Guides

Gwibber is an open source microblogging framework and desktop client for GNOME. You can find it in your package manager for most major distributions. Currently it supports Twitter, Identi.ca, FriendFeed, Facebook, Jaiku, Digg, Flickr, BrightKite, Qaiku, and OpenCollaboration. Word is when Google opens the Buzz API that Gwibber will include support for Buzz too.

In Ubuntu, I love that I can minimize Gwibber down to the tray on close and see bubbles with the latest updates. Being able to manage multiple Twitter accounts plus Facebook, identi.ca etc. is really convenient as well. I added Gwibber to my startup applications list so I don't even have to launch it, it's there as soon as I login to my computer. I hear you can install it on the Nokia N800, N810 and N900 too if you're willing to do some tinkering, not sure I have time for that one at the moment.

Gwibber has replaced all my other social networking clients, I just hope the Buzz support happens. Check it out, should be in your package manager.

http://live.gnome.org/Gwibber
http://twitter.com/gwibber
http://identi.ca/gwibber

Most all of these are available in your package manager (especially if you use Ubuntu), and you should always get programs from your package manager if you can. If they aren't in your package manager you can find them online. Make sure you select the right architecture and distro for your system. A few of these might will be found in Synaptic Package Manager if they aren't in your distros on package management tool. I am primarily a GNOME, XFCE and LXDE user, so I am sure I have left many wonderful KDE programs off this list, nothing personal, you can always recommend some in the comments section. Depending on your Linux distro, some of these may work better or worse than they do on a different distro, or may require additional configuration. In Ubuntu, these all work for me well.

These are some of the applications I prefer to use and/or recommend:

Office & Desktop Publishing: OpenOffice, Scribus, PDFedit, Gnome Office, AbiWord

Email, Calendars and Organizers: Evolution, SunBird, Thunderbird,

e-Book Reader: Calibre, FBReader

Graphics: GIMP, Blender, Crystal Space, OpenOffice Draw, Inkscape, Xara Xtreme, KIconEdit

Screenshots (fancier): Shutter

FTP Programs: gFTP, Filezilla

Web Broswers: Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Midori, Flock

BitTorrent Clients: Deluge, Transmission

Finances: HomeBank, GnuCash, Eqonomize

Programming/Coding: Netbeans, Bluefish, Aptana Studio, Screem, QuantaPlus

Video Conversion: WinFF, Arista Transcoder, MakeMKV, Transmageddon, iriverter

Audio Conversion: SoundConverter, WinFF, OggConvert

Video Editing: Kdenlive, Pitivi, Avidemux, LiVES

Basic Audio Recording/Editing: Audacity, Ardour Digital Audio Workstation, GNUSound, Gnome-Sound-Recorder, Kstreamripper

Audio Tag Editors: EasyTag, ExFalso

Audio Media Manager/Players: Rhythmbox, Exaile, Listen, Banshee, gMusicBrowser

CD Burning Software: Brasero, GnomeBaker, K3B

iPod Manager: gtkPod iPod Manager

Desktop Recording/Capture: gtk-RecordMyDesktop

DVD Ripping: Thoggen, MakeMKV, AcidRip, OGMrip, dvd::rip

Audio CD Extractor: SoundJuicer, Serpentine

Media Players: VLC, Gnome Mplayer

Webcam: Cheese, Camorama

IM (multi-client): Empathy, Pidgin

Security: RKhunter, Firestarter

Science: Google Earth, Stellarium, Celestia

Font Managers: Font Matrix, Fonty Python, Font Forge

Digital Camera/Photo Managers: Picasa, F-Spot, DigiKam, gtKam

Mobile Device Browser: gMobileMedia

Journal: Lifeograph

Virtualization: Virtualbox, QEMU

Media Servers: MediaTomb, VLC

Active Directory: Likewise-Open

ISO Management: ISO Master, Furius

Just installed Ubuntu 9.10 on my wifes HP Pavilion tx1000 laptop and wanted to make sure the touchscreen works for her.

So I went on a driver hunt and came across evtouch, which I then searched for and found in Synaptic, and you can install by simply opening a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and entering in this command:

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-input-evtouch

It will ask for your password/permission to install it.

Now go to System > Administration > Calibrate Touchscreen and follow the instructions, which just take a moment.
The steadier your hand the better your results by the way

Happy tapping!

If you want to be able to open a terminal in any folder in Ubuntu's GNOME Nautilus file manager simply by right clicking and selecting "Open in Terminal" here is how you do it.

Open a Terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get install nautilus-open-terminal

Once it installs, you may have to log out and log back in, maybe, to find out simply open your Home folder and right click. If you see "Open in Terminal" in the right click menu then it is working. If not, log out and log back in and check again.

Many have asked how to convert OGG or OGV videos to FLV format for web use.
So here is how...

Put the video file you want to convert on your Desktop

Open a Terminal and enter:

cd /home/user/Desktop

Of course, replace user in the command above with your actual username.

Now enter this command into the terminal:

ffmpeg -i videoname.ogg -vcodec flv -f flv -r 29.97 -s 320x240 -aspect 4:3 -b 300kb -g 160 -cmp dct -subcmp dct -mbd 2 -flags +aic+cbp+mv0+mv4 -trellis 1 -ac 1 -ar 22050 -ab 56kb videoname.flv

Of course, replace videoname with your own videos actual name at the beggining and end of the command. Also make sure you edit where it says .ogg if you are using .ogv

You can also use Transmageggon, WinFF or Arista Transcoder to convert videos into various formats if you prefer a GUI. Each have their strengths and weaknesses. I use all three as well as commands to get desired results in a wide array of formats.