Download the Beta 2

Beta 2 images can be downloaded from a location near you.
Note: The Ubuntu Desktop images are now bigger than a standard CD, and you should use a USB or DVD for installation. Some image consolidation has occurred as well.

You can download Beta 2 ISOs from:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/12.10/ (Ubuntu Desktop and Server)
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Ubuntu Cloud Server)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/12.10/ (Ubuntu Netboot)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-core/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Ubuntu Core)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu-active/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Kubuntu Active)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Lubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Edubuntu DVD)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Ubuntu Studio)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/12.10/beta-2/ (Xubuntu)

• Difficulty: Easy
• Application: KStars

You may already have played with KStars, but how about creating a KStars backdrop image that’s updated every time you start up?

KStars can be run with the –dump switch, which dumps out an image from your startup settings, but doesn’t load the GUI at all. You can create a script to run this and generate a desktop image, which will change every day (or you can just use this method to generate images).

Run KStars like this:

kstars --dump --width 1024 --height 768 --filename = ~/kstarsback.png

You can add this to a script in your ~/.kde/Autostart folder to be run at startup. Find the file in Konqueror, drag it to the desktop and select ‘Set as wallpaper’ to use it as a randomly generated backdrop.

Open an SVG directly

• Difficulty: Easy
• Application: Inkscape

You can run Inkscape from a shell and immediately edit a graphic directly from a URL. Just type:

inkscape http://www.somehost.com/graphic.svg

Remember to save it as something else though!

Editing without an editor

• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Application: Various

Very long files are often hard to manipulate with a text editor. If you need to do it regularly, chances are you’ll find it much faster to use some handy command-line tools instead, like in the following examples.

To print columns eg 1 and 3 from a file file1 into file2, we can use awk:

awk '{print $1, $3}' file1 > file2

To output only characters from column 8 to column 15 of file1, we can use cut:

cut -c 8-15 file1 > file2

To replace the word word1 with the word word2 in the file file1, we can use the sed command:

sed "s/word1/word2/g" file1 > file2

This is often a quicker way to get results than even opening a text editor.

Backup selected files only

• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Application: tar

Want to use tar to backup only certain files in a directory? Then you’ll want to use the -T flag as follows. First, create a file with the file you want to backup:

cat >> /etc/backup.conf
# /etc/passwd
# /etc/shadow
# /etc/yp.conf
# /etc/sysctl.conf
EOF

Then run tar with the -T flag pointing to the file just created:

tar -cjf bck-etc-`date +%Y-%m-%d`.tar.bz2 -T /etc/backup.conf

Now you have your backup.

Read more…….

One of the defining features of Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems is that “everything is a file.” This is an oversimplification, but understanding what it means will help you understand how Linux works.

Many things on Linux appear in your file system, but they aren’t actually files. They’re special files that represent hardware devices, system information, and other things — including a random number generator.

These special files may be located in pseudo or virtual file systems such as /dev, which contains special files that represent devices, and /proc, which contains special files that represent system and process information.

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We’ve seen this Ubuntu installer for Windows before, but now it has new features and a new name: Wubi Beta. It uses no confusing lingo, and even lets you choose a variety of options that similar applications don’t offer:

• Choose the drive to install Ubuntu (should have at least 10GB available)
• Choose how much room to reserve for Ubuntu (minimum is 4GB while 8GB is recommended)
• Chose whether to install Ubuntu (GNOME), Kubuntu (KDE), Xubuntu (XFCE), or UbuntuStudio (for multimedia workstations).
• Choose your language
• Pick your username and password

Read full story