Archive April 2010
[Books Directory]: 10 free Linux Administration Books
10 free GNU/Linux Administration Books
Linux based distributions have a lot of different administration options and privilege options, Books listed here will help you with administrations privilege for different distributions debian, fedora, redhat, ubuntu, gentoo, opensuse, mandriva, …..
Also other books for security administrations, and files system directory hierarchy, software help you to secure you system, securing VPN servers,…
## so here we go…
1. Linux Administration Made Easy
This documentation will attempt to summarize the installation and configuration, as well as the day-to-day administrative and maintenance procedures that should be followed to keep a Linux-based server or desktop system up and running. It is geared to an audience of both corporate as well as home users. It is not intended to be a full overview of Unix operations, as there are several good texts available as well as on-line documentation which can be referred to in cases where more detailed information is required.
2. The Linux System Administrator’s Guide
The Linux System Administrator’s Guide, describes the system administration aspects of using Linux. It is intended for people who know next to nothing about system administration (those saying “what is it?”), but who have already mastered at least the basics of normal usage. This manual doesn’t tell you how to install Linux; that is described in the Installation and Getting Started document. See below for more information about Linux manuals.
3. Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
The filesystem standard has been designed to be used by Unix distribution developers, package developers, and system implementors. However, it is primarily intended to be a reference and is not a tutorial on how to manage a Unix filesystem or directory hierarchy.
4. Linux Administrator’s Security Guide
There are numerous definitions for “computer security”, and most of them are correct. Essentially computer security means enforcement of usage policies, this must be done since people and software have flaws that can result in accidents, but also because someone may want to steal your information, use your resources inappropriately or simply deny you the use of your resources.
5. Debian GNU/Linux System Administrator’s Manual (Obsolete Documentation)
This manual assumes the reader is familiar with using a Unix system and/or understands Debian User Reference Manual. Additional reading for System Administrator is Debian GNU/Linux Network Administrator’s Manual. Both of these are available from the Debian Documentation Project. Another useful book is “Linux System Administrator’s Guide” by Lars Wirzenius, available from Linux Documentation Project, http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/ .
The target audience of the book is anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of how computer systems work, as well as anyone who is likely to become involved with the technical aspects of computer intrusion or system analysis. These are not only system administrators, incident responders, other computer security professionals, or forensic analysts, but also anyone who is concerned about the impact of computer forensics on privacy.
7. Best Practices for Managing Linux and UNIX Servers
Call it the Linux fallacy. It’s the conventional wisdom that says Linux/UNIX gives you lots of power and reliability in exchange for far more complex and costly systems management. But in fact Linux/UNIX shouldn’t be a tradeoff–as long as you also implement a set of proven best practices.
8. GNU/Linux Advanced Administration
The GNU/Linux systems have reached an important level of maturity, allowing to integrate them in almost any kind of work environment, from a desktop PC to the sever facilities of a big company.
9. COIT13146 Systems Administration
In the course Systems Administration. It is an attempt to give you an overview of the course and more importantly of computing, Linux and Systems Administration.
Many students commented that they felt lost in the detail of Linux without having an overall picture of how it fits together. Hopefully this chapter will go some way towards solving this problem, and will provide some sort of small map and compass so you have an idea of where you are and where you are going.
10. GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide
The aim of this book is to get you up to speed with GNU/Linux and to deliver a fun and productive environment. It guides you through the many different regions of a GNU/Linux system with a focus on getting your desktop environment to do what you want it to do. It is comprehensive with basic support for the user who installs and maintains the system themselves (whether in the home, office, club, or school). It provides insights and step-by-step procedures that deal with specific tasks in setting your system up and maintaining it. The book covers many of the core features of a GNU/Linux system and you will gain the knowledge to enjoy and use one of the most comprehensive and useful developments in the history of computing.
Distribution Release: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS released
Great news, finally ubuntu 10.04 LTS version released, with other based relased for ubuntu such as Kubuntu, Xbuntu, check this release notes and download options for ubuntu.
Ubuntu main new features , release announcement, you can download for server edition, desktop edition, and netbook editon “Download”
[How To]: Get the best performance with SUN VirtualBox
Sun virtualBox one of the best virtualization applications you can use to run multiple operating system in the same time, but it need some dependencies to get better performance in your operating system whatever the operating system is Ubuntu, Mandriva, Fedora, Centos, …… I am using it now on Ubuntu.
Ubuntu Swap, ” check your operating system Swap ”
really important because it used as same as your installed memory RAM, check this post for ubuntu Swap improvement, just make sure your swap size at least as same as your installed memory RAM.
for system setting you raise to the half memory you already have, for that if raised more than you have the Swap will help to keep you system stable.
also you can use multiple cores if you have multiple core processor. If you have a decent machine you can active full acceleration.
set the display memory depending in you graphics card performance, if you want to get 3d, 2d visualizations it might slow down the virtual machine.
that’s it for now.
[Download] : 30 Default Backgrounds for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
A really cool collection of 30 backgrounds comes with the new release of ubuntu 10.04 LTS .
Dark background I liked the most, awesome collection of dark wallpaper. also comes with many bright wallpaper.
These wallpaper for who aren’t using ubuntu 10.04 LTS
you can download the whole pack in .zip file.
enjoy it
5 Recommended things to do before upgrading to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
After you installed the new version, you maybe will say ” damn where is my bookmark !!!!? ” you forget it with old version usually happen :(
so, Before upgrading to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS which will release on April 29, their are 5 things recommended to do with the distribution you already have. whatever is the distributions is ubuntu 9.10, older versions, or other distribution.
1. Bookmark ” Favorite “ Backup
Most users using Firefox web browser, Google Chrome, Chromium ” based web browser on chrome ” , Opera, …
go to bookmarks then organize bookmarks then you will find export bookmarks. I recommend to export it as HTML file, to easily use it on any other web browser.
also you can export addons if you want. this applications is recommend to backup addons ” FEBE ”
Go to tools, then bookmark manager, then press export it will export it as HTML .
Go to Bookmark, then book mark manager, export it as well.
2. Evolution mail, Thunderbird Backup
If you want to keep your saved messages, you can easily backing it up. go to file, then backup options it will back all messages on archiving file I believe it tar.gz
3. Backup installed packages, and specific file on file system directory.
Many file you may be forget for your webcam, documents files, multimedia files, ….
Many applications used to backup files or packages on ubuntu, Timevault or Unison.
4. Backup Compiz Fusion
If you are using Compiz fusion make sure you backed up your compiz fusion profile, to easily get same look next time you are going to use compiz.
5. Time to destroy Ubuntu
install any package you didn’t want to try it with this version just for fun. install extra compiz fusion plugin till message comes up telling you ” you have serious kernal error you have to restart ” 
, share with us what you will do with your own release before installing the new release.
[How To] : move minimize, maximize, close button to right hand side of title bar?
With the new release of ubuntu 10.04 beta 1, beta 2 ” minimize, maximize, close” button moved to left hand side of the title bar.
check this this video will easily show you how to do it using configuration editor ” gconf-editor ”
play in HD for better quality, Thumb up if you like it.
Review : xPUD 0.9.2 Review light distribution
xPUD 0.9.2 Review
xPUD distribution light wight distribution using simple web interface called plate user interface. this is a really good choice distribution to use if you want to get a quick access to internet or directories, multimedia files, document files, …..
You can install it in your USB, laptop, Notebook, Desktop, … the good thing is the boot time really good booting time even in this review i was using it in my virtual machine “sun virtualbox”.
- screenshots
main installed application mozilla firefox, mplayer, document reader, also you can get extra application using opt-get software center, it’s like synaptic package manager we using on ubuntu or mint distributions. you can find openoffice, skype, extra codecs for playing multimedia files, …. all this application located on opt-get software center.
- System requirement for this distribution
256MB RAM and 64MB free disk required.
also check the full video review “screencast” play in HD for better quality
To download xPUD 0.9.2 here
enjoy it, Thumb up if you like it :)
Applications : 5 webcam applications for capture photos, videos, multiple photos, and security cameras
webcam applications for capture photos, videos, multiple photos, and security cameras
1. Cheese
One of the most common application located on gnome project, first it was written by google summer code project. really liked effects you can add using cheese ” noir, edge,warp,dice,hulk,….
also you can use this applications for talking multiple photos or videos, customize to specific resolution you want, working in many different distributions you can find many download options for debian based distributions, fedora, ubuntu, mint, …..
2. Camera Monitor
simple tool notify you if your camera is on or off. designed to work on gnome desktop work as well on KDE and Xfce
simply you can install it by terminal
sudo apt-get install cameramonitor
More information and download options for other distributions
3. Camorama
camorama is a program i wrote to learn gtk and v4l. as you can see, i am still learning . it is pretty simple at the moment, and i hope to make it much more complete. i also plan to make it more generic, as i initially wrote it with only my own creative webcam 3 in mind. hopefully it will work with other cameras. i will test on anything i can get my hands on, but that might take a while.
right now you can change the video settings using the gui and apply some crappy filters i wrote to mess around with. it runs at a reasonable speed, but i would like to get the fps up as high as possible. still figuring that out. as for requirements, you will need at least gnome 2 and v4l. i haven’t used anything else crazy, and that should do it.
More informations and Download Options
4. Gnome Security Camera “Gspy”
Gspy retrieves images from a video4linux device and processes these into a daily mpeg movie on the disk drive. Each image is recorded with a time stamp to insure accurate real world correlation. Special motion detection algorithms are used to reduce the size of the daily movies by eliminating pictures with similar content as well as the normal compression obtained via the mpeg process. The result is a time lapse video per day with nonlinear time compression using only the images of interest. This program will only run on Linux machines which support a video4linux-device in 640×480 capture size. This software has been tested with the 2.4.0-test1 kernel, 2.4.0-test4 and the 2.2.16 kernel with the usb backport patch. You should have the Berkeley MPEG Tools installed if you wish to generate the MPEG files. Gspy can be used without the MPEG tools, as it will fill a directory with jpg images that can be processed or viewed at a later time. Versions from 0.1.6 include a user defined command that is executed on each alarm. This command string can include a token(s) “%f%” that will get replaced with the alarm picture filename. Typical uses would be to copy the alarm picture to a remote site using ftp or scp, email the picture to someone, play a sound annoucement… “Step away from the keyboard!”, turn on lights using a parallel port or X10 interface, or ???. Have FUN
More informations and Download options
5. Kamoso
My favorite webcam application for KDE, support many webcams, able to capture photos, videos, multiple photos. you can easily share your photos and videos directly from the application to facebook and twitter.
More informations and Download
that’s it for now.
Mobile : HTC EVO 4G
Sprint announced the release of HTC EVO 4G this summer 2010, a lot of new features with this device will make it the best device so far. say hello for the first WiMAX device with android operating system with sprint contract. I believe it won’t take long time to be unlocked or released by another carrier.
so HTC EVO 4G with 4.3 inches TFT capacitive touch screen 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz snapdragon processor but with different model installed on HTC HD2 I believe it just improvement to processor structure to be able to do other features specially this device comes with 4G technology or WiMAX.
8 Mega pixel camera able to 720p video and 1.3 mega pixel camera in front for video calling and application required in front webcam. Built in 1 GB of memory and 512 MB of RAM and customizable microSD card slot but not sure if it will be upgradeable to 32 GB like HTC HD2 or maybe more.
Also you will be able to watch high definition movies with HDMI output. 1500 mAh Bigger battery life than HTC HD2 .
Android operating system installed version 2.1 with new sense UI version installed.
Sprint didn’t announce any details about pricing or when exactly it will be released this summer. rumor said it will be released this month April 2010 with 3G working only.
Thanks engadget for HTC evo 4G Hands on, and comparison HTC evo 4G vs Iphone 3gs vs nexus one
Also check engadget hands-on for HTC EVO 4G
Review : Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 2
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 2 released, before we begin this review check the release announcement and “release notes, Downloaad“.
we already reviewed ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 3 and Beta 1 , check the release notes for both older versions to know the improvement accomplished on last release.
so here we go,
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 2 review
Installed on virtual machine “sun virtualbox” application with this Hardware specifications:
- single core processor 2.1 GHz
- 512 MB of ram
- 12 MB of video memory
# Installation Process
boot it first time as live session it was working good, after the installation it was working super fast really good.
after the installation it boot super fast, really impressed with booting time about 9 second booting time at first time booting, usually any operating system after the installation it boot really quick but after the installing any extra application you their will be some lagging time to boot up.
Their is not a big difference between Beta 1 and Beta 2 themes, both of them looks the same but at bug report their a lot of reported bugs on radiance theme fixed on ubuntu 10.04 beta2
same main installed packages for applications.
Yahoo still the default search engine on firefox instead of Google search engine. with firefox version 3.6.3, it’s up to you can change the search engine later firefox options.
using last version of Gnome so far ” Gnome 2.30″ , Linux kernel v 2.6.32
security issues fixed, improvement on ubuntu one, ubuntu enterprise cloud, new default open source driver for nvidia hardware
I really like the new version of nautilus comes with Gnome 2.30 if you are not familiar with nautilus and gnome 2.30 visit this link
really like the splitting view on windows, split view come really handy on to open to directory side by side with difference icon view really good.
To activate split mode on opened windows press F3 or go to view menu and select it.
also you can drag and drop folders and files split view.
same new features included with ubuntu 10.04 beta 2 with menus and right click menu for copying files to and moving to.
Pros :
Awesome booting time
Gnome 2.30 desktop really good with a lot of new features.
Ambiance and Radiance looks really good themes
Cons :
none, with me so far working really good I don’t have any problems, also thinking to install it as default distribution.
and we waiting for ubuntu 10.04 LTS final version April 29th 2010 :)
Give it a try, as usual please report any bugs you got,
here to know how to report any bugs you got to ubuntu community and Bugsquad
peace out :)
Mobile : 10 free Android Applications
Android operating system become really popular, a lot of new applications released everyday, android market place contain many free applications, and other paid applications.
Many applications will list it here will help you a lot with multimedia files, system files, internet, Browser, phone book, PDF reader, Ringtones, Twitter app, IM messenger,……..
10 free android applications
so here we go,
1. Documents To Go
really good applications to open document files, excel files, PDF, and a lot of other formats (doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx & pdf)
also you easily edit files formated for microsoft office 2007
really easy to access this application don’t take a lot of time, also really easy to use for regular day use.
More information and Download options
2. mVideoPlayer v1.6.2
This is really good application for playing multimedia files and the good thing multimedia files support mp4, m4v and 3gp
The good part about this application it’s support subtitles .srt extension.
other features with version 1.6.2
- Playlist
- Full screen
- Auto rotate
- IMDb info scraper to view movie information from Imdb.com
-On screen information: Time, Battery Status, Elapsed Time
More information and Download options
3. ASTRO File Manager 2.3.1
simple applications to access your files with really good interface, can read zip, tgz files.also backup, restore files, searching inside for specific file or folder
More information and download options
4. Steel version 0.1.9
Simple web browser application, light and quick access, work really good if you are on the run and you want a quick access for website
More information and download options
5. Phonebook 2.0
Inspired by instant messaging, social networks and life streaming applications, Voxmobili combined them into an all-in-one, easy to use application, Phonebook 2.0. It secures contacts, notifies end-users when they are online, displays birthday reminders and helps centralize all communications.
Phonebook 2.0 is a white label product for mobile operators. They can customize it, brand it as they wish and create a mobile social network from their subscriber base. This application is ideally suited to teenagers who always want to be in touch with their friends and businesses to help their employees keep valuable contacts secure and up-to-date.
More information and download options
6. Ringdroid 2.2
Awesome applications for modifying media files for making quick ringtones.
Features:
Supported file formats:
- MP3
- AAC/MP4 (including unprotected iTunes music)
- WAV
- 3GPP/AMR (this is the format used when you record sounds directly on the handset)
More information and download options
7. Opera mini 5
Popular applications for internet web browser, really quick access for websites, working in full screen browsing.
great access for bookmark, zooming features, manage download for files through opera mini
More information and download options
8. twidroid
Awesome Twitter client, easy to access your last twittes, your followers twittes, posting photos to twittes, access lists maded by you or or other friends.
video posting inside twittes, this applications comes with two version free version and other one paid with extra features
More information and download options
9. meebo
one of the most popular IM messenger applications , really good interface, and awesome way to chat with your friends all the time.
Log into all your IM accounts and send messages for free! With Meebo for Android, you’ll never miss a message. Available now from the Android Market for all Android devices.
More information and download options
10. Quick Settings v1.8.5
Really handy applications to get a quick access to many settings and easily to change this options such as Brightness, Ringer type, Volume control, WiFi, Network data (on/off & 2G/3G setting shortcut), Bluetooth, GPS (shortcut), Screen Timeout, Airplane mode, Auto-sync, Auto rotation, and Lock pattern
More information and download options
will post more soon
That’s it for now.
How to add repositories on Ubuntu 9.10
Common applications installed using synaptic package manager already installed by referring from default repositories added on ubuntu 9.10 or any other version it’s the same way to add extra repositories for other distributions such as ubuntu 10.04 LTS beta 1
Default repositories on ubuntu monitored by ubuntu community, so in this post i will show you how to add extra repositories for ubuntu 9.10 and 10.04 LTS beta 1 as well.
1. Adding repositories
you can get access to it using:
a. synaptic package manger
System menu —> Administration —> Synaptic —> Settings —> Repositories
b. System menu —> Administration —> Software Sources
Common repositories already added on software sources by ubuntu and kubuntu. some application need to add extra repositories to be able to install it in your machine, will use this as example
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/moovida-packagers/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
access the software sources, will ask you for root password then go to other software and press add button and paste the apt line like this one up there
If you want to backup all repositories you already have type this command on terminal
sudo cp -i /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list_backup
This will copy you repositories list to this folder “./etc/apt/ ” with name called sources.list_backup
2. adding repositories key
some application need repositories key to get rid of so warning massages during the installations
so you will find more instructions on the website for installing this package and it will mention repositories key you can add it directly from the terminal.
That’s it for now.
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