Linux (Ubuntu) on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket.

I recently received a Galaxy S2 as a gift, and thought I would share how I rooted it and then proceeded to install ubuntu on it. Before I begin, I would like to note that I did this out of curiosity to see how it would perform, and not actually as something I would use day-to-day. In reality it's just for kicks, which is why I took the path of least resistance and installed Ubuntu.

Step 1. Rooting the Phone
Rooting the phone was easy thanks to the great people on xda-developers. I followed this guide, and the whole thing ran smoothly. (If you have trouble, the users there are happy to help) Here is an alternate link.

Step 2. Removing Bloatware (ie. system apps)
Now, this isn't exactly related to installing linux, but I would like to share some tips about what I learned. DON'T DELETE ANYTHING, and by that I mean don't go into terminal and mount system as RW and then run rm /apps/<bloatware>. While this may work, it's not the safest solution and can break the phone (I realized this late, so don't make that mistake - luckily I didn't delete anything important). Instead download AntTek App Manager and FREEZE the apps that you want to get rid of. This allows you to bring them back should you need them later.

Step 3. The Meat
I followed this guide here. However things didn't smoothly the first time. Some key points, when in terminal when it says "WARNING.... Apps.... You have to go... Please wait...", all of these are normal, none of them are actually errors. When it says "Please wait..." it's done, so press "Home" and let it run in the background. If a "#" appears at the end of the terminal, something went wrong. If it doesn't work the first time do this:
1.Reboot
2.su
3.rm -r /data/local/mnt
4.cd sdcard
5.sh ubuntu.sh

That fixed it for me, and hopefully will fix any other problems you might run into.

Conclusion.

VNC is awful. Ubuntu actually runs fine, with good speed and usability, however the VNC client just wasn't up to the challenge. It's painful to try to run things via command-line, and its pretty much impossible to do anything that requires constant keyboard input. Maybe one day things will change, but from what I'm seeing, this is just another flashy trick to show off to your friends.

4 Monitors

Full Size Image

Setup: 17" 1280x1024 (2 on far left and right),  22" 1680x1050 (vertical), 24" 1920x1080 (center).

The vertical monitor is on a hand-build stand made of 3/4" inch plywood (hand sawn - no power tools). Having a vertical monitor is amazing, especially for development. The difference it makes viewing code is phenomenal as it allows me to view 90 lines of code at once instead of 55.

The Struggle
Setting these monitors up was extremely difficult. But hopefully my endeavors can aid the rest of you, should you choose to increase your productivity by adding monitors.

Step 1. Don't buy an AMD graphics card. The cards are wonderful, the drivers are unbearable.
Step 2. Ok, so you bought an AMD card by accident, now what? The next step is to install the proprietary drivers. Twice. I first try to use 11.8 catalyst drivers, and then when they don't work I install the latest version.
Step 3. Now, you may notice some weird overlap between screens (only a few pixels), this can be fixed by editing your Xorg.conf file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf). Scroll down till you see "Section "Screen"", then change the "Virtual desktop" size and increase it as large as you need to.

Finally the tool that makes things work even when you're down, arandr (an XRandR GUI).

Well, that's about it, or at least the key points that helped me set up my multi monitors.
Note: Have another computer on hand just in case things go awry.

Gnome 2 vs Gnome Shell vs Unity

Gnome 2 is far superior to both Gnome Shell and Unity. Gnome 2 provides a good-looking user interface, but is still able to provide a great development environment. Gnome Shell and Unity on the other hand sacrifice all productivity aspects in order to accommodate a flashy user interface. Gnome 2 panels are great, and there was no reason to remove them in Gnome Shell. And Unity, why did you get rid of the menu bar? Also who wants to waste all those precious CPU cycles in order to view giant logos of apps you have installed. Bigger buttons does not make it easier to find the apps you want. The same goes for gnome shell, why is everything under one "Activities" menu item?! They could have at least had a few menu options to make things easier. And the wasted space! So much waste! Unity and Gnome shell are unusable on four monitors, it just doesn't work. End rant.

WTF.

Debian

Debian is my operating system of choice at the moment for a desktop enviroment. It combines the out-of-the-box functionality of Ubuntu but without all of the clutter. The things I like about Debian that set it apart from the rest is the default Gnome 2 desktop environment (which really deserves its own post) as well as Apt (yes, apt). Now I'm sure the gurus started shaking their heads when I said Apt, but don't judge yet. Apt is easy to use, widely supported, and stable. The same is true for others like Pacman and Yum, and nothing is wrong with using those. Of course I still compile many of my tools from source, but Apt is just a way to get things done fast.

Debian Squeeze however may not be the optimal choice if you are installing on a laptop/netbook. If you are looking for a beautiful lightweight environment without lots of clutter, then I suggest Crunchbang Linux.

Crunchbang just looks beautiful. With its OpenBox window manager, it just works. It's also super fast, so for those under powered netbooks its perfect for increasing runtimes. Crunchbang, unlike pure Debian does take some knowing however. For beginners I suggest sticking with pure Debian (or Ubuntu, just don't get stuck on it) to begin with, and then moving on to try out other distros like crunchbang.

Well that's my bit, what about you? What's your distro of choice and why?

Pilot

Welcome to the blog about why Linux is the best. period. Linux (GNU/Linux) is the god of operating systems. All hail Linux! But enough about Linux (we can never have enough of you, our all mighty deity), let me introduce myself. With my computer specs (cause that's what matters).

Core:

• 8-Core 3.6GHz AMD FX-8150
• ASUS M5A97 AM3+ Motherboard
• 8GB DDR3 1866MHz RAM
• ATI-Radeon HD 5870 eyefinity 6

Other:

• Debian Squeeze GNU/Linux OS
• 5.1, Virtual 7.1 Surround sound USB headphones
• 4 Monitors (assorted sizes)

Yes, that's right, I have 4 monitors. 4!

I'll post some pictures later, but enough about me, lets hear about you.

Post your computer specs in the comments below! (make sure to include which Linux distro you use)