2004 June

Latest releases from Distrowatch
ROCK Linux 2.0.2
” ROCK Linux 2.0.2 (codename ‘wildlife’) was released to the public. The release is a maintenance release - and so includes a number of security fixes and minor version updates pulled from the development tree. Due to always active work on non-x86 ports this time with full boot [...]

NewsForge | gLabels: Ready for prime time
If you are a frequent label maker, or you like to print your own business cards, you may enjoy the is application. Like MS Works, this app contains a label list based on the standard Avery formats. Add to the functionality of your OO or KOffice suite [...]

Need a new printer? Have an older printer you’re struggling to get working on Linux? Your first stop needs to be LinuxPrinting.org.
This site has a huge database of printers and how well (or not) they work on Linux and other Unix-based systems such as FreeBSD and OS X. Some printers still have proprietary drivers [...]

Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 Driver for Linux
Those of us who sport Linux on our laptops are a precious few, the brave explorers, those who wish to have what was not supposed to be. Never mind many people consider us crazy. We love our laptops, we take them with us everywhere…it’s only natural that we [...]

The Linux Documentation Project
One of the recent rants on my website concerned the lack of decent documentation in many distributions of Linux. I honestly feel it’s one of those small, overlooked items that really puts off people tempted to try an installation on their own. Mandrake, perhaps the most popular distro among those [...]

If you’re looking for a simple solution to monitor your bandwidth usage, check out vnStat. This app is purely command-line driven and is a snap to install. It will give you summaries by interface and/or by time, and will also display simple graphs over time and a breakdown of the heaviest days of usage. Because [...]

A Complete History of Tux - so Far.
Did you ever wonder why Linux has a penguin as a motto? This page tells you more than you may have wanted to know on the subject, with a few links to some other fun sites, including a sourse of Linux wallpapers. My favorite wallpaper site [...]

Linux Gazette
With 103 issues to browse through, the Linux Gazette offers a wealth of information to users both new and experienced. Ben Okopnik, the editor-in-chief, has a fine stable of writers and contributors to flesh out each issue with articles ranging from the philosophy of using Linux to the practicalities using the 2.6 kernel [...]

A few years ago when I got back into personal computing there were web sites, newsletters and forums galore, all geared toward the new home computer user market, and mostly based on the Windows operating system. Almost all of them were aimed at the totally clueless, and that was good, as most home users [...]

To round out the Slackware notes I posted the last two days, I thought I’d wrap with two more utilities that help make running Slackware a little easier.
First we have SWareT, the Slackware Tool. This script helps keep your system up to date buy downloading and installing new packages, patches, sources and libraries [...]

Latest Releases from DistroWatch:
Slackware Linux 10.0
” The first Slackware release of 2004, Slackware Linux 10.0 continues the more than ten-year Slackware tradition of simplicity, stability, and security. Among the many program updates and distribution enhancements, you’ll find two of the most advanced desktop environments available today: GNOME 2.6.1 (including a collection [...]

A Bare-Bones Guide to Firewalls LG #103
Many of us fail to appreciate security in Linux, assuming that a more secure OS will protect us from all evil. That may have been true once, but these days it pays to take what precautions you can. If the prospect of setting up a firewall in [...]

The Sunbird Project - Standalone Calendar
I love Mozilla. I love their Mozilla suite, as well as their stand alone products. A new product has joined the family, called Sunbird, that adds a calendar function to the suite, Firefox, Thunderbird and functions as a cross platform stand-alone calendar as well. It’s still an [...]

Slackware Linux Essentials: The Official Guide to Slackware Linux is just what it says it is. In fact, while there are portions of the book that are Slackware-specific, there is still quite a bit of good reference material that will translate across all distributions. For example, the majority of Section IV, Using Slackware Linux, focuses [...]

The venerable Slackware distribution has officially announced the release of 10.0! It includes the latest versions of KDE and GNOME, and users will have the option to install either kernel 2.4.26 or, if they choose to remain on the cutting edge, kernel 2.6.7. Check out the official announcement for further details, then warm up BitTorrent [...]

Linux Filesystem Hierarchy
I still remember the first time I looked at the Linux file structure. OK, /home and /user, those were obvious enough. /etc, /var and even /root made some sense. Then I saw /bin, /initrd, /sbin and /dev…oh my. Intuition wasn’t going to help me here. Thank goodness there [...]

Thanks to the Run Up-to-date Linux Everywhere (RULE) project, “old hardware” does not necessarily mean “obsolete.” Their motto, in fact, is “Hardware is only as old as the software it runs.” RULE accomplishes this by taking the Red Hat 8 and 9 (and soon Fedora) installer and packages and modifying them to get them working [...]

Latest distro releases from Distrowatch
AGNULA/DeMuDi 1.2.0-beta1
“AGNULA/DeMuDi 1.2.0-beta1, the Debian-based GNU/Linux distribution for audio/video, has been released. This version is the second beta of the 1.2.0 series, which sports tighter integration with Debian, using the Sarge Debian Installer and the CDD (Custom Debian Distributions) framework. It’s a bug fixing release, still meant for testing. demudi_1.2.0-beta1_i386.iso [...]

Slashdot | Linux for Non-Geeks
My Mom turned 80 last year, the same year she decided to try to learn how to use a computer. When I’m 80, I’ll be trying to learn to work a doorknob. But I seriously do admire those who are never beyond learning new skills. Linked is a [...]

I have been using linux for just over six months now.One resource that I find an invaluable source of information is
The Linux Documentation Project.There are literally dozens of HowTos,guides and FAQs that cover a wide range of topics.
Most of these documents are clear,concise and most importantly up to date.I am sure you will be quite [...]