Linux vendor Red Hat also has a strong virtualization package. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) 3.0 beta was just released. RHEV is unique in the virtualization space in that it has a single console to manage both desktop virtualization and server virtualization. That simplicity has won over many fans including the likes of IBM. However, RHEV has always been weighed down by its dependence upon Windows Server. The 3.0 version severs this tie once and for all.

RHEV 3.0 and Windows Sever

As a strong player in the open-source arena, RHEV’s reliance on Microsoft’s proprietary server technologies has been a bit of an embarrassment, not to mention a driver of additional cost. RHEV’s management required a Windows Server to run, as well as Microsoft SQL Server, and for many features, even an Active Directory installation. In a primarily Windows environment, these servers already exist, but for an enterprise looking to bring in a new virtualization environment, the extra layer of licensing and Microsoft involvement is not welcome.

Furthermore, RHEV scripting uses Microsoft’s PowerShell. While PowerShell is a powerful scripting language, most Linux administrators prefer to run commands directly from the Linux command-line interface.

There is little doubt that Red Hat, with its massive open-source street credibility, would have built it’s enterprise-level virtualization offering on top of Microsoft’s flagship server offering and database server. However, Red Hat built the platform up after acquiring it from Qumranent, an entity that will not be missed by those who have the need to spell or pronounce company names. Since RHEV 2 was released, Red Hat has been diligently working to remove those unusual ties to Microsoft sever products.

RHEV 3.0 eliminates these dependencies on Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server. RHEV 3.0 uses the open-source PostGres database instead of requiring MS SQL Server, and Linux admins will rejoice at version 3.0′s support for executing commands via the traditional Linux command-line.

RHEV 3.0 Features

Of course, there is more to releasing an enterprise-level virtualization product than just eliminating ties to Microsoft, and Red Hat’s Enterprise Virtualization package brings plenty of features to the table.

RHEV 3.0 brings more support for bigger scale implementations. It now supports 64 virtual CPUs and 2 terabytes of memory for hosts, up from the limit of 16 virtual CPUs and 256 gigabytes of memory in the previous version. Unlike previous .NET versions, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.0 is a full Java application running on the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform. The KVM hypervisor has been updated and is now based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Along with improved scalability, RHEV 3.0 beta promises improved administration capabilities. RHEV no longer requires Microsoft’s Active Directory. Users and administrators can be defined directly with the Linux Enterprise IPA. However, because there is widespread implementation of Active Directory among many companies, RHEV 3.0 still fully supports using Active Directory to manage and implement security and policies.

Additionally, a new multi-level administration scheme allows enterprises to enable more granular control for various systems administrators without giving full-scale access to admins who typically only handle specific tasks. In addition, a Java based graphical user interface portal allows users to provision and manage hypervisors and virtual machines without access to the back-end infrastructure, allowing routine matters to be pushed from under the umbrella of higher-level administrators.

Another improvement is that RHEV 3.0 beta can now be used with local storage disks. Earlier versions required either a Fiber Channel storage area network or iSCSI array. This is an important improvement as many SMBs are reluctant to implement shared storage for virtualization.

The Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager 3.0 beta is available now. The company hopes the final version will ship sometime before the end of 2011.

The Linux Mint 12 download can be found here.

Ironically, Mint is built on top of Ubuntu and the Linux 3.0 kernel. In fact, the entire Mint distribution cycle is built around trying to release a new version of Mint one month after a Ubuntu release. While Mint is built on the Ubuntu code base, it has deliberately not taken on the new shell, which accounts for its recent surge in popularity. Linux Mint is at its heart Ubuntu, but without the new shell that is unpopular with some users.

Linux Mint 12 Shell

The increased popularity of Linux Mint makes its latest offering, Linux Mint 12 – formerly codenamed Lisa – big news in the Linux world. For users who fled Ubuntu for Mint the most important question is what shell Linux Mint 12 uses. The answer suggests that Mint has heeded the angst directed at the Unity shell while acknowledging the need to move forward.

Mint 12 comes with GNOME 3 installed by default. While Ubuntu has taken plenty of lumps for moving to its Unity shell, GNOME 3 is by no means universally loved in the Linux community either.

However, having seen the trouble Ubuntu had with its new shell offering, Mint also comes installed with Mint GNOME Shell Extensions, or MGSE, on top of the GNOME 3 shell. The MGSE act as a sort of training wheels for the new GNOME shell by allowing users to customize and remove custom elements and use those elements that are more familiar or user friendly rather than force a wholesale transition to the GNOME 3 shell.

MGSE is composed of a bottom panel, application menu, window list, system tray and a “task-centric desktop.”  These MGSE elements are at the core of this release’s promise of “usability.”

Linux Mint 12 also comes with another option called MATE which is a fork of the familiar GNOME 2 desktop shell. The idea is that users who don’t want GNOME 3, even with the helping hand of MGSE, can switch on MATE on use a desktop that looks like GNOME 2. However, MATE is NOT GNOME 2, it just looks like it. MATE is on the DVD edition of Linux Mint 12, but wasn’t squeezed onto the CD. CD users can install MATE via the mint-meta-mate package.

The MGSE features can also be turned off by users. Thus, Mint 12 comes with three desktop options: GNOME 3 with MGSE, GNOME 3 without MGSE, and MATE, which looks like GNOME 2. Keep in mind that no matter which option is installed, it is still Mint. Applications can be launched from the bottom left and the window list and keyboard shortcuts still swtich between apps. The notifications from the GNOME 3 desktop are similar, though not exact replicas, of the “activities” users are used to in Mint.

Linux Mint 12 New Features

The creators of Mint didn’t just stop with shell updates. New features and updates to existing features bring a different variety of usability to this version of Mint.

Firefox is still the default web browser in Mint 12. The open-source version of Chrome, Chromium, is also available within the distribution. Curiously, the default search engine for the browser is Duck Duck Go. If you aren’t familiar with Duck Duck Go, it is actually a search aggregator that pulls its results from other search engines. The reason Mint made this choice is, apparently, privacy. Duck Duck Go does not gather user information, nor place tracking cookies on user’s systems. As a result, searches are both anonymous and are not “personalized” to the user the way searches on Google and Bing are.

Above and beyond the ultruistic goal of protecting user privacy, the new search engine also will be sharing revenue generated by Linux Mint users with the developers providing “a new business model” for Linux Mint.

Another noticeable change in this release is the improved artwork. Two new themes, Mint-Z and Mint-Z-Dark come featured in the newest version. The themes are based on Mint-X and Zukitwo, respectively. There is also a new 3-D Linux Mint logo for the standard background. Numerous other high-quality photographic wallpapers are, of course, available as well.

The overlay scrollbars were removed from Mint in this version, although they can be added back by dedicated users (if there are any).

Finally, Mint continues to arrive with useful software ready to go. Although some in the open-source community disparage the inclusion of non-open source software such as Adobe Flash and some MP3 codecs, the fact is that many users use these items, and forcing them to find and download them in the name of purity flies in the face of Mint’s commitment to ease of use. Of course, piles of useful open-source software are also included, like Firefox (browser), Thunderbird (email), LibreOffice (office suite) and GIMP (image editing). Another inclusion is a movie player called Totem. A clean looking Software Manager provides easy installs and uninstalls of applications.

Like all versions of Mint, this one is extremely customizable allowing users to remove or add almost any element they desire. In addition, Mint is well known for its stability and conservative approach to updates. There is no reason to suspect that Mint will be any different.

Mint’s system requirements are an easy to stomach 512 MB of RAM, with 1 GB recommended, a mere 5 GB of disk space and a graphics card capable of 800×600 resolution.

Linux Mint Future Releases

The interesting thing to watch with Mint will be how it moves forward. As the Unbuntu release it is based upon embraces and integrates the Unity shell into its core, will Mint continue to strip out all features, or will it adopt some of them? If so, how will that integration occur?

Finally, the world of touch screens is coming and the switch to Unity is one of Canonical’s ways to position Ubuntu to be ready when and if that world comes to Linux. The new Gnome 3 shell and its MSGE tools seems a great fit for today, but will Mint succeed in migrating them to a touch friendly world when the time comes?

For now, Linux Mint 12 is a very friendly and high configurable version of Linux that should satisfy the needs of most users.

Let’s start by making a file we can use.

I issued the “touch” command to make a file creatively named testfile.

Touch will just create an empty file but has all the same attributes as an actual file. You can see this by using “ls –l.”

Commands:

touch test file

mkdir workfolder

The permisions are broken into 4 sections.

chmod – adds and removes permissions

If you wanted to add or remove permissions to the user, use the command “chmod” with a “+” or “–“, along with the r (read), w (write), x (execute) attribute followed by the name of the directory or file.

chmod +rwx “name of the file”

chmod –rwx “name of the directory”

chmod +x testfile – this would allow me to execute

chmod –wx testfile – this would take out write and executable permissions

You’ll notice that this only changes the permissions for the owner of the file, in this case roman.

Changing Permissions for the Group Owners & Others

The command is similar to what we did before, but this time you add a “g” for group or “o” for users.

chmod g+w testfile

chmod g-wx testfile

chmod o+w testfile

chmod o-rwx workfolder

Lastly you can change it for everyone: “u” for users, “g” for group, & “o” for others; uog or a (for all).

chmod ugo+rwx workfolder – will give read, write, execute to everyone

chmod a=r workfolder – will give only read perission for everyone

chgrp – changing groups of files & directories

Another useful option is to change file permission to the group owning the file. Perhaps you create the files, but people on the db2 team can write/execute as well. We use chgrp for this purpose.

You can see above that testfile and the work folder belong to the users group.

By issuing the command – chgrp “name of the group” “name of the file” – you can change this.

chgrp sales testfile

chgrp sales workfolder

This give sales control of the file & then I can take away permissions for everyone else.

Note: The group must exit before you try to assign groups to files and directories.

chown – changing ownership

Another helpful command is changing ownerships of files and directories. The command is “chwon” along with “name of new owner” & “name of file.”

The files belonged to roman. To give ownership to tom, issue the command:

chown tom testfile

chown tom workfolder

We can also combine the group and ownership command by:

chown -R tom:sales /home/roman/tsfiles

The above command gives tom the ownership of the directory tsfiles, and all files and subfolders. The -R stands for recursive which is why all sub folders and files belong to tom as well.

As opposed to: chown tom workfolder

This command will give ownership to tom but all sub files and directories still belong to the original owner. The -R will transfer ownership of all sub directories to the new owner.

As you can see, you have several options when it comes to permissions. You have the capability to dictate who can do what & the flexibility to limit usability among users. It may be easier to just give all permission to everyone but this may end up biting you in the end, so choose wisely.

Permission in numeric mode

The above way of changing permissions will work fine but you may also need to know how to change permissions in numeric mode. chmod is used in much the same way, but instead of r, w, or x you will use numbers instead.

What are the numbers?
0 = No Permission
1 = Execute
2 = Write
4 = Read

You basically add up the numbers depending on the level of permission you want to give.

Examples:

chmod 777 workfolder

Will give read, write, and execute permissions for everyone.

chmod 700 workfolder

Will give read, write, and execute permission for the user, but nothing to everyone else.

chmod 327 workfolder

Will give write and execute (3) permission for the user, w (2) for the group, and read, write, and execute for other users.

Permission numbers

0 = —

1 = –x

2 = -w-

3 = -wx

4 = r—

5 = r-x

6 = rw-

7 = rwx

Either variation of changing permissions will work, just remember how to use the numeric values.

In general you may be using a GUI to do everything, but using the CLI will give you a deeper, more profound understanding of how your Linux machine works. You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn about the OS as well as where certain files are located, why, how to edit, and accessing them quickly and more efficiently.

Using ls

Using ls is useful for quickly displaying files and directories, who created them, who owns them, and whether I have permission to read, write, and execute. You can also use it to quickly display a particular file. For example:

I’ll first start in the root directory (so issue the command cd /) then type the command ls.

All “ls” does is display the files and directories that you are in. Not much info as you can see, but there are several different options you can use along with “ls” to get the info you are looking for.

Let”s change to the /etc directory and run the ls command: cd /etc

You’ll notice when you run “ls” this time you see too many options and you can’t read all of them. So what we will do is execute “ls” but we will pipe the output of ls to the less command.

Piping

Redirects the output of one program into the input of another. The symbol is |. The command to the left is sent as input to the command to the right of the pipe.

Type ls | less

The files are displayed with colons at the bottom. Use the arrow keys to scroll up and down. All you have to do is hit the “q” button to get out of less.

Less

Less is a program that allows backward and forward movement. It is similar to opening a file in an editor but it doesn’t have to load the whole file before viewing which is helpful if you are dealing with large log files.

You can also just use less to view your files. For example we want to view the passwd file so we can quickly view all of the newest users added to the system.

[The passwd file stores essential info containing system’s accounts with user and group ID's, home directory, shell, etc.]

Make sure you’re in the /etc directory and type “less passwd.”

If you scroll down to the bottom (or type “G”) you will notice the last few users added to the system. Type “q” to quit less and let’s try it with the file called group.

Type less group

Go ahead and scroll around and then type “q” to quit.

Basically, less is just an alternate way to view files and directories but it is much more convenient than viewing data then using the cat command. We will learn how to edit this data later using vi.

You can issue the commands “cat passwd” and “cat group” to see the differences.

Also, there are other keystrokes you can use with less to quickly navigate within a document. You can always issue the command “man less” for a complete breakdown of what less does, and the other options available.

Using ls with Options

So, we’ve used “ls” on its own and we’ve used it with a pipe and less. Now we’ll use ls to find specific files we are looking for, as well as displaying more information associated with said file.

Let’s go back to the root directory, cd / and then type ls

Then type in ls –l

You’ll notice everything is displayed in long format which now includes info about permissions, group, size, date, and filename.

Permissions – drwxr-xr-x
Directories – 2
User – root
Group – root
Size – 4096
Date – May 5 04:03
Directory or File – bin

The permissions break down is in a set of 3 levels. User, Group, and Other. The firsts set of rwx’s is for the user, the second if for the group, the third is for everyone else.
• Read – you can read the file
• You can write or make changes
• Execute – you can execute the file

We will get into this in more detail and change permissions levels later using the chmod script.

Directories – The amount of directories within the directory
User – The user that owns the file
Group – Group assigned to the file or directory
Size – This should be obvious
Date – Date of last modification
Directory or file – Name of the directory or file

Other options to use with “ls” are:

-a – Displays all files, even those that are hidden
-g – Same as l except the owner is not printed
-r – Reverse order of how files are displayed
-m – Output is listed across the page

There are quite a bit of options and you can also use these in combination with each other.

Such as “ls –lar.”

As well as “ls –lar | less.”

As you can see, the “ls” command is just a simple way of displaying output in the command line interface but with the many different features associated, you can display the info to how you want it presented.

Let’s finish off this lesson with the grep command.

Grep – is a command that searches for a specific string in a file and prints out matching a match to given strings or words.

You can use grep with “ls” to locate a file you need but are unsure of the exact title.

If I’m in the /etc directory and am looking for a particular host file.

I will issue the command “ls |grep host.”

Then you can use “cat”, “less”, or even an editor like vi to view or alter the specific file you are looking for.

Let’s say you want the information on the user Roman that is in the passwd file. I would issue the command “grep roman passwd.”

As you can see it will just give me the information associated with the search word “roman.”

If you’re not in the directory of the file you are looking for you can always add the directory info in front of the file you are searching.

“grep igby /etc/group” – For user igby (replace with your own)

or

“grep roman /etc/passwd”

or

“grep roman /etc/hosts”

These are just simple commands that can be used for a multitude of purposes, but if you’re new to using the CLI you can play around with them and get a little more comfortable using them in different directories and your own files that you’ve created.

Hopefully this article has been informative for you. We will advance on the commands we’ve talked about in the next lessons, as well as get into the many others that are available.

Whether you’re new to Linux or are looking into getting some type of certificate, you’ll need to have some basic knowledge of the Shell, the Kernel, the Terminal, and FHS, among others. There’s actually quite a bit of other things you’ll need to know, but let’s start with the basics.

The Kernel

The Kernel is what controls everything on a system; think of it as the heart of Linux. It performs tasks that create and maintain the Linux environment. The Kernel receives instructions from the shell and engages the appropriate hardware (processors, memory, disks, enforces security, etc.). It is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level.

The Shell

The shell is the interface between you and Linux. We issue commands through the command line interface which is interpreted and passed on to the kernel for processing. When we log onto the computer the shell will automatically start. It will then monitor the terminal for any commands.

This is the Terminal (command line interface).

There are a number of shells you can use, each differing slightly. Most Linux distros use Bourne-Again shell(bash) but support various others: Korn Shell, Bourne shell, C shell, etc. For all intensive purposes you can just stick with bash but I will show you how to change this if you want to. As you advance you can use shells to create scripts to automate tasks, making your daily routine all the more easier.

Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

Next important aspect is the FHS. Everything in Linux is either a file or a directory. The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FSH) is the way that these files and directories are structured. More importantly though is how they are structured. Looks intimidating at first glance but when you realize that there is a method to this madness, you will find it’s so much simpler because everything is organized in the proper place and you can find where you want go much easier.

/ – The root directory. This is where your directory structure starts. Everything is housed under the root directory.

/bin – Essential user command binaries used for general operations: Copy, show directory, etc. (ls, cp, and cat – we’ll get to these commands soon)

/boot – Static files of the boot loader. Files here are necessary for a Linux system to start (Kernel & GTUB information)

/dev – Where the device files are located

/etc – Configuration files for all programs. Things like an apache web server, users & groups on your system, or printer configuration. Think of this as a control panel for Windows users. We will edit these text files later (These files should remain static and text based).

/home – Home directories for all the users to store personal files (i.e. /home/roman) –Windows equivalent of Documents & Settings.

/lib – Essential shared libraries and kernel modules

/media – Mount point for removable media

/mnt – Temporary mounted file systems

/opt — Add on application software packages – (i.e. Program files for windows users)

/sbin — Essential system binaries

/tmp – Programs write their temporary files here.

/usr – Multi-user utilities & Applications. It contains application source codes, documentation, & config files they use. It’s the largest directory on the system.

/var – Variable data on a system. Data that will change as the system is running (Log files, backups, cache, etc.)

/root – Home directory for root

/proc – Virtual directory containing process information (system memory, hardware configuration, devices mounted, etc.)

The directories that I would be most concerned starting off are /etc, /home, /dev, /mnt. As your skills progress you’ll venture off into other areas, but I started out in /etc 95 percent of the time. There are directories that extend, but we’ll get those later.

Navigation & Issuing Commands

The first thing you want to do is open a terminal. Depending on the distribution you are using this may differ but you should find it in Utilities. Since you are new to Linux, I recommend downloading a distro and trying it Live without having to install. Check out the blog’s Linux section and our list of Linux distros.

Let’s start with some basic commands

pwd – Print working directory will tell you what directory you are in.

Notice that I used pwd to tell me where I am & I used cd (change directory) to move into another folder.

cd – Change Directory. Can be used with “/” & then the folder you want to go to. For example, cd /home/roman will take me to the directory that exits for user Roman.

ls – Lists files & directories that you are in.

It may help to use the ls command to list what files and directories exist in the directory you are in. It’s vital to know the difference between ls & pwd. pwd tells you where are, ls tells you what you have to work with.

whoami – Tells you which user is logged in

You’ll notice I used the su command to change from user roman, to root, then to igby, though igby does not exist. I then used “exit” to go back to user roman.

su – Substitute user. There are some rules and additional features that we’ll explore on the next lesson.

Let’s go to your home directory and finish off a few other commands. For me it will be cd /home/roman.

Let’s make a file and delete it.

touch – A command you can use to quickly create a file that you can also “touch” on existing files (We’ll dive into that later)

You’ll notice that “createfile” wasn’t there before but when I used it with the “touch” command it was created. Nothing is in createfile but it exists.

rm – Removes the file for you

clear – Clears the terminal for you

Those are some of the basic commands. There are plenty more where that came from. Hopefully this article has been informative and insightful. The next article will follow up on this one with more information on Linux as well as commands to really get you going.

Meet the Unity Shell

The Unity interface was originally developed for the Ubuntu Netbook Edition. It shipped as the default user environment on version 10.10. From there, Ubuntu developers worked to adapt the shell to the desktop environment.

The idea behind the move to Unity is to improve Ubuntu’s ease of use and visual appeal. Ironically, the same goal was behind the redesign of the GNOME Shell interface that Ubuntu, and most other Linux vendors, used previously.  Canonical may have figured that if users are going to have to adjust to a new environment’s design and feel, they might as well adjust to a new environment developed in-house.

The result is a desktop that moves in the direction of interfaces like MacOS and Windows 7. The launcher bar on the left borrows heavily from Mac OS and the indicator menu bar at the top-right is a condensed version of the familiar Windows notification icons.

For users with powerful enough hardware and available graphics drivers, Unity runs in a satisfying 3D version. For users without the resources, or for whom no usable graphics display drivers can be found, there is a plainer 2D version that works much the same, but is nowhere near as pleasant to look at.

The Unity interface is, by default, at once both more visually appealing, and less cluttered. Its history as a netbook interface, where small screen sizes require maximizing the value of whatever receives precious screen real estate, shows through, as does the developer’s desire to make Ubuntu more accessible to mainstream computer users.

Ubuntu Unity Launcher

The launcher is the first thing most people notice. It has colorful and easy to distinguish icons that launch applications and features with a single click. Mac users will find it similar to the toolbar from that OS.

However, the idea of an always-on toolbar goes against the paradigm of less clutter and making the most of every inch of the display area, which is why the launcher automatically hides itself whenever a window is maximized. The launcher reappears when it would not be taking space away from a full-screen window or whenever the user moves the mouse pointer to the left edge of the screen. In all, the launcher seems to be there when you need it and out of the way when you don’t.

Applications, files and folders can be added or removed to the launcher, similar to Windows 7′s ability to “pin” and “unpin” applications on the task bar. Furthermore, the workspace switcher is incorporated into the launcher eliminating the need for a bottom panel.

Clicking the WorkSpaces icon pops up the active spaces. Switching is as easy as clicking the desired space. The really great thing, however, is that you can use the same screen to drag and drop windows from one space to another, allowing users to just move that needed application into the same space, rather than switching back and forth between WorkSpaces or re-launching the program in the desired space.

Ubuntu Unity Dash

One of the important pieces of the Unity interface isn’t visible until you click the home button. Clicking the home button brings up the dash, short for dashboard. When the dash is running, the launcher is grayed out and the buttons are locked. To get out of the dash quickly, users can just press the Escape key.

The dash is a built-in search interface, as well as a frequently used programs listing. Start typing and the dash updates based upon searches for possibilities that might match what is being entered. As soon as you see what you are looking for, you can stop typing.

Interface Quirks

There are several interesting things about the Unity interface that can make it frustrating or brilliant, depending upon your point of view and how well they end up working in a particular situation. For example, the menus are always displayed in the menu area of the interface, not the application. In other words, instead of a menu at the top of the application, there is a menu at the top of the screen.

Another quirk is that scrollbars appear outside of the application window rather than inside. Even more quirky, they don’t always display unless you put the mouse on the side of the application.

Reaction

As with any major software change, there has been some backlash. Some users have taken to forms and blogs to denounce the Unity interface with vitriol reminiscent of how so many people hated Windows Vista. Perhaps most intriguing are the numbers at DistroWatch, which show Ubuntu out of the number one spot for the first time in a very long time. However, Ubuntu has moved back up to #2 or #3 – depending upon the day — in the one month rankings from as low as #4, suggesting that the furor may have died down and users are coming back. Perhaps, Canonical has achieved their goal and the easier to use Unity interface is bringing new users to Ubuntu and Linux altogether.

One thing users should keep in mind, is that the familiar GNOME 2 interface is also in the past. Many complaints come from long-time users who feel put out that they have to learn how to use a new interface at all. On the other hand, the latest GNOME 3 release is a full departure from previous GNOME versions as well, so one way or another, you’ll be learning a new interface (or switching to a different distribution) sooner or later. However, users  can select the “classic” interface if now is not the time to make that transition.

Chances are that Canonical won’t be going back to GNOME any time soon, but users can be sure that the company is looking at the user community feedback and the features of other interfaces. Unity is likely to get better with each release; the question is whether it will be good enough to satisfy a very demanding user community.

And what exactly is a desktop environment?

Think of it as what defines how your desktop workspace looks and feels. It is essentially the graphical user interface for your system. The desktop environment includes the icons, windows, toolbars, wallpapers, and other miscellaneous items that you’ll find on your system.

In Linux, the majority of distributions use Gnome as the default desktop environment, but there are several other options. Among the most popular options are the lightweight, Xfce, LXDE, and the subject of my latest video, KDE. I admit that I remained loyal to Gnome for quite some time, but in the end, the lure of testing out yet another new aspect of the Linux experience proved too much to resist.

Why Try a Different Linux Desktop Environment?

There are many reasons to try another desktop environment. You’ll find that some, particularly, Xfce and LXDE are fast and require less system resources. So, if you have a specific function, for example a media server, one of these may be your best option. However for your primary system, Gnome or KDE may be more appropriate. Ultimately, the decision is yours and the best way to make the determination is to try them out for yourself.

KDE is the second most popular desktop environment, behind Gnome. The most recent release, and one that I was quite impressed with, is 4.6. In this video, we’ll begin with a quick overview of KDE and talk about how it differs from Gnome.

Next, we’ll walk through an installation and demonstration of some of the highlights of the new desktop. Features include customizable desktop widgets, the application launcher, panels, and desktop effects. I hope that you’ll take the opportunity to install KDE and follow along.

For more information and full documentation, visit the KDE website. And be sure to join me for future videos as we continue our journey into the wonderful world of Linux.

But before you take the plunge and wipe your hard drive clean, there are other options to consider. For one, you can burn the image to a CD, DVD, or USB drive and then run the operating system from there. And another option is to install Linux in what’s called a virtual machine or VM, using virtualization software.

What is a Virtual Machine?

And what exactly is a virtual machine? A virtual machine is a software implementation of a computer system. And it’s virtual, so while it does run in a physical partition of your hard disk, it does not interfere with the primary operating system. The primary operating system is known as the host, and the virtual machine you install is called the guest. You can install as many virtual machines as you’d like, your only limitation is your system resources.

There are two primary software leaders in the virtualization space: VirtualBox and VMware. VirtualBox was developed by Sun Microsystems and is today supported by Oracle. It is free and open source software, available for download at their website. VirtualBox is available for just about every operating system.

If you’re interested in learning mroe about VirtualBox, take a look at my how-to article on Installing Sun VirtualBox and Windows 7 in Ubuntu 9.

Install Fedora Linux in VMware Workstation

In this video, however, we will focus on the VMware product, the VMware Workstation. We will begin with an overview of virtualization software. From there, we will cover the type of file you need in order to install Linux in a virtual machine. Then we will walk through the process of installing Fedora Linux in as a new VM.

For more information and full documentation, visit the VMware website. And be sure to join me for future videos as we continue our journey into the wonderful world of Linux.

Some resort to using the same login credentials across multiple websites – a definite security faux-pas. But the motivation is clear. Forget your password and you have to go through the process of establishing and having to remember a new one.

So what’s are we to do?

Fear not, there is a technical solution to this technical problem. After I made the transition to Linux, I discovered an open source free utility called KeePassX. KeePassX allows you to store all your passwords in one database. Access is restricted by one primary password and the contents of the database are encrypted.

Instead of having to remember a myriad of passwords, with KeePassX you only have to remember one.

KeePassX Installation

If like me, you’re running Ubuntu Linux, you can install the software with this command:

sudo apt-get install keepassx

Instructions for Mac, and other Linux distros are available here. You can find the KeePassX launcher under Applications, then Accessories.

The first thing you’re going to need to do is to create a new database: File, New Database or click on the new database icon on the navigation menu. While this utility is fairly intuitive, you can access the KeePassX handbook from the Help menu for a quick introduction. Appearance and other settings can be modified from the Extras, Settings, menu item.

KeePassX Features

Entries and Grouping

KeePassX doesn’t just store passwords. In each database entry, you can store usernames, passwords, urls, attachments and notes. Entries can also be grouped by function. For example, if you visit a lot of technical websites, you might have a group called “Tech”. For banking and other financial entries, you might create another group called “Finance”. And you the integrated search function will allow you to quickly locate an entry.

Password Generator

One of the features I use most is the password generator. Having trouble coming up with a password that is both memorable and secure? This feature will generate a password, based on your requirements for length, special characters, etc. You can access this feature either from the menu: Extras, Password Generator, or when you create a new database entry.

Portability

Because the database is always encrypted (AES or Twofish), you won’t have to worry about prying eyes accessing your information. Your data is protected with either a master password or key file. This is particularly useful for those of you that need to use this utility on a USB thumb drive. KeePassX is OSI (Open Source Initiative) certified, so it can be installed and executed from any location.

Other Tidbits

There is another feature of KeePassX that you might find useful. As long as the application is running, you can use the Ctrl+V autotype function to automatically insert your username and password into a website. Simple click on the username field on the web page and either hit Ctrl + V, or right click on the entry and select “Perform Autotype”. A word of caution, though this works on my system, some have had trouble with this feature.

Additionally, the database will always hide your username and password, but if you need to quickly glance at them, you can toggle visibility by clicking on the ‘eye’ icon next to the entry.

Finally, if for some reason, you need to export a copy of your passwords database, you can export to a text file.

Summary

The reality is that the number of passwords we’re required to remember will only increase. The best way to ensure that you not only have a secure password, but also don’t have to worry about remembering them is to use a password management utility like KeePassX.

There are other tools in this space. Most notably, LastPass, which can be easily integrated into Firefox and Chrome. If there is another utility that you use, feel free to include your suggestion in the comments.

There are of course many distributions (distros or flavors) of Linux. The most popular at the moment is Ubuntu, followed by Linux Mint and in third place is Fedora Linux.

Keep in mind that this ranking merely represents the number of times the operating system has been downloaded and should in no way point to the merits of the product. And while I’ll refrain from engaging in the debate about which Linux distribution is best, I will say that I encourage everyone to try more than one distro and then decide on what works best for you.

In that vein, after testing out a few others, I took the plunge and installed Fedora in a virtual machine in order to test it out. In short order, I liked what I saw.

Why Try Fedora Linux?

Wondering about the merits of this particular Linux distribution? Fedora is extremely customizable, stable, and is sponsored by the enterprise version of Red Hat Linux. If you’re more familiar with Debian based flavors, one of the first things you’ll notice is the difference in how you navigate the desktop.

Fedora began in 2003 and the most recent version, 14 is codenamed Laughlin. In this video, we will begin with a brief history of the operating system, including a discussion of some of its unique features. We’ll then review installation options including CD/DVD and USB. In addition, if you’d like to test Fedora before permanently installing it on your hard disk, you can use virtualization software and we’ll cover that in another video.

The video continues with a look at the Fedora desktop and how to navigate and customize it to your liking. We’ll wrap up with a few key resources where you can learn more about the Fedora community.

For more information and full documentation, visit the Fedora Linux website. And be sure to join me for future videos as we continue our journey into the wonderful world of Linux.

But should the discussion really end there? In the Linux world, there are a myriad of alternatives that warrant further examination. As each of the most popular products had to start someplace, it is wholly possible that one of these new contenders will emerge as the next generation browser of choice.

This article will introduce you to Linux’s top 3 alternative browsers:

• Epiphany
• Midori
• Opera

Epiphany

Epiphany is a GNOME based browser for Linux. To be fair, this would be a hard sell as a primary desktop browser for most users. In fact, there isn’t even a setting to let you designate it as your default browser. But for those instance where you need to fire up a lighting-fast browser for quick surfing, Epiphany will do the trick.

While this browser can’t compete with Firefox in terms of add-ons, its does have a set of useful extensions that might be adequate for the average Internet user. It comes with the popular web development tool Greasemonkey and Ad Blocker.

Though I still use Firefox as my primary browser, lately it seems to run at a snail’s pace. So, one of the first things I noticed about Epiphany is how quickly it launches. And subsequent page loads on my system are equally as fast. I was quickly able to import my bookmarks from Firefox and was happy to see the inclusion of the mouse gestures feature.

On the downside, firebug, an extension I use for web development isn’t available.

Epiphany is available for download at their website and is also in the Linux repositories. To install from the command line, type: sudo apt-get install epiphany-browser.

Midori

Midori (Mee-Doh-Ree) is the Japanese word for green – which might explain the green icon. It uses the WebKit rendering engine – used by Chrome and Safari. This means fast page loads, but at the cost of just a few website incompatibilities.

Like Ephipany, Midori is somewhat limited in the amount of extensions it has available. But if speed is more important to you than addons, read on. This is a browser that provides a faster, more lightweight surfing experience. And it will take up less resources, something important to those on running older hardware.

Midori’s extensions include colored tabs, shortcuts, rss feed panel, form history, mouse gestures, cookie management, and more.

On my laptop, running Ubuntun Karmic Koala, with 4gb RAM, Midori still occasionally crashed on me, but others have reported flawless performance. This is a browser that I’ll continue to watch.

For Ubuntu/Debian based distributions, install via synaptic package manager or from the terminal: sudo apt-get install midori

Opera

Opera is probably the application on this list most poised to become your full time browser. I’ve tested previous versions and have always been impressed with its performance. The latest update, 10.10, was designed with speed and new features in mind. In addition, the new interface got a make-over, complete with shading.

Opera was the originator of the Speed Dial feature and continues to be an innovator. Resizable tabs show you a thumbnail image of your browser window and the turbo feature provides for faster browsing on slower networks like wi-fi. Opera Unite is a new feature, that turns the browser into server with the ability to share photos (10 GB of them), stream music, serve a chat or even an entire web site, right from the browser.

There are also a plethora of widgets. And skins allow you to change the interface look and feel. A bonus for me was how using the import function, I was able to import all my bookmarks from Firefox.

While speedy, it didn’t feel quite as fast as either Midori or Ephiphany, but also don’t claim my results are scientific. Opera also differs from the others in that it has a built-in email client. The full version of Firebug isn’t available, but a less feature-rich Firebug Lite is an option.

For Ubuntu/Debian based distributions, you can install via synaptic package manager.

Which Alternative is Right for You?

Besides stability, the biggest issue for these alternatives will likely be the number of plugins. But for many, that will be a non-issue.

My curiosity drives me to test new software, often to my detriment. But this process is an essential component to the ongoing development of new software. Give it a try, download, test and share your experiences and feedback with the developer community. This is your shot to help craft and contribute to the next generation of web browsers.

I began programming many years ago, and admittedly once I got into networking, turned away from my first love. But for those of you who would like to begin trying your hand at a new language, Python is excellent to start with. Supporters tout its low learning curve and elegant coding system.

Python Installation

Ubuntu makes starting easy, as it comes with a command line version pre-installed. In fact, the Ubuntu community develops many of its scripts and tools under Python. You can begin the process with either the command line version or the graphical Interactive Development Environment (IDLE).

Python Programming From the Command Line

Open a terminal window and type ‘python’ (without the quotes). This opens python in interactive mode.

While this mode is good for initial learning, you may prefer to use a text editor (like Gedit, Vim or Emacs) to write your code. As long as you save it with the .py extension, it can be executed in the terminal window.

Ready to write your first program? Many a road to programming excellence began with the old standby – the Hello World program. So that’s where we’ll begin.

At the prompt, type in print “Hello World!” (with the quotes) and hit enter. You’ll see the command printed on the next line.

To run a script from the command line, type: python my_script.py. To exit the command line, type exit() or hit ctrl+d

Python Programming with IDLE

Can’t imagine writing a long program from the command line? Me either. In that case, you can try IDLE. Open a terminal window and type: ‘idle’. (without the quotes). You’ll see the python graphical shell loaded.

To write a Python script, click on File > New Window. This will open a sort of Notepad type editor. Type in the following code:

#linuxversion.py

#Have user input version and print response

name = raw_input(“What Linux release do you use?”)

print “I also like”, name, ” – Linux rules!”

Couple things going on here. The first 2 lines, preceded by the # sign are just comments. One of my earliest programming lessons was to always comment your work, not only for your own sanity, but for those who may need to edit the code after you. The third statement uses the input gathered from the raw_input function and assigns it to a variable, name. Finally, the print statement will return the result.

Save the file, with a .py extension, then click on Run > Run Module from the menu to run the program.

A Word of Caution

Many programming languages typically ignore whitespace – that is the spacing in your code. But in Python, improper use of spacing can generate syntax errors. As an organization nut of sorts, I can appreciate the simplicity and readability of properly aligned code, but for some this takes a bit of getting used to.

Python Programming Resources

Now that you have Python up and running, you’ll undoubtedly want to move to on to a bit more complex programs. One of the best resources is the main Python website. Here are a few additional recommendations:

• The Python Tutorial
• The Python Wiki Beginner’s Guide
• Screencast Presentation
• Python Essential Reference on Amazon

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into Python. This is a language supported by a wide community and used by Google, NASA, Ubuntu and others. Give it a try for your next development project. Happy coding!

However, the devices that are most commonly used not only have storage limitations, but the thing that makes them attractive: their portability, is also the thing that makes them more susceptible to loss. So, how are we to manage file access and sharing? Thanks to the proliferation of cloud computing, there is a solution.

The dawn of new online storage options means that you can store and sync your files across multiple devices. Two leaders in this space are Dropbox and Ubuntu Linux’s Ubuntu One.

What Can You Store in the Cloud?

With both Dropbox and Ubuntu One, you can essentially store any file that you’d store on your personal computer or phone. We’re talking, documents, music, photos, etc. Let’s take a look at both of the solutions in more detail.

Dropbox

Dropbox was launched in 2008 and has already claimed over 3 million users. The draw? Simplicity and cross-platform compatibility. Dropbox gives you the ability to sync files between your Linux, Windows, and Mac computers. Add in apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry and sharing files has never been easier.

Dropbox Installation & Usage

Download the appropriate deb file, 64 and 32 bit versions are available for Ubuntu. Fedora rpm files are also available. Then, simply double click on the file to launch the install program which will prompt you to create a Dropbox account. You can then logon to Dropbox with the same account on the other computers that you’d like to sync with. Your files are also accessible directly from the Dropbox website.

Following the installation, you’ll have a new folder called Dropbox on your computer. All folders or files copied to this folder are automatically synced to the other computers or smartphones.

Inside your Dropbox folder, you’ll see photo and public folders. As you may have guessed, the photos folder is for sharing pictures. As for public, anything your put in this location will be accessible to the public. Instead of emailing files to friends or co-workers, you can copy the file to public, right-click this file, then choose Dropbox > Copy Public Link. You can then share this link with the people you’d like to have access.

You can also create shared folders for the purposes of file sharing. This is particularly useful for workplace collaborations. Create a folder in your Dropbox directory, then right-click and select Dropbox > Share This Folder. The website will launch and you can insert the email addresses for the folks you’d like to share the folder with. Files created in Dropbox also feature a 30 day undo feature for deleted files and full file revisions, so you can revert to an older version of a file if you need to. Backups are done automatically.

Dropbox Pricing

• Basic – 2GB: Free (+250mb free for every referral)
• Pro 50 – 50GB: $9.99/month or $99.00/year
• Pro 100 – 100GB: $19.99/month or $199.00/year

Dropbox Security

Files are transported over SSL to ensure security during copying. Also, they are stored and encrypted using AES-256 – standards used by the banking and military industries. A username and password are required to access files on the website.

Ubuntu One

I began using Ubuntu One a couple months ago and though lately, I’ve been using Dropbox, its still installed on my system. While this service works much the same as Dropbox, its biggest drawback is that there isn’t a desktop client for Mac. But the Windows client beta, and smartphone applications for iPhone and Android are now available. However, you can still login to the Ubuntu One website and access your files and it is available for syncing with smartphones.

As a side bonus, using Ubuntu One supports the open source movement and if you used the paid option, the Canonical project benefits.

Ubuntu One Installation & Usage

If you’re using Ubuntu 9.10 or higher, Ubuntu One comes pre-installed. If you are running Lucid Lynx use these instructions. Make sure your system is up to date by running the update manager, and then click on Applications > Internet > Ubuntu One.

Once the website is launched, either signup for an account or if you already have a Launchpad account, you can use the same credentials to login. In order to sync, you must add your computer to the list of devices. To add your computer, click on the Add this Computer button.

The applet should be visible in your task bar. Right-click and select preferences to make changes to your installation. You can store, sync and share files similarly to Dropbox. But syncing with mobile devices is only free for 30 days. And in addition, the ability to sync across other operating systems and applications like Thunderbird, you must upgrade to the paid service. There is also the ability to sync to the Ubuntu Music store that was launched with Lucid Lynx.

Ubuntu One Pricing

In addition to the free option, Ubuntu One has two paid subscription options:

• 2GB free storage
• 20GB available at $2.99/month or $29.99/year

Recently a new cloud music streaming service for iPhone and Android mobile devices was added that allows you to stream your entire music library from on your mobile phone.

The pricing for Ubuntu One Mobile is:

• $3.99/month or $39.99/year

There’s also a free 30 day trial for the new mobile service.

Ubuntu One Security

Ubuntu One also uses SSL during data transmission. For desktop software authentication, they use oauth, so a token passes to the server to validate it. With this method, you can authenticate multiple computers and even remove access via the Ubuntu One website.

Unfortunately, stored files aren’t encrypted. You do have the option of encrypting files yourself prior to storing, but this may have unexpected consequences.

Give the Cloud a Try

Making the decision to store your data on the cloud is a difficult one. But I believe the benefits outweigh the potential issues. If you’re ready to make your storage more mobile, download both and give them a try.

FTP by itself isn’t very secure. Information is transmitted in clear text, making it subject to interception and theft. Thus, we have more secure options, like the Very Secure FTP daemon (vsftpd). In this article, we’ll explore how to setup vsftpd under Linux.

What is VSFTPD?

The vsftp daemon runs in the background and allows you or users you designate, to copy files to and from your linux boxes, using username and password as login credentials. This ability is open to individuals or groups you may want to establish.

VSFTPD features include:

• Virtual IP configurations
• Virtual users
• Standalone or inetd operation
• Powerful per-user configurability
• Bandwidth throttling
• Per-source-IP configurability
• Per-source-IP limits
• IPv6
• Encryption support through SSL integration

How To Install VSFTP

The daemon is included in most versions of Linux. If you are using a Debian based distribution like Mint or Ubuntu, open a terminal window and type: sudo apt-get install vsftpd

If you are using a Red Hat based disto, open a terminal window and type: sudo yum install vsftp

How To Configure VSFTP

To configure vsftp, open the vsftpd.conf file in the /etc directory. For instance, if you were using gedit as your text editor, you would type: sudo gedit /etc/vsftpd.conf

First, for a secure setup, you’ll want to disable anonymous access to your ftp server. Change this line: anonymous_enable=YES to anonymous_enable=NO

With anonymous access disabled, you’ll want to allow local users to log in, by uncommenting the following line: #local_enable=YES to local_enable=YES (simply remove the # sign).

Allow write access by uncommenting this line: #write_enable=YES to write_enable=YES

Save and close the file.

Setup an FTP user account:

sudo mkdir -p /home/ftp/ftpuser
sudo useradd ftpuser -d /home/ftp/ftpuser -s /bin/false
sudo passwd ftpuser

Restart your ftp server:

Debian: sudo etc/init.d/vsftpd restart

Red Hat: sudo service vsftpd restart

Test:

netstat -a | grep ftp

Run at the command Line:

ftp ip address or hostname: ftp 100.00.00.00

Other VSFTP Configuration Options

There are many other options you can add to this file:

• Limiting the maximum number of client connections (max_clients)
• Limiting the number of connections by source IP address (max_per_ip)
• Setting the maximum rate of data transfer per anonymous login (anon_max_rate)
• Setting the maximum rate of data transfer per non-anonymous login (local_max_rate)

VSFTP Considerations and Resources

Potential issues are often as simple as username and password entry errors. But because firewalls are designed to limit access to certain ports, this is a good area to investigate if you experience issues with your installation. Be sure to check out the vsftpd html man page for more information.

SSH or secure shell, is a protocol that allows you to securely access one computer from another. Not only can you transfer files, but if you are concerned about public wi-fi security, SSH can help. Using the command line or a graphical interface, you can bypass potentially prying eyes and create a secure virtual private network (VPN) that tunnels your Internet traffic through your home computer’s connection.

To use SSH, you’ll need to install the SSH client on the computer you connect from, and an SSH server on the computer you connect to. Under Linux, the most popular software provider is the OpenSSH project.

How to Install OpenSSH

OpenSSH is of course, an open source product and contains both the client and server components.

The client software is part of the default Ubuntu installation. If you want to be able to accept SSH connections as well as request them, you’ll need the server software as well. Install it with this command:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

How to Use SSH to Login to a Remote Computer

In order to access a remote computer, you’ll need to have an account on that machine. You may want to set up a guest account. Navigate to System > Administration > Users and Groups. Create a user (or group of users) and assign the permissions as needed.

When OpenSSH is installed and your user created, login to the remote computer with this command:

ssh username@hostname

Username is the name of the user you created and hostname is the name of the computer (or host) or its IP address. So if you had a computer at home with an account called janedoe, from the command line you would type:

ssh janedoe@222.222.2.22 or ssh janedoe@myhompc

Copying Files using SSH

Now that you’ve made the connection to your remote computer, you’ll probably want to transfer or copy some files. The secure copy command (scp) allows you to securely copy files to and from the remote box. The syntax is as follows:

scp filename.extension remoteuser@remotebox:/directory

Copying Directories using SSH

To copy an entire directory (and all of its contents) from the local machine to the remote server, use the recursive -r switch:

scp -r /local/directory remoteuser@remotebox:/remote/directory

/local/directory is the path to the local directory you want copied, and /remote/directory is the remote directory where you want the directory to be copied.

To reverse this and copy from the remote box to local, just switch things up accordingly:

scp -r remoteuser@remotebox:/remote/directory /local/directory

What about Windows?

If you need to remotely connect to your Ubuntu box from a Windows machine, you’ll need both PuTTY and TightVNC viewer. Follow the instructions here.

Final Thoughts

For more detailed information behind these communications protocols, visit the Ubuntu Wiki for your version. Also remember to keep permissions in mind if you choose to provide remote access to other users. Restrict access to only those files or directories that are absolutely required. I hope you’ve enjoyed our look into remote access under Ubuntu.

The Linux OS with a cuddly penguin as its mascot, claims a small but growing, fiercely loyal group of enthusiasts. Among Linux’s many benefits are stability, customization, and security.

Intrigued? Want to know more?

In this video, you’ll learn about the origins of this open source operating system and the basics of the Ubuntu Linux desktop environment. A basic Linux installation comes with wide range of productivity software, but through it’s repository, literally thousands more free applications are available. We’ll take a look at the Ubuntu software center to review some of these options.

In some instances, making a complete switch to Linux isn’t an option – and it doesn’t have to be. So in addition to a fresh installation, we’ll review alternative installation options that allow Ubuntu to co-exist with Windows.

The most recent version of Ubuntu is Lucid Lynx, 10.04. The video will provide you with a sneak-peak at a real desktop and give you just a sample of the many ways you can customize it to your liking. We’ll wrap up with a few key resources where you can learn more about the Linux community.

Those coming from the Windows world may easily confuse the DOS window with the Linux command line, but the two are worlds apart in terms of structure and power.

Using the command line, you can issue commands directly to the computer to perform tasks that you’d normally complete with a mouse. Starting a program, file management, system monitoring and more can all be performed without a single mouse click.

Some swear by the command line, while others are happy never to have to encounter that intimidating black screen. If you’re the curious type and want to explore the full power of your Linux system that your GUI conveniently hides, then read on.

The Shell

The shell is the piece of the puzzle that actually does the work. It takes the commands you type in and hands them off to the operating system for action.

Bash (which stands for Bourne Again Shell), is the default shell program for most Linux distributions. There are many others though, kshh, tcsh and zsh to name a few.

The Terminal

Under Ubuntu, you can launch the terminal through the Applications menu, under Accessories or by hitting Alt+F2 and typing “terminal”. Other distributions may have the launcher located elsewhere. It could be called terminal, konsole or Xterm, but the icon is usually a black computer screen.

When you launch a terminal window, you’ll see your name, followed by your computer name and either a $ (logged in as user) or # (logged in as root). For example:

janedoe@janespc:~$

To leave the terminal and return to the GUI, type “exit”.

Navigating the File System

Coming from the Windows world, the most difficult concept for me to grasp was the different directories and structure. Filenames are case sensitive and extensions aren’t mandatory. Root is represented by a forward slash (/) and contains system files.

Linux Command Line 101: Commands

A full list of commands is available at the Linux MAN pages. Here is a subset of commands that you’ll find yourself using most:

• pwd – prints your working (or current) directory
• cd – change directory
• ls – list the files in the working directory
• cp – copy files and directories
• mv – move or rename files and directories
• rm – remove files and directories
• mkdir – create a directory

• Viewing Text Files with cat and less

Many files in Linux can be viewed as plain text. There are several ways to edit these files, but if you’d just like to view them, here are the 2 most simple: cat and less.

To use cat, simply type cat and the file name:

janedoe@janespc:~$ cat my_file

Use less when you have a longer file that doesn’t fit onto one screen. Navigate using the up and down arrow keys.

janedoe@janespc:~$ less my_file

• Permissions

Another way that Linux differs from Windows is in its ability to have multiple users working on the same pc at once. In order to manage this tricky process seamlessly, you can use permissions.

Here are some basic permission commands:

• chmod – modify file access rights
• su – temporarily become the superuser
• chown – change file ownership
• chgrp – change a file’s group ownership

• System Information

When troubleshooting your Linux box, system information is often the first piece of information you’ll need to know. The kernel version, partitions and other hardware information can easily be obtained from the command line.

This is just a sample of commands for viewing system information:

• uname – show kernel version and system architecture. (several options available including -s – kernel, -o for operating system. -a prints all options)
• cat /proc/partitions – show all partitions registered on the system
• grep MemTotal /proc/meminfo – show RAM total seen by the system
• lspci -tv show PCI info
• lsusb -tv – show USB info
• Disk Space
• df -h – Show free space on mounted filesystems
• fdisk -l – Show disks partitions sizes and types (run as root)

Linux Command Line Resources

In terms of Linux command line functionality, we’ve barely skimmed the surface here. If you’d like to delve a little deeper, be sure to check out IBM’s introductory course on the Linux command line. Tuxfiles also has a good tutorial. Finally, the Linux Pocket Guide is a free download and an invaluable resource for beginners, one that I still reference often.

Why Learn The Linux Command Line?

For most users, the GUI will provide all the functionality and interface with the OS that they need. However, there are times where it is possible that your GUI can become inoperable. Knowing how to navigate the command line will ensure you can troubleshoot, access and possibly backup your system.

Additionally, for those inclined to truly understand the inner workings of their Linux OS, mastering the the command line is a hard-earned right of Linux passage.

The operating system (OS) is one of those areas. You may have done some initial research and are ready to give Linux a test drive. Transitioning to a new OS can be an intimidating exercise, but it doesn’t have to be. So if you’ve installed Ubuntu and are staring blankly at the uncluttered desktop, wondering what to do next, you’ve come to the right place.

Getting Started with Ubuntu Linux

In this video, I walk you through some steps that will help you navigate your new system. We’ll review the applications that come pre-installed with Ubuntu, as well as how to add and remove new software. If you’re curious about how much you can customize your desktop, Linux doesn’t disappoint. From unusual color combinations to background images – the options are endless.

At the heart of every system are your files and directories. Nautilus is Ubuntu’s file management utility, and we’ll cover the basics: how to create folders, move/copy files and more. Printing in Linux is relatively easy, normally, the OS will detect the printer attached to your computer, but we will review how to add a printer and manage your print queue.

We’ll wrap up with a look at the security options available to you and some resources to help you learn more. I hope you enjoy the video. Be sure to join me for future tutorials on Ubuntu Linux.

Why Linux?

According to the Linux Foundation, Linux related jobs have grown 80% over the past 5 years, while indeed.com lists the average salary for Linux Administrators at $86,000 in the US. The high demand for Linux professionals is fueled by the increase in Linux use across industries.

In the last decade the operating system market has drastically changed and more and more companies and organizations are choosing Linux over Windows. A recent W3Techs survey shows that 63.7% of web servers on the Internet are powered by Linux while Gartner research proves that Linux is gaining market share on mobile devices as well, surpassing Apple, BlackBerry and Windows operating systems.

Today government organizations such as the US Department of Defense, US Postal Service, US Federal Courts and others are all using Linux, while companies such as Google, IBM, Cisco, Novell, Amazon, Panasonic, Toyota, and many more are also powered by Linux.

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In that regard, I’d say that my transition to developing under the Linux platform involved a bit of a learning curve. There have been endless debates about the merits of each tool, but at their most basic levels, they perform much of the same functions.

Things like search & replace functions, syntax highlighting, and support for multiple programming languages are standard features.

In this article, we’ll review Linux’s top open source editors.

We’ll cover some with basic functionality and those that are full fledged integrated development environments (IDE).

Ready to try your hand at developing under Linux?

Read on…

1. Gedit

I decided to include Gedit in this list because even though it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of other tools, in terms of simplicity, it can’t be beat. Gedit is the official Gnome desktop editor, and is part of the default installation for any Gnome based flavors of Linux.

It supports development in many languages, with syntax highlighting. An extensive collection of plugins allows you to further expand the functionality.

This is the tool that I use for quick editing or changing of files. One of the things that keeps me from using it more is the inability to mount remote network drives.

2. Vim

Ever heard of defacto Unix text editor Vi? Vim is touted as an improved version, more feature-rich, Vi. Known as the “the programmer’s editor,” it’s obviously great for coding, but you can also edit things like config files and xml documents.

Vim is difficult to learn, and my own attempts have admittedly stalled. But proponents suggest that once you master it, the time it takes to learn will be worth it.

Vim comes standard with most every Linux distribution, but can be installed in Ubuntu with the command: sudo apt-get install vim full

Launch in console mode by typing vim in a terminal window (or gvim for graphical mode). The first thing you’ll need to learn about is the concept of modes.

• Insert (to type text)
• Command (to issue commands)
• Ex (to issue colon commands)
• Visual (to select text visually)

Tutorials and full documentation are available at the Vim website.

3. Netbeans

Free, relatively lightweight, low learning curve and a full IDE. This is just a slice of what Netbeans has to offer. I tried and liked Netbeans, and it is one of the tools that I turn to for my own needs. Netbeans is cross platform, so will run under Windows and Mac OS X as well as Linux.

There is support for Java and a slew of other languages and developers hosting their open-source projects on kenai.com have access to integrated instant messaging and issue tracking. Netbeans has fairly extensive collection of plugins in addition to documentation and support at their website.

To install Netbeans, download from their website. The package is also available under the synaptic package manager in Ubuntu Linux, though it will not be the latest release.

4. Bluefish

Bluefish is my primary editor. It’s lightweight, has support for remote file editing and is both powerful and streamlined enough to support the majority of my web development needs. Like the other editors, Bluefish supports editing multiple file types and loads in an instant. One important thing to note about Bluefish, is that it is supposed to use 30 to 45% less memory than other editors.

The winners for me were the project features, which allows you to open multiple files and keep them organized, and also remote editing. Download files and installation instructions will guide you through the setup.

5. Geany

Geany isn’t a text editor but an extremely lightweight IDE. Geany is an open source software that will run on any flavor of Linux, either under KDE or Gnome desktops (as long as you have the GTK2 runtime libraries). Included are a source code editor and compiler for those more interested in application development.

Geany is suited to multiple type of development and also includes basic project management. Download a copy here. Fellow Ubuntu users can install with: sudo apt-get install geany.

6. Aptana

Aptana was one of my early picks for a development tool. At the time, it was difficult to install in Ubuntu and had its fair share of quirks. Ultimately, I decided it was more than I needed at the time. But the latest release may have me taking another look.

Aptana Studio is a complete web development environment so it can handle everything from basic HTML, CSS to Javascript. And with plugins for Ruby on Rails, PHP, Python and also SQL Connections, this is much more than a simple text editor.

Some have lamented certain instability with some Linux distributions. Download a copy here and a large community will be able to assist you with support. Java is also required.

7. Quanta Plus

Quanta Plus is a full web development environment and runs on the KDE desktop. As I run Gnome, I haven’t had the opportunity to test this tool like some of the others.

Quanta gives you true WYSIWYG development. Those familiar with Dreamweaver will be happy to see the split view (virtual preview layout), where you can view code and then the actual page in separate windows. One of its only documented issues is the lack of SVN support for version control.

This package may be already included with the KDE desktop and you may also download or install via synaptic package manager in Ubuntu. Documentation Wiki here.

Honorable Mention

The list of editors we’ve covered is by no means exhaustive. Other contenders you may want to review include Kompozer, Eclipse, and jEdit.

Final Thoughts on Editors

Each of these tools has its advantages and disadvantages. While I’ll refrain from engaging in a debate about which is best, I will point out that variety is one of the benefits of developing under the Linux platform. To stay abreast of latest web design trends and tricks, visit Smashing Magazine.

I hope with this introduction, you have identified some tools that you’d like to try. All that’s left now is to load a few, put them through some testing and decide what works best for you. If there is another tool that wasn’t mentioned here. Feel free to chime in with a comment touting our favorite editor.