New features in Amarok 1.4
Filed under: music
What's new in Amarok 1.4? Oh baby! Amarok is the best - & I mean the best - music jukebox on Linux (too bad it doesn't run on Windows or Mac OS). It's already killer, but some new goodies are coming, like support for metadata in other file formats, support for scriptable lyrics, podcast support, statistics, & lots more. Can't wait!
(Check out all of our posts on Amarok.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsMy buddy Ed gives advice about Ruby on Rails
Filed under: k/ubuntu, mac os x, programming, rubyonrails
My buddy Ed is a great programmer, & in the last many months he's really gotten deep into Ruby on Rails. Periodically he emails the CWE-LUG list about Ruby, & his info is always good. Here's some of those emails for your edification & enlightenment.
Here's a presentation that Ed did for the Unix Users Group here in St. Louis:
<begin Ed>
Hello. I know its been 1.5 weeks since my tutorial on Ruby at the general SLUUG mtg, but finally the slides are up.
http://www.cwelug.org/~edh/RubyForNubys.sxi
An OOo Impress document. Feel free to convert it to HTML or PDF if you want.
It is released under a Attribute/Non-commercial/Share-Alike Creative Commons licence. That means you can edit it and redistriute it as long as attribution is maintained and it is released under an identical license.
<end Ed>
Then Ed had this to say about developing Ruby on Rails for Mac OS X users (even though I'm pretty sure Ed uses Linux).
<begin Ed>
http://hivelogic.com/articles/2005/12/01/ruby_rails_lighttpd_mysql_tiger
This is a step-by-step tutorial on getting a full-on Rails stack up and running on your Mac. BTW, Macs are very good at doing Rails development.
<end Ed>
Finally, here's Ed on getting Ruby on Rails working on my fave distro, K/Ubuntu.
<begin Ed>
Hi, just got a new HD from the EPC sale and installed Breezy onto it. Bit tricky setting up support for Rails programming. The basic issue is getting compiler tools/libraries. I wrote up my travails in my blog: http://greenprogrammer.blogspot.com.
Other than that, Ubuntu really rocks. My laptop seems over 100% faster. Not sure if the HD is the culprit or Ubuntu is just tuned better. And when I plugged my old HD into a USB drive enclosure, Ubuntu popped up various file browsers for each partition. That is seriously cool, man.
Just FYI.
<end Ed>
(Check out all of our posts on Ruby.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsReally fix a busted GNOME
Filed under: gnome
Sometimes GNOME gets really, really borked, so badly that you essentially need to start over. In situations like that, it's time for drastic action. Here's what you do:
If the gconfd process is running, kill it. Find the PID for gconfd with ps aux, and then kill the process using, uh, kill.
Now delete the following directories:
~/.gnome
~/.gnome2
~/.gnome2_private
~/.gconf
~/.gconfd
Restart, & you now have a virgin GNOME. This means, of course, that all the settings your had in place for GNOME apps are gone too. If that really bums you out, then back up those GNOME directories instead of nuking them, and then carefully put the right config files back into place as needed. Tedious, yes, but less of a PITA than redoing everything.
(Check out all of our posts on GNOME.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsRobert defends P2P from a scurrilous attack
Filed under: bittorrent, azureus
So this bozo wrote a column for the Midwest Tech Journal attacking P2P, & in it he made this brilliant statement:
<begin bozo>
Here is the bottom line...there is no use for P2P networks that passes the "straight face" test other than to illegally distribute bootleg songs, movies, and software, along with distributing obscene materials or pornographic materials - including child pornography.
<end bozo>
My good friend Robert was bothered by this crap & responded in a much saner, nicer way than I would have:
<begin Robert>
I too strongly oppose the illigal distribution of copyrighted material. However, I must disagree strongly with this statement:
[See quote above]
The above comment paints peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and those that use them with an extremely broad brush. While it is probably true that illegal material is being exchanged over P2P networks, that does not mean that P2P networks can only be used to exchange illegal material and that P2P networks do not have legitimate uses.
P2P is merely a technology that allows people to exchange information more efficiently than other technologies, much like the interstate highway system allowed people to exchange physical goods more efficiently than previous methods (e.g. the loosely connected state highways). Like the interstate highway system, yes, people do exchange illegal material. And like the interstate highway system, no, we shouldn't abolish P2P networks just because they can be used to exchange such illegal material. Both the interstate highway system and P2P networks have legitimate uses.
For example, much of the Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) community distributes its software via P2P networking, in particular using the P2P software know as BitTorrent [www.bittorrent.com]. Because of the efficiency by which data can be exchanged, a number of companies and groups have begun to offer BitTorrent as a means to download and exchange their software, including Xandros,Fedora, TheOpenCD Project, FreeBSD, OpenOffice.org, Libranet, Knoppix, among many other. Please visit the Central West End Linux Users Group's download [www.cwelug.org] page for a more complete yet still miniscule listing.
If you and anyone else would like to witness ligitimate uses of P2P networks for exchanging software and other data, I welcome you to join me at the Central West End Linux Users Group [www.cwelug.org] meeting on any third Sunday of the month. ... I will be happy to demonstrate how to download, install, and use BitTorrent for the legitimate exchange of software, all with a very straight face.
<end Robert>
Thank you, Robert. As usual, you are completely correct, & very nice about pressing your point.
(Check out all of our posts on BitTorrent.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsBackup your Firefox extensions easily (Windows only)
At last count, I have 32 extensions installed on Firefox. Needless to say, re-installing every time I set up a new version of Firefox on a machine is major PITA. When I first heard about the Firefox Extension Backup Extension (FEBE), I was really excited. This puppy not only backs up all your extensions, but also "will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files". Slick. Then I found about the same dude's Compact Library Extension Organizer (CLEO), which "works with FEBE to package any number of extensions/themes into a single, installable .xpi file." Holy mackeral! Now THAT is uber-useful! Gimme some of that!
Unfortunately, the dang thing only works on Windows, which is nice for the Windows users, but just sucks completely for Linux & Mac OS users. C'mon ... we're beggin' you! Get this thing working on the other, cooler operating systems!
(Check out all of our posts on Firefox.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsHow hot is your CPU?
Computer CPUs can stand really hot temperatures, but there comes a point at which things break. Want to know your CPU's temp? To tell, run this command:
cat /proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THM0/temperature
(Note that it may not work on all machines).
(Check out all of our posts on the command line.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsA GUI for WordPress themes
Filed under: wordpress, blogging
My fave DIY blogging software is WordPress, as you can see at my personal blog (which I use for collecting anecdotes, factoids, &tc for use in my writing), called, appropriately enough, GranneBlog. As with most DIY blogging software, creating a cool theme can be pretty hard. Now, however, there's a really cool extension for WordPress called Canvas that promises to make this process a lot easier, and a lot more powerful. To really understand this thing, be sure to read "Why Not Take a Closer Look", which contains screenshots that explain just what this thing can do. It appears to be pretty neat stuff. Anyone tried it? Let us know how it went!
(Check out all of our posts on WordPress.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsHacking Knoppix or Knoppix Hacks
Several months ago my second book came out, Hacking Knoppix. Prior to that, O'Reilly released a (good) book on the same subject titled Knoppix Hacks. Yup, the two sure sound alike. On the CWE-LUG list, JT asked a good question: "What is the differentiators between the books? Do they have core themes or do they just deal with different hacks?" Robert - who was the tech editor for Hacking Knoppix and also wrote an appendix, had this to say as an answer. He nailed it, IMHO.
<begin Robert>
Here's my take:
Knoppix Hacks: a large collection of small hacks
Hacking Knoppix: a small collection of large hacks
So, Hacking Knoppix goes into more depth on a fewer hacks, with a fair amount of emphasis on remastering.
I think the two books complement each other well. But perhaps I'm biased. :)
<end Robert>
(Check out all of our posts on Knoppix.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsMake SUSE 10.1 even cooler
Filed under: suse
The new SUSE 10.1 is getting great reviews, & is undoubtedly the best SUSE yet. However, even something that is great can always be made better, & that's where Jem Matzan's "Hacking SUSE Linux 10.1" comes in. Want to know how to add support for Java, Flash, Acrobat, Windows Media, RealPlayer, ATI & nVidia graphics cards, XGL/Compiz (only the coolest eye candy EVER), & commercial DVD movies? Then go read that article & follow its advice!
(Check out all of our posts on SUSE.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsOne of the many reasons I like K/Ubuntu
K/Ubuntu has its own bug-tracking system, Launchpad. Go check out bug #1, available at https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bug/1.
Awesome.
I heart Mark Shuttleworth.
(Check out all of our posts on K/Ubuntu.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSlide shows based on HTML, CSS, & JavaScript
Filed under: openoffice.org, office, ericmeyer, daveraggett, html, css, presentations
PowerPoint pretty much sucks, for a variety of reasons. And in that group I also include OpenOffice.org Impress (which I personally choose to suffer through) and Apple's Keynote. They all just suck in different ways. Being a Web dude, I've always looked for a web-based solution, and now there appears to be two contenders: Dave Raggett's Slidy (he's the guy who invented the awesome Tidy, so you know he's a smart cookie) and Eric Meyer's (we all must bow to him & his CSS godly knowledge) S5, which stands for Simple Standards-Based Slide Show System.
Both are good, & both work the same: they provide you with the CSS files (which you can customize ... & which you should customize, so your templates are unique) and JavaScript, & your job is put your entire presentation in an XHTML file. If you know HTML, this will be easy; if you don't ... well, there's always Impress! Based on my experimentation with both, I'm going to use S5. It supports font scaling a bit better, & it has some features that Slidy doesn't have, especially in the footer that's auto-generated on every slide. On top of that, Eric Meyer, showing his background as a writer, has better documentation that Dave Raggett, which is key. But in either case, both Slidy & S5 are worth exploring, & it's great news that we finally have an alternative to PowerPoint and the other presentation clients.
(Check out all of our posts on presentations, OpenOffice.org, S5, and Eric Meyer.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Commentsopensource: The Open Source Weblog
html
css
powerpoint
Presentations
opensource
Openoffice.org
keynote
Convert WAV files to MP3 or FLAC
Filed under: music, rip-mix-burn, mp3, flac
Assume you have a whole mess of WAV files that you want to convert. First let's turn them into MP3s.
lame --preset insane *wav
This basically creates the mp3 at 320, which is, uh, insane, but it's the highest quality level. If its not 320, I don't want it. You may choose 192 or above; unless it's speech, I would NEVER use anything less than 192.
Now let's convert your WAVs to FLAC files.
shntool conv -o flac *.wav
If you're using a Debian-based system, you'll probably need to do this first:
sudo apt-get install shntool
Is that not easy or what?
(Check out all of our posts on conversions, WAV, MP3, & FLAC.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsMy new book - Linux Phrasebook - is out!
I'm really proud to announce that my 3rd book is now out & available for purchase: Linux Phrasebook. My first book - Don't Click on the Blue E!: Switching to Firefox - was for general readers (really!) who wanted to learn how to move to and use the fantastic Firefox web browser. I included a lot of great information for more technical users as well, but the focus was your average Joe. My second book - Hacking Knoppix - was for the more advanced user who wanted to take advantage of Knoppix, a version of Linux that runs entirely off of a CD. You don't need to be super-technical to use and enjoy Hacking Knoppix, but the more technical you are, the more you'll enjoy the book. Linux Phrasebook is all about the Linux command line, and it's perfect for both Linux newbies and experienced users. In fact, when I was asked to write the book, I responded, "Write it? I can't wait to buy it!"
The idea behind Linux Phrasebook is to give practical examples of Linux commands and their myriad options, with examples for everything. Too often a Linux user will look up a command in order to discover how it works, and while the command and its many options will be detailed, something vitally important will be left out: examples. That's where Linux Phrasebook comes in. I cover a huge number of different commands and their options, and for every single one, I give an example of usage and results that makes it clear how to use it.
Here's the table of contents; in parentheses I've included some (just some) of the commands I cover in each chapter:
- Things to Know About Your Command Line
- The Basics (ls, cd, mkdir, cp, mv, rm)
- Learning About Commands (man, info, whereis, apropos)
- Building Blocks (;, &&, |, >, >>)
- Viewing Files (cat, less, head, tail)
- Printing and Managing Print Jobs (lpr, lpq, lprm)
- Ownerships and Permissions (chgrp, chown, chmod)
- Archiving and Compression (zip, gzip, bzip2, tar)
- Finding Stuff: Easy (grep, locate)
- The find command (find)
- Your Shell (history, alias, set)
- Monitoring System Resources (ps, lsof, free, df, du)
- Installing software (rpm, dkpg, apt-get, yum)
- Connectivity (ping, traceroute, route, ifconfig, iwconfig)
- Working on the Network (ssh, sftp, scp, rsync, wget)
- Windows Networking (nmblookup, smbclient, smbmount)
I'm really proud of the whole book, but the chapter on the super-powerful and useful find command is a standout, along with the material on ssh and its descendants sftp and scp. But really, the whole book is great, and I will definitely be keeping a copy on my desk as a reference. If you want to know more about the Linux command line and how to use it, then I know you'll enjoy and learn from Linux Phrasebook.
You can read about and buy the book at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0672328380/) for $10.19. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me at scott at granneman dot com, or check out my web site for more info.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsStripped down KDE
Robert volunteers for a St. Louis organization called ByteWorks, which takes old PCs & refurbs them, then teaches kids how to use 'em. At that point, the kids get to keep the PCs. Pretty cool program. Robert is helping them move from old versions of Windows to Linux, which is great. Unfortunately, these machines are so old that "modern" Linux desktops like GNOME and KDE are too much. Here's what I suggested:
<begin my email to Robert>
If this was for "normal" users we were trying to wean away from Windows, I would push KDE, but that's impossible with this ancient, underpowered hardware. Ice [a window manager] is way too different & weird. Actually, so is KFCE, since it's based on GNOME's ideas about desktops (which are quite bizarre).
Have you looked at this?
It's a stripped-down KDE.
Or this?
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8239
Another stripped-down KDE.
Interestingly, Auditor - one of the absolute best Live CDs for security - switched from ICEwm to a stripped down KDE.
http://www.remote-exploit.org/index.php/Auditor_changes
Have you looked at this distro, which is specifically for old hardware & uses KDE?
VectorLinux
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=vector
<end my email to Robert>
(Check out all of our posts on KDE, ICE, XFCE, & Auditor.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsBrilliant guide to installing software in K/Ubuntu
Filed under: k/ubuntu
Windows & Mac OS make it really, really simple to install software because there's really only one way to install: click on Setup.exe or Install.exe in the case of Windows, or a .dmg in the case of Mac OS. Linux is more difficult because there's such a variety of packaging formats. Now here comes the excellent How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu!, which delivers exactly what it says. This puppy covers the package manager as a concept, the APT GUI Synaptic, using APT via the terminal (my preferred method), and how to install a package manually, no matter if that package is a .deb, .rpm, .tar.gz, .sh, .bin, or even a .exe. And while the title is for Ubuntu, this guide works for pretty much any Debian-based distro. Read & bookmark this one, guys - it's a keeper!
(Check out all of our posts on K/Ubuntu & software installation.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsAccess data stored on NTFS drives with ease
Filed under: ntfs
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has a great little review of Paragon's NTFS for Linux driver, which can help you access & recover data stored on drives formatted with NTFS from Linux. This is important stuff guys, as it helps Linux users work with Windows in ways that help us get around MSFT's attempts to lock people into their own special formats. And while Paragon's software is proprietary, it's reasonably priced, with the Personal edition (which works on a bootable CD) at only $19.95. Not bad at all.
(Check out all of our posts on NTFS.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsYADR: Yet Another Dapper Review
Dapper Drake, the new version of K/Ubuntu is out, and it rocks. I've been using the beta for awhile, & I'm very very very happy. For an interesting review that's chock full of screenshots & useful info about software to install, check out Ubuntu Dapper Review. In particular, there's nice info about getting the nVidia drivers installed, and even the coolest eye candy in the world, XGL. I'll be posting more in coming days, so keep posted ... & if you haven't tried Dapper yet, go try it!
(Check out all of our posts on K/Ubuntu.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsMove the mouse with your keyboard in KDE
Filed under: kde, mouse, keyboard
File this under "I should have known about this but didn't." Let's say you don't have a mouse, or your mouse is having problems, yet you still need to somehow move your pointer from A to B. It's easy in KDE: press Alt-F12. You can now move the pointer with your arrow keys. When you're finished, press Alt-F12 again, & you're back to the mouse. Easy peasy. How do you do this in GNOME? Let us know!
(Check out all of our posts on KDE and the mouse.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsInstall the JRE in Debian
Filed under: debian, k/ubuntu, java
As I recently pointed out, Sun finally changed its license so that distros like Debian can include the Sun JRE. Thanks, Sun! Here's the command you need to run:
apt-get install sun-java5-jre sun-java5-plugin sun-java5-fonts sun-java5-bin
That'll do it, fair readers.
(Check out all of our posts on Sun and Java.)
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsOpen Source coverage now on Download Squad!
You can roll your own Download Squad experience in several ways:
BOOKMARKS:
Main blog:
http://www.downloadsquad.com
The Open Source category
http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/
All Scott, all the time:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/bloggers/scott-granneman/
RSS FEEDS
Main blog:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/rss.xml
The Open Source category feed:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/rss.xml
The Open Source Weblog will remain exactly where it is, with its tremendous archive of blog entries. Ues it as a reference point, and aim your browser/newsreader at Download Squad for the continuous Open Source updating you've come to expect. Thanks for reading!Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments