.html

My father found this article some time ago and I decided it was worth sharing.

http://www.linux.com/feature/60441

Open source is pretty amazing. It's a very different way of thinking about software.

This was an interesting tidbit that showed up in the hints on login to SUSE.

The K in KDE does not stand for anything. It is the character that comes before L in the Latin alphabet, which stands for Linux. It was chosen because KDE runs on many types of UNIX (and perfectly well on FreeBSD).

SUSE now offers a web search that allows you to find programs and their respective repositories. The one-click install will be implemented in SUSE 10.3, although there are ways to make it work in SUSE 10.2.

I use the search tool to find the repositories that I need for the specific programs I want. Once you find what you are looking for simple on the link in the upper right of each search result. This will take you to the address of that repository.

For example if you search for eclipse the link in the upper right is Java:addon/openSUSE_10.2. After you click the link it will take you to the following url: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Java:/addon/openSUSE_10.2/.

You can then use the url to add a source to YaST. For instruction please see Adding YaST Installation Sources.

I enjoy Internet radio through Amarok. Instead of picking songs off the web, cds, etc. a playlist will be sent to you and the music streamed to your computer.

To use Amarok to listen to Internet radio simply open Ameriok. Alt+F2 then type amarok. (or in the menus under Multimedia->Audio Player->Amarok or just Multimedia->Amarok) After Amarok loads select Playlists from the left tabs, then drop down Radio Streams.

You can add your own or look at the Cool-Streams that come with Amarok. Simply select one of the streams by double clicking it. The playlist will download and then you can choose one of the streams to listen to.

Partitions

It is a good idea to partition your drive into a main partition for applications and system stuff, home driver, and swap partition. By doing this you will be able to re-install SUSE without touching your personal files.

A swap partition is used when your computer runs our of memory then it can use the hard driver space for extra memory. I usually do a gig swap partition.

Turn off ZMD

I have found that there is really no way to remove ZMD after installing SUSE. You can disable ZMD, but there isn't any real way to un-install it.

My recommendation is to never install it. When installing SUSE simple click the software link when that screen is available and set Enterprise Software Management (ZENworks Linux Management) to Taboo by right clicking and selecting Taboo.

If you have already installed SUSE and just want to disable it please try Improving Yast Software Management.

Recently I have begun work in C++ and decided I wanted the most up to date version of KDevelop. So I looked in YAST but it wasn't the newest. The easiest way to get and maintain up to date version is to add a source containing KDevelop to YAST.

Add the following source to YaST. If you are new to adding installation sources please refer to Adding YaST Installation Sources.

http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/Backports/openSUSE_10.2/x86_64

Then goto Software Management and install KDevelope. YAST will then maintain your version by alerting you to updates and allowing you to install them with a single click.

A good tutorial I used is: http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

Windows Vista has a new feature that allows you to place notes on your desktop. This feature has existed for some time in SUSE, and there have been various Windows Gadgets that sought to emulate the functionality. I will explain how to use notes in SUSE 10.2.

Start by loading KNotes via Menu->Desktop->KNotes.

KNotes will load itself in the system tray (icons in the bottom right of screen by default). To make a new note simply right click on the KNotes icon and click new note.

A new note will appear on your desktop that you can drag around, hide, and change note settings.

The note title can by modified by double clicking on the window title area.

You can add other options to your note such as an alarm that will remind you of the note.

You can hide notes by clicking the X on them, but to delete notes you must right click and select delete.

Hidden notes can be reopened by left clicking on the KNotes icon and selected the note you wish to reopen. If you only have one note than it will automatically open it.