Jmulti over wine on Linux

Jmulti is a Java based time series analysis software. Unfortunately the Linux version is not maintained any more. I installed wine in the hope to use Jmulti on top of wine. I downloaded the executable “jmultiVM_win-4.24.exe” which is said to contain the Java virtual machine. Then I ran “wine jmultiVM_win-4.24.exe”. Install complains about “InvokeShellLinker failed to extract icon from L"C:\\jmulti4\\jmulti.exe" “ but installation is successful nevertheless.

To start jmulti go to the newly created directory

cd ~/.wine/drive_c/jmulti4/  

then:

 wine jmulti.exe

Black screen issue

Jmulti starts but I have black areas in menu. Rmathew explains how to remove DirectX-based acceleration for Java 2D completely.  Looking for a registry key like:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JavaSoft\Java2D\1.5.0_11

and setting the value of "DXAcceleration" to "0" fixes it.

A year on Debian

Inspired by other users seen on the Linux setup. I switched my work computer to Debian GNU/Linux in January 2015. I used the Jessie version which was "unstable" at the time. It became "stable" in april 2015 and I think the adjective is deserved. I'm happy.


I mostly use the R statistical software, the iceweasel web browser, the Lyx editor, the reference manager Jabref and the Evolution mail and calendar program. I learned a lot by using git (file revision system) and databases through the command line. I sometimes use vim to edit text files and I use the RStudio editor in Vim mode. I also use the Libre office Calc, Writer and Draw software.

As long as you stick with what is in the huge Debian package repository, software updates are easy. If you need programs updated very recently (in the last months), installation can become tricky. Although it mostly involves adding new software repositories or installing .deb files directly. For example I managed to install the proprietary statistical software STATA.

Ipython notebook and R

I chose to use python 3. Several of the shell commands below have a "3" suffix in Debian testing as of April 2015: ipython3, pip3.

Install programs

I installed ipython-3-notebook (in Debian Jessie) from the synaptic package manager.

In order to install the R module, I installed PIP for python 3 in the synaptic package manager. PIP is the Python Package Index, a module installation tool. Then I used pip3 to install rpy2

sudo pip3 install rpy2

There is a blog post on how to avoid using sudo to install pip modules.

Install statsmodel, a module for statistical modelling and econometrics in python. Maybe I should have installed python-statsmodels as a Debian package instead? But I it seems to be linked to python 2.x instead of python 3 (it had a dependency on python 2.7-dev). Therefore I installed statsmodels with pip3, using the --user flag mentioned above to install is as a user only module.

pip3 install --user statsmodels

The installation took several minutes on my system. It seemed to be installing a number of dependencies. Many warnings about variables defined but not used were returned but the installation kept running. The final message was:

Successfully installed statsmodels numpy scipy pandas patsy python-dateutil pytz

Cleaning up...

Starting the Ipython notebook

Move to a directory where the notebooks will be stored, start a ipython notebook kernel

cd python
ipython3 notebook

Shortcuts

See also the Ipython Notebook shortcuts. Useful shorcuts are ESCAPE to go in navigation mode, ENTER, to enter edit mode. It seems one can use vim navigation keys j and k to move up and down cells. Pressing the "d" key twice deletes a cell. CTRL+ENTER run cell in place, SHIFT+ENTER to run the cell and jump to the next one, and ALT+ENTER to run the cell and insert a new cell below. 

Run R commands in the Ipython notebook

Load an ipython extension that deals with R commands

%load_ext rpy2.ipython

 Display a standard R dataset

%R head(cars)
%R plot(cars)

Use data from the python statsmodels module based on this page.

import statsmodels.datasets as sd
data = sd.longley.load_pandas()

Print column names of the dataset

print(data.endog_name)
print(data.exog_name)

Print a dataset as an html table by simply giving its name in the cell. For example this data frame contains exogenous variables:

data.exog

Python can pass variables to R with the following command:

totemp = data.endog
gnp = data.exog['GNP']
%R -i totemp,gnp

Estimate a linear model with R

%%R
fit <- br="" gnp="" least-squares="" lm="" nbsp="" regression="" totemp="">print(fit$coefficients)  # Display the coefficients of the fit.
plot(gnp, totemp)  # Plot the data points.
abline(fit)  # And plot the linear regression.

Plot the datapoints and linear regression with the ggplot2 package

%%R
library(ggplot2)
ggplot(data = NULL, aes(x =gnp, y = totemp)) +
    geom_point() +
    geom_abline( aes(intercept=coef(fit)[1], slope=coef(fit)[2]))

Installing STATA on Debian GNU-LINUX

I needed to install STATA to collaborate with a colleague at work. The computer guy gave me the software on a disk, with an installation guide. Here are the commands I entered following those instructions:

Create a directory for Stata

# mkdir /usr/local/stata13
# ln -s /usr/local/stata13/ /usr/local/stata

Install Stata

# cd /usr/local/stata13
# /media/paul/Stata/install

Stata 13 installation
---------------------

  1.  uncompressing files
  2.  extracting files
  3.  setting permissions

Done.  The next step is to run the license installer.  Type:

        ./stinit

If the licensed software is Stata/IC 13, you will be able to run Stata/IC by typing
        xstata              (Run windowed version of Stata/IC)
        stata               (Run console  version of Stata/IC)

Run the license installer

./stinit

There follows some questions about user name and affiliation. "The two lines, jointly, should not be longer than 67 characters."
Then comes the message:

Stata is initialized.
You should now, as superuser, verify that you can enter Stata by typing

        # ./stata
or
    # ./xstata

I added this to my .bashrc so that stata and xstata can be used as a command directly:

 export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/stata

Both command "stata" and "xstata" work as a normal user now.

There is an error message when running xstata:

'Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"'

But this was not a problem at the start.

GNOME application launcher

I added STATA to the GNOME application lancher, by typing "application" in the launcher, then "main menu", "new menu".

R to Stata

I use R most of the time for data analysis and will export csv files to STATA.
R command to export csv files:

write.csv(dtf, "filename.csv", row.names = FALSE, na = ".")

STATA command to import csv files:

insheet using "filename.csv", delimiter(",")

Debian GNU-LINUX communications

Ekiga

Ekiga seems to be the tool to use for audio and video calls on the Gnome desktop. Ekiga is based on a communication framework called Telepathy which enables connection by multiple clients simultaneously.  What communications network should I use?

• the original XMPP server jabber.org
• a French or German XMPP server

Skype

I use Skype to communicate with Windows users and also with some other Ubunutu-GNU/Linux users. Would it be possible to use other tools to communicate with them?

Recordmydesktop

Recordmydesktop can be started from the command line, a flag is required to use the pulse sound server:

recordmydesktop --device pulse

Stop recording with CTRL+C.
To use the GUI, the advanced / Sound / Device setting should also be changed to "pulse". To stop a recording started from the GUI, show the Gnome bottom bar, using the windows + M key, then press on the icon that appears there.

As explained in this Fedora forum, Gnome also has an own desktop recording system which can be started and stopped with CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + R.

 Webex

Some colleagues would like to use Cisco Webex. This requires the Java plugin for Firefox. Based on this blog, I installed it with:

$> apt-get install icedtea-7-plugin
This will install web browser plugin based on OpenJDK 7 and IcedTea. 

But there is no sound. Because Webex uses a proprietary 32 bit sound application, the only fix seems to be to install a 32 bit version of Firefox / Iceweasel.

Blog: Webex support on 64 bit Fedora Linux system explain that 32 bit version of has to be used:

"One means of successfully accessing WebEx from Fedora 12 x86_64 is to use a 32-bit version of Mozilla Firefox with Sun JRE and Adobe Flash 32-bit plugins.

Why 32-bit?

1. Per the JRE download site, the 64-bit version does not have support for java applets or Java Web Start (JWS is required to run another WebEx like app named Elluminate).
2. Per the WebEx System Requirements page only, 32-bit versions of Linux are supported."

Blog: Install 32 bit Firefox and Thuderbird on Debian 64 bit.
Blog: 32 bit applications on 64 bits Linux Mint

This user had an issue with i386 packages and explains how to remove them from his system. How do I remove all i386 architecture packages from my Debian installation?

The Debian multi architecture page explains how to install 32 bit programs (called the i386 architecture) on a 64 bit machine.

Debian GNU-Linux installation on a HP EliteBook

A nice laptop provided by my employer, although the name "EliteBook" sounds like marketing rubbish. My colleague installed Debian 8 on the system, as a dual boot with windows 8.
See also my earlier posts tagged Debian.

Multi boot

The system is a dual boot with Windows. Debian was installed with a traditional - non UEFI - boot loader. Therfore  I have to press F9 each time I want to start Debian. This remains a minor annoyance since I usually restart only every 2 weeks or so (often when the battery has fully drained after a trip). On ordinary days, I put the system in sleep mode in the evening and it awakens in Debian again in the morning.

HP boot instruction didn't work to change the boot order.

 Language

The Debian language was set to French, change back to English.
Reconfigure locales:
As root, run :

dpkg-reconfigure locale

User privileges

as a super user

apt-get install sudo

Add a user to the super user group

adduser username sudo

Log out and log back in for this change to take effect. Now the user should be in the sudo group.

Wireless card

To use the intel non free wireless drivers iwlwifi, in the synapticpackage manager settings / repositories, add "main contrib non-free" to the sections of Jessie packages. Then install firmware-iwlwifi.
In a terminal, restart the modules

 modprobe -r iwlwifi ; modprobe iwlwifi 

Wireless network Eduroam

security: WPA & WPA2 entreprise
Authentication: Tunneled TLS
CA certificate: /etc/ssl/certs/addtrust_external_root.pem
Inner authentication: PAP
Username: user_name@institution.fr
Password: ******

Email and calendar with Evolution

I configured email. I use 2 step authentication and had to generate an application password to load events from my private Google calendar. To add a public Google calendar, I added an "on the web calendar" and inserted the ical link for that public calendar.

Under Edit / Preferences / Contacts / Automatic contacts / I selected to create an automatic contact when sending an email.

R and R studio

Since a previous post on R in Debian, I have changed Debian version from Wheezy to Jessie. Luckily, Jessie contains a recent version of R,I don't need to add the Cran repositories anymore.

Installed Rstudio.

Installed the folowing packages (at a R prompt or in RStudio):

install.packages(c("plyr", "reshape2", "ggplot2"))
install.packages(c("xtable", "markdown", "devtools"))

Install RmySQL, requires mysql development library. At the Shell:

sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev

In R :

install.packages("RMySQL")

Installing R package xlsx requires the java development kit. In the system shell:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk

sudo R CMD javareconf

Then in R:

install.packages("xlsx")

Firefox rebranded as iceweasel  + Adblock plus

Installed adblock plus.

Installed icedove to access outlook email backup

See my previous post on accessing outlook email archive from Debian.

Debian dist-upgrade from Wheezy to Jessie

I needed a couple of recent software versions (Lyx version> 2.1 and Latex), and they were not available in the wheezy-backports, therefore I decided to upgrade from Debian Wheezy, the current stable version to Debian Jessie, the testing version. Debian Install FAQ.

This page gives the configuration changes and commands to be used:

1. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list and replace all occurrences of "wheezy" with "jessie".
2. run apt-get update
3. run apt-get upgrade
4. run apt-get dist-upgrade

For several reasons the upgrade process didn't complete properly. After a system reboot, there was no networking, no graphical desktop and even after starting the Gnome desktop by hand with "startx", there were several issues with system settings, such as printer setup.

Networking

I had an issue with networking not working.
According to the debian page on network setup, changes below are not recommended (see below).

I fixed by editing/etc/network/interfaces

# Lines added from odoepner.wordpress.com
auto eth0 

allow-hotplug eth0

iface eth0 inet dhcp

Then ran as root

etc/init.d/networking start

And network was working again.

This page explains how to put this network as a managed interface again: 

But I shouldn't have done this.
According to the debian page on network setup: "Keep configuration of "/etc/network/interfaces" as simple as in the following".
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

No desktop manager at startup

I realised that there was no desktop manager at startup. I first followed answers to this question and edited  /etc/inittab. But it is not needed, because the boot manager systemd doesn't look into that configuration file.
I spent some time reading about a systemd controversy in Debian and why it doesn't matter so much in the end.

For the moment I start the Gnome desktop from a terminal with the command:

xstart

It looks like not all package had been upgraded.
I ran as root

apt-get upgrade -f

The following packages will be upgraded:
  live-tools

[...]

Preparing to unpack .../live-tools_4.0.2-1_all.deb ...
dpkg-divert: error: rename involves overwriting `/usr/bin/uptime' with
  different file `/usr/bin/uptime.orig.procps', not allowed

From Synaptic, I did a complete removal of the package live-tools.
After that many configuration steps took place. Printer setup utility was working again. And now there only remains a bluetooth issue.

Bluetooth issue

dpkg: error processing package gnome-bluetooth (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 bluez
 bluetooth
 gnome-bluetooth

Lyx upgraded to version 2.1.2

At least Lyx was upgraded to version 2.1.2. I had to "reconfigure LyX with Tools→Reconfigure;".Then I could create documents with Lyx again. And the R integration worked as well.

Upgrade might not have been needed

Afterwards, I realised that an upgrade might not have been needed:

"If you want to install a single package in Debian, you do not need to update the whole system. It can be done with three commands by inserting the repos for Testing and Unstable in /etc/apt/sources.list, fixing the distro you (mostly) wish by setting APT::Default-Release "stable" in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/local, then doing aptitude install packagae_name/testing -t testing"

R, packages and Rstudio install on Debian wheezy

See also my previous post on Debian GNU-Linux installation on a Lenovo T400.

R install

I used the Synaptic package manager to add the R repository for Debian from a nearby mirror, under : settings / repositories / other software / add.
Add this APT line:

deb http://cran.univ-paris1.fr/bin/linux/debian/ wheezy-cran3/

There was an error:

W: GPG error: http://cran.univ-paris1.fr wheezy-cran3/ Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 06F90DE5381BA480

After looking at several forums, and this stackoverflow question, I installed debian-keyring and added the key with the commands:

gpg --keyserver pgpkeys.mit.edu --recv-key 06F90DE5381BA480
gpg -a --export 06F90DE5381BA480 |sudo apt-key add -

I could then install R version 3 from the synaptic package manager.

Rstudio

I downloaded R-studio and installed it. There was a missing dependency for libjpeg62. I installed that package from Synaptic. Then ran the dpkg command to install rstudio.

dpkg -i rstudio-0.98.507-i386.deb

Tools

Then I installed Git in order to clone my R project from an online repository.

git clone  project_repository_url

Packages

Within Rstudio, I installed a few packages:

install.packages(c("plyr", "reshape2", "ggplot2"))
install.packages(c("xtable", "markdown", "devtools"))

devtools

The devtools packages requires a libcurl dev Debian package. You can install it at the shell prompt:

$ sudo apt-get install libcurl4-gnutls-dev

Back at the R prompt

install.packages("devtools")

Other dependencies might be needed, the RStudio page on devtools recommends installing the Debian package r-base-dev.

dplyr

The dplyr package required the latest version of a Rcpp package. Which was not available on my CRAN mirror. I installed it from source, (based on this message):

install.packages("Rcpp", type = "source")

install.packages("dplyr")

xlsx

The xlsx package installation complained:

configure: error: Cannot compile a simple JNI program. See config.log for details.
Make sure you have Java Development Kit installed and correctly registered in R.
If in doubt, re-run "R CMD javareconf" as root.

Required the latest version of java 7. (inspired by this post). I installed openjdk-7 from the synaptic package manager. Then ran

update-alternatives --config java  # Choose java 7 as the default

R CMD javareconf

Then

install.packages("xlsx") # worked

RMySQL

MySQL client and server are installed on my system.
While installing RMySQL, I struggled with a configuration error:

  could not find the MySQL installation include and/or library
  directories.  Manually specify the location of the MySQL
  libraries and the header files and re-run R CMD INSTALL.

This post has an answer (thanks!):

sudo apt-get install libdbd-mysql  libmysqlclient-dev

That fixes the issue!
I can connect to the database

library(RMySQL)
mychannel <- br="" dbconnect="" host="localhost" user="paul" ysql="">                       password="***", dbname="dbname")

R packages which are better installed from the Debian package manager

Some packages, such as ‘minqa’, ‘SparseM’ and ‘car’ return an error when one tries to install them from the R prompt. The can only be installed from the Debian package manager, where they have names starting with "r-cran": "r-cran-car", "r-cran-sparsem", "r-cran-minqa".

Ready to work!

Email backup from Microsoft Outlook to Tunderbird / Icedove under Debian

To read an outlook email archive, .pst file, on a Debian system:

1. On the windows system in Thunderbird, I imported
2. In Debian I accessed it from Icedove, (the rebranded thunderbird)

1. In Windows 

There was an error in the 3.9 GB pst file created in September 2014.

scanpst.exe

As explained on microsoft support, I tried to use the inbox repair tool: scanpst.exe It has found errors in the file I have asked it to repair the file. It copied the whole content in a backup file .bak. It created a log file and it corrected the archive. I could open it in Outllook, under file / data file management. I compacted the archive, it's now 3.7 Gb in size. I closed Outlook and put it in my online backup folder.

Thunderbird

To be able to access this mail archive under Linux.  I followed a Mozilla article which recommends to import outlook mail (including the .pst file) in Thunderbirdwith the menu:

Tools  / Import /   mail

Thunderbird can only open .pst archive files on a windows machine which has outlook installed. Then I closed Thunderbird and copied the file found under.

2. In Debian 

Icedove

I installed icedove from the synaptic package manager. I started it and closed it again. This created a directory in my home folder: .icedove, this is where I'll paste the Thunderbird backup.
Mozilla's explanation on how to restore Thunderbird backup :

1. Locate the backed up profile folder on your hard drive or backup medium (e.g., your USB-stick).
2. Open the profile folder backup (e.g., the xxxxxxxx.default backup).
3. Copy the entire contents of the profile folder backup, such as the mimeTypes.rdf file, prefs.js file, bookmarkbackups folder, etc.
4. Locate and open the new profile folder as explained above and then close icedove (if open).
5. Paste the contents of the backed up profile folder into the new profile folder, overwriting existing files of the same name.
6. Start Icedove.

Debian GNU/Linux

Configuring the system 

Disk partitioning

Recommended Partitioning Scheme: "For new users, personal Debian boxes, home systems, and other single-user setups, a single / partition (plus swap) is probably the easiest, simplest way to go."  [...] " For multi-user systems or systems with lots of disk space, it's best to put /usr, /var, /tmp, and /home each on their own partitions separate from the / partition."

Keyboard layout

I use a laptop with a Finnish keyboard and a docking station with a French keyboard. I chose the "SHIFT+ caps lock" keys to change from one keyboard layout to the other. By default the French keyboad has a comma as decimal separator on the numeric keypad. I changed this under:

 system settings / region and language / layouts / French / Options / Numeric keypad delete key behaviour / 4 level key with dot

Installing programs

Package management with apt-get or aptitude. Aptitude is recommended. Here is a comparison in a forum.

Programming

Install a version tracking system

sudo aptitude install git

Add coloration:

git config --global color.ui true

Install the vim text editor

sudo aptitude install vim

Edit the vim configuration file:

vim ~/.vimrc

In this file add:

syntax on
set tabstop=4
set expandtab
set softtabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
filetype indent on

au BufNewFile,BufRead *.md set filetype=txt

Non-Free (unfortunately)

Skype on Debian wiki (for 64 architecture) try alternatives Ekiga and Linphone (Linphone use with French ISP free). Load skype for Debian from the website, then:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update 

sudo dpkg -i skype-install_file_you_downloaded.deb 
sudo apt-get -f install

Adobe Flash

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree
sudo update-flashplugin-nonfree --install

Super user

As a super user install the program called "sudo" :

apt-get install sudo

how to-properly-configure-sudoers-file-on-debian-wheezy
I am in the sudo group

adduser paul sudo
  The user `paul' is already a member of `sudo'.

addgroup sudo
  addgroup: The group `sudo' already exists.

But I get the  warning message:

paul is not in the sudoers file.  This incident will be reported.

It seems I have to restart the system.

 Web browser

Why Firefox has been rebranded as iceweasel.

"Debian was initially given permission to use the trademarks, and adopted the Firefox name. However, because the artwork in Firefox had a proprietary copyright license which was not compatible with the Debian Free Software Guidelines, the substituted logo had to remain."

Debian GNU-Linux installation on a Lenovo T400

I needed an operating system more stable than Microsoft windows for my daily tasks such as: programming with the R statistical software and writing PDF reports with the Lyx document processor. I read about John MacFarlane (author of pandoc) who is using Debian with the xmonad desktop. This blogger documented why he switched from Ubuntu to Debian. The same blogger also wrote interesting posts at the electronic Frontier Fondation on privacy issues with Ubuntu: on the one side Ubuntu offers an easy way to install full Hard Drive encryption, on the other side, Ubuntu's default desktop search sends search requests over unencripted internet (I should move this additional content to another post).

15 years ago already, I had talked with a friend who was using Debian. I wonder if he still is?

I decided to give Debian a try.

Creating a bootable USB stick

• On a windows machine, I have downloaded the latest Debian live iso (I chose the .iso with the Gnome desktop). I  created a bootable USB stick with the help of Linux Live USB creator. 
• Alternatively, on a Debian machine, for another installation later I choose the Debian Net install version. Then according to Debian Instructions on how to prepare a USB stick, I copied it to the USB with the command :
• cp debian-7.6.0-amd64-netinst.iso /dev/sdb1
• sync
• Unfortunately this net install didn't work for me. Luckily, the live USB install worked fine.

Trying the live version from a USB stick

I introduced the USB key in the laptop,  pressed the "blue thinkvantage" key, entered the BIOS setup and changed the boot order. I placed the USB devices first in the list. The live version seemed to work fine, the Gnome desktop was responsive enough on that machine (Lenovo Thinkpad T400). The external screen was easy to set-up, and network access configured automatically. So I decided to install that Debian system on the hard drive.

Installation

I restarted the laptop with the USB key inserted. I chose the graphical installer. There was a small issue with the fact that the installer was looking for a CD-ROM. But no CD-ROM was available because I was running the install from a USB stick. Based on this blog post, I jumped to the command line interface and typed:

mount /dev/sdb /cdrom 

This command fixed the issue, installation could continue. I partitionned my hard drive to leave 100 GB for the windows partition and the rest (144 GB) for the new GNU-Linux system. Partitioning took a frightening amount of time. During which I thought the system as frozen. But after maybe an hour, installation carried on... I restarted the system. I am now writing this blog post from a fresh Debian system.

Hardware support

Docking station

Hotpluging usb keyboard was working on the laptop itself, but not working on the docking station. A quick fix was to disconnect and reconnect the docking station.
I have connected the docking station to an external larger screen I set this up as my main monitor under system settings / displays.

Different Keyboard layouts

My laptop has a Finnish keyboard, and I am located in France, therefore I use a French keyboard. Under system settings / region and language settings I could add the French keyboard layout. The fact that it's possible to "use the same layout for all windows" is a plus compared to windows. I regularly switch from the Finnish to the French keyboard layout. In windows, I had to change the keyboard layout for all windows one by one.

Network drive

From the Nautilus file manager, I could access windows shared drive using my company's internal network login details.
I have been trying to synchronize this folder using Unison (GUI for rsync). Setting up a local synchronization requires to mount the windows share in the file system. mount.cifs from cifs utils can mount windows shared drives.

Network printer

Under system settings /  printers, the network printer appears. But I didn't manage to connect to the Sharp MX 2600 N.

• MX 2600 N is not in the list of PDD files for sharp printers
• I found a PDD file for MX 2600N on a TU München site.

Wireless card

Show all hardware

lspci

 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN

Install support for wifi device on Debian

apt-get install firmware-iwlwifi

Reinsert this module to access installed firmware:

# modprobe -r iwlwifi ; modprobe iwlwifi

Wifi works! :-)

Location of software packages

A mirror for France is located at http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/.

Install research software 

See also other software install tips in this post on Debian GNU Linux
Lyx editor for Latex

sudo aptitude install lyx

Jabref

sudo aptitude install jabref

Evolution with Microsoft Exchange plugin

My Company uses microsoft exchange on its email servers. An "exchange" plugin can be installed from the Synaptic package manager but this only works for exchange 200 and 2003. This site recommends using the mapi plugin instead which should work for exchange 2007 and 2010. As explained here, my company also uses a different server for the web mail access and the internal connection to the mail server.

To find the internal sever name, I went to the windows version of outlook 2007. Right click on mail box / properties / advanced ... / Microsoft Exchange server.

Mail loads fine now. I can send email too.

Calendar events are not displayed, even though outlook calendar events appear within the desktop calendar (The little calendar that appears when clicking on the desktop clock). This page says that I should upgrade to a more recent version of Evolution. This would require the use of Debian backports. Couldn't get backports to work for now. It said that I already have the most recent version of evolution installed.
I add this line to the 

# Backports repository
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy-backports main contrib non-free

Ran this command

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -t wheezy-backports install evolution

Got this message

evolution is already the newest version.

Well it's actually normal because evolution is currently (August 2014) not in the list of Debian backports.

R and Rstudio install on Debian wheezy 7

Instruction below kept here for historical purposes, I'll update these R specific instruction in another blog post.

I used the Synaptic package manager to add the R repository for Debian from a nearby mirror, under : settings / repositories / other software / add.
Add this APT line:

deb http://cran.univ-paris1.fr/bin/linux/debian/ wheezy-cran3/

There was an error:

W: GPG error: http://cran.univ-paris1.fr wheezy-cran3/ Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 06F90DE5381BA480

After looking at several forums, and this stackoverflow question, I installed debian-keyring and added the key with the commands:

gpg --keyserver pgpkeys.mit.edu --recv-key 06F90DE5381BA480
gpg -a --export 06F90DE5381BA480 |sudo apt-key add -

I could then install R version 3 from the synaptic package manager.

I downloaded R-studio and installed it. There was a missing dependency for libjpeg62. I installed that package from Synaptic. Then ran the dpkg command to install rstudio.

dpkg -i rstudio-0.98.507-i386.deb

Then I installed Git in order to clone my R project from an online repository.

git clone  project_repository_url

Within Rstudio, I installed a few packages:

install.packages(c("plyr", "reshape2", "ggplot2"))
install.packages(c("xtable", "markdown", "devtools"))

Ready to work!

Further reading

Wiki on installing Debian on Thinkpad laptops.