The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, Tenet 05 — Embrace the CLI
Author's note: This article is excerpted in part from chapter 6 of my book, The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, with some changes. The Force is...
Check spelling at the command line
Check spelling at the command line like old-school Unix with this cool script.
Getting a hand from Handbrake
I have dozens of VHS tapes recorded, in some cases nearly 30 years ago, of our children when they were young. About ten years ago, I used a Linux computer and dvgrab to capture the video using a Firewire port on the computer and an aging digital video camera.
My usual file transfer method, QRCP, has been reliable for moving files between my Linux desktop and iOS devices. Disappointment with that method led me to consider using Handbrake as a potential solution.
Balancing Performance, Compliance, and Cost with Linux and Open-Source Solutions
My recent task involved assisting a healthcare professional in upgrading their computer system. The goal was to provide a more robust solution that offers redundant...
Happy Birthday to the IBM PC
The IBM PC turned 43 on the 12th of August and I, for one, have fond and interesting memories of its birth. I’m a bit behind the curve on writing this article, but better late than never. You can read the public history and the original specifications on Wikipedia, but this is my story — at least part of it.
System76’s Cosmic Desktop: A New Era in Linux UX
Last week, System76 unveiled COSMIC, a groundbreaking desktop for Linux computers. This isn't an iteration of Gnome, Cinnamon, XFCE, or KDE. It's a paradigm shift...
The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, Tenet 04 — Use the Linux FHS
The Linux Filesystem Hierarchical Standard (FHS) defines the structure of the Linux directory tree. It names a set of standard directories and designates their purposes.
Mastering the rm command
The rm command in Linux is a powerful tool for deleting files and directories. While it may seem simple, mastering this command requires understanding its...
Results of the Great Both.org Challenge
Since no one entered out little challenge, we have no new results to share. I was hoping to see if the results from this time...
Randomness, zero and more
Photo by Breakingpic from Pexels Randomness is an important tool in any computing environment. It's critical to creating public/private keypairs (PPKP) for use with tools like SSH,...
The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, Tenet 03 — Everything is a File
Author's note: This article is excerpted in part from chapter 5 of my book, The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, with some changes. This is one...
Top Five reasons I use Konsole terminal emulator
The most important tool for all Linux SysAdmins is the terminal emulator we choose. There are many from which to choose and all have features...
Gaming drives computing
We all play games on our computers. Whether a simple game of solitaire, chess, a first person shooter, adventure, action, arcade, military tactics, various types...
Getting started with Linux
I recently became a member of several Linux groups on Facebook because I was interested to see what they were all about. Many of the...
GUI disk usage analyzers in Linux
For people who prefer visual representations, these GUI-based tools help you understand how your storage capacity is used.
Sometimes the visual representation of disk utilization is easier or newer users may not be as familiar with the various Linux commands that display storage information. I am a person who comprehends visual representations more easily than the printout on the command line.
How to remove existing traditional swap partitions
Swap space is a common and important aspect of computing today regardless of operating system. Linux uses swap space to substitute for RAM when it becomes too full to effectively support additional programs or data. It is a way to temporarily enable the system to keep running albeit at the cost of reduced performance. However the use of zram for swap space has provided an interesting, if counter-intuitive, method for providing a reasonable amount of swap space while significantly improving swap performance.