The Mother

My mother have been using Ubuntu on her desktop PC since just after Ubuntu 7.04 has been released. My mother doesn’t do much on her PC, she manages photos, browses the web, reads e-mail, keeps in touch with Pidgin and plays the occasional game. About 3 months ago, she bought a new laptop with Vista. I thought she’d get along with it fine, and with me being so far away from home so much these days, I thought she’d be fine. Well, she wasn’t. In fact, the laptop has been lying in a cupboard because she just couldn’t get things to work on it. She’s been visiting over the weekend, so I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on it, and she’s very happy with it. She’s been telling everyone how nicely her laptop is working now since I’ve “upgraded” it

I did a Google search to find what people install on their mother’s machines, but couldn’t find anything really helpful. These are the packages I installed on my mother’s laptop:

• thunderbird
• gnome-ppp
• some games from universe

I then just added some bookmarks to Firefox for the sites she often visits, configured Pidgin and Thunderbird, added a photo to her session info and imported all her music into Rhythmbox. So far everything is working very nicely.

The Server

These are packages I usually install on servers. Not all of these packages usually gets installed on all servers though. These are just a few favourites.

• screen
• mc
• htop
• debmirror
• irssi
• debootstrap
• vim
• toilet
• figlet
• openssh-server
• ethstatus
• ddclient
• apache2
• nmap
• rkhunter
• postfix
• traceroute
• links2
• sshfs
• strace
• gpw
• ccze

The Desktop

At least, my desktop, plus the packages on the server list.

• wireshark
• thunderbird
• network-manager-openvpn
• quanta
• agave
• build-essential
• k3b
• nautilus-open-terminal
• fakeroot
• freemind
• debhelper
• devscripts
• strace
• liferea
• vlc
• virtualbox

If there’s something else I should install by default and don’t know about, please leave a comment

Previously, I blogged about 10 games that’s available in the Ubuntu Universe that I found interesting. Since then, the Ubuntu MOTU Games team has merged with the Debian games team, and the amount of packaged games have increased.

Here are 10 more games from the Ubuntu Universe, based on comment-recommendations from the previous article:

1. Battle for Wesnoth

Ubuntu package: wesnoth

Shew, judging by the comment from the previous blog, I should’ve really included Battle for Wesnoth in the first blog post!

2. Nexuiz

Ubuntu package: nexuiz

This wasn’t packaged for Ubuntu previously, another community devleped first person shooter.

3. Torcs

Ubuntu package: torcs

Racing game, the picture basically sums it up.

4. Frozen Bubble

Ubuntu package: frozen-bubble

Fun little game, you can even play it 2 players with your girlfriend (and she’ll enjoy it).

5. Enigma

Ubuntu package: enigma

Puzzle game with interesting mouse controls

6. Ur-Quan Masters

Ubuntu package: uqm

Previously known as Star Control 2, this game is now free software and available for Ubuntu.

7. OpenArena

Ubuntu package: openarena

First person shooter based on the Quake III engine.

8. LBreakout2

Ubuntu package: lbreakout2

“Breakout is a stupid game.”

9. Fillets ‘o Fish

Ubuntu package: fillets-ng

Fun little puzzle game. At times hard to figure out how to play though.

10. Rrootage

Ubuntu package: rrootage

Why stop here!?

There’s much more games available for Ubuntu, here are some links to set you on your journey.

• Ubuntu games page: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games
• List of games available for gratis (it’s free software, sorry Han!): http://libregamewiki.org/List_of_games
• Two more games from Tombuntu: http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2007/08/31/two-more-linux-games
• Rangit.com’s top 8 Linux games for 2007: http://rangit.com/software/top-8-linux-games-of-2007/

Have fun!

It’s official! Nintendo is coming to South Africa!

They will be available from CNA, Musica, Look&Listen, BT Games, Toys ‘R Us, Reggies, Toy Zone, Kalahari.net and Incredible Connection. I searched for Wii’s when I was in Spain earlier this year, but all they had stock of was Xbox 360’s and Playstation 3’s.

Oh, and CNA, your website is rubbish, it told me that I have an invalid browser, so I pre-ordered from BT Games instead (they say the ETA is 28 September – Next Friday!)

And that reminds me… some people requested that I upload the slides of the GNOME CLUG talk I presented a few weeks ago. Get them here.

Now and again, I show some new Linux users some of the games that are available for Ubuntu. Many of those times, theres a seasoned Ubuntu user close by, who says that they haven’t seen that before. I decided to put together a list of 10 games in the Ubuntu Universe that I have installed. I think I’ll also do other lists of 10 things in Ubuntu in the coming months.

Supertux

Ubuntu Package name: supertux

Supertux is a Mario Brothers type game. The levels are quite good, but not quite as good as the levels in the original Mario Brothers. You can’t go down pipes yet, and there’s no underwater levels.

Sopwith and Airstrike

Ubuntu packages: sopwith, airstrike

You might remember running Sopwith on an ancient DOS computer with a CGA screen. No? Must be before your time. Sopwith has been ported to Linux, and it’s exactly how I remembered it from ancient times. Last year I discovered Airstrike, it’s a two player game where you have two Sopwith-like planes, with the goal of destroying the other player 5 times to win.

Chromium

Ubuntu package: chromium

Chromium is a fun arcade-style space shooter.

Lincity NG

Ubuntu Package: lincity-ng

This is a 3-D clone of the original Sim City game.

Neverball

Ubuntu Package: neverball

In Neverball, you have to tilt a virtual world to keep a ball running to catch enough coins to pass to the next world.

Tremulous

Ubuntu Package: tremulous

Tremulous is probably the most impressive game in the Ubuntu Universe. Each time I show it to someone, they say that it’s the best free game they have seen so far.

Tuxkart

Ubuntu Package: tuxkart

This is a silly little racing game, but some of the billboards in the game is amusing (they still advertise VA Linux).

Planet Penguin Racer

Ubuntu Package: planetpenguin-racer

Most people know about this one, it was previously known as Tuxracer.

Wormux

Ubuntu Package: wormux

If you’ve played worms before, this is an open source clone of that.

Xmoto

Ubuntu Package: xmoto

Xmoto is an addictive offroad bike game where balance is everything.