Sunday, April 15, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
2 years with Linux:Five Things to know about Linux
These are just ramblings about what I came to know about Linux in the past 2 years I have been using it. Its fun all the time learning about stuff you never knew existed.
1) There are many paths leading to the top of a mountain, but there is only one summit.
You may ask what is the right way of doing a job on Linux. There is no right way or the only way. There are multiple options and each can be right. It depends on what you want and what you are comfortable with. Just because something doesn't work for you it is not wrong. Power of Linux remains in not only giving you the result but also the tools you can use to make it better.
2) If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your own path.
By trying to solve problems or helping others you will find solutions of your own troubles. Others may have a solution of your problems and you may have theirs. You can only gain by sharing.
3) The world is like a mirror you see? Smile and your friends smile back.
Everyone is busy, everyone likes to get their query solved first, but community is made up of friends. You have to be kind to get kindness and patient to get the answers. Remember the people who are answering you, do it for the community.
4) The answer is out there, if only thing to do is to look.
Every question you are looking for has been asked, every answer has been given. You just have to look for it. Searching the web is not a difficult thing, but it is important for you to search it. Linux is not for closed minds, its for a mind that questions, an alive mind which likes to think.
5) Journey of a thousand mile starts with a step.
You can only discover something good if you are willing to search for it. Try it before you can say it is worthless. Before you can say Linux is not for you try it once, it might not be for you but you might also find a new way to life.
Hope this helps you in understanding Linux better. May the source be with you...
1) There are many paths leading to the top of a mountain, but there is only one summit.
You may ask what is the right way of doing a job on Linux. There is no right way or the only way. There are multiple options and each can be right. It depends on what you want and what you are comfortable with. Just because something doesn't work for you it is not wrong. Power of Linux remains in not only giving you the result but also the tools you can use to make it better.
2) If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your own path.
By trying to solve problems or helping others you will find solutions of your own troubles. Others may have a solution of your problems and you may have theirs. You can only gain by sharing.
3) The world is like a mirror you see? Smile and your friends smile back.
Everyone is busy, everyone likes to get their query solved first, but community is made up of friends. You have to be kind to get kindness and patient to get the answers. Remember the people who are answering you, do it for the community.
4) The answer is out there, if only thing to do is to look.
Every question you are looking for has been asked, every answer has been given. You just have to look for it. Searching the web is not a difficult thing, but it is important for you to search it. Linux is not for closed minds, its for a mind that questions, an alive mind which likes to think.
5) Journey of a thousand mile starts with a step.
You can only discover something good if you are willing to search for it. Try it before you can say it is worthless. Before you can say Linux is not for you try it once, it might not be for you but you might also find a new way to life.
Hope this helps you in understanding Linux better. May the source be with you...
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Ideal BSOD...
Hey guys its been a long time since we have seen the Blue Screen Of Death, a bane for Windoze users and a unheard character for us. I got this BSOD Wallpaper and knew this could be made better.
I had got Windows XP and things were OK for sometime but then came Vista. It was an horrifying experience. Microsoft acknowledged that it was a mistake of an operating system but like a bunch of hoodlums, extorting money, said if you wish to save yourself from misery then cough up your hard earned money. I then tried Ubuntu, this was June 2010, and have never looked back. I went from Ubuntu to Fedora and have found utopia.
I had got Windows XP and things were OK for sometime but then came Vista. It was an horrifying experience. Microsoft acknowledged that it was a mistake of an operating system but like a bunch of hoodlums, extorting money, said if you wish to save yourself from misery then cough up your hard earned money. I then tried Ubuntu, this was June 2010, and have never looked back. I went from Ubuntu to Fedora and have found utopia.
 |
| Ideal BSOD |
Monday, March 19, 2012
Flash or no Flash that is the question...
Last week was hell it was my submission and my hard disk crashed. It was totally my bad but still shit happens. Got my new hard disk, thanks Lenovo for a swift service and loved the experience. So after a full marks service by Lenovo I got the computer up and running, installed Fedora and tweaked it to my preference. I had thought of installing Arch but was in no mood to spend the days configuring to do a simple job and also was a little short of time for my submission.
So that bring us to our post, this not just any rambling. Flash has decided to drop support for linux for its next version. Version 12 will only be available for Mac and Windoze users. We have read all the blogs and news flashes (he he he) Flash for linux will stop at version 11 and will only be supported for next 5 years. We all know that by that time we will (hopefully) have HTML5 and will never require the abomination called Flash. But are we ready for Flash free surfing today.
I am not gonna install Flash for as long as possible. I will try to use alternatives if I require it too badly, but no Flash for me for the near future. Wish me luck guys...
So that bring us to our post, this not just any rambling. Flash has decided to drop support for linux for its next version. Version 12 will only be available for Mac and Windoze users. We have read all the blogs and news flashes (he he he) Flash for linux will stop at version 11 and will only be supported for next 5 years. We all know that by that time we will (hopefully) have HTML5 and will never require the abomination called Flash. But are we ready for Flash free surfing today.
I am not gonna install Flash for as long as possible. I will try to use alternatives if I require it too badly, but no Flash for me for the near future. Wish me luck guys...
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Waiting for the Miracle
Fedora 17 is a miracle, its a Beefy miracle. Just tried out Alpha and its looking great. Waiting to get hold of it and hopefully to help in the process.
Today I am just ironing out my online presence with having a similar face everywhere. Uploaded my hackergotchi...
I have also dabbled with Gimp and Inkscape to make a wallpaper in anticipation of the new release. Hope you like it.
You all are free to use the wallpaper in any ways you like just would love to hear your comments. If you feel anything offensive or inappropriate, comment...
P.s.:
The hotodog i got from Mairin Duffy http://duffy.fedorapeople.org/hotdog/hotdogs-wallpaper-trans.png and the fedora stars constellation from Nicu B. much better artists http://fedora.nicubunu.ro/artwork/clipart/fedora_stars.svg
Today I am just ironing out my online presence with having a similar face everywhere. Uploaded my hackergotchi...
I have also dabbled with Gimp and Inkscape to make a wallpaper in anticipation of the new release. Hope you like it.
 |
| 1600 x 968 |
P.s.:
The hotodog i got from Mairin Duffy http://duffy.fedorapeople.org/hotdog/hotdogs-wallpaper-trans.png and the fedora stars constellation from Nicu B. much better artists http://fedora.nicubunu.ro/artwork/clipart/fedora_stars.svg
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Noob's first step towards Geek
Weekend project - do what geeks love to do. Compile my own operating system!!!
I am taking my first step towards geekdom just fresh out of noobhood. Well this is not the first step. The first step was installing linux and there was never any looking back. What's the next logical next step, installing softwares from source tarball. Not an easy task but been there done that. Was it easy not at all, there have been lots of hits and misses. Now its time to take up the task of compiling the operating system whole.
Why to compile your OS???
Gee that's a tough one. Why would you go through a long, bitter process of downloading source code, fulfilling dependencies, compiling the source code to find that you misspelt a command and lost half an hour to get an result.
Because I can do it, I can learn while am at it. Learn how stuff works, how to break and rebuild it, and to be focused while doing it so. There are other reasons to you can read it at LFS official site. So not re-inventing the wheel.
Enough of idioms lets get down to business, I am trying to install LFS v7.0 on a VirtualBox. I tried using Fedora live cd but it doesn't have gcc installed. I am now using a custom built OpenSUSe from SUSEStudio without graphical user interface.
This post took a lot of time coming because it has grown from a weekend project to a weekends project. Linux God give me power to complete this benediction. With my exams coming on and thesis in way I dont kno when can I complete it. Wish me luck, please I need it a lot.
I am taking my first step towards geekdom just fresh out of noobhood. Well this is not the first step. The first step was installing linux and there was never any looking back. What's the next logical next step, installing softwares from source tarball. Not an easy task but been there done that. Was it easy not at all, there have been lots of hits and misses. Now its time to take up the task of compiling the operating system whole.
Why to compile your OS???
Gee that's a tough one. Why would you go through a long, bitter process of downloading source code, fulfilling dependencies, compiling the source code to find that you misspelt a command and lost half an hour to get an result.
Because I can do it, I can learn while am at it. Learn how stuff works, how to break and rebuild it, and to be focused while doing it so. There are other reasons to you can read it at LFS official site. So not re-inventing the wheel.
Enough of idioms lets get down to business, I am trying to install LFS v7.0 on a VirtualBox. I tried using Fedora live cd but it doesn't have gcc installed. I am now using a custom built OpenSUSe from SUSEStudio without graphical user interface.
 | |
| Linux God |
This post took a lot of time coming because it has grown from a weekend project to a weekends project. Linux God give me power to complete this benediction. With my exams coming on and thesis in way I dont kno when can I complete it. Wish me luck, please I need it a lot.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Things to do after installing Fedora
Fedora is a great OS. Its Linux as it should be free and usable, at the cutting edge but completely stable. But it still lets a lot to be wanted such as the non free software, libraries which are essential in day to day life. Few nitty gritties installed and the make a wonderful environment to work and play.
1) Installing RPM Fusion, Livna Repos
Though most of the free softwares and codecs are quite capable of running the show, few restrictive and non free blobs such as mp3 support, VLC media player are the need of life. Most of these are not found on the official repos. These can be installed through the RPM Fusion repo. Livna repo is only needed for libdvdcss. Livna exist only for that package.
Adding or removing packages in Fedora is done through graphical frontend to yum, PackageKit. It is not possible to install yum repo through PackageKit. In order to install the RPM Fusion and Livna repo run in terminal;
You can also install these plugins from the GUI by searching for them in the Add & Remove Software or PackageKit.
3) Install VLC
Totem is good but VLC is the best. Its open-source, light weight and so full of nifty features that you dont need anything else for all your media needs. It also supports many video codecs of the block.
yum install vlc
There are many features that can be done with VLC. You can read about it here.
4) Install Flash player
Flash player was supposed to be dead but it isn't. It still drags on and you have to install it to use your favourite video site or online gaming site. Open source gnash is just not upto the mark to be used on an daily basis.
To install Adobe repo
In order to install Flash plugin
You can also download Flash plugin RPM from its website here.
5) Configure backup
Fedora comes pre-installed with a great backup software Deja-Dup. Its easy to use and easier to configure. Configure a twice weekly backup to maintain sanity and do a regular backup in background and secure your files.
That rounds off the 5 things to do after installing Fedora. I enjoy using Fedora and these tips make my life easier. There are many tips and tricks and this unofficial faq is a great place to know about it. Please add your tips and tricks in the comments and I will be grateful and will add them here.
I always wanted GUI for installation of softwares and codecs for Fedora. I didn't know they existed before seeing the comments. Thank you all for the update. All the codec installation can be done using GUI scripts such as autoplus, Fedora utils. Other great way to manage your GNOME desktop is by using gnome-tweak-tool. Great thing about File Roller the default archive manager is that it is extendable. Rar file support can be installed just by installing unrar
1) Installing RPM Fusion, Livna Repos
Though most of the free softwares and codecs are quite capable of running the show, few restrictive and non free blobs such as mp3 support, VLC media player are the need of life. Most of these are not found on the official repos. These can be installed through the RPM Fusion repo. Livna repo is only needed for libdvdcss. Livna exist only for that package.
Adding or removing packages in Fedora is done through graphical frontend to yum, PackageKit. It is not possible to install yum repo through PackageKit. In order to install the RPM Fusion and Livna repo run in terminal;
yum --nogpgcheck install
http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release.rpm
http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm
http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm
2) MP3 support
Rhythmbox is the standard music player included in Fedora. Other players include Amarok, Audacious, etc.. The list goes on and on. In case of standard gnome install the default player is rhythmbox. For it to play mp3 gstreamer-plugin-ugly is needed.To install that,
As pointed out by Kevin Kofler same command is also to be used in case of KDE and Amarok.
yum install gstreamer-plugin-ugly
As pointed out by Kevin Kofler same command is also to be used in case of KDE and Amarok.
3) Install VLC
Totem is good but VLC is the best. Its open-source, light weight and so full of nifty features that you dont need anything else for all your media needs. It also supports many video codecs of the block.
yum install vlc
There are many features that can be done with VLC. You can read about it here.
4) Install Flash player
Flash player was supposed to be dead but it isn't. It still drags on and you have to install it to use your favourite video site or online gaming site. Open source gnash is just not upto the mark to be used on an daily basis.
To install Adobe repo
yum --nogpgcheck install
http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
In order to install Flash plugin
yum install flash-plugin
Thanks mr.Edrk for this heads up.
You can also download Flash plugin RPM from its website here.
5) Configure backup
Fedora comes pre-installed with a great backup software Deja-Dup. Its easy to use and easier to configure. Configure a twice weekly backup to maintain sanity and do a regular backup in background and secure your files.
That rounds off the 5 things to do after installing Fedora. I enjoy using Fedora and these tips make my life easier. There are many tips and tricks and this unofficial faq is a great place to know about it. Please add your tips and tricks in the comments and I will be grateful and will add them here.
Updates:
I always wanted GUI for installation of softwares and codecs for Fedora. I didn't know they existed before seeing the comments. Thank you all for the update. All the codec installation can be done using GUI scripts such as autoplus, Fedora utils. Other great way to manage your GNOME desktop is by using gnome-tweak-tool. Great thing about File Roller the default archive manager is that it is extendable. Rar file support can be installed just by installing unrar
yum install unrar
Sunday, January 15, 2012
ThinkPad Week 2
As I had written in the previous post my laptop has returned from its sojourn to Mumbai. My sister had reinstalled Windoze to try to get internet but that too didn't work out. There was some problem with the USB modem and I was not involved in it. So this was the to-do list I had...
I have the work cut out for the week as I want to understand and learn about the options as I make it work. Hopefully I will be able to do it...
Wish me luck.
- Reinstalling Fedora.
- Getting all the features to work right how I want it to work.
- Trackpoint
- Synaptic Touchpad
- Two finger scrolling
- Middle button gesture
- Pinch-zoom
I have the work cut out for the week as I want to understand and learn about the options as I make it work. Hopefully I will be able to do it...
Wish me luck.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Beautiful Nature - Wallpapers
This is the first post of the new year. I am bringing you few wallpapers to adorn your computer screen. I will add to it as soon I take few more pictures. I love nature in all its blossom and fall. These few pictures I took looks brilliant on my desktop. I hope you like it too.
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