Monday, March 26, 2007

Sabayon Linux x86/x86-64 miniEdition 3.3

Sabayon Logo
SabayonLinux x86/x86-64 miniEdition, commonly called the "mini", is the CD release of the latest SabayonLinux x86/x86-64 DVD. The creation of this special version, has been made with an automatic script that shrinks down the whole chroot jail by removing every duplicated, useless or server-oriented package. The multimedia features of these special editions are kept intact. So, enjoy that beautiful piece of software on a single CD!

New features (F) and bug fixes (B) since SabayonLinux 3.20 (DVD)


* F: K3B updated to 1.0
* B: Sabayon Linux Installer fixes (including the ones reported in 3.3)
* F: Added VIA OpenChrome GFX drivers
* F: Updated gpu-detector to the work accordingly to the new feature listed above
* F: Updated to Beryl 0.2.0
* F: Updated IVTV driver to 0.10.0
* F: Updated rt2500 driver to 20070323 CVS snapshot
* B: Fixed pppoe-setup scripts
* F: Updated ndiswrapper to 1.39
* F: Binary packages support through a simple binhost (Alpha release - read below)

Sabayon Linux Project Entropy RoadMap - Binary packages on steroids!
Project Entropy continues to attract users' curiosity: what is that? Easy answer, Entropy is a complete software stack that works on top of the Gentoo Portage repository. Its architecture is designed to provide the maximum flexibility and scalability and is composed by 3 developer/server-side applications: Enzyme, Reagent and Activator; 2 user-side ones: Equilibrium and its API.

Question: What is what?


* Enzyme: the Portage tree manager and build tool.
* Reagent: the Entropy specifications writer. For each binary package, this tool write a specification file that describes its information.
* Activator: the Entropy binary packages uploader. It manages a set of mirrors keeping them updated automatically. It also does QA tests.
* Equilibrium: the Entropy stack user client that will be interfaced to a GUI through its API.

Question: What all this will give to Sabayon Linux?


* Complete interaction between source-based packages and binary-based ones, keeping Gentoo Linux compatibility intact. Sabayon Linux will be the first Linux distribution to actively support both worlds (source,binary)
* Gentoo Portage independence when using Entropy binary packages repository
* No more compilation issues and their waste of time
* Full dependency and reverse dependency management
* GUI connectivity trough the future Equilibrium API
* Extreme developer-side packages building flexibility and speed
* Much, much more...



Question: What does work at the moment?
At the moment, Enzyme and Reagent are well structured and work quite well. Activator is starting to do some funny things and Equilibrium does not exist yet.
Currently, we are filling our preliminary binary packages repository that is still based on what Portage and emerge say.
To test the installation of the currently available binary packages, try to run, as root:
Code:
binmerge

Where is the name of an application, you can browse this list using Kuroo.
Firstly, we need to test the amount of bandwidth needed to maintain such repository, secondly, we have to complete Activator and Equilibrium before moving away from this "binmerge" emerge hook.

Question: What is the RoadMap?
More or less, the roadmap consists of these milestones:


* Complete Reagent module with basic features [DONE]
* Complete Enzyme module with basic features [DONE]
* Complete Activator module with basic features [WORK IN PROGRESS]
* Consolidate the server stack [NOT DONE]
* Complete Equilibrium [NOT DONE]
* Interface a GUI to Equilibrium [NOT DONE]



Question: When will it be considered completed?
Hard question... It's done when it's done


We really want to thank all the members of our crazy Beta Testing Team. Thanks!

IMPORTANT NOTES:


* We encourage you to use 3.3 iso as a base and patch as this is the most efficient mode of transfer for such bug fixes and then set up to seed the torrent for those that cannot. Make sure you check your md5sums!
* As of linux kernel 2.6.19, all hard drives are seen as sd* through SCSI emulation. As such, our installer compensates for this and does its best to query your hardware set up and properly set grub and fstab during installation time. You must upgrade your installer for the latest fixes. If you run into problems with this, please file a bug report at bugs.sabayonlinux.org
* This distribution contains libdvdcss look here if you live in the U.S. !.
* This distribution contains proprietary and non-GPL softwares too (like from NVIDIA, ATI, Google, etc). Before running them, be sure to read their license and agree with that, otherwise, just remove those applications. To run SabayonLinux without Proprietary drivers, just use "noproprietary" boot flag.
* Trademarks are property of their respective owners, everywhere.



UPGRADE INFO:
Using this feature, you can upgrade any Gentoo-based installation (Gentoo, VLOS, RR4, RR64) to the latest SabayonLinux without losing your personal data and settings. Our Team, however, will only actively support the upgrades using SabayonLinux as base.
Also, you can:


* 6th senseing your running system: installed packages will be updated to the ones on the DVD and the conflicting ones automatically removed.
* You can fix your current installation by choosing to reinstall every package, This will take a lot of time but will resurrect your SabayonLinux installation in cases of hard damaging.
* You could (even if it's not so much tested) even upgrade your 32bit installation to a powerful 64bit one (but not the contrary) by using the function described above.
* You can re-configure/reinstall your GRUB (Boot) settings/ without touching any configuration file and/or command line.

c/p from sabayon forum.

very good distribution

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Linux commands

Some useful linux commands

alias Create an alias
apropos Search Help manual pages (man -k)
awk Find and Replace text, database sort/validate/index
break Exit from a loop
builtin Run a shell builtin
bzip2 Compress or decompress named file(s)

cal Display a calendar
case Conditionally perform a command
cat Display the contents of a file
cd Change Directory
cfdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
chgrp Change group ownership
chmod Change access permissions
chown Change file owner and group
chroot Run a command with a different root directory
cksum Print CRC checksum and byte counts
clear Clear terminal screen
cmp Compare two files
comm Compare two sorted files line by line
command Run a command - ignoring shell functions
continue Resume the next iteration of a loop
cp Copy one or more files to another location
cron Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab Schedule a command to run at a later time
csplit Split a file into context-determined pieces
cut Divide a file into several parts

date Display or change the date & time
dc Desk Calculator
dd Data Dump - Convert and copy a file
declare Declare variables and give them attributes
df Display free disk space
diff Display the differences between two files
diff3 Show differences among three files
dir Briefly list directory contents
dircolors Colour setup for `ls'
dirname Convert a full pathname to just a path
dirs Display list of remembered directories
du Estimate file space usage

echo Display message on screen
egrep Search file(s) for lines that match an extended expression
eject Eject removable media
enable Enable and disable builtin shell commands
env Environment variables
ethtool Ethernet card settings
eval Evaluate several commands/arguments
exec Execute a command
exit Exit the shell
expand Convert tabs to spaces
export Set an environment variable
expr Evaluate expressions

false Do nothing, unsuccessfully
fdformat Low-level format a floppy disk
fdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
fgrep Search file(s) for lines that match a fixed string
file Determine file type
find Search for files that meet a desired criteria
fmt Reformat paragraph text
fold Wrap text to fit a specified width.
for Expand words, and execute commands
format Format disks or tapes
free Display memory usage
fsck File system consistency check and repair
ftp File Transfer Protocol
function Define Function Macros

gawk Find and Replace text within file(s)
getopts Parse positional parameters
grep Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern
groups Print group names a user is in
gzip Compress or decompress named file(s)

hash Remember the full pathname of a name argument
head Output the first part of file(s)
history Command History
hostname Print or set system name

id Print user and group id's
if Conditionally perform a command
import Capture an X server screen and save the image to file
install Copy files and set attributes

join Join lines on a common field

kill Stop a process from running

less Display output one screen at a time
let Perform arithmetic on shell variables
ln Make links between files
local Create variables
locate Find files
logname Print current login name
logout Exit a login shell
look Display lines beginning with a given string
lpc Line printer control program
lpr Off line print
lprint Print a file
lprintd Abort a print job
lprintq List the print queue
lprm Remove jobs from the print queue
ls List information about file(s)
lsof List open files

make Recompile a group of programs
man Help manual
mkdir Create new folder(s)
mkfifo Make FIFOs (named pipes)
mkisofs Create an hybrid ISO9660/JOLIET/HFS filesystem
mknod Make block or character special files
more Display output one screen at a time
mount Mount a file system
mtools Manipulate MS-DOS files
mv Move or rename files or directories

netstat Networking information
nice Set the priority of a command or job
nl Number lines and write files
nohup Run a command immune to hangups

passwd Modify a user password
paste Merge lines of files
pathchk Check file name portability
ping Test a network connection
popd Restore the previous value of the current directory
pr Prepare files for printing
printcap Printer capability database
printenv Print environment variables
printf Format and print data
ps Process status
pushd Save and then change the current directory
pwd Print Working Directory

quota Display disk usage and limits
quotacheck Scan a file system for disk usage
quotactl Set disk quotas

ram ram disk device
rcp Copy files between two machines.
read read a line from standard input
readonly Mark variables/functions as readonly
remsync Synchronize remote files via email
return Exit a shell function
rm Remove files
rmdir Remove folder(s)
rsync Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)

screen Terminal window manager
scp Secure copy (remote file copy)
sdiff Merge two files interactively
sed Stream Editor
select Accept keyboard input
seq Print numeric sequences
set Manipulate shell variables and functions
sftp Secure File Transfer Program
shift Shift positional parameters
shopt Shell Options
shutdown Shutdown or restart linux
sleep Delay for a specified time
sort Sort text files
source Run commands from a file `.'
split Split a file into fixed-size pieces
ssh Secure Shell client (remote login program)
strace Trace system calls and signals
su Substitute user identity
sum Print a checksum for a file
symlink Make a new name for a file
sync Synchronize data on disk with memory

tail Output the last part of files
tar Tape ARchiver
tee Redirect output to multiple files
test Evaluate a conditional expression
time Measure Program running time
times User and system times
touch Change file timestamps
top List processes running on the system
traceroute Trace Route to Host
trap Run a command when a signal is set(bourne)
tr Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
true Do nothing, successfully
tsort Topological sort
tty Print filename of terminal on stdin
type Describe a command

ulimit Limit user resources
umask Users file creation mask
umount Unmount a device
unalias Remove an alias
uname Print system information
unexpand Convert spaces to tabs
uniq Uniquify files
units Convert units from one scale to another
unset Remove variable or function names
unshar Unpack shell archive scripts
until Execute commands (until error)
useradd Create new user account
usermod Modify user account
users List users currently logged in
uuencode Encode a binary file
uudecode Decode a file created by uuencode

v Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
vdir Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
vi Text Editor

watch Execute/display a program periodically
wc Print byte, word, and line counts
whereis Report all known instances of a command
which Locate a program file in the user's path.
while Execute commands
who Print all usernames currently logged in
whoami Print the current user id and name (`id -un')
Wget Retrieve web pages or files via HTTP, HTTPS or FTP

xargs Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s)
yes Print a string until interrupted

.period Run commands from a file
### Comment / Remark

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Ipod Linux

ipod linux
iPodLinux is a µCLinux-based software distribution targeted specifically to run on Apple Inc.'s iPods. Besides the kernel, iPodLinux features as a primary component podzilla and podzilla2, applications which provide:

* An iPod-like interface
* Video playback with sound
* Support for AAC, MP3 and basic OGG playback (4G & 5G Music Player Daemon is malfunctional, but can be fixed).
* Many games, including TuxChess, Bluecube (Tetris clone), Chopper, StepMania (a Dance Dance Revolution clone) and more.
* Recording through audio jack at much higher quality than Apple's firmware
* Ability to play the games Doom and Doom II, as well as games for the Nintendo Game Boy (with appropriate add-on software, for instance iBoy).
* Color scheme support
* Many emulators, such as iBoy (Gameboy Emulator) and iNES (Nintendo Entertainment System Emulator)

List of program for linux

General user

* dd – Convert and copy a file (Disk Dump)
* echo – Print to standard output
* env – Show environment variables; run a program with altered environment variables
* file – Determine the type of a file
* nohup – Run a command with immunity to hangups outputting to non-tty
* sh – The Bourne shell, the standard Unix shell
* uptime – Print how long the system has been running

System Management

* fuser – Identify processes by files or sockets
* logger – Make entries in the system log
* newgrp (or sg) – Log in to a new group
* pathchk – Check the validity/portability of filenames

Kernel specific

* date – Print or set the system date and/or time
* dmesg – Print the kernel message ring buffer
* ipcrm – Remove a message queue, semaphore set or shared memory id
* ipcs – Provide information on IPC facilities
* uname – Print assorted system statistics

Processes and tasks management

* anacron – Periodic command scheduler
* at – Single-time command scheduler
* chroot – Change the system root directory for all child processes
* cron – Periodic command scheduler
* crontab – Crontab file editor
* daemonic – Interface to daemon init scripts
* exit – Terminate the current shell process
* htop – Interactive ncurses-based process viewer that allows scrolling to see all processes and their full command lines
* kill – Send a signal to process, or terminate a process (by PID)
* killall – Terminate all processes (in GNU/Linux, it's kill by name)
* nice – Alter priorities for processes
* pgrep – Find PIDs of processes by name
* pidof – GNU/Linux equivalent of pgrep
* pkill – Send a signal to process, or terminate a process (by name). Equivalent to Linux killall
* ps – Report process status
* renice – Alter the priorities of an already running process
* sleep – Delay for specified time
* time – Time a command
* timex – Time process shell execution, measure process data and system activity
* top – Produce a dynamic list of all resident processes
* wait – Wait for the specified process
* watch – Runs the specified command repeatedly

Job Control

* bg – Resume a job in background
* jobs – Lists active jobs
* fg – Resume a job in foreground

User management and support

* chsh – Change user shell
* finger – Get details about user
* id – Print real/effective UIDs/GIDs
* last – show listing of last logged in users
* lastlog – show last log in information for users
* locale – Get locale specific information
* localedef – Compile locale definitions
* logname – Print user's login name
* man – Manual browser
* mesg – Control write access to your terminal
* passwd – Change user password
* su – Start a new process (defaults to shell) as a different user (defaults to root)
* sudo – execute a command as a different user.
* users – Show who is logged on (only users names)
* w – Show logged-in users and their current tasks
* whatis – command description from whatis database
* whereis – locates the command's binary and manual pages associated with it
* which (Unix) – locates where a command is executed from
* who – Show who is logged on (with some details)
* write – Send a message to another user

Terminal configuration

* stty – Change and print terminal line settings
* tput – Initialize a terminal/query terminfo database
* tty – Print filename of terminal connected to standard input

Files and texts

* info – The GNU alternative to man
* man – The standard unix documentation system

Filesystem Utilities

* chattr – Change file attributes on a Linux second extended file system
* chgrp – Change the group of a file or directory
* chmod – Change the permissions of a file or directory
* chown – Change the owner of a file or directory
* cd – Change to another directory location
* cp – Copy a file or directory to another location
* df – Report disk space
* dircmp – Compare contents of files between two directories
* du – Calculate used disk space
* fdupes – Find or remove duplicate files within a directory
* find – Search for files through a directory hierarchy
* fsck – Filesystem check
* ln – Link one file/directory to another
* ls – List directory contents
* lsattr – List file attributes on a Linux second extended file system
* lsof – list open files
* mkdir – Make a directory
* mkfifo – Make a named pipe
* mount – Mount a filesystem
* mv – Move or rename a file or directory
* pwd – Print the current working directory
* rm – Delete a file or directory tree
* readlink – Display value of a symbolic link, or display canonical path for a file
* rmdir – Delete an empty directory
* touch – Create a new file or update its modification time
* tree – Print a depth-indented tree of a given directory
* unlink – System call to remove a file or directory

Archivers and compression

* afio – Compatible superset of cpio with added functionality
* ar – Maintain, modify, and extract from archives. Now largely obsoleted by tar
* bzip2 – Block-sorting file compressor
* compress – Traditional compressor using the LZW algorithm
* cpio – A traditional archiving tool/format
* gzip – The gzip file compressor
* p7zip – 7zip for unix/linux
* pack, pcat, unpack – included in old versions of ATT Unix. Uses Huffman coding, obsoleted by compress.
* pax – POSIX archive tool that handles multiple formats.
* tar – Tape ARchiver, concatenates files
* uncompress – Uncompresses files compressed with compress.
* zcat – Prints files to stdout from gzip archives without unpacking them to separate file(s)

Text Processing

* awk – A pattern scanning and processing language
* banner – Creates ascii art version of an input string for printing large banners
* cat – Concatenate files to standard output
* cksum – Print the CRC checksum and bytecount of a file (see also MD5)
* cmp – Compare two files byte for byte
* comm – Sort two files and compare them line for line
* csplit – Split a file into sections determined by context lines
* cut – Remove sections from each line of a file or standard input
* diff3 – Compare one text file against two other files
* diff – Compare two text files line by line
* egrep – Extended pattern matching (synonym for "grep -E")
* expand – Convert tabs to spaces
* fc – Processes the command history list
* fgrep – Simplified pattern matching (synonym for "grep -F")
* fold – Wrap each input line to fit within the given width
* grep – Print lines matching a pattern
* head – Output the first parts of a file
* iconv – Convert the encoding of the specified files
* join – Join lines of two files on a common field
* less – Improved more-like text pager
* merge – Three way merge of files (see also paste)
* more – Pager
* nkf – Convert Japanese characters
* nl – Number the lines of a file
* nroff – Fixed-width (non-typesetter) version of the standard Unix typesetting system
* od – Dump files in various formats, e.g. octal
* paste – Merge lines of files
* patch – Change files based on a patch file
* rev – reverse lines of a file
* sed – Stream EDitor
* sort – Sort lines of text files
* split – Split a file into pieces
* tac – cat in reverse — displays files to standard output in reverse order starting at the end of the file
* tail – Output the tail end of files
* tee – Read from standard input, write to standard output and files
* tr – Translate characters
* tsort – Perform a topological sort
* unexpand – Convert spaces to tabs
* uniq – Remove duplicate lines from a sorted file
* uudecode – Decodes a binary file that was used for transmission using electronic mail
* uuencode – Encodes a binary file for transmission using electronic mail
* wc – Word/line/byte count

Text editors

* acme – Bitmapped text editor and integrated development environment ported from the Plan 9 operating system with client-server design, by Rob Pike. This is the successor of sam.
* ed – Original line-oriented, regular-expression based Unix text editor
* ex – Line-oriented text editor from BSD Unix, originally derived from Unix ed, later augmented by a screen-oriented "visual" mode, creating vi; typically a symbolic link to vi (or vim) causing it to start up in line-editing mode
* GNU Emacs – Freely programmable full-screen text editor and general computing environment (using builtin Elisp, a simple dialect of the Lisp programming language)
* Joe – a screen-oriented text editor using a Wordstar-style command set
* Jove – a screen-oriented text editor using an Emacs-style command set
* MicroEMACS – a screen-oriented text editor using an Emacs-style command set
* nano – Clone of pico (see below)
* NEdit – A Motif based text editor for the X11 windowing system, remniscient of text editors on Mac or Windows systems
* nvi – "New" vi, unencumbered (no remaining original Unix code) reimplementation of ex/vi for the 4.4BSD operating system release
* pico – PIne's message COmposition editor (simple, easy to use screen editor)
* sam – Bitmapped text editor ported from the Plan 9 operating system with client-server design, by Rob Pike
* vi – "Visual" (screen-oriented) text editor (originally ex in screen-oriented "visual" mode)
* VILE – "Vi like Emacs", a vi-like text editor that has been derived from the MicroEMACS text editor
* vim – Vi IMproved, portable vi-compatible editor with multiple buffers, screen splitting, syntax highlighting and a lot of other features not found in standard ex/vi
* XEmacs – Popular version of emacs that is derived from GNU Emacs

Communication, networking and remote access

* Apache webserver
* efax – integrated fax program
* ftp, sftp – File transfer protocol, secure FTP
* HylaFAX – Fax server
* netcat – "TCP/IP Swiss Army knife"
* NFS – Network filesystem
* OpenVPN – virtual private (encrypting) networking software
* Postfix — mail transfer agent
* rsh, SSH, telnet – Remote login
* Samba – SMB and CIFS client and server for UNIX
* Sendmail – popular E-Mail transport software
* talk – Talk to another logged-in user
* uustat – a Basic Networking Utilities (BNU) command that displays status information about several types of BNU operations
* uux – Remote command execution over UUCP

Email programs (user agents)

* elm – (Once very popular) screen-oriented mail program
* mail – Original Unix email program
* mailx/Mail – Improved version of Unix mail from BSD Unix
* Mulberry – powerful graphical IMAP-centric e-mail client (Proprietary Software)
* Mutt – screen-oriented mail program
* Opera – Web browser and e-mail client (Proprietary Software)
* Pine – screen-oriented mail and news program, originally derived from elm
* Mozilla Thunderbird – Extensible e-mail client

Network system services

* fingerd – a daemon for finger – a program used return a human-readable status report on either the system at the moment or a particular person in depth
* inetd – a daemon on many Unix systems that manages Internet services
* xinetd – replacement for inetd

Network Utilities

* dhclient – the DHCP client
* dhcpd – the DHCP daemon
* ifconfig – a tool used to configure a network interface for TCP/IP
* iwconfig – similar to ifconfig, but is dedicated to wireless networking interfaces
* ping – a network tool that tests of whether a particular host is up and reachable on the network
* pppd – Point-to-Point Protocol daemon
* tcpd – Secures programs launched from inetd

Network monitoring and security

* Ethereal and tethereal – a feature rich protocol analyzer (now called Wireshark, see below)
* ettercap – a tool for network protocol analysis
* John the Ripper – password cracking software
* Nessus – a comprehensive open-source network vulnerability scanning program
* Netstat – displays a list of the active network connections the computer
* Nmap – free port scanning software
* SAINT – System Administrator’s Integrated Network Tool – Network Vulnerability Scanner.
* SATAN – the Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks – a testing and reporting tool that collects information about networked hosts
* Snoop – Solaris packet sniffer
* Snort – an open source network intrusion detection system
* tcpdump – a computer network debugging tool that intercepts and displays TCP/IP packets being transmitted or received
* Wireshark – a protocol analyzer, or "packet sniffer", similar to tcpdump, that adds a GUI frontend, and more sorting and filtering options (formerly named Ethereal)

Programming tools

Script Interpreters

Shells

* bash – Bourne Again SHell, (mostly) sh-compatible and csh-compatible, standard shell on Linux systems and Mac OS X.
* csh – C shell. Written by Bill Joy for BSD systems.
* ksh – Korn shell, standard shell on many proprietary Unix systems, powerful successor to the Unix Bourne shell (sh), written by David Korn,
* rc – originally written for Plan 9.
* sh – Bourne shell, only shell present on all UNIX and Unix-like systems, written by Stephen Bourne for Version 7 Unix.
* tcsh – TENEX C shell, standard shell on BSD systems.
* zsh – Z shell.

Non-shells

* awk – Standard Unix pattern scanning and text processing tool.
* perl – Perl scripting language.
* PHP – PHP scripting language.
* Python – Python scripting language.

Compilers and Programming tools

The classic UNIX environment includes a basic set of broadly available programming tools, but in the 21st century this classic environment is increasingly rare, as Unix-like operating system distributions diversify. Some include vastly more, and more modern and sophisticated, programming tools and environments, whereas others, focussing on serving a less technical audience, may exclude even the most rudimentary programming utilities. Commands most familiar to a prior generation of UNIX users include:

* admin – Administer SCCS files.
* as – GNU assembler tool.
* c99 – C programming language.
* cc – C compiler.
* cfront – C++ front-end compiler
* ctags – Generate tags file summarising location of objects in source files.
* dbx – (System V and BSD) Symbolic debugger.
* distcc – Tool for distributing compiles across multiple machines.
* f77 – Fortran 77 compiler.
* gcc – GNU Compiler Collection C frontend (also known as GNU C Compiler)
* gdb – GNU symbolic debugger.
* ktrace – (BSD) Analogous to strace.
* ld – Program linker.
* lex – Lexical scanner generator.
* ltrace – (Linux) Trace dynamic library calls in the address space of the watched process.
* m4 – Macro language.
* make – Automate builds.
* nm – List symbols from object files.
* rmdel – remove a delta from an SCCS file.
* size – return the size of the sections of an ELF file.
* strace – (Linux) or truss (Solaris) Trace system calls with their arguments and signals. Useful debugging tool, but does not trace calls outside the kernel, in the address space of the process(es) being watched.
* strip – Remove debugging symbols from object files.
* yacc – LALR parser generator.

Scripting utilities

* basename – Returns the final component of a path
* batch – Runs jobs when the system load level permits
* false – Return a value that evaluates as False
* hash – Command that remembers or reports command path names
* printf – Format and print data
* strings – Print strings of printable characters found in a file
* test – Test an expression
* times
* true – Return a value that evaluates as True
* unset – Unsets a shell variable
* xargs – Build and execute command lines from standard input
* expr – Evaluate expressions

User interfaces

* X11 – Graphical user interface (GUI)
o startx and xinit
o xterm

Desktops/Graphical User Interfaces

* Blackbox and its variants (including Fluxbox and Waimea)
* CDE – Common Desktop Environment, most commonly found on proprietary UNIX systems
* Enlightenment – an open source window manager for the X Window System
* FVWM and its variant FVWM95, which has been modified to behave like Windows 95 Also FVWM-Crystal that aims to be eye candy
* GNOME – GNU Network Object Model Environment
* IceWM – ICE Window Manager
* Ion (window manager) – tiling and tabbing window manager for the X Window System. Designed for use without a mouse.
* JWM – Joe's Window Manager
* KDE – K Desktop Environment
* Quartz Compositor – Apple's GUI interface for the Darwin BSD based operating system Mac OS X
* Window Maker
* WMI – Window Manager Improved
* XFce – a desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms
* EDE

Shells

See Script Interpreters.

Computer security

Antivirus software

* ClamAV – E-mail virus scanner.

Cryptography

* Enigmail – Graphical interface to gpg for Mozilla Application Suite and Mozilla Thunderbird.
* gpg – GNU Privacy Guard, a complete and free replacement for PGP (to do file and email encryption and signature).
* mcrypt -- Replacement for the legacy crypt program; can also make OpenPGP-compatible files.
* openssl – Secure Sockets Layer and general crypto library.
* pinepgp – Filters that enable pine to use signed/encrypted email.

Package management software

* apt – Front-end for dpkg or rpm
* debconf – Debian package configuration management system
* dpkg – The Debian package manager
* drakconf – Front-end configuration utility for Mandriva Linux
* emerge – A frontend to portage
* pacman – A package manager used primarily by Arch Linux
* portage – The Gentoo Linux package manager
* rpm – Originally the package manager for Red Hat Linux, now used by several distributions including Mandriva Linux
* Synaptic – GTK+ frontend for the apt package manager. Primarily used by Ubuntu Linux, Debian Sarge, and other Debian-based systems; but usable on any system using apt.
* urpmi – Front-end to rpm, used by Mandriva Linux
* YaST - System management utility mainly used by SuSE
* yum - Front-end for rpm, used by Fedora

OS X/Darwin specific programs

* defaults (software) – Access the Mac OS X user defaults system
* fink – The Fink package manager
* open – opens it's argument(s) in the GUI as if the user had double clicked
* osacompile – Compile AppleScripts and other OSA language scripts
* osalang – Information about installed OSA languages
* osascript – Execute AppleScripts and other OSA language scripts
* say – Convert text to audible speech

Application software

Office

* AbiWord
* Gnumeric
* KOffice
* OpenOffice.org

Multimedia

* Amarok – Audio jukebox
* Ardour – Digital audio workstation for multitrack HD recording and editing
* Audacity – Sound recording and editing program
* Baudline – Audio recorder, analyzer, and player
* GIMP – Powerful image manipulation package
* GStreamer – Plugin-based multimedia framework
* ImageMagick – Image conversion library
* Inkscape – Vector graphics editor
* mpg123 – MP3 player
* MPlayer – General-purpose media player
* Netpbm – package of graphics programs and programming library
* Rhythmbox – Audio jukebox similar to Apple's iTunes
* Rosegarden – Powerful digital audio workstation
* SoX – Sound conversion tool
* Totem – Media player
* transcode – Flexible command-line media encoding tool
* VLC media player – Video player
* xine – Video Player
* XMMS – Winamp-like multimedia player

Web browsers

* Dillo – Extremely light-weight web browser
* ELinks – Enhanced links
* Epiphany – Light-weight GNOME web browser
* Galeon – Light-weight old GNOME web browser
* Konqueror – KDE web browser
* Links – Console based web browser
* lynx – Console based web browser
* Mozilla Application Suite – Graphical cross platform web browser & email client
* Mozilla Firefox – Extensible Web browser
* Opera – Web browser and e-mail client (Proprietary Software)
* w3m – Console based web browser

Desktop Publishing

* groff – Traditional typesetting system
* LaTeX – Popular TeX macro package for higher-level typesetting
* lp – Print a file (on a line printer)
* Passepartout – Desktop publishing program
* pr – Convert text files for printing
* Scribus – Desktop publishing program
* TeX – Macro-based typesetting system
* troff – The original and standard Unix typesetting system

Databases

* DB2
* Firebird
* MySQL
* Oracle
* PostgreSQL
* Progress Software
* SQLite
* Sybase

Mathematical and scientific software

* maxima – Symbol manipulation program.
* octave – Numerical computing language (mostly compatible with Matlab) and environment.
* R – Statistical programming language.
* units – Unit conversion program.

Desktop utilities

* bc – An arbitrary precision calculator language with syntax similar to the C programming language.
* cal – Displays a calendar
* dc – Reverse-Polish desk calculator which supports unlimited precision arithmetic
* fortune – Fortune cookie program that prints a random quote

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Fedora on PS3

Fedora linux run on PS3 very nice

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

BSD ''Berkeley Software Distribution''

bsd logo
Berkeley Software Distribution

"BSD" redirects here. For other uses, see BSD (disambiguation). BSD Unix Beastie, the BSD daemon by Poul-Henning Kamp Website: N/A Company/ developer: CSRG, UC Berkeley OS family: Unix Source model: Open source Latest stable release: 4.4-Lite2 / 1995 Kernel type: Monolithic License: BSD license Working state: Superseded by derivatives (see below) Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD, sometimes called Berkeley Unix) is the Unix derivative distributed by the University of California, Berkeley, starting in the 1970s. The name is also used collectively for the modern descendants of these distributions. BSD is one of several branches of Unix operating systems. Another one is evolved from UNIX System V developed by AT&T's Unix System Development Labs. A third consists of the GNU/Linux operating systems which draw from Unix System V and BSD, as well as Plan9, and non-UNIX operating systems. BSD was widely identified with the versions of Unix available for workstation-class systems. This can be attributed to the ease with which it could be licensed and the familiarity it found among the founders of many technology companies during the 1980s. This familiarity often came from using similar systems—notably DEC's Ultrix and Sun's SunOS—during their education. While BSD itself was largely superseded by the System V Release 4 and OSF/1 systems in the 1990s (both of which incorporated BSD code), in recent years modified open source versions of the codebase (mostly derived from 4.4BSD-Lite) have seen increasing use and development. Contents

The earliest distributions of Unix from Bell Labs in the 1970s included the source code to the operating system, allowing researchers at universities to modify and extend Unix. The first Unix system at Berkeley was a PDP-11 installed in 1974, and the computer science department used it for extensive research thereafter.

Other universities became interested in the software at Berkeley, and so in 1977 Bill Joy, then a graduate student at Berkeley, assembled and sent out tapes of the first Berkeley Software Distribution (1BSD). 1BSD was an add-on to Sixth Edition Unix rather than a complete operating system in its own right; its main components were a Pascal compiler and Joy's ex line editor.

The Second Berkeley Software Distribution (2BSD), released in 1978, included updated versions of the 1BSD software as well as two new programs by Joy that persist on Unix systems to this day: the vi text editor (a visual version of ex) and the C shell.

Later releases of 2BSD contained ports of changes to the VAX-based releases of BSD back to the PDP-11 architecture. 2.9BSD from 1983 included code from 4.1cBSD, and was the first release that was a full OS (a modified Version 7 Unix) rather than a set of applications and patches. The most recent release, 2.11BSD, was first released in 1992, with maintenance updates from volunteers continuing until 2006 (patch 445 was released on December 26, 2006).
BSD pioneered many of the advances of modern computing. Berkeley's Unix was the first Unix to include libraries supporting the Internet Protocol stacks: Berkeley sockets. By integrating sockets with the Unix operating system's file descriptors, it became almost as easy to read and write data across a network as it was to access a disk. The AT&T laboratory eventually released their own STREAMS library, which incorporated much of the same functionality in a software stack with a better architecture, but the wide distribution of the existing sockets library, together with the unfortunate omission of a function call for polling a set of open sockets equivalent to the select call in the Berkeley library, reduced the impact of the new API.

Today, BSD continues to be used as a testbed for technology by academic organizations, as well as finding uses in a lot of commercial and free products and, increasingly, in embedded devices. The general quality of its source code, as well as its documentation (especially reference manual pages, commonly referred to as man pages), make it well-suited for many purposes.

The permissive nature of the BSD license allows companies to distribute derived products as proprietary software without exposing source code and sometimes intellectual property to competitors. Searching for strings containing "University of California, Berkeley" in the documentation of products, in the static data sections of binaries and ROMs, or as part of other information about a software program, will often show BSD code has been used. This permissiveness also makes BSD code suitable for use in open source products, and the license is compatible with many other open source licenses.

BSD operating systems can run much native software of several other operating systems on the same architecture, using a binary compatibility layer. Much simpler and faster than emulation, this allows, for instance, applications intended for Linux to be run at effectively full speed. This makes BSDs not only suitable for server environments, but also for workstation ones, given the increasing availability of commercial or closed-source software for Linux only. This also allows administrators to migrate legacy commercial applications, which may have only supported commercial Unix variants, to a more modern operating system, retaining the functionality of such applications until they can be replaced by a better alternative.

Current BSD operating system variants support many of the common IEEE, ANSI, ISO, and POSIX standards, while retaining most of the traditional BSD behavior. Like AT&T Unix, the BSD kernel is monolithic, meaning that device drivers in the kernel run in privileged mode, as part of the core of the operating system. Early versions of BSD were used to form Sun Microsystems' SunOS, founding the first wave of popular Unix workstations.

* FreeBSD, a major open source effort focusing on performance and the x86 platform
* NetBSD, an open source BSD with an emphasis on portability and clean design
* OpenBSD, a 1995 fork of NetBSD, focuses on portability, security, standardization and correctness
* DragonFly BSD, a fork of FreeBSD to follow an alternative design, particularly related to SMP
* MidnightBSD, a fork of FreeBSD to develop a desktop operating system utilizing GNUstep.
* PC-BSD, a variant of FreeBSD with emphasis on ease of use and user friendly interfaces for the desktop/laptop PC user
* DesktopBSD, another custom install of FreeBSD for the desktop/laptop PC user. It provides a number of graphical front ends to make learning FreeBSD less of a challenge.
* Tru64 UNIX (formerly DEC OSF/1 AXP or Digital UNIX), the port of OSF/1 for DEC Alpha-based systems from DEC, Compaq and HP.
* Apple Inc.'s Darwin, the core of Mac OS X; built on the XNU kernel (part Mach, part FreeBSD, part Apple-derived code) and a userland much of which comes from FreeBSD
* Juniper Networks JunOS, the operating system for Juniper routers
* Force10 Networks FTOS, the operating system for Force10 TeraScale E-Series switches/routers, based on NetBSD
* Nokia IPSO, the operating system for the Nokia IP security appliances

Monday, March 5, 2007

Ubuntu

ubuntu logo
Ubuntu (Linux distribution)
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Ubuntu

Ubuntu 6.10 "Edgy Eft" running GNOME.
Website: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Company/
developer: Canonical Ltd. / Ubuntu Foundation
OS family: Linux
Source model: Free and Open Source Software
Latest stable release: 6.10 / October 26, 2006
Latest unstable release: Feisty Fawn Herd 5 [1] / February 15, 2007
Available language(s): multilingual
Update method: APT
Package manager: dpkg
Supported platforms: i386, AMD64, PowerPC, UltraSPARC[1]
Kernel type: Linux kernel
Default user interface: GNOME
Working state: Current

Ubuntu (IPA pronunciation: /u'buntu/) is a widely used Linux distribution predominantly targeted at personal computers. Based on Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu concentrates on usability, regular releases, ease of installation, and freedom from legal restrictions. Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical Ltd., a private company founded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth.

The name of the distribution comes from the Zulu and Xhosa concept of ubuntu, which means, "humanity towards others," or, "I am what I am because of who we all are." Ubuntu’s slogan – “Linux for Human Beings”, encapsulates one of its main goals – making Linux more available and easy to use.

The most recent version, Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft), was released on October 26, 2006. Version 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) is scheduled for release on 19 April 2007.

The original name of the Ubuntu project was no-name-yet.com.[3]

Ubuntu's first release on October 20, 2004 began as a temporary fork of Debian GNU/Linux, with the aim of drawing from Debian's code regularly in order to allow for a new version of Ubuntu to be released every six months,[4] in step with the six month GNOME release cycle. In contrast to other general-purpose forks of Debian such as Xandros, Linspire and Libranet, Canonical remains close to Debian's philosophy with Ubuntu and uses predominantly free software rather than making the inclusion of proprietary applications part of their business model.[5]

Ubuntu uses Debian's Advanced Packaging Tool to manage installed packages. Ubuntu packages are generally based on packages from Debian's unstable repository; however, they are not always compatible with each other. Several Ubuntu developers are also maintainers of packages within Debian's repositories, and Ubuntu changes are contributed back to Debian as they are made, rather than being announced only at release time.[6] Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian, criticised Ubuntu in April 2005 for incompatibilities between its packages and those of Debian sarge, saying that Ubuntu had diverged too far to remain compatible.[7]

Bugs in Ubuntu are tracked through the Launchpad web interface, which integrates with the Bazaar version control system in a similar way to SourceForge's integration with CVS.

Ubuntu is currently funded by Mark Shuttleworth through Canonical Ltd. On July 8, 2005, Canonical announced the creation of the Ubuntu Foundation and provided an initial funding of US$10 million. The purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support and development for all future versions of Ubuntu, but as of 2006, the foundation remains dormant. Shuttleworth describes the foundation as an emergency fund should Canonical's involvement end
Usability

Ubuntu is based on the GNOME desktop environment, which is intended to provide a free, simple and intuitive interface while offering a full range of modern desktop applications.[9] While Ubuntu distributes common productivity software including OpenOffice.org, the Mozilla Firefox web browser and the GIMP image editor, it aims to avoid overlap in its default feature set rather than providing many different choices of similar packages.

After the initial Ubuntu installation, the user is greeted with a pale brown desktop which contains no desktop icons by default. General desktop applications are located under the Applications menu, an easy to use desktop launcher menu. Open windows can be viewed on the taskbar along the bottom of the screen. The default user interface in Ubuntu is characterized by shades of orange and brown, imitating African tribal imagery. The user retains the option to customize the look and behavior of the desktop in a variety of ways. Ubuntu is available in over 40 languages. It also allows users to submit additional translations by using the Rosetta Translation tool.[10]

Ubuntu's focus on usability includes the widespread use of the sudo tool, which allows users to carry out administrative tasks without initiating a potentially unsafe superuser session.

Distribution

Ubuntu ships as an ISO image that fits on a single CD or alternatively, in the case of the older version 6.06 LTS, mailed free to anyone requesting them via Canonical's ShipIt service.[12] This is intended to reduce the amount of time it takes to download Ubuntu and the possibility of losing part of the installation software. Many Linux distributions necessitate the downloading of multiple iso images and hours of installation process, while Ubuntu is one of the few distributions that can be installed quickly, and from a single CD.

Since version 6.06 LTS, Ubuntu's disc has served both as a Live CD and an install disc. This disc boots into a fully featured desktop, allowing the user to see whether his or her hardware is compatible and experiment with the applications available. The CD also allows the user to install Ubuntu to the hard disk using the Ubiquity application, and preserves documents created on the live desktop. An alternate install disc using the text-mode debian-installer is also available, aimed towards those with lower system specifications, towards administrators installing Ubuntu on many systems, and for complex disk partitioning.

There are two types of releases: one for desktop and laptop computers and one for servers. The desktop and laptop version is available for Intel x86 PCs, 64-bit AMD64 PCs, and PowerPC Macintosh computers. The server edition is available for these platforms in addition to SPARC and does not ship as a Live CD (using the text-mode installer exclusively).

Package classification and support
Browsing Ubuntu core packages in Synaptic.
Browsing Ubuntu core packages in Synaptic.

Ubuntu divides all software into four sections, called components, to reflect differences in licensing and level of support available.[13] The components are Main, Restricted, Universe and Multiverse.

Main and Universe contain software which meets the Ubuntu license requirements, which correspond roughly to the Debian Free Software Guidelines.[14] Main may also contain binary firmware and selected fonts used in supported software that cannot be modified without permission. In all cases, redistribution is unencumbered.

Non-free device drivers remain in the Restricted component, where support is present because of their importance, but limited due to lack of, or limited, access to the source code.

It is intended that Main and Restricted contain all software needed for a general-use desktop operating system. Other, unsupported programs are placed in Universe (free) and Multiverse (Non-free). Multiverse contains software packages which may infringe on U.S. and international patent or copyright law. Examples of these include software that enables the playback of patented media formats. Due to the questionable legal status of unofficial DVD-decoding in some parts of the world, Libdvdcss was removed from Ubuntu's official repository, but can still be downloaded at the VideoLAN Project's website.[15] Encoding and decoding libraries for many proprietary media formats such as Windows Media are also unavailable by default.[16]

Ubuntu Backports is an officially recognized project to backport newer versions of certain software that are available only in unstable versions of Ubuntu. The repository is not comprehensive; it mostly consists of user-requested packages, which are approved if they meet quality guidelines.[17]

Unofficial utilities such as EasyUbuntu and Automatix aim to automate the installation and configuration of software which is not officially packaged for Ubuntu for legal or philosophical reasons. They are not recommended by the Ubuntu development team and have been accused of breaking updates.[18]

Ubuntu has a certification system for third-party proprietary software, and Canonical manages a special repository for certified proprietary packages named Commercial,[19] which includes software that Canonical has obtained special permission to distribute.[20] As of this writing, the repository includes the Opera web browser and the RealPlayer media player.

next realase of ubuntu is 07.04.2007. name of this Ubuntu 7.04