GNOME’s file manager, Nautilus, (as you would expect) is much more than just a plain file manager. There are so many configuration options and ways to extend the default GNOME file manager. One way to extend Nautilus is by adding actions. A Nautilus action is a way to add new features that can do pretty [...]

Lately I have been doing a lot of coverage of MySQL. Of course there are a lot of reasons for that – MySQL is as popular a database as it is flexible and reliable. And so far I’ve covered MySQL Workbench (see my article “Complete database administration package MySQL Workbench“), MySQL Administrator (see my article [...]

I have covered MySQL in a number of ways so far. You can read how to administer your MySQL database with MySQL Workbench (see my article “Complete database administration package MySQL Workbench“), MySQL Administrator (see my article “Creating a database with MySQL Administrator“), MySQL Navigator (see my article “Manage you MySQL databases with an easy [...]

Recently I covered one of the Gadmintools, Gadmin-Samba (see my article “Configure Samba with Gadmin-samba“). The Gadmintools set of tools is a set of GUI administration tools (hence the name “Gadmin”) for the Linux operating system that takes often-complex tasks and makes them far easier. One of those tasks is backing up with Rsync. Of [...]

For those new to Samba, the configuration of this provider of seamless file and print services to SMB/CIFS clients can sometimes be a nightmare. Not only are you dealing with tricky configuration files, you also have to worry about getting users added to encrypted password files. Of course if you want to tackle this the old-school [...]

Recently I covered the MySQL GUI tool MySQL Administrator (see the article “Create a database with MySQL Administrator“). However, this tool was just given the official EOL (End of Life) announcement by the MySQL dev team. Although this is sad news for a tool that had recently become my standard for working with databases, this [...]

I work with secure shell all the time. Day in and day out I am administering personal machines and client machines with the help of ssh. After a while opening up a terminal window and entering the command to connect to all of these clients gets old. And we all know saving time and effort [...]

The Windows operating system is not the only operating system with a registry. And I do realize that many of you cringed when you read the words “Windows” and “registry” in the same sentence. But don’t worry – the GNOME registry isn’t such a beast that can take your machine down with a single, poorly [...]

Now that we how to set up your Linux system to sync music to your iPhone (see my article “Syncing your iPhone (or iTouch) with Linux“), I thought it would be a good call to show you the step-by-step process of adding that music. This tutorial will start from ripping a CD all the way [...]

It’s taken me long enough, but finally a solution for syncing both an iPhone and an iTouch with Linux is possible. What is best about this method, is that it does NOT require a jailbroken iPhone. That’s right, you’ll be able to sync your iPhone, via USB, and add all sorts of good music to [...]

GNOME is one of the more stable and user-friendly desktops around. And of course, like most of the Linux-verse, with a little tweaking you can make it even more user-friendly. The GNOME panel is one aspect of the GNOME desktop that certainly does not escape possible tweaks. In this tips and tricks article you will [...]

If you’ve worked in Windows long enough, you have come across the .chm file format. This format is nothing more than a compressed html directory with an included index for easy viewing. Problem is, you can’t view these files in Linux without the help of another tool. And sometimes you want to be able view [...]

Linux is a true multi-user environment. This means that more than one user can be logged on at the same time. Because of this many Linux administrators have to deal with the administration of users and groups. Fortunately there are tools for this. From both the command line and the GUI, you can do just [...]

Today’s Linux article has two purposes: 1) To add a little spice to your boring old email signature, and to help you understand a bit about bash scripting. The goal is to be able to create a pseudo-dynamic email signature that adds the uptime of your Linux box and/or the output of the fortune command. [...]

You’ve managed to tackle Linux. You’ve installed it and are using it (or planning on using it) for either a server or a desktop. You’ve found it works well, but maybe you want to take it up a notch and give a BSD a try. BSD is not Linux. BSD is a modification of AT&T’s [...]

I have at least four machines running at all times – all using one monitor. Not only does space dictate this setup, so to does budget. Because of this I am relegated to using a KVM switch. If you’re not sure what a KVM switch is, it is a device that allows you to use [...]

If you’ve been reading the Linux section of Ghacks long enough then you most likely have come across a few articles about virtual machines (see articles covering VirtualBox here on Ghacks.) And if you’ve read enough of these articles, you know how important virtual machines can be to a developer, administrator, or even a user. [...]

For the longest time the only worthwhile network manage (especially of the wireless kind) was the GNOME Network Manager. Once KDE hit release 4 their network manager KNetwork Manager was plagued with issues to the point where it was nearly unusable. KDE 4.3 is out now and the KNetwork Manager has matured quite a bit. [...]

It’s almost that time again – time to start chatting up the next release coming out of the Ubuntu-verse. I know, I know…it seems the tires of 9.10 were just kicked. They were. Ubuntu 9.10 was well received, but now something bigger and better is coming around the corner. But what should be expected of [...]

Lately I have had to use a number of flow charts for articles and presentations. Flow charts are very handy tools to help explain processes, algorithms, and more. A flow chart could be created with a standard graphics or drawing tool (GIMP, Inkscape, or OpenOffice come to mind). But by using such a tool you are [...]

My last article illustrated how to manage your MySQL databases with a simple (albeit outdated) GUI MySQL Navigator (see my article “Manage your MySQL databases with an easy to use GUI“). Although that tool is outdated, it does still work for basic functionality. But there are better tools for managing your MySQL databases. One of [...]

If you’ve read my Linux content here on Ghacks enough, you have most likely noticed my preference for not using the MySQL command line. That is not to say I don’t ever use it, I just prefer tools to help make that aspect of database use easier. My preference, until recent, has been PhpMyAdmin (see [...]

The social scene has nearly reached critical mass. You can not peak around the internet without seeing its tendrils reaching deep within the fabric of every site you visit. This, of course, can cause problems with your work, school, or group environment. While work is supposed to be done, your users/employees are socializing on Facebook, Twitter, [...]

Today was a day that offered me a few good surprises. On my editing schedule I have an assignment to cover virtual machines using KVM. But since KVM only works with CPUs that contain the necessary instructions, I knew my only chance was on my main desktop (and not any of my testing machines). My [...]

If you have done much work with Apache then most likely you have experienced a need for enabling the rewrite engine. If you are unfamiliar with the rewrite engine, you can think of it as a means for your web server to literally rewrite urls so they are easier for users to remember. So instead [...]

I remember, back in the day, when dealing with fonts in Linux was a real problem. At best you were given the xfontsel application, which was an X11 way of displaying the fonts on your system – only in the old-school X11 method (think bitmappy). Fortunately modern Linux distributions have much better fonts and font [...]

Android OS is about to make the migration from mobile phone to netbook PC (most likely thanks to Asus). If you’ve not seen an Android-based phone, you most likely are not aware just what the possibilities are. Although Android won’t take the desktop or standard laptop landscape by storm, the netbook landscape COULD be totally [...]

Keeping yourself on task can be difficult with so many distractions available. From the internet, to colleagues, to music, to just about anything – it seems everything around you is doing its best to keep you from your work. This becomes a real problem with deadlines looming over your head. Can you manage to get that function rewritten [...]

I have been working with the Acetone ISO manager and have been in awe at how much this tool can do. The creators of Acetone call it a CD/DVD image manager, but from my perspective it is much more than that. Acetone is more like an emulator for different types of ISOs that can allow [...]

Today a loyal reader sent me a message saying he enjoyed the Alternative Linux web browsers article and was hoping I could apply the same idea to PDF viewers. The truth of the matter is that nearly every PDF viewer in Linux is an alternative. Yes we Linux users do get to enjoy Acrobat Reader to [...]

Not every scanning software offers the means to post-process the scanned documents. Even those that do sometimes do not make it very comfortable for the user to process large quantities of scanned papers. That’s where the Open Source scanning software Scan Tailor might step in. Scan Tailor is “an interactive post-processing tool for scanned pages” [...]

You know Firefox like the back of your hand. You’ve heard tale of Chrome and you know KDE has tried to pawn Konqueror off as their default browser. In the distance you hear Opera calling your name and IE4Lin tries to woo you to the dark side. Browsers, the lot of them. You can’t go [...]

Q: What is a “brasero”? A: A Spanish oven that is placed under a table in order to heat those sitting at the table. Correct, but not in terms of Linux. A 2.0: A GTK+ front end for cdrtools, growisofs, and (optionally) libburn. Correct! If you have used a modern Linux system then you know how [...]

If you are a student, teacher, writer, or anyone who has a need for a bibligraphy then you need to do yourself a favor and make use of a bibliographic manager. A bibliographic manager will organize, query, share, insert, and import bibliographic databases. One tool for this is Bibus. Bibus is an open source bibliographic database that can [...]

If you’ve ever had to work with a database in Linux you most likely are aware of three or four tools that can handle the task: MySQL, PostgreSQL, PhpMyAdmin, and OpenOffice Base. These are all outstanding applications, but the first two are complex command-line only tools, the third requires a web server, and the last [...]

Lately it has been a veritable onslaught of distribution releases: Ubuntu 9.10, Fedora 12, Mandriva (article coming soon) , Debian 5 (article coming soon), and many more. With all of these releases it’s been a real treat to kick the tires and see just how the various distributions put their spin on Linux. Another distribution [...]

Even though the Linux operating system is very stable and rarely needs a reboot, there are times when an update (such as a kernel update) will make this a requirement. At least that used to be the case. That is correct. With the help of a newly developed technology (dubbed Ksplice) even a kernel update [...]

The very early stages of the REAL Google Chrome operating system has been released (and done so fully open sourced). It’s not an operating system you can (and should) be putting on a stand alone machine. Actually what has been released are VirtualBox and VMware images that can be booted in their respective virtual machines. [...]

I’m fairly confident that you have, at one time or another, run across an md5checksum file as you have perused the internet. Whether it was a download file or even an application upgrade, those md5 files are there for a reason. But just what is the reason? When someone puts a file up on a [...]

In the wake of Ubuntu’s 9.10 release, many distributions were forgotten. But one distribution, in particular, keeps getting better and better under the radar. That distribution? Fedora. Just this week Fedora 12 was released, brining some serious improvements not only to the cutting edge distribution, but to Linux in general. Upon installation you might not [...]

As you have most likely seen on Ghacks, there are numerous ways to keep your Linux distributions up to date. There are new systems available such as the Ubuntu Software Center (see my article “The new Ubuntu Software Center“) that make installing software a piece of cake. But even with applications such as the USC [...]

If you’re like me (and I know you are) you have an endless assortment of passwords stored in your head. And, again, if you’re like me your age is defying your memory such that your brain isn’t always so quick to recall that endless stream of random characters you have for passwords (and you know [...]

Here on Ghacks I have mentioned a few tools that allow you to create various types of Linux CDs. Most of these tools allow you to create Live CDs that are either images of your current working distribution or tools to create a Live CD with special packages. But none of these tools, so far, [...]

KDE is not a desktop that should be overlooked. Not only did it completely redefine itself upon the launch of 4.x, it has added features that have made it unique in the land of desktops. But because KDE completely re-invented itself at version 4 it’s almost as if you have to consider this a completely [...]

For the longest time I refused to see the value in Twitter. Over the last six months I have changed my tune on that. Now I use Twitter primarily as a PR tool for my articles. And since my renewed belief in micro-blogging, I have found plenty of tools with which to enact with Twitter. [...]

RSS has become such a common source of information for us information junkies. Whether you are following Ghacks via RSS, your favorite news site, or your favorite blog, it’s nice to be able to get all of those feeds centralized on your desktop. For Linux there are plenty of possible RSS feed readers. One of [...]

When you think about office suites, two names come to mind: Microsoft Office and OpenOffice. There is a good reason for that – they are the two powerhouses in the field. Of course there are alternatives. For Windows there is Softmaker Office and Lotus Symphony. For the Mac there is iWork. For Linux there is [...]

Recently I covered the front-end of the Gnumed software designed for the medical industry (see “Let your medical practice go open source with Gnumed.”) In that article I showed you how to start working with Gnumed, but limited the installation to using the public servers. Because these public servers can not safely and securely hold [...]

So many tool require databases. If you are a web administrator or a company with large stores of information, then you know the importance of databases. One of the most oft-used databases available is MySQL. But that is not the only player on the court. Another cross platform object-relational database management tool is PostgreSQL. Many [...]

Ever asked yourself if you should take the car, train or plane on your next holiday or business trip? Maybe you have even tried to calculate the traveling time and expenses for the various traveling options. Doing that manually can take quite some time. That’s where the new web service routeRank steps in. RouteRank queries [...]