The Linux desktop environment continues to make strides from release to release, and I am a believer that one day in the future we’ll all be using some kind of Linux or UNIX variant, mainly due to the reason that people don’t throw out computers as much as they used to. For example, let’s say you have a three-year-old laptop and the hard drive...

Recently I’ve been checking out LXDE environment Linux distributions, one of them being Lubuntu. One thing I immediately noticed is that it’s not exactly easy to change how the clock looks. Sure, it’s easy enough to set the time, but to adjust the clock appearance isn’t exactly simple. Before continuing, yes I know that Windows 7 is...

Peppermint is a lightweight Linux distribution which you probably haven’t heard of, but only because it’s relatively new to the scene.  The distro being lightweight-sized is close to Xubuntu’s size at 512MB distributed. This OS requires an i386 or derivative processor (AMDs and 64-bit are OK as well) and 192MB RAM to operate, so it will run...

Installing a Linux distribution from USB stick is generally much easier than using a CD or DVD because while optical discs require a disc per distribution, USB sticks can simply be erased and used over again with any other distro you want. The easiest way by far to make a bootable Linux distro USB stick is the Universal USB Installer. This is a Windows...

My Dell mini 10v netbook runs Windows XP Home Edition. The XP OS is really old but it works. However I’ve decided to try to give Linux a go again, this time with Xubuntu 10.10. On a laptop in today’s computing world, XP sucks for basically one reason: Power management is abysmal. Today’s modern OSes will literally give you 30 minutes to an hour...

Of the reviews I’ve read, the single largest complaint about Google’s Cr-48 netbook is the fact you really can’t do much of anything outside the web browser. Specifically, "I want local apps" is heard loud and clear. At this point people simply aren’t ready for an all-on-cloud operating system. Chromium OS is, of course, Linux...

According to StatCounter, the total number of all those recorded by that service over the past 12 months states Linux users only account for 0.78%, with no appreciable increase in usage in that span of time: Even if you look at other statistics aside from Statcounter, the result is always the same – less than 1%. I’m not a Linux user personally...

In the video, this link is mentioned. This explains what I’m about to tell you. Interesting things about doing stuff in the Windows command line: It does not matter whether you use \ or / as a path character. C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC ..is the same as.. C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/DRIVERS/ETC ..is the same as.. C:\WINDOWS/SYSTEM32\DRIVERS/ETC All three will...

Something interesting to think about is that if there were no Windows, what would you use? You obviously have to use something for an OS. In a no-Windows world, there is basically only one choice: UNIX. On the desktop and laptop, Mac OS X is derived from UNIX, and Linux is "UNIX-like". On the smartphone, Apple’s iOS is derived from OS X, which...

For those of you that have tried out Linux the install-it-for-real way (meaning not virtually or using Wubi), the GRUB boot loader is installed. Side note: There’s also LILO, but the one I see more often than not for most Linux distros, namely Ubuntu, is GRUB. If using Microsoft software to remove GRUB from a hard drive, you would either use FDISK or...

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was released yesterday so feel free to download it. As is my usual practice I installed the OS in VirtualBox to test it out. The way to get better graphical capabilities in VirtualBox session is to install what’s called VirtualBox Additions. While the session is active, you click Devices then Install Guest Additions, like this:When using...

The 10.04 LTS release of Ubuntu happens tomorrow (and yes I’ll be sure to download a copy), however some Linux users prefer a lighter GUI so overall operation is faster. The first obvious choice for those that prefer a light GUI is Xubuntu, which uses XFCE. But then there those not too hot on XFCE either. The lightest of the light as far as I’m aware...

In order for an operating system to be truly geeky, it has to fulfill certain requirements.Must not be Windows. Must not be Mac. Must have a huge learning curve and take months to master. Must be ugly. A truly geeky OS isn’t pretty. The GUI should only be the absolute bare minimum in order to get the job done. Must have the vast majority of command...

Let’s face it, XP is old. Really old. However in the business world, Win2000 and WinXP still have a strong foothold on the desktop. But thankfully XP is finally losing its grip. By the end of 2010 it’s speculated that 50% of business will be using Windows 7. This is largely due to the fact that more IT admins have given Win 7 the thumbs up as a...

Everybody knows that I love (sarcasm..) Flash. The current Flash player version is 10, however there is a 10.1 Beta 3 release out at the time of this writing, so I decided to give it a go to see how it performs. The first thing to note is how it’s installed. This is on the download page:In Windows, this is a five step process.Close all web browsers...

If there’s two things Ubuntu has always been, it’s brown and orange. This has a striking resemblance to the not-so good looking nature of, say, a shag living room carpet circa the 1970s. You can’t convince me that a brown interface with bright orange icons looks good. Not a chance. Ubuntu has been like that for quite some time. While it’s...

If you have the need for a dedicated file server and have some old equipment laying around, turn it into a fully functional file server with FreeNAS. FreeNAS is an embedded open source NAS (Network-Attached Storage) distribution based on FreeBSD, supporting the following protocols: CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, TFTP, AFP, RSYNC, Unison, iSCSI (initiator and target)...

Why would you want to block sites? Maybe you have kids you don’t want going to specific places on the internet. Maybe you’re trying to cut down on data usage because of a bandwidth cap forced upon you by your ISP. No matter the reason, people do have need to block specific sites from time to time. It’s an unfortunate truth that there...

Netbooks by nature do not have optical drives, so the way to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix, abbreviated UNR, is to use the usb-creator program to create a bootable USB stick.This program is on the UNR 9.10 ISO image itself. To access it, burn the UNR image to a CD or alternatively use an ISO mounting program in Windows, such as Virtual CloneDrive (free, works...

If you are looking to have a simple home server, or already have one, which shares your files across the network, a device you should take a look at is the SheevaPlug. Plug it into a wall socket and bam—a fully-functional Linux server that can store digital media accessible remotely via the internet or function as a remote print or web server. Plus, it...