Understanding File Permissions in Linux

Do you know what this means?

-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 31660 Jan 30 13:51 touch

Neither do I. Fortunately Webmonkey has an article detailing how to work with Linux file permissions.

This article found on Lifehacker.

Enable Advanced Permissions Dialog in Nautilus / Ubuntu Linux (on Lifehacker)

Click here for a good article about how to enable file and folder permission in Nautilus, the file manager for Ubuntu Linux.

Installing Songbird in Ubuntu 7.10

I know it's putting the cart before the horse, but I needed a success with Linux. It was my goal to have my Wireless Network card running before I installed Songbird, as an internet connection is needed to download Songbird. However, after a week of working on getting my Wireless NIC running, with no luck, I needed a smaller project. As it turns out getting Songbird downloaded and installed is not that difficult.

Step 1: Downloading Songbird

• On a computer with internet access, go to 'http://www.songbirdnest.com/download', and download the latest version of Songbird. Songbird_0.5_linux-i686.tar.gz, is the version that I downloaded, so I'll use that file name is this document. Your file name may be different.

• Copy this file to your Ubuntu Linux computer. You can use a flash drive, or if you're like me and your Ubuntu computer is also your Windows computer, just reboot into Linux and access the Windows drive from there. I copied the file, Songbird_0.5_linux-i686.tar.gz, to /home/username/Downloads, but you can copy it to where ever you like.

Step 2: Installing Songbird

• Copy Songbird_0.5_linux-i686.tar.gz to the /opt directory.
  - In a terminal enter, 'sudo mv Songbird_0.5_linux-i686.tar.gz /opt'
  - If you want to know what the commands sudo, and mv do, there's a list of all the commands used in this procedure at the end of this document.

• Go to the /opt directory, and extract the files in the file Songbird_0.5_linux-i686.tar.gz
  - Enter, 'cd /opt'.
  - Enter, 'tar xzvf Songbird_0.5_linux-i686.tar.gz'.

• Change owner permissions on Songbird directory
  - Enter, 'sudo chown -R username:username Songbird', replace username with your username

Step 3: Installing the GStreamer packages

• In order to hear audio from Songbird it is necessary to install the GStreamer packages. To install the GStreamer packages you first need to enable some additional software sources in Ubuntu.
  - On the Ubuntu desktop click System > Administration > Software Sources
  - In the Software Sources window, make sure that the main, universe, restricted, and multiverse check boxes are selected (checked), then close the Software Sources window
  - Now open the Synaptic Package Manger, click System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager
  - Click the Search button in the Synaptic Package Manager window, enter 'GStreamer' in the Search field then click the Search button
  - You will have to manually search the list of available packages and select the following:
  
  libgstreamer0.10-0
  gstreamer0.10-x
  gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-base
  gstreamer0.10-esd or gstreamer0.10-alsa (depending on your audio setup)
  libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev (Ubuntu 7)
  libgstreamer0.10-dev (Ubuntu 7)
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-good
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly (for mp3 playback)
  gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg
  gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 (alternate for mp3 playback)
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse
  
  After all packages have been selected click the Apply button, and after all packages are installed close the Synaptic Package Manager window

Step 4: Running Songbird

• To start Songbird you need to naviage to the /opt/Songbird directory and run ./songbird
  - At a terminal enter, 'cd /opt/Songbird'
  - Enter, './songbird'

Commands used in this procedure

sudo - allows a permitted user to execute a command as the superuser or

another user, as specified in the sudoers file

mv - move (rename) files

tar - the GNU version of the tar archiving utility

x - extracts files from and archive

z - filters the archive through gzip

v - verbosely list files processed

f - specifies the filename to extract

chown - change file owner and group

R - Recursively change ownership of directories and their contents

References

1) http://www.ubuntugeek.com/install-songbird-music-player-in-ubuntu.html

2) http://publicsvn.songbirdnest.com/wiki/SettingUpGStreamer

Ease the Transition To Ubuntu With a Cheat Sheet (on Lifehacker)

Here's a link to a Lifehacker story that includes a a pdf Cheat Sheet with some Ubuntu Linux commands that may make the switch from Windows a little easier.