IT Masala

Gspace is a lovely firefox addon and supported on 3 platforms(Windows,Mac,Linux). It makes life easier to store all your stuff on Gmail very easily. What do you do with a 6Gb online space, use it as a storage space..just dump all your stuff.

- Install the firefox addon : | Windows | Mac | Linux |

- Goto Tools -> Gspace . The panel will open up in a different tab (chrome://gspace/content/gspaceWindow.xul )

You are shown a 2-column panel , left side is your pc and right side is your gmail storage space. Nice thing about this addon is, it shows the total space and the free space and shows details of files with timestamp etc… Below is the capture of how the email message looks like in the inbox.

How to use: Login to your account using your gmail account and password. You can create folders and put your stuff into your account. When you upload your stuff, it shows up as shown in the screenshots. To avoid showing all the upload messages in your inbox, archive the mails sent by Gspace.

PS: Using this addon maybe(not sure) against Gmail's TOS. So be careful !

[Gspace] [Gmail] [Firefox addon]

This is a compilation of How-To's by HowtoGeek. This is a must to read for every Ubuntu user!

• How to Tell What Version of Ubuntu You Are Running
• How to use an ISO image on Ubuntu Linux
• Keep the Display From Turning Off on Ubuntu
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Bash ( Command Shell for Ubuntu, Debian, Suse, Redhat, Linux, etc)
• Make Backspace Key Work Correctly in Firefox on Linux
• Make Grub Bootloader Wait Indefinitely for OS Selection
• Reload the Gnome or KDE Panels Without Restarting (Linux)
• Search Your Computer Quickly With the Deskbar Applet on Ubuntu
• How to display a list of recent commands in Ubuntu Linux
• Make your Gnome Terminal Background (mostly)Transparent on Ubuntu

[ HowtoGeek ] [ image from Kubuntu ]

Last week Ubuntu released Hardy Heron. Before upgrading I was on Ubuntu 7.10. Last week, there was an update notification to upgrade to 8.04. I have also used Mac4Lin theme with Ubuntu.There is some problem with the latest kernel on Ubuntu, some crashes and Mac4Lin dosen't work nicely on Hardy Heron.

Good thing about the upgrade is , you can still select the old kernel i.e 2.6.22-14 during boot.And for Windows users, Ubuntu 8.04 has Wubi which allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows OS application.

Below are some screenshots and reviews: 

Some of the sites which reviewed the latest Ubuntu release.

eWeek's review:

Canonical has marshaled the best of what the open-source world has to offer in Ubuntu 8.04, a Linux-based operating system that's capable of mounting a serious challenge to Microsoft Windows on mainstream desktops and notebooks. During my tests of Ubuntu 8.04, both in its final form and in a series of test releases that led up to the official launch April 24, I've been impressed enough with the distribution to award it the eWEEK Labs Analyst's Choice designation.

LifeHacker's review:

If you've flirted with the idea of switching your desktop operating system to Linux but never took the leap, the time is now. This week's release of Hardy Heron, an Ubuntu release that will be supported until 2011, offers a freer, more productive space for work and play than ever before.

 [ Ubuntu ] [ Get Ubuntu ] [ Request Free CD ]

Do you want to give your desktop a pinch of Mac OS X? Do you want to change your GNOME desktop from the default look to something like this? Use Mac4Lin to give it the look and feel of Mac OS X (latest being 10.5, Leopard) on *nix GTK based systems.

Make this happen by Using Mac4Lin on your Linux system. I use Ubuntu  and it worked awesome. The only thing I could not get is  the icons at the bottom, apart from that I have got the perfect MAC look for my Ubuntu system. 

Here is a nice tutorial on how to go about on Howtoforge and also the Mac4Lin has nice documentation.

Don't forget to thank the owner. Its an amazing piece of work.

Download all the 3 parts.

[ Download Mac4Lin ]  [ Tutorial on HowtoForge]

Ubuntu Guide explains on how to make backups of your digital media. Follow these simple steps to create .iso disk images of your CD/DVD. This is not specific to Ubuntu, you can use the steps to create .iso and MD5 checksum files in any distro.

Steps :

Turn a CD/DVD into an .iso
sudo umount /dev/cdrom
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=file.iso bs=1024
Turn a folder into an .iso
mkisofs -r -o file.iso /location_of_folder/
Generate an MD5 checksum file
md5sum file.iso > file.iso.md5

How to create Image (ISO) files from CD/DVD [Ubuntu Guide]

This video could be the most creative commercial ever seen. Awesome but really a strange styled commercial , something never ever seen by me..It showcases a child who’s ability to gain knowledge never ceases. One of the fantastic commercial ever seen by me !!
The video emphasis about Open Source. ” Future is Open ”

Video Attached below..
Read the rest of this entry »

A nice article by Neal Krawetz on extreme tech on how to improve the performance of your Ubuntu system. He speaks of fine-tuning of your system, about the understanding of the processes which are running,  and resource availability and process start up. Tweaking configurations, about how to disable undesirable processes, enable necessary housekeeping, and adjusting your kernel to better handle your needs to give you the best performance !

We know different versions of Ubuntu (and Linux) use different startup scripts and run different support processes.He nicely quotes :

[ Hacking Ubuntu to Improve Performance ] 

A major Linux Wi-Fi driver contains a bug that can allow an attacker to take control of a laptop–even when it is not on a Wi-Fi network.There have not been many Linux Wi-Fi device drivers, and this is apparently the first remotely executable Wi-Fi bug.

It Affects : 

It affects the widely used MadWi-Fi Linux kernel device driver for Atheros-based Wi-Fi chipsets, according to Laurent Butti, a researcher from France Telecom Orange.

Whats the threat ? 

The kernel stack-overflow bug lets an attacker run malicious code, and can be used even if the machine is not actively on a Wi-Fi network .

Note : "You may be vulnerable if you do not manually patch your MadWi-Fi driver," said Butti.

via [ pcworld ] 

Easily Convert RPM, Deb and tgz package formats using Alien- Portable Package Power

Alien is a program that converts between the rpm, dpkg, stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats. If you want to use a package from another distribution than the one you have installed on your system, you can use alien to convert it to your preferred package format and install it.

Licensed under GPL, this tool converts between the rpm, Debian deb,stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats.For example, if I want to install Inkscape which is in a binary RPM format in Ubuntu (or any other debian distro), I use the following command:

    # alien -i inkscape-2.1.3.rpm

The above command will unpack the rpm package into a directory, create a deb package and then install it on your system. And to uninstall the package at a later date use the relevent dpkg command.

Note : Alien should not be used to replace important system packages, like sysvinit, shared libraries, or other things that are essential for the functioning of your system

Other things which are required :

- perl version 5.004 or greater.

- Red Hat Package Manager; get it from its website.

- If you want to convert packages into debian packages, you will need the dpkg, dpkg-dev, and debhelper packages, which are available on the Debian packages site. You'll also need gcc, and make. 

Despite the large version number, alien is still (and will probably always be) rather experimental software. It has been used by many people for many years, but there are still many bugs and limitations.

Although no one officially recommends using Alien as a solution for business, I have found it to be a very effective tool. 

Download via [ Alien ]

Nero announced today that Nero Linux 3 will be unveiled at CeBIT in Germany. The new version of the definitive burning application for Linux operating systems will add Blu-Ray and HD DVD data recording support as well as an improved graphical user interface (GUI) that is similar to the look and feel of the current Nero Burning ROM 7 edition.

"Nero has long recognized the importance of including the Linux community in our broad user base," said Udo Eberlein, Chief Operating Officer, Nero AG. "By ensuring that the functionalities of our most popular application are available to users of the Linux operating systems, we are also ensuring that Nero's cutting-edge burning technology is enjoyed by users all over the world."

In addition to Blu-ray and HD DVD burning capabilities, Nero Linux 3 will also natively support 64-bit systems, as well as Unicode in all languages currently supported by Nero's flagship product, Nero 7. A beta version of Nero Linux 3 is expected to be available at the end of March 2007. Nero's OEM partners will be able to bundle Nero Linux 3 starting in mid-May 2007 offering a unique solution to the growing community of Linux OS users and fans. Many Linux distributions will be supported in the new upgrade including Red Hat Enterprises, Fedora Core, SuSE, Debian, Ubuntu, Linspire, and Mandriva.

Source:Press Release