J_K9 @ Linux

HOW TO: Linux For Primers

Welcome to the world of Linux. Correctly referred to as GNU/Linux, it is a full Open Source Operating System with its kernel, and there are many different distributions of it. Each of those distributions (or ‘distros’) are different flavours of Linux - some bring a different GUI desktop environment (so that it looks completely different on-screen - see KDE and Gnome), others have certain applications which others do not (for example: some bring the Instant Messaging application Kopete while others bring Gaim), the choice of package manager varies between them (like APT or Yum), and many other configurations. You can find more information on Linux at Wikipedia.

Today, we shall be using a distro called Mandriva, and its 2006 release. I have chosen it as this tutorial’s distro because it is very easy to use, brings a wide range of applications, and works brilliantly out of the box (or the ISO, in this case!) - all in all, it is highly suitable for those trying Linux for the first time. Click here to download Mandriva-Linux-Free-2006-DVD.i586.iso. This ISO is a DVD image file, and once it has finished downloading, burn it using one of the methods described on LinuxISO.com - although if you do not want to wade through all that information, just download the free BurnAtOnce to burn it to a DVD+R/DVD-R.

Continue reading HOW TO: Linux For Primers…

Top 10 Christmas Songs

Here’s my top 10 list of Christmas songs! (Not including carols)

10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas — Coldplay
9. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer — Disney
8. Baby It’s Cold Outside — Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel
7. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town — Frank Sinatra
6. I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas — Elvis Presley & Bing Crosby
5. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! — Dean Martin
4. Blue Christmas — Elvis Presley
3. Last Christmas — Wham!
2. Wonderful Christmastime — Paul McCartney
1. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) — John Lennon

I’m not saying the list’s perfect - please tell me if you think #10 is rubbish, or if there’s a song that should definitely replace John Lennon as #1!

Torvalds Chooses KDE Over Gnome

As you may already have heard, Linus Torvalds (see Wikipedia), the creator of the Linux kernel and still the most contributing developer towards it, has sided with KDE in the sempiternal conflict between Gnome and KDE aficionados. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, KDE and Gnome are the two most popular Open Source desktop environments, and you will find that a huge number of Linux distributions run one of these as default. In his usual ‘cut the bull-talk and get down to business’ fashion, he told a developer on the Gnome mailing list:

I personally just encourage people to switch to KDE.

This ‘users are idiots, and are confused by functionality’ mentality of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it. I don’t use Gnome, because in striving to be simple, it has long since reached the point where it simply doesn’t do what I need it to do.

Please, just tell people to use KDE.

And his reasons behind his decision are not feeble: he claims that the Gnome developers will excuse themselves from adding extra features by saying that ‘it would confuse users’ rather than ‘it’s too complicated’, whereas KDE has far more options and the developers work diligently to show their flare in this desktop environment.

In my opinion, Gnome is far less bloated than KDE, but I can see why Linus has said this - because KDE is much more configurable than Gnome, and it shows this in every menu and application.

Read the article on OSNews.

$4700 For Extending Firefox

Mozilla Inc. are giving away modded Alienware Aurora desktops (pictured right) to three developers who can create the best Firefox Extensions. The top three will receive this stylish and powerful product, while runner-ups will be given iPod Nanos, O’Reilly gift certificates and other Firefox goodies. This contest is to celebrate the recent release of Firefox 1.5, and with all these brilliant prizes to win, you better get coding soon!

The contest’s homepage can be found on the Mozilla developer site. Note: The contest ends on 6^th January.

Quick HOW TO: Decrease OpenOffice.org’s Loading Time

OpenOffice.org is a renowned international Open Source office suite, which aims to compete with Microsoft Office (and indeed, many users have switched to it). Yet, there is one visible annoyance associated with it - that it takes a long time to load. But, this loading time can be decreased by up to three times by disabling Java in the suite.

To do this, open up any OpenOffice.org application (like Writer) and go to:

Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org (expand this menu) -> Java, and deselect the “Use a Java Runtime” tickbox. This will stop Java support in OpenOffice.org, and while it can inhibit the use of some features, they are probably features which you will never use.

This information was gathered from the comments on digg.com

Why Curiosity Killed The Cat

A blogger (the admin) on Lobby 4 Linux who goes by the name of “helios” recently wrote an article in which he described sending his friend’s computer to its death - because he would not stop criticising Linux. All he did in order to expose Windows’ fragility was to send his friend a link to a website, and once his friend was on the link, it was asta la vista to him! The website is burdened with viruses, worms, and other malware, and while visiting this website from Firefox on Linux won’t harm you, with Internet Explorer on Windows it will.

Funnily enough, helios posted the link to the website in case anybody wanted to examine it safely, and he could not have made a bigger mistake. Many people who are used to the Microsoft way of just “clicking on a link and everything will be taken care of for them” have curiously followed the link up, even though the author specifically stated that it was an extremely risky thing to do - needless to say that their Windows installations were destroyed by the malware, and they blamed helios for it.

This is why I am not going to post the link here, but you may wish to read his follow up article on it. Remember, only visit the site if you’re running an Operating System other than Windows, because it contains so much malware that it is likely to break through your defences.

Review: Wordpress 2.0 RC3

This new version of Wordpress, which is only days away from being announced as “stable”, is a whirl of a lot cooler than the last one. A tester open to the public is available at twaites.com, and you really must go and see it: apart from the sleek new interface and far increased ease-of-use, there are also other gut-churningly thrilling features.

Continue reading Review: Wordpress 2.0 RC3…

Quick HOW TO: Increase Firefox’s Page Rendering Speed

For some, this hack works miracles and decreases page loading time vastly, but for others only a slight difference is noticed: I shall leave the verdict up to you. What this simple tweak does is disable IPv6 support in Firefox, and as the vast majority of the internet still uses IPv4, this will not pose a problem for the near future. Plus, you will get a free speed upgrade!

Go into Firefox and type the following into the address bar: about:config
Then, when the page loads, scroll down to network.dns.disableIPv6, right-click on it and select “Toggle”. Its value will now become “True”.

Now visit your favourite websites - you should see a decrease in its loading time.

Someone’s Talked Some Sense Into Me

I’ve heard quite a lot about Google AdSense, and it’s Christmas (which means that - ouch! - my pocket’s empty!), so I’ve decided to sign up. I’ve chosen the Firefox promotion image (I love Firefox) and relevant text-only ads, so that you won’t be distracted by a random advertisement about saving the Andalucian Donkeys.

Well, if you’re feeling tired, bored, happy, delighted, emotional, hungover, depressed, romantic, geeky, technological, envious, drunk, frustrated, worried, proud, mad, lonely, stressed, sick, horny or even intrigued, give one of those beauties on the sidebar a click! Who knows what fantasies they may hold inside…

There’s No Coffee Left

and the bags beneath my eyes are beginning to darken as the clock approaches 4.30am. So, what can I use instead to keep me awake during the remaining 30 minutes which are required to complete my task? The answer is simple: watching Bill Gates being smacked on the face by an inbound pie!

Watch the video!