GeekTimeLinux

Within the coming days, GEEKTIMELINUX.COM is going to be changing looks. That’s right, after several years looking at this theme, there are changes on the horizon.

As I write, our highly trained staff is putting the finishing touches on what we hope will be a look that you, the Linux Enthusiast will like. Keep an eye out, because (if we can keep him from falling asleep) our staff will have it up soon!

I could spend hours talking about UBUNTU. I might mention that they would be hours well spent, having used Ubuntu since it was first released.

The latest version 7.10 Feisty Fawn is quick, up to date and easy for those that are running version 6.10 (Edgy Eft) to upgrade or for those just starting out to load for the first time.

I chose to upgrade and when I decided to look around to see how others were doing, I came upon the ONLY UBUNTU blog that had all the information needed. I share their information with you and by the way, this short post is being written using UBUNTU 7.04 FEISTY FAWN.

Ever have one of those weeks? You know the kind where nothing you are trying to do is working! That has been my past week. The project was getting UBUNTU EDGY working at 1280×1024 resolution the native resolution of my LCD monitor.

The project began when I lost a video card and when the replacement arrived, I decided to reinstall Edgy. This started my “stumbling down stairs” phase. My first clue that this was not going to be easy was the forums are full of people attempting to get 1280×1024 as native resolution for their LCD monitor.

When I found that this was not as simple as I thought, I began chasing solutions on the forums. I edited the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file so many times, I thought there would be no recovery. I downloaded drivers, installed drivers, had the video disappear and after 10 installs ( to correct the loss of video) I finally decided that it was time for me to try something I hadn’t tried…a text based install!

I remember doing several text based installs in Debian and why not Edgy? Let me state here, text based does not mean difficult, it just requires a little more work that is straight forward and simple.

Booting the system from CD, I hit F4 immediately and selected 1280×1024 as resolution. I then selected TEXT MODE for the install method. Within seconds, I was answering the same questions as with the graphical install…language, keyboard, etc. Once the install began, it was like watching a Debian install…checking the package groups, etc. About 5-7 minutes into the install the screen I had been hoping was there came up…RESOLUTION! I used the down key to get to 1280×1024, hit the space bar to mark it and with the tab key went to the OK. The install progressed on schedule and when it was time to log in…there it was 1280×1024.

OK, having spent the bigger part of a week editing, reading, downloading, mumbling things about computers and in general frustrated, I was nervous about what would happen when I did a reboot. With a deep breath and perspiration on my brow, I told the system to restart. Everything looked good as the system came back up…I think I have it!

Immediately I went to preferences>screen resolution and there it was 1280×1024.

I am joyfully writing this post on that computer and it is absolutely beautiful. Now I am worried about what might happen if it doesn’t work for you. The reason I question it is that I did my install on Friday the 13th and we all know strange things can happen on those days…OOOPS….this is the 14th and it is still working.

Bet it will work for you too. Give it a try!

Since 2004, we have maintained a site called Booksaboutlinux.com. It was one of the first sites my wife and I built. Like most first children, it has been one of our favorites, however it did lack some of the glitz and glitter of newer sites.

BOOKSABOUTLINUX.COM now has a new face, faster databases and a lot more material in an easier to find format. We are also including book reviews (when I have time to read).

While it is still a work in progress, we would like to have you visit our site. I think that you will find the Linux book you want.

By the way, the bulk of this revision work has been done by my wife Judi and I personally want to thank her for all of her efforts.

No clicks needed. No boring setup processes. No Wine complications. Just one easy script and you’ll get three IE versions to test your Sites. And it’s free and open source.This may be very helpful for software developers and web developers to test their applications.

Read Full Story

Kubuntu is a user friendly operating system based on KDE, the K Desktop Environment. With a predictable 6 month release cycle and part of the Ubuntu project, Kubuntu is the GNU/Linux distribution for everyone.

Read Full article here

While I haven’t got the rull review written, I am finding a lot of conversation about the broken Wi-Fi in Ubuntu Edgy.

I had been using a D-link DWL 520 card with Dapper and all was good. I upgraded to Edgy and the card suddenly wouldn’t connect. I installed Edgy on another machine with a D-Link WDA-2320 and still no luck.

Next step was to install ndiswrapper and drivers for the 520. Guess what? No luck. I would set the ATHO to enable and the card would appear to be activated and it would revert to the ETH0 card I also had installed.

Totally frustrated, I went to the Network set-up and changed the ESSID to “any” and suddenly the card was recognized by the network. I did this with both computers and both are doing well. Still not entirely sure that I had a working solution, I did an install on my laptop and all is fine.

I realize this is a simple thing and I only hope that it works for you the way it has with three computers here.

Not many years ago, Linux users were pretty much computer geeks. The amount of software available was limited and most installs were from source code.

It was from this simple premise that Mandrake was born. Mandrake, now Mandriva simplified installs, made them almost effortless and was responsible for many new users coming to Linux.

I learned of the Mandrake Legions some years ago when I was in a “Big Box” store looking at their boxed Linux distributions. The sales clerk, a young man in his late teens ask if I had ever used “Mandrake,” I answered NO and it was as if I had slapped him in the face. He quickly told me that he and several of his friends were avid Mandrake users and that he belonged to a LUG where many of the members were Mandrake users and he proceeded to open up as if I needed the testimonial. I bought a copy!

Having done installs of SUSE and Red Hat, I found Mandrake to be quite simple to install, configure and use. I too became hooked.

Over the years several things have changed. Mandrake went through some serious financial problems, recovered, changed their name to MANDRIVA, purchased CONECTIVA and later LYCORIS and ousted their founder. Through all the changes one thing has remained a constant, install and configuration remains among the easiest of any distribution on the market.

During the past week, I installed Mandriva PowerPack 2007. I have used the PowerPack version since becoming hooked some years back. I guess that coupled with the ease of install and configuration PowerPack offers the user the opportunity to select an expanded selection of applications.

The install is very straight forward. Make sure your BIOS is set to boot from CD or DVD and insert the distribution disk. I used the DVD, however CDs work the same way with the exception you have several changes during the course of the total install.

You are ask a few simple questions; language,keyboard layout,home country, time zone, agreement and partitioning. Just about as simple as it comes.

Once your install is complete, what can you expect? For one thing, the old Galaxy theme is out and a new la Ora theme is in. It comes in several colors instead of just the traditional blue and the background and splash images are new and more attractive.

If you are a “gammer” MANDRIVA 2007 has Cedega. TransGaming’s Cedega Windows emulator for games allows you to play many Windows games in much the same was as Wine or CrossOver Office.

Newer software for your desktop including; Firefox 1.5.0.6, OpenOffice 2.0.3, KDE 3.5.4 and GNOME 2.16. In addition, MANDRIVA PowerPack 2007 comes with LinDVD. Basically, this is the GNU/Linux version of WinDVD that allows you to play DVD movies legally. The list of options and new programs seems unending.

My test machine was an old AMD 950Mhz Duron. The install took about 40 minutes and, while I had the option of installing the entire DVD on the hard drive, I opted to only do a standard install.

Once the install was complete, I detected several small bugs. First, I had a bit of trouble getting the Wi-Fi to configure. Fortunately, I also had a wired Lan card in the computer that I configured to complete the install. This became quite annoying when I attempted to use the online update service during the post-install.

I wanted to try the LinDVD player and found it easy to use…that is until about 15 minutes or so into a movie. That is where it stopped. I was undaunted and tried another movie. I now have 30 minutes of my life I will never get back.

While you can update the software manually, do not depend on the software update notifier. It simply doesn’t work.

Even with the bugs mentioned above, I find MANDRIVA 2007 to be a good distribution. If you are new to Linux or hate complicated installs, this is probably your distribution.

If you don’t need all the frills and fancy stuff, you might opt for the Discovery Edition, with three CDs and a little easier to use.

Good day to all linux users,

First, I would like to introduce my self. I’m Rey from Manila, Phillipines. 53 years old, a broadcast technician, One of my hobbies is assembling computer. Please give me your small amount of patience, because my English is not quite good. This is my very first time in this forum.

Several years ago, I heard about this Red Hat, Debian, Mandrake, and other Linux OS. And now, Ubuntu. I’m so much interested in Ubuntu. So I download the Ubuntu Live. I’m impressed when I first time to try the Ubuntu Live OS on my Home made PC (I assembled it for my self. An AMD XP +2000 processor, 512mb DDR400 ram, 40 GB of hhd, Inno3D 8x video card). I’m not familiar with Linux OS, specially the commands. All I know is some basic DOS commands. Now I want to switch to Linux OS. But my problem is, I need some references or maybe a text book. A PDF file format is much better if any. Because PDF file is more easier to understand, and with pictures, illustrations or drawing that I can easily understand. (because my English is limited, that’s why I need those illustration and drawings and pictures.) Can you help me where can I download a textbook or PDF file on How to install, use and add software on Ubuntu?

Thank you so much to all of you.

There are times when intrigue causes me to jump up, download a distribution. do an install and in some cases I am happy, while in other cases …well!

A few weeks ago, I was reading Distrowatch when I saw the announcement of a new distribution that really piqued my attention. LINUX XP. The distro was touting itself as a Linux distribution that would run MS Word, MS Excel, Powerpoint and a host of other Windows programs while offering the stability of a Linux kernel.

Not only was I intrigued, the distribution jumped from no where to #36 on Distrowatch’s list of requested distributions! I have never seen any distro, including Ubuntu jump this far this fast. I had to give it a try.

Built on Fedora Core 3, the distro is familiar to many Linux users. From the time you pop the single CD in the slot and reboot, til the time you see the initial splash screen, the install is pure Fedora. Just like Fedora, you need no activation code or special privileges to use LINUX XP…Unlike Fedora, if you want all the features you need an activation code.

After using the system for a couple of days without the code, I activated the system. I guess I am not sure what I expected with the activation, but don’t believe I received it! When I went to the update system icon, I was given the opportunity to install Pack 1 and Pack 2. OK, so what the heck is Pack 1 and Pack 2? Not knowing I proceeded and when they had finished downloading, I still didn’t know what Pack 1 and Pack 2 were, but my computer had them!

I then proceeded to the Install Additional Software icon and was given a very limited list that included; Mplayer, Adobe, Open Office and Skype.

OK…I know what to do, I will go to a terminal (conveniently opened by right clicking on the background) and use YUM. Once I entered YUM UPDATE, the screen filled with scrolling programs that errored out and nothing was updated.

OK, maybe it was that I should have edited the /etc/yum.repos.d file. I entered the file and set up a series of repositories that I know to be good and wrote the file. Again, I entered the command “yum update” and once again the screen filled with scrolling programs, most appended with ready for update and once again the system errored out so as to not update anything.

Next try was to use “apt-get.” It failed as it was not installed.

Well, this needed a little more thinking, so why not move onto something that had been represented to be in the package…”wi-fi.” Yep, there it was with one exception, it does not contain an area for entering an encryption code, so without going out and downloading ndsiwrapper (not included) wi-fi was not going to work on my network.

Since I had already downloaded Mplayer, I thought I would give it a try on a couple of sites I visit regularly. OOPS, there is no plugin for Firefox and it appears that to install one will be a site searching process.

I finally decided to try Real Player, only this time I would not try the Linux version (remember this is the distro that runs Windows programs without having to use Windows). By golly, it installed and ran.

Amazed, I decided to go back to the original problem.
I would try going to the Linux XP forum and find an answer to my problem. I created a login and password and was immediately logged in. I posted my question and a few days later…nothing. It happens, so I was not too concerned. Two days later I tried to log in and found that I no longer have a valid ID or Password, however I do have a working copy of Real Player for Windows!!!

During the past days, I have hacked, cursed and tried many things I have learned over the years and have not progressed on the update or installation of software. I even tried to send an E-mail to their Tech support but to no avail. (User ID and Password do not exist)

When I saw the information on Linux XP, I was excited and thought this might be one of the really nice distros for those transitioning from Windows to Linux. After spending too much time hacking, cursing and fighting the system, I must say that Ubuntu is free, simple to install and does what it represents. For those that have a lot of time and patience, Linux XP might be for you, but for this old hacker, after I post this review, I will be putting Net BSD on the machine that now holds Linux XP.

The following announcement was released tonight by PR Web Newswire.

iXsystems Announces Acquisition of PC-BSD Operating System

Historic merger of enterprise-class server hardware manufacturer and BSD-based operating system.

(PRWEB) October 10, 2006 — iXsystems, an enterprise-class hardware solution provider, announced today its acquisition of PC-BSD, a rock solid UNIX operating system based on FreeBSD. PC-BSD is a fully functional desktop operating system running FreeBSD version 6, with a KDE desktop interface and graphical system installer. Its PBI system, developed exclusively for PC-BSD, lets users download and install their applications in a self-extracting and installing format.

iXsystems’ acquisition of PC-BSD will provide funding to the PC-BSD project to increase distribution of PC-BSD and develop future versions of PC-BSD. Development is currently underway for a version of PC-BSD that will allow for easy installation and operation on servers, workstations, and laptops.

“Now with the backing of iXsystems and their vast BSD server expertise, PC-BSD plans on bringing its stability and ease of use to the workstation and server markets. Businesses large and small will benefit from the usability of the PC-BSD desktop, as well as the rock-solid server base of the underlying FreeBSD operating system,” said Kris Moore, Founder of PC-BSD.

iXsystems’ mission is to be the largest provider of open source server hardware and software in the IT industry. “Our support and further development of PC-BSD will drive adoption of the FreeBSD operating system by Windows and Linux users comfortable with a graphical user interface”, said Matt Olander, CTO of iXsystems.

About PC-BSD

PC-BSD is the organization behind the fully functional desktop operating system of the same name. The PC-BSD Team is comprised of BSD advocates and developers whose mission is to bring the stability of the BSD operating system to a wide cross-section of users. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, WA. For more information, visit http://www.pcbsd.com.

About iXsystems

iXsystems is a leading provider of high-performance computing clusters, blade servers, rackmount servers, and storage solutions to the global marketplace. iXsystems supplies FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Linux servers to a wide cross-section of industries. The company is headquartered in San Jose, CA. For more information, visit http://www.ixsystems.com.

Sometimes I disappear for from this blog for long periods. There are many reasons, the most recent of which has been installing a small, simple distro on a friends old laptop.

How old? It’s a Panasonic CF-35 with a 3G hard drive, a 266Mhz processor and little else. I insisted that what he needed to the the old girl back in the ball game was a simple Linux install. I still believe it to be true, however selecting the distro was more than I had imagined.

My first thought was Puppy Linux. Puppy is a very lite distribution that is believed to be installable on almost anything. I tried the newest version and it ran fine…I think! I was unable to get to the point of setting up the resolution as it would go into a state that would preclude reading or opening anything. OK, so Puppy was not going to work, how about one of my favorite distros…Simply Mepis. Came up, acted like it was going to work, but when trying to install, it failed miserably. Maybe Berry Linux would work, it is lite and should run on anything, anything that is except a 266Mhz Panasonic Laptop!

I had read an article that XUBUNTU Alternate was something that someone attempting to add new life to an old computer might try. It installed, however the resolution was such that I could not see the bottom of the screen. Letters as high as an elephants eye! I made several attempts to adjust the resolution but to no avail.

SAM Linux is another distro that is alleged to be lite. I believe that to be true, however it just wouldn’t run on this machine. The list continued and I became more determined to see an install that would run…at a decent speed with good resolution and would serve my friends minimal laptop needs.

Sometime back, I had written an article on BEATRIX LINUX. Weighing in at under 200MB, BEATRIX is optimized for any Pentium class computer with at least 64 Mb of RAM.

While BEATRIX is not updated often, the 2005.1 version would do the trick. The desk top manager is Gnome 2.8 with Firefox, Evolution, Open Office Suite, GAIM and a host of programs and again the size is small. In addition, the distro can be expanded with the use of APT.

Opening the distro as a live CD convinced me that it was the answer and (while the install was painfully slow) the install went well. Auto partition, etc. Once installed, the first and only major bug reared its head. NO INTERNET! Immediately to the forum page and I found a fix that worked until I shut the machine off. The fix disappeared and once again, NO INTERNET. It had been reported as a flaw in the install program. Finding a fix for this would be a challenge, or would it? I noted that when I started to shut down I had been given an option of saving the session and I opted for NO. This time, I would put the fix in and save the session. It worked!

While I have only had a few hours to add programs, customize some settings and enjoy the distro, I feel my friend has saved an old Laptop for another day and that he will enjoy some of the many benefits Linux offers to those with older equipment.

This is the list of debian network utilities and tools for administrators and users to check the network related traffic, monitor network.This includes installation of each package with man pages.This full list devided in to two parts which is part1 network tools and part2 network tools

While many distributions already have Java installed, several don’t. Installing Java in Firefox or Mozilla is really quite an uncomplicated process, but can look daunting to a Noob.

First, open a console and make a directory for java.
mkdir java (enter)
Directory is made.

Next, open Firefox and at the address bar, type about:plugins
This will tell you what is installed within Firefox. If there are programs listed, scroll down and make sure Java is not installed. It isn’t? Great! Here we go.

By moving to the top of the page (after checking for plugins in Firefox) you will see an address “plugindoc.mozilla.org” Click on this link.

Once opened, select Linux, Java Runtime Enviroment and Sun JRE 5.0 update.

With sweaty palms, go ahead and accept the license and continue on to Linux Self Extracting File.

After clicking on this file, you will be ask where you want to save it. Remember you made a directory called “java.” This is where your download should go.

Once the download has completed, open the console and do the following:

1.cd java

2.You will see a file ending in “.bin”

3.su to root and do the following: chmod a+x (file name and extention)

4.Now do an ls Here you will see the same file only now you will have permission
to work with it. The command is ./(file name)

5.Your screen will fill with installation language, however to continue you need to press the space bar until you reach a secondary license agreement. Enter “yes” and the install will go very quickly.

6.When the install is complete, ls and you will see a directory starting with JRE…..

This will tell you that your install has been successful to this point.
7.Next, do the following command: cd /usr/lib

8.Check to see that Firefox possibly Mozilla-Firefox or maybe MozillaFirefox is installed here. If so, cd to the directory (for simplicity we will use firefox). Once in this directory, check to see that it contains “plugins.”

9.Now that we have found the destination, there are several ways to install java, I will give you the one I use on most distributions.

10. cd to java and ls to the java directory.

11.Type the following commands;
ln -s /home/name of home directory/java/jre(the java directory)/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so

12.You have now created a Sym Link that is telling the computer to put java in the plugins directory of Firefox. Now, close your console and open your browser. What you should now see when you go to the address bar and type in “about plugins” is that java is installed.

As I said, there are several different ways of installing java and this is just one, but it works for me 99 out of 100 times. The other time, I have to do some further searching for where Firefox is located.

Hope it helps and enjoy Linux.

I have noticed in visiting many Linux sites, this one included, that there is a lack of really basic information for the Noob. I know when I did my first install, ran into my first problem, decided that I needed a Sym Link, etc. I felt fortunate to have a son that had been using Linux for years.

As I was digging through some of the old notes from those days it occurred to me that maybe some of the information would be good for someone just joining the fold. I must tell you this is going to be pretty non-technical so if you are planning to see a white paper on Linux you’ve visited the wrong site.

As I have documented before, I was far from a power user of Windows at the time I was introduced to Linux. My first disappointment was in not being able to get Red Hat to install. I then tried another and got a “Kernel Panic” message and the install was terminated. The following day, I went to one of the “Big Box Stores” and purchased a copy of SUSE. That would be my first working Linux install. Since that time, I have done installs of most of the popular distros and many that aren’t so popular. I still hit areas that I have to work my way through or give my son a call.

If you are working on your first Linux install, chances are you will not have all of the plugins you desire for multimedia. By going to the address bar in Firefox, removing the current address and typing: about:plugins and hitting enter, all of the currently installed plugins will be displayed.

I usually check for: Java, Mplayer, RealPlayer, Acroread and Flash. If they are not there, you will see links at the top of the page to give you addresses to download.

Next up…INSTALLING JAVA in Firefox.