lynx

Hi All,

GM... This post is like a continuation from the last post..

Last post - we discussed - how to do a DHCP lookup when - our modems fail for it..

So next today - consider this scenario:

1. You are using a Unix/Linux box - with again no UI at all and no fancy [UI] browsers of course.. [ No UI and Nothing :( ?? Ha?? ]
2. You are a crazy cricket fan - and you need to see whats the score b/w Australia and South Africa of a crucial match.

Normally people would log out of that non UI mode and then use a UI based OS  or just use MS OSes.

But I have a better [yet geeky] solution !!!

1. Install lynx using your package manager(s).
2. Next use this command to know more !!! man lynx | more

Thats it... !!!

Thinking weird??

Ok fine..

Use this for your first attempt of using lynx..

lynx www.google.com

from your gnome-terminal / konsole

If you have a proper Internet working - then next all its just Q&A..

It will ask you to accept some cookies - and say Y

I thought of posting some pics - but I would not..

Try it out yourselves and enjoy!!!

There are a whole lot of info in lynx's manual pages... You will get stuck and lost both... Beware!!!

For  people who may want to use lynx - thro a proxy server - then enable the environment or the session variable - http_proxy

Cheers and take care,
Ananth Gouri

dhclient dhclient3

Hi All,

Ever faced this [What?? Impatient?? - see scenario]?? I will write a detail post - to this peculiar problem and this solution

But at least before that post - this post is interesting..

First of all - consider this scenario...

1. You are on a Unix/Linux machine with no UI at all.
2. You are working on something that is connected to Internet. But all of a sudden - that work is held and you cant connect to the net again.
3. Next U see - that Modem is connected and its just a problem with your DHCP and may be that - your modem has a DHCP lookup issue. [Google more on DHCP LookUp]

So next - what is the solution to this??? If it is a problem with your DSP - then fine..[Call him and get it fixed] But if your machine failed for a modem lookup dhcp - then what next???

If you are luckily the owner of the box or hopefully if you have root privileges - then just issue this command - dhclient or dhclient3

If you can get a successful DHCP lookup - then you have fixed the issue :)

Cheers :)

Gn,
Ananth Gouri

Gill Bates has a partner now... :P

Hi All,

People who speak about OSS without completely knowing what it is!!!!

Feels like - slapping them... Hope a day comes for it as well.....

Read it - and you would be more pissed off than me right now.....

http://digitizor.com/2010/02/25/does-using-open-sources-software-make-you-a-pirate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+digitizor+%28Digitizor%29

Take care and have a great day!!!
Ananth Gouri

RIP..... :( ;)

Hi All,

Such an interesting news before you sleep!!!!

http://www.katonda.com/blog/834/ie6-rests-peace-funeral-being-held

I am very sad... ;)

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

OpenSolaris - seeing an end???? :(

Hi All,

Posting the concerns raised by some OpenSolaris Developers...

Even I felt it in the same manner...

After watching Oracle's complete acquisition of Sun MS - through a webcast - which lasted for 5 hours or more - they had just one small slide about OpenSolaris...

So is it the end??? I seriously feel bad for this.. I have worked quite a lot on OpenSolaris as well and it was always a pleasure of using it...

Lets hope and pray for the best...

Some more - and Source - below -
http://www.kongoni.co.za/news/the-end
http://ptribble.blogspot.com/2010/02/opensolaris-oracle-where-art-thou.html
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20100222#news

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

DistroHopper

Hi All,

Linux Mint may have made things too easy and, in doing so, it may have killed the great Linux pastime of distro hopping. For those who aren't familiar with it, it's what desktop Linux users do as they seek their ultimate distro. They spring from one to another to another, never quite satisfied with any they land on. ... It's a sad thing to watch as dedicated Linux geeks abandon distro hopping in favor of sedately using the same distribution on an ongoing basis. How boring! How tedious! In a way, it's almost like using Windows! They just sit there like oblivious cows, content to chew their cud and gaze mindlessly across the field as the time passes.


This above comment / criticism about Linux Mint and its users - is just too good...

I stopped Distro Hopping... But I still do Distro Collection...

Now I am stuck with Debian over the past 4 years or so... Don't feel like using any other Distro... :)

Do comment there in that link...

Source: Distrowatch.com, http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2359956,00.asp

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Graphical Installer removed from Squeeze

Hi All,

Debian 6.0 aka Squeeze has a new installer - but it is not a Graphical Installer.

For more info on these - read this -
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/News/2010/20100221

Source: Distrowatch.com

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Screenshots during installation

Hi All,

I don't know how many of you folks know - that you can take a screenshot(s) when installing a Linux Distribution...

Ok ... Yes you can take as many screen shots as you want when you are installing any Linux Distribution...

But ok fine.. then what is this post about???

Do you know where the screenshot image is saved??? I meant the path of the screenshot..

Next time when you are installing any new Linux Distribution and if you want to see where is the saved image - of the screenshot taken..

Then go to this path..

/var/ or sometimes in /var/log

Simple isn't it???

Take care,
Ananth GS

Screen Saver thro command line

Hi All,

The very last post - I explained - how to install GnomeScreenSaver and make use of its features....

Ever want to run the same in a gnome-terminal or konsole??? Tried it ever???

Ok here you go...

Once GnomeScreenSaver is installed - open gnome-terminal ...

1. Press Alt + F2 and then type Gnome-Terminal
2. Enter gnome-screens and press tab key.

If you get till step 2 and if it displays this - below - for the 2nd time tab being pressed...

gnome-screensaver-command ....

then it's simple...

3. Issue this command gnome-screensaver-command -l

Here in the above command ... -l is for lock.

This step 3 command does the same thing as done by earlier Ctrl + Alt + L ... but thro the command view / mode...

Enjoy...

Take care,
Ananth GS

Gnome Screen Saver

Hi All,

!Being a part of Planet Earth but also towards her Greenery is very much important to each one of us.

It's important to lock your systems - before you go away from them - for the security and privacy issues....

Think... Just locking it and going away - displaying your colorful desktop wallpaper - which draws lots and lots of power and electricity and other resources... Is it required or is it feasible towards the goal of saving Earth...??? No not at all....

Use screen savers and that too - simple text screen savers and not too much picture oriented...

In Debian based systems - we have 2 very famous screen savers - one being called XScreenSaver and the other one called GnomeScreenSaver...

Installing GnomeScreenSaver - is pretty much simple.. Import the latest repos and then use Synaptic or any other packager manager to install the package GnomeScreenSaver....

This way - you are saving power, saving Mother Earth and also being secure...

Cos Along with installing GnomeScreenSaver - you can as well lock your systems too..

Ctrl + Alt + L is the command to lock your Gnome Desktop Environments..and you can edit your GnomeScreenSaver settings to display your fav screen saver from a huge collection - once your Desktop is locked :)

Enjoy and take care,
Ananth Gouri

Iceweasel 3.5.x Debian

Hi All,

Finally after a long time - Debian Squeeze Repos have Iceweasel 3.5.x[6] in them.

Update / Upgrade your Linux Distributions to import just the squeeze repo - and then upgrade all - thro your synaptic to get the latest version of Iceweasel.

To some - as to what is Iceweasel - here you go
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation_software_rebranded_by_the_Debian_project

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Legacy GRUB

Hi All,

Ok first of all - what is GRUB???

GRUB - stands for Grand Unified Boot Loader...

Read here for more info about GRUB, its features and many more..
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/

Ok I assume that you folks read the above link and got a lot more info from those pages and then now get some / very little info from this post...

Legacy Grub -

Oh.. So what is legacy GRUB??? Grub till now and even now - to many of the Linux Distributions - all of them still make use of the stable 0.97 version - and this version 0.97 is called Legacy GRUB.

So then there has to be something new as well right??? Yeah!!.. 2.0 is the new version - and with many extra features than 0.97 and many less features of 0.97 as well.

I will write more.. Keep reading!!! :)

Enjoy,
Ananth Gouri

Squeeze ...

Hi All,

I don't know how many of you folks know the different distributions of Debian. I did not mean the different Linux distributions.. But I meant the distribution word as implied for a synaptic package manager.

If you folks work a lot on packages, managing them and all - then this would be a spontaneous answer...

Ok let me explain..

At least I hope that all of you folks know that the 'stable' distribution of Debian as of now is called Lenny - which is - Debian 5.0

The next version / release - Debian 6 is called Squeeze - which is 'supposed/said' to be released by mid US summer 2010. This is called the 'testing' distribution - as you get it in the name - its being tested now.

The next distribution of Debian is called 'Sid' - as in unstable.

So for Etch - that is Debian 4 - that time -
Debian 4 Etch was 'stable'
Debian 5 Lenny would have been 'now'/'testing'
Debian 6 Squeeze would be called 'Sid'/'unstable'

But now since Debian 5 is 'stable'
Debian 6 is 'now'/'testing'
Debian 7 is 'Sid'/'unstable' [or whatever the Debian folks may like to call]

This blog post was for you folks to just to get a brief idea about the distribution types you would import into your synaptic.

I will write more into this - and you may get a better, clearer picture then. :)

Mail me for anything more / imp.

Good Morning,
Ananth Gouri

xwd

Hi All,

Ever thought of giving a complete command oriented work - on a presentation with lots of snapshots???

Ha???

But U just want the command line outputs and nothing more??? I mean to say - the regular printscreen would grab the whole desktop? Or it would cover the active desktop - but the snap would not be clear to look at...

Faced these??? Ha??

So finally you thought - oh ok fine.. Let me write down the outputs???

No need!!! Here is the 'xwd' tool....

xwd tool was designed just for this purpose - and as the name says it is the - dump of a 'X' window..

http://www.xfree86.org/current/xwd.1.html

You can get a whole lot of information in this above link / site.

But for the problem I presented - here is the solution :

Issue this command - and the output is saved in the 'pwd' [present working directory]

xwd | convert - 1.png

The moment you issue above command - you would notice a plus mark or a Christ Cross mark on the screen - above / on your konsole..

Now move your mouse pointer - to the place you want to grab the snap.

For taking a great clear picture of the gnome-terminal or for what work - you folks are doing..

Click the mouse on the terminal - and it would grab your terminal full clear and clean!!!

So let me explain the command in detail

1. xwd - is the tool we are using ...
2. Next we are grep-in the output of xwd ...
3. By converting - using 'convert' tool ...
4. Into the file 1.png

Note: Most Linux systems have convert tool installed by default. But if your system does not have one - do install it using your package managers. :)

Don't forget to 'man' to know more options of xwd... :)

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri

whatis whereis

Hi All,

How many of you folks know the difference b/w these 2 Linux commands - whatis and whereis?

Ok here you go...

Lets be practical...

I hope many of us or I can say most of us - know the command 'ls'..

So lets implement 'whatis' and 'whereis' commands on 'ls'

whereis ls - shows the path of ls command - where it is installed. For my system and for many of our systems as well - it will give an output of the sort
ls: /bin/ls

Next - 'whatis ls' - this command would produce an output as -
ls (1) - list directory contents

I need not explain what is 'whatis' :)

Enjoy the weekend,
Ananth Gouri

IBM Linux developerWorks

Hi All,

A crazy collection of the happenings at IBM Linux. I don't know what is it called exactly.. But these provide links to the IBM Linux developerWorks and inside :)

Enjoy :)

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/

Check this site in detail and the best part most and all of the books or the study material is free - I meant the RedBooks.... Yipeeee !!!!

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Linux Books Collection

Hi All,

Some good Linux books' collection in this blog :)

http://linuxpoison.blogspot.com/2010/02/good-collection-of-linux-tutorials.html

Please follow this blog as well. He writes a lot of stuff on Linux :)

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri

Killing NVidia

Hi All,

I am yet to write a post - as to how to install Nvidia Glx drivers for my blog....

But here is an interesting way of killing it - of course the ... read below....

Ever imagined - if your X stopped working??? And the worst if you don't have a backup of your xorg.conf file???

It's a pain in the a**!!!

Not many can fix this - including people who have enough experience in core Linux...

There is a program / tool in Linux called 'modprobe' written by Russel.. Its an amazing tool - and its the one that helps hot deployment of modules into your Linux kernel... Isn't it cool???

Read more about modprobe and its features.. But be careful - when you issue commands with it.. Its under your own risk...

Follow below steps:

1. First list the modules loaded into the kernel by Nvidia or rather nvidia-glx [its the nvidia video driver that loads into the Screen sec of xorg.conf]

Issue this command - modprobe -l | grep nvidia-glx

2. Usually kernel modules are in the form .ko [Read more kernel books for better understanding :)]
From the first command - you will find modules in format ending with .ko

3. Remove that module using

rmmod or better by this command

modprobe -r nvidia-glx
[This is a command that does a recursive dependency search removal :)]

4. Next is to load the kernel module of Vesa or any other fb [frame buffer]

5. First search for existing fb modules in the kernel by issuing this below command
modprobe -l | grep vesa | more

Here above I am grep-in and directing it to 'more' cos there will be many video drivers' modules loaded when the kernel loads and also depends upon your video graphics card configuration.... You can 'less' it as well :)

6. You should be able to see something ending in the video /usr/lib section and in the end with Intel and/or this again depends on your card.

7. Finally hot deploy the same to the kernel by issuing
modprobe module_name [replace module_name with your output name]

8, Restart X - by issuing one of these commands - 'X' or 'startx'

The best part with modprobe is - you need not restart Gates !!! I mean your Linux... :P :)

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Win D - command line????

Hi All,

Continuing from the previous post... but in a different way...

Ever tried how to minimize all the opened workspaces / windows in Linux ? and thro command line???? Ha???

Thinking weird??? Of course you need not!!!

Follow below...

1. Install 'wmctrl' using Synaptic
2. Issue this command - using your konsole or gnome-terminal

wmctrl -k on

Thats it!!!

Take care,
Ananth Gouri

Show Desktop

Hi,

Not just people who use it, or people who write software(s) or people who create hardware - everybody seems to be addicted to MS Gates :P

But thank God I amn't !!!!

I am always pissed off to see MS symbols and kinda... And the worst - when I don't have Gates on Laptops and Desktop .. I don't want the Grill key[win key] on the keyboard too.... :(

But that key has many features - of which the key pressed with 'D' - gets you to your desktop - minimizing the rest of the open Windows....

But I don't want to get the same feature in my Gnome 2.28 and that too using the same key...

You can reconfigure the preferences - such as to use - the key selection of your choice...

But I know that !many know - what is the default as of the present 2.28 or prior...

Try this out.. Alt + Ctrl + D and you should be seeing your desktop by now !!!

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri

NIS

Hi All,

Ever wondered why the command 'passwd' did not work at one of your Linux boxes / machines???

For novices - passwd is the command to change your *nix / *ux accounts.

But many a times the command passwd would not work.

This below might be one of the reasons along with other several factors.

You may be accessing a NIS server/database/service or what ever.

So what is NIS??? NIS stands for Network Information Service.

On a NIS database server which would be handling your user credentials, the regular passwd command will not work.

You need to issue a command called - yppasswd

Thanks and happy and secure password changing!!!!
Ananth Gouri

VPNC and Debian Kernel

Hi All,

If you read my blog regularly - I had once posted how to install vpnc. I had explained how to install vpnc for my Sabre Corporate Nortel VPNC server.

I had got it all working fine and I had no issues at all - like connectivity issues, lookup or resolve issues.

But once I pitched into Squeeze repos and also when I had added the Sid repos along with once or twice the Ubuntu Repos - thats when I started getting the dis-connectivity issue.

I could not connect to my vpn n/w for more than 5 minutes max or so. :( Thats when I started getting irritated as I had to do all of my work at office itself or use Windows back home...

At last after some research I have got the solution. Its not solution for a problem in all - but the Ubuntu and Debian Sid repositories had messed up the vpnc and the default Debian Linux Kernel compatibilities.

Here is the verdict -

Use this below kernel that comes default with Debian Lenny and you folks should not face any problem at all.. And beware to face some new issues once you folks update your kernels.

uname -a [clipped]
Linux debian 2.6.26-1-686 #1 SMP


Take care,
Ananth Gouri

AVI Joiner in Linux

Hi All,

Right how to merge 2 avi files - this is in the case of a film that comes as part1.avi and part2.avi.

Here you go....

You need to install transcode.

Use synaptic package manager in Debian and install transcode - which is found in the Deb Multimedia repository I think.

Once it is done - follow these steps:

1. Copy both the files to your local machine - probably if it is in any PHDD.
2. Rename both or as many files you have according to your convenience of use.
3. Then issue this command -

avimerge -o output.avi -i file1.avi file2.avi

Thats it!!!!!!!

Enjoy,
Ananth Gouri

Display Open Ports

Hi All,

Many a times - when you are working on multiple projects and in an environment - where many of the developers are using the same unix boxes - then we need to know - what are the ports in use - say for example for Jboss or Tomcat...

If you have enough experience working on Jboss and Tomcat - once you mention a port for your server to start up - the next 20 slots [I call it numbers only] are utilised by your servers.

There is a command in Unix - called lsof

This lsof - has one good option -i

The option -i lists the open internet -ip4 and ip6 protocol ports or files or for the -i internet address option.

If you read the man pages and in particular for the -i option - you will find this below:

This option selects the listing of files any of whose Internet address matches the address specified in i. If no address is specified, this option selects the listing of all Internet
and x.25 (HP-UX) network files.

Hope this of some help to you folks....

Cheers :)
Ananth Gouri