Yesterday was Ubuntu day around the Linux Journal office, and I thought it'd be nice to give you a quick peek at what Hardy Heron looks like in action.

I completely realize I'm a geek. I've been using Linux far longer than it's been the "cool thing" to do. I've also been around the Windows world longer than Windows itself. And to nicely round off the playing field, for the better part of a decade, I've been supporting a network of Apple computers. All this experience means two things:

1. I sound much cooler than I really am

As the release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS rapidly approaches, the all important question is beginning to form in everyone's mind. Upgrade, or freshly install.

Extensions for OpenOffice.org Impress

Extensions have long been written for OpenOffice.org Writer. However, the fact that attention is finally being paid to other applications seems a sign that OpenOffice.org is finally starting to develop an active extension-writing community.

One of the things I always enjoy when creating presentations, letters, videos, graphics and other documents is playing with different fonts. Fonts can change a boring text-only presentation or paper into an exciting, stylish, wild or classic experience. Yes, it is very easy to get carried away, but that is part of the fun -- trying to achieve the perfect balance between form and function.

After a slow start, add-ons for OpenOffice.org are finally starting to reach a critical mass. When I last wrote about add-ons for OpenOffice.org in September 2004, the examples were relatively limited, with extendedPDF the outstanding example.

If you come from the world of Windows, you undoubtedly understand the concept of a shortcut. In the Linux world, shortcuts do exist, but they're generally referred to as symbolic links, or symlinks. They are so named because, like shortcuts, a symlink is really just a symbolic placeholder or link to the file or directory you're trying to get at.

Setting your desktop's wallpaper is only the beginning.

Konqueror, KDE's default file manager and browser, is a good all-around tool, but that doesn't necessarily mean it fits all your file management needs. Sometimes a dedicated file manager can be a better choice for daily computing. Krusader is a powerful and versatile file manager that can make your work more efficient and productive.

Firefox is a great browser, but you already knew that, right? Firefox's keywords facility can be used for a neat search trick. It is best used for a directed search engine that digs specific data -- for example, a Bugzilla search, IMDb search, LXR search or Marcel/wine search http://www.wine-searcher.com, and so on. Here are the steps: