Linux File System Basics

I was doing a little research this morning and came across this wonderful article about the Linux file system. What I found most useful is the graphic display of the Linux file system.

FileSystem Basics

GnuWin32: open source tools ported to Windows

Ever wanted to run some of those powerful Linux tools on Windows? Wouldn’t it be great to quickly pick a line out of a huge file with grep? GnuWin32 provides ports of these powerful tools that install quickly and easily on Windows. GnuWin32 offers these ports as one package, or you can download and install each tool individually.

I stumbled across these ports yesterday while I was looking for a way to use a grep like tool in a Windows script. It was just this morning that I found that the same project offers ports of other great GNU tools.

GnuWin32

The LiveCD List

This is a great resource. ForzenTech has compiled a huge list of liveCD Linux distributions.

The LiveCD List

Firefox 3 Bookmarks and the AwesomeBar

So Firefox 3 is now in beta 5, and it is very impressive. The new version of Firefox includes many improvments, and the addition of some new features.

Bookmarks:

Firefox 3 introduces a new, one-click way to bookmark pages and keep trak of your bookmarks. Check out this article on Dria.org:

Firefox 3 Bookmarks

The AwesomeBar

The new AwesomeBar truly is awesome:

Firefox 3 AwesomeBar

Firefox 3 also has a more Mac-like interface than previous versions of Firefox. I’ve been using the OS X version and I’m very pleased with it.

Hardy Heron reflects Ubuntu Linux ambitions

There was an interesting article on CNET today about Ubuntu and the company behind it. I haven’t been hearing a lot about this release of Ubuntu, but I have been using the betas. I have to say that this is indeed an impressive release. I can’t wait to try out the final release, and perhaps use it on a few servers. Read the article here. 

Make Your Linux Desktop Look Like A Mac

I saw this on Digg this morning. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks pretty cool. This is a tutorial from HowtoForge that explains how to make your GNOME desktop look like Mac OS X Leopard.

Here’s the link: Make Your Linux Desktop Look Like A Mac

I’ll have some screen shots up as soon as I’ve had a chance to give this a try.

Ubuntu 7.10 Features

Version 7.10 of Ubuntu (Gutsy Gibbon) is suppose to be released in October, 2007. I was curious as to what new features it would include, so I did some looking and found a great list of new features right on the Ubuntu web site.

I haven’t tried the beta of Gutsy Gibbon, but I’m working on downloading the ISO now. I’ll write more once I get a chance to give it a try.

Here’s some of the features I found interesting:

• New version of GNOME (version 2.20)
  I’m not sure, but Kubuntu may include the new KDE 4
• Compiz Fusion included and enabled by default.
• Built in desktop search
• Improved plug in manager for Firefox
• Graphical configuration of the X server (this has been a needed feature for a while)
• Automatic printer installation
• NTFS writing (I’m curious to see how well this will work)

  You can see the full list here.

  This should be an exciting release. I look forward to trying out all the new features.

Old Versions

The other day I needed to find an old version of Mozilla Thunderbird because the new 2.0 version isn’t compatible with my mail server. This is due mainly to the mail server. I’ve been running the same mail server software since November 2006, and there hasn’t been one update released for it. Odd, huh?

So, I had to go looking for the old version of Thunderbird. There may have been a link on the Mozilla web site, but I couldn’t find one. I Googled around a bit, and finally found an older version of Thunderbird.

I thought it was pretty cool that there are web sites that specialize in providing older versions of popular applications. So, I decided to make a short list of some of these sites. Most of these sites have both OS X and Windows apps. They may also have some Linux apps, but just in case they don’t, I threw in one that I use sometimes.

OldVersion.com

OldApps

Old-Versions.net

Real Legacy Software Archive (old versions of RealPlayer)

Rpmfind.net

The official Ubuntu book

This is the Official Ubuntu Book. You can read it online, or download it. I just thought this was a cool link.

Read it

Download it

Firefox Add-ons

One of the best things that the Firefox web browser has going for it is the ability to install useful add-ons that make the browsing experience that much better. Firefox is already a great browser, but the add-ons can add a lot to it. Internet Explorer 7 allows add-ons as well, but I’ve not had much experience with IE7 or its extensions.

I do have some experience with Firefox add-ons, so I thought I would write down some of my favorite add-ons that I often use. So here they are, with a link to where you can get each one. Most of these work with Windows and OS X. I haven’t checked to see if they work with Linux, but most probably do:

Linkification converts text links into normal, clickable links. This is great for message boards where people post a lot of links to stuff. The link will actually be clickable, saving you the hassle of having to copy and paste the link into the browser.
Download Here

Download Manager Tweak beefs up the download manager in Firefox. It adds the ability to change how the download manager looks, and also gives you the ability to open it in a new tab or different window.
Download Here

Fasterfox is an add-on that will allow you to tweak and boost the speed of Firefox. I haven’t really noticed web pages loading faster, but I have noticed an increased performance in Firefox.
Download Here

Smart Digg Button allows you to see if a web site has already been submitted to Digg. If it has, you can see how many people have dugg the story. If the story hasn’t been submitted to Digg, you can click the button in the lower corner of Firefox that will take you to the Digg submission page so you can submit the article.
Download Here

User Agent Switcher allows Firefox to appear as if it is another web browser. Some web site block Firefox automatically, even if the web site works fine with Firefox. This add-on will prevent the web site from blocking you if you’re using Firefox.
Download Here