A journey to FreeBSD

I thought to write about FreeBSD even though this blog covers mostly about Linux.
I started using FreeBSD a year ago. When I first tried it, I was way too confused and was feeling like getting a tea(FreeBSD) when you are addicted to coffee(Linux).

Then, I got to read FreeBSD handbook. I read everything right from beginning to end. Then, I printed the whole FreeBSD handbook and started playing with FreeBSD on a real system. After this, everything changed. I started to love FreeBSD much than any other operating system.

I recommend everyone reading this to try FreeBSD even if you uncomfortable with Linux. If you are really uncomfortable with CLI, try using PC-BSD (PC-BSD is to FreeBSD as Ubuntu is to Debian).

FreeBSD cannot be called Unix due to legal reasons but I don't think anyone will sue you when you are thinking that it is really a Unix system.

Try installing FreeBSD on VirtualBox or similar platforms to make sure you don't mess with your valuable data.

You should also stop thinking that FreeBSD runs Linux applications directly. They are different. There is a Linux Binary Compatibility for FreeBSD to run Linux applications which is not a sort of platform virtualization. So, performance is pretty realistic and matching with that of Linux.

Another thing I like about FreeBSD is 'lagg'. This allows you to combine two or more network connections for failover protection or load balancing. Linux too has 'bonding' but I find 'lagg' easier to use.

The last thing worth mentioning is pfSense which, in my view, is the most easiest and effective firewall distribution. The web interface pretty rocks. And, the best part of pfSense is that it is based on FreeBSD.

Some Useful Links:
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/
http://www.pcbsd.org/
http://pfsense.org/

Setup Static IP Address on Debian 6 (Squeeze)

During installation, Debian uses DHCP by default.You should disable DHCP feature for primary network interface by editing /etc/network/interfaces
By default, it looks like following:

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo
inet loopback


# The primary network interface
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

We should make this look like:

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo
inet loopback


# The primary network interface
#allow-hotplug eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.100
netmask 255.255.255.1
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1

You may not need to enter network and broadcast details.
Now, restart service by 

/etc/init.d/networking restart

Exclude Directories or Files with Tar

I often do backups of my public_html but since I don't need folders like phpMyAdmin and logs, I found an easy way to do that in order to reduce backup size.The command to do this is:

tar -zcvf backup.tar.gz public_html/ --exclude "public_html/phpMyAdmin" --exclude "public_html/logs"

I am outside the public_html directory while doing this.For a more general case, it would be:

tar -zcvf filename.tar.gz directory_to_backup --exclude "directory_to_exclude"

This way, I save time and space.Hope this will be useful.
Remember that individual files can be too excluded by replacing directory with filename.

Changing User Login Shell On Linux

There are many kinds of shells available.I prefer bash shell which is default on Debian Systems.

To see available shells,do:

cat /etc/shells

To change the shell for a user,we have to edit /etc/passwd file and replace the line /bin/shellname to  your preferred shell.

For example, replace /bin/sh to /bin/bash for user to which it is being done.

Creating a backup tar archive

With tar, it is easy to backup whole directory including its permissions.To do this on a directory called 'web', we would type:
tar -pczf web.tar.gz web/
Thus, a tar archive is created and you can restore it with:
tar -pxzf web.tar.gz

OpenSUSE 11.4 extensive review

I downloaded the latest version of openSUSE. It was 11.4.I was really amazed as it meets my pre-thoughts. The improved kernel and many other fixes make this version of openSUSE stable, secure and faster. The new gnome is much more stable and KDE is also repainted. Looks like openSUSE team has given a lot of attention towards artwork. This latest version stars up in a handful of seconds and shuts down in about 10 seconds, much faster than bloaty windows. This review is based on openSUSE 64 bit DVD download.

Installation

Earlier openSUSE installations were unresponsive by time. But however the new installation is amazingly responsive and easy. As like previous installations, it suggests a partition setup based on the existing partitions. I had a free space on logical partition and also had a 250 GB partition. It automatically suggested me to shrink the volume and create a new partition. It also detected windows partitions and assigned it the proper mount points. OpenSUSE installation prefers separate home partition which is a nice feature. It also provides the ability to use separate root password unlike Ubuntu and other Linux based operating system.

Installation from images really improved the installation speed. The kexec is enabled during setup which does the same thing as rebooting but without actually rebooting the PC. That’s why; unlike windows the setup doesn’t require restarts over restarts. During setup it automatically detects printers, TV card, network interface cards and setup it automatically for easier use.

Gnome

The new gnome "2.32.1" looks great. It responds much faster and with Compiz, the animations are superb and productive. On hovering a mouse on panel, it displays a quick preview of windows as like in windows 7.windows switching is also great. The pre-bundled wallpapers are handful but likely to be picked by hand. The font rendering is superior on my led screen. The windows are well managed and notifications are too provided the right place. Gnome’s “open in terminal” is the most useful feature that is available from early openSUSE and is also continued to 11.4.

KDE

KDE may look just as it was before but there has been great improvement in speed. The new Bluetooth manager namely "name" now solved my problem of not being able to pair with mobiles with MTK firmware’s (MTK is the main chipset for wide range of phones specially manufactured in Asia which includes Spice, Micromax, Zen, Iphone clones and many other phones. The widgets don’t show much difference but however they load data aster than before. openSUSE 11.3 had problem synchronizing weather with weather widget.

Internet

OpenSUSE 11.4 is equipped with Firefox 4 beta and will be upgraded to stable version when available. The new Firefox is well integrated with the environment and aims to provide the faster and safer browsing.

Also with empathy, it’s easy to connect with popular IM protocols like AOL, Yahoo, Gmail and much more. Linphone provides easy VOIP calling.

Productivity

OpenSUSE is perhaps the first major operating system released with LibreOffice, the new branding to OpenOffice.org office suite. The latest koffice also has some improvements.

32 bit support

With 32 bit libraries available, openSUSE can run many of 32 bit applications without problems. The 32 bit libraries for wine and a separate terminal are also available.

Repository and Non OSS software

OpenSUSE repository contains non-oss programs like flash player, adobe reader and much more to provide easy installation of these programs. The openSUSE codecs installer eliminates the need of doing a painful job of installing codecs. Packman repository also provides easy installations of software’s that are not allowed to be included in an open source operating system as per GPL. The updated VLC repository also provides VLC and its dependencies to openSUSE 11.4.

Security

The new Linux kernel "2.6.37" is patched with many updates and bug fixes. It is much stable too. The scheduler and resource manager has also been updated.

The AppArmor provides proactive defense against violating applications.

Virtualization

With Xen and Virtualbox, there is no need for separate OS installations as they works seamlessly with gnome or KDE. I had a virtual machine created in windows and I could immediately start that within a few clicks. Wine also runs without problems so as to run windows applications.

Verdict

OpenSUSE 11.4 may not be the operating system for one looking for lots of oh! and wah! but is suitable for one looking for a stable, productive and notably green operating system. To get accompanied with openSUSE, there are little things to know like knowing the naming conventions of Linux and handful of Linux jargon. However it is not as easy as using Ubuntu or its younger brothers. This is the operating system you must try.

Linux for beginners

Many people move onto Linux with a hope of being legal.Not all are expert in Linux and some of us may not even know what Registry in Windows mean(?).But anyway we want a free and open source operating system that is fast,stable,easy to use and of course free of craps and monitors(Remember Alexa on Windows?).


The first question to beginners is not whether to use Linux or not,but the real question is that which Linux distribution to use?Ubuntu?Arch? and what type of?RPM based?Debian based? and tons of these similar questions.


Linux is a taste.I have installed more than 10 distributions right from beginning where I was learning L from Linux.As of my personal taste, I recommend Opensuse to any type of Linux users as I have used it right from beginning.


Why Opensuse?

• It is solidly designed right from kernel.
• It uses Anaconda,a graphical installer which is great for beginners.
• It is more stable and consumes less memory.
• It has tight administrative policies including App armor.

Opensuse Official Homepage