Now that I am fully recovered from jet lag, I am able to reflect on how enjoyable the recent Copenhagen DrupalCon was. Before going any further, however, I have to gratefully acknowledge the team of Drupalers who organized the conference and related activities. They all did an amazing job ensuring that the event was a great success. Thank you! more>>

Man pages have been the primary source for UN*x documentation for a long time. Whenever I create a script that's going to be around for a while, I create documentation in the form of a section 1 man page. This stops my cell phone from ringing on the weekends when the junior sysadmins are looking for my notes. more>>

Linux Mint has just released their new distribution: Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE). It is a rolling distribution based off of Debian Testing instead of Ubuntu. Their goal is to have LMDE look identical to the main edition and to provide the same functionality while using Debian as a base. By being a rolling distribution, LMDE constantly receives updates instead of it being on a fixed version with set release dates. Below is the full announcement from their blog, minus links and references: more>>

Zenwalk Linux is a Slackware based distribution introduced in early 2004 that aims to be fast, easy, modern. Zenwalk tends to have a very loyal user-base in addition to leaving most distro hoppers and reviewers impressed. Most agree with Zenwalk's latest tagline: It just works. more>>

The Red Hat board of directors announced a new chairman Monday, August 30, to replace outgoing Matthew Szulik. Henry Hugh Shelton, retired Special Forces general, has been serving on the board since 2003 after leaving the elite Army division. more>>

Sometimes, a utility or an application that you want to install is impossible to find in the format of your distribution. Alien is a utility that can convert one package type into another. It can get you out of a fix when you can't find a package for your distribution, and it is also useful for package maintainers who want to distribute packages for distributions that they don't run. It can work with Slackware, Debian and RPM packages as input and output types. more>>

Clonezilla is a bootable CDROM designed for partition backup and restoration. Unlike SystemRescueCD, Clonezilla Live doesn't contain an array of utilities, rather, it is a single, focused tool. more>>

Despite some early teasing, it now seems Steam is not coming to Linux after all - at least for now. more>>

When I first started with graphics - I plotted pixels onto the screen by calculating a memory address and then poking the corresponding value. Times have changed since then. more>>

When the OpenSolaris Governing Board issued their ultimatum to Oracle on July 12, few thought it would have the desired effect of saving OpenSolaris. The board sent a message that if Oracle didn't start to show some interest in OpenSolaris by August 23, they would disband and leave OpenSolaris without leadership and guidance. more>>

In the latest round of upgrades and new installs of openSUSE around here I decided to take a different approach and use the network install and install from a USB stick rather than a DVD. While I was at it I decided that I'd try to make a dual boot installer that would allow me to install either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the latest openSUSE (version 11.3) from the same USB stick. more>>

Wine runs many Windows programs nicely these days, including more and more serious music applications. Dave profiles some of those applications running under the latest & greatest Wine 1.2 more>>

Five days after the announcement of Voice and Video Chat service in Gmail for Debian-based Linux distributions, Google unveiled a Gmail phone call service for Windows, Mac, and Linux. more>>

Linux Journal Insider - October 2010 by Linux Journal

This month Shawn and Kyle throw out X-Windows, and kick it old
school with the command line issue. Granted, "kicking it old school"
isn't really a stretch for them, especially Kyle, but you can join in
the fun with an entire issue focused on command line tools. Whether more>>

How often do we all hear the phrase, “Could you take a look at it for me?” Whether you are checking out a machine for a friend or colleague or looking after one of your own machines, it's handy to have the ability to virus check a Windows setup from the safety of a Linux boot CD or USB stick. This short guide shows you how to scan for infected files by booting into SystemRescueCD and running ClamAV, a virus checker. more>>

BuGLe is a tool for OpenGL debugging, implemented as a wrapper library that sits between your program and OpenGL. Although it's still in development, the Web site states that it already can do the following: more>>

One of the most common programs on Linux systems for packaging files is the venerable tar. tar is short for tape archive, and originally, it would archive your files to a tape device. Now, you're more likely to use a file to make your archive. To use a tarfile, use the command-line option -f . To create a new tarfile, use the command-line option -c. more>>

Parsix GNU/Linux is a great little distro hailing from the exotic lands of Persia. It features a lovely customized GNOME desktop and lots of handy applications. It reminds folks of Ubuntu in many ways and is often described as a nice alternative to Ubuntu. more>>

If you are one of the thousands of people who attend the South by Southwest Interactive conference each year, you could have the opportunity to hear a little about how things work around here, as well as my perspective on the seemingly endless debate about the future of print and online publishing. more>>

In the course of a normal work day I take several little breaks to check the news. On my list of news sites are Slashdot, Linux Journal and Linux Today. Frequently I see something that gives me an idea for an article. more>>