At Bristol Wireless we’ve been using LTSP* (Linux Terminal Server Project) since we were founded in 2002. We’ve always found it to be very reliable both for running our lab in Bristol, as well as providing public access/training suites in both fixed locations and for temporary/mobile ICT for events. LTSP is a client/server based computer…
Bristol Wireless specialise in the deployment of open source and Linux on the desktop and server. Migration is the act of moving from one operating system to another (e.g. Microsoft Windows to Linux). If you’re considering migrating your IT, Bristol Wireless can help. Consultancy Site surveys Evaluations Comprehensive reporting and analysis Advice on which sorts…
All our computers come with a sound card installed and sound should work from the start, if you have any problems with sound, run the program alsaconf as root (administrator). Open a terminal to access the command line and enter alsaconf to detect your sound card. Continue by hitting enter when prompted and your sound…
Switch on your camera and plug it in; see if a camera icon appears in your file manager (e.g. Nautilus under Gnome desktop or Dolphin under KDE). Usually on a Linux system, any removable storage devices (cameras, mp3 players, USB pen drives, etc.) are detected automatically. If your camera does not appear automatically, check to…
How to get good help Before you ask Before asking a technical question by email, in a newsgroup, chatroom or a website forum, try the following: Search the web; Read the program’s manual; read the FAQs; Try finding an answer by inspection or experimentation. Ask a skilled or knowledgeable friend. If all those efforts prove…
USB devices (MP3 players, cameras, pen drives, etc.) are detected by Linux when they are inserted into a suitable USB socket. After a short time after insertion into a USB socket, an icon for your device will appear on your desktop; clicking on this icon will launch your system’s file manager/browser to allow you to…
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is the most widely used free software licence, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. The content of the Bristol Wireless website used to be covered by the GPL; it is now covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence. The text…
The command line is a type of user interface which allows the user to interact with the computer by typing in commands. You open it in Linux by selecting ‘Terminal’ from the menu. This will open a box into which you can type text. If you type the right text then your computer will understand…
Bristol Wireless recommends operating systems that are free. Free in the context of free software means having a number of freedoms regarding the software. These include the freedom to copy the software for no charge and to improve it or change it to suit your needs. There are a number of operating systems which fit…
GNU/Linux is a free software operating system; in this case ‘free’ as in freedom, rather than any other idea of free (e.g. free beer). Most software vendors sell you software, which you then have no right to re-distribute. Free software (or open source software as it is sometimes called) is given freely (for no charge)…