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
Open Source Community Roles
November 4, 2007 by tibor
I liked this simple list of Open Source Community Roles originally posted at: http://gl.blog2articles.com/The-10-roles-in-an-open-source-community/
The 10 roles in an open source community
Posted on Nov 02, 2007 under games |
The 10 roles in an open source community
1) Developers
Developers are the backbone of every open source community. Without them, the project would not exist. Many open source projects were started by a single programmer who created a piece of software to meet their own requirements. While most open source developers graciously volunteer their time, a growing number of developers are being paid to work on open source software.
* Ubuntu Development
2) Packagers
Open source applications need to be converted into a package format before they can be included in a Linux distribution. Packages make it easy to install a software application, including any required dependencies.
* Ubuntu MOTU Packaging Team
3) Artists
Most open source applications will need graphical artists to create icons, buttons, and logos. Some \rojects will also need musical artists to create audio files.
* Ubuntu Artwork Team
* Ubuntu Audio Team
4) Documentation writers
A software project will not be successful if users cannot learn how to install, configure, and use the software. Good documentation will increase the adoption of an open source application. Wikis make it easy for anyone to help with creating and editing documentation.
* Ubuntu Documentation Team
5) Beta Testers
Open source projects need people to test the software. These beta testers are the equivalent of a Quality Assurance team. Developers will often create beta versions and release candidates before they release a version of software to the general public. Beta testers play a crucial role in testing software on multiple hardware and software platforms, and in a wide variety of environments. These testers will create new bug reports, triage existing bug reports, and test patches that the developers create.
* Ubuntu Bug Squad
6) Translators
One of the coolest things about open source communities is that they are international. This means that your users will understand many different languages. Therefore, the more languages that you support, the larger your user base will be. Modern tools like Rosetta provide a simple web-interface that allows anyone to be a translator, regardless of technical ability.
* Ubuntu Translation Tool
7) Support Technicians
A good open source community will have volunteers to answer technical questions that other users may have. These support technicians will monitor forums, mailing lists, and IRC channels looking for users who have questions.
* Ubuntu Forums
* Ubuntu Support Team
Advocates
Advocates are people who tell other people about the benefits of open source software. They review open source software on their blog, they demonstrate their Linux laptop to friends and family, and they convince co-workers and managers to replace proprietary applications with open source alternatives.
* Ubuntu Marketing Team
9) Users
Users will hopefully become contributing community members. Because users benefit the most from open source software, they are often inclined to give back by donating their time and skills.
10) Infrastructure providers
Someone needs to maintain the hosting of the website, forums, wikis, IRC channels, and version control systems that the project uses. Without these contributions, open source community members would not be able to communicate with each other.
* Launchpad
* SourceForge
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many different ways to contribute to an open source community. It may surprise you to know that only two of the ten roles require programming skills. This means that anyone can find a way to participate in an open source community. Go ahead and Get Involved!
….
Firefox skins
November 4, 2007 by tibor
One of my favorite firefox skins is macfox II at http://www.webether.com/macfox/. Thank you Kelly Cunningham.
