Debian Vs Ubuntu: 10 Years of debate

Ubuntu just celebrated the 10th anniversary with release of Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn. Ubuntu has been the most famous desktop Linux distro. The first Ubuntu versino was launched in 2004 by Canonical. Ubuntu is based on Debian Linux distro. It is important that we revise the changes that has been made in Debian in past 10 years vs the changes in Ubuntu since it’s first version. Let’s take a look at the 10 year history of Linux distro king.

1. Beginning

The first version of Ubuntu was quite ugly. It had brown themed UI and it was nothing but a replica of Debian. Development team behind Ubuntu was only focusing on making the installation process easier as installing Debian was skillful task. Ubuntu’s first version 4.10 was named as Warty Warthog. The text based installer represented all the essential information about Linux to new users. Navigation through the installation process was quite easier as compared to traditional Linux desktop distros. Back in 2004, Debian was not so famous. Users preferred Mandrake Linux over debian back then!

2. Popularity

For next few releases, Ubuntu was focused on bringing latest software packages to the platform, default setup in distro was made more user-friendly. However it seemed more like default setup of GNOME or KDE with different themes. Ubuntu was improving the quality and ease of its installer. User-friendly installation process attracted more users to try this new Linux based OS. Ubuntu featured graphical installer whereas, most other distros like OpenSUSE had confusing text installer.

Then Ubuntu integrated Wubi in the OS, which enabled users to install the distro in dual-boot way. Users could use Windows Boot Manager and easily switch between Windows and Ubuntu. It was integrated in Windows system, which could be easily removed using Add or remove programs tool in Windows. So this was not the best solution for long term usage. Ubuntu removed Wubi in next few releases.

Ubuntu’s focus was to bring long term supported open source OS to end users. Hence, team Ubuntu came out with Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Long Term Release). LTS supported for long term as compared to normal releases. With LTS, users didn’t have to upgrade the whole system every six month. This ensured the stability and durability to users. It made Ubuntu much more attractive as compared to other desktop distros. Ubuntu started adding unique user-friendly features such as easy to use panel to install and manage proprietary drivers. Besides all these small changes, it looked much like Debian. The big UI change was brought in the picture with the release of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. It had a new theme, it changed lot of visuals and features and most importantly, 10.04 brought Ubuntu Software Center in picture. This was a biggest change that attracted more and more users towards Ubuntu.

3. Uniqueness

While many distress had repositories in their systems, Ubuntu replaced them with Personal Package Archives (PPAs). This enabled end users to manage and add new repositories very easily. Developers were now able to operate PPAs which users can install. Updating new versions of apps became lot more easier with PPAs. With release of Ubuntu 11.04, team replaced GNOME Shell with Unity desktop environment. This was first major change to the UX of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu proved its uniqueness than Debian with the brand new UX. Ubuntu is also working on Ubuntu for Devices which is going to be its mobile OS. The Ubuntu Touch will bring lot of new features of desktop distro to mobile platform. Canonical has great vision of having standard platform for open source desktop as well as mobile users.

4. Dependent OS

It seems like Ubuntu is lot more different than Debian but there is one basic thing that hasn’t changed and it is important of all, that is, packages. Most of the packages that Ubuntu runs are from Debian’s unstable repositories. Ubuntu cannot differentiate itself from Debian until they remove Debian from the core of Ubuntu. Better yet, the UX (user experience) between Debian and Ubuntu is dramatically different.

It is important for you to decide what suits your use case. If you are a pro Linux user and you like vanilla system then Debian is good for you. Otherwise, Ubuntu is always the best bet due to its user friendly yet attractive UI and easy-to-use features.

 

If you have some suggestions of your own please let us know in comments!

 

 

Top 8 Data Recovery Tools For Linux

Data recovery is an essential part of computer usage. Data recovery tools come very handy while helping you out with your system files and resources. Data backup and recovery are very important if you’re looking to maintain the sanctity of your files. Because. anything could happen, your hard drive may crash, malware attack may erase your important data, anything! Therefore it’s ideal your data is properly backed. Here are 8 open source tools to recover your data.

1. Knoppix

Knoppix is one of the most poular recovery software available for Linux platform. It comes as bootable CD version with list of GNU/Linux software. Knoppix can auto detect the hardware and optimize the recovery tool by itself. Since it comes as bootable CD, you can use it as Linux demo, educational CD, rescue software or even a platform for commercial software product demos.

2. Trinity Rescue Kit

This is a free live Linux distribution that helps user to recovery and repair operations on Windows PCs. However it can be used as it is on Linux systems also. Trinity Rescue Kit v3.4 and later have user friendly interface with scrollable text menu. Anybody can easily use TRK to perform system maintenance and repair tasks such as password reset, disk cleanup to virus scanning on PC.

3. Avira Rescue System

This open source application can access the computer data of a damaged hard drive. It is possible to repair a damaged system, to rescue data or scan the system for viruses using Avira Rescue System. You can burn the software package on CD/DVD and use it to boot the computer.

4. GParted Live

This is a small Linux distribution designed for x86 based computers. It packs all the features of latest GParted apps. You can create a bootable CD, USB or PXE Server to boot GParted Live. GParted Live supports array of filesystem hence, it can be used to recover the damaged partition.

5. System RescueCd

This is a Linux system rescue disk with number of bootable recovery software. You can easily carry out most admin tasks on computer like creating and editing hard disk partitions, clearing memory cache etc. RescueCd packs number of Linux software, system tools, basic tools etc. It can be booted from CD/DVD or USB stick. RescueCd kernel supports all major file systems for Linux.

6. Ubuntu Rescue Remix

This is a robust yet lean system for recovery software, data recovery and forensics. Ubuntu Rescue Remix uses terminal commands UI for operations. This is the best bet for systems with low hardware configuration. The command line environment features all the functions of powerful data recovery software. It has a unique tool called ddrutility, which identifies files affected by unrecoverable blocks on disk image.

7. F-Secure Rescue CD

This data recovery tool is based on Knnopix derivative of Linux OS, which lets user run the software completely from a CD and check integrity of installed applications. It is possible to perform advance data repair and recovery using F-Secure Rescue CD. This tool is capable of recovering the system from malware infections. However, this tool cannot scan the encrypted hard drive.

8. Ddrescue

This data recovery tool from GPU comes very handy in copying data from one file or block device to another. Ddrescue can detect the memory errors, dead blocks, log file as well as rescue the good part of it. It operates automatically. If read error occurs, it automatically rescues the data. You can always terminate any automatically triggered operation in Ddrescue. The basic operation of Ddrescue remains fully automatic.

 

If you have some suggestions of your own please let us know in comments!

 

 

12 best applications to start with Linux-Ubuntu Os

 

The Ubuntu paltform is like a make your own meal buffet at a restaurant. You can choose what software you will run in order to unleash its true power. The control over your own system is a lot more and you quite literally have the power. Here are some apps that will make your Ubuntu experience a rather enjoyable one.

1) Firefox

The Firefox web browser by Mozilla is one of the open source world’s most prized possessions. The non-profit organisation (Mozilla) has developed a fast, easy-to-use browser, which is the chosen one for development purposes.

2) Parcelite

Parcellite is a lightweight GTK+ clipboard manager. It is a stripped down, basic-features-only clipboard manager with a small memory footprint for those who like simplicity.

3) Bittorrent Sync

This is arguably the best syncing app that is available today. It’s graphical user interface makes it extremely easy to use and you can transfer files without having to constantly sync them with the cloud.

4) System Monitor

GNOME’s System Monitor presents a graphical user interface solution for the Top utility in Linux. In addition, it provides a solution for many of Top’s limitations and provides a real-time perspective of the user’s CPU through graphs. It is also easy-to-use.

5) PulseAudioControl

PulseAudio Volume Control (pavucontrol) is a simple GTK based volume control tool (“mixer”) for the PulseAudio sound server. In contrast to classic mixer tools this one allows you to control both the volume of hardware devices and of each playback stream separately.

6) Skype

You can use Skype for Linux as long as you have version 4.2 of Linux and a webcam. The features it offers are,

– Free Skype to Skype calls.
– Low cost calls and text messages to mobiles and landlines.
– Video call your contacts.
– Free instant messages to your friends, family and colleagues.

7) Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an intuitive and powerful multi-track video editor, including most recent video technologies. The software is completely free, as defined by the GNU foundation.

8) OpenShot

OpenShot Video Editor is a free, open-source video editor for Linux licensed under the GPL version 3.0. It’s features include trimming and arranging videos, adjusting audio levels, transitions between videos, compositing multiple layers of video, chroma-key/green screen effect, and support for most formats and codecs.

9) SpiderOak

SpiderOak makes it possible for you to privately store, sync, share & access your data from everywhere. It provides the ability to utilise cloud technologies while retaining that precious right we call privacy. It has a ‘zero-knowledge’ privacy environment ensures that only you can see your data.

10) Dropbox

One of the best known and most trusted cloud storage and sharing options that are available today, Dropbox has a huge user base and is used all over the world.

11) Writer

Writer has all the features you need from a modern, full-featured word processing and desktop publishing tool. It’s simple enough for a quick memo, but powerful enough to create complete books with contents, diagrams, indexes, and more. You’re free to concentrate on your message, while Writer will make it look great.

12) SimpleScreenRecorder

SimpleScreenRecorder is a Linux program that was created to record programs and games. Its features include,

– Graphical user interface (Qt-based).
– Faster than VLC and ffmpeg/avconv.
– Records the entire screen or part of it, or records OpenGL applications directly (similar to Fraps on Windows).
– Synchronises audio and video properly (a common issue with VLC and ffmpeg/avconv).
– Reduces the video frame rate if your computer is too slow (rather than using up all your RAM like VLC does).
– Fully multithreaded: small delays in any of the components will never block the other components, resulting is smoother video and better performance on computers with multiple processors.
– Pause and resume recording at any time (either by clicking a button or by pressing a hotkey).
– Shows statistics during recording (file size, bit rate, total recording time, actual frame rate)
– Can show a preview during recording, so you don’t waste time recording something only to figure out afterwards that some setting was wrong.
– Uses libav/ffmpeg libraries for encoding, so it supports many different codecs and file formats (adding more is trivial).
– Can also do live streaming (experimental).
– Sensible default settings: no need to change anything if you don’t want to.
– Tooltips for almost everything: no need to read the documentation to find out what something does.

 

 

10 Linux-Ubuntu like OS distros you need to know

 

If you look at the OS market, the name following Windows as Linux is the Ubuntu OS. While Windows rules the roost, Ubuntu has over the years, gone on to become the third most used OS in the world. With a tagline that says, “Linux for humans,” Ubuntu is easy to use, powerful and an apt replacement for Windows. So, naturally, developers got together and built on top of this OS, bringing new distros. It is worth taking a look at these.

1. Mint

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use. Started in 2006, Linux Mint is now the 4th most widely used home operating system behind Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS and Canonical’s Ubuntu.

2. Kubuntu

This is an open source alternative to Windows and MS Office. Kubuntu is an operating system built by a worldwide team of expert developers. It contains all the applications you need: a web browser, an office suite, media apps, an instant messaging client and many more.

3. Edubuntu

Edubuntu is a grassroots movement that aims to get Ubuntu into schools, homes and communities and make it easy for users to install and maintain their systems. It is built by a team of hacker, students, teachers etc.

4. Xubuntu

Xubuntu is an easy-to-use operating system. It comes with Xfce, which is a stable, light and configurable desktop environment. It is perfect for those who want the most out of their desktops, laptops and netbooks with a modern look and enough features for efficient, daily usage. Moreover, it works on older hardware as well.

5. Gobuntu

Gobuntu 8.04.1 is the final release of Gobuntu. The project has merged back to mainline Ubuntu, so there is no need for a separate distribution. It tries to provide the Free Software Foundation’s four freedoms and tries to lay a platform for other free software.

6. Ubuntu Studio

Ubuntu Studio is a free and open source operative system, and an official flavor of Ubuntu. Ubuntu Studio is the most widely used multimedia orientated GNU/Linux distribution in the world. It comes preinstalled with a selection of the most common free multimedia applications available, and is configured for best performance for the Ubuntu Studio defined workflows: Audio, Graphics, Video, Photography and Publishing.

7. Mythbuntu

Mythbuntu is an official Ubuntu flavor focused upon setting up a standalone MythTV based PVR system. It can be used to prepare a standalone system or for integration with an existing MythTV network. Unlike similar projects, Mythbuntu keeps close ties with Ubuntu and all development is given back to Ubuntu. This architecture allows simple conversions from a standard desktop to a Mythbuntu machine and vice versa. The development cycle of Mythbuntu mirrors that of Ubuntu.

8. Ubuntu Server Edition

The Ubuntu Server Edition is a platform for scale-out computing. It helps you make the most of your infrastructure. Whether you want to deploy an OpenStack cloud, a Hadoop cluster or a 50,000-node render farm.

9. Eeebuntu

Now known as the Aurora project, this Ubuntu flavour started life originally in 2008 as the Eeebuntu project. This was a customised redistribution of Ubuntu, which was modified specifically for the Eeepc range of netbooks. What was originally a simple collection of scripts and hacks to get Ubuntu 8.04 onto an EeePC it has grown into a distribution of its own.

10. Ubuntu Mini Remix

Ubuntu Mini Remix is a fully working Ubuntu live-CD containing only the minimal set of software to make the system work. Ubuntu Mini Remix ISO image is around 200MB.