Ubuntu Help
For Human Beings

With the great success of my post a few weeks back: Ubuntu in a Microsoft world: Part 1 - Email and Calendar came a few questions and concerns. The most common one I’d like to address is this:

How can I have my Sent mail go to my “Sent” folder on the Exchange server?

The answer is really simple. Just follow these steps. (In Evolution)

1. In Evolution, click Edit->Preferences

2. In the top right corner, click “Edit”.

3. Click on the “Defaults” tab

4. Under, “Sent and Drafts Messages“, click on the “Sent” button

5. In the folder explorer, select the folder you want your sent message to go to. In my case, i used the Exchange servers “Sent” folder.

6. Click ok.

Thats it! You can also do the same thing for your Drafts, by clicking the “Drafts” button under the”Defaults” Tab.

Off Topic:

Being a full time student, and trying to be a full time software engineer at the same time is extreemly difficult, and my free time is very scarce. While i really do love writing and helping people, i just have not had time to sit and think about what to write lately. I completely missed the big “Gusty” release, but that had been blogged about 1,000,000 times anyway, and I really dont like blogging just to say I blogged.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like to see covered, I’m open to them! I do plan on making part two of my “Ubuntu in a Microsoft world” series, but im not sure which topic I am going to cover. My first inclination is VPN, but there is something else you would like to see instead, shoot me an email at eric@ericmitz.com

I started this blog a bit more than two weeks ago with no expectations for anything. I honestly didn’t expect more than a handful of views. I really started this blog for my own entertainment, because “Everyone was doing it”.

So last weekend i wrote a post about my experience with using Ubuntu at my workplace, more specifically my email client. Within’ a few hours of writing that post, i noticed the hits on my blog Ex-fricking-sploded. I went from a measly 30 view per day average (which i thought was actually decent) to 3000 views in a matter of hours. It was incredible.

So what was the cause behind this explosion of friendly visitors? A little site called www.lifehacker.com featured my last article, Ubuntu in a Microsoft World: Part 1 - Email, on their front page as a kind of “Linux tip of the day”. Let me tell you, when an ‘A’ list blog features your third “Tech” post ever, its a pretty cool feeling. I was watching my blog stats like a little kid watching nickelodeon. Everytime I refreshed my browser, the graph grew higher and higher. I know 3000 posts is still considered a deserted waste land in the blogosphere, but it was really cool for me, so i figured I would post about it. I’m actually a bit embarrassed about my blog right now. Its not even close to finished. Most of the pages at the top go no where, my forum isn’t made, and my photography page has well…no photographs! I guess I should step up an get going on that!

Hopefully the next parts in my “Ubuntu in a Microsoft World” series will be half as successful as the last.

Thanks www.lifehacker.com!

It just so happens that I am both an Ubuntu/Linux enthusiast, and a software engineer for a big dollar corporate technology company. Lucky me.

Anyone who works in today’s corporate world knows that when it comes to software, Microsoft has a good share of the market. Ok, maybe a ‘good share’ is an understatement…they are the market. Everything from email, to web browsing to conferencing and office software, there is no escaping the grasp of BillyG when you are at work.

or is there?

In this imnotsurehowmanypart series, ill take you through my Ubuntu experience in corporate America, and give you some hopefully helpful tips to make it through the day without booting Windows, as I have been able to do for well over a year now. I found that the software i use most on a daily basis is my email client, and thats where im going to start.

Corporate email is a necessity, especially within larger corporations. Email is the be all, end all of communication in the workplace. Without it, nothing would ever get done.

There is no secret that Microsoft is the Mac Daddy of corporate email. The Microsoft exchange server, combined with the Outlook email/calendar client is a powerhouse, plain and simple. Dont let it scare you though, there are a few ways to hide in the shadows.

The first thing you have to understand before you start a corporate Ubuntu lifestyle, is that you are not going to be able to change anything. If your company is using Microsoft Exchange server, they are going to continue to use Microsoft Exchange server, whether you compain about it or not. The company I work for even went so far as to require us to use Internet Explorer. Absolutely blasphemous!

Microsoft Exchange is a proprietary email server and protocol. That means that Microsoft owns the rights to everything about it, and they are surely not going to give up any secrets. That poses a problem for third party developers interested in building applications that use the Exchange protocol. They cant! There is no documentation on how to interface with the Exchange server, so any kind of third part software you can find that does this was reverse engineered. Reverse engineering is cool, and a lot of great applications came from it, but its hard to do, and even harder to do well. In fact, there are zero UNIX email clients that can communicate with Microsoft Exchange using the native protocol. Luckily, there are still some ways we can connect. I will use my top two personal email client choices for this article.

Many large companies use Microsoft Exchange for email and calendaring, so that is what this article will focus on.

IMAP, do you?

The Internet Message Access Protocol, or IMAP, is an internet protocol standard for email clients. IMAP is a method of accessing email stored on an email server. In other words, it permits a “client” email program to access remote message stores as if they were local. The great thing about IMAP, compared to POP, is that your IMAP server, and IMAP clients are kept in sync. That means if you read an email at work, it will be marked as read when you get home, and vice versa.

The best thing about IMAP is that it’s an open protocol. Anyone can use it, and it is well documented. This is the protocol that most non-Microsoft email clients use.

Why is it important? Well, lucky for us, many corporations who use Microsoft Exchange, also have the IMAP protocol integrated with it! That means we can either connect via the Exchange protocol or the IMAP protocol. This is the idea we are going to bank on, at least for now (skip to the “Linux and Exchange: An evolution” section if you are sure your company does not have the IMAP protocol enabled).

Bring on the thunder!

My Linux email client of choice is thunderbird (created by the same people who brought you firefox), so thats what i will focus on in this tutorial. Don’t worry if you don’t use or like thunderbird, the same concepts explored here can be applied to any IMAP enabled email client (Evolution, Kmail, etc).

Lets get started.

1. Determine if IMAP is enabled.
The first thing you need to do is make sure your company has IMAP enabled. Contact your I.T. department and ask if it is supported. If they say no, skip to the “Linux and Exchange: An Evolution” section below).

2. Obtain the exchange server host

There are a few ways to do this. The first is to simply ask your IT department. If thats not an option, you can open up outlook and get it. Simply go to the Tools->E-Mail Accounts menu .

Then navigate to your Microsoft exchange settings and note the hostname in the ‘Microsoft Exchange Server’ field.

You may also want to find your Global Address book server. You may have to ask your I.T. department for this. If they wont give it to you, you can also find it in Outlook

Click Tools->Address book.

In the Address book window, click Tools->options

Select ‘Global Address Book’ in the list, and click Properties.

Navigate through the tabs to find the server name.

Write these down!!!

Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for an even easier way to install Ubuntu? Don’t feel like trying to burn an ISO image? Don’t even know what an ISO image is? Afraid you wont like Ubuntu, and wont be able to remove it completely?

Wubi is the Answer!

What is Wubi?

Wubi is a free Windows front end installer for the Ubuntu operating system. That means that Wubi allows you to install Ubuntu without leaving Windows, just like any other Windows application! With Wubi you don’t have to burn any fancy I.S.O. images to a CD, no worrying about disk partitioning, and you can even uninstall Ubuntu, right from windows. Wubi is completely safe. It installs Ubuntu without modifying your hard disk partitions,without modifying your boot loader, and gives you the option to completely remove Ubuntu from the “Add/Remove Programs” menu in Windows. The Wubi secret, is that it installs Ubuntu in a single file within windows, rather than using a whole disk partition.

How does Wubi Work?

Quote from www.wubi-installer.org

Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which allows you to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed within a file in the windows file system (c:\wubi\disks\system.virtual.disk), this file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk.

In Human terms, that means Ubuntu thinks its installed on its own hard drive partition, but in reality, its installed within the Windows file system. A pretty nifty trick!

Ok, so where is the catch?

Catch? What catch? Well, there is no real catch, but there are a few limitations you should be aware of.

1. Because Ubuntu is not installed on a real hard drive partition, disk access times are a bit slower when using Wubi. That means that reading/writing large files will take longer on a Wubi Ubuntu installation than on a real Ubuntu installation. If you are feeling nerdy, you can fix this by using LVPM to transfer your Wubi installation to a real partition. There is a guide on UbuntuForums.org you can follow, here.

2. When using Ubuntu with Wubi, you are limited in Hard drive space by the space on your windows partition. That means if you have 12 gigabytes of free space on windows, you will have 12 gigabytes free space in Ubuntu.

3. Hibernate and suspend is not yet implemented in Wubi.

4. The Wubi filesystem is more vulnerable to data corruption under power loss. That means you should try your best to keep your laptop battery charged!

Im sold, how do I do it!?

Installing Wubi is about as simple as it gets.

1. Download Wubi from www.wubi-installer.org

2. Double click the executable, Wubi-7.04.04.exe (the version number will change with different Ubuntu releases)

3. You will see the following screen.

(Image courtesy of www.wubi-installer.org)

4. Select which Windows partition you want to install Wubi on.

5. Select the size of your virtual Ubuntu partition. You will not be able to use any more space for Ubuntu than you specify here. This will be the approximate size of the “file” Ubuntu is installed in.

6. Select your desktop environment. If you want something other than Ubuntu, select it here.

7. Select your language.

8. Select a user to be used within your Ubuntu installation.

9. Enter a secure password.

10. Click Install

Thats it! The Wubi installer will download and install all the Ubuntu files you need. Installation may take a long time depending on the speed of your internet connection. Wubi downloads the entire Ubuntu ISO image, which is close to 700B.

I hate it! How do I get rid of it?

Removing Wubi is just as easy as installing it.

1. Click (in Windows) Start->Control Panel->Add Remove programs

2. Select Wubi, and click Change/Remove

3. Thats it! Your computer should now go back to the way it was before installation.

Note: All Ubuntu files, including documents, programs, music, etc, will be deleted along with Wubi.

I’m having some problems!

If you are having trouble installing Wubi, there are many places to get help. They are listed below.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide

http://www.ubuntuforums.org

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=234

If your just thinking about switching to Ubuntu, or have recently done so, you couldn’t have picked a better time! Ubuntu has come so far since the days of ol’ (thats 2004 in computer years). Back then Ubuntu was just another fish in an ocean of Linux distros (sometimes called Linux “flavors”, because they are very much like different flavors of candy. They are all fundamentally the same, but differ in small ways here and there).

‘Warty Warthog’ was the name, and it was the first Ubuntu release I ever used. I was only a college freshman back then, and while I had a strong understanding of Windows, Linux was still slightly beyond my reach. I had used the command line in DOS, but this new idea of doing EVERYTHING on the console was just ridiculous. The commands could have been written in Martian (you know, little green men?), and I would have understood them better. Ubuntu, for lack of better words, still had a ‘Nerds Only’ sign on its door.

Being who I am though, I pressed on, learned the art of ancient sudo command line kung fu, and eventually realized I had found my niche. Ubuntu was everything I always thought a computer should be. Nothing more, Nothing less. Back to the Future, here in 2007, things have changed incredibly. Ubuntu is being used by Nerds and Humans alike in a beautiful, harmonious symphony of O.S. communitism. (I dont think communitism is a word, but it is now). There is no longer ANY excuse why someone who can get around Windows, couldn’t get around Ubuntu. The command line is inching closer and closer to ancient history, and sudo kung-fu is going to the way of medieval jousting. It will be nothing more than novelty soon. I can almost guarantee that there is a graphical user interface (G.U.I, or more commonly known as “point and click”) for almost everything in Ubuntu these days. With that said, I want to make it clear that the command line is not quite out of the picture yet for Ubuntu users. UNIX itself was built as a command line system. The addition of a G.U.I, or the “Windows” (i hate calling it that) interface is nothing more than flare.

Read the rest of this entry »

My first meaningful post is going to be completely non-technical, but is essential to your progress across the bridge from “Human city” to “Nerd island”. I will be referring to that bridge a lot, so i guess its a good idea to just go ahead and give it a name…What should we name it?

Mitz bridge!…no, that’s a little too egotistical.

the bridge of tomorrow!….to preachy.

Ubuntu Bridge….there we go! (i guess i could be more creative, but this isnt a bridge naming blog)

Where were we…oh, right, crossing Ubuntu bridge.

The bridge is long and unstable

The first thing you need to realize before crossing the bridge, is that Ubuntu is NOT Windows, and Windows is NOT Ubuntu. I don’t care how many Linux zealots tell you otherwise, switching from Windows to Ubuntu is not an easy task, especially for human beings. There is one, completely non technical difference you need to be aware of, and take advantage of. Community.

A friend of mine once read a weight loss book (since when does reading make you lose weight, anyway?), that tried to convey the idea: “Its not a diet, its a lifestyle change”. I would always laugh at him when he told me that, and it became a bit of a mockery between us. However, while you may have your opinions about whether or not a diet is more than just eating different and exercising, there is no debate that Ubuntu is not just an operating system (OS), its a lifestyle change. Ok, maybe that is a bit drastic, but as you will see, there is more to Ubuntu than just running your computer. Its a also a giant, thriving community built from the ground up.

Operating what?

If you are not familiar with the term operating system, I will give you a rundown. An operating system (Windows, Ubuntu, OSX) is the Colonel (yes, like in the army. or K.F.C ) of your computer (maybe some of the Nerds will get the pun there, if you don’t, read this). The Colonel is in charge of everything that goes on inside your computer. If you prefer a less militaristic metaphor (or a less fried chicken?), the operating system is the director, the conductor, the principal, the….well, you get the idea. So, if the operating system is the Colonel, than all of your hardware (keyboard, mouse, processor, graphics card, etc) and software (Browser, Instant messenger, word processor) are the “privets”, (or “airmen” if you prefer the air force). The operating system tells all your applications what to do, how to do it, and when they can do it. It is responsible for everything from booting the computer, to running the browser you are viewing this blog with, and everything in between. At the risk of going off topic, I’ll stop here. However, if you are interested in learning more about what an operating system is, and how it works, this article from howstuffworks.com is excellent.

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Hello, and welcome!

My name is Eric Mitz, and I am a 22 year old software engineer for a major U.S Technology company. I’m also the designated “Computer Doctor” for my friends and family (don’t you just love being the computer guy in the family?). You can learn a little more about me here..

I started this blog because I am a HUGE fan of the Linux operating system, and more specifically, Ubuntu. I assume you know what both Linux and Ubuntu are, or else you wouldn’t be here, so ill skip the preaching.

I have been helping people with computer problems (not just Linux) since I was about 7 years old (when I got my first Quantex computer!). Over the last fifteen years, iv answered just about every question that could be asked. Being an avid Internet user, and more importantly forum user, the biggest thing I find when dealing with Linux is that the “Nerds”, as we are called, try as hard as we can to help the “Human beings”, but the message doesn’t always get through. This is because most computer experts fail to realize that others don’t have the same level of knowledge! Their help tactics are based on assumptions (most of which are false) that those they are helping are already familiar with the problems they are encountering!

I have set-out to create an “Ubuntu for Dummies” blog, to help people with ZERO experience with Linux get through the day. Ubuntu is the most wonderful thing to ever hit the computer industry. It has built a bridge between nerd island and Human city. I’m just here to re-enforce the structure, so everyone can have a seamless commute to and fro.

All of my instructions will be processed through a vigourus testing progress (a.k.a, my computer illiterate girlfriend Valerie) to make sure they really are “Human readable”. Trust me, if Valerie can do it, YOU can do it. (im sleeping on the couch when Valerie reads this!).

The website is still under construction, so if things dont work just right, or things seem to be missing (e.g. The forum still needs to be built), fear not! They will be fixed in no time.

Welcome, enjoy, and let me know if I’m being helpful. Suggestions about the site and the content are always welcome. You can send them to eric@ericmitz.com