Archive - Sep 1, 2008

Date

Disable Ubuntu Login Screen

Submitted by k4tz on Mon, 09/01/2008 - 12:24

Question:
Hi all. I am the only user of this PC, so I don't really need the login screen. Is it possible to disable it so I can be auto logged in?
 
Answer:
If you don't want to wait for or see the grub menu, the safest way to edit it is with StartUp-Manager. You can set display timeouts, kernel defaults, and much more. There is a link to a fairly comprehensive tutorial on StartUp-Manager in my signature line.

Gallery2 Installation on Ubuntu 8.04

Submitted by k4tz on Mon, 09/01/2008 - 11:44

+ I had a web server configured and working for over a year. Out of sight - out of mind. I failed to log all the pertinent information of how I made it happen. Upgrading from 6.06 was my downfall. Ill prepared, ill planned, I trashed my web server. Everything was gone because something happened to the database and I had no idea how to recover. Configurations got stomped upon by Apache update. I lost the whole site, in effect.

How to SAFELY use ssh-keygen for frequent remote logins

Submitted by k4tz on Mon, 09/01/2008 - 11:41

Recently it has appeared in the news a safety threat by using unsecured ssh keys to do password-less logins. E.g. see: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1803

Problem: During one login session, you want to use your local machine (which i will call LOCAL) to frequently login into remote machine(s) multiple times (which i will call REMOTE), without supplying a password for each login. If you are the not the only user on the LOCAL machine that has root access on that machine (or at least trust every root user with having ssh access to every local machine that you use this method to access), you should not follow this method. See note at bottom.

Firefox, the king of web browsers

Submitted by k4tz on Mon, 09/01/2008 - 11:24

Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/books/ubuntu_applications/firefox

After Microsoft killed Netscape, there was no serious competitor to Internet Explorer in the browser wars. For years, Microsoft lorded its dominance of the web browser market. Then along came Firefox, the open source web browser that took the world by storm.

How To Get The Younger Generation Into Linux

Submitted by k4tz on Mon, 09/01/2008 - 11:21

Source: http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/08/29/attracting-the-young-tech-savvy...

A recent Linux Journal article point to Apple’s selling of heavily discounted Macs to schools and asks what Linux is doing to attract the young, and more tech-savvy, generation. It is very important that Linux does target this group, because they are the generation of the future and the generation others are increasingly turning to for solutions to their technology problems. So what can we do to target this group?

Universities that do not use Free Software: Time for a boycott?

Submitted by k4tz on Mon, 09/01/2008 - 11:16

Source: http://www.linux-magazine.com/online/blogs/paw_prints_writings_of_the_ma...

Aug 29, 2008 1:53pm GMT

Jon maddog Hall

I received an email recently from a young man in Brazil who wanted me to come to his university and talk to the students and faculty about using Free Software. I am normally happy to advise universities to use Free Software, but usually this is done in conjunction with some large conference held at the university or some other venue. I just do not have the time to visit each and every school. But I did investigate the university of the student and found that Microsoft was indeed a sponsor of the University. In fact, the university had a large banner on the front page of their web site talking about Microsoft as a partner. It was the first time I saw a university advertising a commercial firm on their home page.