Which Printer to Buy ? Which Printers are good with Ubuntu Linux Printing ?

Mera wala PRINTER kaun ?
Kya Linux Ubuntu par printer theek se chalta hai ?

For the Kanpur Lucknow based users of Ubuntu Linux computers one of the big questions to do some research on before buying a recommended printer from the Computer manufacturers or local assemblers - is whether the PRINTER being suggested works well with UBUNTU / KUBUNTU LINUX for English language printing ?
Please do ASK your computer supplier / manufacturer / local assembler if the printer they are suggesting for you to BUY, supports good black and colour printing with Ubuntu based Debian operating system ?
If the answer is NO - please do NOT buy that printer as it will be worth nothing to you once you buy it.
It is usually best to buy a LOW COST printer with good preloaded Linux Ubuntu DRIVERS.
If you want to check out if the printer which MAY LOOK GOOD but DOES NOT work well with UBUNTU then just tell the computer dealer to keep the printer in cold storage rather than expect you to buy a USELESS printer that you will not know where to DUMP and throw away.
Where to get the LATEST list of MODERN and best printers which work well with UBUNTU and KUBUNTU Linux ?
Check out at - http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrinting


It is very important for Indian computer users to buy only printers which have good Linux printer drivers preloaded. There is NO POINT buying a printer if it does NOT work with Linux.
Do ask your computer dealer this question before buying a computer from them.
There are many reports of printers with a lot of marketing push behind them from computer dealers and manufacturers but that do not support Linux Ubuntu for Indian markets and Indian users.

Every Student in Macedonia to use Ubuntu Linux Computer

Canonical has announced that every student in Macedonia will be using an Ubuntu powered computer / workstation. This announcement has tremendous significance for Indian school children as well who are wondering why they cannot have Ubuntu powered computers and laptops.
----------------------
http://www.ubuntu.com/news/macedonia-school-computers

Every Macedonian Student to Use Ubuntu-Powered Computer Workstations

Popular Linux Distribution To Appear On More than 180,000 Classroom Desktops Nationwide

LONDON, November 20th, 2007 - The Macedonia Ministry of Education and Science will deploy more than 180,000 workstations running Canonical’s Edubuntu 7.04 as part of its "Computer for Every Child" project.

The Macedonia "Computer for Every Child" project is one of the largest known thin client and desktop Linux deployments ever undertaken. Half of elementary and secondary Macedonia students attend school in the morning, and half attend in the afternoon, so 180,000 workstations will allow for one classroom computing device per student for the entire Republic's public school population. The first 7000 computers pre-installed with Ubuntu were shipped on September 4th 2007

Ubuntu is the award-winning Linux distribution for the desktop, laptop, thin client and server which brings together the best of open source software every six months. It is free, community-developed and contains all of the necessary applications to be up and running immediately, from web browser to instant messaging. It also comes with English and Macedonian language packs.

"The Computer for Every Child initiative is the largest and most important education project undertaken in the 15-year history of the Republic of Macedonia," said Ivo Ivanovski, Macedonia's Minister for the Information Society. "By selecting Ubuntu as the operating system for all of our classroom virtual PCs, our education system can provide computer-based education for all school children within the limited financial and infrastructural confines that most institutions face today."

"Macedonia is showing tremendous vision by deciding its own destiny in choosing how its children will learn through computing – said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the Ubuntu project. "By choosing Ubuntu which is free to modify, use and redistribute it turns students into participants in Information Technology and not simply consumers of it.

The Ubuntu operating system will run on 160,000 virtual PC terminals and 20,000 PCs (which each also support a student on the attached monitor) supplied by NComputing and procured and installed by The Haier Company, a diversified manufacturer and PC maker based in China.

The project will enable a range of innovative educational programs, including interactive web-based classes in which specialized experts teach lessons in such areas as mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics to multiple schools and classrooms around the country.

About Canonical and Ubuntu

Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, is headquartered in Europe and is committed to the development, distribution and support of open source software products and communities. World-class 24x7 commercial support for Ubuntu is available through Canonical's global support team and partners.

Since its launch in October 2004 Ubuntu has become one of the most highly regarded Linux distributions with millions of users around the world. Ubuntu will always be free to download, free to use and free to distribute to others. With these goals in mind, Ubuntu aims to be the most widely used Linux system, and is the center of a global open source software ecosystem.

Download Ubuntu from www.ubuntu.com/download. To learn about commercial support for Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu, please see www.canonical.com/support. For more information visit www.canonical.com or www.ubuntu.com.

Ubuntu Linux Download Servers in India - Backwardness of Infrastructure or what ?

Backwardness of Infrastructure or Backwardness of the Mind ?
For the Indian enthusiasts of Ubuntu and Linux it sometimes comes as a complete shock that a country which bursts into raptures when women are launched into outer space, a country that just freaks out when it sees fillums like Swadesh, Chak de India etc and a country which regards itself as one of the providers of choice of IT services, innovation and IT expertise to many parts of the world - is very silent when it comes to the question of IT infrastructure.
However if you have had ocassion to talk to some of the smartest Indian IT professors, working for well over decades in premier science and technology teaching and research institutes, one cannot help asking them a few questions on Linux and the Indian community :
1. For how many years have you been using Linux ?
2. For how many years have you been teaching Linux ?
3. How many world class conferences you have attended or hosted on Linux with lots and lots of government money ?
4. How many times you have given media interviews regarding IT innovation strategy for this country ?
5. How many years you have spent on accumulating experience on clusters of computing hardware ?

And then if you ask them one simple question as to why - if when a user in an Indian village wants to download Ubuntu Linux from an Indian server there is no Indian server offering free downloads - they just go suddenly quiet.
How long is this state expected to last ?
Just try going to the Ubuntu Linux download page and see (forget the world) - just check out which Asian countries have servers from which common people can download Ubuntu Linux from.
You will be amazed that all these high flying science and technology bureaucrats of India have not even found the time or the resources to offer a server for simple downloads.
And do you wonder what countries figure there ?
Well certainly not the so called big boss of IT - India. Nor the IT capitalists who profess to be socialists at heart.
There is no NASSCOM there. No IIT. No IIIT. No IIM
Then who is there ? -
Surprise of surprises - China, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Vietnam.
No Indian servers at all from any of the high flying prestigious IT computing hubs sprinkled all over India.
Is this issue symptomatic about ills and achievements of Indian Science and Technology, some fifty years after the dreams of public sector and science and technology revolution in India ?

BSNL DataOne Broadband connection and Ubuntu Linux in Kanpur Lucknow Jhansi Gorakhpur

It seems some kids and even some adult people ( not to talk of ignorant computer, laptop hardware dealers) have difficulties getting their own or customer broadband Internet connection from BSNL India - working with Ubuntu or Kubuntu Linux.

The BSNL Broadband connection costs only Rs 250/- per month and because it is an ADSL connection you can also use the telephone connection on the same phone line. You just need to phone up the BSNL Broadband support and ask them to give you the BSNL LAN details. Usually the BSNL Broadband support staff are very helpful and will give you : Gateway Address, Primary DNS and Alternate DNS - All very simple - Just note down on piece of paper
The ADSL modem that BSNL gives - like Sterlite which is a Chinese modem works very well with Ubuntu Linux in Kanpur Lucknow and all of Uttar Pradesh and no separate drivers are required. Just connect the Ethernet and phone lines to the modem. Connect the Ethernet cable to your AMD or Intel motherboard Ethernet port. A green and yellow light comes on if you see the back of your computer or laptop.

What next ? Once your Ubuntu or Kubuntu is installed from your ISO CD go to Applications - Accessories - Terminal and log in as root user. In Ubuntu root user is sudo

Type in the following in your shell - GNOME desktop shell also called GNOME Terminal :

sudo ppoeconf - Then enter the username that BSNL gave you. Next enter the password. Keep all the default settings :

$: sudo pon dsl-provider

( sudo poff dsl-provider - to disconnect Internet connection ) Next time when you switch on your computer with Ubuntu, the Internet connection will already be started and waiting for you. No need to touch the shell again.

Nowadays most computer dealers will give you a Ubuntu or Kubuntu CD for just Rs 100 and you can install everything yourself. To install printer, keep the printer on while installing your Ubuntu.

In case of any problem - Check your BSNL broadband Internet connection with :

$: sudo plog ifconfig

Try ping command if required but usually not required. Go to any website from your Firefox browser like : http://www.example.com from Applications - Internet

I know some people get very confused by the Linux Shell Commands. But guys one day you did learn to speak free and legal English didn’t you ?

And hey, your Rs 250/- per month ADSL Broadband connection from BSNL is working at lightning speed in Kanpur Lucknow, Jhansi, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Patna Moradabad. Nothing else to do. Go and have a cup of tea and some samosas. Just tune in to an Internet radio station from your Ubuntu OS and enjoy the latest music and video clips.

Hello Jhumritalayia …main aa gaya … Remember Munnabhai when he starts getting phone calls from the top medical colleges of Mumbai ? Yes that’s the spirit. Ah, now you are laughing like Boman Irani .. but wait dont do so when you are doing an operation on someone in your hospital.

Happy Ubuntu !! Everything is working fine !! Free legal Ubuntu !! I’m loving it baby !! And yes if somebody next door wants your help, please please do help them out as well. This is the spirit of Ubuntu in Kanpur and Lucknow. If your Ubuntu is working fine, as it should, please do spend some time to get your neighbours Ubuntu working also on their desktop or laptop. No need to wait for posh IIT engineers or overpaid research engineers. They will never come to you.

Lucknow Kanpur Computer Dealers short of trained staff to Install Ubuntu / Kubuntu Linux

Kanpur and Lucknow computer dealers - who have for years been selling proprietary operating systems are suddenly realizing that they themselves know very little about Ubuntu Linux operating system for desktops. On top of that, they have not invested in teaching their own support staff how to install Ubuntu or Kubuntu on customer laptops and desktops - that is customers who want to work with the best legal operating system already available in the markets. Many of these computer dealers have not even found the time to read the installation instructions from the Ubuntu website - www.ubuntu.com

Naturally these assembled computer dealers associations in Kanpur and Lucknow feel that first they have to learn Ubuntu themselves - and then - they have to teach their staff how to install Ubuntu or Kubuntu in one hour. What a bother. Learning Linux is sooo painful.

So it seems that intelligent Linux savvy school children will now have to teach these outdated computer dealers and hardware box vendors the fine points of Ubuntu Linux installation on laptops and desktops. One wonders when the computer assemblers will start giving themselves a crash course in Ubuntu and Linux so that they can install it on their customer computers in just one hour.

But go and see the home computers of children in Kanpur and Lucknow from schools such as Methodist, Jaipuria DPS, Christ Church - these kids know much more about the ease of Ubuntu installations than these hardware vendors - many of whom do not even have free CD to give to the customer just in case the customer tells them just to quote them a price for the hardware box. Many customers are deciding it is best to arrange Ubuntu CD themselves. Maybe Computer Science departments of top colleges will start distributing Ubuntu free also. For after all if children can install Ubuntu from CD by themselves, so can customers. And then maybe finally the staff of the hardware vendors will also learn how to install Ubuntu.

Many children of course prefer Kubuntu Desktop version because the KDE desktop is better to look at for those who only know how to send emails and chat on the Internet.

And last, the computer dealers will themselves shyly one afternoon decide to learn it themselves.

Where to download Ubuntu from ? http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Intelligent IT students in Kanpur Lucknow share Ubuntu Kubuntu Linux Tips

Ubuntu Linux version 7.10 has been released for free download by Canonical. - Mera wala Ubuntu Linux
Ubuntu Download page - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
Have you downloaded your copy and installed it ? Well, it seems thousands of students in Kanpur, Lucknow, Patna, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kathmandu, Kolkata and Allahabad who do not have good Internet connections are requesting their friends to download Kubuntu on a 700 MB CD and just make copies for FREE distribution.
Students are finally understanding that their teachers know less about software expertise and innovation than their old fashioned teachers who still have not even heard about Ubuntu and Kubuntu.
1. So is Ubuntu for everyone ? Yes of course - it is for STUDENTS, TEACHERS, PROFESSORS, SMALL BUSINESS, PROPRIETORS, BIG BUSINESS as well as Government users who want the latest, greatest FREE Open Source software.
Anyone in Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad Dehradoon, Jhansi, Bhopal, Kathmandu, Darjeeling, Varanasi, Benares, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Noida, Gurgaon, schools who needs an excellent operating system with loads of free and wonderful educational software can contact us at oskanpur@gmail.com
2. Is Ubuntu really free ? - Yes, yes yes
3. Is it really world class ? - Yes, Yes, Yes
4. Is it difficult to install ? - No, No, No
5. Is it difficult to learn ? - No, No, No
6. Should I believe someone who says Ubuntu is not for me ? - Please dont without trying it out yourself for one week. Yes one week. I’m loving it.
7. Where to download from and burn the ISO image on CD if I cant get my hands on Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon ? - Simple - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
8. What if any problems ? - Just email oskanpur@gmail.com
9. Some people say Ubuntu Linux is not for business, schools and government ? - Well do you HAVE to believe them AFTER you install Ubuntu on your assembled / Acer, Wipro, Zenith, IBM, Lenovo, Dell Laptop, Desktop or Server computer ?

10. Some people say that 95% users use ANOTHER Operating system and I will not get any support on Ubuntu. Well that was YESTERDAY. Now talk about TODAY. Linux is the way to go if you want smart children rather than dumb children who can only play computer games and do data entry.

11. What if I want to use word documents, spreadsheets and presentations ? Yes this is the best part. Of course everyone wants to use these. And all these softwares are available in Ubuntu - courtesy of SUN Microsystems for FREE. Just spend ONE day and you will become familiar with everything !!

12. Just ask your computer vendor / dealer if he is going to supply you with free CD of Ubuntu / Kubuntu. He should be able to arrange one in one hour flat. https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

Primary and secondary school Indian teachers and students in Kanpur Lucknow -

Those who have been using Linux on their desktop, laptops and servers for some time now will be aware that it is now only 14 days left for the next version of the best and greatest Ubuntu and Kubuntu to be launched. We just cant wait for the greatest Linux desktop ever to hit the Indian markets especially for users in Kanpur and Lucknow. - Launched on 18 Octobber 2007.

To celebrate the launch of the Ubuntu and Kubuntu - Gutsy Gibbon Version 7.10 - we are organizing a snacks and soft drinks party for bright school children in Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Agra, Gorakhpur and Varanasi to get together and share Linux tips with other school children. We all know that the school children in Kanpur and Lucknow know more about Linux Ubuntu / Kubuntu than their computer science teachers and instructors who have never even heard of Ubuntu.

We are also organizing a get together for adults interested in computer basics and some samosas - come and join us in end of October. We will be distributing free CD of Ubuntu and Kubuntu - and the first 100 laptops will also qualify for a free learn and install Ubuntu and Kubuntu training session.

Please note all school children from English as well as Hindi medium schools in Kanpur and Lucknow are invited - Methodist, St. Mary, Christ Church, Central schools, Jaipuria, delhi Public school, DPS children who want to learn to play with Linux and learn free, open and non proprietory softwares are all welcome.

Feel free to ask questions - the top three best questions about if Linux is Best for Indian school students will receive designer UBUNTU T-shirts - so polish up your debating skills on Linux versus whatever …

Contact Email : oskanpur@gmail.com

Check out the Ubuntu website and download your free Ubuntu from the nearest server. Please note that despite all the talk of Indian IT - there is still NO Indian server providing free downloads of Ubuntu and Linux. That is a pity when you consider how many IT professionals the IIM IIT and IIIT produce each year.

Ubuntu download page - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Hopefully soon some Indian IT science and technology bureaucrat will wake up from his sleep and offer free webservers for downloading Ubuntu from an Indian server for Indian children who want to learn Linux. Who knows what the S&T bureaucrats are planning once they get time off from teaching old and outdated stuff to Indian children ?

Yes Indian children and students will soon know more about world class software and innovation than their politicians, teachers, instructors, parents and professors. I’m loving it baby.