Free Software Blog

Change to Wordpress

2006-01-05T05:38:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of changing this blog over to a wordpress based install. I have used a free hosting provided Zeeblo and currently using a free .be domain name.
You can view the current blog at http://www.fslog.be and am planning to buy a .com domain.
Please support me in buying a domain name by paypal to srinivasanr@gmail.com.
Update: I have bought a new domain name http://www.fslog.com and this is the new home. I have to change the template to automatically redirect the page.

ODOC: mkdir

2006-01-02T22:01:00.000-08:00

mkdir -- MaKe DIRectories.

Summary :

mkdir Create the DIRECTORY(ies) with the specified names, if they do not already exist.

Examples :

$ mkdir dir1 -- Create a dir1, if dir1 is NOT an existing file or directory.

$ mkdir dir1 dir2 dir3 -- Create 3 Directories.

$ mkdir -m 744 dir1 -- Create a dir1 with specified permission mode.

$ mkdir -p dir1/dir2/dir3 -- Make any missing parent directories for each argument. Suppose if dir1 or dir2 is NOT exist, then that dir will be created before creating the dir3.

$ mkdir -v dir1/dir2/dir3 -- Print a message for each created dir.

Read : man mkdir

Krusader - File Manager for GNU/Linux

2006-01-02T02:24:00.000-08:00

Krusader is an advanced twin panel (commander style) file manager for KDE and other desktops in the *nix world, similar to Midnight Commanger or Total Commander. It provides all the file management features you could possibly want along with extensive archive handling, mounted filesystem support with a built-in mount manager, search module. It also has an internal viewer/editor. You can also rename whole batches of files.
It also has FTP/SAMBA accessing with SFTP/SCP support. So you can safely send your files accross the network. It is a nice tool and I must thank Iain for pointing out this one.

Tech Tags: krusader mc midnight+commander total+commander kde konquerer

ODOC: jobs

2006-01-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

jobs -- Lists the active jobs

Summary :

jobs is bash build-in command, which is used to list the actives jobs in the current shell.

Examples :

$ sleep 60 & -- Just run this command 5 times. Create dummy active jobs for testing.

$ jobs -- List all active jobs.

$ jobs -l -- List all active jobs with pid.

$ jobs -p -- List only the pid of all active jobs.

$ jobs -n -- List only jobs that have changed status since the last notification are printed.

$ jobs -r -- Show only running jobs.

$ jobs -s -- Show only stopped jobs.

Read : man jobs / help jobs (in Bash Shell)

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux jobs bash

Baobab - Analyze disk space graphically

2006-01-01T03:11:00.000-08:00

Baobab is cool little tool to analyze disk space usage graphically. It displays the space used by directories on your hard drive, so you know what’s eating up all your space. It is sort of the like the application called “tree” that’s available for windows. Baobabs are large trees, usually found in Africa - so that’s a real nice name for the tool.

Tech Tags: baobab tree disk+space

ODOC: rm

2006-01-01T03:05:00.000-08:00

rm -- ReMove files or directories.

Summary :

rm removes each specified file. By default, it does not remove directories.

Examples :

$ rm myfile -- Remove the myfile from current dir.

$ rm f1 f2 f3 -- Remove f1,f2 and f3.

$ rm f? -- Remove all files, whose name start with f and followed by single char.

$ rm f* -- Remove all files, whose name starting with f.

$ rm -i myfile -- Ask for interactive conformation (Y/N).

$ rm -f myfile -- Force, Ignore nonexistent files.

$ rm -d mydir -- Remove the directory.

$ rm -r mydir -- Remove the contents of dirs recursively.

$ rm -v myfile -- Explain what is being done.

$ rm "my file" -- Removing a file, whose name has space.

$ rm -- -h -- This is very useful for removing files whose name start with a '-'
'--' === End of command line options.

Read : man rm

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux rm

Happy New Year

2005-12-31T20:54:00.000-08:00

First a very Happy New Year to all. I must first apologize for not posting regularly. But yesterday I went for a reunion among my old school friends and we had a great party. I think this year onwards I must try to post regularly and also try to write nice articles. I am planning to shift my blog from Blogger to a Wordpress one. I must get some money first and try to get some space. If you feel like donating to it, please mail me at srinivasanr@gmail.com.
And Happy New Year again.

ODOC: wall

2005-12-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

wall -- Send a message to everybody's terminal.

Summary :

Wall sends a message to everybody logged. The length of the message is limited to 20 lines. You MAY need root permission, on some system, to run this command. This command is used to pass the some critical information to all.

Examples :

# wall "Welcome" -- Send the string "Welcome" to all.

# wall

Read : man wall

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux wall

ODOC: who

2005-12-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

who -- show WHO is logged on

Summary :

who prints the info (login name, terminal line, login time, and remote hostname or X display) abt abt each user currently logged on.
who uses /var/run/utmp file to know abt the current users.

Examples :

$ who -- Show who are all logged on.

$ who -H -- Show info with header.

$ who -m -- only hostname and user associated with stdin.

$ who -q -- Show currently logged username and count.

$ who -r -- Show the current run level.

$ who -s -- Short form.

$ who -T -- Add user's message status as +, - or ?

$ who -a -- Show all info.

$ who am i -- Your detail.

$ who mom likes -- !!?? :-)

$ who /var/log/wtmp -- Who has previously logged on.

Read : man who

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux who

ODOC: w

2005-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

w -- show Who is doing What

Summary :

w is part of the procps package. w shows information about the users currently on the machine, and their processes. The header shows, in this order, the current time, Uptime, no. of current users, & load averages for the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes.

JCPU -- The time used by all processes attached to the tty. It does not include past background jobs, but does include currently running background jobs.

PCPU -- The time used by the current process, named in the "WHAT".

Examples :

$ w -- Show header, users and processes Information.

$ w bharathi -- Show information about bharathi (user) only.

$ w -h -- Don't show header info.

$ w -f -- Don't show FROM (remote hostname) field.

$ w -s -- Short format. Don't show login, JCPU and PCPU times.

$ w -u -- Ignores the username while figuring out the current process and CPU times of the current tty.

Read : man w

Atlast my exams were over and I am now free for a week. I think I will resume my blogging and try to write new articles.

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux w

ODOC: mount

2005-12-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

mount -- Mount/Attach a File System to a File Tree.

Summary :

All files accessible in a Unix system are arranged in one big tree, the file hierarchy, rooted at /. These files can be spread out over several devices. The mount command serves to attach the file system found on some device to the big file tree.

Examples :

$ mount -- List all mounted FSs (FileSystem).

$ mount -l -- List all mounted FSs with Labels.

# mount -a -- Mount all entries in the /etc/fstab.

# mount /mnt/cdrom -- Mount known device to cdrom dir. Mount will find the cdrom device (/dev/hdX) from /etc/fstab.

# mount /dev/hdd -- Mount device at the known place. Mount will find the mount point (Ex. /mnt/cdrom) from /etc/fstab.

# mount -t ext2 /dev/hda2 /tmp/dir1 -- Mount a Linux partition at /tmp/dir1.

# mount -t vfat -o rw,umask=0007 /dev/hda1 /mnt/C -- Mount Windows FAT partition

# mount -o rw /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy/ -t vfat -- Mount FAT format floppy in Read and write mode.

# mount -t nfs 192.168.14.155:/home/one /home/one -- Mount NFS partition, from a machine with particular IP, to /home/one dir.

# mount /tmp/fdimage /mnt/test1 -t msdos -o loop=/dev/loop3,blocksize=1024 -- Mount msdos Floppy disk image via loopback device.

# mount /tmp/cdimg.iso /mnt/test1 -t iso9660 -o loop=/dev/loop3,blocksize=1024 -- Mount a CD iso image via loopback device.

# mount --bind /mnt/cdrom /mnt/test1 -- Mount the /mnt/cdrom in another location. So you can access in the FS in two places.

# mount -t tmpfs none /mnt/test1 -o rw,size=1m -- Mount a tmpFS

# mount -t tmpfs none /mnt/test1 -o remount,ro,size=1m -- Remount the same partition with different permission.

# mount -t ntfs /dev/sda1 /mnt -- Mount a NTFS (Default - Read Only)

# umount /mnt/test1 -- Unmount the file system from /mnt/test1.

Read : man mount, fstab

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux mount nfs cdrom drive

ODOC: sleep/usleep

2005-12-13T22:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry I was busy for the two days and couldn't post here. And my rescheduled exams start from 16th Dec till 27th Dec.

sleep/usleep -- Sleep for a specified amount of time

Summary :

Sleep will introduce a delay for a specified seconds (Seconds may be an arbitrary floating point number). usleep sleeps some no of micro-seconds (default is 1).

Examples :

$ sleep 6 -- Sleep for 6 Seconds.

$ sleep 6s -- Sleep for 6 Seconds (Default).

$ sleep 6m -- Sleep for 6 Minutes.

$ sleep 6h -- Sleep for 6 Hours.

$ sleep 6d -- Sleep for 6 Days.

$ sleep 10.5 -- sleep for 10.5 Seconds.

$ usleep 200 -- Sleep for 200 micro Seconds.

Sleep may NOT give a very accurate result on many machines.
Read : man sleep, usleep

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux sleep usleep

Open Office.org Easter Egg

2005-12-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

I found this easter egg for Open Office.org 2.0 and found it amusing.

In any cell type in =Game("StarWars"). A small, space invaders style game will appear.

Tech Tags: openoffice.org OO.o open+office star+office office easter+egg

ODOC: wc

2005-12-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

wc - Count & Print the No. of Bytes,Words & Lines in files.

Summary :

Print byte, word, and newline counts for each FILE, and a total line if more than one FILE is specified. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read stdin.

Examples :

$ wc -- Accept the input from stdio and count

$ wc myfile -- Print the no .of bytes, words, lines in the file.

$ wc -l myfile -- Print the newline counts only

$ wc -w myfile -- Print the words count only

$ wc -c myfile -- Print the bytes count only

$ wc -L myfile -- Print the length of the longest line

$ wc f1 f2 f3 -- Print the no .of bytes, words, lines in each file and also print the total.

$ ls -1 | wc -l -- Print the total no .of files present in the dir

Read : man wc

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux wc

ODOC: tput

2005-12-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

tput -- Initialize a terminal or query terminfo database

Summary :

The tput utility uses the terminfo database to make the values of terminal dependent capabilities and information available to the shell to initialize/reset/query the terminal.

Examples :

$ tput cols -- Print the no of cols for the current terminal.

$ tput cup 10 5 -- Move the CUrsor Position to Row 20 & Col 5.

$ tput smso -- Starts highlighting

$ tput civis -- Make the Cursor invisible

$ tput cnorm -- Show Cursor

$ tput blink -- Starts blinking the chars

$ tput bold -- show chars in Light Bold

$ tput rev -- Show chars in Reverse Video

$ tput rmso -- Normal mode (No highlight/bold/blink)

$ tput longname -- Show the long name of the current term.

$ tput reset -- reinitialization of term with reset/init strings.

$ tput bold; echo -- Just to test.

Read : man tput

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux tput

ODOC: cal

2005-12-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

cal - Displays a calendar

Summary :

Cal displays a simple calendar. If arguments are not specified, the current month is displayed.

Examples :

$ cal -- Displays current month

$ cal -3 -- Display prev & current & next month output.

$ cal -y -- Display a calendar for the current year

$ cal -m -- Display Monday as the first day of the week. Sunday is default.

$ cal 2005 -- Display a calendar for the year 2005.

$ cal 2 2005 -- Display a calendar for the month of Feb 2005.

$ cal 9 1752 -- Interesting. http://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/britgreg.html

Read : man cal , gcal

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux cal calendar

Freenet - Uncensored file sharing

2005-12-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

Freenet is free software which lets you publish and obtain information on the Internet without fear of censorship. To achieve this freedom, the network is entirely decentralized and publishers and consumers of information are anonymous. Without anonymity there can never be true freedom of speech, and without decentralization the network will be vulnerable to attack. All communications by Freenet nodes are encrypted and routed through other nodes that make it difficult to see who is requesting for what content.
Users of Freenet contribute by giving their bandwidth and a part of their hard disk space(data store). Freenet doesn't allow the user to control what data to be stored. Instead, it automatically deletes the files which are not popular. And as they are encryted and stored, it reduces the likelihood of prosecution by persons wishing to censor Freenet content.
Many uses have been found for Freenet other than file sharing - like publishing websites(freesites), communication via message boards, content distribution, etc.
Over 2 million users have downloaded Freenet and it has provided censored content to China and Middle East.

Tech Tags: freenet freenet+project free+software fsf

ODOC: tr

2005-12-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

tr - Translate or Delete characters

Summary :

tr will Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters from stdin, writing to stdout.

Examples :

$ echo "fslog" | tr "fs" "FS" -- Translate f to F & s to S.

$ echo "fslog" | tr "[a-z]" "[A-Z]" -- Change case (lower to upper)

$ echo "HelloooOOOoooo" | tr -s '[:lower:]' -- Squeez the "lower" case letters.

$ echo "FxSyLzoyg" | tr -d xyz -- Remove xyz

$ cat myfile | tr -s '\n' -- Remove repeated new lines.

$ echo "ABCDEFG" | tr -c "ACEG" "\n" -- Expect "ACEG" translate others to newline char.

'tr' supports few std esc sequences, regular expressions, char classes
(lower, upper, space, blank, alpha,...), etc.

Read : man tr

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux tr

ODOC: more

2005-12-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

more -- File perusal filter for crt viewing

Summary :

Perusal means the act of reading, especially of reading through or with care. More is a filter for paging through text one screenful at a time.

Examples :

$ more myfile1 myfile2 -- Show myfile 1 & 2 page by page.

$ more -10 myfile -- Show 10lines/page.

$ more -d myfile -- Usually more show % of viewed content only at the bottom. With -d it shows more verbose prompt.

$ more -p -10 myfile -- Don't scroll the output. Just the screen and display the text.

$ more -c -10 myfile -- Don't scroll. Instead, paint each screen from the top, clearing the remainder of each line as it is displayed.

$ more -s myfile -- Squeeze multiple blank lines into one.

$ more +/foo myfile -- The +/ option specifies a string that will be searched for before each file is displayed.

$ more +10 myfile -- Start at line number 10.

Apart from this option, more will support few interactive commands also. For example

:f -- Show current filename

:n -- Next file

:p -- Previous file

b -- Move backward

f -- Move forward

Space -- Next page

ENTER -- Next Line

Read : man more

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux more

ODOC: cplit

2005-12-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

csplit - Split a file into sections determined by Context

Summary :

Output pieces of FILE separated by PATTERN(s) to files `xx01', `xx02',..., & output byte counts of each piece to standard output. PATTERN(s) are Line Numbers or a Regexp.

Examples :

$ csplit myfile 10 40 80 -- 1st file contains 1-9 lines, 2nd 10-39 , 3rd 40-79 and 4th 80-EOF.

$ csplit myfile 10 10 80 -- Zero length file will be create for the 2nd parameter..

$ csplit -z myfile 10 10 60 -- Same as above. But Zero length file will NOT created

$ csplit myfile /foo/ -- Copy upto, but not the matching line and remaining in 2nd file.

$ csplit myfile %foobar% -- skip upto, but not the matching line

Read : man csplit

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux csplit

ODOC: split

2005-12-05T06:28:00.000-08:00

split - Split a file into pieces.

Summary :

Split is used to split a file into equal no .of lines. The output files are created with the default Prefix as 'x' and suffix as 2 digit number.

Examples :

$ split -l 10 myfile -- Split myfile into files of 10 lines.

$ split -b 100 myfile -- Split myfile into files of 100bytes.

$ split -C 25 myfile -- Put at most 25bytes of lines per file.

$ split -a 4 myfile -- Use suffixe of length 4 chars.

$ split -l 10 myfile myfile -- Use myfile as the prefix text.

Read : man split

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux split

ODOC: head

2005-12-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

head - Output the 1st part of files.

Summary :

I should have posted this after the tail command, but forgot to do so. It does exactly the opposite by printing the first 10 lines of each FILE to stdout. With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read stdin.

Examples :

$ head -- Read 10 lines from stdin & dump to stdout

$ head foo -- Show 1st 10 lines of the file.

$ head f1 f2 -- Show 1st 10 lines of file f1 & f2 with header.

$ head -q f1 f2 -- same as above But with-out header.

$ head -n 5 myfile -- Show 1st 5 lines only.

$ head -c 15 myfile -- Show 1st 15Bytes only.

$ head -c 15k myfile -- Show 1st 15KB only.

Read : man head

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux head

ODOC: shutdown

2005-12-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

shutdown -- Bring the system down (Needs Root privilege)

Summary :

shutdown brings the system down in a secure way. All logged-in users are notified that the system is going down, and login is blocked. All processes are first notified that the system is going down by the signal SIGTERM. Runlevel 0 is used to halt the system, runlevel 6 is used to reboot the system. However please take care not to use this command on production systems.

Examples :

# shutdown 12:00 -- Shutdown at 12:00

# shutdown +10 -- Shutdown after 10min

# shutdown now -- Immediate shutdown (now == +0)

# shutdown -t 10 -- Wait 10 Sec after warn the user

# shutdown -k -- Don't really shutdown; only warn

# shutdown -r -t 5 -- Reboot after shutdown

# shutdown -h -t 5 -- Halt after shutdown

# shutdown -f now -- Skip fsck (File System Check) on reboot

# shutdown -F now -- Force fsck on reboot

# shutdown -c -- Cancel the already waiting shutdown process.

Read : man shutdown

There has been a great deal of flooding in Chennai, India due to the heavy rain yesterday and there was no power in the morning. I have written about the plight of people due to the floods in my personal blog.

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux shutdown reboot halt

ODOC: tail

2005-12-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

tail - Output the last part of files.

Summary :

Print the last 10 lines of each FILE to stdout. With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.

Examples :

$ tail foo.txt -- Show only the last 10 Lines.

$ tail f1 f2 -- Show the last 10 lines of 2 files with small header.

$ tail -vn 5 myfile -- Show only last 5 Lines with header.

$ tail -c 12 myfile -- Show only last 12 Bytes.

$ tail -q myfile -- Don't show headers.

$ tail --retry myfile -- Keep retrying to open myfile.

$ tail -f maillog -- Output appended data as the file grows. Useful to monitor logs.

$ tail -f -s 10 maillog -- Once in every 10s update the output.

$ tail -f --pid=200 myfile -- Terminate tail after PID (200) dies.

Read : man tail

Tech Tags: odoc tail file linux gnu/linux

Make Firefox 1.5 work with all extensions

2005-12-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

The most common problem with Firefox1.5 is that most old extensions don't work. There is a workaround for this though. A simple modification to the Firefox Configuration will do the trick.

At the location bar type about:config. This will show a list of firefox preferences.
Right click on the list and select New > String. Enter “app.extensions.version” (without quotes) for the preference name.
Then, enter 1.0 as the calue for the app.extension.version
Then restart Firefox 1.5 and enable all the previously disabled extensions
Restart Firefox 1.5 again to activate the extensions.

Here is the original post from where I found this.

Tech Tags: firefox firefox+1.5 mozilla browser exensions

Firefox 1.5 released

2005-12-01T23:23:00.000-08:00

Firefox 1.5 has been finally released to public and claims to be faster and provides better web experience.
Here is a nice review of Firefox 1.5 at 1337tech.

Tech Tags: firefox firefox+1.5 mozilla browser

Break from posts

2005-11-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Many of you might have noticed that I haven't posted for a few days and also the post count has been decreasing over many days. This is all because I have been preparing for my exams (I am doing my engineering in Computer Science). I have not got enough time to post the ODOC (One Day One Command) series too. Anyway I would try to post if time permits.

ODOC: sort

2005-11-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

sort - Sort lines of text files

Summary :

Sort the file contents based on options given to it. By default the output is shown in the console.

Examples :

$ sort -- Take the input from stdin, sort and output in stdout.

$ sort myfile -o myoutput -- Sort the myfile content and store in "myoutput"

$ sort -b myfile -- Ignore the leading blanks and sort.

$ sort -br myfile -- Same as above but in reverse order

$ sort -c myfile -- Only Check whether myfile is already sorted

$ sort -f myfile -- Ignore the case and sort (a == A)

$ sort -u myfile -- Sort and output only unique lines

$ sort -t : -k 2,2n -k 5.3,5.4 myfile -- Sort numerically on the 2nd field and resolve ties by sorting alphabetically on the 3rd and 4th characters of field 5. Use `:' as the field delimiter

Read : man sort

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux sort

FSDaily launched by Free Software Magazine

2005-11-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Free Software magazine staff launched FSDaily.com which gives daily news about free softwares. They introduced their blog at their website, but weren't happy with it. So they have launched a seperate site Free Software Daily which is a lot like a news blog written by the authors of Free Software Magazine.

Tech Tags: free+software linux gnu/linux free+software+magazine fsdaily free+software+news

ODOC: ulimit

2005-11-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

ulimit - Control the resources available to processes

Summary :

ulimit, Bash Built-in Command, provides control over the
resources (Virtual Mem, Max no .of process, Core file
size, ...) available to processes started by the shell.

If Max no. of user process is set to 5, then the particular
user can't run more then 5 process.

Examples :

$ ulimit -a -- Show All current limits.

$ ulimit -c -- Show core file size (If Core file size is 0, Core file will not be created during the SEG fault).

$ ulimit -c 1000 -- Set new core file size.

$ ulimit -u 3 -- Set max no .of user processes

$ ulimit -n -- Show max open files.

Read : info bash (or) help ulimit

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux ulimit

New Linux live CD for security professionals

2005-11-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

Arudius (formerly Securinix) is a live CD Linux distribution based on Slackware (Minislack) and Linux Live scripts. It contains an extensive set of software tools used by IT security professionals for penetration testing and vulnerability analysis. Its goal is to include the most comlete set of useful security tools and still maintain a small footprint.

Tech Tags: arudius linux gnu/linux securinix slackware minislack

ODOC: nl

2005-11-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

nl - Number lines of files

Summary :

Write each FILE to stdout, with line numbers added.
With No FILE or -, read stdin

Examples :

nl myfile -- Writes all non-empty lines with number.

nl -ba myfile -- Number all lines.

nl -ba -l2 myfile -- Count 2 empty line as 1 and display

nl -nln myfile -- Numbers are left justified.

nl -nrz myfile -- Numbers are right justified and leading zeros

nl -w2 myfile -- Uses 2 column for the line number.

nl -s"> " myfile -- Insert "> " in between number and line.

ls | nl -- ls Output with line numbers

Read : man nl

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux nl

ODOC: touch

2005-11-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

touch - Change File Timestamps

Summary :

Update the access and modification times of each FILE to the current time. Also used to create a file.

Examples :

$ touch myfile -- change the time stamp to current time. If myfile is not there then touch will create it.

$ touch -c myfile -- Same as above. But If myfile is not there, then it won't create it.

$ touch -r f1 f2 -- Set f1's time to f2 instead of current time

$ touch -a myfile -- Change only access time.

$ touch -m myfile -- change only the modification time

$ touch -t 200412251122.33 -- set this time instead of current time

$ ls -lu myfile -- Shows the last access time

Read : man touch

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux touch file timestamp

ODOC: comm

2005-11-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

comm - Compare 2 Sorted files line by line

Summary :

Compare two sorted files F1 and F2 line by line.

Examples :

$ comm F1 F2 -- Output contain 3 col. Col 1 - Uniq to F1, Col 2 - Uniq to F2 and Col 3 - Comman to F1 & F2

$ comm -1 F1 F2 -- Suppress lines unique to F1

$ comm -2 F1 F2 -- Suppress lines unique to F2

$ comm -3 F1 F2 -- Suppress comman lines to F1 & F2

$ comm -13 F1 F2 -- Show lines from F2, which is not in F1

$ comm -23 F1 F2 -- Show lines from F1, which is not in F2

Read : man comm

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux comm

ODOC: ls

2005-11-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

ls -- List directory contents

Summary :

List the current directory contents and informations. This is one important command you would be using all the time. It is synonymous with the dir command in DOS.

Examples :

$ ls -- Alphabetically list all files and dir

$ ls -r -- Reverse order

$ ls --color=always -- Output in color

$ ls -F -- Files are classified with /@|= symbols

$ ls -1 -- Output in single column

$ ls -a -- Display hidden entries starting with .

$ ls -R -- Recursive output

$ ls -Q -- Enclose entry names in double quotes

Read : man ls

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux ls list+files dir

New worm targets Linux systems or does it

2005-11-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

ZDNet reports a new worm for linux systems. Since I was busy yesterday, I saw about this only today.

The vulnerabilities that this virus attacks actually belong to three scripts, not the OS itself. Therefore, I really wouldn’t call this a Linux virus. That’s like calling a vulnerability in MS Word or Windows Skype a Windows virus.

I agree with him. Anyway two of the vulnerabilities have been fixed earlier. And even if you haven't updated your system, you will not be affected if you aren't running a web server. This rules out home users.
Here are the descriptions of the virus by McAffe and Symantec.

Tech Tags: linux gnu/linux virus worm mcaffe symantec php cgi xml+rpc awstats vulnerability

ODOC: uname

2005-11-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

uname - Display system informations

Summary:-

Display system information like OS Type, Kernel version, Architecture, Host name etc...
The uname command will collect the information from the /proc/sys/kernel/{ostype, hostname, osrelease, version, domainname}.

Examples :-

$ uname -- Kernel Name

$ uname -n -- Show the machine name

$ uname -rv -- Show kernel's release & Ver info

$ uname -om -- Show Arch and OS Type

$ uname -a -- Show all info

Read: man uname

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux uname kernel architecture

ODOC: df

2005-11-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

df -- Disk Free and Usage report

Summary:-

df command display the amount of disk space available on the FileSystem (FS) containing each file name argument. If no file name is given, the space available on all currently mounted Filesystems are shown.

Examples :-

$ df -- Usage report of all mounted FS.

$ df myfile -- Display usage report of FS which contain
the myfile.

$ df /home -- Usage report of Home partition

$ df /dev/hda1 -- Usage report of /dev/hda1

$ df -Th -- Display the partition type and size is in human
readable format

$ df -x tmpfs -- Don't list the 'tmpfs' partitions.

$ df -P -- Output in POSIX format. (Remove -P and see the
difference)

Read: man df

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux df disk+free

ODOC: watch

2005-11-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

watch - Periodically run and show the output of a program

Summary:

Watch runs command repeatedly, displaying its output This allows you to monitor the program output change over time.

Examples :-

$ watch ls -- Every 2sec(default time) 'ls' is executed and output is showed on the screen.

$ watch -n 6 who -- Every 6Sec 'who' run and list the current users

$ watch -d date -- Highlight the difference b/w successive updates

Press Ctrl+C to stop the Watch Command.

Read: man watch

Tech Tags: odoc watch linux gnu/linux

ODOC: ac

2005-11-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

ac - Print statistics about users' connect time

Summary:

"ac" command will print the users' connect time details in different formats (Total, Per day, Per user, etc..)

Example:

$ ac -- print total useage
$ ac -p -- print indv user info
$ ac -dy -- print daily based report

Read: man ac

Tech Tags: odoc ac users linux gnu/linux

ODOC: free

2005-11-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

free -- Display Information about Memory utilization

Summary:-

Displays the total amount of free and used physical memory & swap space in the system, as well as the buffers & cache consumed by the kernel.

Examples :-

$ free -- Display the mem info in KB

$ free -m -- Display the mem info in MB

$ free -m -t -- Display the total mem info

$ free -s 2 -- Display the mem info for every 2 sec

$ free -s 2 -c 5 -- Display the mem info for every 2 sec, but only 5 times

$ cat /proc/meminfo -- This is the original file which is used by free command for the report

Read: man free

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux free meminfo memory

GoboLinux - different approach to package management

2005-11-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

GoboLinux is a Linux distribution that breaks with the historical Unix directory hierarchy. Basically, this means that there are no directories such as /usr and /etc. The main idea of the alternative hierarchy is to store all files belonging to an application in its own separate subtree; therefore we have directories such as /Programs/GCC/2.95.3/lib.
The FAQ clearly states that this is not a distro for a newbie. This is more for the user who would like to compile his own software. Here is a nice article about GoboLinux at linux.com and here are some screenshots.

Tech Tags: linux gnu/linux gobolinux mac+os+x file+system

Nokia goes on open source Safari

2005-11-03T19:25:00.000-08:00

Nokia, the mobile phone giant has created an open-source browser based on Safari for smartphones. This team of Nokia and Safari will deliver a web browser for the S60 smartphone sotware platform.
Nokia says the browser, which will be made available to other companies licensing the S60 platform for their own smartphones, will give users a better surfing experience. It is designed to display Web pages on a phone exactly as they look on a monitor.
The browser includes pop-up blocking, access to RSS feeds and a text search feature. It uses components from Apple's Safari Web Kit — the open source engine for mobile devices based on KHTML — and KJS from KDE's Konqueror open source project.
With the availability of high speed wireless data networks, the operators and handset makers are trying to bring the entire web to your mobile phone. Nokia has also launched opensource.nokia.com as a portal to all its open source projects.

Tech Tags: nokia open+source safari mobile+phone rss html khtml S60+smartphone

Gideon - GUI Designer for GTK/C++

2005-11-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Gideon is a versatile GUI designer for GTK/C++. The goal of the project is to provide an easy-to-use RAD tool for C++ programmers who want to create multi-platform GTK-based GUI applications. Gideon is not overloaded but strives to provide all necessary features and remain 'simple and lightweight' to end user. Gideon is highly productive for experts and accessible for newcomers. Try Gideon for your GUI programming in C++.

Tech Tags: gideon gui gtk c++ gtk/C++ RAD linux windows gnu/linux

Firefox 1.5 RC1 available

2005-11-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

Firefox 1.5 Release Candidate 1 was released, however this is not the final version of the new Firefox 1.5. This RC was released for the developer and testing community for compatibility testing and to solicit feedback.
Firefox 1.5 has various new features like:

Automated update
Faster browser navigation
Drag and drop reordering of browser tabs
Improvements to popup blocking
Clear private data feature
Improvements to product usability
Answers.com added to search engine list
Better accessibility
Report a broken website wizard
Better support for Mac OS X
new support for web standard - SVG, CSS 2, CSS 3 and Javascript 1.6
and many security fixes

Firefox can be downloaded and installed easily. Try firefox and browse the web in a better way.

Tech Tags: firefox Firefox+1.5+RC1 firefox+1.5

ODOC: cat

2005-11-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

cat -- CATenate files & print on the STDOUT

Summary:

From Jargon File: Catenate is an obscure word meaning "to connect in a series", which is what the "cat" command does to one or more files.

Cat will conCATenate the FILE(s) / STDIN to STDOUT.

Examples:

$ cat foo -- Dump the file named foo to STDOUT (please be careful with the case of the filename)

$ cat File1 File2 File3 -- Dump File1, File2 & File3

$ cat -b File -- Print the File with Number for Non blank lines

$ cat -s File -- Squeeze multiple blank lines to single.

$ cat -A File -- Show the Non-Printable Chars also

$ cat > File -- Concat the STDIN to STDOUT & FILE. This can be used to quickly create a file with some content. After you have finished typing the contents, press Ctrl+D to save.

Read: info cat

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux cat

ODOC: echo

2005-11-03T05:54:00.000-08:00

echo - Display a line of text on the screen

Summary:

Echo is used to show a line of text on the screen with limited Esc sequence (BELL, Backspace, H-Tab, V-Tab,...) handling capabilities.

Example:

$ echo -- print a empty line
$ echo "Free\nSoftware" -- Just prints the Line
$ echo -e "Free\nSoftware" -- Interpret and print the Line

Read: man echo

Tech Tags: odoc linux gnu/linux echo

Good bye Debian text based install

2005-11-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

"The Debian Weekly News for October 25th, 2005 discusses the upcoming graphical frontend to the debian-installer as part of the most recent minutes of the monthly Debian Installer team meeting. It appears that after all of these years the text based Debian installation is finally getting the boot." Screenshots here.

Tech Tags: debian gnu/linux linux debian+installer debian+gui+installer debian+graphical+installer

Debian GNU/Solaris announced

2005-11-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

An initial pilot program of Nexenta - GNU/Solaris has been announced and the initial trials are limited to Ubuntu developers and the entire Debian community. Sun Microsystems recenly opened the Solaris Kernel under the CDDL license, which allows any one to build custom Operating Systems. So a new Debian GNU/Solaris distro has been created. It is great to see how the open source community works together.
Also see my previous post about Belenix - a live Solaris CD by a group in India.

Tech Tags: linux gnu/linux debian gnu/solaris solaris opensolaris open+solaris belenix sun nexenta

Mac Mini leads to MiniPC with Linux

2005-11-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

A Taiwanese systems integrator is readying a tiny Linux-powered PC likely to make even Mac Mini owners envious. The AOpen MiniPC measures 6.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches, is powered by an Intel Pentium M or Celeron M processor, and runs Linspire Linux.

The MiniPC will be available initially in two versions. The MP915-C will be powered by an Intel Celeron M 360 processor clocked at 1.4GHz. The MP915-P will be powered by an Intel Pentium M 740 (Dothan) processor clocked at 1.73 GHz. Both models will use Intel's 915 GM chipset, and come with a 512MB DDR2 400 SODIMM memory module running at 533MHz.

The Celeron-based MiniPC will include a 40GB hard drive, as well as a slot-loading DVD player and CD writer. The Pentium-based model will have an 80GB drive, and adds DVD+/- writing capability. Both models inlcude a pair of USB 2.0 host ports, along with an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) port. Both include Gigabit Ethernet ports, while the Pentium-based model comes pre-installed with an 802.11b/g mini-PCI card.
Both MiniPC's include DVI (digital video interface) ports, and S-Video.
The A-Open MiniPC will ship this month in the US through TigerDirect, with prices starting at $399, including the Linspire operating system. A $499 version running WIndows XP will also be available. The Pentium M version is likely to have a street price in the US of about $600.

Tech Tags: mac+mini minipc mini+pc linux gnu/linux linspire linspire+linux windows+xp AOpen

Template Changed

2005-11-02T01:57:00.000-08:00

Atlast I have changed the template of my blog. I guess it looks nice and simple. If you find any thing wrong or not functioning or think this looks cool, please comment here. I want to make sure that the new template is accessible in all platforms and browsers.

OpenBSD 3.8 released

2005-11-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

OpenBSD 3.8 was released November 1, 2005. This is the 18th release via CD (and 19th via FTP).
Though I haven't tried OpenBSD, I have heard really good reviews of it. It is having a great record for 8 years with only a single remote hole in the default installation. Here are the mirrors where you can download OpenBSD.
Anybody have tried OpenBSD, please put in your valuable comments here.

Tech Tags: openbsd bsd unix openbsd+3.8

ODOC: date

2005-11-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

date - Print & set the system data & time

Summary:

date will print the time information in different formats and we can also make a custom formats using the options.

Example:

$ date == print the current date and time
$ date -d '3year ago' == Same date but 3 yr ago(see how user friendly linux is?)
$ date --set='-10 minutes' == Reduce 10 min in the current time
$ date '+%b %_e %a %X %Z %Y' == Current date in custom format.

Read : info date, man date

Tech Tags: odoc date linux gnu/linux

ODOC: apropos

2005-10-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

apropos - search the whatis database for strings

Summary:

This command will search the given string the Whatis database and list the matches on the screen. For example, the following command will list the available (in the whatis database) compilers:

$ apropos compiler

Read: man apropos, whatis

I think these are the basic help command you would really need. After these I would write about the other important commands needed to work your way through GNU/Linux system.

Tech Tags: odoc apropos linux gnu/linux

Free Remote KDE Desktops

2005-10-31T06:09:00.000-08:00

People are now providing free remote KDE desktops via NX. I think this is a really cool idea by CosmoPOD, where they provide

Free 1GB online to store and edit your emails, office documents, calander, organizer, photos and files, chat to friends play games surf the web even faster and more from any computer on your own personal online desktop and access it from anywhere in the world.

This is a real boon to people who frequently travel and have access only to a computer with internet connection and are unable to install their favourite operating system.

Tech Tags: kde linux gnu/linux cosmopod desktop

BeleniX LiveCD version 0.2 released

2005-10-31T04:56:00.000-08:00

From Distrowatch.com: "BeleniX is the first live CD based on the OpenSolaris source base that boots into a full graphical desktop (with XFce). Developed at the India Engineering Centre of Sun Microsystems in Bangalore, BeleniX is trying to popularise OpenSolaris in the growing open source user and developer community in India and abroad." OSDir provides the screenshots.

But I wonder why they have named it as Belenix. The name suggests that it is some sort of a GNU/Linux distribution. Anyway what other name can they have chosen? Any suggestions?

Tech Tags: belenix opensolaris open+solaris solaris open+source opensource

Podcast for Free Software Blog

2005-10-30T22:19:00.000-08:00

Free Software blog now has a podcast.
I have used the Talkr website to publish my RSS feeds as podcasts as well. You can listen to the podcasts by clicking on the link "Listen to this article" after every post. Or you can subscribe to the podcast by using a software. It automatically downloads the podcasts and plays them for you.
I would suggest iPodder for managing your podcasts as it is a free software and is available for Windows 2000/XP, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux.

Tech Tags: podcase rss pod ipodder linux gnu/linux windows mac+os+x mac

ODOC: info

2005-10-30T22:08:00.000-08:00

info - Read documentation in Info format.

Summary:

Apart from Man pages, some commands and applications come with a detail manual pages, called info pages, which is in info format. This info command provides Menu, Search, Cross-Referance and many other facilities.

Examples:

$ info -- List all info pages available in the system.

$ pinfo -- Curses based lynx-style info browser.

$ info emacs -- Show Emacs info page. (See man emacs, to feel the difference)

Read: info info, info pinfo

Tech Tags: odoc info linux gnu/linux

Linux Kernel 2.6.14 released

2005-10-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Linux kernel 2.6.14 was released after two months of development.
Here are some new features added to the new kernel.

HostAP - HostAP is one the most popular 802.11 device drivers for linux. It works with cards utilizing the Prism 2/2.5/3 chipset and support Host AP mode, which allows a wireless card to perform all the functions of an access point.
FUSE - Filesystem in USEr space provides a simple interface for userspace programs to export a virtual filesystem to the linux kernel. FUSE also aims to provide a secure method for non privileged users to create and mount their own filesystem implementations.
Linux port of the Plan9's 9P protocol - 9P, or the Plan 9 Filesystem Protocol, is a network protocol developed for the Plan 9 distributed operating system as the means of connecting the components of a Plan 9 system (site).
Relayfs - Basically relayfs is just a bunch of per-cpu kernel buffers that can be efficiently written into from kernel code. These buffers are represented as files which can be map'ed and directly read from in user space. The purpose of this setup is to provide the simplest possible mechanism allowing potentially large amounts of data to be logged in the kernel and 'relayed' to user space.

There are many more added features to the new kernel.

Tech Tags: linux gnu/linux kernel linux+kernel kernel+2.6.14 FUSE Relayfs Plan9 9p HostAP

Firefox tabs reordering

2005-10-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

I noticed a really cool feature in Firefox 1.5 beta2.
You can drag the tab and reorder the tab anywhere you want it to be. This is a really cool feature I wanted for many days. I always like my tabs to be present in a particular order. I guess this feature was available from Firefox 1.1 DeerPark.

Tech Tags: firefox Firefox+1.5+Beta+2 firefox+1.5 tab+browsing

ODOC: man

2005-10-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

This is my first post of One Day One Command (ODOC) series. I hope this series will help other newbies to learn GNU/Linux the right way (through Shell)

man - Format and display the 'man'ual pages.

Summary :

Most of the Linux commands come with a specially formatted manuals, which explains "how to use the command and list options etc..". 'man' is used to view the manual page.
This command has a number of useful options like -f, -k, -K, ...

Usage:

$ man command

You can also try

$ man man

to read the manual of man.

Tech Tags: linux gnu/linux man odoc

Shell Prompt - An Overview

2005-10-30T04:33:00.000-08:00

Now I have decided to write articles which will help the new linux user to do things the pro-way i.e. using the shell.
There are many different shells available with the GNU/Linux system.
Sh - The old UNIX shell
Bash - Bourne Again Shell - rewrite of the sh shell
csh - C Shell - similar to C funtions
and so on.

Most GNU/Linux systems come with the default Bash shell and it can be recognised by a $ prompt or a # prompt.
The $ prompt indicates that you are logged in as an ordinary user.
The # prompt indicates that you are logged in as a root user. This is most powerful user, so just be careful with it.
You can log in to the root user at anytime by using the su command.
I think this gives a basic overview of the shell. I have decided to start writing a series which will teach a new command everyday.

Tech Tags: shell bash sh gnu/linux linux terminal commands linux+commands

Faster upgrades

2005-10-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

Use a mirror which is geographically closer to your home to get faster upgrades.
You can edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file instead of the default repository, use the mirror.
Here are a list of mirrors for Ubuntu and a list for Debian.

Tech Tags: linux gnu/linux ubuntu debian upgrade+linux upgrade mirror

Symphony OS Beta 1 Live CD released

2005-10-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

The new Symphony OS Beta 1 Live CD was released and it sure looks promising. Now about the Symphony OS.
From the website http://www.symphonyos.com

Symphony OS is a Desktop computer operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux and Knoppix GNU/Linux. Rather than using the KDE or Gnome Desktop environments as most Linux distributions do, the Symphony OS team has created the revolutionary Mezzo Desktop environment. Symphony provides what we consider to be the easiest to use Linux experience there is.
The Symphony OS Project is an Open Source project, not controlled by any business entity, operated by Ryan Quinn and Jason Spisak. In the future we hope to form a non-profit Symphony OS Foundation to further our development goals.

Powerless for 30 hours

2005-10-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

There was a heavy downpour in Chennai and it rained about 24 cm within 4 hours. So almost the entire city was switched off from power by the electricity board as a precautionary measure.
Power returned back to my area after more than 30 hours. Due to the rain I was not able to go for the premiere of "Legend of Zorro". Very bad day.
Anyway I am back with more blogging and more news and articles.

Crontab - Easy to understand guide

2005-10-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent guide which teached crontab for newbies (that includes me too).
For the complete newbies, a a crond is a daemon which runs any program or script you specify at any particular time.

Tech Tags: gnu/linux linux unix cron crond crontab daemon

MySQL 5 released

2005-10-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

MySQL 5 is ready for production use. Here is the snip from MySQL web site...

"MySQL 5.0 is the most ambitious release in MySQL's history. MySQL 5.0
delivers the enterprise features the community has been asking for,
including Stored Procedures, Triggers, Views, Information Schema, XA
Distributed Transactions, and new Storage Engines. We also added
Strict SQL Mode to eliminate some of the 'Gotchas'. Plus, MySQL 5.0
builds on our reputation for Reliability, Performance, and Ease of
Use."

Visit http://dev.mysql.com for more info.
Here are some MySQL and Postgresql gotchas one may be interested in reading.

If you find a bug in the newly released MySQL 5.0, then can win an iPod Nano.

Tech Tags: mysql sql database linux postgresql gnu/linux ipod nano ipod+nano

Linux is not Windows

2005-10-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here is nice article which says why an experienced Windows user is totally lost when he sees GNU/Linux. This is a must read for Linux newbies who say that Linux is not as user-friendly as Windows.
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Tech Tags: gnu/linux linux windows linux+newbie user+friendliness

Free as in Free Beer

2005-10-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

After reading the article I wrote earlier where opensource powers a milking robot, I saw another link where someone has brewed beer from milk.
There is also another link where they have posted a recipe for brewing beer under the Creatice Commons License and so you can create your own open-source beer.
Who said "free as in free beer" is not possible.

Can someone try the recipe and tell whether it tastes the same as the original one?

Tech Tags: free open opensource free+beer beer+recipe recipe beer+milk milk

Linux powers robotic cow-milking machine

2005-10-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

A 122-year-old dairy equipment company has used Linux to control a robotic cow-milking system (the system is robotic, not the cows). Delaval's "Voluntary Milking System" lets the cows decide for themselves when to be milked, and gives dairy farmers a more independent lifestyle, free from regular milkings. The system runs a 2.4.18 Linux kernel.

Tech Tags: linux gnu/linux vms milking milk robot dairy

Minix 3 released

2005-10-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

MINIX 3 is a new open-source operating system designed to be highly reliable and secure. It is based somewhat on previous versions of MINIX, but is fundamentally different in many key ways. MINIX 1 and 2 were intended as teaching tools; MINIX 3 adds the new goal of being usable as a serious system on resource-limited and embedded computers and for applications requiring high reliability.

MINIX 3 is initially targeted at the following areas:

Applications where very high reliability is required

Single-chip, small-RAM, low-power, $100 laptop for Third-World children

Embedded systems (e.g., cameras, DVD recorders, cell phones)

Applications where the GPL is too restrictive (MINIX 3 uses a BSD-type license)

Education (e.g., operating systems courses at universities)

MINIX 3 Features

POSIX compliant

Networking with TCP/IP

Two ANSI C compilers (ACK and gcc)

Over 300 UNIX programs

Many improvements since V2

Full multiuser and multiprogramming

Support for memory up to 4 GB

Device drivers run as user processes

Full C source code supplied

Runs on 386, 486, Pentium, etc.

Tech Tags: minix minix3 linux kernel freebsd

Restricted Formats - Install Packages

2005-10-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

In Ubuntu, many formats are not available as there are licensing or patents issues with such formats. Such examples are MP3s, which require about 75cents for every player that plays MP3 files. Other formats that are not available CODECs for DVD playback, Java, Realplayer, Flash, etc.
You can install them by following the steps in the the wiki page of Ubuntu.

Tech Tags: ubuntu linux gnu/linux mp3 ogg ogg+vorbis java dvd free+format realplayer codec

Package Management

2005-10-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

Applications for GNU/Linux are available in various formats like source(.tar.gz), deb, rpm. In my opinion Debian's package management is far superior than others as it automatically checks for dependancy packages and installs them too(there is yum forRedHat, but I don't use RedHat).
You can install/update/remove packages using synaptic package manager. Open synaptic from System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager.
You can find the interface easy to use. Just select your package at the upper-right corner and click the tick box. Synaptic automatically installs the dependency packages too if required.
So you may be asking from where does synaptic install the software. There are various repositories on the net that is used by synaptic to install or update the system. Usually we use the command line tools to install them, but synaptic gives a easy to use interface.
You can view the repositories or add new ones by going to the Settings>Repositories menu and a list of repositories are shown. Click settings and tick the Show Disabled software sources.
You can now see checkboxes next to the repositories.
Enable the Universe repository. You can also enable the Multiverse and the Universe Security updates repository. Save the changes.
You need to update the packages to obtain the list of packages in the repository.
After this, you can install the packages.

You can also add new Repositories. For eg
deb http://www.grawert.net/ubuntu/ warty universe
Here the various fields are
deb - neaning it is a binary
http://www.grawert.net/ubuntu/ - URi(Uniform Resource Identifier) which is the location of the repository
warty - the release name
universe - section name. There can be several sections seperated by a space.

Hope you have got a nice overview of the package management in Ubuntu.

Tech Tags: ubuntu linux gnu/linux repository deb apt synaptic breezy

Easy Ubuntu 2.3

2005-10-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

Easy Ubuntu is an easy way to make Ubuntu usable in few minutes. This is a beginner's tool using a graphical interface.

Easy Ubuntu allows you to:

Add extra repositories for installing a lot of additional software.
Install multimedia codecs for reading all videos, musics and DVDs.
Activate the "audio preview" feature in Nautilus.
Install the most needed Firefox plugins: Flash, Java, Real, videos. Adds Microsoft fonts, GNOME's Firefox buttons, officials Firefox icons.
Install archiving support for RAR and ACE.
Install the most used peer-to-peer softwares: aMule (a clone of eMule) and Azureus (for Bittorent).
Install the Skype voice-over-IP software. (Warning: at this time Skype is not packaged for Breezy so install don't work)
MSN: Install AMSN cvs with webcam support.
Num lock: Active the num lock at system startup.
Replace the GNOME foot logo with Ubuntu's logo.
Install the NVIDIA or ATI driver for 3D support.

I guess everyone using Ubuntu must get this and install. Really how easy life has become with free sotwares.

Tech Tags: ubuntu linux gnu/linux easy+ubuntu

Torrent list for Linux

2005-10-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice list of many torrent files for downloading your linux CDs.
http://linux.mybookmarkmanager.com/

Tech Tags: linux GNU/Linux torrent bittorrent bt Linux+cds iso

Ubuntu Linux Installation Guide

2005-10-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

After reading the live CD article. Live CDs are useful to try out linux and see what is so special about it. But as it runs from the CD, it isn't as fast as a installed version. Also you can't save any files to your harddisk.
So you think it is time to switch over to installed version of your favourite GNU/Linux. Here is a guide to do how...

I am going to write this guide with Ubuntu 5.10 (breezy) in mind and so you need to download the CD or order for free.

First stage

Put the CD in your CDROM drive and boot off it (change your BIOS configuration)

After the installer starts, press enter to start.

Choose your language, country and keyboard layout. The installer detects some hardware.

Now configure your network, if you are on one.

Partitioning the harddisk
This is the most important step and be careful as you can lose your data. Please take a backup of important data.
You have got two choices here

Automatically partition an entire disk - will erase the harddisk and install only Ubuntu.

Manually partition the disk. Resize your disk so that you get atleast 4GB for your root (/) partition and 256MB for your swap.

After finishing with the partition, save it and the installer formats your disk.

Then the base system is configured and then the packages are copied to the disk

Installing the boot loader
The bootloader is used to boot into many different operating systems by means of a menu. The installer automatically detects your OS and installs the GRUB loader.
After this, remove your disk and reboot.

Second stage

After rebooting, you need to configure your timezone.

Enter your full name, username and password. There is no root account in Ubuntu and there is a nice explanation for it.

If you have not setup your network, then you can setup your PPP to have a dial-up account for internet.

All the set of packages required for a basic desktop installation will be setup.

Now you can login to the system with your username/password.

I have written this guide using the Installation guide from the Ubuntu wiki. Hope it was useful for newbies. You can also try this book Beginning Ubuntu Linux by Keir Thomas to know more about Ubuntu Linux.
If at all you encounter any problems, please feel free to post here. Also tell me how good I am at writing such articles?

Tech Tags: ubuntu linux gnu/linux installation install i386 linux+install partition

Comparison of OpenOffice and MS Office

2005-10-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of my previous post about the release of OpenOffice.org 2.0. Here is a nice article which compares MS Office and OpenOffice 2.0. Check this out and choose your best Office application. Also tell me which features of MS Office you seldom use and would you be able to handle your daily office applications without those features?

Tech Tags: openoffice office opendocument OOo linux GNU/Linux msoffice microsoft openoffice2.0 xml pdf base

OpenOffice.org 2.0 released

2005-10-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

The much awaited OpenOffice.org 2.0 was released on 20 Oct, 2005.
OpenOffice.org natively supports the internationally standardised OpenDocument format, which several countries, as well as the U.S. state of Massachusetts, have established as the default for office documents. It is available in 36 languages (more promised) and as usual runs natively on GNU/Linux, Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac OS X and more. This new OpenDocument format prevents vendor lock-in and can be opened by any office application.
In addition to OpenDocument format, it has a new database module, improved PDF support, a superior spreadsheet module, enhanced Desktop integration and many more features.
View some of the nice screenshots here.
So, will the new OpenOffice2.0 be a serious competitor to MS Office and what will be the answer to the OpenDocument Format? We have to wait and watch.

Update: Here is the download link to the OpenOffice 2.0 version.

Tech Tags: openoffice office opendocument OOo linux GNU/Linux msoffice microsoft openoffice2.0 xml pdf base

ISO File - Explained

2005-10-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

An ISO file is the most popular format through which almost all GNU/Linux distributions are offered. By offering a single ISO file, the users can easily download the entire contents of the CD and burn it.
You have to burn the ISO properly and not as a single file. Your burning software will probably have some kind of facility to burn a CD image.

Tech Tags: ISO Linux distribution distro

GNU/Linux - Live CD

2005-10-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am writing this article for those of you who want to know more about the GNU/Linux system and how they can try it without risking their data.

GNU/Linux is a free (free as in freedom) operating system which can run on many platforms. GNU/Linux has many features like greater security, ability to run on low-end systems and so on. Moreover there are loads of free software preinstalled with a GNU/Linux that it make common tasks that you used to do with your Windows easy with GNU/Linux.
For those of you who would like to try GNU/Linux but would not want to install it before seeing the power of Linux, there is a solution. There are Live CDs of GNU/Linux that can be put in your CDROM drive to boot directly into a feature rich GNU/Linux system.
I would suggest two popular Live CDs

Knoppix is based on the Debian system which has more than 2GB of free softwares compressed onto a single CD.

Ubuntu is based on the now popular Ubuntu system (which is based on Debian).

So you have chosen your Distribution. Here are the steps to boot into your Linux box.

You just have to download the ISOs of the distribution you like and burn it onto a CD.

Pop it in your CDROM drive and adjust the boot sequence of your system to boot from the CD.

Boot your system and press Enter when shown.

Bingo! You have just booted into your GNU/Linux system.

If you want to return back to Windows, you just have to remove the CD and reboot, and you are back with your old Windows.
Play around with your system and wait for more articles on how to continue from your Live CD to a full fledged installed GNU/Linux system.
If at all you face any problems, feel free to comment here.

Tech Tags: Linux GNU/Linux Knoppix Ubuntu Live+CD Live CD Debian

Ballmer believes Vista is secure

2005-10-20T01:48:00.000-07:00

Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer believes that most of the security flaws has been removed in the forthcoming Windows Vista. He has said that "Most people will trust it from day one on their home computer, and then they will have to decide about their corporate [PC].
I encourage you to get it early but I must be honest among friends".
Microsoft has already mentioned early that the new Vista will be backward compatible with the older Windows programs. So how could they be so sure of the security it provides. I guess we need to wait and watch.

Quake IV to be released for Linux

2005-10-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Good news for gamers - Quake IV will be released for Linux platform.
Timothee ‘TTimo’ Besset from id Software confirmed officially that the next sequel of the Quake series, Quake IV will be released for the Linux platform. The dedicated server will be released around the same time as the Windows version. The linux client, might be delayed a week or two. Quake4 will use the Simple Direct Media Layer (SDL) backend for input and OpenGL on Linux. The low level sys code for Linux had been needing a good rewrite for several years, so it made sense to use SDL now. Quake 4 is the first game to utilize id Software’s revolutionary DooM 3 technology.
In the game, you are Matthew Kane, an elite member of Rhino Squad and Earth’s valiant invasion force. Fight alone, with your squad, and in hover tanks and mechanized walkers as you engage in a heroic mission into the heart of the Strogg war machine. But, in this epic war between worlds, the only way to defeat the Strogg is to become one of them. Battle through early missions as a deadly marine, then after your capture as a marine-turned-Strogg with enhanced abilities and the power to turn the tide of the war.

Tech Tags: games linux quake quake4 quakeIV doom id idsoftware software sdl opengl

Ironpython 0.9.3 released

2005-10-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

IronPython is the codename for an alpha release of the Python programming language for the .NET platform. It supports an interactive interpreter with fully dynamic compilation. It is well integrated with the rest of the framework and makes all .NET libraries easily available to Python programmers.

Tech Tags: python Ironpython Microsoft .net Net Software

Comparison of Solaris, Linux and FreeBSD Kernels

2005-10-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Here is an article which compares the kernels of Solaris, Linux and FreeBSD. This article is about the scheduling and schedulers, Memory Management, paging and File Systems. A must read for any Operating Systems student.

Tech Tags: solaris opensolaris linux freebsd bsd kernel

TrueCrypt - Free Disk Encryption Software

2005-10-17T01:56:00.000-07:00

TrueCrypt is a Free, open-source disk encryption software for Windows XP/2000/2003 that encrypts on the fly.

Main Features:

It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk.
It can encrypt an entire hard disk partition or a device, such as USB memory stick, floppy disk, etc.
Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:

Hidden volume (more information may be found here).
No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (TrueCrypt volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).

Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5, Serpent (256-bit key), Triple DES, and Twofish (256-bit key). Supports cascading (e.g., AES-Twofish-Serpent).
Based on Encryption for the Masses (E4M) 2.02a, which was conceived in 1997.

Tech Tags: encrypt decrypt security software

PyKeylogger 0.6.5 released

2005-10-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

PyKeylogger is a simple keylogger written in python. It is primarily designed for personal backup purposes, rather than stealth keylogging (though it can do that, too). It does not raise any trust issues, since it is a short python script that you can easily examine.

This is a bugfix release. Fixed the first-ever reported bug (1323518), logging to onefile.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pykeylogger

Tech Tags: Python Keylogger Programming SourceForge

Open Office RC3

2005-10-16T00:35:00.000-07:00

OpenOffice.org made available for free download a third release candidate of Version 2.0 of its popular open-source office suite Friday. The release includes bug fixes only and no new features.

The project had planned to release its final 2.0 version on Oct. 13â€”the fifth anniversary of the founding of the organizationâ€”but it decided to hold off due to a "show-stopping" problem with the software. No new date has been attached to the final release, but community manager Louis Suarez-Potts said it could be ready as early as next week or as late as the end of the month.

Tech Tags: openoffice Open Source Microsoft OO.o OOo

Ubuntu OEM Installation

2005-10-15T22:33:00.001-07:00

An OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) installation mode is now available for Ubuntu 5.10. This will help OEMs (lke HP, Dell or even your local computer store) to pre-install Ubuntu on a computer and sell it to you. Once you buy the computer, the first time you power up, you will be asked to set your time zone, create a new user and basically customize the computer for your use.

With the OEM installation mode, it is hoped that more and more vendors will pre-install Ubuntu on the computers they sell. This would increase the number of Home users using Free Softwares like GNU/Linux. OEM Installation can be done easily using the Install CD.
Here are the steps for OEM Installation:

The Ubuntu Wiki has some documentation about the OEM Installer. Here are the seven easy steps.

Place the Ubuntu 5.10 Install CD in the CD-ROM Drive and power on the computer.

At boot:, type oem and press Enter.

The Ubuntu 5.10 installer will run. Follow the on-screen instructions to start the installation.

Once the installation is complete, you will be informed that Ubuntu 5.10 has been fully installed and the computer is ready for shipping.

You can also run a system test to check if the installation of Ubuntu 5.10 OEM mode went smoothly. The system test will run the Ubuntu Hardware Database and will check if the hardware is configured correctly.

Sell the Computer (The next step is for the potential buyer)
Power on your new Ubuntu-powered computer (or laptop!). You will be asked to select your language, keyboard layout, time zone configuration, and create your first user account. The first user account created has administrative rights via sudo. Since Ubuntu 5.10 is a multi-user system, you can create more user accounts as needed.

Tech Tags: ubuntu linux OEM

Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger Released

2005-10-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default. The latest version Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger has been released (Ubuntu does keep up with its promise of 6 month release cycle.
Whats new in 5.10 is that it has been ported to three new architectures - HP PA-RISC, Intel IA64 and SPARC. The other major features are Thin Client Integration, OEM Installer support, LaunchPad Integration. See the list of other features available.

Ubuntu 5.10 ISOs can be downloaded from the official website or can also be ordered through the ShipIt Facility, which ships any number of CDs to you for free.

Tech Tags: Ubuntu Linux Debian Computing Technology

About Free Software Blog

2005-10-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Free Software Blog.
My name is Srinivasan and I have started this blog where I will post about the various Free Softwares available and how they could be used as a viable alternative to the proprietary ones.

I need to emphasise here about what I mean by Free Softwares.
Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction. Freedom from such restrictions is central to the concept of "free software", such that the opposite of free software is proprietary software, and not software which is sold for profit, such as commercial software. Free software may sometimes be known as libre software, FLOSS, or open source software.

According to Richard M Stallman and the FSF, Softwares which provides the following four freedoms are classified as Free Software.

the freedom to run the program for any purpose (called "freedom 0")
the freedom to study and modify the program ("freedom 1")
the freedom to copy the program so you can help your neighbor ("freedom 2")
the freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits ("freedom 3")

See the FSF Website to know more about Free Software and Freedom

In this blog I will post tutorials, tips and tricks on using free softwares instead of the proprietary ones, so that you would have the above mentioned freedoms. You can also comment on my articles so that it makes me to think. If you want me to write about some specific content, then please write to me at cnus8n@gmail.com.