Linux
CategoryHaving the BASH history command work for you
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Whether you are a new user to Linux or a veteran of 15 years – the beauty of the environment is there is always something new to learn or otherwise expand upon your base knowledge. The command line can be a love/hate relationship with many a user but one thing’s for certain, many many tasks and operations are just plain faster to accomplish here than with a traditional GUI. As I went about my day I thought I’d detail a few tips that I leverage quite extensively. All these shortcuts and efficiencies today leverage one … Continue Reading
Determining the memory size, speed, type installed in Linux
System memory, or RAM, is so absurdly cheap today – often times it’s one of the easiest PC upgrades to do that actually affect your day to day performance. What you determined sufficient two years ago when you purchased your PC likely is different today. Software continues to evolve, or bloat as some may suggest, so throwing a few dollars at an elder PC may stave off the upgrade urge another year. Unfortunately, the age of your PC can also be the downfall when it comes time to upgrading it – do you still remember … Continue Reading
Using ^ to correct command line mistakes
Even though we all profess to being keyboard ninjas we all have the occasional fat-finger moment and a typo creeps in. When you turn to the command line, in either Windows or Linux, it’s generally in an attempt to accomplish a task faster than it would normally take when you used a traditional GUI. It’s easy to see then how a typo destroys all that efficiency you graved in the first place! Sometimes our fingers just can’t keep up with our minds in this instance. Terminal users in Linux or even OS X have an … Continue Reading
Tackle carpal tunnel by taking regular breaks with Workrave
We are spending more and more time at our computers; you don’t have to work in the IT field to find yourself staring at a screen for hours on end. Because we spend entirely too much time in such a state, carpal tunnel is a very real problem most everyone will face at some point unless our habits change. Studies show that even taking just taking a break of a few minutes for every hour of use is often enough to minimize any of the repetitive stress injuries that can occur. However, RSI or carpal … Continue Reading
Using Granola to reduce the cost of running your PC
Saving energy isn’t just the popular thing to do, it’s right thing to do. Whether you believe in the impact of society on global warming or not, you probably are still receptive to saving a few dollars on your electricity bill? All modern PCs behave quite nicely with Windows built-in power management features such as Stand By and Hibernate. While hibernate might be a tougher conversion to make due to it’s slower by design resume feature, stand-by is something the majority of us should use. Unless your PC is actually doing something while you are … Continue Reading
Creating a bootable USB thumb drive image of Ubuntu
The popular Linux distribution Ubuntu distributes it’s offering as a Live CD .iso file. A Live CD is effectively a living, breathing copy of the operating system that can be written to CD and then booted from. The idea has a couple of benefits. It allows the user to sample operating system without any danger of damaging their existing setup, whether by partitioning of the hard drive for an install or another manner. If you’ve ever been curious to see what the attraction is about, the Ubuntu Live CD is an excellent manner to experience … Continue Reading
Add the Tab to PuTTY SSH Client
PuTTY is arguably the most popular free SSH client for Windows, likely found on every computer belonging to a user who knows what SSH is. I use PuTTY daily – it’s a single executable that does everything I need, quickly and simply. Well .. not everything I suppose. The lack of tab-based navigation has annoyed me ever since I had gotten used to the notion in Firefox. As my day progresses, it is not uncommon to have 4 or 5 PuTTY sessions going at once. This flies in the face of my desire for an … Continue Reading
Simplifying IPTABLES with UFW and Ubuntu
While it may be hard to believe, until Hardy Heron, Ubuntu did not ship with a firewall in it’s base install. You’d never dream of putting a Windows machine out on the Internet naked, for all to poke and prod. Things are different on Ubuntu for a few reasons: Fewer services are running by default on an Ubuntu install, as compared to Windows. Ubuntu (and really Linux) have always had security as a priority, while Microsoft has only recently began to focus on the problems in Vista. Windows is getting better in this regard. Lastly, … Continue Reading
Adding Flash, DVD Playback, MP3 to Ubuntu Hardy Heron in One Command
April has came and went, leaving us with the latest Ubuntu Linux release – Hardy Heron, available here. Ubuntu is heralded for it’s user-friendly and polished approach to desktop Linux. The overriding goal of each release is to win over converts from other operating systems, though mainly Windows, through a somewhat familiar desktop and suite of applications. The goal is admirable and obtainable, but also lofty and slow going. However, no one would argue that Ubuntu is not headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, out of the box Ubuntu is multimedia handicapped. Because of copyright … Continue Reading
Cracking ZIP, RAR, and 7z Files
Nine months ago you did a good deed. In a valiant attempt to clean up your filesystem you compressed and archived a few directories and their contents. Decidingly clever, effort was put towards keeping prying eyes out and your data secure – a password was embedded in the archive file. Without the password, no one could access your data. Time has passed until today, when you’ve realized you need access to one of the files you’ve archived away. What was that password again? There is a solution to your predicament, RarCrack. RarCrack is a Linux … Continue Reading
