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Install Quantum GIS 1.4.0 on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

Sriharsha Vankadara — Sun, 02 May 2010 01:44:28 +0000

With all the rave reviews that Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx has been getting over the past couple of months, I couldn’t help myself upgrading and checking out the exciting new features and the enhanced interface, which I think was a much needed overhaul for the best desktop Linux OS.

A new version meant fresh installation of all the open source GIS goodies starting with QGIS. The latest version 1.4.0-Enceladus for Lucid is already available in the Launchpad UbuntuGIS repository and with a new command (add-apt-repository) for updating /etc/apt/sources.list with locations of repositories, the installation is simple and straightforward.

Bring up the terminal and issue the following commands.

Add the repository using:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntugis/ubuntugis-unstable

Make apt aware of the new repository:

sudo apt-get update

Install QGIS

sudo apt-get install qgis

Once the installation is done, open QGIS from Applications -> Science -> Quantum GIS

Get a clean desktop on Ubuntu

Sriharsha Vankadara — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:44:38 +0000

Be it GNOME or KDE, most Linux power users prefer to have their desktops slick and geeky with screenlets, gadgets, docks or conky. But I on the other hand (cannot call myself a power user) like to keep my Ubuntu desktop clean without any visual clutter by preventing nautilus from drawing icons. It is only then I believe the true beauty of a wallpaper can be relished.

To treat yourself with a clean desktop, bring up the run application dialog with Alt + F2.

Type gconf-editor to invoke the GNOME configuration editor. Navigate to the key /apps/nautilus/preferences and scroll down to the key show_desktop. Uncheck the box next to the key under the value column.

P.S. : Right-clicking on the desktop is disabled with this setting

Quantum GIS 1.0.1 available for Ubuntu 9.04

Sriharsha Vankadara — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:18:00 +0000

Just a quick heads up for all open-source GIS enthusiasts. Quantum GIS 1.0.1 aka “Kore” is now available in repositories for the new Ubuntu Jaunty release.

For first time users, here are steps to help you guide through the installation.

Bring up the terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal)

Edit the /etc/apt/sources.list by issuing the command sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.lists

Scroll down to the end of the page and paste the following lines:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/qgis/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/qgis/ubuntu jaunty main

Saving and closing the file, brings back the prompt.

Update the package lists using the command, sudo apt-get update

Install Quantum GIS with sudo apt-get install qgis

Ignore any GPG errors that show up for public keys that are not available.

Access Quantum GIS from Applications -> Education -> Quantum GIS

Linux Cheat Sheets

Sriharsha Vankadara — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Cheat sheets again! Its Linux this time!!!

Mark Sanborn of Nixtutor has compiled a list of the best Linux cheat sheets categorised into:

Linux Command Line
Linux Security
Linux Administration
GNOME / KDE
sed/awk/vim and other tools
Distribution Specific

No matter how useful any Linux cheat sheet can be, the ultimate reference is always the Man pages

Unzip multiple zip files using Shell script

Sriharsha Vankadara — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:40:00 +0000

For the Linux newbie from a noob

Scenario: You have quite a large number of zip files in a folder with other files and would like to avoid manual labor of extracting one file at a time.

The below graphic is the result of extracting an e-book downloaded from the web in compressed format.

Solution: A simple shell script to extract all files at one go.

Save the script with a .sh extension and make sure it resides in the same directory as the compressed files.

Fire up the terminal, cd to the target directory and execute the script using ./xxxx.sh

P.S.: Has been successfully tested on Ubuntu

Open .rar files using Archive Manager in Ubuntu

Sriharsha Vankadara — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:14:00 +0000

The “Archive Manager” that is built into Ubuntu (Ubuntu is the only Linux distro that I have tried so far) to handle archive formats has no native support for the .rar format.

Try opening a .rar file with the Archive Manager and you are presented with an error.

Fixing this problem requires installation of an unarchiver for .rar files. This is readily available in the repositories in two packages – unrar and unrar-free. The unrar package is from RARLAB and the unrar-free is from Gna! which is the free software version of the non-free unrar utility.

Fire up the terminal and issue the command
sudo apt-get install unrar-free

Once the package is installed, Archive Manager should now be able to extract files with the .rar extension.

Fix VLC’s problem playing audio in .avi files on Ubuntu

Sriharsha Vankadara — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:23:00 +0000

I am a movie buff and prefer downloading my movies rather than watching online. I am also particular about downloading only .avi files, as they are the most common and usually have the best prints.

Off late, I’ve been trying to do all my computer related work in Ubuntu, trying to avoid Windows to the possible extent, including watching movies. VLC is what I use on Windows, because of its ability to play a wide range of formats and ease of use. As VLC has a Linux version too, I decided to stick with it in Ubuntu as well.

Problem:

All my movies of the .avi format do play in VLC with excellent video quality but without an audio output. To fix this issue, all that was required was a simple change in the output module of the audio settings.

To open VLC Media Player:

Applications -> Sound & Video -> VLC media player

Note: In my case, the audio output module was set to default, which I think is the reason for lack of audio playback. Make sure you have also plugin for vlc installed before changing the settings.

To install Alsa plugin for VLC:

At the terminal: sudo apt-get install vlc-plugin-alsa

Change the settings:

Once you have VLC opened, go to Settings -> Preferences

Expland the audio section of the settings and you’ll find three sub-sections Filters, Output modules and Visualizations.

Output Modules is what we are concerned with. Click this section and make sure the Advanced Options checkbox is selected in the bottom right of the Preferences window.

Fix it:

Change the audio output module (if set to default) to ALSA audio output. Save the settings, close VLC and restart the application. And that’s it, pretty simple huh…

Terminal Wikipedia – wikipedia2text

Sriharsha Vankadara — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:27:00 +0000

I am sure every one of use who use the web on a daily basis for purposes other than e-mail and instant messaging, visit Wikipedia every now and then for the wealth of information that resides in it.

If you are a Linux user and a terminal junkie, and one that would rather prefer to get things done via the terminal, including browsing articles in Wikipedia, there is this interesting command line application wikipedia2text that fetches entries from Wikipedia and displays them in the terminal.

There are several options that accompany the command such as colorizing the output, displaying only a brief summary or full content, getting the url, opening in a web browser, etc.. The command can also be configured by altering environment variables to set a default browser, language settings, use standard output or a pager. There are no requirements other than an active internet connection and only one search term (can be more than one word) is supported which can include special characters.

To install, issue the command:
sudo apt-get install wikipedia2text

KGeography – A Geography Learning Tool

Sriharsha Vankadara — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:28:00 +0000

KGeography, is an interesting geography learning application for the KDE desktop environment, although it works hassle free in GNOME as well. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 and has a pretty informative website on upcoming developments and how you can contribute to the project by submitting maps.

There are several maps to choose from – countries, continents and the world.

KGeography comes with six different ways of learning Geography.
1. Browse Map – With this option, a click on the map identifies the country, or state (province) with its capital. In case, the feature clicked is a country, you are presented with its flag too.

2. Click Division on Map – Select the number of questions you would like to attempt, and identify the country or state that is asked for by clicking on the map. The results are displayed once you are done with answering all the questions.

3. Guess Division From Its Capital – Select the number of questions just like the one above, and this time you’ve got to select country / state of the four options provided, for capitals. The map interface does not show up for this section.

4. Guess Capital of Division – Similar to guessing divisions from capitals, but the other way round. Select the right capital from the options provided for the country being questioned upon.

5. Guess Division From Its Flag – A flag is presented, with four options. Select the country that the flag belongs to. This option is disabled when the map is that of a country as individual states (provinces do not have flags in most of the countries.

6. Guess Flag of Division – Identify the right flag out of four option with pictures of flags, for the country / state in question.

Installation: Fire up the terminal and issue the command
sudo apt-get install kgeography and you have an interactive geography learning tool