GeekTimeLinux

A Geek is a Geek is a Geek! There, I’ve said it and I feel somewhat better. I have been a Linux geek for sometime and have loved the journey into a world I had never known. Going to a place where I could modify programs, write my own, work with command line or icons. It has been a major learning experience. For that I am known in the family as a “GEEK”!

I am continuing with my Linux learning while getting involved with another project. This week, I was given two Mac G3s (beige case..I think…color blind you know) and a Power PC which my Google search tells me is a Mac clone.

I have fired up, or attempted, all three. One G3 and the Power PC both come up with no problem, the third appears to have a bad video board. OK, so they fire up, do they work? Well, the one G3 appears to have some programs on it and I went to the library today to see what I could find on the unit. I also have a copy of UBUNTU PPC burning as I write this.

The Power PC has beautiful graphics, boots very quickly and appears to have everything I could want on it with one caveat…it is password protected. Everything looks good at boot, but when I attempt to access anything…I am requested to enter a password. I have tried several I have been told are common, but to no avail. I am thinking about reloading the Mac OS on this machine and then going from there with upgrades or whatever

As crazy as this sounds, I wanted a G3 for the sole purpose of installing Yellow Dot Linux. I have heard many good things about the distro, but have never had the hardware to run the system. In researching, I find that Fedora Core is also a great distro for PPC use as is Suse and the list goes on.

I am going to document my progress (or lack thereof) and will be posting about in the coming weeks or possibly months.

I don’t want anyone to think that this is my only project. I will continue to work with new distros and do all the things we do with Geektime, but this is a new challenge and at my age, I need a new challenge everyday. It’s why I get out of bed every day!

I’ve been running the new Deluxe Edition of XANDROS Desktop OS since Christmas. As those familiar with this site are aware, this is not the first XANDROS distro that has been on a machine in the lab, and I guarantee it will not be the last.

If you check the various Linux sites, you will find that everyone is reviewing this distro and the conclusion of all is the same, THIS IS TRULY A DESKTOP DISTRO WORTHY OF THE NAME!

I started using XANDROS back with Version 2.0 and was impressed with the ease of installation, selection of software and the overall simplicity of the system. Version 2.5 Business further convinced me that newbies and old timers should check out this product and now I can’t tell enough people about Desktop 3 Deluxe. From a look, feel and usability standpoint, this distro is exceptional.

Installation is slick and easy. While I could bore you with the details, the install is not much more than booting from the CD-ROM, answering a few questions and waiting for the install to finish. The exception is if you intend to dual boot with a Windows machine. That will require a little more thought, however the documentation from XANDROS is clear and concise.

The Deluxe version is a two CD distro. The first disc containing the installation, while Disc 2 contains additional value-added software such as Gimp 2.0.5 image editor, Firefox 1.0 web browser, Ximian Evolution 1.4.6. kernel sources, development tools and the Gtk+ 2.4 toolkit.

The desktop contains icons for Trash, Home, Quick Start Guide, Web Browser and Xandros Networks. A quick click on the Xandros Networks icon and your system is updated.

In checking my system (an old 1.2G Athlon) all hardware had been detected automatically including a CUPS Printer on my lab’s network.

One of the programs included with Deluxe 3.0 is Crossover Office 4.1. I have used several versions of Crossover Office, but this one features some new programs including iTunes 4.6. If you are just coming into the Linux environment and can’t give up IE, there’s good news, with Crossover office you can still use IE. Office XP also runs well.

XANDROS has another key feature worthy of mentioning, “Drag and Drop” CD/DVD burning support. All you need to do is click one of the icons labeled “Create music CD”, “Create data disc”, or “Blank Disc” and you’re started. Simply drag the files you want to burn to the XFM. It’s as simple as that. Another feature for those with lap top computers with built in wireless cards, XANDROS should configure automatically.

Since XANDROS is built on a Debian kernel, APT-GET is available. If you have never used this program, it’s as simple as opening a console, changing to ROOT, and typing: APT-GET UPDATE. When you are returned to the Root Prompt, type APT-GET UPGRADE. This will upgrade your system with all the new programs available in the XANDROS Repository. Another feature of APT-GET is the Install function. To use APT-GET to Install, type APT-GET INSTALL (Program Name). If available, it will be installed on your hard drive. To further enhance the number of programs available, go to the XANDROS Network icon and click. Once there, click on Edit -> Set Application Source and enable Debian Unsupported site. This will open the door to many more programs.

Put it all together; Simplicity of Installation, Network capabilities, Power and Polish in an elegant package and you have XANDROS DESKTOP 3 DELUXE.

During my normal cruise around the web, I stumbled across a little article regarding a couple of security bugs in Linux and Samba. Being a Windows user primarily, but frequenting this community, I decided to make a post here, in case any of you would be affected. This has been rated as a critical bug, geared towards machines that are networked with Windows machines for file and printer sharing.

The chief security officer for a German security consulting firm, recently reported that he had discovered security flaws in Linux and Samba that would allow an attacker use a buffer overflow to run code, or execute DoS attacks, depending on which flaw was being exploited.

You can read the full article at the Linux Pipeline.