ITWorld just posted an article I wrote outlining how I fixed a broken wireless card driver after an Ubuntu 11.04 to 11.10 upgrade.

I had the privilege to lead the team that updated The Official Ubuntu Book for this sixth edition. The book continues to serve as a quality introduction for newcomers to Ubuntu, both the software and the community that surrounds it.

ISBN-13: 978-0132748506

Link to the Amazon.com page for the book.

I have been a part of the Ubuntu Forums since April 2005 and on staff since March 2006. Since December 2006 I have been a member of the Forums Council and for the last year I have been council chairman. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving in all of these roles. I have become increasingly busy with real life responsibilities, and since my term has expired, I have chosen to allow others to take on the privileges and responsibilities of leadership. I’m still a staff member, but expect to be much less active.

I’ll still be around the forums, and certainly the wider Ubuntu community, but not in the same capacity. I have been an official Ubuntu member since August 2006 and intend to remain one and have been privileged to serve the wider community in other ways as well over the years. Best wishes to the Ubuntu Forums Council for continued growth and service to the community, and thanks to all for the trust placed in me over the past several years.

I’m also happy with how easy it is to migrate my entire setup using Linux (well, Debian-based, anyway). For those unfamiliar, here are the basic steps, with the same operating system and version installed on each computer (I have Ubuntu 10.10 on both of mine):

On the old computer, enter:

sudo dpkg --get-selections > pkg.list

Save the file and transfer it to the new computer along with your data (copy everything in /home, including all hidden files/folders that begin with a dot).

On the new computer, ensure that you have the same set of software repositories enabled (you can copy /etc/apt/sources.list or use another method as you prefer). Then, enter:

sudo dpkg --set-selections < pkg.list

to mark the packages for installation and:

sudo apt-get -u dselect-upgrade

to install them. Wait.

Reboot when done. Voila, your computer has been cloned. I make a lot of customizations and have a ton of data and non-default packages. Even so, the entire process took me less than three hours. My new system is set up identically to my old one, but faster and with more storage and memory. Rock on!

Ubuntu Unleashed 2011 Edition & The Official Ubuntu Book, 5th Edition