Kubuntu 9.04 Beta. Stable and Fast

I find the Beta pretty darn stable for a first Beta. I’m looking forward to the final release. Here is my current desktop:

Kubuntu 9.04 Beta, customized Desktop

Conky System Monitor for Gnome and Xfce Installation

Conky is a  highly configurable system monitor for Linux.  For most people it can a little tricky at first to set up, but once it’s done, it’s a great highly flexbile system monitor for your Linux Desktop!  Let’s give it a try with Ubuntu shown below:

Install Conky in Ubuntu

sudo apt-get install conky

This will complete the installation

Configuring Conky

Make a configuration file in your home directory (Ex:-/home/ubuntuadmin)

vi /home/ubuntuadmin/.conkyrc

Paste the following code into the file and save / exit

# UBUNTU-CONKY
# A comprehensive conky script, configured for use on
# Ubuntu / Debian Gnome, without the need for any external scripts.
#
# Based on conky-jc and the default .conkyrc.
# INCLUDES:
# – tail of /var/log/messages
# – netstat connections to your computer
#
# — Pengo (conky@pengo.us)
#

# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window yes
own_window_type override
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager

# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes

# fiddle with window
use_spacer yes
use_xft no

# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 3.0

# Minimum size of text area
# minimum_size 250 5

# Draw shades?
draw_shades no

# Text stuff
draw_outline no # amplifies text if yes
draw_borders no
font arial
uppercase no # set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase

# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 3

# border margins
border_margin 9

# border width
border_width 10

# Default colors and also border colors, grey90 == #e5e5e5
default_color grey

own_window_colour brown
own_window_transparent yes

# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
#alignment top_left
alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right

# Gap between borders of screen and text
gap_x 10
gap_y 10

# stuff after ‘TEXT’ will be formatted on screen

TEXT
$color
${color orange}SYSTEM ${hr 2}$color
$nodename $sysname $kernel on $machine

${color orange}CPU ${hr 2}$color
${freq}MHz Load: ${loadavg} Temp: ${acpitemp}
$cpubar
${cpugraph 000000 ffffff}
NAME PID CPU% MEM%
${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1}
${top name 2} ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2}
${top name 3} ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3}
${top name 4} ${top pid 4} ${top cpu 4} ${top mem 4}

${color orange}MEMORY / DISK ${hr 2}$color
RAM: $memperc% ${membar 6}$color
Swap: $swapperc% ${swapbar 6}$color

Root: ${fs_free_perc /}% ${fs_bar 6 /}$color
hda1: ${fs_free_perc /media/hda1}% ${fs_bar 6 /media/hda1}$color
hdb3: ${fs_free_perc /media/hdb3}% ${fs_bar 6 /media/hdb3}

${color orange}NETWORK (${addr eth0}) ${hr 2}$color
Down: $color${downspeed eth0} k/s ${alignr}Up: ${upspeed eth0} k/s
${downspeedgraph eth0 25,140 000000 ff0000} ${alignr}${upspeedgraph eth0
25,140 000000 00ff00}$color
Total: ${totaldown eth0} ${alignr}Total: ${totalup eth0}
Inbound: ${tcp_portmon 1 32767 count} Outbound: ${tcp_portmon 32768
61000 count}${alignr}Total: ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 count}

${color orange}LOGGING ${hr 2}$color
${execi 30 tail -n3 /var/log/messages | fold -w50}

${color orange}FORTUNE ${hr 2}$color
${execi 120 fortune -s | fold -w50}

You can also extract the sample file using the following command

zcat /usr/share/doc/conky/examples/conkyrc.sample.gz > ~/.conkyrc

If the network connections graph does not work, you will have to change all “eth0″ references to “ppp0″ (for modem) or “ath0″ (for other devices).

Add dbe module to /etc/X11/xorg.conf to reduce flickering.

sudo vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf

find the section titled Section “Module”, and add the following line

Load “dbe”

Add conky to Startup programs

Go to System—>Preferences—>Sessions

Name:  Conky

Path:  usr/bin/conky

Here is what the result will look like: (check your .conkyrc file and experiment with different settings/outputs:

example of a conky configuration

HowTo: Faster booting in Linux

(6 seconds save!) Enable concurrent booting allows Ubuntu to take full advantage of dual-core processors, as well as processors that hyperthread or multithread.  These settings are located in your /etc/init.d/rc file:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/rc
Look for CONCURRENCY=none and change it to:
CONCURRENCY=shell

NOTE: this possibly can cause issues with HAL for releases prior to Hardy (8.04), please see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s…al/+bug/149881

Google Chrome Browser for Linux is coming !

It’s pre-alpha, but you can install and use NOW if you like:

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/03/17/google-chrome-on-linux-progressing-screenshots-inside/

WARNING:  It was very ‘rough’ last time I checked.

My Kubuntu 9.04 Alpha 6 Desktop

It’s pretty stable considering it’s still alpha….this one is fast, much faster than 8.10:

Kubuntu 9.04 Alpha

I’m still using Linux Mint 6 Xfce, but this one is going to be fast, fast and FAST.  Complete with Ext4!  Watch this one!

My current Desktop, Linux Mint 6 Xfce CE

Best implementation of Xfce I’ve seen: