Lockergnome's Compendium of Linux Knowledge Focusing on the core functionality built into every Linux distribution, these tomes contain a wealth of information on everything from the kernel, to core services, to networking and printing issues. Find your way around the command line functionality, so that your Linux install works the way you want it to. You won't be an expert overnight, but it will certainly lead you in the right direction. Dowload your Linux tips today.

Slack is, as you've heard, a rather minimalist distribution. The package selection is pretty light, though not to the extent you'd find in Debian or Gentoo. Those distributions begin with nothing more than the core set of GNU tools. You pick and choose from stable packages to truly customize your own install. Slack does, in fact, come complete with package group options. You can choose to install a set of packages, or to install only the basics, or to install the full distribution. As such, it falls somewhere between Debian and SuSE, easily the biggest distro I've seen.

Slack has long been renowned for its stability. I've seen nothing in the three or four Slack installs I've done to dispute that fact. The code is very stable, enhanced by the relatively small footprint of the distro itself. There are a lot of Slack servers out there. I have no doubt that you could install a minimal set of tools in Slack and serve up documents and files with virtually no long-term problems.

Package management in Slack is, quite simply, antique. I've read the reasons for the lack of a more modern package manager - security and portability among them. While those are good reasons, they're simply outweighed by the disadvantages. I don't even need a pretty package manager. I just need one that minimizes the time necessary to install, remove or otherwise maintain the software on my machine. Unfortunately, Slack doesn't meet that goal. It's a cumbersome system that's clearly outdated and is, without doubt, the single biggest drawback to Slack.

While the install was reasonably easy, it did require a good knowledge of other Linux tools. In fact, I was pretty surprised at the attention given the install process, menus and descriptions. Thus far, it's the best text install I've seen. But that need to use other Linux tools to set up a working box will continue to keep newer Linux users at arm's length. In order to install Slack, you'll need a knowledge of Linux that falls somewhere close to an intermediate skill level. Or, you'll need quite a bit of pre-install research and HowTo printing. I just can't see someone with any lower skill level or determination finishing a Slack install.

For all that, I've always liked the Slack approach to Linux. If I had a need for a "set and forget" box, I'd give Slack serious consideration. It's stable, light and very reliable. If you're not new to Linux, you can feel safe in giving Slack a shot sooner or later. If you're new, there are other distros that will assure your satisfaction with your new Linux world.

We're moving on next week. Sunday afternoon, I'll revisit a distro that I liked very much in a previous round of reviews. Libranet is a Debian-based distribution. Its focus is to provide the reliability and stability of Debian with the ease of install and use of the major OTB distros. I'll install Libranet on Cerebrum Sunday afternoon and will, as always, blog the process on Frankly, I'd Rather Not. Have a great Tuesday.

                 
Tony Steidler-Dennison       

GnomeTWEAK

Extended Phoenix

We've spent a few days now installing and configuring Phoenix, easily the lightest browser offering from Mozilla.org. We've added java and the Flash and Shockwave plugins. Even with these tools, Phoenix is still one of the fastest browsers around. It's quickly becoming my favorite.

There are a couple other ways to extend the functionality of Phoenix, both of which are built into the program.

First is the ability to skin Phoenix. It doesn't necessarily extend the functionality, but it sure does ease the eyes. To find the latest and greatest skins for Phoenix, select Tools, Preferences, Themes and Extensions. There's a link almost hidden in the lower right-hand corner of the window 0 "Get New Themes" - that will take you to the Mozilla themes site. Be sure to check which themes are actually written for Phoenix, as not all the Mozilla themes will work properly. When you've found the theme you need, click on Install. The .xpi file will install in Phoenix and become available immediately, unlike Mozilla. I'm currently using the Orbit Blue theme.

You can also add extensions from the Extensions tab in the same window. These tools are interesting ways to add to your browser. They do, in fact, extend the Phoenix functionality. Again, you need only click a link embedded in the window to open a browser page of useful extensions. I've installed Mouse Gestures and Tabbrowser Extensions. These greatly deepen the usefulness of the Phoenix window tabs and allow me to navigate around the web simply by moving my mouse while holding down the left button.

All in all, Phoenix appears to be the "up and coming" Mozilla-based browser for Linux. As I've said, it's nearly become my primary browser on all my machines. Though only at a .5 version, it's got every feature I normally use in any browser. With the ability to add plugins and extensions, it might just be the right browser for you, too.

Recommend It!
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GnomeCORE

Get your favorite Linux flavor on CD: Pick your favorite Linux flavor and get it on CD for as low as $1.95. Find Linux gear, books, and software for Linux at Linux Central . Check out the selection today!

I've done this hundreds of times - put together just the right command with all the right options, and forgot to save it anywhere. In subsequent usage, I've had to work through the process of rebuilding the command an option at a time in order to achieve the same end.

Fortunately, the folks who created the bash shell knew there'd be folks like me. That's why they built in a history function that remembers the commands I've entered.

To see your recent commands in their raw form, execute the history command. This list of commands is user-specific so, clearly, the root commands will be different than the user commands. What's returned is a daunting list of commands. I'm always just amazed at how much I actually use the command line - history returns more than 1000 commands every time. Obviously, this list is big enough so as to be nearly useless if the lost command is more than a few days old. But, the output can be piped to other Linux tools to narrow the search.

history | grep ssh

will return only the commands that included the ssh command. So, if you know part of the command, you're likely to be able to find it.

Or, if I need to look retain the current command history:

history > command.history

This saves the command history in a file named command.history in the current directory.

This history is maintained in a working history file and in the user's .bash_history file. There are several options to history that will manipulate .bash_history directly:

• -a: appends the current session commands to .bash_history
• -c: clear the history list
• -n [file]: append any lines that haven't been added or lines from file
• -s command: add command to the working history file without executing it
• -s [file]: overwrite .bash_history or file with the working history list

If you use the command line a lot, and you take care to customize many of your commands to a specific purpose, the history command can be a real time saver.

Recommend It!
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GnomeFILE

PHP ShoutBox 0.1.5

http://mojavelinux.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179

"PHP ShoutBox allows developers to add a instant message shout box to websites. The shoutbox is an iframe element, and the script operates using javascript and stores the messages in a MySQL database (a file gets complicated with synchronous posts, so a database was favored). The look of the box is controlled through styles. All the modern browsers are supported. It handles some of the details that other shout boxes do not. When the new message is displayed, the shoutbox is scrolled down so that the new message comes into view. It also checks for new messages."

Recommend It!
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GnomeVOICE

Utter Mandrake Satisfaction
Scribbled by Jerry Robles de Medina

"I have been playing with Red Hat for a couple of years now and I was pretty satified....until I had tried Mandrake.Mandrake has done ALL my configuration for me, my dvd decoder card, my tv tuner card for example are things that Red Hat didn't do for me.It also has Xine available to be installed! My question is how Mandrake is much better then Red Hat? I always thought Red Hat was THE Linux distro to have and to use. But Mandrake offers just more....alot more."

Recommend It!
Speak your GnomeVOICE

GnomeCLICK

Star Wars Asciimation

http://www.asciimation.co.nz/index.html

I saw the first two Star Wars movies in the theater - the *first* time around. Yeah, I was really, really, really young (cough, snort). Actually, by the time "The Empire Strikes Back" was released, I was a fresh-faced Navy journalist waiting for a cruise of the Mediterranean on the USS Forrestal. I'll tell you the truth, though. I'm probably not as big a Star Wars fan as your average geek. In any event, today's GnomeCLICK hearkens back in a real way to the time in history when the first two Star Wars epics were released. If you'd have created these movies on a computer in those days, they could have looked like this - ascii. These ascii animations are both cute and nicely done. My favorite? The Death of Jar Jar Binks. That swollen tongue is just plain funny.

Recommend It!
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