Digin - Week 5

Installations this week were fairly straightforward if I followed the directions closely. I did not have any trouble with:

Assignment 1 - install a gui desktop in Ubuntu server. I followed each step and everything worked as it should.

Assignment 2 - Install Ubuntu Desktop in Virtual PC also worked. Having the youtube videos really makes a difference.

Assignment 3 - Install Webmin also worked when I followed each step outlined. I had no trouble with the IceWM desktop and localhost information.

Assignment 4 - Add a user using the command line. This assignment I had to do a couple of times to get it right. I followed the directions but did not quite get that I needed to use a different user name - other than 'newuser'. Once I got that worked out - things fell into place. I just went over each command and checked and doublechecked that it gave me the results that I am supposed to get. It took me some time to figure out that 'q' was the way to get out of the /etc/group file.

Assignment 5 - Add a user using the Gnome Desktop Admin Utilities. This was by far the easiest assignment for me this week. I just followed the directions and had no problem at all. I noticed that of the accounts - the root account had no user privileges checked.

Assignment 6 - Add a user using Webmin. I immediately typed in the https wrong and failed to get a connection. When I noticed my mistake and typed it correctly, I got what I needed. The tutorial was perfect. It looked exactly like my screen and was helpful in accomplishing everything.

VMWare installation

The VMware installation was not without its glitches...mainly that it would never quite install on my home computer...but worked fine on my work computer.

Using all the commands in VMWare has worked pretty easily so far. It has been a real help to have the demo videos on Youtube and the screenshots provided in the assignment.

cd command - easy, self explanatory
pwd command - took my to my home directory as promised
cp .bashrc .bashrc.bak - also worked as described...as did all the other text editor commands.
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list - again it provided everything that was promised. I was able to successfully install everything that was needed and it felt good.

I won't list every command that I tried...but I did try everything assigned along with many of the commands in the readings, despite the fact that I do not have many of my own directories and files yet. I am still a little hesitant with my ability to determine when I should use what command and because I am still feeling a little overwhelmed with all that i've read i'm not going to risk trying too many things just yet.

Booting Unbuntu

Booting Unbuntu was a fairly easy undertaking, once I got a disk that worked. Though the file had downloaded fine - and when I checked to see that my cd was fine (it said it was)...when I tried to load it it just went on and on....I was unable to use it...it refused to go past the "try unbunt without any change to your computer." When someone else burned me a copy - that disk worked perfectly. I found the tutorials informative...I tried all of the commands and had fun looking at all of the applications and files found within Unbuntu. I also thought that the UACBT lessons were really helpful. It was nice to see Arthur demonstrate the commands visually. Its already giving me a clearer understanding of what the readings were talking about.

When I got to the assignment of installing through VMWare...I thought that the youtube videos were dead on. I could pretty much match each step shown. I was feeling pretty confident until I rebooted my VM. There were additional letters in my server name and when I put in the username and passwords I had entered while installing...it refused to accept them. I tried until it told me I had tried the maximum. I am currently reinstalling it to see if I did something wrong the first time.

Ubuntu

As part of the Digital Information Management Certification program that i've taken on through the University of Arizona, i've been asked to monitor and comment on one of the postings on the Unbuntu forum. As a complete novice - i'll admit that right now I don't understand anything i'm reading! One thread i've landed on is in regard to the "screen panels"....apparently they disappear.

Benbow commented that "The screen panels disappear under the top, in other words I can't get at the min, max, off buttons?" At this point I will trust that Benbow knows what he is talking about and that the advice he was given - "Hold down Alt, click anywhere on the window and move the window down. Then maximize it" will work. I'll have to remember to keep this in mind when I encounter this problem in the near future.

"onchilada"

Okay. I have this friend, she's from Tennessee, which is not the weird thing about her, (and believe she has plenty of idiosyncracies) especially since we live in Mississippi....but she cannot (or will not) pronounce the word "enchilada" correctly. I know this is silly, but its the little silly things that drive one crazy..and this is just one of those. She says it "ONchilada"...not "enchilada" like everyone else does...like spanish speaking people pronounce it, but "ONchilada". "but my mom says it that way too" she claims. Does that make it acceptable? Honestly.

what to do..what to write.

Okay..this whole blogging thing. I see it as a place to get my thoughts and feelings out without having to dump them on others in verbal format. BUT I don't necessarily want to share this information with others. Anyway. I don't really have anything to say right now.