Jay On Linux

You may not know it, but you probably use Linux everyday. Google, Facebook, and Android all use Linux. So does the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. The list goes on.

Now that Amazon is hitting the market with their Kindle Fire and Fire Phone, it might be nice to know that it’s running Linux. Linux is everywhere, except on the desktop. But this is slowly changing as people begin looking for an operating system for their older computers.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_adopters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_OS

Every so often I work on a computer that is older. Yesterday I worked on an old Compaq Presario PC with only 512 MB of RAM. It was running, or I should say, struggling to run Windows Vista. The solution? Xubuntu. Even with Xubuntu you should have at least 512 MB of memory.

Xubuntu installed fine and was up and running in about a half hour. The owner of the computer is used to Windows, so I had a little customization to it. I first moved the panel to the bottom of the desktop. I eliminated the extra work spaces, added the word Start to the menu, and installed Google Chrome. I also installed the Xubuntu restricted extras. Then I transferred all his files.

It went better than I expected. I had no video card issues (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950), and so I did not need to install any proprietary drivers. I set up the favorites for him, and customized Chrome.

My first impression was very positive. Xubuntu has come a long way since I used it last. I highly recommend it for older computers.

Xubuntu 14.04 is supported until April 2017.

A fundamental flaw in one of the most basic functions of OS X, Linux, UNIX and related operating systems was revealed and patched (Sept. 24) by software developers. The Bash shell (or command-line interface) for UNIX-like systems, allows injection of random, possibly malicious, code following commands, and automatically executes that code without verifying it. Today’s patch prevents that code execution.

However, when I tried to install the patch in Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon edition from the Update Manager I got this:

W: Ignoring file ‘getdeb.list.bck’ in directory ‘/etc/apt/sources.list.d/’ as it has an invalid filename extension
W: Ignoring file ‘getdeb.list.bck’ in directory ‘/etc/apt/sources.list.d/’ as it has an invalid filename extension
W: Ignoring file ‘getdeb.list.bck’ in directory ‘/etc/apt/sources.list.d/’ as it has an invalid filename extension
W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/b/bash/bash_4.3-7ubuntu1.2_amd64.deb
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.91.14 80]

I solved this by typing in the command line:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install –only-upgrade bash

Then I again ran the Update Manager. Done.

Read More
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29361794
http://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-protect-your-server-against-the-shellshock-bash-vulnerability

There are many reasons to use OpenDNS. Here is how you set it up in Linux Mint 17.

Go to Menu and search for network, click on Network Connections. Click once on your wired connection, then click edit on the right side. A new dialog box will open. Choose the tab that says IPv4 Settings. In the DNS servers box enter:

208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220

Then click save. You are done. It should look like this:

Linkshttp://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/opendns-ip-addresses/

It was actually two issues. When I shut down the computer I would get this error message: “reboot: system halted acquire the ‘org.freedesktop.ModemManager1’ service name nm-dispatcher.action: caught signal 15, shutting down… ModemManager.” And then it would just stop. It wouldn’t shut down. I had to physically push the off button.

Here is my solution: Since I am using a desktop, I just deleted the ModemManager. ModemManager is for mobile support, you don’t need it on the desktop.  After this I got a shorter message, “reboot: system halted 15, shutting down.” But it would still hang.

My next step was to add acpi=noirq to the kernel arguments:

sudo vi /etc/default/grub

set

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”acpi=noirq quiet splash”

then

sudo update-grub

Be careful editing this file. The second link below tells you how to save and close the file.

Finally, make sure acpi is enabled in your bios. Hopefully that should fix it. It worked for me.

Links
http://askubuntu.com/questions/132143/stuck-on-reboot-and-shutdown
http://askubuntu.com/questions/24406/how-to-close-vim-from-the-command-line
http://askubuntu.com/questions/461646/shutdown-hangs-for-5-minutes-on-kubuntu-14-04

So I started my podcasting process on Thursday’s, since that is my day off from work (that, and Friday’s). The recording went fine. But when I went to import it into Audacity, it would sound like super fast Chipmunks. And when it would stop it, it would freeze and I would have to force it to quiet.

I have been having a problem with my Linux system shutting down, so I thought maybe it was messed up. So I did a fresh install and restored all my files, which is an 8 hour process. But when I went to use it, I still had the same problems. Yes, I was frustrated. My mental constructs were getting the better of me. (I still have so far to go).

I then decided to use alternative programs. Ardour had too big of a learners curve. I finally choose a Windows program that is like Audacity called Wavosaur (I ran it under WINE). It worked to edit the file.

Many hours later I managed to figure out my problem with Audacity. In an updated, it changed the Default Sample Format from 24 bits to 32 bit float. I switched it back to 24 bits and it works fine again. To find this setting click Edit > Preferences > Quality.

Neflix does not make a Linux version and you cannot play movies on Linux. But this is not the end of the story. There is two workarounds that should work. Jack Wallen has done an excellent article on “How to Install the Netflix Streaming Client On Linux.”

You can find the article here: http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/785766-how-to-install-the-netflix-streaming-client-on-linux

The Google Chrome browser does not give you a graphical preview of an RSS feed. It gives you the straight xml output. I have been looking for an extension to correct this. I found one that suites my purpose, it is called the Shoyu RSS/Atom Feed Preview. It is in Google Play and is free.

Link
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/shoyu-rssatom-feed-previe/ilicaedjojicckapfpfdoakbehjpfkah?hl=en

Chromium no longer comes with flash installed. But there is a fix.

First thing you can do is simply start Linux Mint Software Manager and get the Pepper Flash Player – browser plugin. The package name is pepperflashplugin-nonfree.

You might be able to just click this link:
apt://pepperflashplugin-nonfree

If you need more help, please see link below:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Chromium/Getting-Flash

So I discovered with the new update of Chrome, that audio media players on websites were not working. They worked fine on Firefox. After struggling for a while, I figured out the problems was an extension called HTTPS Everywhere. Once I removed it, all was working fine.