FOSSwire

It's no coincidence that Ubuntu is now the most popular distribution of Linux for desktop PCs. It is one of the easiest distributions to set up and use for day-to-day tasks.

Despite this, getting onto the 'Linux ladder', making your first steps into the world of Linux, can be daunting, especially without support. There are lots of books specifically targeted towards beginners and Ubuntu, and Apress's Beginning Ubuntu Linux, by Keir Thomas and Jaime Sicam is one.

I was given a copy of the third edition of the book, which is updated to specifically cover the latest release of Ubuntu, Hardy Heron (8.04). Its 700 odd pages are designed to take you all the way from a beginner moving from a Windows environment to a pretty proficient Linux user.

I should reiterate that point - this is very much a book for switchers (or people who want to use both). Throughout the text, comparisons are made between Ubuntu features and their Windows counterparts to aid the transition. It is also possible to follow coming from a Mac environment, but there is much more focus on Windows.

The book also includes a double-sized DVD with the full Ubuntu 8.04 distribution on one side, plus many alternative versions (including Kubuntu, etc.) in .iso image format on the other.

Structurally, the book is divided into eight parts, starting with an introduction to the world of Linux, progressing through installing Ubuntu and getting started with it, and then moving on to in-depth coverage of the command line, multimedia, many of the included applications and finally maintenance and optimisation of your system and appendices.

Introduction and Background

The first chapter gives a nice gentle introduction; it tells you in basic terms what an operating system is and how Linux differs from Windows. Even if you barely know anything, you should be able to follow.

Right after that, there is a pretty detailed and comprehensive 'history and politics lesson', explaining how Linux came about, GNU (and all the politics there) and the crucial concept of different Linux distributions.

The second chapter is a lot of historical information to digest for a complete beginner and it is tempting to skip it, but if you do, you will miss the explanation of how Ubuntu fits into the wider Linux picture and the concept of different distributions, which is critical knowledge.

This section is in depth, however, and is interesting to read, even if you've been using Linux for some time.

Installation

Installing Ubuntu is probably the biggest hurdle to many people. As easy as you can make an operating system installation procedure, you still have to have pretty solid computer knowledge to perform one.

A whole part of the book is dedicated to installation. Key concepts such as disk partitioning are explained well, but there is at this point a (largely unavoidable) assumption that you are already proficient with the management of a Windows system.

One element of the Installation section that could be improved is making the different installation options clearer in the step-by-step installation process.

For example, if you're not aiming for a dual boot setup (Windows and Ubuntu co-existing), there are a lot of steps that are specific to dual booting, and you sort of have to filter the instructions relevant to you to get through the process.

Overall, though, the Installation part of the book is well detailed, such that with a little additional support, a proficient Windows user can end up with an installed copy of Ubuntu and get on to the rest of the book relatively easily.

Getting Started

The next task for the Linux newbie is getting to grips with the unfamiliar interface. Beginning Ubuntu Linux gives you a good rundown of the differences between Windows (or OS X) and the GNOME interface, including annotated screenshots and tables.

There is a slight concern in my mind that depending on the level of expertise of the reader, rushing in at this point to introducing concepts such as virtual desktops might be a bit too much to take in at once, but on the other hand, it would be difficult to fit that section elsewhere in the book.

Getting Up and Running

This part of the book focuses on getting things working post-install, such as getting connected to the internet, including wireless networking.The problem I have with this section is that it does jump quite noticeably in difficulty level.

Having had a gentle ride so far, it is as if you are suddenly thrown in at the deep end.

For example, using Ndiswrapper to configure Wi-Fi cards not natively supported by Ubuntu seems way beyond the level explored thus far.

While network access is quite fundamental to Ubuntu being useful, I can't help thinking this would have better been saved for later.

The Command Line

It is assumed in some parts of the book that you want to take Ubuntu further than just using it and delve somewhat into the more technical side. Of course, while it is possible to skip whole sections on this, important concepts might be missed out.

The introduction to the shell in this part is well written. Everything you need to understand to do basic tasks at the command line is adequately explained, without throwing too much detail in too early. Again, we're back to a gentle pace.

In itself, this section is actually an excellent beginner's guide to any Linux CLI and gives a good solid framework of knowledge to learn about the more techie side of Ubuntu.

Of course, whether this section is of utility or interest, or at the right difficulty level, depends a lot on the reader.

Applications and Multimedia

For most of the rest of the book, you drop back down a difficulty level to being more of a consumer, focusing on multimedia and many of the productivity applications that Ubuntu provides.

The multimedia section discusses the legal issues of proprietary codecs well and its step-by-step tutorials makes it easy for users to enjoy media content in many different formats.

The applications that are covered are the OpenOffice.org productivity suite and the Evolution email and groupware client.

Each of OOo's applications are covered in a good amount of detail, often comparing to similar features of Microsoft Office where appropriate. Again, these sections alone would make a formidable beginner's reference to OOo, especially for those migrating from or working in conjunction with MS Office.

The same in depth coverage is given to Evolution, with the viewpoint of using it as a replacement for Outlook. Again, there is reference to Outlook, equivalent features and focus on integrating with users of other email systems.

I can't really argue with these chapters. They provide an impressive go-to reference for OOo and Evolution and I can certainly see them being useful in easing the transition from a Windows/Office system.

Management, Optimisation and Appendices

Rather curiously, installing and removing software is left for this section, close to the end (but frequently referenced to elsewhere in the text). Again, the content is well written and all necessary concepts are explained perfectly well, but the placement of that section seems a little, well, bizarre.

Also detailed here are backups, connecting to remote machines as well as user and group management and more.

Finally, the appendices include a glossary of bash commands, how to get help as well as how to run the other versions of Ubuntu that ship on the other side of the DVD.

Overall

Beginning Ubuntu Linux is undoubtedly a good starting point for anyone with intermediate or greater Windows skills that wants to dip their toe in the Linux world.

In general, the book is detailed and comprehensive and makes a great introduction to desktop Linux and subsequently a sound reference tool.

It seems, however, to be a sort of hybrid book - as I just said, it starts with an introduction/getting started guide at the front and then suddenly switches into a reference book for much of the remainder.

A complete novice reading from cover to cover might well end up taking in too much in one go, getting confused and then giving up.

To get the most out of this title, I think you need to initially be very picky about what you read. Don't be tempted to venture into the technical aspects, such as the command line, too quickly. Plenty of digestion time is necessary, unless you already have Linux experience and just want a refresher.

The book is a strong starting point for those who are good at Windows and want to venture into the world of Linux and I would recommend it for those people.

Again, though, it's not necessarily to be read in a linear fashion; picking and choosing the right sections to read at the right times is important.

Full disclosure: Publisher Apress approached me asking me to review this book and sent me a free review copy. Other than that, there is no affiliation or other involvement between myself or FOSSwire and Apress.

[DVD image source]

Many financial applications, such as KMyMoney, can be very useful, however there is often quite a learning curve associated with them.

Buddi is an open source personal budgeting application for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X that is designed to keep things very simple, yet still be usable for the average home user to keep track of their finances.

Installation

Buddi is written in Java, and thus needs you to have a working installation of Java on your system to run. Whether you have Java and how to get it differs depending on your operating system. Mac users should be fine, Windows users can grab an installer, and this guide should help Linux users.

Once you've got Java, you can get the appropriate download for your system from the Downloads page. Here on Kubuntu Linux, I get the .deb and double-click it to install (which actually does Java as well for me if I don't have it, but your results might differ).

Interface Impressions

On the Linux platform (and possibly elsewhere too), Buddi unfortunately sports a rather generic, and ugly, Java interface. This makes integration with the rest of your desktop poor. This is a symptom of the way it is developed and its cross platform Java nature, however, and something that can be difficult to avoid.

The main interface is divided into three simple tabs for accounts, budgets and reports. Unlike some competing programs, it's a nice simple setup that is easy to digest and understand.

The first two tabs also work as you expect and it's obvious how to use them. Aside from some commands being hidden away on the Edit menu, where it's not immediately obvious to look, these two modules work as advertised and it's really easy to get to grips with them.

On the subject of those Edit menu commands, it would be much better from an interface point of view to use a toolbar, with graphical buttons for the most frequently used commands, like Create Budget Category, for example.

The final tab, for reports, however, came across to me as working in a bit of a confusing way.

You select a report to view from a relevant drop-down box, but then there is an unnerving delay when it's not clear whether that action worked, or didn't. Turns out what is happening is that your web browser is being loaded, to display the report as an HTML file.

The reports are a good way of getting your data back out of the application and present the information in a clear way, but I think it wouldn't hurt here to make it more clear that your browser would be invoked, and that there might be some delay.

A further criticism, which might be more to do with my Java setup, is that my default browser wasn't loaded for some reason, instead it loaded in a different browser installed on the system.

Functionality

Buddi isn't trying to do everything. Far from that, Buddi tries to be simple and is even described as being aimed at those with little financial experience.

Functionality wise, though, it offers enough to do basic financial recording and reporting. Transactions can be performed on your accounts, allowing you to keep track of what's going in and coming out of your account.

These transactions can be linked to Budget categories and then allow you to track what you planned against what's actually being spent in each category.

Speaking of those Budget categories, it's trivial to add custom incoming and outgoing categories of different types to personalise your records and ease the process of tracking your personal data.

As I've already mentioned, the Reports are also good, giving you a nice overview of how well reality is matching with your budgeting, and allowing you to drill down into the categories and transactions to see where everything is going.

One final thing to say is you have to remember to save your accounts to a file, and then manually use File > Open when you relaunch the program to load in your saved data. It would be nice here to have Buddi remember your last file, and automatically open it.

Overall

Buddi doesn't try to be too clever or complicated, and I personally think it succeeds in offering a simple solution for people who want to do basic personal budgeting.

While I do have some minor interface concerns, I can't emphasise enough how simple Buddi is to use. Even if there are quirks, it's likely that most people will quickly learn how to master the application given a bit of time.

If you want a budgeting solution a bit lighter than the others (and don't mind braving a distinctly Java-y interface on Linux), Buddi is a win.

In the last post in this multi-part series, I'm going to look at arguably one of the most popular PHP free forum solutions out there, phpBB. It is designed to be feature-rich and a complete solution for building an online forum.

It requires PHP 4.3.3 and a supported database (including MySQL, Oracle, Postgres and even Microsoft SQL Server). I'll be covering the latest version at the time of writing, 3.0.1. As always, it's all about Ease of Installation, Features, Extensibility and Themes.

Ease of Installation

The extraction is pretty much a standard process, with both zip and tar+bzip2 archives available on the downloads page. Once you've extracted, you have a phpBB3 folder.

Right off the bat here, you can browse to the folder you extracted to to get this fancy-looking Installer.

It's nice and clear, provided you realise you need to click the Installation tab. Once you're on it, you click through to a Requirements screen, which compares what you have on your server with what you need and optional components. This does make it nice and clear of any issues you might need to clear up before you proceed.

At this point, I changed the permissions on config.php, as it identified the file as not being writable.

Now you enter the database details (setting up a database first if you don't have one) and move on. If you didn't set the permissions on config.php to be writable, you will at this point have to copy and paste the completed contents manually into the file.

After this point, you have an opportunity to set some basic options before the database tables are created and filled with data. After that, delete the install directory and you're ready!

The installation process here isn't quite as streamlined as some, but the Installer is well written, fairly clear and elegant.

Ease of Installation Score: 7/10

Features

phpBB is all about features. One of the main aims of phpBB is to provide what most people want in a forum, so that they don't have to go and hack the core code or add plugins to get commonly desired functionality.

This means that phpBB is chock full of features right from the beginning. These include:

• BBCode
• Emoticons
• Categories and unlimited subforums
• Avatars and Signatures
• Ranks
• Private Messaging
• Access Control Lists and Pruning

If you don't want to spend a lot of time fiddling around installing extra things after the main software to get the features you want, phpBB definitely fits the bill in this area and certainly has an impressive featureset.

Features Score: 8/10

Extensibility

This is my big gripe with phpBB. Unlike other forum systems, that utilise a plugin architecture, phpBB has no way of adding external features to the main software without ugly mods (involving patching the core files).

Sure, mods do work, but they're a lot more difficult to install most of the time and they add numerous changes and therefore complications to the software that discourage people from doing important security updates to the core software itself.

I would love to see phpBB include a real plugin system for a future major release. It would clean this process up so much and make a lot of developers, site owners and security people a lot more happy.

On the positive site, the newest mods generally ship with browser-based install instructions that do walk you through most of the process of manually updating files. Thanks to phpBB's popularity, there is also a huge quantity of third-party mods available.

Extensibility Score: 1/10

Themes

phpBB's themes system, called Styles, is very well executed. As well as a massive community of designers building themes and therefore a wide range to choose from, Themes are pretty easy to install and apply.

You head over to the Styles Database, download a zip package and extract it into your styles/ directory. A simple trip to the Admin CP later, you can apply that style. The process works just how it should. Well, actually, no.

I searched, but the Styles DB only appears to list phpBB 2.x styles right now, which isn't much use when it comes to phpBB 3.0.1.

Third party sites, however, do offer lots of phpBB 3.0 styles, and once you do get the right package the installation process is simple and you get up and running with a new style almost instantly.

From a technical perspective, the templates are built using HTML with custom tags (through custom HTML comments) to define dynamic sections that are evauated by phpBB at runtime to build the templates into the relevant pages. It's not quite as simple as some systems I've seen, but I guess it does the job adequately.

Themes Score: 6/10

Overall

Feature-wise, phpBB is very hard to beat this side of the source code divide. As I've said already several times, if you don't want the hassle of installing plugins for features like avatars and PM that other forums don't include in the core, phpBB might be for you.

Having said that, if you really want to go wild with features, you will be stuck using the (to put it politely) less-than-optimum mod system, which could quickly become infuriating following software updates to the phpBB core software itself.

It does have a large dedicated support community, however, and lots of others are using it. phpBB is a bit like Marmite - you either love it or hate it, and sometimes it can be an acquired taste. Personally, I don't particularly bite, and would prefer something a bit lighter, but it takes all sorts.

phpBB, you get a 5.5 out of 10.