I am testing the new and improved ScribeFire blogging editor and associated advertising arrangement. There really is no other reason for this post. If by some chance you want to learn more about this deal, cruise on over to Scribefire.

So far, I’m not certain what the deal is. Based on an earlier invitation to beta-test, I was expecting a change to the editing interface with a tab to insert the ads. But that’s not what I am looking at. Excuse me for a moment while I scratch my head and try to figure out what the deal is.

I’m off for a camping week alone. Well, more like Wednesday through Sunday. Except that my wife and possibly some guests will be here Friday night. My wife will be staying until Sunday morning. Or until the mosquitoes drive her away. The woman is mosquito bait.

Oh no, no, no, no, no … don’t get me wrong … I’m not complaining. When she’s not around, the mosquitoes target me. When she’s nearby, they don’t. Just another reason to love her, I guess. Click here to read on, my friend.

(This post first appeared as a comment on eWeek. They didn’t let me post a link to here, so I also won’t be posting a link to there.)

This article is directed at absolute newbies to Linux — Ubuntu, in particular.

When I first fired up Ubuntu, it recognized and was ready to print to my DYMO Label Writer Twin Turbo, Epson Stylus C86 and the HP Photosmart Express supplied by a client (don’t ask … it’s a long story on its own).

The DYMO and HP were connected via USB.

Do NOT send the test page image to the Label Writer!

That left me with a Brother MFC440-CN doorstop.

It, and the Epson, were connected via Ethernet cable. The Epson has been fitted with an external ethernet adapter, the Brother was purchased with one built in. As mentioned earlier, the Epson was present and accounted for as soon as the operating system came to life after the install.

So … it having been a long time since I fooled around with installing printers on Linux, I started by going to the Brother web site. Probably 90% of the time this works. At present, Linux accounts for roughly 10% of the desktop market and manufacturers are loathe to give 10% of their sales to any one else. Although a bit convoluted, I was able to follow the Brother instructions and, roughly an hour later, my final printer was working.

Hey Brother … don’t mix your instructions up between LSP and non-LSP installs on the same page. And it wouldn’t hurt for you to post the command line that I am going to show below and save us all a bunch of grief. It’s a command line, for cryin’ out loud … it’s not copyrighted.

But today, researching this article, I began with a search on Google for “Brother MFC440-CN Linux” and had to go no further than here.

Hey, that’s even easier than breaking the CD seal, agreeing to the draconian EULA terms and then following the bouncing ball for twenty minutes while some software makes a ton of unseen changes to your system in Windows.

And I think it’s valid to point out that being able to install hardware with very little fuss is an important advantage Linux offers to desktop users. You won’t have to reboot every time you add or remove a device because Linux is just a little smarter than Windows.

To open the terminal (or ‘dos box’) in Ubuntu, go to the menu listing for Applications –> Accessories –> Terminal. Other end-user oriented distributions of Linux will be similar, although not all will have ‘aptitude’ (the installation program you are actually using with the command shown) available.

Breaking down the command we will be using we find:

sudo = telling Ubuntu that you have the authority to install software. You’ll get a chance to prove it in a moment.

aptitude = the program being run. If you don’t have the aptitude to install software yourself, aren’t you glad that there is a program available that does have it?

install = what you want that program to do

brother-cups-wrapper-bh7 = the script file that contains the necessary instructions to make directories, etc. When the script file exits, it will dump you back out to the terminal. The lines below are the output you will see whizzing by as the script executes (if you are familiar with *.bat files, think of this as a dos batch file on steroids).

So, open a terminal, type in sudo aptitude install brother-cups-wrapper-bh7 and press the enter key.

You will see something like this flash before your very eyes:

bill@bill-laptop:~$ sudo aptitude install brother-cups-wrapper-bh7
[sudo] password for bill: (you will have to supply this information yourself)
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Initializing package states… Done
Writing extended state information… Done
Building tag database… Done
The following NEW packages will be automatically installed:
a2ps brother-cups-wrapper-common brother-lpr-drivers-bh7
brother-lpr-drivers-common csh psutils wdiff
The following packages will be automatically REMOVED:
mfc440cncupswrapper mfc440cnlpr <— these are the packages I had manually installed. They are being replaced with newer versions.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
a2ps brother-cups-wrapper-bh7 brother-cups-wrapper-common
brother-lpr-drivers-bh7 brother-lpr-drivers-common csh psutils wdiff
The following packages will be REMOVED:
mfc440cncupswrapper mfc440cnlpr
0 packages upgraded, 8 newly installed, 2 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 2401kB of archives. After unpacking 8933kB will be used. <– fair warning if you have dial-up or are cramped for disk space
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y (hit the ‘enter’ key to continue, as “Y” is the default choice)
Writing extended state information… Done
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main psutils 1.17-24build1 [84.8kB]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/universe a2ps 1:4.14-1 [915kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/multiverse brother-lpr-drivers-common 1.0.0-3-0ubuntu1 [746kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/universe csh 20070713-1 [245kB]
Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/multiverse brother-cups-wrapper-common 1.0.0-10-0ubuntu3 [7742B]
Get:6 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/multiverse brother-lpr-drivers-bh7 1.0.1-1-0ubuntu1 [352kB]
Get:7 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/multiverse brother-cups-wrapper-bh7 1.0.0-10-0ubuntu3 [16.0kB]
Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main wdiff 0.5-17build1 [33.7kB]
Fetched 2401kB in 16s (148kB/s)  <– the above 8 steps have downloaded the needed software. Since it completed successfully, it is now safe(er) to delete the older files already in use.
(Reading database … 163682 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing mfc440cncupswrapper …
lpadmin: The printer or class was not found. <– not an issue / heirloom software
* Restarting Common Unix Printing System: cupsd                         [ OK ]
Removing mfc440cnlpr …
Selecting previously deselected package psutils.
(Reading database … 163661 files and directories currently installed.) <– and ALL free of charge
Unpacking psutils (from …/psutils_1.17-24build1_i386.deb) …
Selecting previously deselected package a2ps.
Unpacking a2ps (from …/a2ps_1%3a4.14-1_i386.deb) …
Selecting previously deselected package brother-lpr-drivers-common.
Unpacking brother-lpr-drivers-common (from …/brother-lpr-drivers-common_1.0.0-3-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) … <– “unpacking” = “unzipping”
Selecting previously deselected package csh.
Unpacking csh (from …/csh_20070713-1_i386.deb) …
Selecting previously deselected package brother-cups-wrapper-common.
Unpacking brother-cups-wrapper-common (from …/brother-cups-wrapper-common_1.0.0-10-0ubuntu3_i386.deb) …
Selecting previously deselected package brother-lpr-drivers-bh7.
Unpacking brother-lpr-drivers-bh7 (from …/brother-lpr-drivers-bh7_1.0.1-1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) …
Selecting previously deselected package brother-cups-wrapper-bh7.
Unpacking brother-cups-wrapper-bh7 (from …/brother-cups-wrapper-bh7_1.0.0-10-0ubuntu3_i386.deb) …
Selecting previously deselected package wdiff.
Unpacking wdiff (from …/wdiff_0.5-17build1_i386.deb) …
Setting up psutils (1.17-24build1) …
Setting up a2ps (1:4.14-1) …

Setting up brother-lpr-drivers-common (1.0.0-3-0ubuntu1) …
Setting up csh (20070713-1) …

Setting up brother-cups-wrapper-common (1.0.0-10-0ubuntu3) …
Setting up brother-lpr-drivers-bh7 (1.0.1-1-0ubuntu1) …
Setting up brother-cups-wrapper-bh7 (1.0.0-10-0ubuntu3) …
Setting up wdiff (0.5-17build1) …

Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states… Done <– why Ubuntu won’t need rebooting to install a printer driver
Writing extended state information… Done
Building tag database… Done
bill@bill-laptop:~$ <– the script is finished and has returned control to you

BTW, the prompt says that I am bill, that I am logged in to the machine known as bill-laptop (a Toshiba A105 series), that I am currently working from my home directory (“~” = /home/bill) and that I am logged in as an unpriveleged userd (“$” = normal user, “#” = root / admin user). Normally, the best policy is to operate as a normal user whenever possible because ‘root’ can do some truly horrible things to a system that the normal user can not get permission to do.

Then, in your browser, type http://127.0.0.1:631

You will have to supply your user name and password. Then go to Manage Printers and make the Brother Printer active.

Done. Print the test page if you wish.

No EULA. No CD to store/lose/scratch. As Ubuntu gets upgraded, so will the printer drivers. From your perspective, it will happen automatically.

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The quote rotator now has nearly 300 400 exactly 367 787 quotes rotating through randomly, with enough additional material already sitting on my desk to take it just short of 500 1,000 entries. {980 as of 3/6/09} Although posting these is semi-fun, I was going to call a halt around the 500 level. {Okay, I lied.} By then, even my cousin Andy will get tired of reloading just to see which quote comes up next … especially since they are programmed to display randomly. (Yes, he’s blond.)

But then, I said to myself “Self … why not ask other people for the quotes that tickle them?”

If you have a quote or two that you would like to have included, now would be a good time to post it in a comment. I’ll move it to the quote rotator along with proper credit for it. And voila! You’ll be famous in no time at all. Maybe.

Each quote is visible for about 20 seconds. That’s not quite an “Andy Warhol” minute, but what the heck … the cumulative exposure could be considerable and is likely to last longer than poor old Andy. If the quote is exactly original with you AND appears on your blog or website (I’m going to check!), then I’ll also post your provided URL.

This timing is long enough for me, a propeller head, to read them but I don’t know if this interval will work well for others. Please let me know if you would prefer them to remain on screen longer — or not.

I really can’t see taking them down any faster.

That said, I’ve also bought a new Sauder desk that I want to review for you. The genuine simulated cherry paper laminate finish is doomed, but the thing seems well enough made to give years of use in a SOHO. I also bought an external HD (1 Terabyte) that seems just amazing to me.

I can still recall being excited when I got my first HD … a Seagate 40 meg job with MFM encoding.That was back in the day when I could afford to trick out my XT computer with a faster (10 mHz) CPU and a 2 megabyte extended ram card. That hard disk replaced a dual floppy disk design. I’m still partial to the flip-top case design.

Today, 1 Terabyte takes about the same room as that 40 meg job and is orders of magnitude faster. So watch for my review of it, too.

(revised 08/04/08)

Ah, phooey. This isn’t a tech review blog. The external HD is a DUO Pro model that links two 500 Gigabyte hard drives together so that they act like a single bigger one. You can also make them act like two 500 G drives and have greater failure tolerance. Since the tech people I spoke to had no clue that Linux even exists, I just went with the default setting of 1 Terabyte. The thing is quiet and every time I check, the data I’ve sent is there. I have my software set to allow stuff on the external drive to stay even if I delete it from the drive on the laptop. As anyone who once marveled at the endless storage capacity of a 40 megabyte hard drive can tell you, 1 Terabyte is probably not enough storage. But it will do for now.

The Sauder desk is a fake cherry woodgrain (paper over termite puke) but I bought the desk and the return and there is room enough for both a few books to be open and for my laptop. The hutch holds the essential books and some of the office supplies while the 4 drawers (2 each) of the desk and the return give me more drawer space than even senseless luxury would call for. It will probably take me 3-4 days to have them totally stuffed. Once assembled (if you are a drinking person, pour yourself a stiff one before beginning if you wish, but make that second drink wait until there is something to celebrate), the thing is both attractive and strong. The cove joint between the two units fits really nice — I’ll admit to being surprised by this. All in all, the desk is about 85% of the way to perfection. The hutch is not designed to attach to the return, so it’s just sitting there. In typical Sauder fashion, the panel behind the hutch is folded cardboard. It looks okay (it certainly matches the paper ‘veneer’ on the desk and return), but don’t touch it.

There, that is all the more review I feel like writing. Take it or leave it.

Let me just encapsulate a few observations and then get back to work.

Having re-installed Linux, I faced a steep learning curve for about 15 minutes. Ubuntu Linux is not like the distributions of Linux I am accustomed to. I still haven’t figured out how to create a specific ‘root’ account. But I haven’t needed to, either.

I want to emphasize something to prospective Linux users: the first time you boot a desktop distribution of Linux, you’ll be ready to roll. If your printer is EXTREMELY new, you might have to download a *.ppd file to get it rockin’, but that’s about the sum total of your headaches. Installing that file is less aggravating than popping in the CD that shipped with the printer and going ‘clicky-clicky’ in Windows.

The mere fact that the manufacturer of the device included that printer setup and driver CD should be enough to tell you that Windows wasn’t ready to run it either. Don’t go around dissing Linux for not having drivers that are also not available in Windows. One way or the other, you have to drink the kool-aid.

In fact, it occurs to me that the reason manufacturers include that CD for Windows is because the odds of an end user actually being able to get the printer working under Windows without that help are slim.

I like the frequent update feature. There is a little red arrow in the upper right hand corner of my screen that tells me when there is a security update available for software I already have installed. Neat.

The really neat part is that there actually ARE security updates for the applications that Ubuntu Linux has installed … not just for the operating system itself.

Using the installer that came with the operating system, the whole operation takes perhaps 15 seconds of my time and the rest happens in the background. Earlier today, a significant portion of the operating system itself was updated. Now there is an icon in the menu tray asking me to reboot.

Linux only needs to reboot when installing internal hardware or the operating system itself. You’ll recall that it was a failure of the file system after downloading MSIE 7 to XP and the subsequent reboot required to complete the install of a browser, fer crying out loud that trashed my computer recently. With Linux, this just isn’t on the list of possible outcomes. Not from a browser upgrade, anyways.

With Linux, a broken browser is, well, a broken browser. Uninstall it and go get one that works.

I like that.

I’ve been playing around with some of the installed software, noting which I won’t be using and installing others I remember fondly. I am very impressed with the advanced state of most Linux application coding. Previously, only a real fan-boy (like myself) would have bothered with Linux at home.

Now? Well now things are different.

Open Office has clearly evolved from its days as StarOffice. I used Open Office on XP, too and found it very capable there. Now I am using it on Linux … with no (zero) learning curve. Are you an employer? Are you paying attention? Train an employee on OO just once and they STAY trained even if you later move to Linux. What does THAT do for your bottom line? NO retraining cost after the initial switch to OO. NO software cost. Ever. If you feel the need to step up to commercial levels of support or additional levels of functionality, SUN will be glad to oblige you.

Okay, time to get back to work.

BTW, I’m posting this from Firefox running Ubuntu. Firefox cannot crash my system and Ubuntu passes along security updates as they occur (rather than giving hackers a month to trash your system in).

Free.

A cottage industry has arisen in our midst. This is a direct adaptation of the Nigerian 419 scam … but look at its source:

lisadoudou77@yahoo.co.jp

Dear,
I am introducing my self as LISA DOUDOU   , 21 years old and only daughter of Late Mr. NICOLAS DOUDOU, I wish to request for your assistance in a financial
transaction., And I wish to invest in Manufacturing and real estate management in your country. or possible any good lucrative business you know much better then me.

Whattaya wanna guess that the last name of our mythical heiress is pronounced “doo-doo”?

Is it an urban legend or do people actually fall for this scam?

(Actually, I’m posting the email address here in the hopes that it will be picked up by screenscraper software and get added to someone else’s spam list. It takes some thought, but yes, you CAN fight fire with fire.)

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http://goldenpages.ie/search/Ireland/leprechauns.html

I saw this among the spam captured by Gmail and I just had to pass it along! To be honest, I thought that addiction problems were the RESULT of cheap meds. ))

What’s your favorite spam subject line?

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It might be more like “Day 6″ … I’m not certain. A lot has happened since I last posted. For one thing, just to get the ball rolling, MSIE 7 apparently trashed the filesystem on my XP-based laptop. Since this isn’t the first time I’ve had a Microsoft product go ‘kerplop’ and take irreplaceable files with it, XP is no longer on my laptop … Ubuntu (Linux) is.

I haven’t been able to keep up with the whole ’sets’ thing, but my max count is up to 15. That’s not where it should be at this point, but it’s more than double where I started at. So, I’ll take it.

XP/MSIE7 took the photos of my trip to Aruba down with it. While in Aruba I had moved them from the SDRAM in the camera to the hard drive each night so as to be certain of having enough room for videos / photos the next day. Upon returning home, I had been too busy to move them to CD. Then I downloaded MSIE 7 to see if I could duplicate a problem my wife was having accessing her employers web site. The install went fine and it offered to reboot. Five days later I was still trying to reboot.

I am most grateful that I keep a copy of client data on a USB key.

But my photos are gone.

The good news is that, while I am somewhat rusty with Linux, Ubuntu is working 100% on my Satellite A105 laptop from Toshiba.The last time I examined Linux, laptop support was its weak point. Not any longer. ALL of my hardware is working at least as well under Linux as it did under XP and some, notably my Epson printer, is working better. I have wired & wireless lan, audio, USB ports, 2G ram, 60G hd, 4 printers (2 via USB, two via lan), a USB mouse, a touchpad all working. The CDROM drive reads and writes just fine and the USB pen drives are working, too. I haven’t connected my cameras yet and I did have to download two files to get my Brother MFC440-CN printer working … but that whole process, from finding the files (the Brother web site is confusing -it intermixes instruction sets on the same page-, to say the least) to printing the test page, took about an hour. It could have taken half that time if the instructions had been intelligently organized.

The “WINE” program has allowed me to install, without headache, a key Bible research program I rely on. So far, it has borked on QuickBooks. I’m not done trying yet, but the folks at Intuit need to be aware that this transition to Linux is one-way … there will be no more sales of QB to me unless they can tell me how to install their software in a Linux system without investing in a VM and a full copy of Windows. I’m not sending Microsoft any more money for what they euphemistically call ‘operating systems’. If that means not using QB … so be it. There are a number of accounting products for Linux that are quite serviceable. None are quite as polished nor do they have the second-tier software from third-party vendors just yet … but they will. Lack of Quicken products probably has slowed the adoption of Linux — but Linux developers aren’t holding their breath waiting for Intuit to get its act together.