Tutorials

The improvements in Iceweasel 3 are great. The new styling really fits in well with my Gnome desktop. However, as with the migration to any major “point-oh” release sometimes things break compatibility.

For this reason, I have been hesitant to fully move to Iceweasel 3. The improved password manager, the new visual styling, improved searching (you can not enter the title of a page in the address bar and it pulls it up in your list of auto completions) and improved zooming are all great, but when I can't do things I usually do, it's not an upgrade.

One thing I do is play a game called oGame. To enjoy it a bit more, I use two extensions: FoxGame and GreaseMonkey with a script from Userscripts.org. Both of these extensions broke with the upgrade to Iceweasel 3 which has moved from Debian Experimental to Sid, which means my days of 2.0 are numbered.

Luckily, I complain. Having complained in the Libervis IRC channel, netdaemon offered me a suggestion that it was possible to override the extension compatibility check. I'll be damned, there is! Here's how:

• Type about:config into Iceweasel's address bar and click the "I'll be careful, I promise!" button.
• Right-click anywhere. Choose New>Boolean. Make the name of your new config value extensions.checkCompatibility and set it to false.
• Make another new boolean pair called extensions.checkUpdateSecurity and set the value to false.
• Restart Iceweasel.

Unfortunately, FoxGame actually is incompatible with at least the RC 2 version of Iceweasel. So I had to manually disable that one, but Greasemonkey, which I utilize more frequently, works just fine thus far.

Also, at some point my work computer (also running Debian Sid/Experimental) updated to Iceweasel 3 and lost it's back button. This is annoying, but not incapacitatingly so, since you can always use ALT key commands or use the right click menu.

Anyway, to restore the back button simply go to View->Toolbars->Customize and click “Restore Defaults”. Problem solved. Both of these tips today gave me a mostly functional, feature enhanced version of Iceweasel 3 and I'm happier for it.

I'm a Debian user. One of the strongest points in the Debian world is the package management system that is both binary and source based. In addition to the software, Debian maintains strict rules regarding the package management process to ensure high-quality packages with the minimum of conflicts.

Sometimes, however, those conflicts occur especially running the "rolling" testing or unstable distros. Frequently the issues come when updating "sets" that contain many packages, such as KDE or Gnome, when one piece didn't build but other chunks are there. Being able to pull down the source code and build it on your own system before it hits your mirror can be a lifesaver.

In addition to building missing packages, Debian's source based repositories are the only "safe" and "easy" way to mix sources - something I've personally had to do to leverage the large number of packages in GetDeb that are designed for Ubuntu but will build and play nice with Debian systems.

I've been meaning for a LONG time to sit and write out a tutorial on how to easily use the tools, but someone else has done basically that so I'll merely link there and call it a day. :)

http://www.ducea.com/2008/03/06/howto-recompile-debian-packages/

There seems to be some confusion with exactly what OpenMoko is.

The most simple explanation is that OpenMoko is a software framework designed to empower users of mobile devices. OpenMoko is to the Neo1973 what Gnome is to a PC. The analogy is particularly fitting, since Gnome and OpenMoko are both GTK based.

Keeping with this analogy, another "environment" that can be found on the Neo1973 is Trolltech's QTopia which is, like KDE, based on QT.

Most of the hype around the Neo is because of OpenMoko (or perhaps the other way, without OpenMoko the Neo would be ignored) and OpenMoko is what my personal interest is in so I will begin today by explaining just what is "in" an OpenMoko application from the perspective of a user.

Below is an image of the "home" screen, the starting point for all OpenMoko adventures.

The very top of this image is the "taskbar". A closer examination is below.

In the section that displays the words T-Mobile" is the name of the application you're using. On the home page, this displays the name of the GSM network you're connected to. In this case you see "T-Mobile" since that is my cellular carrier. When the phone is first booted (or when GSM is first turned on) this may say “Registering...” as the phone searches for your network.

To the right of the words "T-Mobile" is a kind of dashboard or system tray. The first icon is of a small keyboard, clicking this brings up the matchbox keyboard, used for entering text. If the keyboard is open, clicking this icon will close it.

The icon directly to the right of the keyboard is the Bluetooth Logo. Clicking this icon brings up a menu allowing you to "Power up Bluetooth radio", "Power off Bluetooth radio" or check "Bluetooth Status". This allows you to shut off unneeded Bluetooth capability for added security or to preserve battery life.

To the right of the Bluetooth logo is a USB icon. This icon indicates that a USB cable has been plugged in that is capable of transmitting data. This icon does not appear when “dumb” USB-style cables, such as car chargers, have been plugged in. Tapping on this icon does not present the user with options, it is there only as an indicator.

The next icon represents the GPS menu. As of today this icon does nothing and is not representitive of the GPS's status.

Next to the GPS icon is a GSM signal meter. Most mobile phones have an indicator like this, showing the relative strength of the cellular signal they have. Typically, the more bars you have, the stronger your signal and the more clear and stable your phone conversations would be.

To the right of the signal meter is the battery indicator. This indicator shows roughly how much power your battery has remaining to power your device. A fully filled green battery icon indicates full charge where an icon that is not filled would be almost powerless. This icon can indicate various intermittent states. When connected to a powered USB cable the phone enters “Quick Charge” mode and this icon displays a white zig-zag lightening bolt image.

Below the taskbar is an action panel. This panel varies from application to application but in general it indicates actions a user may take. On the home screen, these actions are, from left-to-right:

Launch the “Dialer” application (Make a call) Launch the “Contacts” application (View your address book) Launch the “Messages” application (Send and read SMS Messages) Launch the “Tasks” application (Set or view important events)

Below the launcher is the main body which contains a digital clock and the date.

In addition to displaying the time and date, this pane will display notification of missed calls below the date. This is the main area to present information to the user – what this section of the screen displays is highly dependent on the application that is currently running.

Tabs for your currently running application appear below this pane. These tabs are different depending on the running application but the concept behind them is uniform to all OpenMoko applications. For instance, the Dialer application has two modes, a keypad mode and a list of all past calls. This section has two buttons in the tabs panel to switch between these modes. I will go in-depth regarding options with each specific application later.