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’. The raspberry pi burst onto the scene as an affordable single-board computer. Since one can install Linux on a dead badger, there were a lot of ‘respins’. See: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/installing-linux-on-a-dead-badger-users-notes/. However, many have fallen by the wayside, that started out full of steam. Now I don’t know if there was no interest, or the default Raspbian was good enough. I do know that some jumped the gun. For instance, Fedberry, an all-but-dead distribution for your Pi. Ubuntu was not on that early bandwagon, choosing to hang back a bit. I recall Ubuntu Mate being toted for the job of “proper Linux desktop” for the Pi. Ubuntu then released “core” edition for home automation or single-board computers. However, Ubuntu core runs on x86 too, not just ARM. Great for unsupported chromebooks and allows you to install only what you want. Core edition is very bare though, for desktop users. Can it make your desktop or laptop super fast? Well yes. Can it make your SBC fast? Well, that depends on your SBC. There are lots of Raspberry Pi clones. Orange Pi, Banana Pi, Le Potato. The Ubuntu Core image clocks in at about 260MB. This is attractive for SBC’s and may look attractive for you to put on a chromebook. So what is the catch, you may ask? Immutable snaps. (In their own store). It is a good thing for IOT, not so much for the average desktop user. So if you need to rescue that old Chormebook, and you are not afraid to put some effort in… (less than installing Arch or Gentoo). Maybe look at Ubuntu Core.
Bienvenue de retour dans la rubrique Questions et Réponses ! Ici, nous tentons de répondre à vos questions concernant Ubuntu. Assurez-vous d'ajouter des détails de la version de votre système d'exploitation et votre matériel. J'essaierai d'enlever toute chaîne qui vous identifierait personnellement, mais il vaut pieux ne pas inclure des choses comme des numéros de série, des UUID ou des adresses IP. Si votre question n'apparaît pas tout de suite, ce n'est que parce qu'il y en a beaucoup et j'y réponds sur une base « premier venu, premier servi ».
Le raspberry pi a brusquement fait son apparition comme ordinateur à carte unique. Puisqu'on peut installer lInux sur un blaireau mort, il y avait beaucoup de « remaniements ». Voir http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/installing-linux-on-a-dead-badger-users-notes/ [Ndt : c'est en anglais, mais il vaut le coup d'être regardé!]. Cependant, beaucoup, qui ont pourtant démarré à fond la caisse, ont fini par être abandonnés. Bon. Je ne sais pas s'il n'y avait pas d'intérêt ou si le défaut Raspbian suffisait. Ubuntu n'a pas rejoint la parade du départ, préférant tergiverser un peu.
Q: I installed wine and The free Wilcom Truesizer e3 and e4 on my computer Ubuntu 18.04. It worked 100%. Last week My computer HDD crashed and I did a new install. Everything running in wine works except Wilcom. Installing it I get “ An error occurred while downloading the file http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/d/9/dd9a82d0-52ef-40db-8dab 795376989c03/vcredist_x89.exe. I get the following message at the site: 404 - File or directory not found. This is a Microsoft Visual C++ SP1 Redistributable Package. I tried downloading Microsoft Visual from other sites but it does not work.
I need this Truesizer so desperate because I don't use Windows at all.
A: Yes, you will get a 404, as there is a spelling mistake. it's 'x86' … You can download and install the offline c++ redistributables too. Look here: https://www.itechtics.com/microsoft-visual-c-redistributable-versions-direct-download-links/
Q: Hey guys, I am still using Ubuntu 16.04. How can I change my SSH key? I am very new to this.
A: Type the following: ssh-keygen -p -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa - now follow the prompts.
Q: On Ubuntu 18.04, I use my 32 GB USB drive to transfer my files at uni. Sometimes it mounts, sometimes not. It has to be NTFS to work on the windows computers, when I look up properties on the drive it shows as filesystem type: fuse. I have reinstalled NTFS-3g, but the problem is still there. This is my output for lsblk <removed> It used to work fine before, but somehow, somewhere, something went screwy. Right-click doesn’t let me make a folder. The drive is not full.
A: I have too little info here, but you say it does not mount; then, you say it does not write. If it does not mount, you should be able to see why in dmesg. If it mounts read-only, it can be that the filesystem is dirty. Otherwise right-click once mounted and make a folder from the terminal, say, mkdir tt - now navigate to tt and copy your data. If it does, it may be permissions. Those three are the usual suspects if you can see, but not access an NTFS volume.
Q: I have installed Feren OS, based on Ubuntu. I installed steam from the software manager and it won't open now. It says: Does not look like a tar archive.
A: Actually Feren is based on Mint. Try this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkeVg-B_ZDg - but safest bet, I suggest installing it via snap?
Q: I’m trying to install tex studio. I get an error: “The following packages have unmet dependencies: texstudio : Depends: libpoppler-qt5-1 (>= 0.34.0) but it is not installable Recommends: latex-beamer but it is not installable E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.” I am Using Ubuntu 18.04 on a Lenovo laptop.
A: I can only assume it is the version of texstudio you are installing, as I just tried to install 2.12.6 that is in the software centre and it installed fine on 3 computers. (Sometimes that broken packages can be a false positive). Have you tried installing your updates? If you also cannot update, you need to fix your broken packages first. Try:
sudo apt-get –fix-broken install
Q: Should I use Latex to write my book? I hear it is pronounced laytech. What is a good tutorial? I have been suggested docbook too, but I don’t know these things. The TA at my college suggested it.
A: It never rains, but it pours. What is the sudden interest in LateX? Rather say latex. Because when I type rtyhjn and tell you it’s pronounced rayman, we are all in trouble. There are lots of markup and markdown editors, but depending on what you want for your book, you will have to make that decision. I can tell you that a word processor like AbiWord works wonders for me.
Q: I am really struggling to use VIM. The learning curve is too high for me. Why must I learn this? I want to get my Linux Academy engineer certification. What is the fastest way to get there?
A: Honestly I don’t touch it with a ten-foot barge pole. Since the 90’s, I have not once needed to use it and I am not going to start today. There is nano for light editing, and Emacs for everything else. I cannot see why you “have to” learn it. Linux is about choice and you need to make your own choice for an editor.
Q: How can I make apps with kivy in Ubuntu?
A: That would be a question for the Kivy forums.
Q: I have started learning python from Al Swiegart’s book. I went to sleep last night and this morning I can’t run python hello.py. Why? I have only run the updater from the software updater in between. I’m using Xubuntu 18.
A: To run a python script you need to be in the same folder as the script. Also be aware of using python <scriptname> and python3 <scriptname>. Otherwise, you have given me too little information to work on.
Q: What terminal should I get? I am using Ubuntu 19.10. I haven’t decided on a DE yet. I am deciding between zsh and fish or termux. What is best for me?
A: I don’t know you, so how can I tell you what is best for you? You know you, you tell me what is best for you. I use bash with Sakura and Bayobu in Ubuntu. Bayouu because it lets me continue where I left off. Sakura, as it allows me to have tabs. The way I use a terminal, almost any terminal will do. You need to figure out what you do most often and work around that.
Q: Why is VLC not running in the background on Ubuntu 18.04? I open a standard mate terminal and type, cvlc Chrome\ Desert.mod & but it doesn’t go to the background? It just stays in the foreground.
A: Press the Enter key. Your prompt should return and your music will play in the background.
Q: Good day. I am following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BCJH40wLT4 and I want to install ROS on Ubuntu 19.10. Where do I get started, all the tutorial is for 18.04. I am having an error on 19.10. “The following packages have unmet dependencies: python-rosdistro-modules : Depends: python-rospkg-modules but it is not going to be installed ros-melodic-catkin : Depends: google-mock but it is not going to be installed”. Please help me.
A: From what I can tell, this is some robotics software, and you are better off following the instructions on the ROS website. (My last foray into that was KUKA in Windows NT). The error message is telling you what is needed. See: http://wiki.ros.org/catkin - as the youtube stuff may be out-of-date. (Also 19.10 may not be supported?) Maybe one of our readers can help?
Q: How can I downgrade to a previous version of the Nvidia driver? The new one updated automatically, but now it doesn’t work with my card. It just runs straight VGA drivers now. The Nvidia driver makes a big difference from the VGA driver and I want to get it back.
A: There is no roll-back as far as I know. You will have to remove the driver with the -purge option, and reinstall the version you want. As you did not give me your card, Nvidia version numbers or Ubuntu version, I cannot give you more detail.
Q: I have upgraded my Ubuntu to 19.10 but Terminator has stopped working. I really like terminator, so when I launch it, I keep getting Python errors. My Python is updated to the latest version, should I install another version? <image>, <image>
A: Wow, those errors were unhelpful, but I found the culprit. It seems you installed Terminator via PPA. Purge the PPA and uninstall Terminator, then just install it from the official repo’s.
Q: I am trying to install Ubuntu LTS on my old laptop. It’s 32-bit and I can’t boot from USB. It has Vista on it, but vista bluescreens on booting and reboots again. What can I do to save it? If I can’t, it’s going to Goodwill.
A: Just because it has 32-bit windows, does not make the laptop 32-bit. Unless it is a Pentium 3 or lower, it is probably 64-bit. Good news! Now for the bad news, if your USB does not boot, you will have to write your ISO to DVD and boot that way, assuming you have a DVD ROM. (Some older laptops have CD ROMs). For that you will need to go to the alternative downloads and get the Ubuntu net install. Don’t despair, that laptop can still serve its purpose with Ubuntu.
Q: How can I fix pdf’s opening fine in Adobe, but are scrambled in evince? Sometimes I even get an error: “To view the full contents of this document, you need a later version of the PDF viewer. You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html”
A: This is Adobe, trying to make their own rules. You can try using Mupdf, which is a lot more compatible, or you can use Adobe spyware itself. You can even try Foxit pdf reader, but it has become just as bloated as Adobe, lately.
Q: My old laptop has a Radeon card and I still use Ubuntu 14.04. After updating, I now get a black screen when logging in. This definitely seems to be related to drivers. I thought Radeon cards were supported natively? What are the magic commands to fix this please?
A: Firstly, it seems to be a bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm/+bug/1385606. Secondly, you may just get around it by replacing GDM with LightDM. Can you not back up your data and move to a later version of Ubuntu?
Q: Can I still get Unity back on new Ubuntus or is it gone for good?
A: Unity is alive and kicking. Distro’s like Poseidon still use it. I will link you in: https://www.maketecheasier.com/install-unity-desktop-ubuntu/
Q: Is there an equivalent to Razio - https://sourceforge.net/projects/live-raizo/ - for Ubuntu? I prefer having Ubuntu to Debian, but I am learning networking and need this. A: I am not sure what you are asking; if you are asking if GNS3 etcetera, are available for Ubuntu. Yes. If you are asking about a pre-rolled Ubuntu with GNS and Cisco tools installed, not that I know of, at the time of writing.
Q: Guys I want to start learning programming.; any idea/advice where to start?
A: Get a book. May I suggest “head first programming”. Follow CS50 on YouTube. Start WITH Scratch, not FROM scratch, with “scratux”.
Q: Ubuntu alternative downloads has a torrent. Isn’t that illegal? Is the webpage hacked? Where do I report it? Thanks for the info.
A: Despite what the media would have you believe, torrents are not bad. They are a way to get consistent download speeds and completeness. Sure torrents get used to do illegal things, but water drowns people and you don’t see that being banned? This is the same principle.
Q: I have Ubuntu 18.04 that came with LibreOffice. I have a document that requires the recipient to sign at the bottom. Every time I print this document, it prints the blank page at the bottom. I can’t seem to get rid of that page and I am getting tired of putting the wasted page back in the printer.
A: Stupid question, have you pressed & held in the ‘delete’ key, not ‘backspace’ on the previous page? I can also point you here, in case it is a formatting symbol. https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/223736/how-to-cancel-a-page/