Opening remote files via FTP using Emacs

One piece of functionality I was missing for a long time in Emacs was the ability to open a file remotely, so that I didn't have to manually download, open and upload, every time I mad a minor change.

I Originally found this in the windows text editor Editplus, and I have been pining for it in every other text editor I've used since then ( JEdit can do this too, via a plugin. it's just not quite as easy or as elegant).

I finally discovered the magic incantation needed in Emacs, in order to do this:
\username@domainname.com:

after this, you just type in the path to the file you want, and all is well in the world.

Additional installs when using Ubuntu.

While Ubuntu is a clear favorite of mine, there are quite a few programs that are needed before I actually enjoy using it.

Here's the list:

konsole: A better shell
kopete: A nice IM app
emacs: Programmers text editor
gftp: An ok, but not great FTP client. I wish there existed a better alternative
vlc vlc-plugin-* mozilla-plugin-vlc : The video player that plays everything
amarok: A Jukebox application - pretty similar to ITunes.
easytag: ID3 tag editor, with most of the functionality I could wish for.
dia-gnome: A tool for creating diagrams, both UML and others.
rar unrar: packing and unpacking tools
build-essential: gcc, and other tools needed to compile programs
vpnc: a command line VPN client
krdc: My favorite VNC client. Can also be used with other types of remote desktop servers.
ssh: umm, an SSH client?
cvs: CVS client - has mostly been replaced by SVN, but still nice to have.
tetex-base tetex-bin tetex-extra auctex preview-latex: LaTeX with all the trimmings
subversion: SVN, a versioning system.
sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jdk sun-java5-jdk: JAVA runtime and developer kit
tilda: a Quake style console, doesn't work too well with Beryl, though.
agave : a colorscheme creator. Nice for people like me who has no aestetic sense.
flashplugin-nonfree: What it says it it, a flash plugin for Firefox.
gnome-compiz-manager: additional configuration possibilities for Compiz/Beryl.
network-manager-gnome: A nice Network configuration interface. Still not really good, but better than straight text files.
emacs-extra emacs-goodies-el: lots of extra functionality for Emacs.

Generally, the first thing I do after installing ubuntu is adding all of these.

How to enable midle button scrolling on IBM X31 in Ubuntu

By default, you can scroll by holding down the middle button and using the trackpoint in windows.

In order to enable this functionality in Ubuntu, I did the following:

Add the following lines to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, under the “Configured Mouse” section, if they are not already there:
Option “Emulate3Buttons” “true”
Option “EmulateWheel” “true”
Option “EmulateWheelButton” “2”
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5”

save the file and restart X (or the computer), and you now have Trackpoint middle button scrolling

What you've been waiting for

Another blog on the Internet! How did you ever survive, before you found this one? No one knows, and most likely, no one cares.

I'll be writing about my frequent computer trouble, and how I get out of it. The trouble in question is versatile, as I am using both Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

Enjoy, and if you find this information at all useful, please post a comment or write a mail.