Cool app of the week

Wallpaper Tray is one of those cool apps that just does its thing without needing much assistance. It adds functionality to the desktop by allowing one to automatically change wallpaper on startup or at timed intervals. While this kind of thing is not new, this is by far the best applet I have found in this category. It sits nicely in the toolbar where you can configure it by right clicking. It will also show which wallpaper is selected and is an easy way to change wallpaper when needed. The only quibble I have is that it doesn't appear to have the ability to set different wallpapers for different desktops, which would have been nice. Nevertheless, a good piece of work from dark project studios. Oh, and before I forget, there is a great set of free darkwave wallpapers if you're looking to add some mystery on the desktop.

sudo apt-get install wallpaper-tray

http://www.darkproject.com/

Meditating Koala

[caption id="attachment_409" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Even better karma"][/caption]

Its nice to see the Ubuntu community getting creative in the run-up to Karmic Koala. After the rather dull Jackalope we could be in for a treat.

posters/wallpapers are available on the Ubuntu Wiki

[caption id="attachment_407" align="alignleft" width="297" caption="Ubuntu has good Karma"][/caption]

Nelson Mandela explains concept of Ubuntu

I'm posting this because some users don't get it. Before Ubuntu was an operating system, it was a way of life. It still is for a lot of people and the OS merely encapsulates the vision and dream of a world in which we share a common humanity and express ourselves through community, sharing, and freedom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Experience_ubuntu.ogg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_%28philosophy%29

Wouldn't it be nice if this video was actually hosted here? Videopress is Wordpress' new upgrade feature only  costs 59.97 credits per year. If you would like to assist Indlovu by helping us to upgrade, please let us know and we can figure out an exchange.

Is Ubuntu Appcentre end of the road for FOSS?

[caption id="attachment_373" align="alignleft" width="230" caption="Is this the future of Ubuntu?"][/caption]

THERE appears to be a good deal of talk surrounding Canonical plans for an Appcentre that would double as an Appstore. Yes, that's right, it would seem the clamour from the commercial side of the developer community, those who do things in real-world terms that involve money, is rising.

Nelson Mandela's principle number 1 which has driven development until now, could end-up being sidelined in the process. Instead of freeing us, Ubuntu could end up putting users in jail -- Will Ubuntu become a Robben Island of free software? Will free and open access  in an unrestricted and unrestrained fashion be discontinued, in favour of Alcatraz? The new super-Appcentre being touted by developers might just destroy Ubuntu and FOSS as we know it, as  if Canonical dumps Synaptic in favour of an Apple-inspired Appstore.

Cool highway to freedom ubuntu poster

This amazing poster by Hannes Pasqualini was released as an open source file which anybody can print. It  has now been rereleased and is an example of the ingenuity and frontier spirit that can be found on the Ubuntu forums. Unfortunately, as Ubuntu becomes more mainstream, so too the issues which are tackled. The result is that  Ubuntu is starting to lose some of its uniqueness and is in danger of turning into Microsoft Windows. Instead of focusing on pie-in-the-sky ideas like cloud computing, Ubuntu should rather make an effort to produce amazing software, taking some of the code-base which is already in Linux and making this more user-friendly. Then it will stand a chance of beating Microsoft. The highway to freedom is open, but what we do with it, will determine our future, and the future of coming generations. What will you leave behind for those who come after you? What will they find when they surf the Internet? Download the source file and print yourself a copy. Distribute it, or translate it into your home language. Here is the link to the original posting.

Ubuntu books

[caption id="attachment_335" align="alignleft" width="425" caption="Ubuntu spawns an industry"][/caption]

In the interest of fairness, openness and access to information I publish the following link where you can download PDFs of the above books. Please support the publishers by buying the original print editions. It is way nicer to have one in your hand, but for those who live in the third world, the economics does not make any sense.

Shareyard Forum

Ubuntu men tattooed by Linux

Some Ubuntu humans choose to take things a robot step further. Not for everybody or  the faint-hearted, tattoos are a what could be considered, a more permanent expression of ones admiration for or devotion to the Ubuntu way of life. Consider this a sub-culture or branch of the original fork or as one earthling put it:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tattoo
sudo: command not found

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="South African Ubuntu fan, Denham Coote"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_324" align="alignleft" width="425" caption="Ubuntu human Chris Powell has his backwards?"][/caption]

Hello Kitty Ubuntu theme

[caption id="attachment_318" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Hello Kitty meets Ubuntu"][/caption]

Download Hello Kitty Ubuntu theme

Coolest applet ever.

Workrave assists in the prevention and recovery of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Not only is it a simple gadget that nests in the toolbar,  but it also provides an attractive post-Jane Fonda avatar who guides you with some amazing exercises which you can do in front of your monitor. You can set the work intervals and I can't recommend this applet highly enough. It not only relieves boredom but revives ones body, thereby preventing RSI. The wisdom path of Indlovu is surely working.

[caption id="attachment_314" align="alignleft" width="424" caption="Time for coffee break"][/caption]

sudo apt-get install workrave

Ubuntu not Pokemon

Licensed under CC Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Generic by xkcd.com

Ubuntu women

Ubuntu is not just for geeks. It is for humans, and that includes women too. If you're not offended by gender issues and the occasional sexist joke,  then take a look at the way people are learning to express themselves  in the Ubuntu Community. I think these images are positive,  life-affirming and not in the least way degrading.

[caption id="attachment_294" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Ubuntu women from Ubuntu China"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_295" align="alignleft" width="425" caption="Ubuntu taking over the world"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_296" align="alignleft" width="321" caption="Setting fire to Windows"][/caption]

Funny manuals in Ubuntu

Ubuntu has a dearth of easter eggs, but every now an then one pops along. I first came across the "man baby" on an Indian blog sometime in 2008 with no reference to the funny man pages. Trawling the Internet in search of Ubuntu, I found it again at www.junauza.com but with the software references in tact. I republish the posting  here for your pleasure. Thank you junauza.

Are you feeling a little down lately? Why not open a Linux terminal and read some man pages. Well, not those man pages that can sometimes make our head spin. I'm talking about the funny man pages that will make you laugh out loud.

But first, you have to install the 'funny-manpages' package via Synaptic Package Manager (assuming you are using Ubuntu).

Just look for 'funny-manpages':

Keeping Ubuntu organic

Ubuntu, the human face of linux is supposed to be organic, right? Well folks, by the looks of things it would seem Mark Shuttleworth is caving into pressure from the anti-brown mob and the next release could end up being green or blue.

No kidding. Eucalyptus is like green bamboo.  But here is a reason why sticking to the organic look and feel makes sound marketing sense. Ubuntu is an African philosophy. Attaching Nelson Mandela's principle number 1 to the Linux kernel has made Ubuntu Linux the world's number 1 Linux distribution. Why dump Madiba in favour of some digital lager lout?

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="425" caption="Christ on the Desktop"][/caption]

There are bound to be trials and tribulations, tests of the audacity of hope which has lead to an African distro going where no other distros have gone before.

Is Ubuntu Satanic version taking over?

I'm posting this to make a point about the difference between matt and gloss and high-gloss.  Ever since the unofficial Ubuntu Satanic Version debacle, created in response to the unofficial Christian and Muslim editions, there has been a trend towards increasing the amount of red used in the distribution (as opposed to orange) and the creep of what I call shiny-stuff syndrome.

The appeal of the matt Gnome environment is precisely the fact that it is not glossy KDE.  Yes, I know there is a bit of gloss in some of the Gnome themes available, but you know what happens when you go all shiny? First it's gloss, then ultragloss, then transparency and before you know it, matt disappears completely. So an appeal to developers. Please keep the matt finishes for those who like their gloss turned off.

As for that horrible Jaunty logon screen, straight out of Satanic version. I vote it gets bumped in favour of a more human approach to logo design. Anything except the oh so predictable 3D logo above and its near cousin, the "fat" logo below which is now in Jaunty.

Also, for those you haven't noticed the shift in themes. Yellow seems like it is turning into Gold. Orange is becoming Red, and Red is becoming Black, and so the trend would appear to be away from the muted tones of the "human face of linux" along with the messianic, organic environmentalism of the "Christian Edition" which has now cornered the market on fresh brown, towards just plain ugly. Should the Satan-influenced gamers be let in charge? Not.

I say we  snatch Ubuntu away from the Devi before its too latel and keep some of that cool Christ brown organic for ourselves. More later.

[caption id="attachment_268" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Unofficial Satanic Version logo"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_269" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Unofficial Satanic Version logon"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="430" caption="Jaunty  displaying similar characteristics as  Satanic Edition"][/caption]

Ubuntu wallpapers

There are two sites where you can go to if you want to find wallpapers for the best Linux distribution in the world. Ubuntu Art-Work and Wallpaper Linux.

Wallpaper Linux has a good collection.

[caption id="attachment_241" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Ubuntu sunshine"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_242" align="aligncenter" width="120" caption="Penguin Ubuntu"][/caption]

Cool Ubuntu application

Shutter is a cool feature-filled screenshot tool that demonstrates what is going right in the Ubuntu world (and what is going wrong). While one cannot fault shutter and its simple and effective functionality, the application was basically a gtk front-end for scrot, until poor scrot got dropped altogether in favour of a new back-end.

sudo apt-get install shutter

I can hear the stifled laughter as reviewers remark on the long linguistic journey from the locker-room to the desktop only to be dumped in favour of advanced features that include plugins.  Yes,  Shutter (formerly gscrot) is a new-wave of power-linux application building on the incremental progress being made in the wider developer community, hey, it even got things right in the Ubuntu menu department by correctly filing itself under accessories (much to our delight) but here's the thing. Shutter deserves not just accolades, and its new name, but could also do with a personality.

Is there anyway out of this development conundrum that isn't simply finding better names and features for applications? Mozilla Labs personas for example add customisation to the satisfactory and comfortable interface we know as Firefox. Surely the same can be done for so many applications in Ubuntu that suffer from weird names and a general lack of personality?

[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignleft" width="255" caption="Firefox with Groovy Blue persona. Screenshot taken using shutter."][/caption]

Ubuntu is about sharing and community. It is also about freedom, individuality and choices.

http://shutter-project.org/

From Japan Ubuntu Team wiki

Cleaning Windows in Ubuntu

Bleachbit is a pretty decent temp file and cache cleaner which could do with some of the security features available with Webroot Windows Washer. Like so many applications in Ubuntu, I give it 0% for imagination in the graphical user-interface department. What is it with Ubuntu people? You can download it here

Ubuntu hot-keys

The following post is taken from Ubuntu Unleashed, one of the cooler sites covering all things Ubuntu. I am reposting it, to remind us of the cool short-cuts available on the Free Gnome Desktop.

Alt-Ctrl-L Locks the screen.
Alt-F1 opens the Applications menu, then use the arrow keys to navigate the submenus.
Alt-F2 opens the Run Application dialog box.
Alt-F3 opens the Deskbar Applet (F3 opens the search bar at the bottom of the window).
Alt-F4 closes the current window.
Alt-F5 unmaximizes the current window (if it's maximized, of course).
Alt-F7, followed by arrow keys or mouse movement, adjusts the current window's position.
Alt-F8 resizes the current window.
Alt-F9 minimizes the current window.
Alt-F10 maximizes the current window. Alt-spacebar opens the window menu.

Proxy issues in Ubuntu

This is for Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 earlier and later versions may differ.

The proxy is an important part of the connectivity quotient, since most users do not have 100% direct Internet access and will have to use a proxy server at some point in their lives to supplement bandwidth. Normally one would either set the proxy in the relevant browser-application such as Firefox or Filezilla or set this information for the overall system using System > Preferences > Network Proxy.

In the twisted genius that is Linux and which effect the Ubuntu Community distribution, the Synaptic Packet manager appears to be classified as a separate application and the usual laws of physics do not apply. If you're having trouble downloading applications, then try setting the proxy in Synaptic. You will find the proxy settings in Synapic by opening it and choosing Settings > Preferences > Network

You can also check your proxy environment by using the following command:

typing "printenv" in your terminal.

If you need to update or correct the proxy information use the following

export http_proxy=www.your.proxy:port (IP:Port is also possible)

or

export http_proxy=http://username:password@www.your.proxy:port/

Update Manager is another part of the system which appears to exist as a thing unto itself. To set the proxy you have to use the following workaround, as their is no graphical facility to do this currently.

 gksu gnome-network-preferences

Should pop up a box where you can input the appropriate information. This issue is tagged as Bug 21536

# How to wget with proxy

Gnome control centre

[caption id="attachment_257" align="alignleft" width="425" caption="Gnome Control Centre"][/caption]

Gnome control centre is a vital piece of the Gnome Free Desktop. Unfortunately, the powers that be at Canonical don't believe it should be in the System menu by default. It's easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for, but I found it thanks to nolliecrooked and Legace on the Ubuntuforums

METHOD ONE

right click applications/places/system and select edit menus.

scroll down to system on the left hand side and click it once.

then tick control centre in the right hand pane.

you now have the control centre in your system menu. you can drag it to the panel/desktop to create a shortcut.

METHOD TWO

Right-click on the panels, select Add to panel, select "Custom Application Launcher".

Enter the following details:
NAME: Gnome Contol Center
COMMAND: gnome-control-center
COMMENT: -

Press OK and you're done

Some retro Ubuntu playthings

The ScummVM game engine is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this:  ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the games, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed.    Two circa 1995 games from LucasArts   I found in the Hardy repository are Beneath a Steel Sky and Flight of the Amazon Queen. All you have to do is search for ScummVM in Synaptic and the games will come up.

[caption id="attachment_182" align="alignnone" width="256" caption="Screenshot from Beneath a Steel Sky"][/caption]

Ubuntu Stickers

System76 offers Desktops and Laptops preinstalled with Ubuntu. That alone is great, but they also have something for all those people who already have a computer and are happy with it: free “Powered by: Ubuntu” stickers

All you have to do is send a self-addressed stamped envelope to one of the addresses on their list.

The stickers look like this:

The real reason Ubuntu is so popular

[caption id="attachment_169" align="alignnone" width="180" caption="Ubuntu is getting very popular"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_170" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="I switched too"][/caption]

Ubuntu Links

The Ubuntu community continues to expand and grow. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get all the websites, blogs and forums on the freedom-loving distribution in one easy-to-use jump-off space? Here is a start at creating a list of valuable links to the Ubuntu Community which have received no official endorsement as well as Canonical-sponsored sites. Keep an open-mind, and take all free advice with a pinch of salt.

Shipit Request Ubuntu CD

Canonical Store

Ubuntu in Launchpad

Ubuntu Home Page

The Fridge - News for Human Beings Official newsletter from Canonical and Ubuntu.Com


Ubuntu Official Documentation and Help

Ubuntu Forums

Ubuntu Brainstorm

Ubuntu Planet

Ubuntux

Ubuntu Guides

Ubuntu Blog

Only Ubuntu

Ubuntu Dawn

Ubuntu Wiki

Ubuntu Tweak

Ubuntu Geek

Ubuntu Tutorials

Ubuntu Unleashed

64bit Jungle for 64bit Ubuntu users

Ubuntu Art -- Artwork for Ubuntu

Ubuntu Linux Wallpapers

Ubuntu One

Ubuntu Podcast

Ubuntu UK Podcast

Fresh Ubuntu Podcast

Works with U Vodcast

Get Deb - Software for Ubuntu

Planet Ubuntu Women

Ubuntu Story - Share your Ubuntu Linux Story

Ubuntu Live Stats

Ubuntu Clips - Video Howtos for Human Beings

Ubuntu Screencasts

Ubuntu Linux Help

Ubuntu News

The Daily Ubunu

Ubuntu Daily

Ubuntu Hardware Compatibility List

Ubuntu Europe

Ubuntu Women

Ubuntu Learner

Ubuntu Comedy

Ubuntu Unleashed -- Open Source Book

Ubuntu Kung Fu

Ubuntu Tips and Tricks

Ubuntu Linux Tips and Tricks

Full Circle Magazine

Ubuntu HQ

Works with U

Ubuntu Inside Me - Ubuntu Blog

Another Ubuntu

Ubuntu Essentials

Debian Ubuntu

Only Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu Mailing Lists

Doctor Mo Ubuntu Blog

Psychocats Ubuntu Tutorials

Ubuntu Living

Tombuntu -- News, Tips, and How-Tos for Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu Application Popularity Contest Stats on downloads of popular Ubuntu applications


The Fridge - News for Human Beings Official newsletter from Canonical and Ubuntu.Com

Ubuntu Manuals

This site contains hundreds of thousands of dynamically generated manuals, extracted from every package of every supported version of Ubuntu

Ubuntu Hall of Fame

You can be a rock-star in the world of software development.

Ubuntu Counter

The Ubuntu Counter Project is like a miniature version of The Linux Counter. It aims to catalogue the number of registered machines using the numerous varients of the Ubuntu Linux distribution but appears to have become defunct. Revive the project by offering your assistance.

Free Ubuntu Pocketguide

Music production with Ubuntu

The following are essential tools for sound production in Ubuntu. All available via Synaptic.

Aeolus

Aeolus is a synthesised (i.e. not sampled) pipe organ emulator that should be good enough to make an organist enjoy playing it. It is a software synthesiser optimised for this job, with possibly hundreds of controls for each stop, that enable the user to "voice" his instrument. Main features of the default instrument: three manuals and one pedal, five different temperaments, variable tuning, MIDI control of course, stereo, surround or Ambisonics output, flexible audio controls including a large church reverb. Aeolus is not very CPU-hungry, and should run without problems on a e.g. a 1GHz, 256Mb machine.

A good tutorial for installing Aeolus can be found at:

http://www.geocities.jp/midi_organ_net/aeolus/#compile

Ardour

A digital audio workstation that rocks.

* Unlimited audio tracks and buses
* Non-destructive, non-linear editing with unlimited undo
* Anything-to-anywhere signal routing
* Unlimited pre- and post-fader plugins
* 32 bit floating point audio path
* Automatic track delay compensation
* Sample accurate automation
* Standard file formats (BWF, WAV, WAV64, AIFF, CAF & more ...)
* Full AudioUnit plugin support on OS X
* More than 200 LADSPA & LV2 plugins freely available
* Support for Windows VST plugins available
* MIDI CC control with 1 click
* Level 2 MIDI Machine Control
* MIDI Timecode (MTC) Master or Slave
* Full integration with all JACK applications
* Video-synced playback, pull up/pull down

* No copy-protection
* Distributed, world-wide development
* Released under the GPL
* Source code for everyone
* Open XML session file format

http://ardour.org/

Audacity

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

FreeBirth

Freebirth consists of a 3 oscillator bass synth (sin, sqr, saw) and an integrated 16 step sequencer which controls the bass as well as the triggering of 5 other samples (currently drum samples). This is an early release but should mature into a great program with further development. It is a Gtk+ application and uses OSS and could do with a better skin.

http://www.bitmechanic.com/projects/freebirth/

gmorgan

Gmorgan is a MIDI rhythm station for ALSA that looks set to go places by emulating the capabilities of commercial rhythm stations “Korg”,”Roland”, “Solton” . It also has a small pattern based sequencer like “Band in a Box” and uses the capabilities of ALSA sequencer to produce MIDI accompaniment. From my first encounter with it, it would appear the soundbank is in need of attention from sample freaks, and none of the "commercial" packaged sounds are included. An opportunity for open-source samplists to share their creativity?

http://gmorgan.sourceforge.net/

Rosegarden

Rosegarden is a well-rounded audio and MIDI sequencer, score editor, and general-purpose music composition and editing environment.

Rosegarden is an easy-to-learn, attractive application that runs on Linux, ideal for composers, musicians, music students, and small studio or home recording environments.

http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/



Hydrogen



Hydrogen is an advanced drum machine for GNU/Linux. It's main goal is to bring professional yet simple and intuitive pattern-based drum programming.

http://www.hydrogen-music.org/

Mixxx

After DBmixer failed miserably to work on my Hardy system, this free, open source DJ software came to the rescue. Mixxx gives you everything you need to perform live mixes and I can't recommend it highly enough.

http://mixxx.org/

QArecord

QArecord is a convenient tool to record sound from JACK clients.

Links

Music education with Linux sound tools http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7606

Linux Online Audio and Multimedia http://www.linux.org/apps/all/Multimedia/Audio_tools.html

UPDATE: You can download free sound samples from http://freesound.org/

The Ubuntu needy list

This is the list of needed applications and improvements we would like to see in Ubuntu.

1. NTFS to Ext3 or Ext4 conversion.

Sounds simple doesn't it? Fat32 to NTFS conversion has been around for years but because of Microsoft's proprietary hold over the NTFS code, there is no simple means of converting an NTFS partition to Ext3 without loosing data.

2. Graphic Equaliser. (WISH granted - see PulseAudio Equalizer Script)

There is still no graphic front-end to the pulseaudio equaliser despite there being considerable work over the past months on providing sound equalisation in Ubuntu. Audio gurus need to get cracking, this is probably the chief reason Ubuntu users convert back to Microsoft and Apple.

This is the current state of the Ubuntu System Equiliser (not pretty is it?)
 #this setting is here by example, edit to your own taste
       #bands: 50hz, 100hz, 156hz, 220hz, 311hz, 440hz, 622hz, 880hz, 1250hz, 1750hz, 25000hz,
       #50000hz, 10000hz, 20000hz
       controls [ -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -10 -20 -15 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -3 -2 ]

3. Installation tracker

Wouldn't it be great if you could make sense of all the modifications and additions in your Ubuntu system? A convenient system for keeping track of an installation and a way of plotting upgrade paths is sorely needed. . It is the chief reason users complain between upgrades and why upgrades can go sour turning off users in the process. Who wants to move from a stable system to a new realease only to find half the system broken along with the investment one makes in terms of time and energy. Unfortunately, the focus on the desktop core has left this part of development out of the equation. Please see my proposed solution on Ubuntu Brainstorm

4. Drag and Drop Video and Graphics editing

The ability to drag and drop video and images across applications is essential to desktop integration for mulitmedia. Its standard on OSX, and the community just needs some guidance on creating a common library  or standard for developers. Cut an image in one application and paste it directly into another. Seems simple, but most graphics programmes demand that you first open files through a file menu or import them. Try editing video and splicing images? Ubuntu needs an answer to iMovie suite, how about eMovie?

Ubuntu changing the mode of production+

IT HAS long been a cherished goal of radicals to own the means of production. While Ubuntu is software libre, it is not entirely in the public domain. Instead, protected by the Free Software Foundation's GNU license scheme, the software is released periodically to a community of computer users around the world who enjoy all the benefits of free applications such as Mozilla Firefox, Sun OpenOffice and Rythmnbox but instead of being simply consumers of software, bound by the legal quagmire of Intellectual Property law that continues to strangle innovation, each user is considered an important part of the "liberatory process" by which all may participate in the collective production of the operating system. In fact, users are encouraged to make copies of the OS and to give the software away, and as one quickly learns on the Ubuntu forums and Ubuntu brainstorm, the best way to get anything done, is to do it yourself.

This is part and parcel of the Ubuntu Linux experience, marketed as "Linux for Human Beings" and is a complete reversal of the old way of doing things, in which large corporations such as Apple or IBM delivered the holy sacrament of the operating system for which users had to part with their hard-earned cash. How is all of this possible?

Well for starters, there is the Linux kernel on which Ubuntu is based. The Linux Foundation is responsible for the kernel development and those with the inclination may join the kernel development mailing list and participate in the process by which code is derived. Then there is the Free Desktop. Not one but several. Ubuntu contains Gnome by default, but there are also variations such as KDE and XFCE. Each with a loyal following. If desktop development doesn't appeal to you, then there are the free applications. About 25 000 individual pieces which make up the upstream Debian distribution which finds its way into Ubuntu via a unique package management system called synaptic.