Loose ends

Based on some emails I have gotten recently I realized that I had left a couple crucial pieces of info out of all my Linux content to date. The google search bots tell me what info people are lacking also and the main two things are right clicking with a single button mouse and finding/installing software in Lubuntu. Although I have hinted at ways to install software in past articles I have never gone into great detail. The right and middle click on a single button mouse is one of the biggest questions of late and the lack of info has left some thinking they need a 3rd party mouse. You don't.



Right and middle clicking

The default methods in Lubuntu are quite simple. F12 = right click and F11 = middle click. Simply hold the arrow over what you want to right or middle click and press the appropriate key.

As Mac users though many of us have spent years or even decades using the control key to right click things so it would certainly help the transition to make it work this way for Linux also.

There is a daemon named "mouseemu" which is a button emulator for single button mice. This is not part of Lubuntu by default so you need to download and install it which will also warm you up for the second part of this post. F11 and F12 are set to emulate clicks by default but you need mouseemu to edit/change this. If you're happy with F11 and 12 then there is no need to use this.

To download and install it open Synaptic found within System Tools in the LXDE menu. Enter your password then click on search any type "mouseemu" followed by return. Double click it to mark for install and then click the Apply button at the top.

After installation open the file manager and navigate to /etc/default. Once there click the tools menu and select "open current folder as root" followed by your password. Once you have root access simply double click mouseemu to open for editing.

To make right click activate with the control key simply remove the "#" at the beginning (not the one in the middle) of the following line:

#RIGHT_CLICK=”-right 29 272″ # Left Ctrl + click

To make middle click activate with the apple/command key remove the "#" at the beginning of the following line:

#MID_CLICK=”-middle 125 272″ # Left Apple Key (LEFTMETA) + click

I personally don't use middle click much so I only change the right click function myself. It's all about preference.  I use the freed up F12 as my Kupfer launch key.

To activate these modifications save the changes first and then fire up the LXTerminal and type the following command to restart mouseemu:

sudo /etc/init.d/mouseemu restart

Not only can you click things the way you want now but you also have an idea on how to work with config files if this is your first time.



Synaptic: The Swiss Army Knife


I have hinted about the greatness of Synaptic in the past but have never gone into many specifics about why it's better and how it works. In my experiences it's the most capable and reliable package manager on Linux period. On PowerPC Linux especially it's the most versatile and powerful GUI for updating, downloading, installing and fixing software. It's all you need for all those needs.

Finding and installing software

This is a basic process that you have possibly already done above in the clicking config edit but that was an easy one because there will typically only be one result for mouseemu. When you search for something like LibreOffice for example there are many results for every type of related file or app. In this situation it is best to look for the one with both a Ubuntu logo and simply the name and description of it like this. It certainly doesn't need the Ubuntu logo next to it to work but these tend to be the most optimized apps and such.

Once you find what you want double click it to mark for install which also automatically selects any other directly associated item that is part of the package needed. You can search for several things in a row and mark each for installation as you go. When you have found everything you were after click apply to install everything you marked.

Other great ways to search are with the architecture option which will be sure to show you nothing but PowerPC supported software. The Sections button helps you find things by category for those that know the need they have but not what names to search for.


Updating

This is very easy. Launch Synaptic and click the status button. Simply by selecting the "Installed (upgradable)" like this you can see all available updates for the kernel, apps or whatever someone has updated.

To install the updates just click "Mark all Upgrades" followed by "Apply". Wait for the updates to install. Very simple. Any and all updates work best this way.


Fixing failed installs, updates or broken dependencies

As great and reliable as Synaptic is it does mess up on rare occasions. If an install fails early you can normally just restart again by clicking apply once more. If it fails mid way or later then you will either need to fix broken dependencies or clear the install and do it over.

To check for a broken dependency click the "Custom Filters" button followed by selecting the broken filter.  If you do have a broken dependency in the list then you just need to right click it and selct "Mark for reinstallation".  If there is nothing there then you need to do the install again but first it needs to be sudo cleaned and updated back to normal in the terminal.

To clear out the gunk fire up the LXTerminal and enter the following commands:

sudo apt-get clean

After your pass type:

sudo apt-get update

After that you can launch Synaptic and do it again. I have never seen it fail twice in a row.

In closing

This is all you really need to know to get these things accomplished. The more you get used to it the more things flow with ease. Hopefully this helps all the people this post was written for. If you need more detail on something or get stuck please leave a comment and explain.