When Microsoft released a late alpha, but generally stable version of the Windows 8 Developer Preview the other week a great many people, including myself, were greatly surprised.  This is because it goes against everything Windows chief Steven Sinofsky generally believes.  But it was very clear why Microsoft had made this decision. They know full [...]

Categories: Linux, Microsoft, Windows

It’s almost time. Soon a new paradigm of GNOME is going to drop onto the desktops of suspecting (and unsuspecting) users. When this does there is going to be reaction. As with any major change to the computer industry, users are going to have both negative and positive reactions. Some will go so far as [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source

Whenever I try to explain using cron to schedule jobs, new Linux users cringe at the thought of learning yet another command line tool. That’s a shame, because cron is an incredibly handy tool to have in your toolbox. But just because you fear the command line, doesn’t mean you don’t get to take advantage [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic

It’s almost here. Ubuntu 11.04 will be arriving in less than two months and when it does, there will be reactions. Big reactions. Some of those reactions will not be so great. I took the time to install the latest Ubuntu Unity and thought I should give my reaction to how this new desktop is [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source

Do you use the terminal in Linux? If you use Linux long enough you will. And chances are, if you are using the terminal in Linux, you are using either the GNOME terminal or KDE’s konsole. Each has their pros and cons and each has a lot of tricks tucked up inside their sleeves. I [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Software, Tutorials Basic

We could all use some handy tips now and then. Wouldn’t it be great if they were, quite literally, at our fingertips? If you are a Ubuntu user, those tips can be at your finger tips with the help of a handy tip applet. This applet works in conjunction with the Fortunes application and serves [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Software, Tutorials Basic

Are you a Facebook junkie? Do you find yourself constantly posting status updates? And…more important…do you constantly  upload photos of yourself, your friends, your animals, and your computers to your facebook account? If the latter is the case, do you find the standard method of uploading photos to facebook cumbersome? Don’t you wish there was [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Online Services, Open Source, The Web, Tutorials Basic

If you are looking for a tool that can give you a graphical, interactive representation of what is taking up all of that hard disk space on your Linux machine, look no further than Baobab. Baobab (also a tree native to Madagascar) is a graphical, menu-driven viewer that allows you to get a birds eye view of [...]

Categories: Hardware, Linux, Open Source, Software, Tutorials Basic

Seahorse is a very powerful tool for the creation and managing of various keys. Seahorse is the default keyring manager for the GNOME desktop. I have covered Seahorse here on Ghacks before (see “Create, sign, and publish your PGP keys with Seahorse“), but one aspect I didn’t cover was the use of Seahorse for secure [...]

Categories: Linux, Open Source, Security, Tutorials Basic