Free Feb 2010 Ed of Linux Journal in your mail-box :)

Hi All,

I remember LinuxJournal [LinuxJournal.com] giving away a free issue of LJ[Feb Issue] in PDF format for the year 2009.

Now they have done it yet again..

Yes.. Use this link LJ Feb 2010 Free Download

Enter your email address in the text box given at the above link and click submit. Thats it.. Go check your respective email a/c and to download a free Feb 2010 issue of LJ from there on..

Thank you so much LJ.... [Me reading the 5th page - Dont disturb... ;)]

Also I have requested LJ such that we can get and start buying LJ in India - like the rest of the other Tech Magazines... Still waiting for a reply..

Cheers and Thanks once again Linux Journal..

I hope all of you folks make the best utilization of this free service.. and spread the word of Linux and LJ.

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Dedication 1

Hi All,

Today is Linus Torvalds' Bday...

First of all lets wish him.. Happy Bday to you and May god bless you Sir...

This post I am dedicating it to him.. Thro his Linux I have achieved many things in my life...

Also I suggest all of you folks to read this LJ link.. LJ == Linux Journal

LJ Wishes Linus Torvalds

Thanks Linus and Linux.. And of course LJ..

Cheers :)

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Artistx

Hi All,

Yep I know that many would not have heard about this Distro.

It is called Artistx. A distro that has a great collection of softwares more required if you are a professional media creator....

Thanks to Digit - an Indian Tech magazine. They had provided this distro once and thats how even I also came to know about this...

Links:

Digit Magazine
Artistx Site

Will post more on this distro shortly... :)

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri

Ubuntu Ultimate 2.5 ed OUT

Hi All,

Its not like 3 to 4 days - when I downloaded the 2.4 ed of Ubuntu Ultimate Ed.

And now I see the 2.5 version being released...

Probably I did not see the release date of 2.5 and of course of 2.4 either... :(

Dumb me...

Visit this Ubuntu Ultimate for more...

Cool,
Ananth Gouri

Ananth hits 100 :)

Hi All,

If you all remember - I told that it was my 100th post - when it was still the 96th.

Now the sad part is - I have crossed 100 posts without knowing when I have crossed it too :)

I pity myself for my busy work schedule....

Anyways this site is still going.. I am still blogging.. And I am still fixing many of Debian issues and posting it here thro this media....

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri

Malware in Ubuntu and Debian based distros...

Hi All,

Please be careful while you are installing any themes or screensavers to your Debian based distros.

Below is the reason for the same.... Visit the link plz....

More inputs about the Malware here...

Also be very careful when you install any NotAuthorized packages....

Thanks Digitizor... :)

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

K3b Video DVD rip..

Hi All,

Please go thro this direct link straight from "Sebastian Trueg"'s mouth*...
[* As is - Right from the horse's mouth]

Here it is: K3b Video DVD/CD Ripping

Take care all,
Ananth Gouri

Change MP3 bitrate - command line...

Hi All,

Recently I explained how to change - the bitrate of a mp3 file using SoundConverter...

The above one was a UI based. And the below now - would be command oriented...

1. See to it that you have the nightly build or the latest ffmpeg installed.
2. If you are a novice - go for the one - that is available with your default repos.
3. In Lenny - you will have to still install the gstreamer plugin with ffmpeg.
4. The above is a ugly set of ffmpeg and gstreamer 0.10. Google it out...

Now the main command...

ffmpeg -i file.mp3 -ab 64k file_changed.mp3

You can issue 'man ffmpeg' and find out a ton of command options for this amazing tool. Here in above bolded command -ab is for the bit rate change - to 64k.

Try it out yourself and let me know for any doubts...

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri

Google Chrome for Linux

Hi All,

Finally the [hype-d] Google Chrome is now available for download to most Linux distros too.

Here below is the link for download:
Linux Google Chrome Download

Select your proper distro and along with it your bit architecture too...

For a 32 bit Debian based OS - download the 32 bit deb pkg. It is a 12MB deb file.

Installing Chrome on Lenny 32 Bit:

1. After download - just issue dpkg -i filename.deb
2. Replace above filename with the downloaded file's name.

Thats it.

Go to your start menu and then to Internet to find Chrome Installed.

It is working fine for me finally this time... Cheers :)

Google Rocks :)

Finally Ananth waits for a fully featured Gtalk for Linux. Never mind - I work each and every and in fact better features with Pidgin - but still sometimes feel that I don't get that originality... Don't know why....

Thanks Google folks :)

Thanks All,
Ananth Gouri

Youtube 2 mp3 shell script... :)

Hi All,

This below is a small shell script to convert a youtube video to a mp3 file. There are many restrictions to this script and you may take this as a template and proceed from there further... Suggestions welcome and would be posted as comments or if too good - as a separate Post altogether... Cheers :)

#change dir to your home folder's desktop
cd /home/ananth/Desktop/
#enter your proxy below in the form: http:\\username:password@proxyaddress:port
export http_proxy=http:\\
#using the package youtube-dl. It downloads the video from youtube to flv #format.. Change the http_address in this below line
youtube-dl youtube_file_http_address
#list the downloaded flv file
ls *.flv
#using the package ffmpeg. Make sure that you have only 1 flv file in your #folder every time. or rewrite the script to input the flv file u want. make #it interactive.
ffmpeg -i *.flv your_file_name.mp3
#finally check if the file is playing fine or not. Use mplayer package.
mplayer *.mp3
#Enjoy... :)

Copy from the first # to the last # line to a file and rename it to .sh extension. A # line is a comment line in a shell script.

Enjoy.... :)

Thanks & Take care,
Ananth Gouri

SoundConverter

Hi All,

Doing somethings UI... Lets go to the console version in the next post....

Ok what is that thing??? What if you want to compress a MP3 file of 10Mb into 4Mb for a small flash drived MP3 player???

Here you go the UI way....

1. Open Synaptic and install a packaged called SoundConverter.
2. Next you have to install 2 gstreamer0.10 plugins - called the bad and the ugly set.
3. Then open the App from Sound & Video and thats it.
4. Input the file and set your settings - I would prefer the Constant Rate - with a Low bitrate to achieve the above one.

Hope you achieve some of the things using this app.

Interesting 1: This same above 4 steps UI based can be achieved using a simple but complicated options and vast tools called ffmpeg. My next post will be on ffmpeg.

Note1: Using MP3 - in some countries like USA - is prohibited. The same follows for other plugin types like libdvdcss and others.

Fatal1: This blog is not responsible for some legal issue like this above.


Thanks & Regards,
Ananth Gouri

Edit a root permission file in Linux

Hi All,

This is for all novices - who call me just to ask - "how can I edit a root permission file"?

Here you go:

First of all - before starting - please know that Linux has the best security features overall and also in the file systems and not unlike MS.

If you want to know everything about file security and permissions - it will take at least 1 hour of your time daily - and things are not so simple too :)

Ok - lets go to the topic now :)

1. Type Alt+F2 and enter 'gnome-terminal' if you are using Gnome as your default desktop or 'konsole' [note the 'k'] if you are using KDE as your Desktop. Also you can issue any of them and even both :) [But of course not together :)]
2. Type 'su' if you still dont have 'sudo' permissions set for your a/c [Visit my older posts for 'sudo' explanations]
3. If you have sudo working - then issue 'sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst'
4. Type your changes and then save it with Ctrl+s

Note 1: In step 2 - I suggest - to all admins - be careful when you give sudo permissions to your users.
Note 2: In step 3 - the last parameter can be anything - a root permission-ed file.

Warning: Changing any root files - is at your own risk.

Suggestion: I suggest you take a back up of such a file before doing your changes to it. :)

Thanks and take care all,
Ananth Gouri

root UI Login - in Debian Lenny

Hi All,

If you ever wanted to Login into to your root a/c in Debian and also in other Debian based distros, this is the way of doing it. I think the same works for other distros. But I have got no time to test them out.

Fatal Warning: You are logging into your 'root' a/c at your own risk. I or my blog is not responsible for anything that happens to your Distro due to this post. Thanks and know what you do before you do.

1. If you have a working GDM/KDM - the solution is easy.
[A GDM is a Gnome Desktop Manager and KDM is a KDE Desktop Manager]
2. If your step 1 is not working fine - then you may need to configure your xserver first.
3. Before you login to your normal a/c at the GDM/KDM's Login Screen and once you get the Login screen - follow below:
4. Type Ctrl+Alt+F2 - [the functional key(s) F2 or anything till F5 / F6 and not F1]
5. You would get a command based login prompt.
6. Now type the user as 'root' and input the root's password.
7. Then issue the command 'gdm' if your default desktop is Gnome or 'kdm' if your default desktop is KDE.

So now - you are logged into the root a/c.

Note: If you dont want to login into root, then you can logon to your normal a/c credentials at step 4 itself. That will also take you to your default Desktop.
Note 2: But in case - you want to login only thro the colorful login screen(s) - then type Ctrl+Alt+F7 to get back your Login screen.

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri

Virtual Box PUEL 3.10

Hi All,

My assembler Ananth Ram wanted me to explain as to how to install Virtual Box from a very long time. I had not got enough time for it.

Here you go Ananth Ram:

This installation is for the PUEL edition of Virtual Box and not for the OSE Ed.

1. Open VirtualBox.org.
2. Go the Linux Hosts link and then to i386 or depending upon the architecture.
3. Download the deb file around 43MB for the i386.
4. As root - issue dpkg command.

Thats it!!!! Enjoy .... :)

Caution: If you have a mix of OSE and PUEL eds, then the Virtual Box does not work - though it installs fine. So don't mix and you can't mix both editions too.

Warning: Please remove all of the Ubuntu repositories from your synpatic or sources.list before installing the VirtualBox in Debian Lenny. Keep Ubuntu repos - for specific things like while installing Pidgin sipe as explained in one of my older posts.

Thanks and Take care... Time to get ready to go to office....:)

Have a great day all,
Ananth Gouri

Changing the Layout...

Hi All,

I today removed ShoutBox and also removed the Fedora Constantine count down flag...

Its 6.30 AM in India and I am working something.... :)

GM All,
Ananth Gouri