Learn C by writing a number guessing game
The “Guess the number” game is a fun way to learn a new programming language.
Easy File Management with Thunar
Computers are all about files. Linux itself is a collection of many files; application programs like LibreOffice are made up of many files; and the documents, spreadsheets, financial data, photos, videos, audio, and more that you use are all files. Working with files is a very important part of your work as a user.
This article introduces the use of the Thunar graphical file manager for managing files.
Editing files with FreeDOS Edlin
Edlin is a classic editor from the early DOS days, but it’s still a fun and useful editor.
Setting the status line for the Screen program
In my recent article about the Screen program, I mention that one of the best things about the Screen program is that it gets out of the way and lets you just do your work. As a result, there may be no on-screen indication that you’re in a Screen session. That can cause a bit of bother.
I decided to investigate. What I found is interesting.
Using the screen command for flexibility
You might at first think of “screen” as the device on which your Linux desktop is displayed. That is one meaning. For SysAdmins like us,...
How I send email from the command line
There are times when I find it useful to send email from the command line. I’m not talking about using one of the text mode clients llike Alpine. I mean sending email directly from the command line.
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How to access Rescue mode (runlevel 1) in Linux
I frequently find need to perform maintenance on the filesystem of one of my dozen or so physical computers. Many maintenance tasks require the system to be running the Rescue.target, formerly, runlevel 1. There are two methods you can use to enter Rescue mode.
The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, Tenet 06 — Be the Lazy SysAdmin
I am a lazy SysAdmin. I am also a very productive SysAdmin. Those two seemingly contradictory statements are not mutually exclusive, rather they are complementary in a very positive way. This article is about working hard at the right tasks to optimize our own efficiency. It’s about finding a few of the myriad ways to use the short cuts already built into Linux.
Top Five reasons I use Dolphin as my file manager
Linux has many file managers, and all of us have our favorites. I’m currently using Dolphin. Find out why.
Top Five reasons to use KDE Plasma desktop
As many of my readers know, I have had problems with KDE Plasma in the past. I won’t bore you with a rehash of those problems, but for many years I used KDE and was very happy with it. While it was having problems I tried several other desktops but finally switched to Xfce.
KDE Plasma 6.1 is included with Fedora 40 and I always try new major releases of KDE Plasma and other desktops. I did this time, too and I’m very happy to report that all the problems I’ve experienced in the past have been completely resolved.
Top Five things you can do with nano
In the early stages of my experience with Linux servers, I had to learn how to edit text files using the command line. While there are other powerful text editors in Linux, such as vi and vim, I found Nano to be particularly useful.
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.