Linux.com :: Features

Areca and plan/b offer Java-based backup for Linux

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Everyone needs to back up their computers, but when you have machines running on different platforms and different operating systems, it can be annoying to have to learn several interfaces. Areca and plan/b are two Java-based backup solutions that can run on any platform, including Linux, Windows, and Unix. Although maintenance has been discontinued for plan/b, both apps are worth a look.

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Clean up your filesystems with fslint

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Maintaining filesystems can be a real administration burden. Over time you might start getting multiple copies of the same file, soft links that point to files that no longer exist, temporary files that have been hanging around longer than they should, and binaries that have been installed and not had their debugging information stripped out. fslint can help you find these troublesome files so you can clean up your filesystem.

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Pidgin instant messaging client: a video tour

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Pidgin, formerly known as Gaim, is a popular Instant Messaging (IM) client for Linux. It works with 16 different IM services, including AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and Google, and can handle simultaneous connections to as many of them as you like. This 10-minute video is a brief introduction to Pidgin that shows how easy it is to install, in this case on OpenSUSE 11, how easy it is to set Pidgin up to use an existing IM account, and how to find and join an IRC channel with Pidgin.

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Enhance your DNS and DHCP services with dnsmasq

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:00:00 GMT

When a network is small and most of its users interact chiefly with services on the Internet at large, it's easy to get by simply by assigning numeric Internet Protocol addresses to your nodes rather than names. As the network grows, however, and as internal services (wikis, mail servers, media servers, and more) come online, recalling numeric addresses becomes unwieldy. One solution is to implement Domain Name Server (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) with dnsmasq, and thereby cache external DNS addresses for performance reasons, dynamically assign IP addresses to all of the members of your network, and manage everything from one location. This article shows you how.

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Adding search to your Web site with Xapian and Omega

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

With Xapian and Omega you can quickly build a powerful search interface for your Web site. You'll be able to index your HTML, PDF, and PHP content and search for it by metadata or words contained in the documents.

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Protect your network with pfSense firewall/router

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

pfSense is a free, powerful firewall and routing application that allows you to expand your network without compromising its security. Started in 2004 as a child project of m0n0wall -- a security project that focuses on embedded systems -- pfSense has had more than 1 million downloads and is used to protect networks of all sizes, from home offices to large enterprises. pfSense has an active development community, and more features are being added in each release to further improve its flexibility, scalability, and, of course, security.

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Android, Apple, and phone phreedom

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Google unveiled the first Android-powered cell phone last week, a T-Mobile-branded device dubbed the G1. Comparisons to Apple's iPhone were immediate -- and that is a good thing for Android, when you consider what a raucous and contentious week it was for iPhone developers.

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Bubba Two: The little server that could

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Converting an old PC into a home or office server may look like a good idea on paper, but in reality, the idea has a few serious drawbacks. For starters, old PCs tend to be noisy, power-guzzling monsters, and older components make them less reliable. Turning an old PC into a server also means installing and configuring all the necessary software, which can be a time-consuming and laborious process. If the drawbacks of this approach outweigh for you its possible advantages, consider instead Bubba Two, a nifty Debian-based device that can be used for a variety of tasks.

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FSF high priority list becomes a campaign, seeks donations

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:00:00 GMT

After marking the GNU Project's 25th anniversary with an endorsement by Stephen Fry and the relicensing of OpenGL, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) is concluding the month-long celebration by relaunching its high priority list, which enumerates as-yet unwritten or incomplete software needed to run a completely free computer system. Instead of being simply a page on the FSF's Web site, the list will become a campaign, and be actively promoted and discussed, and given a new emphasis in the Foundation's activities.

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Project management over the Web with Collabtive

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Collabtive is a modern Web application that allows teams to collaborate on projects, manage tasks, milestones, and files, and send instant messages to each other.

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Sbopkg provides seamless package repository integration for Slackware

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

No Linux distribution can bundle every package that users might want, so most distros host software repositories from which users can download and install additional applications. Since 2006 Slackbuilds.org has served as a high-quality repository for Slackware users, but using it requires several steps and switching between a Web browser and a virtual terminal. Sbopkg is a new ncurses-based utility that helps users build packages from SlackBuilds.org and seamlessly integrates the repository with the operating system.

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OpenGoo delivers the best of CRM and project management

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Online office suites are attractive for organizations with modest document processing needs, especially due to their low cost (read: free). But if you don't like the idea of storing your documents outside your network, try OpenGoo. It's an online office suite that installs on your local network and allows users to collaborate with others both inside and outside the network. The open source software, still under active development, is an easy to install and use, and if it's not quite ready for real-world large-scale deployment, it's getting there fast.

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Simplify system security with the Uncomplicated Firewall

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

The Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) is a new tool from Ubuntu whose goal is to make configuration of the built-in Linux packet filter less complicated and more secure for novice users.

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Push and pull network filesystems with ccgfs

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

The CC Network Filesystem (ccgfs) lets you mount filesystems over the network using either the push or pull model for connections. Most network filesystems use the pull model, where the client mounts a network share and all connections originate from the client. Using the push model for network shares means that all connections originate from the server. The push model has advantages when you want a machine on your network demilitarized zone (DMZ) to access a file server through a firewall.

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Video tour: Bluefish editor

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Bluefish is a GUI-based text and code editor that runs on "most (maybe all?) POSIX compatible operating systems including Linux, FreeBSD, Ma cOS X, OpenBSD, and Solaris." It has an impressive feature list, and is both lightweight and speedy. It is not currently under heavy development primarily because it is a mature program that already does exactly what it is supposed to do with no fuss or complaint.

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Keep tabs on your finances with HomeBank

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:00:00 GMT

"Where does all my money go?" If you want to know the exact answer to that question, you need HomeBank, a personal finance manager that can help you keep track of your income and expenses with consummate ease.

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x2x is a software alternative to a KVM switch

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Unless you have fully embraced the virtualization movement, you probably have more than one machine in your home or office, particularly if you run more than one operating system, and you probably have more than one keyboard and mouse on your desk. If you would like to regain some desk space without having to purchase a KVM switch, x2x may be the solution. Simply put, x2x takes advantage of the X Window System's ability to run a display over a TCP/IP network. In this case, you are not running a display as much as you are taking charge of another display's mouse and keyboard.

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Setting up your own certificate authority with gnoMint

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

gnoMint is a desktop application that lets you easily manage your own certificate authority (CA). Many secure communications technologies use digital certificates to ensure that the party or service they are connecting with is not an impostor. For many people, the main exposure to digital certificates comes when they visit an HTTPS Web site and see a certificate to validate that they have contacted the right Web server.

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Tools for editing vector graphics in GNU/Linux

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Over the last decade, vector graphics have gone from being a revolutionary format to a standard method of rendering computer images -- so much so that they are standard in the KDE 4 desktops. This popularity is based on the fact that, because they represent images as mathematical equations -- usually in SVG format -- vector graphics open faster, render better on screen, and can be resized more readily than raster graphics, in which an image is created pixel by pixel. Free software includes a number of options for working with vector graphics, including several simple ones: OpenOffice.org's Draw, KOffice's Karbon14, and Inkscape, which is currently the premier vector graphic editor in free software.

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Simplify email with Smail

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:00:00 GMT

A mail transport agent (MTA) provides the "plumbing" for your email system by taking mail from a client application such as Evolution or Mozilla Thunderbird and routing it to the correct location on the right machine. There are plenty of good MTAs, such as Postfix, Sendmail, and qmail, but these popular mail servers require a large amount of configuration, and may be overkill for users who merely want to set up an MTA to test a Web development project or need to move mail around locally. Smail is a better alternative for these scenarios because it generally requires no configuration, and its memory footprint is less than the more fully featured MTAs.

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