Linux Desktops and Linux File Managers

This is something I have to revisit. When I realized each Desktop has its own File Manager, I decided to stick with Gnome and Nautilus.

For some unknown reason I hated Thunar. To begin with its icon was ugly.

I cannot click it daily.

Folder is a Drawer in a File Cabinet.

GNOME icon exactly represent that fact.

Try to be sensible when representing an icon which even a kid can relate.

Xfce

Thunar file manager

I moved away from Xfce but I started with Xfce on Emmabantus.

Emmabantus was the only distribution that supported AbiWord my favourite.

Debian and Redhat did not.

Even Russian ROSA Linux does not suoport AbiWord.

1. Gnome

Nautilus

2. KDE

Komander

Dolphin is the Best File Manager

3. Cinnamon 

Nemo

Mint is a loaded uo Cinnamon Dektip

I gave two desktops below since they could not mount Synaptic Package Manager. 

What's the point if I cannot download a free software I need?

4. LXDE

PCManFM

5. LXQ

PCManFM-qt

6. AntiX

ROX

Zzzx

Window Managers

Window Mangers do not have Package Managers.

AntiX uses Window Managers and they cannot configure WiFi

1. Joe's WM

JWM

2. Openbox

3. IceWM

I really like this.

4. Awesome

5. Blackbox

6. Fluxbix

7. i3

8.? Bsp

9.?

 

Why I Oppose Official Linux Distribution

A guy from ZDnet is proposing an Official Linux Distribution.

I consider by convey Debian Gnome is the de facto official Linux Distribution.

It is solid, stable and secure and by convention no propritarry stuff.

But it has over 60,000 apllications.

Its Kernel changes every, 2 years.

It has a Testing Brach which I use and a Unstable Branch which test new softwsre when trouble free they are released to the Testing.

Debian has robust system and the desktop is only the front end.

Then of course anybody can build his or her version but any new stuff should be given back.

Copy Left.

No Cooy Right.

These events ZDNet guys want a robust Distribution to add their Cipy Right stuff and sell.

That is like a Bad Christmas Joke.

Linux does not need advice from ZDNet.

Long time ago I followed ZDNet.

I used  to subscribed to the Linux Magazine.

Being from CEYLON after retirement my Rupee retirement salary was tiny to work on dollars and pounds purchases.

So I quit Linux academic stuff but kept on Testing almost 90% of the Linux Distributions from 32 bit time.

I have my privacy Web Page Free long befire even Google came inti existences.

Google is my Work Horse, thank You GOOGLE for the free Blog Post.

I am not a YouTube guy but a text and books guy including Linux Bible.

I am currently finishing a book on Linux Essentials and it has gone beyond 500 pages.

Not for Royalties but as a Permanent Record. Any Royalties would go to my children by default. 

Uncertainty and Doubt

 
Uncertainty and Doubt 
Meaning of Freedom
Reproduction which is very OLD but relevant to this Day

The dangling of the carrot is the proverbial statement for an offering that is apparently “feasible but not tenable”, that is presented to hoodwink the unsuspecting masses.
Now the operative word is the FUD, a shorthand for Fear, Uncertainty and the Doubt. FUD the triple of Fear, Uncertainty and the Doubt that is created in the minds of masses by corporate giants and is utilized to sideline the competitors.
Good example is the operation of Microsoft against the competitive Linux distributions. 

When Linux was emerging as an operating system the FUD was amply utilized to distance the would be computer enthusiast and lure him / her to Microsoft Windows.
But being intellectuals most of the Linux enthusiast overcame this by sheer courage and community spirits. 

Linux was very flexible and now quite unintentionally FUD is working against its originator.

 Community spirit prevailed in the Linux community and the Free Software Foundation laid the foundation in overcoming FUD syndrome. The spirit of Free Software Foundation / Linux is the gift of original software to the Internet Community.
As long as the authorship (not ownership) is quoted any modification could be done to the original copy to improve it and remove bugs. However the improved version has to be re-released back to the pool for further development by the community.
It is called the copy left and not copy right.
So the natural evolution of the software takes leaps and bounds within a short space of time for the betterment of the masses.
Much of this principle is very much close to the Buddhist principle of “Dhamma Dhana” but with a difference. 

What is given away is recycled with added improvement in quality and it is given away for another cycle like the “Sansara Cycle" never ending.
One need not improve “The Dhamma” but only have to understand its underlying principles and spread the message of goodwill.
 

It is interesting to note that a Buddhist monk who had appeared in a court to protect his "Pirith cassette", he had been marketing.
Is the “Sabbha Dhanam Dhamma Dhanam Jinathi” spirit of Buddhism being betrayed?
This monk should read the evolution of Linux Community and the General Public License that came with the Free Software Foundation. 

This Buddhist monk does not understand that the Gift of Dhamma is the supreme gift and it should not be commercialized. 

A blank CD / cassette is only Rs.25 / 50 and anybody who is selling a Pirith CD / cassette for more than Rs.50 is vandalizing these principles.
 

If Buddha is alive today I wonder what he would utter.
 

Would be an another occasion for “Udana Whakya” similar to “Sabbha Dhanam Linux Dhanam Jinathi” and would have a little smile at the corner of his mouth. 

There would be few more verses added illustrating the illusion of freedom and liberty of the mind filled with lust, hate and delusion.
Are we truly free and liberated?
It is something worth pondering.
 

All Sri-Lankans whatever the creed may be, believe that they are prisoners of their own conscience.
 

Sinhalese believe that they have to be free from interference by Tamils.
Tamils believe they are persecuted by the majority.
Are the Tamils free from persecution by their masters?.
The Muslims, believe they have to be free from indulgence from both Tamils and Sinhalese.
 

Million dollar question is, could the piece mongers (foreign ambassadors of dubious credentials) allay the FUD syndrome?
 

They in fact created it.
 

We are in this vicious cycle of suspicion, the LTTE and party in power and party aspiring to come into power are spreading the FUD syndrome viciously to its maximum zenith (peak).
What is needed is to have FUD syndrome at its nadir (depths).
The international community spreads the FUD syndrome to help the propagation of their corporate agenda with dangling the proverbial carrot.
What is happening in the political field in Sri-Lanka is the insensible manifestation of FUD syndrome.
At a philosophical level what Socrates said to an aggressive follower who would stretch his arm for a punch is relevant even today.
“Your freedom ends where my nose begins”.
The international community should realize that they are very close to every one's nose.
It is nice to recapture what Nazurudeen stated about his failure to marry.
It is said that he had been to all the countries looking for a girl he liked.
Ultimately he found one but the girl who matched his interests was also looking for man whom she wanted but alas for him / her that man was not Nazurudeen.
We have being looking for a suitable match maker for   Sri-Lankan bride. 

Now we are left with a whole harem of foreign ambassadorial girls (donating their vices).
At what price we do not know?
This is where one has to ponder and ask the vital question what is the price for freedom and what is the meaning of liberty?
Poor man on the street does not understand the jargon he will never be freed from his poverty.
As long as there is corporate mind set in making profits without sharing the wealth of information with its competitors to improve the quality and availability at an affordable price the gap between the rich and poor would widen.
Free market philosophy is not for liberating the masses.
They are there to increase the profits.
The belief that profits would filter to the masses is a grand myth.
There is no community involvement as seen in the Linux community. Linux community feels that they are liberated from the corporate giants. Until and unless we are free from both local and foreign corporate giants who are hell bent on making profits and exercise their monopoly, the freedom of choice is an illusion to the majority.
Only the minority will have the freedom to enjoy and exploit.
This corporate mind set should change to community mind set and community involvement.
There is a limit that the free market philosophy can stretch but beyond that point there are diminishing returns.
Like in the Linux community somewhat similar orientation has to take place in the business community in        Sri-Lanka and worldwide for the true meaning of freedom to be enjoyed by all.
Not a privileged and selected minority.
Freedom that costs is meaningless.
Selfish gains but no devotion as is preached by all the religions is not relevant to the corporate mind set.
Microsoft agents doing a few community projects (to lure a few deprived clients in the periphery) without shedding their corporate mentality is of little benefit to the masses.
A wholesome benefits want accrue.
If we do not think in radical terms and initiate changes now, there going to be massive uprising, hitherto unknown in the past. Some of the manifestations in the world today are a sign of this frustration building.
Not only with the poor but in the middle class too.
The middle class gave stability but it is fast disappearing.
With the wide use of the Internet, we would hear of more and more of evolving crisis.
People would like to see the credibility in their leaders which is sadly lacking in the world because of corporate giants pulling their strings behind their leaders.
They determine policy not the larger masses.
The masses would ask what is the meaning of this freedom?
That is the starting point of the crisis of this century.
Leaders have to be groomed with social values and ideals and not individual profiles and party profiles. Leaders should not be trained only to run the corporate giants. Leaders should be trained to lead the community they live.
Emulating western values only, going to be, not enough and begging bowl mentality should give way to equal partners in international dealing whether the country is big or small.
Some of the eastern values of sharing and caring should take precedence over profits. Then only one can call the citizens of sovereign nations are free and liberated.
United Nations will fail in their duty, if they have only Human Right Charter for cosmetic exercises. In that case the amount money that is spent on UNO could be better utilized for some other ventures.
They should rewrite these Charters.
Profit beyond certain acceptable levels should be prohibited or a certain level of compulsion to do community research both eco-friendly and community-friendly should be encouraged.
What is the big idea of having a few rich people and million and millions of poor souls?
How can a man like Tyson a champion one day and then a pauper the next day (in his twilight years)?
It is not acceptable in USA and for that matter any other country in this world.
Where is the social security?
England had a very well organized social security system and in another 50 years time it is going to be all private pensions?
These questions that are raised in the West and are equally relevant to us. The people who raise these voices have no industrial or corporate muscle.
Party politics seem to have ruined the entire world.
Most of the party leaders worldwide are gullible liars and some of them are of course pathological in nature.
Can we trust these leaders?
This is what is emerging in the West.
The covert political mechanisms are firmly embedded and established, in the  current system, only the corrupt and rich can rise to the top.
So, talking about freedom whether it is in the West or East is futile to the average man on the street. They just get the kick out of kicking a party out of power to get another miserable party into power and languish till the next opportunity to make the same mistake again.
In reality, it is a Gamble or a Casino?
One day cricket was much more interesting until this Casino bug bit it in full.
At the end of the day, all the so called democratic exercises are futile and the freedom of choice, a bad dream and a nightmare, just as well, to be forgotten by the majority at stake.
The liberation that the average man is looking for in economic and social fields is not achieved. 

Goals are set but never achieved due to lack of penetrating insight and vision.
What is done is patchy and ad hoc. 

We are blindly going through the cycle of events till events take control of our freedom.
Are we truly liberated?
The answer is firm, No.

Freedom
Four freedoms elegantly expressed by former US President F.D.Roosevelt have given way to FUD factor. 
The freedom of speech and expression (state controlled media and private media with vested interests), 
freedom of worship (desecrating religions), 
freedom from want (poverty) and last but not least 
freedom from fear (terrorism) has no meaning today worldwide.
The last factor the fear (from both physical and psychological) is utilized to gain undesirable motives.
The psychological fear is the deadliest of all and our doctors are using this to the detriment of the profession (both public and private).
 
Buddhist Outlook 

Satara Biya
 
Four Fears
Death
Greed
Dosa
Moha

Migration to 64 bit Computer in Linux

 Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Migration to 64 bit Computer in Linux

After 15 years of regular 32 bit computer user, changing to 64 bit was a bit of a pain in Linux. Linux distributions fair very badly on 64 bit computers.

I tried more than 10.

Let me say, my change was mainly for the purpose of saving ENERGY and thereby my Electricity Bill.

Yes it saved a lot.

I now use the computer as my NIGHT heater.

It used to be a laptop on my lap.

The new one has lot of fans fixed to cool it down and the byproduct is my room is warm at night.

Just to test its energy consumption, I let it run overnight with Linux logged off.

I got the bill yesterday.

It has saved me 100 Units.

So saying good bye to 9 out of 10 32 bits was productive.

Even though, I had ten one was exclusively used others were for some mundane Linux work.

The 64 bit one was struck by lightening and it went through the UPS battery and burned the upholstery and cooling system.

It got hot hot within seconds of booting and after some repair used it for testing 64 bit Linux distributions but never installed any.

So my testing of 64 bits is only one month's standing.

 

I list the downside of Linux 64 bits.

 

Software has bugs and LibreOffice had lot of missing plug ins.

I booted Ubuntu 15.10 and it is no better compared to 14.10 LTS.

Besides graphic display was ugly.

Everything dark.

Font edges are blurry and not smooth.

Nice points apart from saving electricity is only the fans make a noise.

 

Internet with cookies removed is awfully fast.

Email reading was fast enough with Yahoo. 

 

I use less and less of DVD drive, that also saves money.

 

Hard disk is SATA which is much better than IDE for data transfer.

 

The Multimedia Dashboard has slots for SD cards and MMR.

USB booting especially with USB 3 is faster

I would have preferred to have an internal SSD hard drive.

I would go for portable external SSD instead.

They are still expensive and the capacity is nowhere my needs of multi-booting at Least 6 Linux distributions in addition to one copy of windows.

Overall I am impressed by the Intel technology.

Most of my 32 bit Linux distributions on MultiSystem USB booting are redundant now,

However, I keep the 32 bit computer linked with KVM switch / port to retrieve old data files.

USB stick is my workhorse now.

 

Well in time to come I will have all my Linux distributions in a tiny external hard disk (in fact I have already done it) live booted with lot of isos in for testing a potential Linux customer (hardly any).

 

Linus and Linux on the fly is my motto.

Removing An Account From Google

Reproduction 

Removing An Account From Google

A technical preamble is appropriate here.
I am not a fan of mobile phones.
In fact, I am new to mobile phones.
I use Land Phone exclusively for mission critical work.
Mobiles are pain in the neck with lot of clutter.

I bought two phones when my wife was out of the country for few days.
The reason is not to keep in touch with her but for a different but mission critical work, let me not expand on it.
One was cheap Java Phone which is out of order after 3 months use.
Not due to physical damage but due poor RAM.
The RAM was not sufficient even to load the screen.
No touch screen.
The second phone wit a touch screen, I hacked to my heart content and is still working android.
In my first hacking (to see whether it can be used by a visually handicapped person it FROZE and could not go back to factory setting.
After three days of fiddling with it I went back to the vendor and he could not do any better.
This time the problem was with the version of the Android.
It was too old.
So when you buy a Phone one had to decide on the RAM and the version of the android.
If you use a phone for just for only calls by an old analog mobile.
Java Phones are pain in the neck.
If you are buying a new Android go for a Version 5 not the version 4 that I am using (sparingly, though).
I wish I could keep in touch with my dog with a mobile phone.
I must say I learned the touch system and little tricks from my daughter.
These gadgets are made exclusively for young people to keep in touch and for their fast track social activity.
I am one who advocate a Tablet instead of a Mobile (Smart phone is actually a mini computer).
So I bought Tablet again a cheap one to give as a present.
It is miles of FORWARD MARCH on mobile utilities and took solid 24 hours to configure to top performance without a Mini SD Card.
I have an old tablet which is very slow on both Internal Memory and RAM in spite of the 32 GB Mini SD overall.
For my luck I had forgotten the Screen Password and I cannot reach my files.
Fortunately I use it for hacking and not for any mission critical work, photos or documents etc.
All the data is in the Mini SD and it is matter of removing and shoving it to the new Tablet.
It does not load to my computer by a USB cord to copy files before formatting it to Run a new operating system.
So the next pint is that the Tablet should be able to share data with your computer through a USB link.
Now the crunch point and I could not remove my email before delivering it to the intended person.
I gave it to my wife who is an expert on mobiles phones and she could not log off my mail.
I gave it to her and ask her to browse the Google Help and went out for buying food for our dog.
Let me tell you why I am posting this.
There is lot of junk advice in the web.
It is like touching your nose with your finger tip with the hand coming across the back of the neck like Yogi Expert.
One does not have to go to Yogi Practice, just go to the Google Help and follow their instructions.
I have copied Google Help here, using my Linux BOX and all the Macros removed and only TEXT remaining.
Any errors are due to my plundering the information and not the fault of the Google.
So YOU better go straight to Google Help instead of reading the instructions below.
They are doing a god job unlike FACEBOOK which took six months for me to sign off it, for GOOD.
They deliberately hid the sign off item.
I stop using FACEBOOK from that moment and the social media may be pain in your Arxxx.
 

SparkyLinux 4.0 “GameOver”

SparkyLinux 4.0 “GameOver”
SparkyLinux 4.0 “GameOver” is out.
It has been built on the top of SparkyLinux 4.0 “Tyche” and it’s fully compatible with Debian testing “Stretch”.
“GameOver” is a special edition of Sparky targeted to gamers.
The most important changes inside the GameOver 4.0:
– Linux kernel 4.0.5
– all packages upgraded from Debian testing repositories as of 2015/07/09
– lxde-common 0.99.0-2
– openbox 3.6.0-2
– PCManFM 1.2.3-1.1
– Iceweasel 38.1.0esr-2
– vlc 2.2.1-dmo6
– steam & steam-launcher 1.0.0.50
– desura for linux
– wine & playonlinux
– Sparky-IA – quick access to very old games
– grub 2.02~beta2-26
– added support of the system installation on 32 bit machines with UEFI motherboard
– system rebranding
– theme “Sparky4” and icons set “Ultra-Flat-Icons”
– Gnome-Alsa Mixer replaced by Pulse Audio Mixer
New applications:
– Sparky Internet Archive (sparky-ia) – lets you launch and play online very old games stored at Internet Archive via the default web browser. The application lets you choose one of the 3 game categories:
– Classic PC Games
– Internet Arcade
– MS-DOS Games
A set of emulators of old machines and systems available via the package manager and Sparky APTus Gamer: 

AdvenceMENU, 

Atari800, 

DeSmuME, 

Desura Installer, 

DOSBox, 

DOSEMU, 

ePSXe, 

FCEUX, 

FS-UAE, 

GNOME Video 

Arcade, 

Hatari, 

Higan, 

Hega Fusion, 

MAME, 

Mednafen, 

MESS, 

Nestopia, 

PCSX, 

PlayOnLinux, 

PPSSPP, 

Steam, 

Stella, 

VisualBoyAdvance, 

Virtual Jaguar, 

Wine, 

Winetricks, 

Yabause,

 ZSNES

A set of preinstalled games: 

0ad, 

3dchess, 

airstrike, 

alienblaster, 

amphetamine, 

antigravitaattori,

armagetronad, 

asciijump, 

asylum, 

atomix, 

balder2d, 

barrage, 

berusky, 

billard-gl, 

biniax2, 

black-box, 

blobby, 

bloaboats, 

blockout2, 

brainparty, 

bygfoot, 

chromium-bsu, 

einstein, 

extremetuxracer, 

five-or-more, 

flare, 

four-in-a-row, 

freecraft, 

freedroid, 

frozen-bubble, 

funnyboat, 

gnome-chess, 

gnome-hearts, 

gnome-klotski, 

gnome-mahjongg, 

gnome-mastermind, 

gnome-mines, 

gnome-nibbles, 

gnome-robots, 

gnome-sudoku, 

gnome-tetravex, 

gnubik, 

gnuchess, 

gnugo, 

gtkatlantic, 

gtkpool, 

gunroar, 

holdingnuts, 

iango, 

lbreakout2, 

lightsoff, 

liquidwar, 

ltris, 

maelstorm, 

megaglest, 

minetest, 

mokomaze, 

monopd, 

monsterz, 

moon-buggy, 

moon-lander,

 netmaze, 

netpanzer, 

openarena, 

pacman, 

performous, 

quadrapassel, 

slimevolley, 

smc, 

snake4, 

snowballz, 

supertux, 

swell-foop, 

tali, 

teeworlds, 

tennix, 

tetzle, 

tomatoes, 

transcend, 

warzone2100, 

wesnoth, 

widelands, 

xblast, 

xmoto, 

zaz

Live system user is: live
Password: live
Root password is blank (empty).
Minimum system requirements for SparkyLinux “GameOver”:
– CPU i586 / amd64
– 256 MB of RAM memory (some games need more than that – 500-1000MB recommended)
– an optical DVD drive or 4GB USB stick for Live medium
– 20 GB of space for installation on a hard drive (30GB recommended)
– 16 GB of Flash/Pen USB drive for “normal” installation (32GB recommended)

New iso images of SparkyLinux are available at our download page:t.......-----

Linux Games

 Friday, November 13, 2015
Linux Games

Games in Linux is its weak Link.
I decided that I would concentrate on developing games in my retirement, even though I am not into programming at all now..
I in fact have a Book On Linux Game Development, which I bought few years ago.
It looks like I need not bother very much.
But I have few reservations having looked at Sparky Linux.
I dismantled all my 32 bit computers in preparation for this endeavor.
I am into 64 bit world.
The motherboard is i series Gamer Motherboard with PCI ports for upgrading to Newer graphic cards.
I had problems with UEFI and I have dealt with it in few hours of experimenting at night with Windows 8.1 in the system.
I have two one terabyte hard disks for game databases.
I got Peppermint and Debian installed with a extra BIOS partition in hard disk one.
Peppermint is in first SATA disk.
Debian and Sparky Linux in second SATA disk.
Windows have to be in the first disk by corporate design.
Now few words about Sparky Linux.
Not necessarily in game context.
It does not support Ethernet computers.
Blue tooth is its game base.
I could not update its software (Office suite) due not having blue tooth connection.
I will try with a dongle later but I have to pay twice one for Ethernet and one for wireless (SIMS) dongle.
I do not want to fiddle with my wife's Microsoft configured wireless router which has given endless problems to her and I bought a tablet for her connectivity when Telecoms goes out with a thunderstorm and lightening.
Linux s far behind when compared to Windows.
I now use Windows for TV Card and Games only.
I have not tried other Linux gamers including Fedora's version, even though, I have all the game DVD isos.
I start my work up with Tiny Linux games I played over the last 10 years.
I hope Linux would not ignore those tiny games developers played along side with black terminal when they were they were busy programing!

Thesaurus for LibreOffice

 
Monday, November 16, 2015
Thesaurus for LibreOffice

Thesaurus is not associated with LibreOffice when YOU install it,
 for good reason.

There are so many languages in the world using English alphabet.

For English one of those below and install from synaptic.

Artha

Aiksaurus

Giksaurus


For other Languages

Mythe and the country code (not telephone).

eg. Mythes-De

LibreOffice and Thesaurus

 Tuesday, November 24, 2015
LibreOffice and Thesaurus

I must say I never used Microsoft Office.
My favorite is something else not even LibreOffice.
I used to promote OpenOffice and when it was bought up by the killer shark, Oracle,
I used to promote LibreOffice that comes from France.
This post is done on Windows 8.1 on LibreOffice.
It has LibreOffice and thesaurus is available and if one right clicks with a selected word, synonyms are displaced.
But I updated my computer with Peppermint and Debian 8.2 only yesterday BUT the LibreOffice in both distributions won't open up thesaurus (do the same as on a Windows platform) or synonyms with my 64 bit motherboard.
Linux 64 bit software are patchy and buggy.
This was not true with my old 32 bit machine with LibreOffice.
Lot has been spoken about LibreOffice in Linux Magazine and nobody has spotted this flaw.
I begin to believe that those who write to Linux Magazine also use Microsoft Windows or won't test LibreOffice on a Linux distributions to begin with.
LibreOffice looks beautiful on Windows machine but looks ugly and dark on Peppermint and Debian.
I guess the guys working on Linux terminals prefer pitch dark ambiance.
This is where Microsoft score a point or two.
They listen to the customer feed back but Linux guys /girls (only 1% are using Linux according to surveys) don't have customer base.
Mind you my wife uses Microsoft Windows and I bought her a new MINI computer with pre-installed Microsoft.
I do not want to have complaints from her and I have no intention of converting anybody to Linux this Christmas, 2015.
This was not something I wanted to write on a Linux blog site but IF I do not I am cheating myself if not others.

Revisiting Windows

 Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Revisiting Windows

I must confess that after a decade of using only Linux, I installed Window's 8 well hidden from my Linux distributions.

I am glad to say Windows can be booted from a second hard drive (SATA not IDE) with the first hard drive having only Linux distributions.

It took three days of fiddling and no need for me to boast about.

UEFI boot sector was also demoted to a lower ranking position with the first hard drive having a Linux Master Boot sector instead of BEOS boot partition.

I need to touch Del or F2 keys to boot what ever I want including my favorite Flash Drives with multiple Live Linux distributions.

In case my wife (she never does) boots my computer, (if I am away abroad and I want a file or photo downloaded by my mobile) she will only see Windows in my BOX.

She is scarred of Linux. 

She is fully cleaned off from any Linux remnants.

She does not need to (she has her own computer) in case her computed is infected by a Virus she need to use mine.

It took only three days of fiddling to downgrade Windows to lower rank.

Amazingly it took the same time to configure the Internet (I could not use IE for three days).

I forgot Microsoft still needs drivers to configure Internet hardware, which Linux does a good job at boot time.

Debian could not do it either with its DVD booting, but configured the Internet after installing the system, without me bothering about the IP address and the rest.

I forgot some important assets of Linux in my book Linux Revisited.

Number 1, drivers are installed at boot time including Internet connection for updating, the system.

Linux is Internet friendly.

Number 2, Linux does not need adding up software (like I do minimum at boot time and pick and chose packages from the repository) if YOU chose the correct the distribution with all the packages.

One installation is all that is necessary.
Number 3, is that there is no endless rebooting which Windows Love.

In other words Linux save time.

It took three days for me to get the Windows 8 to my liking.

Three Linux distribution in one hard disk took only one night for me (I was briefly up in between the distributions but deep in sleep while installation was on).
Once I commit a job for Linux BOX in the night, I check it only in the morning.

Reliable and Stable. 

Only hindrance is frequent power failure of our Electricity supply.

In fact, we were without electricity the whole morning today.

Knoppix 7.6 and LibreOffice 5

 Knoppix 7.6 and LibreOffice 5
I am writing this with Knoppix 7.6 booted on an a 16 GB MicroSD.
I partitioned it with two partitions.
10 GB Fat which Knoppix used  4 GB of space for NTFS.

Other was a NTFS partition. 
My Internet provider has restricted me to 5 KB / per second since I have exceeded the download limit of 20 GB.

In spite of the slow speed I was briefly on to my blog site through my MicroSD.
  
It also runs a script preventing undesired cookies running and that is why it is fast.

Preamble
I signed a contract of unlimited download 10 years ago when only a very few were using Internet-there were no wireless routers then-I went to Singapore and bought one. Unfortunately for me the University student hackers (I believe Engineering students) got hold of our wireless signal and were using it (the wireless security was not available for Microsoft, then). 
I detected it using my Linux BOX but did not go further except discontinue using the wireless but used the Ethernet with secure SSL. 
The University stands a wireless range away and our current wireless connection is protected but it serves as a hot spot.
All this preamble is to illustrate a point that our students who get FREE books UP TO the university wants everything FREE including Operating Systems.

They pirate the Microsoft System when Linux is freely available.

Less than 1% (my study) of the students in HIGHER EDUCATION use free software or Linux.

That is the irony of the FREE EDUCATION and FREE BOOKS provided by the school system.

The school which is walking distance from the University has NO Science Stream.

Few years AGO, I tried to introduce Linux to students of this school through a young teacher friend of mine. 
The teacher was transferred out of this school, probably because of the intransigence of the free education system (one book is enough attitude applied to operating systems including Linux).

KNOPPIX
So if these students are out of school and looking for a pastime, they are free to download Knoppix 7.6 and try it themselves.
The reason for my writing this is to get the Linux developers to use LibreOffice 5 in their distributions in double quick time.
It has Thesaurus which my current Peppermint 6 and Debian 8.2 do not have.
Within a week of complaining about Thesaurus in Linux in 64 bit computers, I have a Live System which has Thesaurus under synonyms and one has only to select the word and right click the word.

I saw a Web Piece which states by selecting tools, options, language, and language aids, One can grab the Thesaurus.
I checked this routine BUT it does not provide the desired OPTION.  
I am in the process of installing Knoppix in my computer.
It needs a reiserfs partition. 
Funnily it was only in ? German or ? Danish installed from a English DVD. 

One Night of TROUBLE with Linux

 Saturday, November 28, 2015
One Night of TROUBLE with Linux

I was trying to upgrade my computer with Linux derivatives and take an early Christmas Break.

I list the Linux Nuances not on any order of merit here.

All these are Human Errors and can be rectified.

I believe all the Linux developers are DOING a great JOB but by rushing to put out the distribution before Christmas leave behind some ugly nuances.

They should be excused for minor lapses.

1. Peppermint FRONT end is DARK and UGLY.

I get a headache after few minutes of work.


2. LibreOffice has no Thesaurus in Linux.

3. Ubuntu 14.04 takes four hours,mind you it is not their fault;
(my Internet speed is down to 5 KB / per second by default action by the service provider; I Pay over Rs.8000 per month and get only 20 GiB of downloads which I finish in one day of downloads and the rest of the month GO snail space even to read my email.
  
This they CALL a Five Star Service. 
I hope during the Christmas holiday at least, they allow a leeway) 
But at the end of the installation delete them which also takes a bit of time.

Why can't they Install first in English and give the USER to download his or her language afterwards?

4. Knoppix 7.6 is beautiful on a Live Session But has a major glitch.

I downloaded the English version and Installed it to reiserfs partition.

It is not in English but probably in ? German ? Danish.

I tried to convert it to English at boot time but it boots so fast that touching the Del Key or F2 has no effect.

5. Boot loaders are finicky, especially Knoppix but it gives the option of not installing it and configure manually.

6. None of them detect the UEFI based Window's 8 in my second hard drive. 
I deliberately shifted its UEFI partition.

7. DVD booting of Pinguy, and Knoppix were halted abruptly due to sectors not written properly on the boot disk. 
They were burned by K3B on Peppermint. 
One disk did not finish writing on it.

I am not a novice to Linux and I have gone through these nuances many a times, I can tolerate all this in one night of Linux Dance BUT what I cannot tolerate is our Telecoms restricting my access to Internet at 5 KB per second.

It is killing me softly.

I take my hat off for all the developers.

I am making these comments before Microsoft guys trying to bash (not the bash script) your back with critical comments.

If YOU hear these comments from a Microsoft Guy / Girl please ignore them and have a PATCH ready by January.
Mind you Microsoft takes one year patch their faults by that time they release a new edition for which you have to PAY.

Only foolish guys PAY for their own faults and make Microsoft Rich by many a Miles.

You Guys/Girls need a holiday and you richly deserve a holiday.

In any case I am going into recess any time from now and if you do not hear from me please do not assume I am dead and gone with the wind.

I will be back with all cylinders firing at top level.

Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, 2016.

My Old Media Files with Windows 8

 Sunday, November 29, 2015
My Old Media Files with Windows 8

I am getting ready well in advance for Christmas holidays.
I found two hard disks with in built Hard Disk Player.
It was full of old Linux Isos and few media files and song tracks.
One of the flies was Home Alone Video.
I tried to play it with Windows Media Player, it only played the audio file. 
I connected it to a KVM Switch / Slot and played it on VGA but it needed speakers for audio. 
Well I needed RF Jack to plug into Combo.
All are now USB media players.
Ah, lot of work and wire connections not digital but analogue.
Then on second thought, I wanted it to be played on Peppermint's VLC Media player.

Presto!

Files were good as NEW.
This why I say Window's is pain in the Arxxs.
I won't bother to visit Microsoft and PAY for a Media Player.

Windows Guys / Girls there are lot of Linux Software that can be used in Windows and I won't list them, here.

You better find them yourself.

 Reproduction.

Sign out of Google

Sign out (Android)

This information is for the Gmail app for Android 4.0 and up.
There’s no option to sign out of the Gmail app for Android without removing your entire account from your phone or tablet.
However, you can accomplish many of the same tasks through other actions, depending on what you need.

I want to check mail from another account

If your device is running Android 5.0 or higher, there's an easy way to let a guest use your device.
If you want to read mail from another account, or a friend wants to check email on your phone, you don’t have to sign out — you can just add another account.
Keep in mind that when you add an account to your phone, you can easily switch between accounts without having to enter the password again.
If a friend adds an account to your phone to check email, be sure to remove the account afterward (see steps in section below).
Or, you could also use the browser on your phone to go to mail.google.com and check your email from there.
I want to protect my email
If you’re worried about losing your phone or having someone read your mail, you can password-protect your device. Here’s how to set a screen lock on a Nexus device — other types of phones or tablets will have similar instructions.
Tip: If you ever lose your phone, you can remove access to all Google services (Gmail, Maps, YouTube, etc.) on that phone. If you later find your phone, you'll just need to sign in with your username and password before you can use Google services on it. Learn more about account permissions.
I want to preserve data, storage, or battery life
You don’t have to sign out of Gmail to save power on your phone. To help optimize data usage, device storage, or battery life, you can adjust your sync settings.

Choose which labels to sync

1. Open the Gmail app.
   
2. Touch the menu.
   
3. Select Settings.
   
4. Choose an account.
   
5. Touch Manage labels.
   
6. Touch a label.
   
7. Touch Sync messages.
   
8. Choose Sync: None, Sync: Last 30 days, or Sync: All.
   

Choose how many days of mail to sync

1. Open the Gmail app.
   
2. Touch the menu.
   
3. Select Settings.
   
4. Choose an account.
   
5. Touch Days of mail to sync.
   
6. Select the number of days.
   
7. Touch OK.
   

Turn off Gmail sync

If you turn off Gmail sync, new messages will stop syncing automatically.

1. Open the Gmail app.
   
2. Touch the menu.
   
3. Select Settings.
   
4. Choose an account.
   
5. Uncheck the box next to Sync Gmail.
   

Touch the Refresh icon while viewing your inbox to sync your messages manually.

Remove downloaded messages

1. Open your device’s Settings app.
   
2. Touch Apps, and then Gmail.
   
3. Touch Clear data.
   

This will clear the data on your Gmail app. Accounts that have Gmail sync turned on will start syncing immediately. Accounts with Gmail sync turned off will not sync automatically.

Use Gmail on your mobile browser

You can also access Gmail by going to mail.google.com on your mobile browser.
If none of these situations apply to you, you can also remove your account from the entire device. Don't worry, removing the account from your device won't delete the account itself—just remove it from your phone or tablet.

Remove an account

Migration to 64 bit Computer (in Linux) was a bit of a pain-2015

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Migration to 64 bit Computer (in Linux) was a bit of a pain

After 15 years of regular 32 bit computer user, changing to 64 bit was a bit of a pain in Linux.

Linux distributions fair very badly on 64 bit computers.

I tried more than 10.

Let me say, my change was mainly for the purpose of saving ENERGY and thereby my electricity bill.

Yes it saved a lot.

I now use the computer as my NIGHT heater.

It used to be a laptop on my lap.

The new one has lot of fans fixed to cool it down and the by the product is my room is warm at night.

Just to test its energy consumption, I let it run overnight with Linux logged off.

I got the bill yesterday.

It has saved me 100 Units.

So saying good bye to 9 out of ten 32 bits was productive.

Even though, I had ten one was exclusively used others were for some mundane Linux work.

The 64 bit one was struck by lightening and it went through the UPS battery and burned the upholstery and cooling system.

It got hot hot within seconds of booting and after some repair used it for testing 64 bit Linux distributions but never installed any.

So my testing of 64 bits is only one month's standing.

I list the downside of Linux 64 bits.

Software has bugs and LibreOffice had lot of missing plug ins.

I booted Ubuntu 15.10 and it is no better compared to 14.10 LTS.

Besides graphic display was ugly.

Everything dark.

Font edges are blurry and not smooth.

Nice points apart from saving electricity is only the fans make a noise.

Internet with cookies removed is awfully fast.

Email reading was fast enough with Yahoo.

I use lees and less of DVD drive, that also saves money.

Hard disk is SATA which is much better than IDE for data transfer.

The Multimedia Dashboard has slots for SD cards and MMR.

USB booting especially with USB 3 is faster

I would have preferred to have an internal SSD hard drive.

I would go for portable external SSD instead.

They are still expensive and the capacity is nowhere my needs of multi-booting at Least six Linux distributions in addition to one copy of windows.

Overall I am impressed by the Intel technology.

Most of my 32 bit Linux distributions on MultiSystem USB booting are redundant now,

However, I keep the 32 bit computer linked with KVM switch / port to retrieve old data files.

USB stick is my workhorse now.

Well in time to come I will have all my Linux distributions in a tiny external hard disk (in fact I have already done it) live booted with lot of isos in for testing a potential Linux customer (hardly any).

Linus and Linux on the fly is my motto.

Russian ROSA -Redhat Installation

ROSA Fresh Desktop 13.1 is the ISO.

I Revisited Russian ROSA installer and it seems this time round I got it. Right. Last time found the partition selection got stuck.

 

Running Commentary

It has installed the partitions and now it installing the SWAP.

It got it right and the installation started at 10.20PM on Christmas Day, after dinner in my case.

Anaconda is the installer and I have used Redhat Linux extensively in the past and that experience has come good.

However, the current Redhat gives only 60 day window and after that a paid subscription.

 

ROSA bundles lot of Software, most likely Russian based Software.

Russian Astra Linux I have used in the past but current version is a subscription based. 

This is (ROSA) the free version for Russians. 

ALT Linux have free Isos but none of them have GNOME.

It is installing the Boot Loader and I hope it would not destroy my Boot Record.

I keep my fingers crossed.

Thank YOU, ROSA Linux, I erased PARROT OS for your sake which Debian based and pretty good.

I want to be global in my Linux REPORTING and I do not intend to isolate Russian Linux Developers.

It is 10.35 and nearing completion of the installation under 20 minutes.

My base line is 22 minutes for ARCH and REBORN OS.

 

Post Installation script is long and it rebooting now.

Rebooting is OK.

 

ROSA is like a Christmas Gift for me.

 

Merry Christmas to all including Russians.

Everything went alright including installing VLC, Audacity and LibreOffice.

However, I could not get AbiWord.

SO ROSA would not be my daily driver in Linux. 

The repository is based on Russian KDE utilities.

Only the Desktop is Gnome which has its own look.

Applications are grouped into Groups.

Naming is in Russian and Installation was in English and I got them out of the group.

Reinstallation of GIMP failed but I put into the bottom panel without a name.

I can pick it by the icon.

Plymouth is light blue and pleasing.

I am going to keep it.

GRUB is intact.

 

If YOU want to try it better learn bit of Russian to begin with.

FreedomBox

 FreedomBox

FreedomBox is a Debian-based distribution, primarily used as a server operating system for home users. FreedomBox supports point-and-click settings up a number of services ranging from a calendar or jabber server to a wiki or VPN through a web interface. Firewall, domain names, user accounts, backups, and Btrfs snapshots can also be managed through a simple web-based control centre.

Debian Installation STEPS

In the Linux Bible each section of the book gives detail description.

I used the books which came with CDs.

Later I moved to books on Redhat. 

I am really disappointed that Redhat is aggressive and commercial now. I have given up both SuSe and Redhat for good. 

Now that I am trying to finish a book on "Linux Essentials" , I should thank the guys before me who wrote books with detailed description of each step. If not for them without a Teacher or GURU, I wouldn't have become a Linux advocate now.

The medical books were boring but reading Linux Text books was exciting. However, reading big medical texts prepared me adequately, for the big plunge.

Things have become easy with graphic installers. 

Below is what YOU see if YOU install using Text Mode.  

Debian Installation STEPS

(1)  Debian Installer main menu

Choose the next step in the install process 

Choose the language 

Access the installer using Braille display

Configure the keyboard (say English or Greek)

Detect and mount installer media (CD/DVD and now USB)

Load installer components from the installer media

Detect network hardware

(With Ethernet detection was easy and automatic but with WiFi there were problems. I used to skip the Network Configuration at the stage and do it after installation. Now once configured the installer finds the nearest repository and install the latest kernel) 

Configure the network which means providing the password for the network.

Set up user and passwords

Configure the clock ( depending on where one lives)

Detect disks

Install the base system

Configure the package manager

Select and install software, what really means a choosing a desktop, gnome Plasma ot Xfce

Install the GRUB boot loader

Install the systemd-boot boot loader (this is where runit, ....   and controversies come but I am happy with sustemd)

continue without boot loader

Finish the installation 

Additional Features

Change debconf priority

Check the integrity of the  instillation media

Save debug logs

Execute s a shell

Eject a CD from the drive

Abort the installation 

The last one is the most important, if one makes a mistake one can go back and revise.

I use to write down each mistake on  a piece of paper so that I do not repeat it next time round.

Patience is the most important attribute in Linux, I have learned.

 Good Bye and Merry Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

. 

Set