MacBuntu and Compiz effects --Make Ubuntu look like Mac OSX

After a long gap, I have something interesting for you. The first part is to make Ubuntu look like Mac OS-X and the next part giving you some of the very interesting features of Compiz which I tried.

Unlike the earlier editions of Ubuntu which had a very dry default theme, the latest versions 10.04 and 10.10 have an interesting theme by default. Ubuntu must have definitely looked into this aspect and the booting process. The booting process is so fast that it takes hardly 20 seconds for the booting to take place. On the other hand, the Internet speed also has increased reasonably well over the Lucid Lynx (which had disastrously slow Internet). However, the look and feel of Mac-OS is top-class with glossy finishes and high resolutions.

How to make Ubuntu look like Mac OS X:

In order to get the Mac look-and-feel, a package named "Macbuntu" has to be installed. The process for the installation is given below:

1. Download the Macbuntu package from the links given below:
• https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/macbuntu/macbuntu-10.04/v2.2/Macbuntu-10.04.tar.gz for Lucid Lynx (Ubuntu 10.04).
• https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/macbuntu/macbuntu-10.10/v2.3/Macbuntu-10.10.tar.gz for Maverick Meerkat (Ubuntu 10.10).
2. After changing the present working directory to the folder which contains the downloaded file, extract the contents inside this compressed file to /tmp folder by using the following commands in the Terminal:
• tar xzvf Macbuntu-10.10.tar.gz -C /tmp
• cd /tmp/Macbuntu-10.10/
• ./install.sh
3. In the steps that follow the installation, give the  appropriate values to the questions at each stage.
4. Now restart your system to get the new look-and-feel of Mac OS.

Compiz Settings:

Getting to the later part of the discussion,  Compiz effects are something that anyone would like to have for better animations, extras, effects, Window management, Utility, Desktop effects etc.

The things I tried in Compiz are pretty easy ones and Desktop cube, cube reflection and deformation, Scale and Negative are the ones that I predominantly used. 

The negative  plug-in does get the negative version of the environment which we are working on. 

The Scale plug-in gives a list of all the windows maximised at the center of the screen just giving some amazing desktop eye candy as shown in the figure below. It is always handy to have these kinds of plug-ins.

The Wobble windows plug-in though is a good piece, seemed to be an unstable one as far as the look in the environment and the wobbling to the eyes are concerned. Among the others, all the plug-ins related to Cube are a treat to the eyes. But one should see that the performance does not get disappointed when you have an extra set of these animations enabled. Cube Atlantis and Cube gears are master-pieces in this section but demand very good hardware all around.

A balance between the performance and the look-and-feel  is the one we should look at because an operating system is not solely about the look-and-feel. Therefore, it is always recommended to think for a while before switching to high graphic oriented plug-ins.

Using NetBeans Database Tools

Many IDEs have the option of accessing the database and running commands in SQL. Besides this, these IDEs allow the operations to be done on the database, thus making everything at a single place (IDE), rather than switching between the DBMS and IDE continuously.

IBM RAD has this feature of Database Design, accessing databases, tables and schema from itself. Now let us look into the database access with the DBMS from NetBeans. We need to add a database connection before we do anything on the database in the IDE. For the database connection, add a new Driver in the "Drivers" node in the "Services" view (the one that is used for JDBC purposes. Add the JAR file that is used.).

The NetBeans IDE has 3 views on the left side of the main editor:
1. Projects,
2. Files and
3. Services.

Go to the Services view, right click on "Databases" node and select "New Connection".

Now a wizard pops up which asks you to enter the details of the Database connection and the Database. The JDBC URL is also shown in the last text box. Double check whether this database URL is correct or not.

After entering all the details correctly, click on OK and select the schema in the next wizard and click OK.

The Database is configured in NetBeans IDE. Make sure that the one you have added now is listed in the Databases node.

Now we can execute the SQL commands on the Database in NetBeans IDE. Right click on the Database and select "Execute Command".

As soon as you do this, the editor can be used for SQL statements. Enter the commands and see the results down under the editor. You have many buttons readily available and you can make use of all those things. Some of them are:

1. Run SQL Button
2. SQL History Button
3. Inserting and Deleting rows in a table
4. Truncating a table
5. Committing changes
6. Refreshing the results and so on.....

 

An IDE has everything within it and all the IDEs are meant for productivity enhancement. But don't think that IDE does everything for you. It makes your life easy. Using IDE is not a crime especially after one gets some clear idea of a programming language. When you use an IDE to do a project, you are doing the project and not the IDE. Using Notepad is not always the best way to do things especially after a person is aware of the syntaxes in a programming language.

Use IDEs to the fullest by knowing them to the fullest.