Linux and the New Year 2008 !!

It is the dawn of yet another new year - the year 2008. I am sure many among us are busy jotting down our obligatory new year resolutions with the hope and desire to rectify our past mistakes and make a fresh start, or not. The rest of us must surely be in party mode and about to welcome the new year with a song and dance.

But what is in store for Linux in this new year ? Will it be relegated into the long forgotten annals of computing history or will it shine forth in all its glory and succeed in taking on the monopolistic might of Microsoft Windows ? I am not going to satisfy my fanboistic urge and say that 2008 is definitely the year of Linux - how much ever I am tempted to say so. But we Linux enthusiasts have a very nice gift in store for us in this new year. That being the release of the brand new KDE 4.0 which has been rebuild using Qt 4.0. KDE 4.0 is set to be released on January 11th 2008.

Other than that, I predict that in 2008, Linux is going to be embraced by an even larger number of computer using populace the world over. The launch of OLPC is going to partly help in this direction. Graphical effects using Compiz would become a standard feature in many Linux distribution. As of this writing, Linux has evolved into a well designed stable and secure operating system with a slew of useful tools bundled with it. And it is only a matter of time before people realize the true value of Linux and Free software and start embracing it with gusto. On that positive note, let me wish all the readers of this blog a very happy and prosperous New Year 2008.

IBM Lotus Symphony Office suite for Linux - free download

IBM has released a beta version of its new Office suite named Symphony and has made it available as a free download. It contains four software namely "Lotus Symphony Documents", "Lotus Symphony Presentations", "Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets" and an integrated web browser. But what should be quite interesting is that IBM has released a Linux version of this office suite too though it works only on Red Hat Enterprise Linux ver 5 and Suse Linux ver 10 for the time being.

I downloaded the Linux version of IBM's Symphony Office suite and I was able to install it without any problem. One of the striking feature of Symphony is that you can Open the document, spreadsheet and presentation files all within the main interface and the files will be opened in tabs which is quite a convenience.

Fig: Welcome page when Symphony starts

Fig: Menu to open new documents

The interface is well designed and built using Eclipse IDE. One of the highlights of Lotus Symphony is that it is based on the Open Document Format (ODF) standard - which means you're not locked into proprietary file formats, software licensing agreements and upgrades. Symphony can open Microsoft Office documents be they MSWord, Excel or Powerpoint files without any problem.

Fig: Document interface of Symphony

But when it is compared to Microsoft Office or even OpenOffice.org, I feel Symphony has a bit more catching up to do. For example, in OpenOffice.org, when you insert an image, you can drag and place it in any location in the document, which I find is a very nice feature. But I was not able to do this in Symphony document. And you cannot open or save encrypted Doc or ODF files nor can you edit or save encrypted macro libraries. More over since Symphony is a free offering from IBM, you can avail of help only from the support forums and not directly from IBM.

The minimum specifications needed to run Symphony are at least 512 MB RAM and 540-750 MB of free disk space. If you are interested, you can download a beta 3 version of Symphony and take it for a run.

Domain name theft - how it is done and steps to prevent it

Let's say you have a sudden insight on a name which is apt for your website and you wish to register this name as a domain name. You fire up your web browser and visit any one of the innumerable sites which help in checking if this particular domain name is available or not and to your absolute delight, nobody has yet registered your domain name.

So you decide to register it as soon as you can take time ... perhaps tomorrow because today you have an official deadline to meet. And the next day when you try to register the same domain name, you find to your dismay that it has already been snapped up by somebody else. How did this happen ? Was this a case of bad luck ? Maybe not. You may be the victim of a rogue company which has picked up your name after they intercepted your search the previous day. In effect the person or entity which has registered your domain name has stolen your domain research. The act of typing the domain name in the wrong place may allow these squatters to register the domain before you.

Jay Westerdal of domaintools.com has written an insightful piece on various precautions you can take while searching for your domain name prior to registering it. These steps help to a certain extent in mitigating domain name theft even before you have laid your hands on it.

Popular Unix and Linux forums

One of the best ways of growing a strong community now a days is to start a forum. There are a plethora of forums for Unix and Linux and new ones are coming up all the time. Out of all these, a small section of them have risen to the top by virtue of their dedication and some good luck. Last updated on December 28th 2007

Below are a collection of popular Linux/Unix forums which I found to enjoy a strong community backing.

• Linux Questions.org - One of the foremost Linux forums which has a very strong community following. I may add that it is one of the most active Linux/Unix forums I have come across in recent times.


• Ubuntu Forums - This is yet another forum which is dedicated to a flavor of Linux albeit a very popular one namely Ubuntu.


• Gentoo Forums - This is the official Gentoo forum which enjoy a huge fan following. Gentoo is a flavor of Linux which prides itself in allowing the user (that is you) in configuring each and every aspect of Linux at the time of installation. The gentoo site also hosts a very good forum which apart from being a knowledge resource for Gentoo users is also sure to help the non-gentoo Linux enthusiast.
  


• Freespire Forums - The official Freespire forum. Freespire is a community-driven, Linux-based operating system that combines the best that free, open source software has to offer (community driven, freely distributed, open source code, etc.), but also provides users the choice of including proprietary codecs, drivers and applications as they see fit.


• Linux Forums.org - Claims to have over 90,000 members and 400,000 posts related to GNU/Linux


• HowToForge.com - This is a site which provides detailed guides on all things related to Open Source and Free Software with a strong leaning towards GNU/Linux. It also has a vibrant forum.


• SuSE Forums - A forum dedicated to discussing problems related to SuSE Linux.


• Arch Linux Forums - This is the official Arch Linux forum which provides help in solving a variety of problems related to this particular Linux distribution. [**New**]


• Debian Forums - I couldn't find an official Debian forum. The closest I could find was this one which discusses all problems arising in Debian Linux. It has a good collection of posts.


• LinuxSolved.com - This is a forum which provides help in solving a variety of Linux related problems which includes troubleshooting, configuration tips, howto's and Faq's. It claims to have well over 7000 posts spanning over 2000 topics to its credit. [**New**]


• forums1.itrc.hp.com - This is the gathering place for IT Professionals to solve problems, exchange ideas, and learn lessons from fellow peers who also use the HP IT Resource Center. Managed by Hewlett-Packard, HP engineers participate in all of these forums to share their advice, however, HP does not guarantee a response as these forums are intended as a peer-to-peer resource.


• BSD Forums - A forum dedicated to BSDs


• Unix Forums - A forum with a strong bias for different Unices such as Solaris, HP-UX and AIX. But it features a collection of posts related to Linux too.
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• Open Solaris Forum - This is the official Open Solaris forum.
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• Kernel trap Forum - KernelTrap is a web community devoted to sharing the latest in kernel development news. Their forum has a small number of quality posts on Linux and Unix kernel.

Note to readers: When ever I come across interesting websites related to Linux, I usually bookmark them for future reference. Over a period of time, I have built up an eclectic collection of links related to GNU/Linux or Unix which provide good information. Earlier, I had featured a slice of those links on the right hand column of this blog. I couldn't feature all the links there due to lack of space. Now, with a revamp of the site design, I decided to move them to their own individual pages. This post is the start of a number of such posts.

This article will be updated as and when I come across interesting forums.

Business lost due to Gmail security failure

What would you do when on a fine day you wake up and find that your domain name has been grabbed by a cracker ? And you further learn that perhaps the cracker has used your Gmail account to roll out his misdeeds?

David Airey a graphics designer who had to face this very scenario explains in detail the tribulations he had to go thorough because of loss of traffic to his website.

He also lists a site which explains the Gmail hacking technique in three simple steps.

While Google has plugged this security hole in Gmail, it is always prudent to keep an eye on the filters you have set up in Gmail once in a while. Also my suggestion is never click on a link if you are suspicious about its context.

Better safe than sorry right ?

Update [29 Dec 2007] : David Airey gets back his domain name after a slew of publicity from numerous online media, which is a good thing for David. But it still doesn't clear the air of Gmail's security holes. I hope Google does something about this thing as I still believe that Google's Gmail is the best free email offering one can get in the present scenario. Nothing beats Gmail in the number of features, price and design of the interface.

LinuxMCE - a powerful media center for your family

There are a plethora of Linux powered Media centers available like for instance the MythTV. Now here is another versatile project which goes by the name LinuxMCE.

But unlike MythTV, LinuxMCE is much more than a mere PVR. It combines media and entertainment with a server for music and video. You can automate your home using LinuxMCE such as controlling the lights, your mobile phone and other electronic gadgets. Set up your phone system with video conferencing and even behave like a security system feeding live video to your mobile phone in real time in the advent of a security breach.

More importantly, all the features provided by LinuxMCE are well documented. Since it is based on Kubuntu, it can also be used as a regular Linux PC as well. Check out this interesting video (Approximately 25 min duration) which explains in detail each and every aspect of configuring LinuxMCE to set it up according to your needs.

[Via tech-talk.biz]

NetBSD 4.0 release anouncement

NetBSD is a free, secure, and highly portable Unix-like Open Source operating system available for many platforms, from 64-bit Opteron machines and desktop systems to hand held and embedded devices. While I haven't yet gotten around to trying out NetBSD (I have used FreeBSD and OpenBSD), it is not any lesser in importance than its other counterparts.

In more ways than one, NetBSD has lots of similarities with OpenBSD than with FreeBSD. But NetBSD is said to have a more user friendly installer than OpenBSD, it is available for download as ISO images and it supports the largest variety of devices out there. In fact, NetBSD claims to run on 54 different system architectures featuring 17 machine architectures across 17 distinct CPU families, and is being ported to more.... whew !!

Read the full release announcement, the original mail on mailing list and the changes in ver 4.0.

GNOME Do - a universal launcher for the GNOME Desktop

When ever I have logged in to Windows, there is one program which I use on a regular basis and which I cannot do without. The program is called Launchy. The unique feature of this program is that it helps me to navigate the file system, open applications, visit websites and a lot more by just typing a couple of keys. Launchy runs in the background as a service and is activated when a key combination is pressed. On my machine it is [Alt] + [Space].

Fig: Launchy in action in Windows

In KDE, we have a similar program called Katapult. But if you are a GNOME user then you should check out a recent project which tries to equal or even surpass all the features found in Launchy. The name of the project is "Gnome Do". Simply put, Gnome Do is a launcher ... of applications, web pages, Firefox bookmarks, system config panels, your documents residing on your hard disk and so on. But you can also extend the functionality of Gnome Do using an add-in framework.

Fig: Gnome Do interface

Gnome Do is the brain child of David Siegel who started this project to be submitted to his university as a part of his curriculum. It has been entirely coded using C# and uses Mono. David Siegel claims he was motivated to work on Gnome Do seeing a similar project called Quick Silver on Mac OSX.

I installed "Gnome Do" using the method explained in the official website and the installation was successful. If you are using Ubuntu, then you can download and install the binary instead of compiling the program from source.

Once installed and running, Gnome Do acts as a background process waiting for the specific key press combination from the user. The default key combination is [Win Key] + [Space].

When you press the key combination, Gnome Do will make itself visible and you can start typing. It takes only the first couple of key strokes from the user to zero in on the correct application you wish to launch. For example, if I want to open Gedit text editor, instead of navigating the Gnome menu, I activate Gnome Do and type the first three characters namely 't', 'e'. 'x' and by then Gnome Do has zeroed in on the gedit text editor and all I have to do is press enter to open the text editor.

Fig: Type 't','e','r' and Gnome Do highlights terminal.

When you press the hot key combination and bring Gnome Do to the foreground, you will find two boxes side by side. You can navigate between either of the boxes using the [Tab] key. And while one of the boxes have the focus, if you press the [Down arrow] key, it will open a drop down list which will list alternate actions that can be taken such as opening a terminal in the current location and so on.

Features of Gnome Do

• All applications in your Gnome menu are indexed.
• Supports an add-in framework so it is easy to write and extend the functionality of Gnome Do to suit your needs via pieces of code called add-ins. You can find a couple of add-ins at do.davebsd.com/addins. You have to place the add-ins in ~/.do/addins and restart Gnome Do.
• It keeps track of your Firefox bookmarks so you can start typing the first few letters of a bookmark and Gnome Do will open the webpage for you.
• Type an English word and it will open Gnome dictionary to give you the meaning of the word.
• You can open any file or folder in your home directory by typing the first few letters of their name and pressing enter. For example, to open my home folder, I press the hotkey combination and type 'r', 'a', 'v' and Gnome Do will open my home folder.
  

Humor : Correlation between drug dealers and geeks

Who knew there was a correlation between a drug dealer and a geek. Now that I think of it, there are striking similarities between the two divergent groups that makes me ponder about how geeky I could be without hazarding an association with drug dealers. Ha ha.

If you don't know what I am talking about then you should definitely read the following article.

Steps to install gOS on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon

I am sure by now you have heard of the gPC loaded with gOS via various news sources. For those in the dark, gPC stands for green PC which is a sub $200 PC which comes loaded with a customized version of Ubuntu known as gOS or in popular parlance called Google OS.

If you look carefully, you will find that gOS is a customized version of Enlightenment desktop and contain links to popular online services like the Google docs, Gmail, Facebook, Blogger and so on. All that a user of gOS has to do to access these online applications is, ensure his machine is connected to the Internet and double click on the respective icons. Of course apart from these online services, gOS also contain almost all applications that are standard fare in any Linux distribution.

Here is the interesting part... it is possible to install gOS on your Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Linux machine by following a couple of simple steps. In other words you can install the heavily customized enlightenment window manager which is the base of the gOS using the following steps...

Fig: gOS desktop running in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon

Fig: About gOS dialog box

First open up your /etc/apt/sources.list file which lists all the repositories and append the following two lines to it.

$ sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list

# FILE: /etc/apt/sources.list
...
# Adding gOS repositories
deb http://packages.thinkgos.com/gos/ painful main
deb-src http://packages.thinkgos.com/gos/ painful main

In the terminal enter the command to import the public key of the repository so that the signatures could be verified as follows :

# wget http://www.thinkgos.com/files/gos_repo_key.asc
# sudo apt-key add gos_repo_key.asc

Next update your apt cache database using the command :

$ sudo apt-get update

To install the necessary files which will allow you to run gOS on Ubuntu, run the following apt-get command :

$ sudo apt-get install greenos-desktop

I already had enlightenment (e17) window manager (WM) installed on my Ubuntu machine so it was a mere 11 MB download for me. If you do not have enlightenment WM, then apt-get will have to download and install that too which could hike your download size by around 35 MB.

Once installed, you can select gOS/Enlightenment from sessions option in your login screen.

Fig: gOS module settings dialog box

It is worth noting that the gOS that is thus installed is devoid of the Google branding namely the desktop icons to Google services; which are conspicuous in their absence. So the name gOS in this case could be a misnomer.

Having used gOS for some time now, I am sufficiently impressed on the color and theme preferences. While I found the default theme of Enlightenment not that good, I find the gOS theme quite elegant and pleasing to the eyes. At the same time you also get all the features that are available in Enlightenment which includes transparency, shadows, animation on the desktop and many usability features which can make your desktop experience all the more comfortable and productive.

Is Microsoft really scared of Linux

Today I fired up Google search and without any particular reason typed in the search term "About Linux". And here is a snapshot of the search results. What is worth noting is the sponsored link "About Linux" - the third one from top - which is by none other than Microsoft and it goes on to say why Windows server environment is more secure than Linux....

Fig: Microsoft propaganda against Linux

Now having seen this, I was left with a smile on my face because obviously the top Microsoft Execs are spending sleepless nights thinking about the inroads that Linux has made especially in the server arena. Most number of websites and databases that are hosted on the net run on a server powered by a Linux distribution. And with the support enjoyed by Linux from industry leaders of the likes of IBM, it is no wonder that Microsoft has been forced to resort to advertisement to persuade the section of people who are interested in trying out Linux to their side.

Myths, Lies and Truths about the Linux Kernel

It is really surprising how the Linux kernel has evolved from a mere hacker's project to a robust, stable and device friendly piece of software. At one time it was imperative that one fire up a terminal and tinker with the underlying code or at least type a series of commands to get even simple things working such as burning a CD or playing music and so on.

But now most Linux distributions have become so easy to install and use that even your grandmother could do these tasks with little help and without ever touching a terminal. The plug and play devices have become truly Plug and play and works flawlessly - be they USB devices, Ethernet cards, sound cards and what not. There is very good support for most hardware devices you find in the market baring a few. It also helped that many IT behemoths of the likes of IBM have taken active interest at Linux and have been pouring in money and developers in promoting and sustaining the project.

To underline the advances made by Linux kernel, here is a very good slide show which spells out the Myths, Lies and Truths about the Linux kernel, prepared by Greg Kroah of Novell SuSE Labs.

RHCE study guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux ver 5

There are numerous certifications around. Almost all software giants who have well entrenched software products have rolled out a certification exam of their product - be it Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and others.

At one time, certifications were touted (at least in India) as a sure fire way to land a job in the IT sector. Many certifications such as those of Cisco are still valued and a CCNA, CCNP or CCIE has great value. Of course you might find a number of paper CCNA's around - ie those who have passed the exam by merely mugging up the question dumps provided by the training institute and no hands on experience on a router to show for it but I have heard that you cannot easily pass the CCNP and higher certifications of Cisco without solid knowledge about the networking concepts and hands on experience on Cisco hardware. On the other hand, Microsoft certifications does not seem to have retained this same level of credibility.

On the Linux front, there are a number of entities who have rolled out certifications. The most popular and well known among them being Red Hat which provides its RHCT, RHCE, RHCA certifications. What makes Red Hat's certification unique is that it is a completely hands on examination monitored by a Red Hat employee. And if you are a Linux enthusiast and aspiring to make it into the Linux world then an RHCE would definitely give you a great push as many corporate houses who make use of Linux invariably use Red Hat enterprise Linux.

Scott M has compiled an exhaustive list of questions and their solutions which he has encountered while taking his RHCE examination. I find these questions to provide great insight into what to expect in a RHCE examination.

KDE 4.0 to be Released in January

KDE 4.0 is finally going to be released some time in January - the current specified date is January 11th 2008 but I am willing to wait longer as long as the final release is as stable as the current stable version aka KDE 3.x. Now it might seem that KDE team is procrastinating the official release indefinitely. But I think all things said and done, it is much better for the project to take its own time and correct all the bugs in KDE 4.0 in its present form especially pertaining to the UI instead of trying to keep up with the deadline.

I recently tried the KDE 4.0 beta RC1 release packaged as a Debian Live CD and my experience as far as the user interface is a bit disappointing. Lets not get this wrong. KDE 4.0 for me is one of the most fascinating happenings in the Linux world. But in its current form, I faced the following glitches :

Sound was not working properly, some of the widgets could not be closed, then the sluggishness of the user interface is not something to feel ecstatic about. It has been officially told that the panel provided is not the final one.

On the positive side, I do like the new KDE menu which has had drastic design changes. It does take a bit of getting used to but the search bar on top of the menu makes accessing programs many layers deep much easier than in KDE 3.x. Dolphin file manager is quite good and Konqueror is even better than before. And then, most of the important changes in KDE 4.0 has been under the hood so to speak and these changes will definitely maintain KDE 4.0's lead as a cutting edge cross platform Desktop for many years to come.

BASH tips and tricks

Ever since I started using Linux, BASH has been the shell of my choice. Though I have used numerous other shells like Korn Shell, Bourne shell (which is the default shell in Unix), C shell and so on. Bash is actually an acronym for Bourne Again SHell.

Richard Bradshaw who is a teacher at a school in United Kingdom has put together a page detailing some of the common annoyances he has encountered while using BASH and ways of overcoming them.

As a recap, do take a look at some of the previous articles related to BASH shell on this blog such as ...

BASH shell shortcuts,
10 seconds guide to BASH scripting,
BASH completion,
Making your BASH scripts user friendly,
Quick editing of a command and
BASH FAQ ... just to name a few.

Google incorporates user voting in its search results

The last time I searched for a topic in Google, the first ten results for the topic were pointing to sites with useless information and numerous ads, whose sole purpose of existence was to make money for its owners. I am not claiming that all search in Google provide the same results but spam sites which fight to the top of the heap of search results are a big nuisance for the search engines as well as users alike.

So what are the alternatives at hand ? There are directory services like dmoz.org and Yahoo directories which provide results that are constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors. Then there are social bookmarking tools like del.icio.us which allow you to bookmark all the useful content you come across while browsing as well as share it with others.

Google has now embraced and extended the features of directory services and social bookmarking sites into its search results by allowing users to vote for a result and even bookmark them. Here is what Google has to say about this new experiment (And I quote) ...

This experiment lets you influence your search experience by adding, moving, and removing search results. When you search for the same keywords again, you'll continue to see those changes. If you later want to revert your changes, you can undo any modifications you've made.

To use this new feature, you have to be logged in to your Google account while searching for a topic in Google Search. You can vote up a search result by clicking on a "up-arrow" sign and remove it from your search by clicking on a "X" (X sign). When you vote up a result, Google will insert an orange asterix (*) besides it and for the search terms related to the sites these will filter to the top.

So start voting for your favorite articles in Google from within your personalized Google search. Now you have got the best of both social bookmarking and directory services incorporated into your Google search results.

A guide to Ubuntu customization

Would you like to customize your Ubuntu to look like Windows Vista ? Or may be you are more of an Apple fan boy with not enough moolah to buy yourselves a Mac. Either way, there is hope around the horizon. The beauty of Linux is that it is so customizable, you can make it look and feel like any other operating system.

Fig: Ubuntu in Windows Vista theme

If you are by any chance running Ubuntu and wish to customize it to your hearts content, then head over to tuxenclave which features a detailed Ubuntu customization guide. Besides that also take a look at how you can transform KDE to look like MacOSX.

An in depth look at gOS

I had recently written a post on the gPC running gOS. Now here is an in depth review of the gOS which is honest,

Despite not being created by Google, the focus of gOS is Google's online applications such as GMail, Google News, Google Maps, Google Calendar, YouTube, etc. It's a neat concept for a Linux distribution.

funny,

... there seems to be no "recycling bin" available on the desktop. I looked in the FAQs and found that apparently the recycling bin is still in development—somewhat ironic given the nature/green theme of gOS.

and quite focused.

The downloadable version of gOS doesn't include what's necessary to play DVDs and MP3s. For that you need to install it yourself or get gOS by buying a gOS-based computer.

Written by Jim Lynch at Extremetech, this review gives a very good insight into what you can expect from gOS without taking it for a spin. Has a couple of screenshots too. Read the whole review.

Play a Chess game in Linux

Chess has been a passion for me. I used to play Chess in my younger days and used to love it. I still remember the excitement in the air when the international chess championships were held then, especially when Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov used to play each other. These two Russians were adversaries not only on the game but off it too. And then there was this tournament where Gary Kasparov played against Deep Blue (a 32-node IBM RS/6000 SP high-performance computer) ... and lost in a re-match. Now a days I am a big fan of grandmaster Viswanathan Anand - the current world chess champion.

Linux especially Ubuntu and others which have GNOME 2.20 desktop come bundled with a Chess game called glChess. glChess is a 2D/3D chess game, where games can be played between a combination of human and computer players. glChess detects known third party chess engines for computer players. The game was originally developed by Robert Ancell, now the game is included in gnome-games. The 3D view can be enabled provided you have installed the propritery graphics drivers (ATI / Nvidia) as it makes use of OpenGL. You may also have to install the OpenGL python and GtkGLExt python bindings.

Fig: A glChess game in progress - 2D view

Fig: 3D view of the game glChess

I have found it quite tough to beat the computer the numerous times I played the game. Did I mention that while I am an avid chess enthusiast, I am a mediocre player at the best? Any way, you should try playing it some time if only to exercise your grey cells. It is also a great way to kill time.

But if your favorite Linux distribution doesn't yet have this chess game installed, then you can also try your hand with an online chess game where you play chess against Shredder - the chess game bot. There are three modes of play namely easy, medium and hard and you can choose the level depending upon your skill in playing the game.

Fig: Play this chess game online

Enabling Directx 9.0 in Linux using Wine

It is a foregone conclusion that Linux has made deep inroads into the Windows arena and has succeeded in providing a robust user friendly Desktop which any lay person can use. But there are still a few areas where Linux lags way behind Windows.One of them is Games.

The problem is that most commercial games worth their name are developed using a proprietary technology developed by Microsoft called DirectX. It is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video. And as with all things Microsoft, DirectX too runs only on the Windows platform.

The latest version of DirectX is ver 10. But there is hope around the horizon for those die-hard gamers who would love to run their favorite game in Linux. Now it is possible to install DirectX libraries albeit version 9.0 in Linux using Wine.

The Wine review blog has an elaborate article giving step-by-step details of how to install DirectX 9.0c in Linux under Wine. Finally you will be able to play those fabulous games which you have stored in your attic by installing them in Linux.

Announcing the winners of the Oxygen Wallpaper Contest

In August this year, the Oxygen team which are behind the famed Oxygen icons unveiled the Oxygen wallpaper contest. And the formal results are out. The response of the contest was supposedly overwhelming with over 2000 stunning photographs submitted by numerous KDE enthusiasts.

In an earlier post, I had talked about the work of Vlad Gerasimov and his stunning wallpapers. Well two of his entries (EOS and Emotion) have been selected to be included in the default set of wallpapers to be shipped with KDE 4.0. And of the two he submitted, one of them (EOS) has been chosen as the winning wallpaper. Um... I like the other one (Emotion) better, though I am happy the color is blue because blue is pleasing to the human eyes.

Fig: Winning wallpaper which will be the default in KDE 4.0

Many wallpapers in the final selection are stunning photographs of nature, flowers and animals. Do check out the complete selection of wallpapers destined to be shipped with KDE 4.0. Boy, I am brimming with anticipation of the treat that is in store for Open Source enthusiasts when KDE 4.0 is finally released.

gPC - $199 C7 powered PC at Wal-Mart running gOS

In this day and age when each and everyone of us are to be affected by the adverse effects of global warming, it definitely makes sense to bring necessary changes to our lifestyles and make it more environmentally friendly. And a good way to take a positive step towards being more green is to conserve the power or energy you consume at home.

And talking about power consumption, did you know that an average desktop PC is a major source of power consumption ? And if you consider many households now a days owning more than one PC, it definitely pays to buy energy efficient computers; those which consume less power.

This is where gPC or "Green PC" comes into the picture. Everex's TC2502 gPC is the first mass-market sub $200 PC which comes installed with gOS which is a customized version of Ubuntu Linux running Enlightenment window manager. The specifications of gPC are quite modest but acceptable. The TC2502 is powered by 1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 80GB IDE hard drive and a CDRW/DVD combo drive. Apart from that it also comes bundled with a keyboard, a mouse, speakers and microphone though no monitor. The gPC consumes modest power when compared to other desktop PCs running the same operating system which gives it the name Green PC.

Fig: Sub $200 Everex gPC

Fig: gPC contains a variant of the 17cm x 17cm Mini-ITX motherboard

Now gOS the OS powering the gPC is a unique OS. While I said it is a customized version of Ubuntu, the word 'customized' is an understatement. gOS highlights and encourages users to use web applications instead of the traditional software for their day to day computing tasks. Google applications have a heavy presence in the gOS such as the Google Docs, Gmail, Gtalk, Calendar, Maps, Youtube, Blogger and so on and they can be accessed right from the desktop with the click of a button (assuming you are connected to the net). So it can be safely said that gPC aka Green PC runs gOS aka Google OS.

Fig: gOS aka Google OS

But Google applications are not all that you will find in gOS, there is Facebook, Wikipedia, Skype and many more web applications. Of course you will also find traditional software like OpenOffice.org, Gimp and so on installed with the option of installing any software you want which will run in Ubuntu which makes it pretty exciting.

Fig: gPC also can be bought with 1 GB RAM and 80GB SATA Hard disk for $100 more.

At present the gPC is marketed exclusively by Wal-Mart and can be bought from here. Those of us who live outside America need not be despondent because the gOS has been made available as a free download by the team behind this customized Ubuntu Linux distribution - Think gOS.

I think this is a very bold but positive move to eventually shift all computing to the internet thus giving a strong push to the term "Network is the computer" and in the process giving new life to energy efficient devices thus perhaps saving tons of energy.

Over 10 power user tips for Vim editor

After using Vi or Vim for a couple of days, ever been left wondering what is it that makes Vi enthusiasts sing eulogies of this geeky text editor ? Then here are a number of reasons which will make you wonder why you hadn't embraced Vim sooner.

Swaroop C H has compiled over 10 specific ways to improve your productivity with Vim. These are the same functionality he found in Emacs and for which he provides equivalent commands in Vim.

The tips include :

Swapping caps-lock and Control keys, using incremental search for navigation, Making better use of the buffers in Vim, mastering vim regular expressions and picking up fine grained text manipulation commands in Vim among many others.

Most of the settings he lists can be made permanent by entering them in your .vimrc configuration file which resides in your home directory in Linux. Of course, if you are still putoff then there is another project called Cream for Vim which will save the day for you.

Apart from providing the power user tips, he also lists some additional plugins which further extends the functionality of this wonderful editor. Do read his tips to know more.

online htaccess editor

If you have ever configured the apache web server, then you will realize the important part played by the .htaccess file. This file is especially used by people who make use of a shared web host provider to host their sites.

Some of the uses of .htaccess file that I can think of are :

• Redirecting the visitor automatically to the new location of the web page.
• Providing a 301 redirect [moved permanently] to search engine spiders.
• Setting up a username and password to access a part of or whole of your website.
• Restricting access to your website for all visitors originating from a particular IP address or IP range.
  

... and so on and so forth.

I have always found editing the .htaccess file as bit of a black art. Mainly because mastering the regular expressions involved to accomplish tasks takes a bit of practice and some hits and misses before you get the desired results.

Fig: The online .htaccess editor

Now here is a very nice find. An online .htaccess editor which will hand hold you in creating your own custom made .htaccess file. All you have to do is click on your desired options such as whether to allow or deny access to all files, basic authentication, the redirect directives and so on.

Migrate your custom domain email to Gmail

Google is slowly but surely laying out a plethora services with the customers or end users in mind. Seriously, I will really be at a loss to list all the services that Google provides - there are that many. What really sets Google apart from the pack crowd is its obsession with simplicity and customer comfort in mind. Any day, I would rather use a clean, spartan Google interface to the ad infested slow loading mishmash of a webpage put together by its competition.

Here is yet another interesting service from Google you might be interested in. The service is called Google Apps and it allows those with their own domain to move their entire mail infrastructure to Google.

Daniel Miessler has an interesting take on how he accomplished moving all his mail from his web host to Google all the while keeping his mail id the same ie in the format mail [at] dmiessler.com.

Google provides its Google Apps in three editions depending on the number of features you need. The standard and education edition are provided for free and has pretty much all the features that a small business or an individual needs. But if you want more then they also provide a premium edition for which they charge a nominal $50 per year.

Sexy Wallpapers for your Linux desktop

Any time you want to spruce up your mind while you are shackled to your computer, try changing the desktop background image to something pleasing to you. It will make a visible difference to your mental setup. It works every time for me. Some of the themes which lifts my mind when it is bogged down with work are nature themes, abstract art and beautiful cute looking wild animals.

A good wallpaper should work in making your computing experience a tad lighter without being a distraction.

Vlad Gerasimov runs his own design company called Vladstudio which specialize in web design and development, database-driven sites, skins, icons, logotypes and collateral graphics. In his spare time, he is in the habit of creating beautiful looking wallpapers which he then makes available to all in different screen sizes to adorn your desktop including for dual monitors.

He is also purported to be a contestant in the Oxygen Wallpaper contest.

Of his diverse set of wallpapers, I do like the ones shown below. They are quite pleasing without being an eyesore.

OLPC - Give one get one scheme

It has been an interesting journey for the OLPC aka One Laptop Per Child project aka $100 laptop. Right from its inception by its visionary Nicholas Negroponte who is a professor at the MIT, this project has continuously been able to grab the mind space of countless people as well as stir up interest from numerous governments around the world.

Over the 2 years it took to convert an idea into substance, the OLPC has gone through numerous changes. The cost of the laptop went up from the targeted $100 to something closer to $200 - partly (I suspect) owing to the slide in the value of the US dollar. It also received ramped up hardware with improved specs. While some countries did not jump on to the OLPC bandwagon, it did succeed in making a rear door entry into countries like India.

Now here is another news hot off the press. OLPC has brought out a scheme where in you can own an OLPC laptop or buy one for your loved ones provided you are prepared to sponsor one for a child living in the third world country. This scheme is open to only American citizens for the time being but I don't see why it should not be extended to other developed countries. In effect this is OLPC team's way of telling you - if you want to buy a unit for your child, it is fine with us but you have to also buy one for a poor child in the developing world.

So if you are one of those Americans with a philanthropic bend of mind and with sufficient cold hard cash lying around, then you should seriously consider buying an OLPC for your loved ones and at the same time have the satisfaction of knowing you provided to the well being of an under privileged child in a poor country. Believe me, it is much much much better option than queuing up for costly gadgets (like the iPhone) which at the most will help fill the coffers of a couple of billionaires.

You can buy an OLPC from the official site.

Motherboard guide - Motherboard fundamentals

I can say with certainty that almost all the people reading this blog display a degree of knowledge in using a computer. But how many of us have actually opened a computer and tried to figure out and correctly identify the different parts in it ? Not all of us I believe.

So for those who are in the dark, here is a crash course in understanding the architecture of a motherboard. This relatively old article explains the different parts of the motherboard and in what way each part contributes in the overall working of a computer. The article written by Jon Stokes starts from the basics and gradually move into relatively technical jargon such as northbridge and southbridge, the different buses, their protocols and bridges.

Fig: The motherboard layout

While this article is nearly two years old and I am sure, the technology has moved forward a great deal in this time, nevertheless, it gives an insight into what comprises a motherboard in a computer.

Read the article to find out more.

Annotated version of the Linux Kernel summit 2007 group photo

The Linux kernel developer summit was held at Cambridge U.K for the seventh year. It was a two day event (September 4-6 2007) and brought together the core of the Kernel development team to plan the next phase of Linux Kernel development. Here is an annotated version of the Linux kernel summit 2007 group photo published by LWN.net. Get to know all the kernel developers who are responsible for developing the Linux kernel.

Linus Torvalds is standing in the middle row wearing a black t-shirt.

Fedora 8 code named Werewolf officially released

Fedora 8 code named Werewolf has been officially released. There are a number of features which makes it a better distribution than its predecessor Fedora 7. They are as follows :

• Inclusion of PulseAudio sound daemon. PulseAudio is a networked sound daemon which allows you to set say, individual volumes for different applications, mixing of multiple audio streams, allowing an application to play back or record audio on a different machine than the one it is running on and so on.
• Fedora 8 makes it possible to let you legally purchase proprietary codecs from Fluendo via its Codeina utility.
• A new default theme for GNOME called Nodoka has been released.
• PolicyKit - This tool allows you to provide specific powers to users and applications to carry out privileged operations without diverging the root password. For instance you can allow every family member to format removable media without giving them the root password. PolicyKit is expected to completely replace Gksudo.
• Compiz packages has been included but they are in a disabled state and have to be enabled by the user.
  

There are a number of other features too such as support for Nepali language, improved and completely free Java environment for Red Hat derived from OpenJDK, Bluetooth enhancements and so on. Check out the full feature list of Fedora 8 to know more.

Fedora 8 is made available in multiple formats such as a DVD image which carries the install version and LiveCD images of GNOME and KDE. You can download Fedora 8 from the following location. Do try downloading using torrents because it is much faster than directly downloading from a mirror site and it saves the bandwidth of the mirrors hosting the Fedora 8 images.

Cloud computing with Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat has introduced a new service in association with Amazon web services called Cloud computing. This is basically an on demand, hosted solution which provides you managed computing resources as a web service.

The cloud is basically a series of virtual servers powered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux , which make use of the Amazon EC2 service.

When you run servers in a cloud, you have complete access to the server via secure network interfaces and can perform any configuration, management, or development tasks you would normally perform on a remotely accessible server.

As part of this service, Red Hat populates the cloud with virtual machine images which can be readily instantiated with one simple command line interface or via a Firefox extension. Once instantiated, you are able to access your server with standard utilities (such as SSH) from a client machine, add and remove any software and services you wish to perform, and transfer data to and from the servers. You have complete control.

This service is primarily targeted at developers, small businesses, IT infrastructure owners et al. For instance, you can use it to host your website if what you need is something more than a shared hosted solution but not exactly a dedicated server. Basically it is computing power provided on demand.

This service is currently at beta stage and is available at a starting price of $19 / month per customer plus $0.21 per hour for every deployed server, plus additional bandwidth and storage fees.

More details at Red Hat website.

Cisco is hiring for multiple Open Source positions

Cisco is a hardware giant which is the leading supplier of networking equipment & network management for the Internet. Products include routers, switches, hubs, ethernet and so on. I am sure many would be aware of Cisco certifications such as CCNA, CCNP and CCIE. Cisco is among the top 100 Fortune companies in the world. And it is hiring Open Source enthusiasts to fill its technical positions. Read on to know whether you fit the job profile.

Jobs are based in San Jose, California Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Richardson, Texas.

Cisco is looking for the following skill sets :

• Software developers familiar with Linux or similar UNIX programming environments
• Developers who have contributed to the Open Source community
• Quality engineers
• Flexibility with programming tools including Eclipse IDE, C/C++, Java, Python, Perl, Bash, etc.
• Interest or experience with Agile methodologies
• User Interface/GUI development
• Tools development
• Software Managers for development and quality teams

Job positions
Performance Software Engineers (R819660, R819661)

Cisco seeks an Open Source Performance Software Engineer to define, design and build software for the Cisco products that generate significant revenue. He/she will also be expected to contribute to the implementation of any recommended performance optimizations.

Skills Required: 3-5 years experience in the S/W industry and an Engineering degree or equivalent.

Experience with Linux, Unix (and its variants) or other multi-threaded multi-processor Operating Systems is preferred. Development experience with multiple development languages including “C”, “C++”, “Java” and/or scripting languages is preferred.

Familiarity with performance measurement tools, analysis of performance related data and with the implementation of performance optimizations in multi-threaded multi-processor Operating Systems is desirable. In particular, this software engineer should be familiar with industry standard Open Source software architectures and implementations including Unix, Linux and a broad spectrum of Open Source components.

Knowledge of existing industry tools for the acquisition and analysis of performance data is desirable. Also, familiarity with existing Open Source tools and frameworks for understanding the performance of the system would be preferred.

Software Manager (R819707, R819716)

Cisco seeks an Open Source Manager of Software Development to lead the Open Source development engineering group in the design, development and engineering of our software platform. This manager will build, lead and motivate a high-performance engineering development team responsible for designing and bringing new software to market.

Skills Required: Experience with Linux, Unix (and its variants) or other multi-threaded multi-processor Operating Systems is essential. Requires BSCS/EE or equivalent and 8+ years of software development experience with 2+ years in a first level management role. Strong communication and team-building skills required.

The candidate should be able to understand and participate in high level design discussions for the purpose of providing feedback on the potential performance or testability implications of a proposed design. He/she must also be able to review existing designs and suggest alternate approaches that may result in improved system performance or testability.

He/she must also demonstrate effective communication skills as the role demands interaction with numerous other groups.

In particular, the Open Source, Manager of Software Development will be required to have significant experience with industry standard Open Source software architectures and implementations including Unix, Linux and a broad spectrum of Open Source components. Knowledge of existing industry open source tools (particularly performance analysis or test engineering, but general software development tools as well) would propel a candidate above others.

Technical Leader/Performance (R819655)

Cisco seeks an Open Source Performance Technical Leader to lead engineering groups in the design, development and engineering of software products.

Skills Required: A successful candidate will have at least 10 years experience in the S/W industry and have an Engineering degree or equivalent. Experience with Linux, Unix (and its variants) or other multi-threaded multi-processor Operating Systems is essential. Experience with performance measurement tools, analysis of performance related data and with the implementation of performance optimizations in multi-threaded multi-processor Operating Systems is expected.

In particular, this technical leader will be required to have significant experience with industry standard Open Source software architectures and implementations including Unix, Linux and a broad spectrum of Open Source components. Knowledge of existing industry tools for the acquisition and analysis of performance data is needed. Also, this technical leader should be familiar with existing Open Source tools and frameworks for understanding the performance of the system.

The candidate should be able to understand and participate in high level design discussions for the purpose of providing feedback on the potential performance implications of a proposed design. He/she must also be able to review existing designs and suggest alternate approaches that may result in improved system performance.

He/she must also demonstrate effective communication skills as the role demands interaction with other design groups who will need to both understand the performance of the existing and communicate to the design team possible changes to improve system performance.

This technical leader will also be expected to work with the many cross-functional organizations who be depending upon the team for delivery of high performance Open Software components. He/she will be expected to work with various product teams to both help them to analyze their platform specific performance and to suggest possible improvements.

Open Source Test Engineer (R821917, R821937)

Cisco seeks an Open Source Software Test Engineer to define, design and build test tools and test programs. You will champion new methodologies and create scalable software solutions that interact with widely deployed Internet products, thereby touching an endless number of users worldwide.

Skills Required:
A successful candidate will have at least 3-5 years experience in the S/W industry and have an Engineering degree or equivalent.

• Experience with testing on Linux, Unix (or equivalents)
• Basic understanding of networking technology.
• Devtest experience should include developing test plans, execution of test plans and automation.
• Experience with white-box and system-level testing.
• Familiar with basic test processes - test result reporting, defect filing & diagnosis, verifying fixes.
• Experience with Management Interface testing including CLI, SNMP and XML-based interfaces.
• Experience with Software Test Development using scripting languages like Tcl/Expect, Python, C, C++, Java and XML.
• Experience with tools (Eclipse).
• Effective communication skills and should be able to work closely with development and other test teams.
• Have an innovative approach and passion for Quality
• Team player and can work with minimum supervision
  

Additional Skills Preferred:

• Experience with using and or developing different testing tools - test generation, code coverage, web interface for test reporting and execution
• Experience with kernel level testing
• Experience with testing embedded system software
• Familiar with the agile development process
  

In particular, this software engineer should be familiar with industry standard Open Source software architectures and implementations including Unix, Linux and a broad spectrum of Open Source components. Knowledge of existing industry tools for test development is desirable. Also, familiarity with existing Open Source tools and frameworks would be preferred.

He/she will also be expected to contribute to the implementation of any recommended test optimizations.

Program Manager (R821943, R821944)

Cisco seeks a software program manager to help the Open Source development engineering group in the design, development and engineering of software products. Working collaboratively with cross-functional stakeholders, the program manager helps align teams and business priorities to establish project and program schedules and plans. The ideal candidate brings a track record of success in a similar role, strong interpersonal skills, a can-do attitude, and significant experience working with multiple programs and stakeholders at once.

Experience with Linux, Unix (and its variants) or other multi-threaded multi-processor Operating Systems is essential.

Requires BSCS/EE or equivalent and 8+ years of software development experience with 2+ years in a program management role. Strong communication and team-building skills required.

The candidate should be able to understand and participate in high level design discussions for the purpose of ensuring a common understanding of expectations and deliverables. He/she must also demonstrate effective communication skills as the role demands interaction with other business units with different organizational imperatives.

Skills required :

Candidate will also need to coordinate cross- functional development programs and provide development leadership for current and future products. The successful candidate will

• Be able to work with a wide range of professionals and distributed teams
• Knowledge of and training in product lifecycle processes
• Exceptional facilitation, interpersonal, and written and oral communication skills
• Integrate efforts of all relevant stakeholders
• Provide effective risk assessment and management
• Define critical path risks, complex scheduling and release planning
• Develop proactive and reactive measures to mitigate risks
• Develop and maintain realistic project schedules
• Track and report relevant metrics
• Assess and integrate requirements
• Ensure project process and guidelines are followed or managed appropriately
  

Required Knowledge:

• Delivery of shipping software products.
• Direct software development experience.
• Experience with open source operating systems.
• Negotiation and persuasion skills.
• Motivated high energy contributor.
  

Working knowledge of Cisco hardware and software components (IOS, OS'es, drivers, utilities) is a plus, but not required.

How to apply
If you meet the necessary requirements for the job position, visit the Cisco website and apply online. Or you can also contact Cisco recruiter Brent Rogers [Email id : breroger [at] cisco [dot] com ] directly.

A timeline of the history of programming languages

Which was the first ever programming language created ? Well for your information, it is not C or Pascal but Fortran. Of course, before Fortran, there were a number of other languages such as the assembly language. But Fortran is considered the first major procedural language. In fact, Fortran was created way back in 1954. And till now I thought C was a relatively old language - silly me.

C language or rather the Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie (K&R) C which we learn today is quite new in relation to the history of programming languages and was born in the year 1978 - over 20 years after Fortran and 8 years after Pascal. Btw, did you know that the Linux kernel itself is almost entirely coded in C ?

Fig: A slice of the timeline of programming languages

I came across this awesome timeline of programming languages which tracks the most important computer languages, that gives a fascinating insight into their roots and their development roadmap. The timeline is itself the work of Éric Lévénez which I have covered on this blog some time back. This timeline is by no means complete as it just includes 50 of the more than 2500 documented programming languages but these 50 languages can be considered to be the most important of them.