vsbabu.org : linux http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/categories/linux/ Gluing passing thoughts to foregone conclusions en-us vsbabu@gmail.com Copyright 2011 2011-08-21T09:50:55+05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Quick Ref: Linux Mint 11 #1 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2011/08/21/quick_ref_linux_mint_11_1.html Been using Mint Katya on my new Toshiba C640 laptop that shipped with no OS installed. Fixes for some annoyances that keep bothering me. 1076@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ To force a filesystem check on root filesystem on next reboot, do:

sudo touch /forcefsck

To restore the gnome panel to defaults:

gconftool-2 --shutdown
rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/panel
pkill gnome-panel

If clicking on any file location from say google chrome download list or other links gives an error the requested location is not a folder:

sudo apt-get remove exo-utils
]]> linux 2011-08-21T09:50:55+05:00 Hat problems http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2005/01/29/hat_problems.html Fedora Core 3 installation creates trouble while I boot to Mandrake 10.1. 997@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ My laptop had a partition with Mandrake Linux 10.1 installed on it. I recently downloaded Fedora Core 3 and installed it. Fedora is quite nice, but it made my Mandrake system unavailable.

First problem was an easy fix. For the second issue, I have a workaround I don't like.

]]> linux 2005-01-29T11:56:06+05:00 Linux on TV http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/09/08/linux_on_tv.html Yesterday, I saw an ad on TV about: Linux! 882@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I thought the day will never come - there is actually something intelligent on TV here. During US Open finals, there was an ad featuring a curious kid. Slightly long ad, and till the end, I was not able to figure out what it was about.

Then a white screen comes up with one word in the center: LINUX.

]]> linux 2003-09-08T10:48:29+05:00 Trying out XFce4 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/08/09/trying_out_xfce4_.html Little less eyecandy than Gnome, but definitely very good. 861@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I used XFce when it was in version 3. The current beta version is 4. It is pretty good. Doesn't use as much memory as Gnome, but still provides a pleasant environment.

You can download Mandrake 9.1 RPMS.

These RPMs don't automatically integrate with Mandrake's menu structure. I wrote a quick Python script to Convert Fluxbox menus to XFce menu.xml. I probably should've figured out how menudrake stores the menu entries and written a converter for that. Anyway, I used to use Fluxbox most of the time…

]]> linux 2003-08-09T16:42:09+05:00 Mozilla mailbox in dual-boot machine http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/07/06/mozilla_mailbox_in_dualboot_machine.html Notes on solving one little annoyance on a dual-boot system - how to share a mailbox from both OS? 825@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I've a dual-boot machine running Windows XP and Mandrake 9.1 at home. I frequently see people asking in Linux newsgroups how to share the mailboxes in such a situation between the two OS. Here's my setup - it may not the perfect setup, but it works for me :-) May be it is useful to you too.

Here's what it lets me do. Send and receive e-mail from either OS. Use mailboxes from either OS. Doesn't let me share addressbook.

]]> linux 2003-07-06T11:35:41+05:00 Mandrake 9.1: Adding original CDs to software sources http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/04/30/mandrake_91_adding_original_cds_to_software_sources.html Newbie Guide: Add installation CDs to Mandrake's software sources repository. 777@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Sometimes, you might've RPM files packaged in a CD or other removable media. Installation CDs are perfect examples for this. If you have new CDs, or if your setup is messed up, it is pretty easy to add CDs to the list of available software repositories. In this post, I explain how it can be done using newbie-friendly graphical interface.

Please note that the instructions and screenshots are specific to Mandrake 9.1. This post is of little use to users of other Linux distributions. For other versions of Mandrake, it might be helpful.

]]> linux 2003-04-30T20:23:23+05:00 Missing piece in Enterprise Linux http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/04/29/missing_piece_in_enterprise_linux.html Very good article about what is missing in Linux for Enterprise. 774@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ O'Reilly Net: With all of the incredible strides that Linux has made from the smallest embedded devices to the some of the largest supercomputers ever made, there is one piece of its complete adoption in the enterprise that's still missing--a not so little piece still to be done: integration and interoperability with Active Directory (AD).

]]> linux 2003-04-29T06:40:53+05:00 MySQL on Mandrake 9.1 with Python http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/04/19/mysql_on_mandrake_91_with_python.html A fast database is an ideal partner for a fast-to-use programming language. Notes on setting up this combination on a fast-to-use Linux system. 766@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ After I got MySQL configured and loaded with data on my Mandrake 9.1, I wanted to see how to access it from Python. Turns out to be pretty easy. In this article, I'll explain how to configure MySQL driver for Python, and a small self-explanatory Python script explaining data access.

]]> dbms 2003-04-19T11:34:59+05:00 PostgreSQL on Mandrake 9.1 with Python http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/04/17/postgresql_on_mandrake_91_with_python.html Screw Java. Worship Python. Quick notes on setting up Python to access PostgreSQL. 765@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ This is a followup article to Sunday's experiment on accessing PostgreSQL from Java. I quickly got tired of typing in all the curly braces, save-compile cycle with Java. In this article, I will try to explain how to get started with accessing data in our PostgreSQL from Python. Installing Python, necessary drivers and writing a small Python program are covered.

]]> dbms 2003-04-17T18:54:23+05:00 MySQL in Mandrake 9.1 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/04/17/mysql_in_mandrake_91.html Get started with MySQL on Mandrake Linux to run queries fast. Really fast. 764@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ After trying out PostgreSQL for loading web server logs, I decided to see how MySQL would fare. PostgreSQL has lot more options, especially foreign keys, stored procedures, triggers, much more standard SQL and more functions. But the default installation turned out to be slightly slower in executing my queries. MySQL is known for its speed, atleast for few-writes-many-reads kind of usage. Here are my notes on getting started with MySQL on Mandrake 9.1. I've not covered issues like security, fine tuning or backup and restore.

]]> dbms 2003-04-17T18:31:28+05:00 PostgreSQL on Mandrake 9.1 with Java http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/04/13/postgresql_on_mandrake_91_with_java.html Minimal notes on accessing PostgreSQL from Java on my favourite Linux. 758@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ This is a followup article to yesterday's experiment on quickly diving into PostgreSQL on Mandrake 9.1 (this is probably the only thing Mark Pilgrim hasn't dived into yet on his sites :-)). I will try to explain how to get started with accessing data in our PostgreSQL from Java. Installing Java, necessary drivers and writing a small Java program are covered.

]]> dbms 2003-04-13T11:51:08+05:00 PostgreSQL in Mandrake 9.1 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/04/12/postgresql_in_mandrake_91.html Quick notes on using this great database from a default installation of Mandrake 9.1. 757@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ PostgreSQL is my choice for a SQL database while using Linux. If you are in a big hurry to get PostgreSQL going in your shiny new Mandrake Linux 9.1 machine, here is how to do it quickly.

These notes don't address security or backup and restore. I explain how to start the database server, create a user and database, create a table in the database, add some data and query it back.

]]> dbms 2003-04-12T19:23:11+05:00 Upgrade Mandrake 9.0 to 9.1 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/03/30/upgrade_mandrake_90_to_91.html Notes on how I upgraded Mandrake, without burning ISOs on cd-roms. 749@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ This weekend, I downloaded iso images for Mandrake 9.1 and decided to upgrade my Toshiba laptop. I've a dual-boot system with XP as the "other" OS. I ran out of CD-R's, so I had to install this from hard disk - a first time for me. Here are my installation notes.

]]> linux 2003-03-30T08:17:29+05:00 CD-R with Mandrake 9 and Toshiba 1905-S301 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/02/18/cdr_with_mandrake_9_and_toshiba_1905s301.html RTFM is a great way to save money! 732@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I tried many GUI clients including xcdroast in Mandrake, but these couldn't detect and write CD's using DVD/CD-R combo in my laptop.

Actually, it is pretty simple. Use cdrecord instead of any GUI client, with proper options. Read through CD-Writing HOWTO and I got 3 CD's written within half an hour.

]]> linux 2003-02-18T14:52:21+05:00 Lost inittab! http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/02/18/lost_inittab.html Snowed in with a file system corruption. 731@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Well, I went a little too adventurous with pushing X to the limits with my laptop running Mandrake 9. It resulted in a hard crash. Usually Linux is pretty good at coming back up and
repairing the file systems.

This time, it choked. Apparently, the /etc/inittab/ file got corrupted. After a gasp and re-collecting my thoughts, here is how I got the system back.

]]> linux 2003-02-18T14:35:17+05:00