[wellylug] Attn: WellyLUG Installers & Wizards at InstallFest

[Carl Turney]

Hello and thank you for being of so much help tomorrow.

An Old Geezer's Install Fest WishList...

In case what I¡¦m trying to have on my two systems is complicated or
challenging, I thought the least I could do (in addition to helping in
some feeble way) is to give you advance warning of my wishes.

Here is a long, rambling, and only semi-structured list of what (I think)
I would like.

Once again, my appreciation.

Carl

= = = = =

I¡¦m an old-timer hw/sw techie who¡¦s been just a user for the last ~8
years, so I may be way off on particulars, forgetful, married to legacy
features, but have a good idea of what I¡¦m comfortable with.

Over-riding:  A very strict adherence to standards that will prevent a
Dependency Hell.

Ubuntu 8.04.1 Hardy Heron desktop version, not any Kbuntu, Edubuntu, or
etcBuntu

NO LVM.  Just want basic old-fashioned standard partitions on a single
physical hard disk.  E.g. /dev/hda1   /dev/hda2   /dev/hda3

NO SELINUX  I want just a basic standard setup, so that mirrored removable
hard disks can swap in and run, in event of a crash.

Prefer 3 partitions:  A bare-bones single-user minimal bootable, a swap,
and everything else (applications, user settings, data, etc).

Gnome and KDE if both possible, but with Gnome as the default

Laptop CPU:  Internal dialup modem, configured.
Desktop CPU:  External dialup modem, via the RS232 port, configured.

On Desktop CPU:  NUMLOCK auto on (if must be, after log-in).

The ¡§ModemLights¡¨ program or something JUST like it, even if it must be
compiled from source to work.

All the files necessary to compile applications from source, in the ~3
most popular languages (C++, Java, whatever).

Java Runtime Environment?

Compatibility with my Lexmark E230 centronics port printer

For the laptop¡K  How to keep the damned PS2-USB adapter from going into
¡§Autotype¡¨ so often?

All the standard games that come with Gnome and KDE

All the basic Microsoft Windows Truetype fonts, and ¡§configure¡¨ them
into Open Office and other apps.

Open Office with its Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access compatibles
If the OO w/p doesn¡¦t get the vertical line spacing right, then
	WINE
	(Possibly Code weavers Crossover Office)
	MS Word (only) 2000 from Carl¡¦s own install disk

How to fix the ¡§missing right edge of every character¡¨ when printing
Courier IO, Courier New, Courier under MS Word and Crossover?

XINE or similar video player - capable of DVD movies
	Region-free FIRMWARE hack on the hardware, if necessary
	Region-free hack on XINE or similar player, if necessary
	Different ¡§versions¡¨ of WMV - the newer one can¡¦t be played?
	Ability to go forward and backward at 1x 2x 4x 8x etc.?

DVDRip or AcidRip or similar audio/video ripping software.

Some program to convert video files from one format to another, e.g. from
Video DVD format to MP3 (or is it MPG).

Some program for basic video editing:  Cutting, copying, concatenating,
inserting, lengths of video

Gtoaster, K3B, Gnomebaker, Graveman?  Some kind of DVD burner that can
handle: different region codes, dual layer burning (if possible),
overcoming copy protection schemes,

How to keep Totem from trying to start up, whenever a CD or DVD is inserted?

How to make =my= choice of software the default - for various file types,
or media like CD or DVD?

How to alter the X in¡K  ¡§/dev/hda3 has been mounted x times without
being checked, check forced¡¨ routine?

Software to view/run (with and without a web browser - if appropriate)
Macromedia Flash
Gstreamer & ffmpeg?
MP3
Java
Real Audio
Real Video
MPEG
QuickTime
AVI
Video DVDs
Windows Media
WMV
MPG
PHP (audio?)
ZIP
TAR
TARZ
7-ZIP
RAR
RAM (real audio?)
ASX (streaming audio?)
And whatever else this cruelly constantly changing world throws at an old
man.  ļ

An explanation of the pros/cons/uses of these programs?
Transcode
Cinelerra
Kino
MainActor
AVIDemux
Mplayer

Firefox web browser (if not, why not).

FTP plug-in for Firefox.  FireFTP?

Has Thunderbird gotten compatible with the Calendar feature of the current
and previous versions of MS Outlook?

If yes, Thunderbird.  If no, what¡¦s that email program that does¡K
Evidence or Evolution or something?

Porting all the current email messages and folders from my current Fedora
Thunderbird system into the .

A Virtual Private Network capability (one that¡¦s compatible with VUW).

If possible, some file manager that¡¦s more look-n-feel of Win98¡¦s
Windows Explorer than Nautilus?

What is FLAC, something to do with multimedia?

How do I monitor, at any instant, =what= processes are
uploading/downloading data via my dialup or Ethernet?  (Concern when all
my I/O is shut down but my system is communicating about something I
don¡¦t know.)

Which video capture card is best for bringing stuff in from e.g. a
Freeview satellite set top box or a VCR?

If I had a video capture card, what is best software for capture and save?

Any hex editors and viewers, like MS DOS used to have Vern Buerg¡¦s LIST
and someone else¡¦s HEXIT.

Ability to run old DOS/Win games (like Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Infocom)
dagnabbit.

Something like the ¡§alarm clock¡¨ and the ¡§egg timer¡¨ utilities in
Windows.

Rsync via Ethernet, to do backups/updates.

Any good open source hardware diagnostic programs for contemporary
platforms?  My old MicroScope from 1996 just don¡¦t cut it any more.  Cold
boots up the system from floppy, CD, whatever.  Uses minimal memory. 
Checks CPU, motherboard, drives, memory, I/O devices, maybe even ports
using dongles.  Burn-in tests.


Ubuntu-wishlist.doc