Install Ubuntu

How to install Ubuntu in a PC

What is Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is a free operating system that has been developed by a community of computer scientists around the world. They have created this operating system to provide a free operating system for education and communication purposes around the world. To read more about Ubuntu mission and goals please visit: Ubuntu

There are four versions of Ubuntu that can be downloaded:

a. Ubuntu (GNOME/Linux based operating system, standard version)

b. Xubuntu (GNU/Linux based operating system, lighter system)

c. Edubuntu (Specifically designed for school environments)

d. Kubuntu (KDE and K desktop environment, Mac-like version)

Once one has decided which version of Ubuntu to use, download it to the desktop. It is recommended to copy the downloaded package into a CD. Install the Ubuntu in the computer. The nice thing about this program is that when the computer is rebooted you can choose the operating system that one wants to use. Be sure to allocate enough space when partitioning your hard drive (7 GB or more).

Once Ubuntu has been installed in your computer, go to:

System -> Administration -> Sypnaptic Package Manager Enter root password Search for libxxf 86 (these X11 Direct Graphics Library Packages) Check them for installation click on apply download them and install them Search for Octave Check all octave packages for intallation click on apply download them and install them Close Synaptic Package Manager

These packages should help run MD++ properly.

Making DEB packages from closed-source installed software

This tutorial is a simplification of this other one.

DEB packages is the format used by Ubuntu (and Debian) repositories of software. Once a package is converted into DEB format Ubuntu can easily manage installation and uninstallation of the program.

All free (free as in freedom) software that comes with Ubuntu does it in DEB format, however the repositories maintainers can't make and distribute DEB packages out of proprietary (privative) software. Fortunately nothing impedes us from building DEB packages as a backups of already installed software. Once the DEB package is made reinstallation is easy handled by Ubuntu.

So, suppose we have the Matlab program installed.

Briefly, lets review the instalation:

user@pc:/media/cdrom$ export version=7.6
user@pc:/media/cdrom$ sudo ./install 

Choose manual installation: click "Install manually without using the internet.". Accept licence: click "Yes". Set root directory: type "/opt/matlab/$version". Confirm: "Create". Accept: "OK". Enter file installation key. Select items to install. Create symbolic links in "/usr/local/bin". Begin installation. The installation takes ~10 minutes. Activate the product: "Activate Manually without the internet", then select license file. Run the program, try "1+1". Exit the program. Go to the command line, type "matlab" and try it again.

Now to make the DEB package. Create a directory structure as follows.

cd ~
export version=7.6
mkdir -p matlab-$version/debian
mkdir -p matlab-$version/src/i386/opt
mkdir -p matlab-$version/src/i386/usr/local/bin

Create the following files

touch matlab-$version/debian/changelog
touch matlab-$version/debian/compat
touch matlab-$version/debian/docs

and copy the lincense from the original installation

cp /opt/matlab/$version/license.txt matlab-$version/debian/copyright

and store the installation dir in

echo '/opt/matlab/'$version > matlab-$version/debian/dirs

Type some information in

echo 'This is repackaged for internal use' > matlab-$version/debian/README

create file named matlab-$version/debian/control with the following information (copy and paste as a template, the file has to have exactly this structure, avoid typos).

Package: matlab76
Version: 7.6
Section: Science
Priority: extra
Architecture: i386
Depends: libxext6, libxp6, libxt6
Installed-Size: 300000
Maintainer: User <user@pc.edu>
Description: MATLAB - The Language of Technical Computing
 MATLAB is a high-level language and interactive environment that enables
 you to perform computationally intensive tasks faster than with traditional
 programming languages such as C, C++, and Fortran.
 .
 Packaged for private use.
 .
 MATLAB, Simulink, Communications Blockset, Communications Toolbox, Control
 System Toolbox, Distributed Computing Toolbox, Fuzzy Logic Toolbox, Genetic
 Algorithm and Direct Search Toolbox, Image Processing Toolbox, MATLAB
 Compiler, Neural Network Toolbox, Optimization Toolbox, Partial Differential
 Equation Toolbox, Real-Time Workshop, Robust Control Toolbox, Signal
 Processing Blockset, Signal Processing Toolbox, SimPowerSystems, Simulink
 Control Design, Stateflow, Statistics Toolbox, Symbolic Math Toolbox, System
 Identification Toolbox, Wavelet Toolbox.

On the description field: leave a space in every line. Set post-installation by editing matlab-$version/debian/postinst with the instructions. For example, "alternative" names can be installed for multiple version of the same problem (see here for more information on setting up "alternatives").

Create a file named matlab-$version/debian/changelog with the text

matlab76 (7.6.0-1) stable; urgency=low

  * [INTL:en] Initial release

 -- user <user@pc.edu>  Sat, 08 Sep 2009 23:22:23 +0100

Copy the whole installation directory into our package

cp -r /opt/matlab matlab-$version/src/i386/opt

(takes ~8 minutes) and create symlinks manually

cd ~/matlab-$version/src/i386/usr/local/bin
ln -s ../../../opt/matlab/$version/bin/matlab
ln -s ../../../opt/matlab/$version/bin/mbuild
ln -s ../../../opt/matlab/$version/bin/mcc
ln -s ../../../opt/matlab/$version/bin/mex

Now build the package from the top directory.

cd ~/matlab-$version
dpkg-buildpackage

(takes ~15 minutes). This creates a huge file, but then you just need to execute

 dpkg -i file.deb 

to install the program.

We can do the same with an installation of Mathematica.

$cd /media/cdrom/Unix/Installer
$sudo sh ./MathInstaller

Install in the default directory /usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/7.0 and install scripts in /usr/local/bin. To solve a bug of Mathematica in Ubuntu replace the file provided here http://download.wolfram.com/?key=61JJHE and remove all the libQt*.so in the Mathematica installation.