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Linux and Open Source
Selena Frye
TechRepublic Staff
Selena Frye

Must-Read Post
Best Linux distributions for hardware detection and older hardware
Jack Wallen responds to a question from a long-time Linux fan about small distributions and hardware support. Here is Jack's advice on lightweight distributions.
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Gentoo-based Sabayon Linux 8 available for download
Gentoo-based Sabayon Linux version 8 is available. Check out some of the features.
Posted by Selena Frye | February 10, 2012, 12:35 PM PST
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How to make backup files that never exceed a predefined size
Marco Fioretti offers a script that you can use to create backups that don't exceed a certain file size, making it easier to spread backups across various storage media or services.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | February 7, 2012, 12:20 PM PST
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RIP Compiz
Jack Wallen bids a fond farewell to the Compiz desktop compositor, which looks all but dead now that Fedora is dropping it from its upcoming release.
Posted by Jack Wallen | February 6, 2012, 8:34 AM PST | Latest comment by gordon@...
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Why and how to migrate your (old) mailboxes to IMAP and Maildir
Marco Fioretti provides the steps to automatically move your old mailboxes to IMAP and MailDir.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | February 1, 2012, 9:00 AM PST
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Webcasts
Live Webcast: Fast and Efficient Business Security Strategies
Check out this webcast to learn more about fast and efficient business security strategies. You're in the midst of an arms race, make sure you win it.
From: GFI Software
Learn more -

White Papers
Prevent Your Next Server Room Mishap With Proper Monitoring
Check out this white paper to learn more about monitoring systems and how they can help prevent your next server room mishap.
From: APC by Schneider Electric
Read more -
iperf: a simple but powerful tool for troubleshooting networks
Scott Reeves demonstrates the use of iperf, which provides basic information on throughput, packet loss, and jitter to help you troubleshoot UDP and TCP issues.
Posted by Scott Reeves | January 30, 2012, 11:26 AM PST
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KDE 4.8 minor tweaks, major improvement
Jack Wallen takes a look at KDE 4.8. Will the latest release of this powerful KDE Linux desktop bring him back to KDE?
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 30, 2012, 8:33 AM PST | Latest comment by paulfx1
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Ice.com: Combining the cloud and open source
Not everyone is ready to make the leap to the cloud, but one innovative retailer is showing what benefits they realized by combining open source and cloud tech for a brand-new platform.
Posted by Guest Contributor | January 25, 2012, 1:27 PM PST | Latest comment by Palmetto_CharlieSpencer
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8 ways to use email header info and how to extract it
Marco Fioretti offers a tip to help you sort and process random emails by extracting the email header info first. Here are eight tasks you can accomplish with this script.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | January 23, 2012, 11:04 AM PST | Latest comment by mfioretti
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Apple's dirty little EULA publishing secret
Jack Wallen investigates the Apple iBook EULA and explains why authors better beware of what they are agreeing to if they use the iBook publishing platform.
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 23, 2012, 7:14 AM PST | Latest comment by n4aof@...
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Don't miss developments from Linux.conf.au 2012
TechRepublic Australia is has been covering the Linux.conf.au 2012 conference in Ballarat this week. Here's the low-down on some very provocative sessions.
Posted by Selena Frye | January 20, 2012, 12:32 PM PST
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How to automatically insert photographs in LaTeX files
Marco Fioretti explains how to insert photographs automatically in LaTeX files -- a technique that may be tweaked to suit a number of general uses.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | January 17, 2012, 10:42 AM PST
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Microsoft back to dirty pool with UEFI Secure Boot
With the UEFI Secure Boot it seems MS is back to some of their old, dirtier practices. This time around it involves the ARM platform. Does Windows 8 want to be the only player on tablets and phones?
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 17, 2012, 6:00 AM PST | Latest comment by Slayer_
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Use kismon to view kismet log files
Scott Reeves introduces a GUI front-end available to users of Kismet, the wireless network detecting tool.
Posted by Scott Reeves | January 11, 2012, 9:00 AM PST
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Mandriva in danger of closing its doors
Jack Wallen gives his take on the rumors of Mandriva closing its doors. January 16, 2012 is but a Monday away. Would the closing of Mandriva's doors have a lasting effect on the Linux landscape?
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 9, 2012, 7:38 AM PST | Latest comment by ds4211a@...
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Command line calendars and some little known uses for them
Why would you want to use a command line calendar? Marco Fioretti tells you how they can be used and what the benefits are.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | January 9, 2012, 6:00 AM PST | Latest comment by mfioretti
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Ubuntu tablet on the way? CES buzz for 'concept design'
Will Canonical unveil an Ubuntu-based tablet or smartphone next week at CES 2012? A company blog post promises to reveal an "exclusive Ubuntu concept design." Check out the rumor mill.
Posted by Selena Frye | January 5, 2012, 12:56 PM PST | Latest comment by ubducted
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Linux design needs to be out of the hands of developers
Why does the Linux desktop suffer so much? Jack Wallen thinks he has the answer to this question that has been in play for a very long time. See if you agree with the conclusion Jack has drawn.
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 3, 2012, 6:53 AM PST | Latest comment by vancevep
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How to use shell functions to fetch information online
Marco Fioretti shows two examples of shell functions that you can use for web scraping when all you need is a quick way to extract text from a given website.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | January 2, 2012, 9:00 AM PST | Latest comment by mfioretti
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Fearless open source predictions for 2012
Jack Wallen makes his annual predictions for the coming year. It's going to be a banner year in many ways. See if you agree with Jack's prognostications.
Posted by Jack Wallen | December 26, 2011, 6:00 AM PST | Latest comment by AES2
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Get a Humble Bundle of games for the holidays
You've got seven days left to pick up Humble Bundle #4 -- a package of cross-platform, DRM-free games. Set your own price and designate your purchase for charity if you choose.
Posted by Selena Frye | December 20, 2011, 12:11 PM PST
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RIP Compiz
Jack Wallen bids a fond farewell to the Compiz desktop compositor, which looks all but dead now that Fedora is dropping it from its upcoming release.
Posted by Jack Wallen | February 6, 2012, 8:34 AM PST | Latest comment by gordon@...
-
8 ways to use email header info and how to extract it
Marco Fioretti offers a tip to help you sort and process random emails by extracting the email header info first. Here are eight tasks you can accomplish with this script.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | January 23, 2012, 11:04 AM PST | Latest comment by mfioretti
-
Apple's dirty little EULA publishing secret
Jack Wallen investigates the Apple iBook EULA and explains why authors better beware of what they are agreeing to if they use the iBook publishing platform.
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 23, 2012, 7:14 AM PST | Latest comment by n4aof@...
-
KDE 4.8 minor tweaks, major improvement
Jack Wallen takes a look at KDE 4.8. Will the latest release of this powerful KDE Linux desktop bring him back to KDE?
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 30, 2012, 8:33 AM PST | Latest comment by paulfx1
-

Webcasts
Live Webcast: Fast and Efficient Business Security Strategies
Check out this webcast to learn more about fast and efficient business security strategies. You're in the midst of an arms race, make sure you win it.
From: GFI Software
Learn more -

White Papers
Prevent Your Next Server Room Mishap With Proper Monitoring
Check out this white paper to learn more about monitoring systems and how they can help prevent your next server room mishap.
From: APC by Schneider Electric
Read more -
Microsoft back to dirty pool with UEFI Secure Boot
With the UEFI Secure Boot it seems MS is back to some of their old, dirtier practices. This time around it involves the ARM platform. Does Windows 8 want to be the only player on tablets and phones?
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 17, 2012, 6:00 AM PST | Latest comment by Slayer_
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GNOME Shell vs. Ubuntu Unity: Which desktop wins?
The war is almost on: GNOME Shell vs. Ubuntu Unity. Both have been available long enough to draw the conclusion as to which will rise above and find success. Jack Wallen offers up his take on the...
Posted by Jack Wallen | February 28, 2011, 8:00 AM PST | Latest comment by esp02
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iperf: a simple but powerful tool for troubleshooting networks
Scott Reeves demonstrates the use of iperf, which provides basic information on throughput, packet loss, and jitter to help you troubleshoot UDP and TCP issues.
Posted by Scott Reeves | January 30, 2012, 11:26 AM PST
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How do I... Connect a Mac OS X machine to a Samba share?
Working (or living) within a Linux-based network is become more and more commonplace. And with the popularity of Mac OS X rising, Apple-based computers have to play well inside a Linux network....
Posted by Jack Wallen | February 26, 2008, 12:22 PM PST | Latest comment by pauljunior.jeanmarie
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Chroot users with OpenSSH: An easier way to confine users to their home directories
With the release of OpenSSH 4.9p1, you no longer have to rely on third-party hacks or complicated chroot setups to confine users to their home directories or give them access to SFTP services....
Posted by Vincent Danen | June 24, 2008, 6:07 AM PDT | Latest comment by infam0us1
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Why and how to migrate your (old) mailboxes to IMAP and Maildir
Marco Fioretti provides the steps to automatically move your old mailboxes to IMAP and MailDir.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | February 1, 2012, 9:00 AM PST
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Tuning NFS for better performance
The Network File System (NFS) is still very popular on Linux systems, but it can use some help to increase performance by tweaking the relatively conservative defaults that most Linux...
Posted by Vincent Danen | June 11, 2007, 10:12 AM PDT
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How to set up an OpenVPN server
Vincent Danen shows you how to set up OpenVPN and takes you through some of the tricky configuration steps to get you up and running quickly.
Posted by Vincent Danen | October 12, 2010, 6:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by jack6666
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Using smartctl to get SMART status information on your hard drives
Vincent Danen has some tips for using the smartmontools package to obtain important information about the health of your hard drives that could provide early warning signs of problems.
Posted by Vincent Danen | March 30, 2010, 5:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by jack6666
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VirtualBox Seamless Mode: The only way to virtualize
For many new users, VMs are nothing more than another stumbling block to understanding how PCs are used. Jack Wallen takes a look at VirtualBox's Seamless Mode and shows how this exceptional...
Posted by Jack Wallen | July 13, 2009, 6:58 AM PDT | Latest comment by izhar.aazmi
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Encrypting and decrypting files with GnuPG
GnuPG, the open replacement for PGP, is an excellent tool to manage cryptographic signatures to files or e-mails for validity and integrity, as well as a tool to encrypt and decrypt sensitive...
Posted by Vincent Danen | February 15, 2008, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by jack6666
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Hack the D-Link DNS-323 to get an array of Linux server options
Vincent Danen tells you how the D-Link DNS-323 NAS box can be hacked with a set of scripts to become a full-fledged Linux server. See the options that are available for you to customize on this...
Posted by Vincent Danen | April 19, 2011, 6:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by gh0988@...
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Configure Apache to support multiple SSL sites on a single IP address
With Apache 2.2.12 and support for the SNI (Server Name Indication) extension to the SSL protocol, you can configure name-based HTTPS sites, just as you can name-based HTTP sites. Vincent Danen...
Posted by Vincent Danen | October 19, 2009, 6:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by Lunfa
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Remotely monitor servers with the Nagios check_by_ssh plugin
If you are using Nagios to monitor remote servers, you have more than one method to execute checks, including the use of the check_by_ssh plugin. Vincent Danen tells you how to set up this plugin...
Posted by Vincent Danen | January 20, 2009, 6:00 AM PST
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Why I chose Zorin OS 5 Ultimate as my go-to distribution
Ivan Kirkpatrick reviews the Ubuntu-based distribution of Linux called Zorin and explains why he finds it to be a good fit for his computing needs.
Posted by Ivan Kirkpatrick | September 26, 2011, 12:45 PM PDT
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Is tmux the GNU Screen killer?
Many sysadmins swear by the usefulness of GNU Screen, but a competing terminal multiplexer called tmux looks like it may be the superior option.
Posted by Chad Perrin | October 25, 2010, 6:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by paulgraydon@...
-

Webcasts
Live Webcast: Fast and Efficient Business Security Strategies
Check out this webcast to learn more about fast and efficient business security strategies. You're in the midst of an arms race, make sure you win it.
From: GFI Software
Learn more -

White Papers
Prevent Your Next Server Room Mishap With Proper Monitoring
Check out this white paper to learn more about monitoring systems and how they can help prevent your next server room mishap.
From: APC by Schneider Electric
Read more







































