A taste of Linux.

KDE as default desktop.
/etc/sysconfig/desktop

DESKTOP="KDE"
And this gives you the option of shutting down easily
DISPLAYMANAGER="KDE"

RPM matters.
You [i]nstall when you don't have that package (whatever version) installed.

You [F]reshen when you want to update an installed package.

You [U]pgrade when you want to freshen, but also install any new rpms in the argument list.

Spamassassin and evolution.
Set up a filter to 'pipe message to shell command' and then '/usr/bin/spamassassin -P -e' and 'does not return' and '0' and then move the message to spam folder to be reviewed later. And it works!

Altering roots email.
edit /etc/aliases
put in an alias for root to forward email to any address you want.

Easy cron tasks.
Move the file to your $HOME or where you want it to be, then issue the command: crontab -u [user]
Things saved in /etc/cron.daily will be run as root every day when cron is running, could be at 4am or whenever cron is active.
Those files should only contain the scripts/programs that needs to be run, not info to cron on when to use it.
====================
crontab -u [user]
crontab -u root /home/user/crontab/root.cron
=============
45 19 26 2 * /home/user/crontab/sylpheed.sh
mean = 45 minutes, 19 hours, 26 day, 2nd month, any day of week

1	Minute	0-59
2	Hour	0-23 (0 = midnight)
3	Day	1-31
4	Month	1-12
5	Weekday	0-6 (0 = Sunday)

or
# Min Hour DoM Month DoW Command

Bash with more than one command.
"./configure && make && make install"

This line starts three processes in a row. "./configure" is a script that explores the system and configures the source-code. "make" actually builds the programm, and "make install" actuall copies the different pieces of the programm to the right locations.

What is so special about this line? the usage of "&&" as a seperator between the commands causes the shell to continue with the next command only if the previous terminated successfully. Since "make install" depends on a successfull "make", which in turn depends on a good configuration, this is exactly what we want. We can leave the keyboard unattended and if everything goes well, the application is ready to roll after our lunchbreak :)

We can also use it in scripts like this "mkdir /some/directory && cp /something /some/directory/"

If we used a semicolon to seperate commands, they would be executed after each other, no matter if they succeeded or not. This is good for tasks like "Copy this and copy that while I am having lunch"

If we used a single "&", the commands would run at the same time. Also quite nice, if you want to download multiple files and have a big enough pipe to do so simultaneously.

I have 6, yes that is 'six' gmail invites looking for a good home. If you're interested, please email me and I'll send you an invite.

Over time I've collected many differernt tips for helping to keep Fedora working well, and heres some of them.

Disable graphical boot.
Change /etc/sysconfig/init
# Turn on graphical boot
GRAPHICAL=yes
to "GRAPHICAL=no"


and if that doesn't work, then try
Edit /boot/grub/grub.conf and remove the "rhgb quiet" kernel arguments.

Releasing a 'locked in' CD/DVD.
cd /sbin
./fuser /mnt/cdrom
normally gives something like - /mnt/cdrom: 3569
which when checked shows it to be 'fam'
then
killall -HUP fam
and then you can unmount the device.

Using java post install of OpenOffice.
It is possible to use java in openoffice after installing it even if you didn't have it installed in the first place. Use the j2re rpm appropriate for your distro and then in the /opt/OpenOffice.org1.1.2/program/ folder run 'jvmsetup'. Hey presto!

Removing compiled programs.
If the program has been installed by ./configure, make, make install then you can remove it totally by 'make uninstall'. This will remove any man pages, any configurations etc., but leaves you having to remove any menu links that have not been removed. If you use 'make clean' then all you're doing is preparing it to be compiled again.

Firewall scanning.
Use this url to have your machine scanned and to check all ports if you want. Go to: Firewall Scanning and see how safe you are. This site will scan common ports (or all if you want) and you'll see how exposed you are. I highly recommend it.

One of the things that I like about linux is the sheer wealth of new programs available from various sites like freshmeat or sourceforge, although sometimes you may have to google for something that you think you've heard about but now can't find. [Is 'google' a verb now?]

And then once you've downloaded them and installed them, either as an rpm file or just as a tar.gz file, which then needs a quick compile and install, you're able to play. And if you don't like it, then its just as easy to get rid of it without worrying about the possibility of it corrupting your registry. Registry? Whats that? Something that you don't have on linux! And another advantage of linux, never having to defragment your hard drive! Somehow or other its done automatically, or the file system works in a different way I'm not sure, either way its a thing of the past for me.

And if you really want to live on the bleeding edge of reality and computer software then you can always investigate the cvs route. This is where you get to use the very latest software that the program author has written, sometimes it might be only half a day old, depending on when you last checked and got the latest updates. But, there is a price for this ... sometimes it doesn't work as it should do, sometimes it doesn't even work at all, and very often there is no up-to-date documentation. Basically, you are a beta tester for the author, telling them what doesn't work on your particular computer but also what does work. It can be fun, and it can be frustrating too, but its your choice.

I first tried to use linux in 1988 with SuSE 8.0 but I didn't get on with it and didn't enjoy the experience. Its so far back in time that I'm unable to recall the exact reasons why I didn't get on with it, I just know that I didn't .

But at the beginning of 2004 I decided that I was unhappy with MS windows, it seemed to crash a lot and after installing a new program you seemed to need to reboot every time. Plus, I seemed to be getting far more attacks from viruses and almost needed to update my antivirus program every day. I'd been hearing a lot about linux and how good it was, so I took the plunge and installed RedHat 9 [I think thats what it was] onto a separate hard drive from my windows system. And after a bit of faffing around whilst I learnt what did what, which seems to be the way that I learn technical things the best, I was hooked. I then tried using White Box Enterprise Linux because I liked the RedHat way of doing things, their menu layout, etc., but I was unhappy that after I'd paid out good money for their desktop operating system they were going to withdraw their support.

There then followed a period when I learnt the things that you do, and do not do, with an rpm-based distro. Things like, to get the most trouble-free update use the already packaged rpm, to get the most aggravating botched system, install rpm's from other RedHat distros. A sort of mix n'match, things came from RedHat 9, Fedora Core 1, White Box, RedHat Enterprise, basically if I could shoehorn it in, I did it! This obviously was a recipe for disaster, and it did happen! But not the way that you're expecting . The way that it happened was I burnt my motherboard out, after burning out two power supply units [one went after just two days use! Is this a record? ]

It then took me several months to save up to buy a new motherboard, and when I could afford it I was pleasantly surprised at how much they'd come down in price. So now I was back and able to play again. During the missing time I'd found the UK magazine 'Linux Format' and had started taking the DVD-issue which was delivered direct to my home, and this gave me lots of new distros to look at and potentially play with . I tried Mandrake 10 [but didn't like the menu layout, as the font size seemed too small for those of us of ageing years], tried RedHat 9 [lack of support as by now it had been discontinued] and eventually settled on Fedora Core 2, which is what I've been using now for quite some time, and am very happy with it too.

Whether I'll upgrade to Fedora Core 3 when it comes out I'm not sure, I may well wait until it appears on the DVD from 'Linux Format'. This will give time for any teething problems to be sorted out, and for more packages to be available for installation.

It is, its really working, and seemingly doing what I want it to do. So, maybe, just maybe it will be worthwhile uploading it if I can find anything relevant to say. It seems it was just a problem of getting various things set up properly in the main configuration file. But, now it is working.

Obviously there are a few things that I'd like to change and to get set up, things like a visitor counter that works, a google search box, and then get the links sorted out, but theres still plenty of time for it all.

Nanoblogger, a blogger for linux it says on the tin. Hmmm, seems easy to install, seems reasonably easy to operate, but its going to need a bit of playing with to find a look that I like. Something clean, composed and structured, but yet individualised, not too much like the other nanoblogger sites :).

Ah, at last! Its working, and seems to be doing what it says on the tin. Things are improving and looking up!