Ubuntu Business Model – A Misunderstood Concept

Canonical, the business arm of Ubuntu, has one of the most promising business models in the Linux world, and also the most misunderstood. First of all, Ubuntu is in a market termed by economists as a perfectly competitive market. This means That it can not charge any price beyond the which is determined by That the market. The only way to the make profit, as has rightly been Identified by Canonical is to create an ecosystem of products and services around Ubuntu, the which would complement the functions of the OS.

This is a model of making profit is not new. That there are other companies make money from this method. Give the primary product for free but then create other value added products and services That complements this primary product. To make profit from this kind of business model takes time and a lot of investment. Mark Shuttleworth, the financial backbone of the Ubuntu project so rightly knows and is doing exactly that. Most Critics of the Ubuntu distro, are convinced That it’s only a matter of time before Ubuntu also capitulates like its predecessors for lack of funds. They could not be further from reality.

The fact That after six years of Canonical existence is not making any profit does not spell doom any, Neither does it mean there is no light at the end of the tunnel. That most of the distros are always used as yardsticks to tell how Ubuntu is bound to Wither away did not have any other strategic business model in place. They only Offered a Linux distro and expected to make money from it. Some also did not have a thorough understanding of the market in the which They operated. Ubuntu so far has not fallen in any of Those traps.

The recent partnerships Canonical Between OEMs and big shots like Dell and IBM only goes to underscore the fact That the Ubuntu business model has a lot of potential. Companies like Dell and IBM will not partner a distro That They do not believe to have a future. Their partnering with Canonical to offer Ubuntu underscores only one fact-there is light at the end of the tunnel for Ubuntu’s profitability.

Also, there are Those That claim Ubuntu is an ugly, over-hyped distro by mostly fanboys like myself. Well They have the right to Their opinions, but a thorough analysis of Ubuntu Tells You That it is in the news virtually every other day. Not a day or two passes without being in the news Ubuntu. Count how many times That you’ve heard this week of the name Ubuntu in the news and you will understand why it is popular. As for the ugliness, I believe it takes time to get used to. I also initially disliked the brown, but when I got used to it, I Could hardly like any other color or theme.

The fact Remains, that Ubuntu, Despite all the short comings of its commercial Backer upstream like not contributing enough or not giving enough back to the community, is an OS That has the potential to be a market leader in the Linux desktop OS market and whether Critics agree or not, Ubuntu will for the foreseeable REMAIN a popular, first choice OS for a lot of people.

No Competition Between Ubuntu and Windows 7

The Data Revealed by the latest figures from StatCounter That only 0.79 percent of the worlds population use the Ubuntu operating system, the which is way behind Windows 7 from 19:43 That the target percent of the global users. Mac OS, Windows Vista and Windows XP have 5.66 percent, 17.68 percent and 55.38 percent respectively.

When asked why Linux is not a competitor of Windows 7, Paul Holt, Who is a corporate sales director at Backer Ubuntu-Canonical in London, said That this is Because Linux WHO appeal to cloud generation prefer to access applications via a browser That is what makes it different from any other operating system in the world. The president of the Free Software Foundation Europe agrees to Holt and said, “I am disheartened to hear [Canonical is] not competing with Microsoft in the desktop space.”

“The majority of adoption of Linux on the desktop is essentially WHO Previously people had copies of Pirated OSes, or had other Airways of getting onto Their Their desktop OS. We’re not competing with people WHO Necessarily Might be using Windows 7,” Paul Holt expressed at the Westminster eForum on open-source software in business and government. “In my day-to-day role, I am Typically [dealing] head-on with people wanting to migrate away from Microsoft environments? Yes-ish.”

Holt also said That the Web 2.0 companies have shown great interest in Linux and the employees of these companies do not care for the operating system at all. He shared his finding at the meet and said That in the UK, public sector Might have preferred not Linux but on the other hand Linux desktop has been a great journey for some of the WHO companies market open source technology.

Proprietary companies have invested a lot in countries like the UK where there are bigger chances of making money.

Holt is of opinion That it is really tough to Compete with Microsoft for Ubuntu as Microsoft is really a big company the which has got money to promote Their products, the which are no doubt good but still he Prefers to use Linux as it adds value to future technology .

Installing PHP and MySQL Database in Ubuntu

PHP (the acronym for PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) is a web-based programming language the which has the ability to process the data dynamically. PHP is said to be a server-side embedded scripting language its syntax and commands Because That We provide in HTML pages or PHP pages will be fully Executed by the server. Applications That are built using PHP in general will Provide results on the web browser while the overall process Executed on the server.

In principle, the server will work if there is a request from a client. In this case the client use the URL to send a request to the server. When using PHP as a server-side embedded scripting language, the server will do the Following things:
Read requests from the client / browser
Finding pages / page on the server
Perform the instructions provided by PHP to the make modifications to the page / page.
Sending reload the page to the client via the internet or intranet.

Why PHP?
PHP can run on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.)
PHP is an open source web scripting
PHP easy to study

MySQL is a database processing program Among the which is quite famous web developer due to Several factors or advantages:

Free license (open source), so as a web developer does not need to worry about licensing issues.

Relatively small size of its data files.

Good Performance.

Several Easy operation with the number of GUI (graphical user interface) based client programs the make the user more easily in the processing of data in MySQL database systems.

The number of web hosting server support on the Internet That uses mysql as its DBMS.

Concurrent multi-user, hot backups and cold backups / recovery.

To install PHP and MySQL on Ubuntu Desktop Relatively easy is 11:10. First we have to open the Synaptic Package Manager program via the menu button on the Ubuntu Unity. Then type in Synaptic and select or click on the program. Then you will be Brought to the Synaptic program. If your Synaptic has not been synchronized with the Ubuntu repositories, then you must press the ‘Reload’ and wait a few minutes for the process of updating from the repository. After all the update process is complete, type ‘php5′ in the search box and then you’ll be Presented with a list of programs associated with php5. Look for a program called ‘php5′, ‘php5-cli’, ‘php5-cgi’ and ‘php5-mysql’ then right click on your choice and choose ‘Mark for Installation’. Repeat these steps to install the program MySQL Server: ‘mysql-server’. One more thing you need to do is select the program ‘phpmyadmin’. This program is used to process batabase content to be used in a PHP program. Necessary After all programs have been selected, click the ‘Apply’ button and the installation process will start soon. At the time of this installation process you will be asked to use the root password of the administrator of the MySQL database server.

For the installation php and mysql on Ubuntu Server That does not Provide the Synaptic GUI program, then you can use the command line. All of the above programs can be installed using a single line of command line as follows:

prompt $ sudo apt-get install php5 php5-cli php5-cgi php5-mysql mysql-server phpmyadmin [enter]

To confirm, type Y and press enter. Then the installation process begins Immediately you will be asked and what the password you’ll use for the MySQL database server administrators.

After all the installation process is complete, you can try to access a MySQL database using PHPMyAdmin program. For Those of you use Ubuntu WHO 11:10 Desktop, open the Mozilla Firefox program and access the URL with subdirectory of localhost phpmyadmin address and then you will be taken to the login page MySQL database. Use the login information you created during the installation process.

For Those of you use Ubuntu WHO 11:10 server, the easiest way to check if everything is going well is a way to access your server from another server’s computer.Suppose your IP is 192.168.10.1 then use another computer, open Firefox and open the URL IP Address of the server with phpmyadmin subdirectory. Next you will be taken to the login page of MySQL.

 

Top 10 Free Programs For Your Computer

Buying and setting up a computer can be very expensive, however a lot of the costs can be cut if you utilize Dramatically free programs available online. Anything from operating systems to anti-virus software can be acquired for FREE on the internet! So without further ado lets run down the list here:

1) Ubuntu: Ubuntu (for your basic user) is probably the easiest entry point into the wonderful (and mostly free) world of Linux. If you are a long time Windows user and hate paying the cost for an upgrade every time a new operating system comes out you Might give this a shot. You can download it or order a free disc That They Will ship to you. The only downside is that? It is much more difficult, to run programs you purchase in a store on Ubuntu (or any Linux build for that matter), however it is still possible if you take the time to learn how to use programs Such as Wine.

The learning curve on Ubuntu (coming from a Windows computer) is very short. The desktops and menus are very similar as far as the basic user is concerned. If the prospect of switching scares you, you can always opt to try the live version of Ubuntu. This will allow you to try the operating system without actually installing it or doing anything to your Windows operating system. It simply runs it off of the disc so you can demo the product before you plunge in. The rest of my items in this list will comprise mostly of Windows programs, only Because almost every program for Linux is free to use. It would be impossible to go through them all. Also, lets be honest, just because i say it’s a good deal, it will not convince the majority of you to switch. I personally run Ubuntu one computer and one Windows computer. I use my Ubuntu as my everyday computer for word processing, spreadsheets, internet etc. .. etc .. The Windows computer I have hooked up to my TV and use mostly as an entertainment computer.

Avira AntiVir Personal – FREE Antivirus is a reliable free antivirus solution, that constantly and rapidly scans your computer for malicious programs Such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc. Monitors every action Executed by the user or the operating system and reacts promptly when a malicious program is detected.

Avira AntiVir Personal is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable free of charge virus protection to home-users, for personal use only, and is not for business or commercial use. Available for Windows or UNIX.

The only drawback to speak of is a pop up that comes up about once a day wanting you to upgrade to the premium version.

Limitations: Free of charge for private and not for commercial use.

3) Firefox: Internet Explorer may be ok for most people out there, but I find the customization available for Firefox is unmatched. Here is a list of some of the other features available on Firefox -

Private Browsing: Surf the Web without leaving a single trace.
Password Manager: Remember site passwords without ever seeing a pop-up.
Awesome Bar: Find the sites you love in seconds (and without having to remember clunky URLs).
Super Speed: View Web pages way faster, using less of your computer’s memory.
Anti-Phishing and Anti-Malware: Enjoy the most advanced protection against online bad guys.
Session Restore: Unexpected shutdown? Go back to exactly where you left off.
One-Click Bookmarking: Bookmark, search and organize Web sites Quickly and easily.
Easy Customization: Thousands of add-ons give you the freedom to make-your browser your own.
Tabs: Do more at once with tabs you can organize with the drag of a mouse.
Personas: Instantly change the look of your Firefox with Thousands of easy-to-install themes.

4) iTunes: I think this one goes without saying. iTunes is by far the easiest way to organize / buy music online. The features keep Increasing with each year.

iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And you can add to your collection anytime, 24/7. Learn more

5) JukeFly: JukeFly operates much like iTunes, the only difference is that? You the make playlists of your favorite music from the web. JukeFly goes and finds the music video from YouTube and then displays it for you. All you have to know is the Song name, artist or album and you can add pretty much anything into your playlists with this great program.

6) OpenOffice.org 3.2: Are you sick of paying a hundred dollars every time you want to upgrade to a new version of Word? 3.2 Give OpenOffice a try! It’s free, no ads and you can even save your projects in Word format. It has almost all of the same features you are used to in Word. If you can not deal with the changes … You can always pay to get your own Word. On the other hand, at the price of FREE, what’s the harm in Trying it?

7) Skype: Skype is software That enables the world’s conversations. Millions of individuals and businesses use Skype to make-free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. Everyday, people also use Skype to Make low-cost calls to landlines and mobiles.
8) Dungeons & Dragons Online: I had to include an MMO. As far as free game-play is concerned, I have to say this is one of the best I’ve tried. I have played WOW (World of Warcraft) Everquest in the past and before that … I think I’m a fair judge of a good MMO. Again, for the price of FREE! You can not beat this!

9) WinRAR: Windows compression utility. Use this to zip and unzip files. An essential program for any windows computer!

10) WordPress: Last and Certainly not least, WordPress! This is one of my most used and favorite programs. It is, in my opinion, the top blogging program available! Obviously I’m biased since it Happens to be what I’m writing this blog on, however, that’s why this is MY top ten list and not yours! =)

Thanks for letting me throw my top ten list of your way and I Hope that it was helpful in some way to you. I know my least favorite part of getting a new computer is getting all of the software downloaded off of the net so I can get it up and running. Hopefully this list will Provide you with a quick reference for some of the best programs on the internet.

How to Install a Ubuntu Linux Background Theme

Ubuntu is the most popular distribution of Linux with more than 12 million desktop users around the world. It is also the most popular free operating system for personal computers and is based on the Debian Linux distribution. The first release of the Ubuntu Operating System was on 20 October 2004 and since then new versions of Ubuntu have been released almost every six months. Ubuntu is sponsored by the UK based company Canonical Ltd. owned by South African billionaire Mark Shuttleworth. Ubuntu is distributed as a free and open source operating system and the latest Ubuntu release Natty Narwhal was the which was released on 28th of April, 2010. The latest released focused on making the interface is quite easy for users of the Windows Operating System and it too has gained mixed reactions yet Overwhelming throughout the globe. One of the problems with Ubuntu Linux is that? The backgrounds inbuilt into the Operating System are not that great and there are not many great backgrounds available either. So, in this tutorial we will Provide details on how to install themes on your background great Ubuntu Linux operating system where the wallpapers at regular intervals change.

You can at first download the backgrounds from any background Gnome Art site. Ubuntu Themes are also regularly released at UbuntuTheme.net with high quality backgrounds and you can also download it from there. The themes work without any major modification to the Ubuntu Linux system and are safe to be installed. The themes would work on any Linux distribution supports the which Gnome Art backgrounds in Addition to Ubuntu OS.

At first download the Ubuntu Theme to your computer and decompress it in your Ubuntu OS. You would then need to move the theme to the folder to the / usr / share / backgrounds in your Ubuntu / Linux system. But for that you also require root privileges and so open the terminal and type:

sudo cp-R / home / YOURUSERNAME / PathToYourThemeFolder / usr / share / backgrounds

Replace YOURUSERNAME and PathToYourThemeFolder with the ones That are relevant to the Ubuntu installation on your system. If case you are not sure about the location of the folder then you can also right-click and check properties to get an idea about the same. When you transfer the theme you would be prompted for the administrative password and you can type it and press enter. Thereafter, you need to browse to the / usr / share / backgrounds folder where you should see the new theme folder if you have transferred the present it correctly. If you see a cross mark on the images or the folder and permission is denied then please type the Following command on your terminal:

sudo chmod 777-R / usr / share / backgrounds / ThemeFolder

Replace ThemeFolder with the name of the extracted theme folder name as you did Previously.

Now go to System> Preferences> Appearance and click on Appearance to open the Appearance dialog box. You can also open the Appearance Preference by right-clicking on the desktop screen of Ubuntu and selecting “Change Desktop Background” from the right-click menu. You would then require to select the Background tab in That box if it is not selected already. Now click on “Add” button near the bottom right side of that tab to add the new theme. A new window named “Add Wallpaper” would pop up where you need to browse to the “/ usr / share / backgrounds / ThemeFolder /” and select the themefile.xml inside the ThemeFolder. You Might need to change the file type at the bottom right of the “Add Wallpaper” window from “images” to “all files” in order to view the xml file.Replace ThemeFolder and themefile.xml name with the actual theme folder name and theme file name. You should now see the new background and then on your computer and it will change every 15 minutes. The installation is complete and once you get the hang of it, you should be Able to install new themes in Ubuntu less than a minute.