2001 December

Linux Headquarters
http://www.linuxhq.com/
Linux Headquarters is a great Linux repository. The site contains links to current and older kernel versions, kernel patches, distribution information and links, top selling Linux books, and a wealth of other information for Linux users of all levels. I particularly like the links page, a concise compendium of kernel development, hardware compatibility, driver, […]

Metadot Portal Platform [2.78 MB]

http://www.metadot.net/metadot/index.pl
http://www.metadot.net/
“Metadot Portal Server is an open source, high powered, fully scalable, and highly customizable portal server platform backed by the ever-popular MySQL database. Metadot Portal Server has a user-friendly interface, a simple and straightforward content management system, and collaboration and communication tools. Metadot Portal Server comes with full documentation and an […]

Extending grep
Early on in Penguin Shell, we spent some time talking about the myriad ways available in Linux to search for strings. grep was one of those tools. If you’ve been paying attention during the email filtering series, you’ve already seen that procmail uses an extended version of grep, egrep, to match strings for further […]

Repelling the Invaders - Part 5
Procmail works great for sorting through the headers of your email looking for patterns. Remember, those patterns are defined as regular expressions in the ~/.procmailrc file - a file that also contains environment variables, such as the location of sendmail.
If you’re going to do more with your email than just […]

I’m not much for looking back, in most cases. I’d much rather keep my eyes to the future. But the turn of a new year can hardly pass without giving some thought to the calendar slipping by. And, living on the Internet, there are an abundance of ways to take a few moments for reflection. […]

Online Troubleshooting Resources HOWTO
http://www.xmission.com/~howardm/t1.html
It almost sounds redundant - an online HOWTO on how to find HOWTOs and other resources online. This click is actually very useful. By pulling together a great collection of online Linux resources, the author has created a “quick-look” click that should be useful to all Linux users, newbie or guru. This […]

Anteater [143 KB]

ftp://ftp.profzone.ch/drzoom/anteater/anteater-0.4.tar.gz
http://anteater.drzoom.ch/
“Anteater is a log analyzer for MTA logfiles (for example sendmail). The tool is written in 100% C++ and very easy to customize. Input, output, and the analysis are modular class objects with a clear interface. Currently there are modules for reading the syslog format of sendmail that do up to seven useful […]

Kernel Fundamentals - Part 8
Over the past week or so, you’ve manage to configure and compile a new kernel. You’ve also built and installed the loadable modules that are, in fact, device drivers in Linux. Finally, you’ve moved that new kernel image to the /boot directory and told lilo where to look for the kernel […]

Repelling the Invaders - Part 4
Procmail, you’ll remember, uses a combination of recipes and environment variables to filter, forward, or otherwise process your email. Most of these environment variables have reasonable defaults, but it’s important to understand what many of those variables are.

Variable
Action

MAILDIR
Current directory while procmail is executing

DEFAULT
Default mailbox file

LOGFILE
The name and path of the […]

It’s the end of another week. For me, it’s been a week of readjusting to working in the shop, of crating telescopes for delivery and installation in Spain in January, and of satisfaction and surprise at the comments and tips you’ve sent. There are an ever-growing number of “you”s. Penguin Shell will officially cross the […]

Linux For Suits: Open Source Radio
http://linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5571
Today’s GnomeCLICK is the latest article in the “Linux For Suits” series on LinuxJournal.com. Penned by fellow PS subscriber and all-around guru Doc Searls, Open Source Radio is a fascinating look at the ins and outs, ups and downs of radio programming in the Internet age. Doc asks all the […]

Dotproject [122 KB]

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/dotproject/dotproject-0.2.1.tar.gz
http://www.dotmarketing.org/dotproject/
Dotproject is a web-based project management suite rich with MS Project-like feature and capabilities. According to the authors at dotmarketing.com, the project has been “left fallow for about 10 months.” That’s a real surprise, as Dotproject looks and functions like a completed project. The features include user management, project listings, a contact list, […]

Kernel Fundamentals - Part 6
We’re nearly at the end of the kernel series in Penguin Shell. So far, you’ve configured the kernel for your needs, recompiled and created an image of that kernel, built the loadable modules, and installed them accordingly. You’ve also moved that new image to the /boot partition. What’s left? Three pretty […]

Repelling the Invaders - Part 3
This week we’ve been talking about email filtering in Linux using procmail. Today, we’ll begin looking at the .procmailrc file, the heart and soul of this sophisticated email filtering system.
The .procmailrc file, for the purposes of our discussion, resides in the user’s home directory, or ~/.procmailrc. The file itself is […]

As if I didn’t have enough going on. I’ve recently been rolling through a very nice crop of blogs and am seriously considering jumping back into the fray. Without banging my drum too loudly, I have to say that I kept various online journals as far back as 1997. In fact, I had two online […]

LinuxPrinting.org
http://www.linuxprinting.org
LinuxPrinting.org is everything you ever needed to know about printing in Linux. As noted, printing is often a challenge. But, with current distributions and LinuxPrinting.org, it really doesn’t need to be. With a full compliment of HOWTOs, printer listings, driver listings, and manuals for all the current printing programs, LinuxPrinting.org is a robust resource for […]

Webwasher [309 KB]

ftp://ftp.webwasher.com/wwash/webwasher-3.0-linux-i386.rpm
http://www.webwasher.com/
Popups are, next to spam, my second great annoyance with a connected lifestyle. On the Windows side, I’ve always used Pow! from AnalogX to vaporize those annoying X10 ads, among others. So, you can imagine my joy when I found Webwasher’s Linux app for killing popups.
Webwasher is easy to install, even easier to […]

Kernel Fundamentals - Part 5
We’re making great progress in discussing the process of building a new custom Linux kernel. I’ve heard from many of you following along with the kernel series, ready to install this newly-built kernel on your own machines. It’s kind of exciting, huh>
Today’s step is one that had me baffled the first […]

Sophisticated Email Filtering
Very little about the Internet aggravates me more than spam. It’s recently taken a turn for the worst, at least in my inbox. Maybe I’m just paying the price for being a web user since the beginning and putting my real email addresses into too many form fields. After seven years on the […]

It still amazes me how comfortable I can be in my little laundry-room office in my quiet house in Iowa City. I really take it for granted until I’m separated from it for a few days, especially when that separation involves an exponential increase in the noise and activity level. You know the kind - […]