I decided to come up with a poll in the hope to provoke some comments. I want your opinions!

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I’ll start:

I am an Ubuntu user. I have used Mandriva and OpenSUSE before but decided on Ubuntu in the end. The biggest thing I like is the community. I can find out how to do anything because there is such a big community of users. I managed to get things done a lot faster as an Ubuntu beginner than I managed with either Mandriva or OpenSUSE before.

I would have to say Ubuntu is a great beginner Linux distro. The ’safe’ choice. It’s also nice because I know it’s going to work for me day in and day out. If you are someone who loves to delve into the mysteries of computer systems then you will probably find another distro more appealing, but for now I will be sticking with Ubuntu.

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I will also say that I am a GNOME user. I tried KDE first and disliked it so much that GNOME was such a breath of fresh air. I have not used any other environment I’m sorry to say, but may be willing to try if you persuade me in the comments.

Amarok, a familiar name from the Linux community, has decided it’s newest release will be available to all you Windows users. But what is Amarok? Amarok is an open source, extremely popular music player. It’s current version is only available in Linux, in fact I’m listening to my music through Amarok right now. Before I switched to Linux I was a heavy iTunes user but now I’d rather use Amarok. I can’t really pin-point anything that makes Amarok so much better than iTunes, I guess it’s just that I’m comfortable with Amarok now. For all you iTunes haters, Linux lovers, or people looking for a decent music app, Amarok is worth a good look. A list of what Amarok has to offer:

• Quick and simple drag and drop playlist creation
• Super eye-candy interface
• Multiple backends supported (xine, NMM and Helix)
• 10 band equalizer
• Automatic cover art download using Amazon services
• The unique and powerful Context Browser
• Automatic play-statistics generation (iRate style)
• Full lyrics download
• Funky visualisations from libvisual and XMMS
• Streaming from any KIO source
• Crossfading
• Fully configurable translucent OSD for track changes
• K3B (CD-burning) integration
• KDE integration
• Style your Context Browser with custom CSS styles.
• Save space in your Context Browser with collapsable boxes
• Show the Context Browser without amaroK open through the konqueror sidebar!
• Full support for last.fm! Share your music taste with friends on the net
• Generate dynamic playlists based on last.fm suggestions
• Support for sqlite, MySQL and PostgreSQL databases ensuring fast collection access
• Support for iPod®, iRiver® and generic UMS mp3 players with the all new media-browser
• Powerful scripting interface, allowing for easy extension of amaroK
• Complete DCOP access
• Translated into more than 35 languages, thanks to the KDE internationalization team.

I know a few of these don’t apply to Windows users, but most of these features will be included in the Windows version for Amarok2.

Here’s a quick screenshot I borrowed from the Amarok blog:

For more information about the Amarok2 development for Windows, check out the Amarok blog.

I would like to thank Gregory for suggesting this post on the discussion board of our facebook page. I know this is a long post but try and bear with me. There is a lot I need to cover and when you are done you will be glad you did :-) .

This post will show you how to install iPodLinux from Ubuntu; however, this post still applies to Windows. The reason I chose to show the installation from Linux is because it is a little more difficult to get the installer running then in Windows.

The iPodLinux Project is an open source project that has ported Linux to the iPod. iPodLinux allows you to install addons for more functionality, programs and games to your iPod. For example, you can install Wikipedia on your iPod. For a list of all the cool stuff you can install on your iPod, take a look at the module list and the application list.

iPodLinux works with most iPod models, however, you should check to make sure it is compatible with your model by clicking here. According to the iPodLinux website, iPodLinux currently does not work with the following iPod models: 2nd/3rd generation iPod nano, 6th generation iPod classic, all iPod shuffles and the iPod Touch.

iPodLinux provides an installer for installing from Windows or Linux. There is not an installer for Mac OS X; however, you can perform a manual installation if you are Mac OS X user. This post will cover how to install iPodLinux from Ubuntu; however, the installation from Windows is very similar. If you cannot get the installation to work using the installer, try the manual installation mentioned above.

WARNING- BACKUP YOUR DATA BEFORE CONTINUING!!!

You should back up all the files on your iPod (music, pictures, video, data, etc) before continuing. The installation should leave all of your data unharmed but you should still backup in case something were to go wrong. Keep in mind that it is physically impossible to permanently damage your iPod by installing iPodLinux.

Ok, onto the installation.

1.) According to the iPodLinux website, Debian/Ubuntu users need to install libpng3 and libssl0.9.8 libraries before trying to install iPodLinux. To install these libraries, simply type ‘sudo apt-get install libpng3 libssl0.9.8‘ into the terminal.

If you are a Windows user you do not need to do this, merely download the installer (zip archive) to your computer and skip to step 4.

2.) Next, download the iPodLinux installer 2 located under the download section on the Installer 2 page. Be sure to pick the appropriate installer for your computer (32bit or 64bit). Most users will probably need the x86 version.

3.) Once you download the installer, extract the zipped archive with your favorite archive manager. You can also use the following code (only for 32bit) which will extract the files and place an icon on the desktop. For the 64bit version see the iPodLinux website (Installer 2 page).

% gunzip /tmp/ipodlinux-installer-2.2l.run.gz
% chmod +x /tmp/ipodlinux-installer-2.2l.run
% /tmp/ipodlinux-installer-2.2l.run
% /opt/iPodLinux/installer     (or use the icon)

4.) Now you are ready to run the installer. You can do this by either clicking on the icon on your desktop (if you used the code above) or by using the terminal to navigate to the folder and running ‘./installer’ (if you used an archive manager to extract the files).

Windows users should run the file ‘installer’ after extracting the archive.

At this point you should see a screen similar to the following:

5.) I recommend reading the text on this screen as it could be helpful if something were to go wrong. But for those of you who don’t like to read (like myself) just click Next to get started.

You should now see a screen similar to the following. However, it should list the iPod information related to your model. As you can see, I am using a 4th generation black and white iPod.

6.) Because of a bug in the installer, you will have to come back to this step in a minute. But for now just click Next, you do NOT need to click the advanced check box.

There is a bug in the installer that makes it quit once you have backed up your iPod firmware (in this step). Therefore, once you backup the firmware you will have to run the installer again. So for now it doesn’t matter how you load Linux.

7.) However, if you want to be safe just click iPodLoader2. This will bring you to a boot menu when you turn on the iPod. You will then be able to choose whether to start the Apple OS or Linux. You can also choose to turn off the iPod or put it in Disk Mode.

8.) Check ‘Yes, I want to save a backup.’ and leave the directory as it is to save the backup in the iPodLinux folder. If you want you can change the directory and save the backup elsewhere.

The backup will begin and you should see a screen like the following. When the backup finishes, the installer will probably quit. Don’t worry; apparently this is normal. This is the bug I mentioned earlier.

9.) Once the installer quits, run it again and stop when you get to the page that identifies your iPod. This time you should check ‘Advanced partitioning and package selection.’ Click Next when ready to continue.

10.) After clicking Next you will be presented with the following screen. These default settings are fine so you can go ahead and click Next. However, if you are an advanced user (and who isn’t?) you can change these settings to fit your needs.

11.) You should have seen the following screen the first time you ran the installer (to backup the iPod’s firmware). This time uncheck ‘Yes, I want to save a backup’ since you already did this. This will keep the installer from quitting and allow you to finish installing Linux. Click Next when ready.

12.) You should now see a screen where you can select which modules to install. The following modules are required for Linux to run: base, kernel, ipodloader2, appearance, podzilla2. The top 4 are selected by default but podzilla2 is not. Without podzilla2 you will receive an error when trying to boot into Linux.

Under ‘Podzilla modules ‘is a list of modules you can install to your iPod. These include games, applications, and demos. Just scroll through the list and check the ones you find interesting. There is a little bit of everything here. Click Next to begin the installation.

The following screen will show the status of the installation. This should not take very long (less than a minute depending on how many modules you chose).

Once the installer is finished installing the modules you will be presented with the following screen. Again, I recommend reading this page but of course you don’t have to. Just click Finish to close the installer.

You have now successfully installed iPodLinux! ;-) Be sure to unmount your iPod (don’t just unplug it!). The iPod should restart on its own and when the boot loader appears, scroll down and select ‘iPod Linux’. After a few seconds podzilla should run allowing you to run the modules you just installed. The interface is similar to the default Apple firmware.

If you want to uninstall simply run the installer again. This time it should ask if you want to upgrade your iPodLinux, change the boot loader, or remove iPodLinux. Select uninstall iPodLinux and then select the backup you made earlier. This did not work when I tried it. This could be my iPod model or a problem with the installer.

The only way I could successfully remove iPodLinux was to restore my iPod using iTunes.

WARNING- Restoring your iPod will completely erase all data on the iPod.

I had trouble installing iPodLinux at first, mostly because I didn’t read the website. It took me a while to figure out there was a bug in the installer (if only I had read the section of the website entitled Important Notes).

So if you have some trouble with iPodLinux my suggestion to you is to spend some time on the iPodLinux website and even take a look at the forums. It can be hard to find what you are looking for on the website so if you are still having problems post in the comments and I will do my best to help you.

If you would like to see some of the cool stuff you can do with iPodLinux, check out the Screenshots. Some videos are listed at the bottom of the screenshots page.

If you have any more questions about the iPodLinux Project, be sure to check out their FAQ page. There is also some good guides for iPodLinux located in the Documentation page.

Are you a web designer who runs Linux but needs to test websites using Internet Explorer? Maybe you are an “average” computer user who wants to switch to Linux but still has a few sites that only work in IE. Whatever the case is, if you need to run Internet Explorer in Linux try using IEs 4 Linux.

IEs 4 Linux is the simplest way to install and run IE in Linux. With IEs 4 Linux you don’t have to worry about configuring Wine, running a VM or any of that geeky nonsense. In fact, you don’t even have to compile it from source. All you do is run a simple script that takes care of the installation for you! The best part is IEs 4 Linux is completely FREE and open-source.

What are the System Requirements?
In order to install IEs 4 Linux, you need to have cabextract and Wine installed. Depending on your Linux distribution, you can either install these using a built in package manager or go to the individual sites to download and install the packages.

So Windows isn’t required?
Nope. Thats what Wine is for, to run Windows applications in Linux.

How to Install IEs4Linux
Start by making sure you have cabextract and Wine installed. Then, visit the IEs 4 Linux download page, and grab the latest version. There you will also find installation guides for many popular Linux distributions. Once you have downloaded the package, extract it using an archive manager or with the following command:

tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz

Be sure to change “ies44linux-latest” to the correct name of the folder. Once extracted, run the install script by typing the following command:

./ies4linux

This should bring up the following screen:

Here, you can select which versions of IE you want to install. You also have the option of installing the Flash plugin. For advanced installation settings, click the ‘Advanced’ button. You should then see the following screen:

Here you can customize where IEs 4 Linux is installed. You can also choose to install IE7. To begin the installation click ‘OK’ at the original screen. The installation script will take care of the rest. You will be notified when the installation is complete. At this point you should be able to use IE.

As the IEs 4 Linux website suggests, don’t use IE for browsing the internet unless you need it for a special reason. For general browsing, use a more secure web browser such as Firefox.

To answers to more questions about IEs 4 Linux, check out their FAQ page.

Do you need to use IE in Linux? If so, tell us your reason for doing so in the comments.

Do you enjoy playing games like Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, but hate having to pay for it? Or maybe you are a Linux or Mac user and aren’t able to play MS Flight Simulator on your system. If so, you should give FlightGear flight simulator a try. FlightGear is a multi-platform, open-source (FREE!!! :-) ), flight simulator game.

FlightGear allows you to fly everything from gliders, to business jets, to commercial airliners, to even helicopters. The graphics may not be the best out there, but FlightGear makes up for with its large selection of aircrafts. You can change the time and season with just a click of the mouse.

Within FlightGear, the player can choose many of the different airports located around the world. The developers at FlightGear have focused on making this game very sophisticated and allowing the player to experience many real-life situations, such as mid-air refueling, sky diving, rescue operations and much more. FlightGear even allows you to play with others via their multi-player sever.

This game is definitely worth downloading and trying for yourself. I had a little trouble getting used to the shortcuts at first but after that the game was very enjoyable. Let me know what you think of the game.

Download FlightGear for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

More screenshots are available here.

For a complete list of Aircrafts click here