Linux Wallpapers

These are some Linux Desktops that I have created. You can just right click them and choose Save Image As. Also for a larger version of the images you can just click on them to see the larger version and all images are at 1280X800 resolution but if you would like to have it in a different size I could resize to another resolution.

(Click on image to view larger version)

(Click on image to view larger version)


(Click on image to view larger version)

Setting Up The Desktop Cube In Ubuntu 8.10

Setting up the Desktop Cube in Ubuntu 8.10 is very easy and quick. The cube is a very nice addition to your Ubuntu install and also is very cool and fun to show to your friends using Windows. So lets get this started.

First you will need to enable Extra in the Visual Effects settings. To do this you will need to right click on the Desktop > Change Desktop Background > Visual Effects tab. Then just click the circle that says Extra. Now just click close.

Extra Effects Enabled

You will now need to install the Compiz configuration settings manager. To do this you will need to open up the Synaptic Package Manager by navigating to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. Now type Compiz in the Quick Search bar. Then mark compizconfig-settings-manager for installation. After that just hit apply and it will now download and install the package.

Synaptic Package Manager

Now you will need to navigate to System > Preferences > Compizconfig Settings Manager. Now you will need to enable the Desktop Cube by putting a check in the little box by Desktop Cube. Then a little box will come up asking if you want to Disable the Desktop Wall and you click Disable Desktop Wall. While you are still in Compizconfig Settings Manager you will also want to put a check in Rotate Cube and Cube Reflection and Deformation. Now to add caps to the cube you will need to double click on Cube Reflection and Deformation.

Cube Reflection and Deformation Settings

Now you will need to click on Appearance and it will then drop down with some settings that you can change. To change the default caps you will need to click on New for the top and bottom caps and all you need to do is browse to a image that you would like to set as the top and bottom cap for your cube.

Appearance Settings Drop Down

Now if you would like to have something other than just the cube you can navigate to the Deformation tab and then from there you can select None, Cylinder, or Sphere from the drop down menu near the top of the window.

Deformation Settings

Now you are done setting up your Cube, Cylinder, or Sphere. There are many other settings that you can play around with but the ones I have shown here are just to get you started. Now to view your new effect you can either hold down Ctrl + Alt then click on the desktop or you can click on the desktop using the middle scroll button on your mouse if you have one. So now go have fun with you new settings and customize it to how you like it.

The Cube


The Cylinder


The Sphere

Upgrading From Ubuntu 8.04 To 8.10

Ubuntu 8.10 is released today October 30th so you may be wondering if you can upgrade from your 8.04 install to the 8.10 release without a full reinstall. The answer is yes you can and it is very easy to do. So lets get this upgrade going.

First you will need to navigate to System > Administration > Software Sources. A window will come up like the one shown below.

Software sources window

You will now want to navigate to the Updates tab. Then in the Release Upgrade section in the drop down menu you will want to select Normal Releases. Then you can hit the close button.

You should have Normal Releases selected

Now you will need to navigate to System > Administration > Update Manager. You will need to click on the Check button and install any new updates (if you have any) then click the Check button again and you should then see a message that says New distribution release'8.10' is available. Now you just need to click on the Upgrade button.

8.10 upgrade screen

You will then just need to follow the on screen directions to complete the upgrade. Now you have upgraded from 8.04 to 8.10 in a very simple and quick way. So go have fun with you new upgrade of Ubuntu.

Installing Fedora To A USB Flash Drive Using Fedora Live USB Creator

Have you ever wanted to install an Operating System onto a USB Flash drive and be able to boot from it on a different computer but thought that it looked complicated and heard that it didn't work very well? There is a Tool that makes the process to do this very simple and easy to do and it is called Fedora LiveUSB Creator. This little program makes installing Fedora to your USB device very simple.

To start off you will need to download the tool from their website here: https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator.

When you download it if you are using windows it will be in a .zip file so what you will need to do is right click and select Extract All this will now create a new folder in the same place where you downloaded it to. Now open up that folder and you will see a file called liveusb-creator.exe now just double click it to start-up the program. This should now open up a little window like the one shown below.

Fedora LiveUSB Creator main screen

Now there are some options in the window that you can choose from. You can choose to hit Browse if you have already downloaded the iso image your self and you can then navigate to it and select to install from that. You can also choose a install you want from the drop down menu (which is the more common option to use).

The drop down menu with all of the
different options for different installs

I am going to choose the Fedora 9 KDE (i686) because i really like the look of KDE and I'm not going to be running my USB on a 64-bit OS. You can choose whichever you prefer.

Target Device section

Now moving on to the portion that says Target Device this is going to be the device that the program will install your Operating System to. So you will want to make sure you have the right device chosen that you will want to be doing the install onto.

Persistent Storage section

Now to the Persistent Storage section. You would use this if you would like to save things to your USB drive. If so then you will need to allocate how much space you will want to use for storage. I will be leaving mine at 0 for this install but you may want to save files and settings so I would recoment using at least some space for storage.

Now if you have all of your settings correct you can now hit the Create Live USB button at the bottom. Now you can just sit back and watch your USB Device be turned into a portable operating system (this process may take a while if you have to download the image time will vary depending on your connection speed).

The installation process

This will take some time so you may want to go do something while you are waiting. The time it takes to finish will depend on if you have downloaded your image already and what your connection speed is.

Finished Successfully

Now to boot into you new Fedora install you will need to change your BIOS settings to boot from a USB device before the hard drive (you may want to check and see if your BIOS supports booting for USB devices first before you go through with the install). Now you are done so go have some fun with you new portable operating system on a USB device.

Dual Booting Ubuntu The Easy Way Using Wubi

Have you ever wanted to give Ubuntu Linux a try but didn't want to go through the process of repartitioning your hard drive to do it? Well now it is easier than ever and only takes about and hour and you will have it up and running perfectly in no time at all. You can do this by using a program called Wubi (Windows Ubuntu Installer) the little Ubuntu helper that we will be using to accomplish this task. So lets get this thing rolling.

First you will need to download the wubi.exe file from here: http://wubi-installer.org/.

You will then need to navigate to where you downloaded it and open it up. You should then see a window that looks like the one below.

Now you just have to enter in all or you data like the username and password that you will want to use. Also you can change how large you would like your install to be. You shouldn't need much but this will depend on how you will be using it. I choose to use 15GB's for my install but you can choose however much you would like to allocate. After you have everything set the way you want just click next and it should start to download the Ubuntu image.

Now you just wait for it to finish downloading

After it's done downloading you will get a screen that says you will need to preform a reboot. You then just need to click finish and make sure that you have the reboot now selected.

Make sure you have reboot now selected

On the reboot there will be a black screen that will show Xp or Vista (depending which you have installed) and Ubuntu. You will need to push the down arrow key on your keyboard and hit enter to select and boot into Ubuntu. If you miss this screen (because it will only stay for a couple of seconds) then just reboot like you normally would and try to select it again. Once it boots into Ubuntu you should see it start the installation process.

Now you just have to wait for Ubuntu to finish installing

Now we wait for it to finish installing (took about 15 minutes on my machine). Once it is done it will reboot and now you will have to select Ubuntu at start-up again. This time when you boot into Ubuntu you will be prompted to put in your username and password that you chose at the first wubi screen. Then once you are in if you have an internet connection connected to the machine you should be asked to install some updates. If you don't have an internet connection connected you are done with the installation process.

There are some update that will need to be installed

After all of these updates are done downloading and installing you will most likely be prompted to reboot. You now need to select Ubuntu on start-up again and as before you will be prompted for you username and password. Now when you are at the desktop you are free to do what you please because you have successfully installed Ubuntu on top of you Windows installation.

The clean Ubuntu desktop look

Now we are done so you can start to play around in Ubuntu and have some fun. Also be sure to come back again because I will be showing how to customize your Ubuntu desktop and setup the infamous Desktop Cube as with many other Ubuntu and Linux goodies.