Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Welcome back to another edition of Questions and Answers! In this section, we will endeavour to answer your Ubuntu questions. Be sure to add details of the version of your operating system and your hardware. I will try to remove any personally identifiable strings from questions, but it is best not to include things like serial numbers, UUID’s or IP addresses. If your question does not appear immediately, it is just because there is such a lot, and I do them ‘first-come-first-served’.
I am a certified SUSE Administrator, but I don’t use it as my desktop any more.
I like SUSE Linux, green desktop and all. I like the chameleon mascot, what’s not to like? As a kid, I used to love walking the long hedgerows of the cemetery looking for chameleons. I will try SUSE again, every few years, but, as usual, I end up disappointed. This time, I spotted Gecko Linux, promising to fix all the ‘broken’ parts of SUSE. I opted for the XFCE version, just to find it more broken than SUSE itself. I fired up YAST. Cute aardvark! Installed something, update completed, booted, and… broken system? Really? Reinstalled. Tried to add GIT. To install GIT, it needs to uninstall, say, my media players and office? (can’t remember the precise details). Really? Try it on another machine that dual-boots. It won’t find the other partitions. I open a ticket on github, the answer is, yes, it’s a bug, but it will be fixed in two years. So I try ‘tumbleweed’ instead. Black screen after first update. Previously on my Clevo laptop, SUSE could never work the sound card… So why is Ubuntu so popular? You tell me. Not once (touch wood) have I run into dependency problems with Ubuntu. Nothing I have tried to install from the software centre has tried to uninstall something else I need. Love it or hate it, but Ubuntu has made Linux accessible to the unwashed masses. [ike me].
Q: I miss MS paint from my XP machine, back when I used to use windows. With WSL out now, can I use MS paint or do I need things like DXVK? Please don’t make it difficult.
A: Are we talking MS paint or XP paint? It seems someone misinformed you. WSL allows you to load Linux on a Windows machine. Think of it like WUBI. DXVK allows directx on vulkan. May I suggest looking at: Tux paint, Gnome paint, gpaint aka gnupaint, Pinta, xpaint, cinepaint, kolourpaint, mtpaint, heliospaint and drawing? (Mypaint may be back soon). If all this fails, PlayonLinux is your go-to.
Q: Where can I get some free Ubuntu books?
A: Look here: https://www.ubuntufree.com/download-ubuntu-ebooks-and-linux-it-ebooks/
Q: Good day, I am a convert from the Windows world. What is the best torrent client for Ubuntu, as utorrent is not a thing, I see. Do I use WINE, but then where do the files go?
A: ‘Best’ is subjective, but you do have a few choices in Ubuntu. They can be simple, like Transmission, or you can look at Deluge, qbittorrent, Tixati or Vuze. See which you like best. See here: https://fossbytes.com/best-utorrent-alternatives/
Q: Hello friends, I am a developer, who wants to learn Web pages. Only having Ubuntu desktop. How to make a web server?
A: The simplest way I can think of is using Python. Simply open a terminal and type:
python -m http.server 8080
This will create a simple server for you at port 8080.
Q: I am really going to miss Windows 7. I have heard only bad things about Windows 10. So I decided the safest option would be Ubuntu. I feel kinda dumb though, never having used Linux before. Should I rather go for something else, or stick it out?
A: Yes, Windows 10 IS bad, even the browsers fingerprint you before the websites do. 
. You can look here: https://ubuntu.com/blog/how-to-upgrade-from-windows-7-to-ubuntu-desktop-tour-and-applications - Once you get the hang of it, you will not want to go back.
Q: Can you help me? I have installed Ubuntu Mate on my Raspberry PI 3b+ but it is slow. How can I speed it up? <image>
A: The PI 3 does not have the RAM needed. Yes, it has enough for the OS, but you need to do things with the OS. This is where the problems start (eg, browsing, movies). May I suggest sticking with Raspbian, or Ubuntu core. If you are planning to use it as a desktop, may I suggest trading it in for a PI 4, the 2GB one is currently $35. This is just too broad for a QnA. (But keep your peepers peeled to the magazine).
Q: Let me explain why I need it first. I have a Huawei 3g dongle and cellular data as my primary internet. I live in the rural North West. Unlike other people, I can’t stream Youtube. I grab some music, then I make my own playlists for later. This way I can listen to it over and over without incurring the data cost. But, lately, youtube-dl has stopped working for me. What alternative is there? Thank you for your time.
A: Know that youtube-dl needs to be updated like any other program, to keep up with Google’s changes. Simply type
sudo youtube-dl -U
and you should be on your way.
Q: My kodi is stuck on 17. I have run all my updates, but I can’t seem to update to 18. I am still using Xubuntu 18.04. I suspect that this is the problem, but I don’t wanna upgrade until 20.04 is released. I am not sure of myself enough to build from source. What are my options? I am not too keen on plex.
A: Just add the PPA and it will update with the rest of your system. See: http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2020/03/kodi-18-6-available-install-ppa-ubuntu-18-04/
Q: I have a Dell T410 with Ubuntu, 19.10 or 18.04, it doesn’t matter. I bought 3 8TB drives, but I can’t seem to format it to 24TB. I think I may need firmware for my sas6/ir Raid card or even my server. Maybe I need to swap my WD red drives for Seagate, but I need to know soon as I can’t return the drives if I keep them. How can I resolve this?
A: Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your controller does not support drives larger than 2TB. It’s a hardware problem.
Q: Steve Morgan, [In reply to EriktheUnready], Where can I buy a linux laptop? Something that is preconfigured and set up for me. Would prefer a rolling release.
A: See: https://www.2daygeek.com/buy-linux-laptops-computers-online/
Q: I am not a spring chicken any more, so be gentle. I decided to purchase a USB dongle to format my phone’s SD card. I think I have run into a chicken and egg situation. I can’t see my SD card without mounting it, and I can’t format it while mounted. See what I am saying?
A: Actually I am going to be brutal! Brutally honest. Mounting a drive creates a link in your filesystem under /mnt or /media. You need to unmount the drive to speak to the drive directly, so to speak. Alternatively, you can use the “disks” application that ships with Ubuntu to format your cards. If that fails, Gparted is a good fallback.
Q: I tried the unofficial cinnamon flavor of ubuntu, but it takes ages to boot. Can you help me?
A: I can, if you would give me more information. Let’s start with: sudo systemd-analyze blame - Look at what is eating up your boot time. Next, run dmesg | less - and see if there are any errors. A good idea is to turn off things in your BIOS that you do not use, like serial / parallel ports. Hope this helps!
Q: What is the proper way to say Ubuntu? I hear so many versions?
A: This I am fully qualified to help you with. “Ooh-boon-too”. We say abantu (people) “ah-bun-too”. Don’t mix the two like ignorant YouTubers and say “ooh-bun-too”.
Q: My usb 3g dongle from <removed> works rather well under Ubuntu. I dual-boot into Windows 10, and there it does not work. I had no issues with Windows 7. Where can I check in Ubuntu what drivers it uses to get it working in Windows?
A: You are approaching the problem from the wrong side. To get those dongles to work in Windows 10, will require you to flash the firmware / image on there. The problem is that you may lose Ubuntu compatibility, so take it to the cellphone provider and let them confirm it will work with both OS’s and have them flash it for you.
Q: What is the best way to make my own icons for Ubuntu please? There are some icon packs I like, but they are not 100% what I was looking for. This is my fav at the moment. <image>
A: Make a base icon in Inkscape / Gimp / Gravit, then, for each new icon, simply add a new layer and add your design. Layers can usually be made invisible allowing you to turn them off and on at will. This way you will have consistency.
Q: Bru, how do I change a default app that is not in the little list? Windows control panel has a default app setting for all the apps, but Ubuntu only has a few. thanks
A: Ubuntu is intelligent. *wink. When you right-click a file in Linux, and choose “open with”, that program will be associated with your file. Linux does not use file extensions, that is why there is no exhaustive list like in Windows. At any time, type: file - and the name of your file, in the terminal and Ubuntu will identify it for you, regardless of extension.
Q: Thanks for the help you have given me before. I am using Ubuntu 18.04. I did not change Writer settings. Some days ago, it opened with two pages next to each other. Now, after many hours trying to fix it with no luck, in Tools settings it shows one column and it is so, but two pages next to each other. If the pages are normal, you can’t see the info on the first page. You go down at the bottom and there is a thin orange line you have to drag to the side to move the page in view. Then to view page two you drag it to the other side. I am so confused. If you make the pages smaller you can see two pages next to each other but the fonts/writing font size 14 is so small you can’t read it.
A: At the bottom-right of LibreOffice writer, you should see the zoom slider. Right next to it, you should see the layout options. It is not uncommon to accidentally click one of them.