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Ubuntu 8.04, SUN Java6 JDK, TexLive, Eclipse 3.4 and Texlipse

September 25th, 2008 | Category: Linux, Open Source

I’ve noticed recently that I had two mediocre computers when I really only needed one. I took the best parts from both (which again, are mediocre at best, but are all I can afford at the moment) and combined them into one machine. On this machine I installed Linux: Ubuntu 8.04 to be exact. Using the alternative install CD, I used two harddrives to create software RAID-0 and RAID-1 devices on which to place the /root and /home partitions respectively. My goal is to completely ween myself from windows completely, at least on my home computers, and I’m still working towards this goal.

I am a graduate student after all, and I still need to be able to write papers on my home computer for publication in technical journals. Standard procedure on my old windows computer was to use MikTex and TeXnicCenter. MikTex is great because it automatically downloads and installs whatever latex packages it needs on the fly, and TeXnicCenter beats the snot out of notepad. After switching to Ubuntu and Gnome specifically, I started tracking down replacements for these two pieces. The most intriguing (and first) solution I came across was using the Eclipse 3.4 (Ganymede) development environment with the Texlipse plugin. Eclipse is an extremely extendable platform that has great plugins and tools for developing in all sorts of languages, and I’ve been using a customized version at work to develop software which runs on some Texas Instruments fixed-point DSPs and Xilinx FPGAs.

The first step to getting a workable Eclipse-based LaTex environment working Read more

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NASA Image of the Day

Snapshot of the International Space Station

On March 13, 2008, the International Space Station passed across the field-of-view of Germany's remote sensing satellite, TerraSAR-X, at a distance of 195 kilometers, or 122 miles, and at a relative speed of 34,540 kilometers per hour, or more than 22,000 mph. In contrast to optical cameras, radar does not 'see' surfaces. Instead, it is much more aware of the edges and corners which bounce back the microwave signal it transmits. Smooth surfaces such as those on the station's solar generators or the radiator panels used to dissipate excess heat, unless directly facing the radar antenna, tend to deflect rather than reflect the radar beam, causing these features to appear on the radar image as dark areas. The radar image of the station therefore looks like a dense collection of bright spots from which the outlines of the space station can be clearly identified. The central element on the station, to which all the modules are docked, has a grid structure that presents a multiplicity of reflecting surfaces to the radar beam, making it readily identifiable. This image has a resolution of about one meter (about 39 inches). In other words, objects can be depicted as discrete units--that is, shown separately--provided that they are at least one meter apart. If they are closer together than that, they tend to merge into a single block on a radar image. Since this image as taken, the station has expanded and is more than 90 percent complete, including a full complement of solar arrays. Image Credit: DLR
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Ubuntu 8.04, SUN Java6 JDK, TexLive, Eclipse 3.4 and Texlipse

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NASA Image of the Day