(Part 2) Top products from r/Ubuntu

I will say that you are awesome and continue what you are doing. My favorite uncle also gave me a cheap laptop when I was around that age for school work, but I never had anyone to help or encourage me. Instead, I was always curious with tech and picked things up on my own, mostly by learning from my own mistakes. Countless clean installs later, my knowledge has made my life so much easier. I can share with you some of my experience to help your nephew.

Linux Command is a great resource that helped me learn about Bash scripting. I would start there, because he will need this often with Ubuntu. I never learned easy scripting languages, like python, before I started with Java, so I can't speak to whether they are worth prioritizing first.

I would emphasize then on some web programming. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL are all really easy to pick up. W3Schools are another excellent resource for this. Even now, I still use this site for their amazing reference section. They even have a tool that puts sample code in a sandbox and lets him edit it and see the result. Very cool and helpful.

Java and C++ are the next major languages I would recommend. I would start him off with Java since it doesn't have as many of the more advanced features such as pointers. Sorry, but I don't know of a good website for Java. I used the book Sams Teach yourself Java in 21 Days. It is the first programming book I ever read and it was excellent.

C++ is great for times when you need control over your programs. CPlusPlus is my favorite tutorial out there. Easy to learn, step by step, and they provide good examples.

Finally, I would encourage teaching him the basics on the hardware of a computer, and what the function for each part is. Since he built the computer himself (which was excellent for you to do for him), he should have a good enough understanding to go into programming. I think this would be the best order for teaching him:

Basic Hardware -> Basic Software -> Advanced Software -> Advance Hardware

He probably won't ever need the Advanced Hardware part unless he is going into Tech as a career, but Advanced Software has helped me greatly in general aspects of life. Good Luck!

> Please tell me you don't expect people's websites to fit into a pixel grid and follow the mockup precisely.

:D I do the transfer from mockup to code, so everything fits precisely to my specification hehehe. When I am transferring other people's mockups, I try and follow the mockup as closely as possible. Sometimes the mockups are not precise, themselves so I edit them.

> Where can I actually learn more about how to design from the ground up? I'm working on a site that has no existing analog, so I can't just look at how other people have done the same thing and mimic them. I don't even know what to put on what pages.

Hm, I would need some more information to give you good advice. Try and imagine a scenario where a customer is using your site. What is their main goal when using it? Can you simplify the process of them achieving this goal? Any less important goals? What are your main goals with the site? Where would the most logical place for various elements around the site be?

Read Don't make me think for a great usability primer. PM me if you want any more help.

> I thought Gimp did have adjustment layers. At the very least, you can set the blending mode for a layer in such a way that it effectively adjusts one thing in the overall image.

Can it place for example a Hue and Saturation filter on its own layer like Photoshop? I don't want to copy everything into a new layer, apply filter there and then mask or whatever.

> I think the cited reason for the lack of CMYK in Gimp is that they feel Gimp is specifically for image editing, not printing; Photoshop was originally created specifically for printing.

Right, PS started that way but then it evolved. I think GIMP should mimic a lot of PS functionality if they want to see pros switching.

> The .psd support is really lacking. I don't have any way of testing Krita's .psd support... But I do know that if I export a file as .psd from Krita, it doesn't open correctly in Gimp. Specifically, any text objects simply vanish. That's all I've tested, though. Granted, it doesn't exactly import into Krita perfectly either, even though it was saved from there...

Yep. If I receive a .psd from a client I need to be able to open it without any glitches. Currently it doesn't.

> If 'Blending options' in your post corresponds to this post about 'Blending Modes', yes, and Gimp has had them for a very long time. I refer to them earlier in this post, talking about adjustment layers (since I'm otherwise somewhat not sure what you mean by an adjustment layer).

I'm actually talking about the option titled Blending Options which you can select when you right click on a layer in PS. This brings up a Layer Style dialog box with a ton of options. Now, GIMP might have similar functionality scattered around, but I haven't found it yet and it's very useful as I use that dialog box constantly.

> I looked up adjustment layers. Gimp does not have them, but most people say a lot of their functionality - but not all of it - can be made up for with blending modes applied to layers 'above' the layer you want to adjust.

Hassle!

> Also, the APIs necessary for adjustment layers are coming in 2.10, after which they have the technological capability to make them.

That's good to hear. They have made great progress and I am sure they'll see their numbers rise if they get closer to PS functionality.

Another thing I forgot to mention, a minor gripe I have with GIMP's UI - I think the cursor and the selecting bounding boxes look clunky instead of precise. The tools should look and feel precise (as well as be precise), and I think GIMP is lacking here. Compare PS to GIMP and you'll see what I mean.

In that case, you may want to know about PIXLS.US, which has articles and tutorials for Free and Open Source photography software!

I also wrote a book, Beginning Ubuntu for Windows and Mac Users that provides a pretty broad overview of Ubuntu for desktop users. It doesn't cover the command line (although it does have a bunch of fun/cool command-line-based tasks, just to take away the idea that the terminal is always scary), but has a brief overview of a ton of programs, lots of initial installation walkthroughs, and so on.

It's written for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, but if you can read it as concept-based ("Oh, Ubuntu Software Center is replaced by Ubuntu Software, but it's the same principle" and "Oh, Brasero isn't installed by default, but I can install it from Ubuntu Software and then proceed as described"), you shouldn't have any trouble with using it with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. (Whether to publish a newer edition is a business discussion I'll have with the publisher later this year.)

But as for Ubuntu itself, you're in for a treat. It's a fantastic, world-class desktop operating system that just works, so you can settle in and get productive immediately, and if you're looking to learn server or command line stuff, the terminal's always there, so you can learn and experiment at your own pace.

You may want to use a virtual machine or (even more exciting in my opinion) a LXC container to experiment with server stuff. That way you don't install a ton of software on your main machine that you may not end up using or configuring correctly. But the bright side is that Ubuntu is Ubuntu everywhere, so you can use any Ubuntu computer or device the same way. (Anything you learn on your desktop translates directly to a server--the only different is what is installed by default.)

Good luck!

Basically, there are two things at work in a .tar.bz2 archive. The .tar part tells you that it's a "tarball" or tape archive (which is what tar is short for, apparently). It was originally an application for working with tape drives, but it works fine for storing whole directories as a single file and extracting them in various other places.

The .bz2 part is the extension for files compressed with the bzip2 compression algorithm. You'll probably just as often see files with the extension .tar.gz, which are tar files compressed with the gzip algorithm. There are various advantages and disadvantages to both methods of compression, but you probably aren't concerned with that bit.

Here's what appears to be a decent tutorial with more information on how to work with "tarballs". Hope it gives you the details you're looking for:

http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/04/unix-tar-command-examples/

Also, it might be useful to note that the Archive Manager program that comes with Ubuntu allows you to create and unpack tar.bz2 or tar.gz archives as well.

Edit: I recall this book having a really good section in chapter 3 on working with tar including background on how to use it with tape drives, even.

I recommend [Ubuntu Unleashed] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0672336936/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1397504650&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40). It is a MASSIVE book if you get a physical copy and will walk you through everything you need to know and give you a great list of additional resources. The author also does a great job of explaining what commands and applications do rather than just giving you the syntax. Above all remember, Google is your friend.

The blank canvas problem. Happens with every painting (software) :). It takes awhile before imagination kicks in. I use Krita almost every day for three years now. I can recommend Scott L Petrovic's Krita book:https://www.amazon.de/Digital-Painting-KRITA-2-9-Masterpiece/dp/0996851704/ref=sr_1_1?s=books-intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1464824720&sr=1-1 and the Krita brushes by David Revoy. Great books about drawing and painting in general by: e.g. Andrew Loomis, Jack Hamm and James Gurney. What would you like to paint? Humans, monsters, characters, animals, landscapes, portraits, comics, characters, abstract paintings, film posters...? Start with what ever is important for you and I'm pretty sure that you will get better at it over time. Here is also a great inspiring blog post by Dani Jones: 101 Projects for Artists and Illustrators http://danidraws.com/blog/2007/02/21/101-projects-for-artists-and-illustrators/. I usually avoid video tutorials, but these are inspiring: https://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL.

You might want to consider just buying a few high volume CD/DVD binders. Maybe a couple of these. Even with the best software, DVDs rip/encode frame by frame. If each DVD is around 2 hours long, you're looking at 600 hours of ripping DVDs. If you spend all day, every day, just ripping DVD after DVD, it'll still take you almost two months. Of course you can walk away while a DVD is ripping, but DVD encoding will also most likely use well over 75% of your CPU cycles and in some cases, close to 100%. Which pretty much means you can't play video games, watch other movies, etc while they're ripping. Just doesn't seem worth it to me.

I HIGHLY recommend it from what I know of it. I'm a computer science and engineering major with a cognitive science minor. A lot of really cool research in cog sci is happening hear from what i know.

Spivey(http://www.ucmerced.edu/faculty/michael-j-spivey) is one of the more well known professors here, his book The Continuity of Mind(http://www.amazon.com/Continuity-Mind-Oxford-Psychology/dp/0195170784) showcases some of his work.

1 - Purchase CD and DVD binders (example - http://www.amazon.com/Case-Logic-DVB-200-Liner-Capacity/dp/B000JJSQ3K)
2 - Remove CDs and DVDs from cases, put into binder, same for liner notes if you want
3 - Discard all remaining empty cases

Obviously this is not the digital solution that you were asking for but I would still recommend this in addition to whatever digital solution you do end up using.

Netgear WG111's work great: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001LS0ZU

Microsoft Natural Keboard Elite
I know it's made by MS so it's a bit ironic using it with Ubuntu, nevertheless I love these keyboards. Ergonomic and no extra doodad buttons that I never use:

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-A11-00337-Natural-Keyboard-Elite/dp/B0000642RX/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1301583177&sr=8-3

I use this [Behringer UCG102 Guitar-to-USB] and it works fine , just plug it in and it should be configured. Choose the correct input in Audacity and you can record.

This is what I have

http://www.amazon.com/F5D7050-Wireless-802-11g-Network-Adapter/dp/B0002HA7FY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394915288&sr=8-1&keywords=belkin+f5d7050

Never had a problem with it. Always worked whenever I'd get into bcm---- driver probems on my systems.

An Ubuntu-specific option is https://www.amazon.com/Ubuntu-Unleashed-2019-Covering-18-04/dp/013498546X

If you haven't already, get a Red Hat Admin book (similar to this) and work through it. It won't teach you everything, but it will teach you the basics.

You should look into getting your Linux+. Here's the study guide.
http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Linux-Powered-Professional-Institute/dp/1119021219/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

Unfortunately, this is most likely not a software issue, but the first indication of heat-damage to your keyboard. Your damaged keyboard will start working again (to some extent) after the 30m to hour wait because the contacts are expanding from heat.

I've had the same problem with a couple of high-end Clevo laptops in the past, and replacing the keyboard was the only solution. I learned my lesson about continually recompiling UnrealEngine without having my laptop on a cooler. :)

Thankfully, multi-color rgb Clevo keyboards are cheap and easily replaceable (only requiring the removal of two back screws and five minutes to change out). I'm guessing it wont be much more difficult for a Dell, and new keyboards look just as inexpensive ($35). https://www.amazon.com/KBR-Replacement-Keyboard-Compatible-Backlit/dp/B07V1TFLXP/ref=sr_1_1_sspa

"The Unix Programming Environment"

there lies your problem, Unix is not linux. Also, I'm guessing this is the book you are using? If so, that is from 1983.