2002 April

The One Page Linux Manual
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~squadron/
“A Summary of Useful Linux Commands.” Indeed. The One Page Linux Manual is available as a 94k download in PDF and PostScript formats. It’s a concise two-page summary of some of the most common Linux commands. This one is great for printing and keeping on your desk - in case of [...]

IP-Atlas [79 Kb]
http://www.xpenguin.com/ip-atlas-0.6.zip
http://www.xpenguin.com/ip-atlas.php
“IP-Atlas tries to plot your location or any other host on the internet using the NetGeo data. It finds the latitude and longitude coordinates of the host and plots it on an image for you. You can try the demo and/or download it (80k). IP-Atlas requires PHP and optionally the GD library.”

Continuing Caldera Directories
Today, we’re continuing on with the directory structure of Calerda OpenLinux. Let’s take a look at three more directories in the root structure and how they differ from other Linux distributions. We’ll also find some similarities.
/boot. The /boot directory contains your Linux kernel. It’s obviously crucial to the boot process for your system. [...]

Dialup Connections
In the past, one of the more problematic processes in Linux was connecting your modem to an ISP. Even if your modem was fully Linux compatible (ie: not a “Winmodem”), manually configuring the proper files to make the ISP connection could be a bit daunting. To simplify the task, several GUI tools were created [...]

Some interesting Linux news items have caught my attention the past week or so.
Suse is set to roll Sun Microsystems’ Grid Engine as a standard componenet of its Professional Edition. The Grid engine is designed to create a networked distributed computing environment. It’s been interesting to see the rise of distributed computing over the past [...]

Linux Administration Made Easy
http://www.linuxninja.com/linux-admin/
“LAME attempts to summarize the installation and configuration, as well as the day-to-day administrative and maintenance procedures that should be followed to keep a Linux-based server or desktop system up and running. It is geared to an audience of both corporate as well as home users.”

Blackhole Spam/Virus filter [222 Kb]
http://the.groovy.org/source/BlackHole.tar.gz
http://the.groovy.org/blackhole.shtml
“Blackhole Spam/Virus Filter provides multiple spam blocking techniques, “white list” features, and flexible storage of blocked email. Sendmail, Qmail, and Postfix are supported, and the email storage type can be mbox or maildir for Postfix and Sendmail. Configuration can be done through the bhconf utility. Blackhole can log through Syslog, [...]

OpenLinux Directory Structure
Last week we began a look at the directory structure of Corel OpenLinux. This structure is interesting as an example of how directory stuctures can vary from distribution to distribution. It also provides an opportunity to talk about the standard directories in more depth, something many of you have requested.
Today, we’ll talk about [...]

Listing Modules
Though the Linux kernel can be completely monolithic, it’s really not proactical in many consumer-grade systems. The size of a kernel with all possible modules compiled directly in simply prevents it from being feasible. For that reason, many of the modules, or device drivers, can be dynamically loaded and unloaded in Linux, to be [...]

Hiya. You probably thought I’d just forgotten about you the past week or so, huh? Not a chance.
A couple of things are happening with Penguin Shell to let you know about. First, Distro II is taking a short undetermined break. We’ve been after these distribution reviews for the bulk of Penguin Shell’s life and I [...]

LinuxChix
http://www.linuxchix.org/
LinuxChix takes a slightly different approach to helping new users learn the ropes in Linux. Though it takes a uniquely female-centric view, its founder explains the philosophy best.

I started LinuxChix because I got tired of seeing new users being browbeaten for asking “stupid” questions. I got tired of seeing people respond to perfectly valid questions [...]

SiteSeed [211 Kb]
http://www.siteseed.org/images/articles/50/siteseed-v1.4-r2-20020416.tgz
http://www.siteseed.org/
“Siteseed is a full Web Development and Content Management System. It
provides bases for site building and uses PHP for extensions and site
programming. Advanced features include intercomunications with other
Siteseed sites, XML export, multiple backoffice staff with detailed
permissions, visual WYSIWYG editing and previews, three internal cache
layers for maximum flexibility and top performance, internal message [...]

OpenLinux File Structure
As we start into Caldera OpenLinux this week, it’s important to understand the directory structure of this evolving distribution. We’ll take a look today at the basic filesystem structure, with a more detailed view over the course of the remaining week.
OpenLinux adds some directories to the basic Linux structure not found in other [...]

XVidTune
Occasionally, the default installation settings for your X server just aren’t quite perfect. Differences in monitors and video cards can’t always be perfectly accounted for in these default setups. For example, the picture may appear shortened, elongated, or shifted left or right. This sometimes happens even when the X server is given exactly the [...]

After a brief respite, Penguin Shell is moving forward with the next distribution in Distro II - Caldera OpenLinux.
As has been the protocol for this round of reviews, let’s take a brief look at the history of Caldera and OpenLinux in particular. Formed in 1994 by Ransom Love and Bryan Sparks, Caldera’s constant mission has [...]

Linux Package Guide
http://www.firstlinux.com/package/
“Linux Package Guide contains information on the core packages of the RedHat, Suse, Caldera and Debian distributions for the Intel platform. The database is fully searchable allowing you to find out whether a particular distribution supports your favorite application, and moreover, in which package that application is stored.” Some of the information is [...]

Krabber [724 Kb]
http://krabber.automatix.de/krabber-0.4.4.tar.gz
http://krabber.automatix.de/
“Krabber is a KDE application to rip audio cds with cdparanoia III, decode mp3 files with mp123 and encode mp3 files with 8hz-mp3, bladeenc, l3enc, lame, ISO, xing or mp3enc. It requires KDE 1.x and the newest cdparanoia. It also has support for SMP systems and is able to convert audio data [...]

Patching Your Kernel
Yesterday we talked about the kernel numbering convention and how it indicate to you at a glance the major, minor and patchlevel numbers of your current kernel. If, since your current kernel was built, applicable bug fixes or additional features have been added that will be useful to you, you can download patches [...]

Linux Screen Shots
Capturing screens in Linux is a breeze. Really.
You can capture screens in Linux using the xwd program found in most distributions. To grab a shot, enter the command:
    xwd >mydump.xwd
This executes the xwd program, piping the results to a file called mydump.xwd. To view the image, use another component of the xwd program, xwud:
    xwud [...]

Ladies and gentlemen, the phone lines are full.
I love it when you guys commiserate with me. In response to the Qwest story yesterday, I got 103 - count ‘em, 103 - emails. Virtually all of them related other horror stories about Qwest. Perhaps we should start a web site? Even Randy has had a recent [...]