Real virtuality

Dapper Drake

In case you haven't noticed, the latest version of Ubuntu Linux (6.06 LTS or better known as Dapper Drake) has been released, and to save you the trouble (and bandwidth) of downloading it, we've put the 32-bit PC version on the Cover Disc of the September issue of PC World Magazine.

It's a combination Live/Install CD, which means that you can try it out and, if you like what you see, you can use the same disc to install the full version onto your hard drive. Just boot your PC from the Cover Disc and it will start the Live CD version of Ubuntu, then just double-click on the Install icon on the desktop. The new graphical installer, called Ubiquity, is fast and easy to follow, and includes a revamped graphical partition manager that makes resizing existing Windows partitions to make space for a new OS a breeze for newcomers.

This distribution runs the Gnome 2.14 desktop on top of X.org 7.0 window system with the 2.6.15.6 kernel, and comes in both Server and Desktop editions. It boots up much faster than the previous version (Breezy Badger), and the inclusion of a ClearLooks-style theme engine makes it much prettier. For those of you who prefer KDE, there's Kubuntu, or even a stripped-down Xfce version called Xubuntu that's suitable for older systems.

As before, licensing restrictions mean that Ubuntu ships with media support that's limited to open formats, but you'll find information on enabling restricted file types like MP3 at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats.

This also means that the incredibly useful package manager Automatix (p108 of the May issue of PC World Magazine) is not included in this version, but thankfully a new Dapper-compatible version has been made available.

To get Automatix up and running on your new install of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, here's what you need to do.

Open the sources.list file in /etc/apt/ folder with a text editor and add the line:
deb http://www.beerorkid.com/automatix/apt dapper main

Then open a terminal window (click Accessories-Terminal) and enter the following command lines:
wget http://www.beerorkid.com/automatix/apt/key.gpg.asc
then,
gpg -import key.gpg.asc
followed by,
gpg -export -armor 521A9C7C | sudo apt-key add -

This will make sure that apt recognises the GPG security key (you get the vertical line character with >Shift<-\), then finish the job with these:
sudo apt-get update
and then,
sudo apt-get install automatix

This will open up a treasure trove of installable packages - be warned that some, like the DVD codecs, aren't legal in Australia - that you can install at will. Bear in mind that Automatix doesn't keep track of what you've installed previously, so make a note of what you've already got to avoid downloading the same thing twice.