I was able to download a copy of System Rescue CD. I wanted to try out 'partimage' and the prospect of downloading an almost 700mb ISO image of Knoppix did not appeal to me. Since I already have other Debian variants, I did not need Knoppix just yet. I did want to try out 'partimage' and Mr. Google politely showed me the way to System Rescue CD, a linux distro specifically compiled for doing -- yes, rescues!
I haven't really explored it much. You can check out how it looks like by going to this page: http://www.sysresccd.org/screenshots.en.php. What I'm trying out actually is to use it to back-up my data partition and burn the image onto several CD-R's. I'm doing this as an experiment for a friend who owns a computer shop. His pc's have been hit by viruses (or should i say 'virii'?) and trojans several times already. Minimizing downtime is important for a shop like his. Its what makes the difference between meeting the bottomline and not. So, I am trying my darndest to convince him to turn to open source solutions even if he's using Windows XP. Kind of like a compromise just to introduce him to open source foot-in-the-door style -- LOL. wish me luck on this one.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
The Itch
I was getting the same familiar itch again. I just had to do it. I had an unused installer amongst my cd's. It was an installer for Yoper (Your Operating System). It's a linux variant that was built from the ground up. It's not descended from anything, as far as I can tell. I was convinced I wanted to try it after reading some of the posts in it's online support forums.
Well, it didn't go too well. See,on the previous installs I've done I did not have any problems configuring my monitor. On Bayanihan, I just chose the generic option. On Mandrake, Ubuntu and Xandros the monitor worked with the default settings just fine. Xandros was extra easy, because it already had nVidia drivers bundled with its installer. On Yoper however, the generic setting was not working. It would give me an error that I chose the wrong setting. I tried picking a CRT model and brand that was different from mine, but no go. So after failing to do anything, I just popped in the Damn Small Linux (DSL) cd and tried doing the hard-drive install. It was after I finished that I realized it would be more flexible to just use the live cd.
Then I was back where I started. I just re-installed Xandros on the partition and started rebuilding the repository list. Then something happened. The electricity died. Another random brownout that seemed to plague us more and more recently. The electricity was back after about a 5-minute outage. I had lost my ardor by then. What a waste of time.
My next project? I'm trying to get a copy of CentOS and probably test that. Since its for servers, I'm convincing my wife to borrow an old PC her mom owns. I could probably use that to learn how servers (at least the linux ones) work. Another things I want to do is discover how to clone hard drives using open source software. A lot of debates in different forums out there about which program works best. I might go with Knoppix and a program packaged with it called 'partimage' that clones partitions. Knoppix is a live cd, so I could use it without installing, plus it has the regular stuff most linux distros come with. By regular, I mean they come with an office suite, cd/dvd burning software, image manipulation programs and software to connect to the internet. That's it for now. Ciao.
Well, it didn't go too well. See,on the previous installs I've done I did not have any problems configuring my monitor. On Bayanihan, I just chose the generic option. On Mandrake, Ubuntu and Xandros the monitor worked with the default settings just fine. Xandros was extra easy, because it already had nVidia drivers bundled with its installer. On Yoper however, the generic setting was not working. It would give me an error that I chose the wrong setting. I tried picking a CRT model and brand that was different from mine, but no go. So after failing to do anything, I just popped in the Damn Small Linux (DSL) cd and tried doing the hard-drive install. It was after I finished that I realized it would be more flexible to just use the live cd.
Then I was back where I started. I just re-installed Xandros on the partition and started rebuilding the repository list. Then something happened. The electricity died. Another random brownout that seemed to plague us more and more recently. The electricity was back after about a 5-minute outage. I had lost my ardor by then. What a waste of time.
My next project? I'm trying to get a copy of CentOS and probably test that. Since its for servers, I'm convincing my wife to borrow an old PC her mom owns. I could probably use that to learn how servers (at least the linux ones) work. Another things I want to do is discover how to clone hard drives using open source software. A lot of debates in different forums out there about which program works best. I might go with Knoppix and a program packaged with it called 'partimage' that clones partitions. Knoppix is a live cd, so I could use it without installing, plus it has the regular stuff most linux distros come with. By regular, I mean they come with an office suite, cd/dvd burning software, image manipulation programs and software to connect to the internet. That's it for now. Ciao.
Thursday, July 7, 2005
Ubuntu woes turn into joys...
Joy of joys! I managed to get the Java and Limewire RPM's to work in Ubuntu using a program already included in the Hoary (Ubuntu's latest version) package. I used 'alien' and I was able to convert the installers into something Ubuntu could use. Install went without incident after i used the text-based install located in the guide found in http://www,ubuntuguide.org. All was well until i tried launching Limewire and it came back with an error that my Java package was not the latest need to run the program. Heck, its new. Well, second to the latest anyway. But it should run limewire. I'm scouring online forums again for answers.
For my second 'achievement' today, i was able to configure Ubuntu to read my Windows data partition. That's where i keep the goodies (music, photos, back-up files). And because I was able to access it, I could add the wallpaper I saved there onto my Ubuntu desktop. Screenshot to the right...
Dave was right. You appreciate Linux when you discover how things work. It may frustrate you on the onset but you'll soon find gold at the foot of the rainbow.
Friday, July 1, 2005
Updating
I recently did fresh installs on all my linux partitions. I currently have Mandrake 10.1, Ubuntu (Hoary ed.) and Xandros. Of the three, Mandrake is my fave. It was my first linux. Haven't learned all that much but I've decided to try other distributions. Blame it on the virtually limitless number of developers (hence, hundreds) of different versions out there.
So Ubuntu got second pick, Xandros got third. Xandros has the best looking bot manager though. I am also leaning toward Xandros now that I am learning how easy it is to use if you're a MS-Windows user. I'd like to be able to influence other people to use linux, a reason why ease of use is an option I want to see in a distro.
The navigation in fantastic. It beats MS-Win at its own game. The only diff is this is still linux, and I'm running the free edition (Xandros 3.0.1 Open Circulation Ed.) by choice. No one is forcing me to buy the darned thing. If I want to, I could buy additional software from Xandros. That would be where its different from the rest of the Linux's. Most distros have openly free options, charging only for add-ons that are needed to run commercial or business apps. Good thing there are user forums where people give out tips.
Take this problem I was having. I had to install Java. I had an installer, but it's an RPM. RPM is short for Redhat Package Management, or something to that effect. It's an installer format built for Redhat, Mandrake, Bayanihan Linux, Fedora, etc. Not for Xandros or Ubuntu, which use Deb installer packages because they're descendants of the Debian family of distros. Found a way around that so I wouldn't have to download everything all over again. I can use some of my existing RPM's downloaded for Mandrake. Found help here: http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=15846&highlight=limewire.
Another problem I encountered was the limited selection of free software available on Xandros' service. I found a way aroudn that by scouring the user forums. I found help here: http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=16466&highlight=firewall.
If only I could do use RPM's on Ubuntu. I have a lot from my Mandrake installs. Its really a pain to download large files over dial-up, when I could be doing something better like sleep. Ho-hum...Which reminds me. I need to get a few hours of sleep before I go to work.
So Ubuntu got second pick, Xandros got third. Xandros has the best looking bot manager though. I am also leaning toward Xandros now that I am learning how easy it is to use if you're a MS-Windows user. I'd like to be able to influence other people to use linux, a reason why ease of use is an option I want to see in a distro.
The navigation in fantastic. It beats MS-Win at its own game. The only diff is this is still linux, and I'm running the free edition (Xandros 3.0.1 Open Circulation Ed.) by choice. No one is forcing me to buy the darned thing. If I want to, I could buy additional software from Xandros. That would be where its different from the rest of the Linux's. Most distros have openly free options, charging only for add-ons that are needed to run commercial or business apps. Good thing there are user forums where people give out tips.
Take this problem I was having. I had to install Java. I had an installer, but it's an RPM. RPM is short for Redhat Package Management, or something to that effect. It's an installer format built for Redhat, Mandrake, Bayanihan Linux, Fedora, etc. Not for Xandros or Ubuntu, which use Deb installer packages because they're descendants of the Debian family of distros. Found a way around that so I wouldn't have to download everything all over again. I can use some of my existing RPM's downloaded for Mandrake. Found help here: http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=15846&highlight=limewire.
Another problem I encountered was the limited selection of free software available on Xandros' service. I found a way aroudn that by scouring the user forums. I found help here: http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=16466&highlight=firewall.
If only I could do use RPM's on Ubuntu. I have a lot from my Mandrake installs. Its really a pain to download large files over dial-up, when I could be doing something better like sleep. Ho-hum...Which reminds me. I need to get a few hours of sleep before I go to work.
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