User Agent Switcher

User Agent Switcher is a Firefox add-on that allows you to set a different user agent – Internet Explorer, for instance. This tells sites you are visiting that your browser is of that type, and not a Firefox browser.

Most websites are set up with generic HTML, to work with the many browsers out there and not just with Internet Explorer (for example). Occasionally, you may run across a website that just doesn’t seem to want to let you do useful things like order the company’s products. I had this happen to me a couple of days ago. Thankfully, I already knew about user agent switching and did not get too upset.

This is the first time in a year and a half of my using Ubuntu and Firefox, that I had a problem with Firefox not being accepted. Just in case you ever run into this glitch, though, I have included the link above as one option to handle it.

Happy Ubuntu’ing!

Karmic Koala Alpha 6

Karmic Koala Alpha 6 was released yesterday (September 17).

ISOs and torrents of Karmic Alpha 6 are available at:

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Netbook Remix)
  http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (Ubuntu Server for UEC and EC2)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (Ubuntu Desktop for ARM)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (Kubuntu Desktop and Netbook)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (Xubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (UbuntuStudio)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (Mythbuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/ (Edubuntu)

Of course, you can upgrade from Jaunty or an earlier Alpha by pressing Alt + F2 and typing “update-manager -d” into the box (without the quotes).

In the effort to cut boot time, Ubuntu has now switched to Upstart. The usplash screen is gone.  Now, you get a black screen and then the brand-new x-screen.

Karmic Alpha 6 also now includes the Ubuntu Software Store.  In the first version, it is much like Add/Remove, though easier to use.  In later versions, it will grow to replace Synaptic, gdebi, parts of Computer Janitor and possibly even Update Manager.

More information about Karmic Alpha 6 is available at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/karmic/alpha6.

Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.9 Has Been Released

Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.9 was released Saturday, September 12, 2009 after more than one month’s development.  The new version covers Karmic (still in development) as well as Hardy, Intrepid and Jaunty.

One thing the latest version of Ubuntu Tweak will do is to make your sources.list file more manageable.  By default, Ubuntu Tweak will save its third party sources into its own file under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

When you open the Source Editor, Ubuntu Tweak will show you the main sources.list in the window.

You can also select the drop down menu to view or edit other list files. They are stored under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ (If you don’t use Separated Sources, you can disable it in the Preferences Dialog:

A lot of PPAs (third party sources) have been added. These are aMule, Google Testing Repository, GmChess (Chinese Chess), Smplayer Testing, GIMP Testing, Back In Time (a backup tool), Geany, SpiceBird, Moblin Testing, PlayOnLinux, RedNotebook, Breathe Icon Theme, Qt, Mono, Exaile, Clutter, Ubuntu X Unstable, and Gloobus, as well as the themes Arc-Colors, Gnome-Colors and Shiki-Colors.

In addition, Ubuntu Tweak has added a notification in the notification area when you enable a source. In addition, once you click Refresh to update and the update is done, a window will come up showing you what new applications can be installed and what updates can be applied.

One more thing to note: from this version forward, Ubuntu Tweak will have different packages for i386 and amd64. You can download the correct package for this version at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-tweak/0.4.x/0.4.9.Technorati Tags: Ubuntu Tweak, Ubuntu, Karmic, Jaunty, Intrepid

Karmic Alpha 5 Has Been Released

Karmic Koala Alpha 5, which will become Ubuntu 9.10, was released Wednesday, September 3.

Pre-releases of Karmic are, of course, not recommended for anyone who needs a stable system. However, if you are comfortable with a little breakage and want to help the Ubuntu developers, this release may be for you. 🙂

As always, if you are upgrading from Ubuntu 9.04 on a desktop system, you may press Alt + F2 and type in “update-manager -d” without the quotes. Update Manager should then tell you that the new distribution release 9.10 is available.

I’ve already highlighted some of the new parts to Karmic, such as Ubuntu One and the beautiful shiki-colors / arc-colors packages. Karmic also includes the latest Gnome 2.27.91 development release, and the 2.6.31-9.29 Linux kernel.

Here are links if you wish to download Alpha 5:

Ubuntu Desktop, Server, or Netbook Remix
Ubuntu Server for UEC and EC2
Ubuntu Desktop for ARM
Kubuntu Desktop and Netbook
Xubuntu
Mythbuntu