Recently in Linux Category
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lsb_release -aOn Debian the command is:
cat /etc/debian_version
The redhat equivalent, which would work on redhat derivatives as well, is:
cat /etc/redhat-release
If, like me, you use pidgin as your IM client on Ubuntu, you may have been experiencing issues connecting to ICQ today.
There's a patch available here, as well as a discussion of the issue.
As I don't use ICQ too heavily I may just wait until a new version is released
There's a patch available here, as well as a discussion of the issue.
As I don't use ICQ too heavily I may just wait until a new version is released
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Ubuntu users seem to have been granted the privilege of downloading the new release since this morning for some odd reason!
The guys behind Firefox are also trying for a Guinness record for the most downloads in a 24 hour period.
Inevitably their web servers have crashed under the load and are now displaying an error message:
Http/1.1 Service Unavailable
I guess that was to be expected, however their FTP servers are still working fine!
If you want to grab the new version of Firefox via FTP you can get it here
The guys at XKCD have done it again!
I took delivery of some of their tshirts this morning, as well as my Top Gun tshirt
I took delivery of some of their tshirts this morning, as well as my Top Gun tshirt
Earlier today both Debian and Ubuntu maintainers announced a serious security issue with both Open SSH and Open SSL.
There is, of course, a post about it on SlashDot, but if you'd rather skip the crud (ie. some of the rather inane comments) and are running a Debian (or derivative system such as Ubuntu) do a dist-upgrade as soon as you can.
If you're using SSH keys you'll need to generate fresh ones, as any keys currently "in the wild" maybe vulnerable to brute force attacks.
There is, of course, a post about it on SlashDot, but if you'd rather skip the crud (ie. some of the rather inane comments) and are running a Debian (or derivative system such as Ubuntu) do a dist-upgrade as soon as you can.
If you're using SSH keys you'll need to generate fresh ones, as any keys currently "in the wild" maybe vulnerable to brute force attacks.
I upgraded my home desktop's Ubuntu install earlier today.
It was a relatively painless exercise, though I was trying to do it unattended, which naturally enough didn't work due to a few custom configs I had.
I'm used to Ubuntu upgrades wreaking havoc on my graphics settings, but this time everything seems to be working as before.
It's interesting to see that the Ubuntu developers opted for the beta release of Firefox rather than a stable one.
Of course I've only had the new install up and running for a couple of hours so far, so there maybe issues and new features that I haven't spotted yet. No news is good news!
It was a relatively painless exercise, though I was trying to do it unattended, which naturally enough didn't work due to a few custom configs I had.
I'm used to Ubuntu upgrades wreaking havoc on my graphics settings, but this time everything seems to be working as before.
It's interesting to see that the Ubuntu developers opted for the beta release of Firefox rather than a stable one.
Of course I've only had the new install up and running for a couple of hours so far, so there maybe issues and new features that I haven't spotted yet. No news is good news!
A new look and feel was unveiled for Dilbert.com
You'd think that people would be delighted, but the opposite is the case.
Why?
Well whoever is responsible for the screwup that is the new site seems to be living in the past.
The new Flash animations are simple Flash. There's no reason why they wouldn't work in most browsers on most platforms, but if you visit the animation section using Linux you get a lovely message:
Doh!
You'd think that people would be delighted, but the opposite is the case.
Why?
Well whoever is responsible for the screwup that is the new site seems to be living in the past.
The new Flash animations are simple Flash. There's no reason why they wouldn't work in most browsers on most platforms, but if you visit the animation section using Linux you get a lovely message:
So you grab yourself a copy of the UserAgent Switcher extension for Firefox and "spoof" a "supported" browser. And of course the entire thing then works fine.
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP Media Center 2005, Mac OSX 10.3 or Mac OSX 10.4 is required to view this page
Doh!
It looks like the next release of Ubuntu will be hitting a mirror near you in a few days. According to the main Ubuntu site the next stable release will come out of beta in a mere 12 days.
So what kind of new features will it bring?
What is likely to break? (something nearly always does! :) )
I'm seriously considering doing a completely clean install on my home desktop, as a number of things have been acting a bit flaky over the last few months, probably due to my annoying habit of installing stuff to play with it. (It's annoying me more than anyone else!)
So what kind of new features will it bring?
What is likely to break? (something nearly always does! :) )
I'm seriously considering doing a completely clean install on my home desktop, as a number of things have been acting a bit flaky over the last few months, probably due to my annoying habit of installing stuff to play with it. (It's annoying me more than anyone else!)
I'd been hearing quite a bit about Adobe's Air over the last few months, but I hadn't had any reason to install it.
While I use a Mac running OSX in the office, I tend to spend more time using my Ubuntu desktop when I'm at home. I may have a MacBook Pro, but sitting at a desk is more comfortable if you're working on anything that matters.
Since I seem to spend a lot of time and money trawling eBay for bargains I was looking for some "helper" applications. Stewart pointed me in the direction of eBay's homegrown Air app - the eBay desktop
Unlike Microsoft's much vaunted "cross platform" Sliverlight which still isn't available for linux, Adobe have released a linux version. They describe it as "alpha quality" but it actually worked first time.
Installing the eBay desktop application was as simple as downloading the installer and running it. Once installed you're prompted for your eBay login details and off you go.
Now why can't Microsoft do something similar with SilverLight? I thought they'd got over their entire "Linux is evil" trip.
While I use a Mac running OSX in the office, I tend to spend more time using my Ubuntu desktop when I'm at home. I may have a MacBook Pro, but sitting at a desk is more comfortable if you're working on anything that matters.
Since I seem to spend a lot of time and money trawling eBay for bargains I was looking for some "helper" applications. Stewart pointed me in the direction of eBay's homegrown Air app - the eBay desktop
Unlike Microsoft's much vaunted "cross platform" Sliverlight which still isn't available for linux, Adobe have released a linux version. They describe it as "alpha quality" but it actually worked first time.
Installing the eBay desktop application was as simple as downloading the installer and running it. Once installed you're prompted for your eBay login details and off you go.
Now why can't Microsoft do something similar with SilverLight? I thought they'd got over their entire "Linux is evil" trip.
This is another one of those "I know this, but I can never remember how" type things.
I'm currently reconfiguring a machine on the other side of the globe, so I want to get it to work to IST instead of EST.
A quick google brought up a rather complex way of doing it which sounded really wrong to me, so I refined my query and found the sane solution in the Ubuntu documentation.
Simply run the following command as root (or using "su"):
dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
And just follow the instructions.
No silly reboots or other craziness required.
To keep your server's time in sync with the rest of civilisation setup a cronjob to poll an ntp server once every 24 hours:
/usr/sbin/ntpdate yourfavouritentpserveraddress
Problem solved :)
I'm currently reconfiguring a machine on the other side of the globe, so I want to get it to work to IST instead of EST.
A quick google brought up a rather complex way of doing it which sounded really wrong to me, so I refined my query and found the sane solution in the Ubuntu documentation.
Simply run the following command as root (or using "su"):
dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
And just follow the instructions.
No silly reboots or other craziness required.
To keep your server's time in sync with the rest of civilisation setup a cronjob to poll an ntp server once every 24 hours:
/usr/sbin/ntpdate yourfavouritentpserveraddress
Problem solved :)
