- Getting Started with Ubuntu One
- Basic Uses for Ubuntu One
- Advanced Uses for Ubuntu One
- Summary
Basic Uses for Ubuntu One
Synchronize your files. From your Ubuntu desktop, use the file browser to open your user home directory from the menu at Places > Home Folder. Right-click any folder, and you'll discover a convenient menu item: Synchronize on Ubuntu One. Could uploading be made any easier? Almost anything that's uploaded to Ubuntu One can also be accessed from the web interface; just sign in from the main website.
Publish a short link to a shared file. In the file browser, right-click any file you've shared using Ubuntu One, and select Publish via Ubuntu One. Wait a moment as a connection is made with the cloud, right-click again, and select Copy Ubuntu One Public URL. The URLs supplied are nice and short, so this option can replace other URL-shortening services. Paste the URL into an email message or a posting on your favorite social networking site, and you can share your files with anyone quickly and easily.
Synchronize Evolution contact info. Synchronize your contacts from within the Evolution mail program by placing all of your contacts into the Ubuntu One address book in Evolution. If you run Evolution on multiple Ubuntu computers that are configured to use the same Ubuntu One account, you can use this feature to synchronize contacts between them. If you have a paid Ubuntu One subscription, you can synchronize contacts with Windows and Mac computers. This feature is even available for Android phones and Apple's iPhone via a paid subscription, using applications from each platform's app store.
Right-click any shared folder and choose contacts from your Evolution address book with whom you want to share the contents. You can grant read-only access or permit the recipients to read and write.
Synchronize Firefox bookmarks. Firefox is currently the most popular web browser among Linux users. Ubuntu One can synchronize your Firefox bookmarks across multiple computers, while also making them available via the web interface. This is a convenient way to ensure that you never lose a link.
Buy and share MP3 files. The Ubuntu One Music Store is available on the desktop in the default music application, Rhythmbox, as well as in other applications such as Banshee. Start the music application, look at the menu to find the link, and you can buy quality DRM-free MP3s that will automatically download to your cloud storage to be accessed from any of your computers.
These are all pretty standard uses of Ubuntu One. Now let's end our discussion by looking at ideas to get you thinking of some creative ways to use these features.