Games not chosen for Spanish Distro

Here is my list of games that had good reviews or seemed promising but I decided not to include in my distribution for Spanish kids. I am including names and reasons so I don't have to revisit my work here again.

Games

• einstein - logic game quite challenging, but perhaps too much so
• flight of the amazon queen - very dos like cheesy game
• freecol - like colonization but was more complicated than other similar turn based strategy games included
• freedink - all English and not very entertaining
• micropolis - city sim but complex and no Spanish language
• singularity - too complex
• widelands - not the best rts available... currently not polished enough
• teeworlds - not sure how to setup LAN server otherwise fast, cartoon like multi-player shooter
• yofrankie - very processor intensive
• 
  

Programs

• 
  

Linux Mint 10 setup for Spanish Educational Use

This is an old post:  See this post for my latest build notes see the following...
http://techtips-tom.blogspot.com/2012/06/xfce-desktop-for-spanish-education.html

I decided on Linux Mint 10 Gnome 64 bit for the base distribution to use in formatting better caliber used computers for donation to orphanages in Honduras and elsewhere. I chose computers with over 2 GHz processor, 1 Gig RAM, 128 Mb Video RAM and 40Gb Hard drive as the target of this compilation. For anything under these specs, I will install my LXDE compilation.

Installation:

Install using the 64 bit LM10 Gnome Install CD. Set the user to Maestra

Upgrade to the DVD edition by clicking on the link after setup is complete. Not all packages downloaded the first time and the upgrade failed, so needed to do this a second time after rebooting. Installed all updates.

Users:

Maestra is installed as the principal user with Admin privileges.

Listo will be used as the non privileged child user.

General Changes:

ScreenSaver = change screensaver options so it doesn't lock screen on screensaver

Auto Login = modify system so login happens automatically. From Administration - Login Screen choose to login automatically as the desired user. For setup the Admin user was used. This is changed to the child user after setup is complete.

Number of Desktops = change the number of destops as multiple desktops easily confuse novice linux users

• Open Administration - Simple CompizConfig Settings
• Set both Desktop columns and rows to 1

Tricky Programs Installed:

Childsplay: A current problem with Childsplay is loading it to run other language sounds. First step to download the Spanish Language sounds for Childsplay. Open Synaptic manager and select/install the the package "childsplay-alphabet-sounds-es". You need to modify the menu to run the command "LANGUAGE=es childsplay" (caps lock are important) or "childsplay --language=es" to run it with Spanish as the spoken language. Gnome menu items where command options must be run are a bit tricky to create and requires configuration file manipulation since the GUI does not enable this modification.

1. [sudo mkdir /usr/local/share/applications] creates this directory. This is needed to make shared non-standard menu items. The normal location for menu items is /user/share/applications (without the local). Changing the menu item in the default location does not work well.
2. [sudo cp /usr/share/applications/childsplay.desktop /usr/local/share/applications/childsplayes.desktop] This copies the menu item file to the local/share directory structure. "something.desktop" files are the configuration files used to launch menu items. The file was copied and renamed to keep the configuration files distinguished.
3. [sudo nano /usr/local/share/applications/childsplayes.desktop] This opens the new menu item. The following changes are made:
• Change the name and GenericName to ChildsplayES. This allows quick identification of the correct menu item.
• Change the Exec line to be one of the above examples. I used "Exec=childsplay --language=es".
• ctrl-O to write out (save) then ctrl-x to exit.
4. Logout and log back on for the menu changes to take effect.
5. Enter the Preferences/Main Menu program and deselect showing the original childsplay.

Dosbox: For playing old dos games and programs. For now, not installing any old DOS games, but am including this program for possible future inclusion of old DOS programs on older computers.

iTalc: classroom computer management software

For now I just installed iTalc client. To use it correctly I would need to setup public and private keys. I will do this for the next remaster. (can be done to each computer after installing as well, just takes more time :)

see my instructions in another blog for iTalc install including public and private key distribution.

Kiwix: I debated whether to include Kiwix or Okawix in this remaster, but decided on Kiwix based mostly on current stability. Both options show promise, but for now Kiwix is a great option for offline Spanish Wikipedia. See my other blog comparing the two.

http://www.kiwix.org/index.php/Main_Page

To Install:

• [sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kiwixteam/ppa]
• [sudo apt-get update]
• [sudo apt-get install kiwix]

Because of the size of the zim file, I am not including it in the remastered image, but will add it to the cloned image.

• login as itadmin
• download the Spanish Wikipedia zim from the kiwix web page.
• move to the /share/wiki directory
• set owner as follows [sudo chown -R itadmin.users /share/wiki/]
• give read permission at the group level
• log in as each user, open the Wikipedia zim file and choose to index it, which must be done for each user and takes some time. This way it will be ready to use on each computer.
• (from home I am transferring this file from one computer to another using the following command): sudo scp chenier@172.30.30.91:/home/chenier/share/wikipedia_es_all_09_2010_beta1.zim /share/wiki/
• then change permissions as above

Play on Linux: Installed this package to make it easier in case there are Windows programs that are seen as a must have without a good Linux counterpart. They can then be installed afterwards as needed.

Khelpcenter: Install this package so the KDE applications installed have access to their help files. Otherwise Klavaro, et all produce an error when clicking on help.

BibleTime: Need to download books and references after installing.

The first step is to create a shared directory for common media shared between users. See above to complete this.

• create shared directory as described above
• open BibleTime then open its book administrator
• click on the tool to edit installation directories and add /share/bible directories to the install directories
• Login as all users to add this directory to the installed directories
• Selected a few bibles from the CrossWire list and installed them to the /share/biblia directory. I did this as itadmin so I did not need to change user ownership rights and with the sticky bits only the itadmin would be able to delete these files.
• This was giving some trouble, so also logged in as maestra and listo and downloaded bibles and commentaries for each user separately into the default directory of each user.
• Included the GLOSSARY Ergane "Spanish to English Glossary" This give a quick translation from Spanish to English.

PROGRAMS

Accessorios

• installado mas
• furious ISO mount
• Filelight

Educational Programs Installed

• Atomix - game for constructing molecules
• BibleTime - see install notes above
• Childsplay - see install notes above
• El Pequeno Mago (little wizard) - introduction to programming using actions to move a clown... Great program with decent Spanish translation
• JFraction Lab -
• KAlgebra -
• KBruch - practice exercises with fractions
• KTurtle - introduction to programming using scripts to move a turtle
• Kalzium - periodic table of elements
• Kiwix - see install notes above
• Klavaro - typing tutorial with good Spanish support
• KmPlot - graphing program
• Marble - simple off line globe showing countries, capitals and major cities
• Setllarium - real time star chart
• Tux Paint - painting program for young chidren
• Tux Typing - fun typing practice game
• TuxMath -fun math practice game

Drawing Programs Installed

• GIMP Image Editor - advanced drawing program
• Inkscape - vector drawing
• OpenOffice.org Dibujos - OpenOffice drawing program
• Picasa -
• Scribus - Desktop publishing

System Tools / Internet

• Oracle VM Virtualbox -
• Chromium -

Multimedia Programs Installed

• Picasa - popular photo editing & viewing program
• Brasero -
• VLC -
• the default programs for the rest

Office Programs Installed

• Chromium - a fast Web browser
• FreeMind - mind mapping program
• OpenOffice - full open office suite

Internet Programs Installed

• included programs: chestnut Dialer
• Chromium web browser

Games Installed

• Aisleroit Solitaire - a group of solitaire card games under a common interface
• Atomix - educational puzzle creating molecules from elements
• BZFlag - Multiplayer Tank battle game works on somewhat older macines
• Berusky - Ladybug puzzle game
• BurgerSpace - classic arcade game
• Chess (glchess) - faster chess game for slower computer
• Childsplay (also under Educaton)
• Emulator DOSBox - see notes above - for running old DOS games
• Enigma - puzzle game controlling marble with the mouse
• FloboPuyo - clone of puyopuyo, similar to tetris
• Freeciv - Civilization game for Linux (installed gtk client)
• Frozen-Bubble - entertaining marble matching game
• Gamine - Game for VERY young children teaching mouse usage by sounds and colors
• gbrainy - logic game in English (prior version was translated) but very good game
• Gweled - like Diamond Mine
• glTron - Tron bike game
• gPlanarity - game of untangling lines
• LBreakout2 - breakout clone
• Maelstrom - arcade game like Asteroids
• Mahjongg (gnome-mahjongg) - classic
• Mastermind - similar to the classic logic testing board game
• Mines - just like Mines for other platforms
• Monsterz - arcade puzzle like Bejeweled
• Moon-lander - ship landing game
• Nibbles (gnibbles) - simple worm game my daughter loves
• OpenTTD - transport tycoon with good Spanish translation
• Pingus - game like lemmings but with penguins - great Spanish translation
• Play on Linux - see separate section
• Quadrapassel - falling block game like Tetris
• Ri-li - toy train simulator with fun game play and excellent translation
• Secret Maryo Chronicles (SMC) - platform Super Mario clone
• Sudoku (gnome-sudoku) - numbers & logic game
• Suite educativa GCompris - educational games for young children
• SuperTux-stable - Mario like platform (older version for older hardware)
• Tremulous - combination RTS & FPS with great reviews and works on older hardware
• Warzone 2100 - real time strategy with decent translation and works on somewhat dated hardware

• Wessnoth 1.8 - Turn based strategy (under La Batalla por Wesnoth) translated very nicely and great gameplay on older machines
• ZaZ - arcade marble game

Young Children - Games and Educational

• Gamine - a mouse interaction game for very young children
• gCompris - an educational suite for young children
• Tuxpaint - an child friendly painting program

Other Programs Installed - Educational & Office

• Atomix - game for constructing molecules
• Stellarium - a star viewing application
• Tuxmath - a child oriented math game
• Tuxtype - a child oriented typing game -- installed program, then opened program and changed the language option to Spanish

Other Programs Installed - Games

• Ballz - simple Indy platform game
• Frozen-Bubble - a fun to play matching marble game

Configure Netgear FSM7352S for VLAN

Reset Switch [Linux]
The switch I received had an unknown admin password so I needed to hard reset. I decided to upgrade the firmware at the same time.

• downloaded firmware file from website: fsm73xxs_7.3.1.7.stk
• plugged null modem cable into switch and computer serial port
  
• discover serial port information [dmesg | grep tty]

• install Minicom [sudo apt-get install minicom]
• configure Minicom [sudo minicom -s -c on], which opens a color minicom window
• Enter Serial port setup menu
  
• Change serial device (option A) to that discovered above
  
• Change option E to rate, parity and bits to match switch: 9600 8N1
  
  
• Save Minicom configuration by "save setup as dfl" on main menu
• Choose Exit from menu
• If you exit all the way out of Minicom, you can restart with [minicom -c on]
  
• Plug switch in, wait for it to autoboot, then choose option 2 for Utility menu
  
• Utility Menu for the switch:

• Choose "Erase Current Configuration" or "Erase Permanent Storage" depending on how drastic you want to be. I chose the latter after which the switch is missing its stack code for operation, so is dead till reloaded.
• To update the firmware, choose option 2 "Load stack code update package". Follow the prompts to select Zmodem.
• Start file upload *** tricky in Minicom *** need to press Ctrl-A then S in sequence which opens a file upload dialogue box from which you select the file you
• Help for Minicom special keys is found by pressing Ctrl-A then Z in sequence
• Quitting Minicom is via Ctrl-A then Q
  
• Firmware upload takes quite some time at that speed!
• When done and rebooted, I noticed the utility menu is different: (password recovery exists instead of erase permanent storage option)

• I'm also noticing that I could have changed serial speed and significantly reduced the time I had to wait for firmware upload!

Reset Switch [Windows]

• Install a terminal program. Following are a couple options.
  
• TeraTerm http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html
  
• PuTTy
• Follow steps described for Linux above (with necessary modifications)

Configure Switch - Basic Config

• Enter switch console and allow the FSM73xxS Application to start
• enter User name "admin" and blank password
• Helpful commands:
• show hardware = displays hardware version and info
• show network = displays network info including existing IP address
• reload = reboots system
  
• logout = logs out current user
• ezconfig = starts ezconfig utility to set basic configuration
  
• Run [ezconfig]
• choose Y to change password
• choose N to assign IP address if you want DHCP assigned address
• Assign switch name and location as desired
• choose Y to save changes
• run [show network] to get IP address to connect to Http Interface

Configure Switch - VLAN Config

• Point browser at switch IP address and login
• to be continued
  

Zentyal phone config - Grandstream GXP285

Grandstream GXP285 telephone config for Zentyal server

(settings almost identical for Grandstream BT-200)

Connecting - for DHCP assigned addressing

Connect phone to network and find IP address on phone or server.

Connect to web interface using IP address. Default password is "admin"

Basic Settings

1. Change time zone settings

Advanced Settings

1. Change password as desired
2. Change "no key entry timeout" from 4 seconds to 2. Since these phones do not have good dial plan settings so you can have them dial immediately after a qualified extension is entered, this keeps the user from needing to wait 4 seconds after last number dialed before the call is sent.
3. Change time server to local if desired. Otherwise make sure Internet is open to us.pool.ntp.org for the phone to get correct time and date.

Account Settings

1. SIP Server: enter either "[server IP Address]:5060" or "[Server Name]" (if DNS server is configured properly)
2. SIP User ID: Enter Zentyal User (or extension if different from user)
3. Authenticate ID: Enter Zentyal User
4. Authenticate Password: Enter Zentyal User password
5. Name and Account name are not required. Name is used for displaying name of caller (versus number)
6. Use DNS server: check as appropriate based on SIP server addressing above
7. Unregister on reboot: check yes if you will be moving phones around to different subnets, otherwise IP addressing may be sticky.

Zentyal Phone config - Grandstream HT-502

Grandstream HT-502 dual FXS port telephone gateway

Network Setup - Basic Settings

Connect computer to LAN port, device will act as a DHCP server before being configured and will dish out IP address to your computer.

1. Change device Mode from "NAT Router" to "Bridge" (This allows you to connect Ethernet to either side, receive IP address from DHCP server and connect a computer or another device to the other)
2. Save settings & Reset box

FXS Port 1 settings

1. Primary SIP Server: [IPaddress]:5060
2. SIP User ID: Zentyal User name or extension
3. Authenticate ID: Zentyal User name
4. Password: Zentyal password
5. Unregister on Reboot: check yes (important when moving phones between subnets)
6. Transfer on conference hangup: check yes (keeps conference alive when caller hangs up)
7. No Key Entry Timeout: change to 2 seconds from 4 seconds. This is to keep the wait time between finishing marking the number to the actual connection down.
8. Call Plan: added entry for immediate dialing of our extensions. Added 2xxx as another or option.
9. 
   

eBox Installation Problems

OpenVPN

When setting up openVPN, the first problem was copying the VPN configuration files to my Windows machine, which I had on the WAN side. I had a Linux computer setup on the LAN side, but shares were not working properly yet. SOLUTION: email. After using cp command to change the .zip extension I was able to send to myself in Gmail.

More problems ensued: was getting error about the TAP-Win32 adaptors. The simplest fix was to download the latest version of OpenVPN, namely at this time openvpn-2.1_rc22-install.exe. Once this was installed, no more errors regarding the TAP-Win32 adaptors. Another solution would be to go to Start Menu - OpenVPN - Utilities. Right click and run as administrator, the 'Add new TAP adapter' option. I tried this first, but got the additional error of 'route addition failed using createipforwardentry'... SOLUTION: install OpenVPN 2.1 or later.

Remember, always need to run OpenVPN as administrator in Windows 7. Also, the VPN files go in the VPN directory: Program Files\OpenVPN\config

Linux Commands Most Useful

General

more = view text file. Most Linux configurations are done in text files, so viewing these files is requisite to knowing your OS settings.

cat = also used to display files text files. cat /etc/issue displays Linux version

sudo = super user do... execute a command as root. This must be used in front of many of the commands which follow. Anything that changes outside of personal directory must be done as root.

su = change to super user... change session to super user

nano = simple text editor... often need to use: sudo nano [path/file]

man = manual for commands. use with command name after. Can often use [command] -h

info = more information about commands

Configure

apt-get = aptitude get used to get and install .deb software packages.

extensions: update; clean; autoclean; upgrade; install

ls = list folder contents; dir = also works as ls; cp = copy files; rm = remove; cd = change directory; mv = move files;

pico = another simple text editor

ufw = uncomplicated firewall.... used in Ubuntu server

extensions: allow; deny; delete; status; status verbose; disable; enable; reset; default

poweroff = kill systems and shutdown

reboot = obvious

uname -a = displays kernel version

Server

SSH = secure shell to server/another linux machine ssh

SCP = secure shell copy from local to server or between servers