Flyback on Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 LTS
May 22, 2008 by tibor
Original code homepage: http://code.google.com/p/flyback/
$sudo apt-get install python python-glade2 python-gnome2 python-pysqlite2 python-gconf rsync gnome-schedule
$ mkdir ~/Applications
$ cd ~/Applications
$ wget http://flyback.googlecode.com/files/flyback_0.4.0.tar.gz
$ tar -zxvf flyback_0.4.0.tar.gz
$ cd flyback
$ cp GPL.txt ~
$ ln -s flyback.py ~/flyback.py #it expects flyback to be installed to yourhome directory, ie the cron line is looking for the file /home/user/flyback.py
$ python flyback.py
Create a custom application launcher in Gnome Panel to create an icon:
python /home/t/Applications/flyback/flyback.py
Turn off X on Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty server
May 7, 2008 by tibor
$ cd /etc/rc2.d/
$ sudo mv S13gdm K87gdm
$ sudo reboot
This way the server stays at the console login prompt instead of booting into X (GDM)
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy – Go ahead
April 27, 2008 by tibor
In case you are hesitant trying Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy, well? Don’t be! It works like a charm. Works flawlessly on my Lenovo R61i laptop.
Update:
May 7 2008 – Hardy also works flawlessly on a HP Pavilion Elite m9252p Quad-core sweetness ;-P (Believe it or not but directly from Office Depot. Ouch!)
FreeNX server setup on Debian Lenny Sid Server
April 24, 2008 by tibor
Create folder for freenx packages:
$cd ~
$mkdir freenxpkg
Download all packages manually (one by one) from http://krnl.nl/freenx/ to ~/freenxpkg/
Add the following line listed below to your /etc/apt/source.list:
$su -
#nano -w /etc/apt/sources.list
Type the following line at the bottom of the sources.list file “deb file:/home/username/freenxpkg/ ./” (without the quotes)
#apt-get update
#apt-get install freenx
Optional Configuration
Changing SSH port Number
By default, nxserver uses port 22 for communicating over SSH. On some machines or networks, port 22 may be blocked. For example, some providers block port 22. To make the SSH server listen on port 8888, you can do the following:
Edit the file /etc/ssh/sshd_config
#nano -w /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Find Port 22 and change it to Port 8888
You then need to restart SSHD. Try
#/etc/init.d/ssh restart
Edit the file /etc/nxserver/node.conf
#nano -w /etc/nxserver/node.conf
Find # The port number where local ’sshd’ is listening.
#SSHD_PORT=22 and change it to:
# The port number where local ’sshd’ is listening.
SSHD_PORT=8888
That is, change the port number to the one that sshd is listening to, and uncomment the line.
P.S.: You can also download all the freenx files as one zipped up package from: http://www.milehighlinux.com/freenx.zip
Convert MPEG video to Flash
April 18, 2008 by tibor
Source: http://www.tsewdry.net/wordpress/?p=27
Excerpt:
“After quite a bit of toying around, I got the following to work to convert an MPEG Video to Flash format. The original video(s) were off my digital camera, and uploaded in AVI format. I used kino to edit the videos and created one output in mpeg format.
ffmpeg -i input.mpeg -ab 64 -ar 44100 -acodec pcm_s16le output.flv
Then run:
flvtool2 -U output.flv
To add duration information, etc.”
Data Visualization service that can be embedded into your website
February 7, 2008 by tibor
What is “data visualization” you might ask? It is a way for you to explore data using your eyes, according to the ManyEyes website FAQ.
Click here to visit the site: http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/page/Embedhelp.html
To listen to a podcast with the creators of the site go here:
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3504.html
Quick reverse DNS lookup how to in CLI (command line interface)
February 5, 2008 by tibor
A reverse DNS query is where you know the IP address and would like to know what domain name is tied to that IP. I have been using http://www.dnsstuff.com/ for a while now and have been happy with their product, which is online DNS queries, but they turned to a pay model recently. Unfortunately, I don’t use them enough to warrant paying their yearly fees. Here is where the “host” command comes to the rescue.
Usage example:
host 64.233.187.99
99.187.233.64.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer jc-in-f99.google.com.
Host –info:
Usage: host [-aCdlriTwv] [-c class] [-N ndots] [-t type] [-W time]
[-R number] [-m flag] hostname [server]
-a is equivalent to -v -t ANY
-c specifies query class for non-IN data
-C compares SOA records on authoritative nameservers
-d is equivalent to -v
-l lists all hosts in a domain, using AXFR
-i IP6.INT reverse lookups
-N changes the number of dots allowed before root lookup is done
-r disables recursive processing
-R specifies number of retries for UDP packets
-s a SERVFAIL response should stop query
-t specifies the query type
-T enables TCP/IP mode
-v enables verbose output
-w specifies to wait forever for a reply
-W specifies how long to wait for a reply
-4 use IPv4 query transport only
-6 use IPv6 query transport only
-m set memory debugging flag (trace|record|usage)
The “host” command combined with “dig” will save me $36/year. 
Html validator – tidy plugin install for gedit – / Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10 /
December 22, 2007 by tibor
You can read up on the tidy plugin for gedit at: http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~atavory/gedit-plugins/html-tidy/
The tidy plugin for gedit can be downloaded from: http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~atavory/gedit-plugins/html-tidy/html-tidy-gedit-plugin.tar.gz
Extract the downloaded ******.tar.gz file into the following 2 directories
/usr/share/gedit-2/plugins/
/usr/lib/gedit-2/plugins/
How to mount a Windows ( = Samba) network share from Ubuntu linux automatically at boot?
December 19, 2007 by tibor
Assumed variables
Windows ( = Samba) network share’s server IP: 192.168.1.100
(FYI: you can use the server’s name instead of the IP address as long as you have internal name resolution within your network so that the server’s name can resolve to your server’s IP)
Share name on server: share
Name of the local folder that we mount the remote share under: joes_share
username to access the Windows (samba) share: joe
password to access the Windows (samba) share: pass
Steps:
1. Open a terminal session such as gnome-terminal
2. Type sudo mkdir /mnt/joes_share then push ENTER
#This will create a local folder called share under folder /mnt
3. Type sudo nano -w /etc/fstab
#This will open the file /etc/fstab in the nano command line text editor
4. Type //192.168.1.100/share /mnt/joes_share smbfs credentials=/etc/samba/cred-file,uid=userid,gid=users 0 0
#THE LINE ABOVE SHOULD BE ONE LINE ONLY IN FSTAB! This command will mount the windows server share called “share” (with server IP address 192.168.1.100) to your local folder /mnt/joes_share
5. Push CTRL+X and then push Y to save this file
6. Type sudo nano -w /etc/samba/cred-file then push the ENTER key
7. Type username=joe then push the ENTER key
8. Type password=pass then push CTRL+X and then push Y to save this file
9. To make sure that it works Type: sudo mount -a and push ENTER
Now you should be able to:
#1 See the content of your SHARE from your remote computer mounted locally under /mnt/joes_share
#2 Add, Delete and Create any files under /mnt/joes_share as a regular (non-root) user without having to use the sudo command all the time
#3 Have the share automatically mount at boot time from now on
Any open source, Linux based VARs in the Vail Valley, Mountain Region and or in Denver, Colorado?
December 4, 2007 by tibor
I am thinking about restarting my network consulting / VAR business covering the Mountain and Denver area this time with a much stronger emphasis on open source based solutions. I am looking to talk to people working at VARs in Denver or elsewhere in Colorado that provide open source based solutions. I am not talking about HP and SUN but rather entities like Lewan and smaller.
I am trying to find someone to talk to about their business experiences based on open source products and services. The only VAR I know of is tummy.com out of Ft. Collins. They seem like good folk so I will be calling them soon and see if they are willing to chat.
1. Do you know anyone personally working at or owning a VAR with open source based products and services that I could approach?
If the person I get to talk to lets me, I might even record the conversation and post it as a podcast!
Thanks for your help
Tibor
VARs = value added reseller and system integrator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-added_reseller
