In some situations, you may want to install more than one operating system on a computer. One method of accomplishing that is to utilize virtualization applications to run one atop the other. Another method, one that does not require specialized hardware or software, is to create a multi-boot scheme – installing multiple operating systems on one or more hard drives [...]

When installing Ubuntu, you are required to create one user account. That account is the “root” account, used to perform all administrative functions on the system. Any user with access to that account can modify or change any setting they want. Sometimes it necessary to create another account, say, for a guest, or for some one you want to use [...]

It’s been almost a month since Ubuntu 10.04 was released. I’m not a fan of Ubuntu, but Lucid Lynx, the code name for the latest version of Ubuntu, is, in so many ways, a better operating system to use than prior releases. However, it still falls short in some areas. This aim of this article is to offer customization tips [...]

Fedora 13 Beta has just been released for testing and bug reporting, with the stable version slated for release in May. Thanks to boot.fedoraproject.org, I didn’t have to download the full CD iso image. Used the same bfo iso image from last month and took the Fedora 13 beta out for spin. But rather than dish out a full review [...]

Disk encryption is one of five methods you can use to enhance the physical security posture of your computer (laptop, netbook, desktop or server). It enables you to protect your data in the event that your computer is ever lost or stolen. Sabayon’s installer has had the disk encryption feature for some time, but it is not as simple and [...]

Epidemic is a desktop-oriented, KDE, Debian-based (GNU/Linux) distribution developed in Brazil. Epidemic 3.1, the latest edition, features a number of custom tools and improvements. One of those tools is EInstaller, the graphical installation program. It is supposed to be easy to use, but if you have are not familiar with disk partitioning under Linux, you’ll find that it’s not so [...]

PC-BSD is a desktop-centric distribution based on FreeBSD. The latest stable version, released just this week, is PC-BSD 8. On most Linux, desktop distributions, a connected printer is automatically configured. On PC-BSD 8, however, getting a printer to work requires manual configuration. To simplify that task, a number of printer management utilities are available. You may access the main printer [...]

Box2D is an Open Source rigid body 2D physics engine for C++. It’s currently (2.0.1) released under the MIT license, which is quite permissive. Box2D is used by, among other things, Gluon (http://gluon.tuxfamily.org/), which is a game library from KDE in-the-making. Integrating Box2D into your Qt application is quite easy, and this blog shows you how to get started. First [...]

PC-BSD 8 is the latest edition of PC-BSD, a desktop distribution based on FreeBSD, with KDE as its default desktop environment. It features a graphical installation program that should be easy enough for anybody to use. However, some sections of the installer could pose some difficulty to those new to the this distribution (and to the BSDs). If you belong [...]

Cloud computing is all the rage these days. But while the idea of using your browser to access your applications and documents sounds like a great idea on paper, in practice there are all kinds of reasons to stick to your desktop software. Take OpenOffice.org, for example. None of the available Web-based word processors can compete with Writer when it [...]

Office applications like OpenOffice.org can bring out the worst in people. The same people who wouldn’t dream of driving a car without a few lessons will start pounding away in a word processor as though it were a typewriter, ignoring basic features like styles and templates. In the end, they may produce the documents they want, but only with far [...]

PC-BSD is a desktop-oriented, FreeBSD-based distribution with KDE as the default desktop environment. The version due to be released shortly is PC-BSD 8. Because it the only BSD-based desktop distribution that’s in a position to compete with the best Linux desktop distributions, I’ll be publishing a number of articles over the next few weeks to introduce those not yet familiar [...]

In how to enhance the physical security posture of your PC, five physical security features were identified in that article. Here’s a summary of those features: Enable BIOS password Password-protect the bootloader Full disk encryption Use strong passwords Implement password aging From this list comes the following star-rating system:

Openfiler is one of two free and open source NAS/SAN applications in active development (the other one is FreeNAS). By default, Openfiler is installed to hard disk using the traditional Linux disk partitioning system. Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM) adds a layer of flexibility to disk space configuration and management that is not possible with the traditional method of disk [...]

Securing a computer goes beyond more than just using strong passwords. You should consider what happens if an unauthorized person gains physical access to your computer. If the only security feature protecting your data from an unauthorized person is a user account password, then you have not taken enough steps to protect your computer and your data. This article presents [...]

Disk encryption in one of the most overlooked and underused security tools in computing. When most people think about securing a computer or the operating system that powers it, a firewall, anti-virus, and other anti-malware software comes to mind. Those are all good and necessary tools, but they are only concerned with network security. What about physical security? What happens [...]