Happy New Year! Forget all that stuff about the Mayan Calendar. Be Cool!

Archive for the ‘Tutorials/Tips’ category

0

How to install Takeoff Launcher on Fedora 16 KDE

Takeoff Launcher is one of my favorite menu styles and I consider it one of 2 cool reasons to use the K Desktop Environment. Though it is not in Fedora’s repository, there is an rpm package that you can install from the project’s website. In this tutorial, you will read about the steps necessary to [...]

Published by on January 17, 2012 4:58 am
1

Install Quick Access on Linux Mint 12 KDE or any KDE installation

I am always looking for tools and applications that make the desktop a lot more fun to use, while boosting my productivity at the same time. Such tools should accomplish those objectives without getting in the way. I have already written about two of them in 2 cool reasons to use the K Desktop Environment. [...]

Published by on January 16, 2012 7:47 pm
0

How to install Linux Mint 12 KDE on a btrfs file system

While we are still waiting for Btrfs, the B-tree File System, to be mature enough and be used as the default file system in Linux, it is already possible to install your favorite (Linux) distribution on a Btrfs file system. Linux Mint 12 KDE, a distribution based on Ubuntu Desktop, is one of those. In [...]

Published by on January 16, 2012 2:05 pm
4

Manual disk partitioning guide for Linux Mint 12 KDE

Linux Mint 12 KDE will be the next stable release of the KDE edition of Linux Mint, a desktop distribution based on Ubuntu Desktop. (A release candidate was made available for download on Wednesday January 11.) By default, the installer creates just two partitions on which the system is installed. These are for the root [...]

Published by on January 14, 2012 7:23 pm
0

How to compile and install Takeoff Launcher on Linux Mint 12 KDE

There are several menu styles to choose from in the K Desktop Environment, but my favorite is the Takeoff Launcher, which is why I consider it one of 2 cool reasons to use the K Desktop Environment. In this article, the steps you need to take to replace Kickoff menu, the default menu style on [...]

Published by on January 13, 2012 9:15 pm
0

3 must-have extensions for Fedora 16 and other GNOME 3 installations

A default installation of a distribution using GNOME 3 can be a pain to use, but thanks to available extensions, you can make your GNOME 3 installation a little bit more fun to use, or at least closer to the type of desktop environment you are used to. KahelOS, a distribution that was recently reviewed [...]

Published by on January 13, 2012 8:26 am
2

How to install Razor-qt on Linux Mint 12 KDE

Razor-qt is a brand new desktop environment based on Qt framework, the same development framework that KDE is based on. Though it is still in its infancy and, therefore, not as feature-complete as KDE or other well known desktop environments, it has a bright future ahead of it. And from what I have seen so [...]

Published by on January 12, 2012 12:10 pm
0

How to enable desktop slideshow on Linux Mint 12 KDE

Every Linux distribution comes with a static desktop wallpaper. Some of the wallpapers are very good, others, not so good. The default (wallpaper) on Linux Mint 12 KDE Release Candidate fits somewhere in between. For Linux Mint 12 KDE, the spoiler is the logo on the left (see the first screen shot below). Why the [...]

Published by on January 12, 2012 6:30 am
2

How to install Cinnamon in Ubuntu 11.10

Cinnamon is a new desktop environment, forked from GNOME 3 by the developers of Linux Mint. It is intended as an optional desktop for those who have not taken kindly to GNOME 3 or Unity desktop environments. While it is still very rough around the edges, I find it a lot better to use than [...]

Published by on January 5, 2012 1:46 pm
12

How to customize Cinnamon on Fedora 16 and Linux Mint 12

Cinnamon is a fork of GNOME 3 Shell by the developers of Linux Mint. If this is news to you, you might want to read “What does Cinnamon bring to the desktop?“. Installable packages are already available for a few distributions. However, I have only been able to install and use it on Linux Mint [...]

Published by on January 5, 2012 6:20 am
1

How to install Cinnamon on Fedora 16

Cinnamon is a very recent addition to the list of desktop environments available for Linux, BSD and other UNIX-like operating systems. It was started by Clement Lefebvre and his crew at Linux Mint and it is an attempt to make the GNOME 3 desktop more user-friendly. If you are not happy with GNOME 3, and [...]

Published by on January 4, 2012 1:50 am
15

What does Cinnamon bring to the desktop?

So the GNOME 3 side of the Linux/BSD desktop is a mess at the moment. The messy situation has led to the development of MATE, a fork of GNOME 2. It also prompted Linux Mint‘s development team to make GNOME 3 more user-friendly than the stock GNOME 3 desktop. That effort, GNOME 3 + MGSE [...]

Published by on January 3, 2012 3:41 pm
2

How to access Microsoft Windows files and folders from Linux

Dual-booting (a special case of multi-booting, running more than one operating system on the same computer) makes it possible to run Windows and Linux or other UNIX-like operating systems on the same computer. When set up and functioning correctly, it gives you the option to choose what OS to boot into. Because of the nature [...]

Published by on January 2, 2012 1:09 pm
1

How to dual-boot Pear OS Panther 3 and Windows 7

Pear OS is a desktop Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, Desktop, but with a desktop appearance fashioned after the Mac OS X UI. A review of the latest edition, Pear OS Linux Panther 3, has already been published on this website (see Pear OS Linux Panther 3 review). This article presents a step-by-step guide on [...]

Published by on December 30, 2011 3:30 pm
0

How to dual-boot Chakra Linux Edn and Windows 7, part 1

Chakra Linux is one of the most promising desktop distributions of 2011. It was on my list of the top 6 KDE distributions of 2011. Will it continue to improve in 2012? You never know, but everything about the distribution is pointing in the right direction. Like Pardus, which also made that list, it is [...]

Published by on December 28, 2011 8:59 pm
8

How to customize Pear OS Linux Panther 3

Pear OS Linux Panther 3 is the latest edition of the desktop Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, but with a desktop appearance that is fashioned after the Mac OS X UI. It has already been reviewed on this website (see Pear OS Linux Panther 3 review). It is the only distribution released this year that [...]

Published by on December 21, 2011 3:04 pm
15

How to run Unity desktop on Linux Mint 12

Out of the box, Linux Mint 12, the latest edition of Linux Mint, a desktop Linux distribution based on Ubuntu Desktop, comes with a choice of two desktop environments – GNOME 3 with Mint GNOME Shell Extension (MGSE), and MATE, a fork of GNOME 2. While the combination of GNOME 3 and MGSE is an [...]

Published by on December 11, 2011 4:31 am
2

How to setup Wuala secure cloud storage in Ubuntu 11.10 and Linux Mint 12

Wuala is a cloud storage service offered by LaCie, a computer storage and display outfit. Wuala is supported on all major operating system platforms, and there is even an app for iPhone and iPad. Like all cloud storage services, Wuala makes it easy for you to backup, sync, share and retrieve your data from any [...]

Published by on December 9, 2011 1:18 am
8

3 application-level “firewalls” for Linux distributions

A packet filtering firewall, designed to regulate incoming and outgoing packets from a network or an operating system, is akin to security personnel guarding the entrance to a commercial or residential property. Such a system has very little authority, unless given additional powers, in what applications inside the operating system or network are able to [...]

Published by on December 6, 2011 5:49 pm
33

Why your computer needs a firewall enabled

Why is it even necessary to convince anybody that they need a firewall enabled on their Internet-facing computer – desktop or server? You would think that the role of a firewall should be obvious to any computer user. However, some of the comments that I have come across on this subject tell me that is [...]

Published by on November 21, 2011 5:04 am
7

Top 6 Linux and BSD graphical installation programs

New users tend to flock to distributions with easy to use installation programs, that is, to distributions with graphical installers. Some people will probably disagree with that statement, but most users feel more at home with a point-and-click interface, than with a terminal (console) program. That is why, in my reviews, I tend to place [...]

Published by on November 19, 2011 6:59 pm
46

Top 6 KDE distributions of 2011

There are perhaps hundreds of KDE Linux distributions available, and like an active volcano, more are “erupting” at a rate that is tough to keep pace with. While more choices are a good thing, and distro-hopping is a fact of life in the free software operating system community, sometimes, it is desirable to find one [...]

Published by on November 17, 2011 2:41 pm
2

Install Fedora 16 on an encrypted btrfs file system

Btrfs was supposed to have been the default file system for Fedora 16, but for technical reasons, that did not happen. Word on the street says it will be, in Fedora 17. But you do not have to wait for Fedora 17 to get your system humming on btrfs because you can do it right [...]

Published by on November 16, 2011 7:26 am
10

Fedora 16 GPT disk partitioning guide

Anaconda, the Fedora system installer, is probably the best installation program available on any Linux or BSD distribution, and the version that comes with Fedora 16, version 16.25, has a couple of visible enhancements that make it even better. One of those enhancements is support for GPT disk partitions. GPT, or GUID Partition Table, is [...]

Published by on November 15, 2011 2:11 pm
36

2 cool reasons to use the K Desktop Environment

You can always find a reason or two to like or not like something, and frequently, the reason you like one thing is exactly why the next guy does not. I used to be a fan of the K Desktop Environment (KDE). I said “used to” because I could not make the transition from KDE [...]

Published by on November 13, 2011 2:30 am
1

Disk Encryption in Fedora 16

No distribution’s installer makes setting up disk encryption as easy as Anaconda, the Fedora system installer. And that has not changed in Fedora 16, the latest stable release. On previous versions of Fedora, those released before Fedora 16, the only automated disk partitioning option was one based on LVM, the Linux Logical Volume Manager. That [...]

Published by on November 12, 2011 5:18 pm
0

How to customize Chakra 2011.11

Chakra 2011.11 is the second maintenance release of Chakra Linux, a KDE (desktop) distribution originally derived from Arch Linux. A detailed review of it will be published later tonight. While we await that publication, this article gives some customization tips. And there is much to customize because a new installation of Chakra 2011.11 is like [...]

Published by on November 11, 2011 8:30 am
0

Create and manage user accounts in Chakra Linux 2011.11

Chakra 2011.11 is the second maintenance release of Chakra Edn, a KDE distribution that was originally based on Arch Linux, but is now an independent distribution (a fork). This release is powered by KDE 4.7.3, the very latest version of the popular desktop environment. In previous versions of KDE, there was a “Users and Groups” [...]

Published by on November 10, 2011 11:14 am
0

Managing BURG with BURG-Manager

BURG-Manager is a graphical interface for managing BURG, the new bootloader that is based on GRUB, the GRand Unified Bootloader. It is a very simple application with many features, but the user interface is not going to win any style points from an honest evaluator. Here are just a few screenshots to show the features [...]

Published by on November 9, 2011 2:37 am
16

Takeoff with the K Desktop Environment’s best menu style

The K Desktop Environment (KDE) has more menu styles than any other desktop environment available. There is the Classical type, the Kickoff style (which most users dislike), Lancelot (better than Kickoff, but with a few shortcomings), the ROSA Launcher (for Mandriva Desktop 2011), and the Takeoff Launcher. I have already written about the Lancelot menu [...]

Published by on November 8, 2011 2:59 am
11

Dual-boot Ubuntu 11.10, Windows 7 on a PC with 2 hard drives

You will find in this article, a step-by-step guide on how to dual-boot Ubuntu 11.10 and Windows 7 on a computer with two hard drives. If you are looking to dual-boot both operating systems on a computer with a single hard drive, it is recommended that you read how to dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu 11.04. [...]

Published by on October 27, 2011 8:59 pm
21

Disable guest session and Ayatana scrollbar in Ubuntu 11.10

Ubuntu 11.10, the latest stable release of the popular Linux distribution, sports two guest accounts, one in the login screen and the other accessible from an active user session. Both are tightly coupled to LightDM, the new display manager that made its debut in this latest release of Ubuntu. The guest session from the login [...]

Published by on October 24, 2011 1:44 am
4

Guest session and user management in Ubuntu 11.10

User (account) management is one area that received slight modifications in Ubuntu Desktop 11.10, the latest stable release of the popular Linux distribution. This short tutorial presents some information about the guest sessions, what you can do about it -if you can do anything at all without messing up your system, and how to set [...]

Published by on October 17, 2011 5:08 am
0

How to play Windows games in Linux

So, you just started using Linux, but found out that your favorite Windows games and applications do not have a Linux edition. What should you do then? Set up a separate computer just for Windows, or abandon Linux and go back to Windows. If you have the means, you can opt for the former, but [...]

Published by on October 12, 2011 10:36 pm
4

Jitsi: Multi-protocol VoIP chat using ZRTP and SRTP

Jitsi (Bulgarian for Wires) is a multi-protocol and multi-platform voice and video instant messenger client. It is mostly implemented in Java, and is Free/Open Source software. Its multi-protocol features are similar to that of Kopete, the native IM client for the K Desktop Environment. In a previous incarnation, Jitsi was known as SIP Communicator. Where [...]

Published by on September 23, 2011 2:09 pm
6

Tips for dual-booting Windows and Linux

Multi-booting, installing more than one operating system on a computer’s hard drive(s), has become very popular over the years, fueled, of course, by the popularity of Linux as an alternate system for desktop and servers. Dual-booting, installing two operating systems on a computer is a subset of that, and in this article, basic guidelines to [...]

Published by on September 21, 2011 1:58 pm
6

Guide to disks and disk partitions in Linux

This article is an attempt to provide basic information about disk naming and partition numbering conventions, in non-technical terms, to those new to Linux. I believe a basic understanding of all the aspects concerning how a disk is referenced and partitioned will put you in a better position to troubleshoot installation and disk-related problems. Basic [...]

Published by on September 18, 2011 12:22 am
6

How to delete DigiNotar CA certificate from Firefox

DigiNotar B.V., a unit of VASCO Data Security International, Inc., is an Internet Trust Service Provider based in the Netherlands. Part of their business involves issuing digital certificates. In other words, they are a CA, or Certificate Authority. You use digital certificates when you access a secure website, for example. If the certificate presented to [...]

Published by on September 4, 2011 5:04 am
5

How to customize Mandriva 2011

Mandriva 2011, the latest desktop edition of the popular Linux distribution, was released yesterday. If you have just installed it, you would have noticed, if you mouseover the update manager icon, this message: “No medium found. You must add some media through ‘Software Media Manager’.” That is just telling you that the package (or update) [...]

Published by on August 29, 2011 5:43 pm
0

Guest account and user management on Mandriva 2011

Creating and managing user accounts are very basic tasks that you would need to perform on any operating system. If you are new to Linux and to Mandriva, this article provides information on how to add a user account and enable the built-in guest account on Mandriva 2011, the soon-to-be released desktop edition of the [...]

Published by on August 26, 2011 10:44 pm
4

Mandriva 2011 installation and disk partitioning guide

Mandriva 2011, the latest edition of the popular Linux distribution, is just three days from being officially released, but the daily builds are already available for download. This article, based on a last-freeze daily build, presents an installation and disk partitioning guide for those who are new to Linux and will be installing it for [...]

Published by on August 26, 2011 9:12 am
6

Feature preview of Fedora 16 installer

Fedora 16 is more than two months away from final, stable release, but pre-Alpha installation ISO images have been floating around. News from the Fedora camp have already indicated that btrfs will be the default file system on Fedora 16, joining the ranks of MeeGo, the first (Linux) distribution to use btrfs as the default [...]

Published by on August 8, 2011 5:24 pm
0

Install Mandriva Desktop 2011 on a btrfs file system

Mandriva Desktop 2011 will be the next stable release of the popular desktop Linux distribution developed by Mandriva, a Linux software publisher based in France. Screenshots from the second release candidate are available here. Though the second release candidate still spots some bugs, the installer will not change when the stable edition is released on [...]

Published by on August 2, 2011 12:09 am
4

Linux and BSD desktop distributions with support for disk encryption

Disk encryption is not something most personal computer users think of when they consider ways to boost the security profile of their computer. A firewall? Yes, that in the minds of most is what computer security is all about. However, a firewall is a network security tool, and it is useless if your computer is [...]

Published by on July 26, 2011 5:19 am
Page 1 of 512345