2002 July

A Beginner’s Guide to Linux
http://www.geocities.com/aboutlinux/
A Beginner’s Guide to Linux breaks Linux use down to the most fundamental tasks.
This tutorial is intended to get the new Linux user up and running through a
series of hands-on instructional guides, with a clear set of priorities. The
order of these guides is well planned, starting with installation and X [...]

Tagged Message Delivery Agent (TMDA)

http://tmda.net/
“The Tagged Message Delivery Agent (TMDA) reduces the amount of SPAM/UCE
(junkmail) you receive. It combines a ‘whitelist’ (for known/trusted senders), a
‘blacklist’ (for undesired senders), and a cryptographically-enhanced
confirmation system (for unknown, but legitimate, senders).”

Kernel Configuration - Part XVII
I’ll admit today to having run up against a wall. As you know, we’ve been
walking through the kernel configuration elements for the past few weeks. We’ve
been giving some discussion not only to whether or not you should configure
these elements into your custom kernel, but to the underlying process as well.
Today, the [...]

Moving Between Directories
We’ve talked quite a bit about bash, the Bourne Again Shell in Linux.
It’s the most popular shell environment and contains, arguably, the most and
most useful features. Among them are command line completion, wild card use and
many, many others.
If you’re working a lot in the terminal, you know that, even in bash, entering
directory paths [...]

Who knows - it might not be long before we don’t have to rely on a physical
connection at all to connect to the ‘net.
An article on Newsforge caught my attention today. It’s all about the rise
of wireless ISPs across the country and the future of commercial wireless in
general. I’ve toyed with the idea of [...]

The One Page Linux ManualUnearthed by Dave
Moore
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~squadron/
The One Page Linux Manual is exactly as it says - a concise guide to the most
used and most useful Linux commands. All the basics are covered, from starting
and stopping, installing software and user administration to shortcuts and
printing. The manual is presented in PDF and Postscript versions for easy
reading [...]

Kallers

http://www.nadmm.com/kallers/
“Kallers is KDE system tray applet that displays the caller ID information sent
by phone companies. It requires a caller ID capable modem. It logs every call
internally using an XML format, displays call infomation non- intrusively using
a popup window, and optionally plays a ring sound when a call is received. It
can optionally ignore anonymous calls. A [...]

Kernel Configuration - Part XVI
Yesterday, we took the high level view of IDE and ATAPI interfaces in the kernel
configuration series. We noted that both have contributed to the proliferation
of affordable high capacity storage in modern computers. We also mentioned SCSI
- the Small Computer System Interface. Today, we’ll talk about SCSI in more
detail, focusing on [...]

Useful Floppies
I’m still a floppy user, I’ll admit. You’ll recall from yesterday’s Penguin
Shell that my first computer had only floppies for storage. It’s a long hard
habit to break. In fact, as I’ve moved more and more into Linux and further from
Windows, I’ve found more uses for floppies. Given the lightweight nature of most
Linux [...]

From a factual standpoint, yesterday wasn’t one of my banner days.
First, I did the thing I hate the most - mentioned a name incorrectly in Penguin
Shell. I noted that “Scott Goyo” had offered the services of eTapestry.com for the
Penguin Shell volunteer project. Well, we may have a reader named Scott Goyo,
but he’s not yet [...]

Erik’s Linux Page
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~forsberg/linux/
Erik Forsberg has put together a fine page filled with information that’s useful
to both Linux newbie and guru alike. The page includes an introduction to Linux
that covers software, partitioning, LILO, environment variables, shell scripts,
and other truly valuable information. He aldo covers advanced topics, all in a
style that’s easy to read, follow and [...]

Mandrake Security Tools

http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/
“The Mandrake Security tools package is designed to provide a generic secure
level for Mandrake Linux users. It allows you to select on a scale of 0 to 5 the
amount of security you need. This packages includes several programs that run
periodically to test the security of your system and alert you if
necessary.”

Kernel Configuration - Part XV
We’re moving along in the kernel configuration series. The guiding ideology in
this series has been to pick apart each section of the kernel configuration
routine, spending some time discussing the importance of each. Today’ we’ll take
that approach with the ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL support section.
Of all the revolutions in computers over the past ten [...]

Ignoring Pings
The PING (Packet Internet Groper) service on your machine can, in skilled hands,
provide the backdoor to a Denial of Service (DOS) attack. If you don’t have a
real need for your machine to answer ping requests, a simple command line will
kill the service. As with many other ‘net services, shutting down the ping
service can [...]

Let me take this fine Monday to catch you up on a few things with Penguin Shell
and with Lockergnome in general.
First, the Penguin Shell volunteer project is rolling forward. We’ve not landed
on a name, though I’ve seen more than two dozen interesting and clearly viable
suggestions. I’m currently working through a way to post all the [...]

Linux Network Commands
http://rak.isternet.sk/linux-netman/commands.html
“Any reasonable distribution of Linux has many basic network commands available
for installation. This page lists and describes the commands you should have
available if you have a Linux box and chose to install networking capabilities.
I [the author] have tried to make this list fairly complete; if you see any
omissions (or rather, if you do [...]

The SpamBouncer

http://www.spambouncer.org/
“The SpamBouncer is a set of procmail instructions that search the headers and
text of your incoming email to see if it meets one or more of a list of
conditions for probable spam. It will then either tag the suspected spam and
return it to your main incoming mailbox, tag the suspected spam, delete spam
from known [...]

Kernel Configuration - Part XIV
You get a break today. Today’s installment in the kernel configuration series
couldn’t be easier - one step and you move on.
Recent Linux kernel versions have provided full support for telephony. That is,
Linux provides the ability to use your modem as a phone, an answering machine or
a fax machine. Since we’re [...]

Protecting Against Single Mode
A few months back, I showed you a way to change a lost root password using
single mode. Boot using the command linux single, change the password,
reboot. It’s a pretty easy solution to what seems to be a daunting problem.
The issue raised, though, is how secure is single mode in Linux? It stands [...]

You know - technology is still a mystery to more people than we’d like to
believe.
As you may know, I have a computer company of my own located in Iowa City, Iowa.
Iowa City is actually a great place. With the University of Iowa, a liberal arts
college of 28,000+ students, I’ve always considered Iowa City [...]