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Linux and Open Source
Selena Frye
TechRepublic Staff
Selena Frye

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Microsoft loses yet another fanboy
Another one bytes the dust as Microsoft (and its ugly licensing practices) pushes a long-time fan away. Jack Wallen looks at what's in store for Microsoft.
Posted by Jack Wallen | February 19, 2013, 6:12 AM PST | Latest comment by ms344
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How to use the open source XOWA interface for Wikipedia
Marco Fioretti explains how to use a program that creates offline Wikipedia resources for users that don't have reliable Internet access. It could be a valuable tool for teachers in some...
Posted by Marco Fioretti | February 18, 2013, 9:00 AM PST | Latest comment by gnosygnu
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Email productivity trick: Time-shifted processing
Marco Fioretti offers a tip to keep from being distracted by non-urgent email. Learn how to time-shift email processing with a simple shell script.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | February 12, 2013, 5:30 AM PST
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Microsoft Office to Linux: Outlook doubtful
The rumors are rampant -- Microsoft is considering a port of MS Office to Linux. Jack Wallen tackles this topic and comes to a conclusion that might surprise you.
Posted by Jack Wallen | February 11, 2013, 6:49 AM PST | Latest comment by Slayer_
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Hardware neutrality: UEFI strikes again and again
The latest UEFI snafu involved the bricking of Samsung laptops. It's time that hardware vendors knew consumers and IT pros demand the right to hardware neutrality.
Posted by Jack Wallen | February 4, 2013, 8:24 AM PST | Latest comment by dpresley_50201@...
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How to compare the content of two or more directories automatically
Marco Fioretti suggests some ways in Linux to automatically compare the contents of multiple directories in order to find missing, duplicate, or unwanted files.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | February 4, 2013, 6:00 AM PST
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Running 'Linux scripts' on Mac or Windows systems
Marco Fioretti addresses the issue of taking scripts written for a Linux-based system and trying to use them on different systems like OS X and Windows.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | January 31, 2013, 8:40 AM PST | Latest comment by joelschuster
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GNOME 3: A new perspective
Jack Wallen takes another look at the GNOME 3 desktop and is surprised at what he finds. A desktop that is the target of much derision might deserve another chance.
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 28, 2013, 7:37 AM PST | Latest comment by BruceLandrum
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PicUntu: Tiny, powerful Linux distro for mini-PCs
In the world of tiny Linux, another pipsqueak checks in: PicUntu, based on Ubuntu Qantal 12.10, will run complex computer tasks at no more than 10W.
Posted by Selena Frye | January 23, 2013, 8:46 AM PST | Latest comment by brf531@...
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Fifty shades of open source
To many, open source is black and white -- software is either open or not. Jack Wallen sees the new world order in shades of gray and begs the open source community to be more open in their attitude.
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 21, 2013, 9:43 AM PST | Latest comment by SimonHobson
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Fedora 18 finally to be released with game-changing features
Fedora 18 is finally here (as of Jan. 15). Jack Wallen takes a look at some of the included features and draws the conclusion that the wait for Spherical Cow might well make up for the delay.
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 14, 2013, 7:56 AM PST | Latest comment by ruel24
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Analyzing and graphing weather data with wview
Scott Reeves shows how to extract climatological data from the open source weather program, wview. This data can be further analyzed or filtered using awk or Perl, and allows for the customization...
Posted by Scott Reeves | January 8, 2013, 6:00 AM PST
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Ubuntu on smartphones: What you need to know
Canonical announced that Ubuntu for smartphones is now a reality. Jack Wallen gives you a heads up on what you should know at this point and what he expects for the future of this platform.
Posted by Jack Wallen | January 7, 2013, 8:53 AM PST | Latest comment by steamIngenious
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How to find out which of your bookmarks are still valid
Marco Fioretti provides the script needed to automatically check your collected bookmarks for working links.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | January 2, 2013, 6:00 AM PST
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Get Spotify on your Linux desktop (and why you should)
Jack Wallen not only shows you how to install Spotify on your Ubuntu desktop, but reminds us how important it is to install, use, and even purchase these titles!
Posted by Jack Wallen | December 31, 2012, 6:00 AM PST | Latest comment by CharlieSpencer_Palmetto
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Scrapbook: A Firefox extension for personal Web archives and more
Marco Fioretti goes over the uses of Firefox's Scrapbook extension and gives you some tips and tricks for how to use it.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | December 24, 2012, 6:00 AM PST
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An open source holiday card to share
Here is a fun, interactive open source holiday card that you can modify and share with friends, courtesy of Protecode.
Posted by Selena Frye | December 20, 2012, 7:28 AM PST
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Top 10 Linux and open source posts for 2012
Here are the most-read posts for the Linux and Open Source blog in 2012.
Posted by Selena Frye | December 18, 2012, 6:00 AM PST | Latest comment by jkm2a
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12 Days of Christmas: What open source has given us
Jack Wallen plants his tongue in his cheek and has a go at the Twelve Days of Christmas -- open source style!
Posted by Jack Wallen | December 17, 2012, 6:00 AM PST
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How to convert and reuse all your WordPress posts
Marco Fioretti explains how to get your Wordpress posts into a format that you can use to convert them and reuse in other databases.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | December 11, 2012, 6:00 AM PST
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How to get Netflix streaming on Ubuntu 12.10
It's taken quite some time, but Netflix streaming video has finally arrived on the Ubuntu Linux desktop. In this easy, step-by-step, Jack Wallen shows you how.
Posted by Jack Wallen | December 10, 2012, 7:00 AM PST | Latest comment by balticbloand
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How to install GNOME 3.8 on Ubuntu
If you want to try Ubuntu 13.04, but prefer a different desktop than Unity, Jack Wallen shows you how you can install the latest iteration of GNOME Shell (3.8) and why you should give it a try.
Posted by Jack Wallen | April 29, 2013, 8:13 AM PDT | Latest comment by kitico@...
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How the Chromebook succeeds beyond all other Linux distributions
The Chromebook has taken off. It's a Linux-based device that has one key thing in its favor. Jack Wallen explains what he thinks it is.
Posted by Jack Wallen | May 13, 2013, 1:00 PM PDT | Latest comment by wizard57m-cnet
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Better than BackTrack? Kali Linux offers new brand of pen-testing tools
BackTrack Linux no more. The popular open source package of penetration testing tools now has a new platform and a new name.
Posted by Selena Frye | March 25, 2013, 2:22 PM PDT | Latest comment by nareshf
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Linux 101: File permissions from the GUI point of view
For new users to Linux, there might be times when you need to change the permissions of a file. Jack Wallen shows you how this is done without having to touch the command line. With just your file...
Posted by Jack Wallen | April 22, 2013, 11:08 AM PDT | Latest comment by The_Real_BSAFH
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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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How Linux found its home in the enterprise
Linux is uniquely suited to meet the demands of large-scale, enterprise computing. Jack Wallen traces its evolution and impact on enterprise systems.
Posted by Jack Wallen | May 6, 2013, 8:52 AM PDT | Latest comment by Sagax-
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How to tag all your audio files in the fastest possible way
Marco Fioretti shows you his method for tagging MP3 files with as much automation as possible so that you can impose a little order on music or other audio collections.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | February 23, 2012, 9:00 AM PST | Latest comment by egamingpark
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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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Linux 101: Easy VNC server setup
If you need to remote into your Linux server, VNC might be the best option. Jack Wallen walks you through the steps of setting up a VNC server on an rpm-based distribution.
Posted by Jack Wallen | March 18, 2013, 7:20 AM PDT | Latest comment by maszsam@...
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Set up easy file sharing with NFS on Linux
Particularly for Windows-less environments where Samba is not needed, NFS is an easy and reliable way to share files between Linux and UNIX systems. Vincent Danen takes you through the setup.
Posted by Vincent Danen | October 26, 2010, 6:25 AM PDT | Latest comment by techrepublic@...
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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 tsepty
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KeyBox makes controlling your servers easier
Convenient, browser-based management of remote servers is possible with a free open source tool called KeyBox. Marco Fioretti explains how to install and use it.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | April 19, 2013, 6:00 AM PDT
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How to set up a Linux OpenVPN client
Vincent Danen follows up his tip on setting up OpenVPN server with these steps to set up a Linux client on OpenVPN.
Posted by Vincent Danen | October 18, 2010, 5:00 AM PDT
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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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Create your own yum repository
Vincent Danen explains how to create your own yum repository with the createrepo tool. One thing it allows you to do is to distribute specialized packages within an organization.
Posted by Vincent Danen | May 11, 2009, 1:30 PM PDT | Latest comment by gigi.mathew-1@...
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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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How to join Ubuntu to a Windows Workgroup
Do you need to join your Linux workstation to a Windows Workgroup? Believe it or not, it isn't a challenging task. In this Open Source blog, Jack Wallen walks you through the steps so that your...
Posted by Jack Wallen | November 2, 2010, 5:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by BrightLibra@...
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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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How to preview Ubuntu Unity Smart Scopes
Although the Unity Smart Scopes project has been delayed until the Ubuntu 13.10 release, it is still an amazing tool. Jack Wallen shows you how to get the Unity Smart Scopes installed on your...
Posted by Jack Wallen | April 15, 2013, 8:30 AM PDT

































