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Linux and Open Source
Selena Frye
TechRepublic Staff
Selena Frye
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Try kismet for detecting hidden 802.11 wireless networks
Kismet is an open source tool similar to netstumbler, and it's particularly good for discovering hidden wireless networks that might be adversely affecting your network.
Posted by Scott Reeves | December 2, 2011, 8:18 AM PST | Latest comment by Neon Samurai
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How to make your own GNOME terminals
Marco Fioretti shows you how to create GNOME terminals that are customized to your needs and highly portable.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | November 28, 2011, 12:30 PM PST | Latest comment by cliff@...
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Linux Mint 12: A much-needed, much-improved Linux desktop
With the best of both GNOME worlds, Linux Mint has managed to create the perfect combination of new and familiar features. Jack Wallen examines the latest release, "Lisa".
Posted by Jack Wallen | November 28, 2011, 6:50 AM PST | Latest comment by jeb.hoge@...
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Use vgcfgbackup and vgcfgrestore to back up metadata on LVM
Scott Reeves shows how to use two handy commands to back up and restore volume group metadata on LVM.
Posted by Scott Reeves | November 25, 2011, 9:00 AM PST
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Four Emacs tricks that will help you type less
Emacs users appreciate its time-saving features, namely decreasing the amount of routine typing that you do. Marco Fioretti shares four tips for added shortcuts.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | November 21, 2011, 12:51 PM PST
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Mandriva's Powerpack 2011 propels it back into the forefront of Linux distros
Jack Wallen takes the new Mandriva Powerpack 2011 distribution for a spin, curious to see a return to form after years of near-irrelevancy.
Posted by Jack Wallen | November 21, 2011, 7:28 AM PST | Latest comment by lordofserbia
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openSUSE 12.1 makes its debut with Google Go support and more
Check out the latest release of openSuse -- the first distribution to ship with the Google Go development language and also sporting improvements in cloud and virtualization tools.
Posted by Selena Frye | November 18, 2011, 11:27 AM PST | Latest comment by jkameleon@...
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How to use whiptail to write interactive shell scripts
Marco Fioretti shows you how to use whiptail, a program that lets you create a variety of dialog boxes from a shell script.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | November 14, 2011, 2:24 PM PST
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Will 12.04 changes bring Ubuntu back to prominence?
Jack Wallen looks at the rumored changes and updates for Ubuntu 12.04 and offers his perspective on how they might help or hinder Ubuntu's rise to prominence in the Linux world.
Posted by Jack Wallen | November 14, 2011, 8:35 AM PST | Latest comment by emgub
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What's new in Fedora 16 (Verne)
Fedora 16 "Verne" is the newest release of this techie Linux distribution. Check out the newest features and tools, including virtualization and cloud enhancements.
Posted by Selena Frye | November 11, 2011, 10:36 AM PST
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How to use Gkrellmd to monitor Linux boxes automatically
Marco Fioretti shares an example script you can customize to automatically monitor your systems with Gkrellmd and take actions based on your instructions.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | November 7, 2011, 1:43 PM PST
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Xubuntu, so close, but not quite there
Jack Wallen jumps the generic Ubuntu ship for the faster, cleaner waters of Xubuntu. But is Xubuntu everything it could (and should be)? Check out Jack's opinion on this distribution "that could".
Posted by Jack Wallen | November 7, 2011, 6:53 AM PST | Latest comment by janitorman
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Fedora project proposes major changes to filesystem hierarchy
Red Hat developers are proposing a fairly significant change to the Linux/Unix filesystem hierarchy. Find out what they're trying to fix, and what it could potentially break, if it goes forward.
Posted by Selena Frye | November 4, 2011, 11:05 AM PDT | Latest comment by peter_erskine@...
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Tips to help you move faster using shell history commands
Marco Fioretti points out the many time-saving uses of the shell history to help you work more efficiently.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | October 31, 2011, 2:38 PM PDT
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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.
Posted by Jack Wallen | October 31, 2011, 6:51 AM PDT | Latest comment by lcafiero
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Who doesn't want a new Puppy? New releases from Puppy Linux
The Puppy Linux Project has been busy with several new versions: "Wary," Lucid, and Slacko. Check out some of the new features for each.
Posted by Selena Frye | October 25, 2011, 10:09 AM PDT
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File system migrations using tar and dump
Scott Reeves answers a reader's question about migrating an existing ext4 file system to LVM. Here are some tips about how to copy the old files to a new file system using dump and tar.
Posted by Scott Reeves | October 24, 2011, 11:08 AM PDT | Latest comment by Brainstorms
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Getting Bodhi Linux up to speed
Jack Wallen has a new favorite Linux distribution. But that distribution can use some help getting up to speed after installation. Here, Jack shows you what to add for more features in Bodhi Linux.
Posted by Jack Wallen | October 24, 2011, 7:57 AM PDT | Latest comment by pierre0408
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Ubuntu 11.10 brings Ubuntu Unity closer to fine
With the release of Ubuntu 11.10, Ubuntu Unity makes some progress on the desktop front. Is it enough? Jack Wallen offers his take on the state of the desktop from Canonical.
Posted by Jack Wallen | October 17, 2011, 7:57 AM PDT | Latest comment by pegcityjammer
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My number one reason to use Mutt: Managing multiple profiles
Marco Fioretti shares his favorite tricks for creating and managing email profiles in Mutt.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | October 12, 2011, 6:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by mfioretti
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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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Put vector graphics in your Web pages with Pygal
Pygal is an open source program that allows you to create vector graphics for your website. Here is how to install it.
Posted by Marco Fioretti | April 25, 2013, 11:45 AM PDT
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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
