Debian Wheezy - Web Browsers

v0.3.1

I've been working with Debian Wheezy with Virtualbox.  It occurred to me that I've long ago stopped talking about how to install Debian within VBox, and have transferred to talking about Wheezy itself.  Hopefully naming the posts about what they really are will be more productive.

Whilst purists might disagree, I think that using synaptic is a wonderful and easy tool to explore the world of Debian packages.  The sections are nicely laid out and it is easy to see which packages meet your search criteria .. and who knows, you might find some wonderful gem you never thought existed.

Take Web Browsers for example ......

When you search on that, some really interesting variants appear.

• Chromium from which Google Chrome is derived.  And it accepts the Google extensions.
• IceApe.  The Debian version of SeaMonkey which is the Mozilla version of Netscape.
• Dillo.  It is a cool, FAST web browser.  Yes, a little basic but did I mention is is FAST.
• Conkeror.  Emacs.  But this one does graphics.
• W3m.  Emacs.  But this one doesn't.
• Links2.  Just on 2 meg and it is not bad ...
• Lynx

Whilst there are a few more, I just wanted to illustrate what you can find.  I know there are the standard Gnome and KDE browsers, but at the  moment I'm inclined to avoid them since upon installing them you are obliged to install the majority of the appropriate desktop and whilst this might be fine for you, that is not what I'm looking at here.

I guess what I'm trying to point out is that the Debian repository of software is pretty extensive, and whilst I'd like to get back to configuring the overall system and finding those tips and tricks that seem elusive, there is so much to be found in Synaptic.


Later ........

Further to the above ....

I did of course negelect Debian's Firefox - IceWeasel which is provided in the latest variant.


:)

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 6

v 0.2

I have to say that I'm really enjoying playing with Wheezy in Virtualbox.  It is letting me have a really good look at where things are going - although the downside is that it is too easy to just stop my work and have a bit more of a peek.  I'm no expert, however it is really interesting finding a problem and then seeing what information there is available to get around it.  It is made so much easier because I am starting with a solid base system that I'm not relying on that I can just incrementally improve.

On to what I have been doing ..

Documentation

There really is an amazing amount of documentation and how-to information available for Debian, not only on the Internet at large but also on the Debian Website and within the installation itself.  One example is the "Debian Reference" we installed in my last post. 

Another package to look at installing is the "menu-xdg" to compliment "menu", the Debian menu package.  I installed it thinking I would perhaps GET a Debian menu in Xfce, but not to be - I think I'll have to define a menu-hook for it and do it manually - but not right now.

" dhelp " is a package worth installing.  Once it is on your system, open a terminal and type " dhelp" .. it compiles a list of HTML documentation on your system and presents it in the default Web browser.

If you get really keen and open the file browser, look in " /usr/share/doc " .. a documentation package for almost every package you have installed .. even one that describes the Debian Menu system in detail.

Open Synaptic and search on "documentation" ... extensive stuff in the Debian Repositories.

Other places to find great stuff are The Linux Documentation Project , and the Rute User Tutorial , not forgetting the Linux Cookbook .  Of course, the Slackware Linux Book project is just wonderful, and I've really been impressed with the detail of the documentation at Gentoo Linux.

I think that is enough for today.



Later ...............

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 5

v 0.2

This time I'd thought I'd talk about packages I've installed / uninstalled. 

• First up is the Flash plugin.  Wheezy comes with the latest IceWeasel browser (Firefox) however uses the Gnash plugin.  Whilst this is improving steadily, for what I want to do especially in Youtube, the Adobe Flash is much better.  Ensure you have  "main contrib non-free" activated for your repositories in "/etc/apt/sources.list" and after updating the repositories, fire up Synaptic and search for "Flash".  You will find the "Browser plugin for Gnash" is installed - mark it for removal, and at the same time, mark the Adobe Flash non-free for installation.  Apply, and now you have the Adobe Flash plugin installed.
• Some fonts.  Search for " ttf-mscorefonts-installer " and mark that for installation.
• Gdebi.  When you wish to install a " deb " package to your system that you have manually downloaded, if you use Gdebi to install, then all the dependencies will be checked and if available, downloaded from the Debian repository.  Once installed, it appears in the "System" section.
• Boot-Up Manager.  Look for " bum " .  What it does is to allow you to control which services run on startup.
• Debian-reference-en  .. an excellent book all about Debian.  This also installs the  debian-reference-common package.  If you are not careful and don't just choose your preferred language, you'll end up installing the lot.  You might also consider the debian refcard, and the installation guide as well.  Now, because of the wonders of the Debian menu system (worth finding out about), the Debian reference is now in the  "accessories" section.
• xchm - to view Microsoft compiled help files.  Once installed, it appears in the "Office" menu.  There is also kchmviewer, however though that is a little more capable, it is also somewhat larger.  If you are going to have a number of KDE applications though, it might not be so bad.
• xcal - an old and basic calendar / memo / alarm program - but interesting.  AND it brings up another question - that of modifying the Xfce menu, since xcal does not appear and can only be launched via the terminal (unless you create a launcher).

 Of course, the "application finder" spyglass on the dock could be used to do some modifying of the menu, however I've not chased it up yet.

Menus in Debian

Menus in Debian are interesting - there is an automated system to add and delete items that enables the menu of any desktop / window manager to be automatically updated as packages are moved in and out.  You can start reading about the Debian Menu System, and then,of course, Google is your friend.

Alacarte Menu Editor

The Gnome menu editor was the first to cross my mind .. " Alacarte" however when I went to install it, many of the Gnome packages were listed for installation as well, which was not what I was after.

The Debian Menu

One menu selection that is missing is the "Debian" menu, which DOES include all the installed applications.




Enough for the moment.



More later .......

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 4

v0.2

Xfce

The first thing I'd like to cover is the customisations I did and why I did them.

I didn't like the desktop icons.  They were just yuk.  I found it difficult to open them - perhaps their target "doubleclick" area was too small.  So:

• Application Menu > Settings > Appearance > Icons > Gnome
• Much better
• ps .. subsequently I had problems with the doubleclick ... right click and .. "open" .

Wallpaper - For the first time, I've found some really nice wallpaper in the default install.

• Application Menu > Settings > Desktop
• Choose your wallpaper

Yup, that's it.  They are the only two things I changed.  And I love the desktop.

I had a look at the Xfce website, and there are a couple of webpages that are REALLY interesting - additions to the basic install ......

• http://wiki.xfce.org/consoleaddict
• http://wiki.xfce.org/recommendedapps

Synaptic is your friend.


Other Stuff

I was going to leave this for a bit and round it out, however since I have a Licence renewal Simulator in a couple of days, perhaps I should concentrate on that.  Although this is fun as a diversion.

Looking at Xfce has made me keen to look more closely at the GnuStep Desktop, Lxde, Fvwm and a couple of others (including JWM and Fluxbox) to see just what we can do to make a nice easy desktop.  At the moment though, Xfce is just beautiful.



Later ...............

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 3

v0.2

I finished the previous part having just booted into a nice shiny Gnome 3 desktop in Virtualbox.  It certainly was a change to what I was used to.

Before I get started though, what the Guest Additions do for you are that they allow seamless mouse movement between Guest and Host, and the ability to re-size the Guest desktop.  Just drag and it all works.  Three other features I'll mention in passing here are the ability to mount a DVD drive or ISO image, the ability to use a USB memory stick (after you have introduced it to Virtualbox in the USB section) and the ability to set up a shared folder between the two operating systems.

Gnome 3

I have to say that my initial experience was somewhat jarring.  I sort-of worked out some of the functionality, however it still largely felt like a bad visit to cartoonland.  I think I shall have to let it sit for a while, see if I can find a straightforward set of documentation and then re-visit.

Despite my reservations, I can perhaps see the point of the developers in that new users MAY find it a good experience, though I still wonder.

Xfce

Whilst I had used Xfce a little in the past, I was keen to see how it had developed in the latest incarnation. Those who are used to Debian being associated with "old" software have obviously never visited the "Testing" branch.

I re-did the Netinstall and put Xfce as the desktop of choice so as to see what came with it.  I found the log-in screen a little different to what I was used to (I use gdm and I assume this was different) however it went fine.  I don't care for the Debian starry wallpaper and need to do some reading to see how to replace it for the bootup and login.  The Xfce desktop came up very nicely and I had a great feeling about it right away - I can understand Linus's comments now about abandoning Gnome for Xfce.  I checked the "About" menu option and found it was Xfce 4.8, the latest version.

About now would be a good time for a screenshot, but I won't.  Instead I shall use the wonder of text to describe it (you'll thank me for not exposing you to the starry paper background).

Debian has Xfce set up with three bands by default.

• Of course there is the desktop in the centre which has three icons at the top left for "Home", "Filesystem" and "Trash".  Right click the mouse and a menu allowing you to create desktop icons or select properties or applications, appears.  
• Along the top is a panel reminiscent of the Gnome 2 setup.  On the left is a main dropdown menu of applications, then a shutdown button next to it.  On the right at the top are the icons for the default 4 workspaces, the time and the network status.
• At the bottom is a panel in the centre that works a little like the OSX "Dock".  There are six icons by default.  Minimise Windows, Terminal, File Manager, Web Browser, Find Applications, and an icon that allows you to open any folder in your home folder in either the file manager or terminal.

It is rather pointless talking about standard applications that come with Debian because it is easy to simply use the package manager and install those you like and eliminate those you don't.  I will say though that those that stood out to me were Iceweasel v9.0 (ie the running latest release of firefox) and LibreOffice.  I also like the lack of some of the major applications that come with Gnome by default that I just don't use.

So in contrast with my initial impression of the latest Gnome, I rather like Xfce.  I'll leave this post here (and get back to what I should be doing) and next time I'll talk about some initial customisations I have done to make things just that bit better.


Later ..............

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 2

v 0.2

In Part 1 of this post, I talked generally about the requirements for setting up a Wheezy Gnome VM in Virtualbox.  I shall assume that you have the Machine specified, but not installed yet.  I shall also be rash and write these notes from memory.

Installation

• Start the VM.  If you are using a Windows host, it will politely ask you to tell it where the installation iso is, otherwise, you will need to let it fail, then use the "Device" menu at the top to select the CD netinstall iso image and restart.
• The standard Debian installer screen is your first port of call.  If you want a Gnome desktop, just continue.  I never bother with the graphical install since it is just a more complex version of the standard text interface.  But then, I like the Slackware installer as well ......
• To install a desktop OTHER than Gnome, go to "Advanced" and you will find links to a number of alternatives including KDE, Xfce and Lxde.
• Now you need to simply proceed through the standard Debian installation routine for what you want.  There is an EXCELLENT Debian installation guide at "Howtoforge" entitled "The Perfect Desktop Debian Squeeze" which I strongly recommend.

Installing Guest Additions

If you are using the Gnome 3 desktop,  the initial log-in will be slow while it works out that it cannot use the standard Gnome and will fall back to the "classic" look (which you could also select on log-in the first time).  The steps I followed to get the guest additions installed and Gnome 3 running (I also described the guest additions with Debian in another post - read it and you can tell me where I differ to it):

• Open a "root" terminal.  I'll describe the commands to type in between the "  " ....
• "  aptitude install synaptic "   Synaptic is a nice graphical package manager that has its uses.
• "  aptitude install module-assistant  "   Module assistant is the key to installing guest additions
• "  m-a prepare "     This gets module assistant to load the dependencies for the guest additions
• Start Synaptic, search (there is a magnifying glass button for search) for " virtualbox " and mark any installed virtualbox package for removal (they will be marked as guest additions), then " Apply "
• The tricky bit is coming up
• You need to mount the "guest additions iso" which is located in the installation directory for virtualbox.  You can either select "install guest additions" from the "device" menu on the VM or you can use the " device " menu and CD/DVD selection to search for the guest additions iso.  In either case, you should make sure it is mounted.  It will appear mounted under " /media/cdrom0 "
• Once you have it mounted, use the root terminal to "  cd /media/cdrom0 " and to execute the "VBoxLinuxAdditions.run"  as shown in the next part
• "  bash ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run "   using the root terminal after changing to the iso.   You need to have the "  ./  " in front of the Vbox..etc because it explicitly tells Linux where the file is.  (ie a period and forward slash).
• At some stage, it will complain that there are already Guest Additions installed - ignore it because you just deleted them and it has detected the remnants.
• Once this is completed, reboot the VM and you will now have an accelerated Gnome 3 desktop.

That's it for the moment.

As always, corrections or additions welcome.


Later ................

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 1

v 0.2

 This post has grown significantly since I started, so I've had to split it up ...... here goes ..

I'm a fan of Debian Linux.  Whilst Ubuntu is fine, Debian just sits right with me.  Same with Virtualbox.  I have had a Debian Squeeze virtual machine on my laptop and desktop for some time and thought I'd explore a bit further. 

One thing I did recently was to explore the concept of using a Debian VM as an encrypted volume.  Whilst there are some other means of encrypting files and partitions, I've found it is quite effective to install a Debian encrypted VM and use that.  It is quite straight-forward, as I described in an earlier post installing to an old laptop. Free and neat.

What I have been thinking of recently, though, is exploring Wheezy (Debian Testing) and the new Gnome.  I'd been hearing a few things about it that disturbed me, and I have been eager to explore a bit, since I have shown a few people Debian recently, and they love it.  Gnome in Squeeze is quite easy for them and I've been wondering how they would fare.


Wheezy Netinstall

First, how do you find an ISO to install?  Easy - search on "debian installer" and it will take you to the page from which to download a "netinstall" image.

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/

You can see from this that this is the link to the "i386" image.

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso

Now, what is a "Netinstall" iso image?  It is a Debian Installer cd image that will install a base Linux system onto your computer from which it then connects to a Debian Repository to download the remaining files to produce a complete system.  Note, you need to be connected to the Internet when you use the Netinstall image - I guess that is .. er .. why it is called "Netinstall".

Virtualbox

Given that Virtualbox is free and available for all common platforms, I've found it most useful.  I can run a copy of the same Linux VM on both my Windows desktop and my Mac Laptop. 

For those who don't know, Virtualbox started as a private, open-source project many years ago before being bought by Sun, who continued developing it, before in turn being bought by Oracle who have thankfully kept the project going.  The latest can be downloaded from http://virtualbox.org  .  You will need both the version for your platform, and the guest additions (which install into virtualbox easily).

Preparing Virtualbox for Gnome 3

I have two Wheezy VMs - one for Gnome and one for Xfce desktops, to see what is available and how best to tailor Wheezy for what I want, however I used the same recipie for both VMs.  It is pretty straight forward to prepare a VM in Virtualbox, and you can always read the documentation or Google for some pointers, so I'll only cover the particulars of my install.

• I started the new Gnome VM by calling it WheezyGnome - Virtualbox immediately figured it was going to be a Linux VM.  
• I created an expanding volume, max 15 gig
• In the Display section, I gave it 128 meg of video memory and ticked the 3d acceleration

Gnome 3 needs 3d acceleration to give you the best "experience" otherwise it starts in a fall-back mode.  When you first install any Linux distro with Gnome 3, you will need to start the fall-back mode until you have installed the "Guest Additions" to the VM.

Next ...

Next I'll talk about how I got Gnome 3 up and running in Wheezy ...



Later .....