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Posts tagged Linux
Digsby open for download to all
Mar 22nd
I tried Digsby after reading about it on a website. This is one Instant Messenger that exceeds expectations for me. I dont have a Mac so have not tried Adium that people talk about so much, but I compared Digsby to the features that Adium had to offer and there are hardly that these people have missed out on. Beautiful skinning, ability to reply from the pop up and not have to deal with the main window. Support for almost all the popular protocols, Video chat and many more. What else would you want.
When I tried it, it was open for download for a restricted group. But it is open for download for all here.
It is totally worth at least one try.
P.S: Its available for dowload for all platforms. Windows, Mac and Linux.
——————-
Update(Thanks Mark for letting me know that)
The Mac version of Digsby is not yet available. They have a mailing system setup where you can be intimidated when it is available. I think iChat and Adium are good enough till then
Ubuntu 8.04 beta released
Mar 22nd
This is something that people have been waiting from a long time. The next LTS version of the most popular Linux distro might soon be released in another months time. The beta is already up for download here.
Looking at what all has been talked about this new distro, this definitely pushes up the expectations. Let me just highlight some of the new features that are offered in Hardy Heron.(thats the code name for 8.04)
Brand new Xorg – People at canonical have the latest xorg 7.3 put into this baby. It allows greater customizability with minimal effort.
Linux Kernel 2.6.24 – Thats an impressive effort of upgrading the kernel. For some reason when I upgraded from 7.04 to 7.10 on my laptop, the new kernel refused to work on my laptop. Hopefully, the new kernel works this time.
Gnome 2.22 – I’ve heard great things about the new gnome. Still have’nt had a look at it. Lets see how good it is.
PulseAudio – People say this is the best thing that ever happened to Ubuntu. They have upgraded to a lot more stable audio handline software.
Firefox 3 Beta 4 – I use the new version of Firefox and it simple kicks ass. It was an obvious thing for Ubuntu to include the new Firefox.
Transmission – I have used Azureus on Ubuntu and its an absolute wastage of effort and is very ineffecient. Transmission was an obvious thing to include.
World Clock Applet – One of the most noticeable changes is the world clock applet which provides a lot more information than the previous one.
There is one huge upgrade in the 8.04 Hardy Heron. Its called Wubi. This is what the Ubuntu website has to say about it.
There is a new installation option for Windows users. Wubi allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application. It does not require a dedicated partition, nor does it affect the existing bootloader, yet users can experience a dual-boot setup almost identical to a full installation. Wubi works with a physical CD or in stand-alone mode, by downloading an appropriate ISO to install from. It can be found on the root of the CD as Wubi.exe. A full installation within a dedicated partition is still recommended, but Wubi is a great way to try Ubuntu for a few days and weeks before committing dedicated disk resources.
I am waiting to lay my hands on this thing. There are lot of things that the new version would be teaching to other distros.
My previous title was misleading but its just the beta which has been released. Sorry for the misguiding information
What if Microsoft made Linux
Mar 8th
A really interesting and very true to its description graphic.
This has always been my biggest concern. Windows is always an over bloated operating system. For me an operating system needs to be just an empty box. The user should then have the option of filling it up with things.
Things you can do on Linux but not on a Mac or Windows PC
Feb 5th
Was going through this article and found something that really interested me. This is a short list of some of the things that you can do on a Linux machine but not on a PC or Mac.
1. Upgrade to the newest version legally and without paying money
2. Have the latest version of the operating system run faster than the previous version on the same hardware
3. Easily install and run different graphical interfaces if I don’t like the default setup
4. Install twenty programs with one command
5. Have the system automatically update all my installed programs for me.
6. Install the same copy of my OS (Ubuntu) on multiple computers without worrying about license restrictions or activation keys
7. Give away copies of the operating system and other programs that run on it without breaking any laws, governmental or ethical or moral, because it was all intended to be used this way
8. Have full control over my computer hardware and know that there are no secret back doors in my software, put there by malicious software companies or governments
9. Run without using a virus scanner, adware/spyware protection, and not reboot my computer for months, even when I do keep up with all of the latest security updates
10. Run my computer without needing to defragment my hard drive, ever
11. Try out software, decide I don’t like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn’t leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine
12. Make a major mistake that requires a complete reinstallation and be able to do it in less than an hour, because I put all of my data on a separate partition from the operating system and program files
13. Boot into a desktop with flash and effects as cool as Windows Vista on a three year old computer…in less than 40 seconds, including the time it takes me to type my username and password to login
14. Customize anything I want, legally, including my favorite programs. I can even track down the software developers to ask them questions, contribute ideas, and get involved in the actual design/software writing process if I want to
15. Have 4+ word processor windows open working on papers, listen to music, play with flashy desktop effects, have contact with a largely happy community and have firefox, instant messaging, and email clients all open at the same time, without ever having had to beg someone for a code to make my os work, and without the system running so slow it is useless
16. Use the command “dpkg –get-selections > pkg.list” to make a full, detailed list of all software I have installed, backup my /etc and /home directories on a separate partition, and you are able to recover your system any time, easily
17. Run multiple desktops simultaneously, or even allow multiple users to log in and use the computer simultaneously
18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it
19. Use the same hardware for more than 5 years before it really needs to be replaced…I have some hardware that is nearly 10 years old, running Linux, and still useful
20. Browse the web while the OS is being installed!
21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system…eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer’s website to locate one
22. Get the source code for almost anything, including the OS kernel and most of my applications
Some Funny and real Linux commands
Sep 30th
% cat “food in cans”
cat: can’t open food in cans
% nice man woman
No manual entry for woman.
% “How would you rate Quayle’s incompetence?
Unmatched “.
% Unmatched “.
Unmatched “.
% [Where is Jimmy Hoffa?
Missing ].
% ^How did the sex change operation go?^
Modifier failed.
% If I had a ( for every $ the Congress spent, what would I have?
Too many (‘s.
% make love
Make: Don’t know how to make love. Stop.
% sleep with me
bad character
% got a light?
No match.
% man: why did you get a divorce?
man:: Too many arguments.
% !:say, what is saccharine?
Bad substitute.
% %blow
%blow: No such job.
% \(-
(-: Command not found.
$ PATH=pretending! /usr/ucb/which sense
no sense in pretending!
$ drink matter
matter: cannot create
With respect from http://frankmash.blogspot.com/2006/03/linux-commands-funny-linux-commands.html
5 reasons why your parents should start using Linux
Sep 29th
I am back to my promotion of Linux for users. I have been working on a Linux box at office for more than a month and have never restarted the machine till now. The amazing thing is that it is as good as it was when I got it. I have worked with Dell in the Technical Support division and have been a rescue agent for friends for quite some time now. People have always complained to me about how slow their machines have become and how their brothers/sisters have screwed it up by installing some software. Well, its time that people realize that there is one permanent solution for this and this is what I will be talking about. The solution is simple. Switch to Linux. Reasons? Simple 5.
1. Security – Undoubtedly, the most secure computing environment you can work on. There is no need of an anti-virus or an anti-spyware. And it takes balls of steel to remotely screw a Linux machine. How cool is that.
2. Cost – The damn OS costs you nothing and runs on the most basic machines(even more than 5 years old ones). Almost all the software that you run on Linuxis for free and there is a replacement for almost all windows software that I will mention.
3. Hardware – I have tried Ubuntu on my 4 year old desktop and all the hardware is supported. And there is tons of support for forums online that you can use to fix things.
4. Administration – It requires hardly any administration. Just the basic installation and you are all set. All that a bummer might want to know is to click the button to update the libraries.
5. Dell – This is one move that I really appreciate from Dell. They are selling computer that run out of the box with all hardware supported.
One last thing which is my favourite is the software installation. I simply love my apt. Upgrading packages, adding repo’s and removing software has never been easier. It always makes sure that you have the latest software.
Now talking about the famous replacement that can help you with the most common tasks.
Windows: Internet Explorer
Linux: Mozilla Firefox
Windows: MS Outlook
Linux: Mozilla Thunderbird or Evolution
Windows: Solitaire
Linux: AisleRiot Solitaire
Windows: ITunes
Linux: Banshee or Amarok(My Favourite. checkout the auto retreival of album art. it kicks ass)
Windows: MS Word
Linux: OpenOffice.org
A final word. It will take some effort to get around the new environment. But trust me, the effort and patience is worth it. SWITCH.
10 features that Linux has and windows does not
Sep 28th
These days, I am acting like an ambassador to have people switch to Linux from their crappy Windows machines. So what is it that Linux has and Windows does not ?
- A useful terminal emulator. So what if it’s only useful for developers: I’m a developer. I like a terminal with capable cut-and-paste, tabs, and resizing.
- All-in-one application sources. Man, I love my
apt. Finding and downloading applications for Windows is a crap-shoot in almost every way. I find this especially handy when building new systems: it takes far longer to build, update, and add needed applications on a Windows system than on most Linux systems. - Cut-and-paste, and focus handling. Middle-click cut-and-paste is even more useful than middle-clicking a URL to a new tab, and XWindows does scroll-wheel window focusing right (scrolls the window under the cursor).
- Frequent, painless patches and new stuff, all the time. I’ve had a 3d desktop (compiz) and funky search (deskbar) for more than a year now (and I avoid the bleeding edge).
- Multi-desktops. Using a single desktop now is a lot like working at a grade-school desk: it’s just too small to be useful.
- Good, free tools. Like vim (or emacs). I know they’re old and crusty, but they both live and breathe text editing.
- No reboots. I rarely have to reboot a Linux system when patching. Windows is getting better about reboots, but they’re still too frequent.
- Open formats and protocols. My stuff (and my network) is mine, locking my stuff in proprietary, costly formats doesn’t work for me.
- No need for paranoia. I don’t like the anti-malware tax: the cost, the CPU cycles, and the wasted fear. Signed application bundles are a big part of how Linux gets this right: you don’t have to fear installing new stuff (the rest is in frequent patching and limiting possible damage).
- Respect. Don’t tell me what or how to do it: give me choices. And don’t treat me like a criminal, because I’m not.
Scraped with respect from warpedvisions.org
A beginners guide to using the mighty Terminal
Aug 8th
When I started working on Linux(Ubuntu) for the very first time, I had no idea of how powerful the terminal was and above all what to type in there. But over the years, I have learnt quite some with the help of friends and resources. I thought if there was some doc which would give people a good idea of all the necessary commands, it would be great. So did some searching on Google and found this really nice PDF from fosswire.com which shows the mostly used ones on Unix. Its a must download –> Unix Reference.
Do let me know if anyone wants other such resources as I do have quite a few of them which are available for free and they are a great source of learning.
Install Internet Explorer on Linux
Aug 8th
One of the limitations that I was facing on using my Ubuntu workstation was the non availability of Internet Explorer for sites that show up well in Internet Explorer. I was aware of this thing called IEs 4 Linux but did not have the patience to install it. But it a big requirement now and I decided to make a compilation of notes on how to install it for various distros of linux. Below are the instructions to install it on several Linux platforms.
Installing on Ubunutu :-
1) Open a terminal
2) Open /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
3) Uncomment (or add) following lines:
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy universe
4) Add this line:
deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt edgy main
5) Close gedit. Update and install wine and cabextract:
wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine cabextract
6) Download IEs 4 Linux and install
wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux
Installing on Fedora :-
Its even more easier now that its the YUM installer
Open a terminal. Log in as root to install wine and cabextract:
yum -y install wine*
yum -y install cabextract
Logout and install IEs 4 Linux with your normal user account:
wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux
Installing on Gentoo :-
Open a terminal. Log in as root to install wine and cabextract:
emerge wine cabextract
Logout and install IEs 4 Linux with your normal user account:
wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux
Installing on Debian :-
Debian Sarge needs some steps before you install IEs4Linux:
1) You need a rather recent wine and libxxf86dga1, get it from backports.org: in /etc/apt/sources.list, add:
#wine
deb http://wine.sourceforge.net/apt/ binary/
#backports
deb http://www.backports.org/debian/ sarge-backports main
2) Login as root and do:
apt-get update
apt-get install wine libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 cabextract
3) Logout and login with a user account. Download and install IEs4Linux:
wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux
A great solution to media support on Windows – CodecInstaller
Jul 30th
There have been so many times when I had to download another music player or a video player software just because my Windows Media Player was not able to play a particular format. Unfortunately there was no way in Windows through which we can install just the media codec but not the players. I found a really good solution to this problem. This tool is called CodecInstaller and is free for download. This I found is very similar to Automatix in Linux. So how to get it working?
Just download Codec Installer from their website. Once you install it, you will be able to get a complete detail of all the codecs that are already installed on your computer in the forms of Audio and video. But the best thing about this utility is the Analyze file feature. A lot of the videos that I watch are encoded in Avi. If there are some that you are not able to play, all you need to do is analyze the file and install the missing codec.
I think this would serve the purpose for people like me who dont want to install a whole lot of player or codec packs like K-Lite Mega Codec.
