HOW-TOs

Package Management With Zypper

November 5th, 2009 by Mitch Frazier in

As I've mentioned before I'm an openSUSE user, and as long as they don't make the "U" lower case again, I'll probably stick with it. When it comes to package management, OpenSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprice (and SuSE before them) are usually associated with YaST (and yes, I'm still waiting for them to upper case the "a"). YaST works well but it's a bit verbose for installing a single package, and of course that's just more fodder for the apt-getters with all their apt-get install this and their apt-get install thats. And you can't argue with them, but there are other options with openSUSE: yum and apt4rpm come to mind, but the preferred solution is zypper.

Tech Tip: Restore Ctrl-Alt-Backspace in Ubuntu

November 3rd, 2009 by Mallik Arjun in

In the last release of Ubuntu (9.04) the Ctrl+Alt+Backspace key sequence normally used to kill the X server was disabled by default. Apparently many people like to kill their X server this way so a workaround "dontzap" package was used to enable it. With the latest Ubuntu release (9.10, aka Karmic) it's even simpler to enable it.

Tech Tip: Save an Online Video with your Browser (no extensions needed)

October 28th, 2009 by Cheng Renquan in

Sometimes when you're watching online videos on youtube or other sites, you want to save some of them for later offline playback. You've probably heard of Firefox extensions like DownloadHeloper that can do this, but sometimes you may only have a bare version of Firefox, or perhaps a different browser, one that doesn't have a plugin for doing this. Using the tip below, you can save videos no matter what browser you're using.

Tech Tip: Go Green On Your Screen(saver)

October 20th, 2009 by Sangeeth Keeriyadath in

I usually lock my screen when I leave my cubicle for a tea-break etc. With all the talk of saving energy these days I've disabled screen-savers on my system. Still, when I'd lock my screen I noticed that the LCD didn't turn off completely. Wanting to go as green as I could I wanted to switch off the LCD as well.

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More From LinuxJournal.com

Take the Survey, Enter to Win a 2010 Linux Journal Wall Calendar

November 10th, 2009 by LJ Staff

Take our quick Linux Journal survey (less than 10 questions) and you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of five 2010 Linux Journal wall calendars (see the full calendar at: http://lj.mybigcommerce.com/products/2010-Wall-Calendar-%252d%252d-Limited-Run.html).

Thanks for participating!

Linux Journal 2010 Wall Calendars Now Available

October 28th, 2009 by Carlie Fairchild

For those of you who were with us back in 2002, you may remember a wall calendar we produced in celebration of issue 100 of Linux Journal. It was such a fun calendar that for years to come readers would ask me when we were going to print another. I always joked "ask me in another 100 issues".

How To Kick Your Friends in the Face: GMA500

October 27th, 2009 by Shawn Powers in

Over the past few years, any Linux developer you ask would quickly recommend buying computer hardware with an Intel chipset. When it comes to Linux support, especially in the mobile realm, Intel had the best support hands down. In fact, even my first generation Asus EeePC with the tiny 7” screen supported Compiz acceleration out of the box!

Kdenlive Meets Studio Dave

October 15th, 2009 by Dave Phillips in

Over the past few months I've been drifting into the world of Linux video applications and development. I've already written a review of the LiVES video editor, and I've made occasional reference to the Kino editor. Recently a reader asked if I'd tried a recent version of Kdenlive. I started looking into it and I liked what I saw. The following article is an account of my continuing experience with the latest codebase from the project.

Book Excerpt: Chapter 6: Functions and Functional Programming

October 9th, 2009 by LJ Staff in

Read an excerpt from the 4th Edition of the book Python Essential Reference by David Beazley.

Surfing The Forge: Sound & MIDI Projects On SourceForge

September 15th, 2009 by Dave Phillips in

When I began collecting links for the Linux Sound & Music Applications pages I frequented a variety of announcement and news services. Some of those services are no longer with us, some have been superceded by more comprehensive and modern channels, and a few have remained as primary sources for new and updated Linux audio software. SourceForge is one of those long-lived services that have remained relevant to my searches for new and interesting sound and music applications, so I decided to surf the Forge to find recent and maybe some not-so-recent developments in the world of Linux audio.

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Blogs and Opinion

Let's Act on ACTA Before it's Too Late

November 9th, 2009 by Glyn Moody

It was over a year ago that I wrote about the “Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement” (ACTA), a new global standard for the enforcement of intellectual monopolies currently being discussed by representatives of the United States, the European Commission, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico and New Zealand. Since then, the secret negotiations have been continuing, and the threats it poses to the Internet as we know it grow ever larger.

More on Poulsbo (GMA500), Intel, and the Community

October 28th, 2009 by Shawn Powers

I've never done a follow up post on a topic before, but I think this is a topic worth further discussion. Yesterday I posted a rather pointed article focused on Intel and what I consider to be a very poor business decision regarding the GMA500 GPU.

Finally! SecDef signs Clarifying Guidance Regarding Open Source Software

October 27th, 2009 by David Lane

It is official! As of the 16th of October 2009, the United States Department of Defense recognizes Open Source software at Commodity, Off the Shelf (COTS) software, eligible for purchase, read implementation, under the purchasing rules of the Department.

A Bit of Licence

October 26th, 2009 by Glyn Moody

One of the striking aspects of the free software community is its obsession with licences. It's as if within every hacker there's a lawyer struggling to get out. But maybe it's not so surprising; as Larry Lessig reminded us, “code is law”, and the reverse is also true in the sense that the licence adopted has a big impact on how the software is produced. That explains, in part, why recent discussions of Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun – and hence MySQL – have once more put free software licences under the microscope.

Cloud Computing: Good or Bad for Open Source?

October 22nd, 2009 by Glyn Moody

Cloud computing: you may have heard of it. It seems to be everywhere these days, and if you believe the hype, there's a near-unanimous consensus that it's the future. Actually, a few of us have our doubts, but leaving that aside, I think it's important to ask where does open source stand if the cloud computing vision *does* come to fruition? Would that be a good or bad thing for free software?

Is there a best distro?

October 19th, 2009 by David Lane

Yesterday, I had a good friend ask me What is the best Linux distribution to familiarize myself with Linux? This was not someone who is unfamiliar with technology, or UNIX for that matter, but someone who is one of us, which made the question difficult to answer.

Go track yourself

October 11th, 2009 by Doc Searls

Are you tired of being hunted down by marketers following your digital crumb-trail?

Without Free Software, Open Source Would Lose its Meaning

September 28th, 2009 by Glyn Moody

I'm a big fan of Matt Asay's writings about free software. He combines a keen analytical intelligence with that rare thing: long-term hands-on experience in the world of open source business. But even though I generally look forward to reading his posts, I have been rather dreading the appearance of one that I knew, one day, he would write...because it would be wrong. And now he has written it, with the self-explanatory headline: “Free software is dead. Long live open source.”

The Linux Desktop - The View from LinuxCon

September 24th, 2009 by David Lane

I have just finished up three days at LinuxCon in Portland, put on by the Linux Foundation. As you might expect from such an event, there were discussions on a wide range of topics, some to get you thinking, some to excite you and some to challenge your notions.

Linux and plethorization

September 19th, 2009 by Doc Searls

Why is it that Linux distros divide and multiply? And do we have a better name for how and why that's done than, say, "forking"?

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From the Magazine

December 2009, #188

If last month's Infrastrucuture issue was too "big" for you then try on this month's Embedded issue. Find out how to use Player for programming mobile robots, build a humidity controller for your root cellar, find out how to reduce the boot time of your embedded system, and if you're new to embedded systems find out the basics that go into one. You can also read about the Beagle Board, the Mesh Potato and a spate of other interestingly named items. And along with our regular columns don't miss our new monthly column: Economy Size Geek.







Read this issue