Internet Applications

This section provides information on using common Internet applications, such as web browsers and email clients.

Web browsing with Firefox

The powerful and secure Mozilla Firefox web browser is included in Xubuntu. Firefox features tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, built-in search, and live bookmarks. Also supported are popular plug-ins such as Java, Flash, and RealPlayer.

Firefox can be launched by clicking ApplicationsNetworkFirefox Web Browser.

Get addons for your Firefox

Addons extend Firefox's capabilities, such as automatically removing adverts or altering the behaviour of menus.

To view a list of currently-installed plugins in the Firefox Web Browser , open ApplicationsNetworkFirefox Web Browser and click ToolsAdd-ons.

Quickly install common plugins

It is possible to install a whole set of commonly-used restricted plugins at once, by installing the Xubuntu restricted extras package.

[Warning]

Restricted plugins are those which cannot be distributed with Xubuntu because of legal issues surrounding their use in some countries. Check that you are allowed to use this software before installing it. See the Ubuntu website for more information on restricted software.

  1. Open ApplicationsSystemAdd/Remove....

  2. Select All Available Applications from the Show: drop down.

  3. Tick Xubuntu Restricted Extras.

  4. A warning appears which you must agree to to install, click Enable or Cancel.

  5. Click Apply Changes.

  6. Click Apply.

  7. You are asked for a password, then the plugin is downloaded.

As well as plugins and multimedia codecs, Java and a set of Windows fonts will be installed.

The following plugins and codecs are installed by the Xubuntu restricted extras package:

  • gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad

  • gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse

  • gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly

  • gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse

  • gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg

  • gstreamer0.10-pitfdll

  • libavcodec-unstripped-52

  • ttf-mscorefonts-installer

  • flashplugin-nonfree

  • unrar

  • libmp3lame0

  • libdvdread3

  • sun-java6-plugin

Audio and video plugins

Many different multimedia formats are used on the Internet and you may find that you are unable to play some audio and video files without installing an appropriate plugin.

Quicktime, Real, WMV and many others are available.

  1. Open ApplicationsSystemAdd/Remove....

  2. Select All Available Applications from the Show: drop down.

  3. Tick the applications you require.

  4. A warning appears which you must agree to to install, click Enable or Cancel.

  5. Click Apply Changes.

  6. Click Apply.

  7. You are asked for a password, then the plugin is downloaded.

Flash multimedia plugin
  1. Open ApplicationsSystemAdd/Remove....

  2. Select All Available Applications from the Show: drop down.

  3. Tick Macromedia Flash Player.

  4. A warning appears which you must agree to to install, click Enable or Cancel.

  5. Click Apply Changes.

  6. Click Apply.

  7. You are asked for a password, then the plugin is downloaded.

Java browser plugin

Some websites use small Java programs, which require a Java plugin to be installed in order to run.

  1. Open ApplicationsSystemAdd/Remove....

  2. Select All Available Applications from the Show: drop down.

  3. Tick Sun Java 6.0 Plugin.

  4. A warning appears which you must agree to to install, click Enable or Cancel.

  5. Click Apply Changes.

  6. Click Apply.

  7. You are asked for a password, then the plugin is downloaded.

Changing the default font size

If you find that the size of text in Firefox is too small to read comfortably, you can increase the default font size.

  1. Press EditPreferences and select the Content tab

  2. Under Fonts & Colors, change the Size to a larger number (around 20 tends to be quite comfortable to read)

  3. Text on web pages should immediately look larger. Press Close

To temporarily increase the size of text on a web page, press ViewText SizeIncrease. Alternatively, hold down the Ctrl key and scroll down with your mouse's scroll wheel, or press Ctrl++.

To return the text to its normal size, press ViewText SizeNormal.

Send and receive emails

Email is one of the most popular ways to communicate over the Internet. Xubuntu includes all of the tools that you need to send, receive and organize email messages.

Mozilla Thunderbird mail/news is the default email client in Xubuntu, and can handle all of your email, contact lists, task-tracking and calendar needs.

Thunderbird can be launched by pressing ApplicationsNetworkMozilla Thunderbird Mail/News.

Junk mail filtering

Thunderbird classifies mail as junk mail (also known as spam) by analysing the message statistically, and can learn from selections made by the user. The technique is known as Bayesian filtering; you can find more details on this here:

Thunderbird is automatically configured to use scan your email for junk mail. To view or change Thunderbird's junk mail settings, perform the following tasks:

  • Open ApplicationsNetworkMozilla Thunderbird Mail/News.

  • Select Edit+Preferences+Privacy+Junk.

Thunderbird will start to learn what is spam, based on the messages you mark. To mark a message as spam, select Message+Mark+As Junk.

Alternative email applications

You can also use Evolution for email. To install it, install the evolution package.

To start Evolution, choose ApplicationsNetworkEvolution Mail.

To change your preferred email client to Evolution:

  1. Choose ApplicationsSettingsXfce 4 Settings ManagerPreferred Applications

  2. Click on the Mail Reader drop down menu, and select the Other... option.

  3. In the Command text box, type evolution %s, then close the dialog.

Instant Messaging

Instant messaging (IM) is a way of communicating with friends and family by sending messages to one another over the Internet. Instant messaging happens in real-time, and there is no delay between you typing a message and the other person receiving it.

Pidgin Internet Messenger

Pidgin is the default instant messenger client in Xubuntu, and was formerly known as Gaim. With Pidgin you can talk to people who use AIM/ICQ, Gadu-Gadu, GroupWise, IRC, Jabber, MSN, Napster, Bonjour and Yahoo, and list all your buddies in a single window.

To start Pidgin, choose ApplicationsNetworkPidgin Internet Messenger.

There are several extra packages available for Pidgin, which add extra features and allow you to change the way Pidgin looks. You can find these in the Synaptic Package Manager.

Ekiga Softphone

Ekiga is an Internet telephony (VoIP) application, and can be installed in Xubuntu. It lets you make audio and video calls over the Internet to people who have hardware or software that follows the SIP or H.323 standards, and also features basic instant messaging. It is compatible with Windows Messenger and most VoIP applications. However, Ekiga cannot communicate with Skype because the latter uses proprietary technology. If you have the right SIP provider, you can also use Ekiga to place calls to any normal phone line.

To install it, install the ekiga package.

To start Ekiga, choose ApplicationsNetworkEkiga Softphone.

See the Ekiga Manual for help on using Ekiga.

IRC instant messaging

For users of IRC instant messaging services, an alternative to Pidgin is XChat. Its features include advanced scripting support (perl and python) and a clean, easy to use interface.

  • To start XChat, choose ApplicationsNetworkXChat IRC.

Getting help using IRC instant messaging

One excellent way to get help with Xubuntu or to introduce yourself to IRC is to join Xubuntu's official support channel on Freenode.

  1. Start XChat-Gnome as above.

  2. When you start XChat-Gnome for the first time, it will ask you for an IRC Nickname & your real name. Pick anything you want for your nick (first initial & your last name is good, or be more creative), put your real name or part of it, and press OK.

  3. In the Server Window that opens next, select Xubuntu Servers, and press Connect.

Other Internet applications

The Internet has much more to offer besides web browsing, email and instant messaging. Xubuntu provides a selection of other applications to help you get the most out of the Internet.

Peer-to-Peer networks

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are a way of sharing files, music and videos between people from all around the world.

A popular P2P service is BitTorrent, and BitTorrent capability is included in Xubuntu by default. To use BitTorrent, find a .torrent file online, click on it in the Firefox Web Browser, and the Transmission BitTorrent client should start automatically.

To restart a download from a .torrent file that is already on your computer, double-click on it.

An alternative P2P application is the aMule File Sharing Client.

  1. Install the amule package.

  2. To open aMule, choose ApplicationsNetworkaMule.

News Readers

You can automatically receive news updates from the Internet. There are several different types of news service to choose from:

  • Usenet is one of the oldest and allows you to discuss news and other topics with people from all around the world. Pan Newsreader is a news reader which works with Usenet.

    Install the pan package and then choose ApplicationsNetworkPan Newsreader to start using Pan.

  • RSS feeds are a popular way of automatically receiving regular news updates and articles. Liferea Feed Reader is an RSS feed reader with many useful features.

    Install the liferea package and then choose ApplicationsNetworkLiferea Feed Reader to start using Liferea.

Create News Feeds with Liferea

This section will cover a basic procedure to add news feeds to Liferea. Start Liferea by selecting ApplicationsNetworkLiferea Feed Reader

  1. If you're behind a proxy, select ToolsPreferencesProxy and fill in your proxy details and click on the Close button,

  2. Press New Subscription on the Liferea toolbar,

  3. Press the Advanced button,

  4. Enter the address of the RSS feed in the Source box,

  5. Select the OK button to complete the procedure.

  6. Once you have create the news feed, click on the Update All toolbar button to update all your news feeds.

Design web pages

Xubuntu includes a wide selection of tools to help you design and develop web pages.

  • Bluefish is a powerful editor for web designers and programmers.

    Bluefish supports many programming and markup languages, and includes many utilities for designers and programmers.