Issue 17: Go Gaming: Is Ubuntu Ready for the Game Geeks?

Jono explains what's going on behind the scenes at Ubuntu on the desktop, mobile devices, and the cloud and how the community fits into the grand plan.

So Raring Ringtail is here. As usual, expectations are high, and the claims of Canonical's marketing team are gushing. But does Raring Ringtail live up to the hype?

"We can do anything except games" might be the lament of a Linux fan who has to turn on a Windows computer just to play a computer game. In this issue, we explain why that could change soon.

Commercial game companies big and small, as well as various distributors, are starting to recognize Ubuntu as a viable gaming platform.

The appearance of new game engines with Linux support gives rise to hope that more games will start to appear in Linux versions. The free game engines are also getting better.

Thanks to Steam, Desura, and IndieCity, Ubuntu users will soon be able to purchase their games right from the desktop.

The Ubuntu Software Center provides some exclusive game titles that are not yet commercially available or on the Internet. We take a look at five especially interesting games from different genres.

Although Ubuntu has made great strides in gaming, we sometimes miss the games that are only available on Windows. Linux provides a way to solve this problem with Wine, the Windows "not an emulator."

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Canonical showed Ubuntu on a smartphone for the first time. Does this concept have a future?

Colonizing new territory, processing raw materials, and trading goods are ingredients for popular strategy games. This genre is served on Linux by the free Unknown Horizons project.

We talk with Shane Coughlan about a crowdsource project that gives drones a humanitarian purpose.

Cuttlefish automates actions on your Linux computer when triggered by an event.

A simple script is usually enough to automate a knotty task in Linux, but with some simple shell commands and a little effort, you can convert a simple batch file into a robust shell program.

Lack of direct access to advanced settings can make Ubuntu less customizable; we look at three tools that can help you tweak those settings.

Virtualization is fine and all, but sometimes it can be overkill if all you want to do is run a program that you think could pose a threat to your system. chroot jails offer a light, fast, and well-tested alternative.

GRUB 2 is more than just a system for booting from a disk. In this article, we'll provide an overview of the capabilities of the newest version of GRUB, GRUB 2.

The clever mintBackup not only backs up your files, it also lists your currently installed programs.

Ubuntu Business Desktop Remix sees Canonical not only attempt to oust Windows off the enterprise desktop but also position itself as a low-budget alternative to enterprise desktops by Red Hat and SUSE

The QML Toolkit lets you create apps for the new Ubuntu smartphone system. We'll help you get started with setting up the QML development environment.

Stormcloud provides the current weather report at a glance. Thanks to its pleasing design, even rainy weather looks good.

Load photos, videos, and music from your Android smartphone to your desktop using AirDroid and your browser.

Free components make GECAMed ideal for use in private medical offices, letting this free software get a foot in the door of a very competitive area of industry-specific software.

A program for managing personal finances ought to be as simple and clear as possible. The Grisbi financial manager promises simplicity but doesn't support online banking.

Ubuntu 13.04 offers a few changes to the installation process. We'll walk you through upgrading or installing the latest release.

With NetworkManager, you can access the Internet during the Ubuntu installation process. The first step is to download updates to make your system more secure.

Ubuntu's Software Center lets you install just about anything, including free software, purchased apps, and games.

Movies, music, and Internet telephony are easy to use in Ubuntu. You just have to load the right software packages onto the computer. We present some favorite multimedia apps.

In this article, we'll show you how to deal with some possible errors in Ubuntu that might affect suspend mode as well as Unity.