Ubuntu+LKB (née Knoppix+LKB)

News

28-FEB-2014: Released version 18 in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. This version adds Python 3.3, upgrades Subversion to version 1.8, and is based on Xubuntu 12 LTS ("Precise Pangolin"). The default memory allocation has been increased to 1 GB for the 64-bit version, and both versions now have more free space available on their disk images.

05-FEB-2014: Uploaded a 32-bit version of version 17, named 17-m32, for those who have trouble running the 64-bit version. Also, we've found that the 64-bit version needs its memory allocation bumped up to 1 GB for stability, so please make that change if you're currently using that version.

13-APR-2013: Version 17 released. Ubuntu+LKB now requires an x86 CPU with 64-bit extensions (so-called amd64, Intel 64, or EM64T capabilities), which is true of most hardware made in the last several years. This was done in order to include ACE, the Answer Constraint Engine. English Resource Grammar version 1212 in the format required by ACE has also been added.

Overview

Ubuntu+LKB is a VirtualBox appliance based on Ubuntu Linux, intended to make it possible for Linguistics students and researchers to run LKB without having to perform a Linux installation or dual-boot their systems. It grew out of Knoppix+LKB, which was a bootable LiveCD with the same purpose.

Please send comments and suggestions to linghelp@u.washington.edu.

What's on it?

• Emacs version 23
• LKB version 2013/04/08
• [incr tsdb()]
• The English Resource Grammar (ERG)
• The Answer Constraint Engine (ACE) version 0.9.17
• Trollet and the alternate Pango-enabled LUI that goes with it (installed as "pangolui")
• svn
• git
• Mercurial
• VirtualBox Guest Additions
• Fonts and input method support for several languages.

System requirements

To run Ubuntu+LKB 17 and later under VirtualBox, you will also need:

• A 64-bit CPU (amd64, Intel 64, or EM64T) -- this includes recent Xeons and all Core 2 and higher processors.
• At least 1 GB of RAM over and above what your OS requires.
• Approximately 5.8 GB of available disk space. (1.8 GB of this is for the installation files, which can be deleted after installation)

If you need a less resource-intensive solution, the older Knoppix-based versions are still available from the download site. They require only 32-bit CPU and 512 megabytes of RAM, plus 750 megabytes of free disk space if you choose to run under VirtualBox.

Setting up Ubuntu+LKB

If you're in a hurry and know what you're doing, you can go straight to the download directory.

These are rather large files; if your connection is slow or unreliable you may want to use a download manager.

Running in VirtualBox

Click here for setup instructions.

Additional Info

• Input Method Notes
• Adding more disk space

Troubleshooting

Linux taskbar not showing up at bottom of display: This happens sometimes in VirtualBox. Resize the VirtualBox window slightly and the taskbar should appear.

Writing to a shared folder gives "permission denied" in Windows 7: Right-click the folder you're sharing (in Windows, not in VirtualBox) and make sure "Read only" isn't checked. Also note that it appears some folders cannot be successfully shared -- e.g. "Desktop."

Password: The default password is "ubuntu"

Known Issues

• Because of a conflict between SCIM and [incr_tsdb()], input method switching does not work inside the itsdb podium.
• The clock is wrong. Even if it looks right, it's probably wrong. See ticket #14 for the hairy details.
• Font sizes in Emacs and the incr_tsdb podium change dramatically when they are launched after the VirtualBox window is resized. See ticket #19.