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"cp --archive --link --verbose /MAKE_SNAPSHOT{,_date '+%Y-%m-%d'}/" and "rsync -avz --link-dest=../OLD_BACKUP_DIR SOURCE_DIR NEW_BACKUP_DIR"

or

https://www.howtoforge.com/bac...

or

http://www.opbyte.it/grsync/

Started Linux with RedHat in the mid 90's I gave up in disgust when I couldn't create the "partitions" or split up the hard drive as required. I've been doing the same for a while with Mint over many installations, this one time I let Mint select it's placement, as it's never put itself where I've suggest it to.

When Grub was my bootloader the problems really started, of all the things that doesn't have a GUI it's grub; I've complained recently that everything was GUI. Linux is a learning process to many (myself included) nothing to put on-line blind (while a firewall is available it's off and has zero settings, not even examples.

I knew Mint would claim the boot but also expected EasyBCD (NeoSmart Technologies) to fix it, as it's been very good at that.

I've always had a dual boot system, having Linux Mint available would work just fine. Yet working with Grub is no easy task. Some don't even mess with Grub they just select the drive from the BIOS when their computer starts. http://community.linuxmint.com... this one creates two grubs - I don't see it
http://www.howtoforge.com/dual... Just saying many avoid Grub, in one way or the other.

I had to be at the computer when it started to select windows, or have to reboot; playing around with Mint and having to use it are two different things; EasyBCD was of no help...

So I reinstalled Win7; I had been planning to reinstall Win7 as it was showing signs that it was time. It's no big deal (normally) C:\ drive is my Win7 Drives D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L (total of three drives) are support, another OS, or storage. I just format C drive, reinstall windows, the drivers and my favorite programs; 2 hours time I can be up and running with my base system.

Now here's where I came across Microsoft messing with those who use Linux; once a MBR has been touched by Linux, Windows won't have anything to do with it, and it's a damn pain.

This time the Win7 install claimed "Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition" (a new one for me) I was able to continue on, it gave me a 100K boot partition, and Win7 partition, this screwed up my drive arrangement (my drives are named Drive_D, and so on). I formatted the drive again using Hirens boot disk 14 and Win7 install format both. This time I couldn't install Win7 at all, there's even a "FAST PUBLISH" "as-is in response to emerging issues". Support.microsoft.com/kb/2272294 claiming the partition the BOOTMGR is located must be in 4K clusters (NTFS is 4K clusters).

Searching for the problem, the accepted fix is to disconnect all drives except the one to hold Win7. I did that, no big deal as it's how I installed Mint without Grub loading Win7; and it worked, but there were problems. Win7 wasn't acting right, things weren't working as they should if at all.

So I started over, all this time the MBR seemed to be the problem but with Win7 formatting it before the install it should of been taken care of that, as well as my using Dart (Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset) http://www.microsoft.com/en-us... to repair the boot structure; specifically the "Bootrec" command. I had every reason to assumed it had been taken care of.

It was only when I specifically wrote the Win7 header to the MBR did everything start working. This was three days into the fiasco.

Until I learn Grub I'm not going there again, and Grub isn't all the friendly.

They can't do that because Windows users will want to put the card in their PC to pull photos off.

But, there isn't any reason a proper ext3 or ext4 driver couldn't be ported to Windows. http://www.howtoforge.com/access-linux-partitions-from-windows

Tried it. Didn't work. Because I rely on iterative development, I use "make-it-work" statements a lot and have one master SQL script that I can use to both create a new database or upgrade an existing one (see Evolving A Database With MySQL). This requires a lot of "IF NOT EXISTS" clauses or "ON CONFLICT" clauses. MySQL features quite a few of them, and I could not find most of them in Postgres. Even the SQL standard MERGE command is not supported.

Also, with the zillion ways of logging in to a database, I had to follow a few "just type this and it will work" manuals on the internet to be able to log in into my own local sandbox database. I still don't know how I could ever configure Postgres to do authorization and I fought myself through a large part of the manual. It's just too complex and abstract.

VMware is not open-source, and is pretty expensive if you need more than the basics. However it's well-supported in most circles, and its paid-license-support gets it past the PHB hurdle.

Xen is a beast. The time investment alone to get it to work puts it out of reach for even mid-level Linux admins. Plus it requires extra help to run non-Xen guest OSes.

OpenVZ isn't real virtualization. It's OS-level containment and pseudo-virtualization, which can be good for some things.

KVM has real steam behind it. It's already in the mainline kernel, it supports real virtualization (I've been able to get all modern Linux distros running as KVM guests as well as WinXP - WIn8 preview), but can get almost as fast as Xen's para-virtualization with some guest-OS drivers installed. There have been new features added to the Linux kernel to help it (Kernel Same-page Merging is one example). It's not that difficult to get working, especially if you use something like libVirt to do the heavy lifting for you.

I'm not an Ubuntu user, so I can't give first-hand experience using KVM on LTS, but a quick google search turned up this this HOWTOforge article on the latest LTS and from my reading, it seems pretty straight forward.

From there you can munge the list of nets into a list of firewall rules and add them to your firewall. No more tracking by Facebook.

We all did this once, that's how we got here. We weren't all born admins. At one point in time you were in the same boat. Unless he does it himself, he's never gonna learn and then when shit hits the fan he's not gonna have the tools to fix it.

Follow this tutorial. If you don't like ISPConfig, try another setup on howtoforge and see how it works for you: http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu-12.04-lts-apache2-bind-dovecot-ispconfig-3

Am I the only one that uses a hosts file? Takes care of more than just ads.

It's to the point now that when I see ads, I'm shocked. I've had them blocked for years.

They may be able to stop adblock, but good luck trying to outlaw a hosts file.

/etc/hosts is one way. It's also very easy to block it at the firewall. That goes for ad servers as well as trackers and is easily done whether using PF or IPtables. It takes a moment to set up and then your surfing is faster and less annoying.

adblock would have to block the entire facebook website to block these ads.

Another way to block the entire Facebook site is to do it at the firewall. Facebook has trackers, not just ads, present in a great many pages. The way to get them all is to get them at the firewall.

It is easy to block Facebook at the firewall. It also gets rid of the dozens of trackers embedded in all kinds of surprising pages.

Site like howtoforge nixcraft and Linux foundation (official site of Linux) and others have done a great job. On other hand Q and A site like serverfault is a great for *nix problem. Why bother about linux.org? Just go to google and search..

Or this: http://www.howtoforge.com/enabling-compiz-on-xubuntu-11.10-oneiric-ocelot

After doing some research, this was what I came up with as well (not the person asking the question up top.)

CentOS? http://www.howtoforge.com/centos-5.1-server-lamp-email-dns-ftp-ispconfig

Of course, that howtoforge.com site has a bunch of different setups for different distros. They also have free to download virtual machine files. The whole thing is already setup for you to use... I suppose they have some script thing on initial boot that allows you to set the specifics of the server.

Thoughts? Anyone use this?

So you would want the SQL script in your source code control system and be able to run non-interactively. For an example, see Evolving A Database With MySQL.

Ditto: you are tying yourself (unnecesarily) to specific implementations (that incidentally are going to be propietary soon, as it seems). That's not agile programming, it's shortsightness, or agile getting-in-trouble. Don't be lazy, write your data morphing scripts in whatever language you are using and ... fcuk Oracle :-)

Because there are a lot of types of data:

In agile programming, both structural and content changes are often necessary. These must be done on both local development databases, test databases and live databases. So you would want the SQL script in your source code control system and be able to run non-interactively. For an example, see Evolving A Database With MySQL.

I recently set up a Courier+Postfix+MySQL email server for myself on a cheap VPS. It wasn't too painful to get working - there are some decent tutorials on it. The most helpful was this one, pretty straightforward. Be aware that, as others have mentioned in passing, you need a reverse DNS entry. Setting that up varies from host to host, but with the cheap VPS host I use (note: you get what you pay for, it's a shared-CPU VPS, not guaranteed resources, but works fine for my small webserver and private email), it just took a support ticket with the requested PTR entries and an hour's wait.

Well it looks like Openfiler seems to be cropping up all over now http://www.howtoforge.com/openfiler-2.99-active-passive-with-corosync-pacemaker-and-drbd
But I do agree that more choices are better.

Funny the article singles out YaST as an example of GUI work. YaST works great in CLI. here an example. I have used it both as GUI and CLI (over e.g. ssh) and alongside 'normal' CLI commands for e.g. the firewall and editing things by hand and what not.

This means that if you want standard options, you can easily use YaST (in GUI or CLI after ssh) or use anything else if you want. So it is very strange that he uses YaST as an example for GUI only ways of doing things.

I used ChilliSpot on the OpenWRT distro running on a LinkSys WRT54g , but I wrote my own CGI and web page for it, so it basically always authenticated if you hit "ok". Here is a decent howto although it is outdated, The downloads were moved to here

Two things about this article, and all the things wrong with all Linux, if anyone wants it to really be something to use.

1) Most documentation is written by someone that knows everything about the item, and has not idea of how to communicate, or worse, write instructions...period!.

2) Most, in Linux, really don't care.

For example:

On the web today, was this item.

http://www.howtoforge.com/install-and-configure-openldap-on-ubuntu-karmic-koala

What is 'openldap?' and why would anyone want it??
NOT EXPLAINED.

What will result if I try to install it?
NOT EXPLAINED. (other than normal discount of responsibility if the instructions screw your system.)

How easy are instructions to follow?
Defies explanation.

Sure. If you have installed things like this, a few hundred times, you know. Why read the instructions? You don't need them. Ergo, the instructions are useless for you.

If you need to use such instructions... They have no purpose for you, since, if you don't already know how to do what is described... These instructions will (by defined statement...) not work.

I have often griped about the miasma of poorly worded, instructions with so much of what is needed only 'assumed' to already be known so not included instructions, worked up by programmers that do not know how to write installers that would reduce install instructions to 'double click' installs... But rather would have you use 10,000 lines of double talk to self aggrandising their totally geek double-speak.

Not to mention .tar, .deb. .(take your pick of dozens of specialised install) that won't work from one system to another... or even on the same system, depending on which 'assumed steps' the 'programmer/instruction writer' kept in their heads and neglected to elucidate with the minimum 100 steps they knew everyone else would know.

Real documentation for Linux is almost non-existent. Crappy documentation is everywhere you look.

Ubuntu has some great ideas. But, many of the same shortcomings come into play, either with the same problems, or, having to install programs, that just will not install, since the 'packages' will not install with the instructions included, or the 'packages' required... (I have spent days, tracking down packages 'not included' in the install package, and not in Ubuntu, nor installable in Ubuntu because of conflicts, lack of 'acceptability,' can not be found, the moon being in the wrong phase, or any of thousands of stupid (read programmer had the only copy, etc) reasons that make no sense.

Bottom line. I am not computer illiterate. But, the problems that Linux has, knows that it has, and, frankly doesn't care that it has...

That the problem is there, is not up to question.

That the Linux community knows it is there, is not up to question.

That they don't care... is obvious.

Otherwise, the community would have fixed the problem, but, has devoted nothing to the effort, since the core, doesn't have the problem

I do not want spoon fed 1st grade reader type instructions...

But, the general level of instructions for problems in Linux is horrible.

There are NO standards, and almost no one cares to have them.

Nor do they want to lose their 'geekhood' to sensibility.

Agreed. The easiest solution to this problem is to simply run your own DNS server. I run both a Linux (bind9) and Windows DNS server on my own network and do not perform any lookups using my ISP's servers, OpenDNS, or Treewalk. Anyone with a spare junker PC kicking around the house and the ability to follow guides like those on HowToForge can circumvent this problem with minimal effort.

How to secure WebDav
http://www.howtoforge.com/webdav_with_ssl_and_two_factor_authentication

No, the net installer is what fits on a CD. Most of the software is downloaded from online repositories.

The net installer is a 10MiB iso image that you can download here. It's a twist on the Debian net installer. You choose what to install. The idea is not to waste bandwidth downloading a 700MiB or 4300MiB iso. On the other hand, if you do not have an ethernet connection or your connection is, for some reason or other, unreliable, you can download a LiveCD with the standard packages (I dare say, more than is included in the 2300MiB Win7 iso) or an alternate CD aimed at advanced users or users of lower-end computers. If you're so inclined, you can even download a DVD image with some more obscure packages included. Hell, you can easily make or buy a snapshot of the repositories if that's what floats your boat. Stating that the net installer takes up 700MiB on the disk is quite plainly incorrect, however. Quite ironic given your signature.

I setup a raid0 machine with 8.10 today, with a default CD and this tutorial in 40 minutes (it tooks some more time because both computers were not on the same place).

I didn't know much of software raid (I read one tutorial) nor did I ever do it before. I know linux though, which is mandatory I guess.

Gparted is included on the live CD (but is not used in the installer). It can easily remove partitions.

Is 9.04 so much different from 8.10?

Hey. Why are the authors' summaries always so assimilated by the MS/Disney/RIAA mindset? Yes, there are some that assert that there are problems with specific torrents, but they (the complainers) and they (the disputed torrents) are not everybody, every country nor every torrent. Stop bleating the technology == piracy mantra spread by Bill and his minions.

There are plenty of legitimate downloads via the Pirate Bay, such as the CCC 25 presentations. P2P in general is full of legit traffic. Just last week, apt-p2p was mentioned, though is has been around a while longer -- long enough for HOWTO Forge to pick it up.

The original link was dead. This is from howtoforge:

http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu-using-apt-p2p-for-faster-upgrades-from-hardy-to-intrepid

I think you traverse the wrong corners of internet, cause my impression is that most people are very helpful, especially to newbies. I've written lots of question on a number of different forums on the net and have never been brushed off.

OTOH, if you try to ask a question to a mailing list, you really need to take some time to understand the tone of the conversation there before posting anything. Try asking how to setup your webcam on the linux kernel mailing list....

BTW; HowtoForge-linux is the place to go...

This tutorial describes how to set up and run an UnrealIRCD server on OpenSuSE 10.2 and Fedora Core 6. It also shows how to install Anope IRC services. Anope is a set of Services for IRC networks that allows users to manage their nicks and channels in a secure and efficient way, and administrators to manage their network with powerful tools.

Its FOSS, you can setup SSL, and it should be fairly easy to log/manage. With the tools available each person would be setting up their own chat room (just by naming it) and logging should be a snap.

I just found Group-Office last week, and decided to try it, as I was setting up a new client mail server at the time. Followed this.

So, I've got postfix and dovecot, MySQL for user management, and what I consider a really beautiful web frontend with mail, contacts, personal and shared calendars, tasks, summary page, etc. I like that I have complete control over the mail backends, making IMAP/POP3/SMTP config familiar and easy.

Not that this could be a drop-in replacement for Exchange, but it's great that more options are becoming available every day.

Hmmm... You've made it clear you're not expecting free hardcopy, so you must be wanting links.

Of course to have found that you probably would have needed some uber-l337 mad google skillz.

In all seriousness, I thought the "Linux on the desktop" model was dead several years ago. I can see how Enderle's point applies to Apple, but it seems an enormous stretch to predict that consumers will generally examine the desktop market as it exists today and opt for Linux over Vista, XP, or OS X. I realize Linux has gained ground in the netbook market and done well when debuted on systems that used customized distros. What's the larger picture?

In all seriousness, Linux on the desktop spanks any version of Windows silly.

The new version of the KDE desktop, KDE 4.1.3 or later, has worked out its initial teething troubles and now represent the only GPU-accelerated desktop for Linux, and as such is easily the fastest desktop available today, bar none. Because they use software rendering, not even "lightweight" Linux desktops such as LXDE or Fluxbox are as fast. KDE4 runs all of the compiz-style bling (including the desktop cube and 4 desktops), it is scriptable, it runs KDE3 or GTK applications easily and pretty well integrated, and it has innovative new desktop facets such as strigi, nepomuk et al, and it can run Google widgets, OSX widgets or Plasmoids at the same time (KDE 4.2+).

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081202-hands-on-kde-4-2-beta-1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDE_4#KDE_4.2

If you desperately need to run the odd legacy Windows application, you can very likely run it under Wine with more compatibility than Vista offers, and faster than Vista can. If it fails to run under Wine, then you can still run a version of Windows virtually using your choice of two free and open-source Virtual Machine Managers:

VirtualBox OSE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualbox

Kernel-based Virtual Machine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel-based_Virtual_Machine
http://www.howtoforge.com/virtualization-with-kvm-on-ubuntu-8.10

Wine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_(software)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_(software)#64-bit_applications

Significantly, just this last year or so some larger OEMs have begun to offer desktop Linux pre-installed:

http://linux.dell.com/desktops.shtml
http://blogs.computerworld.com/with_hp_in_all_oems_now_ship_desktop_linux
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212400561&subSection=News
http://www.workswithu.com/2008/12/12/system76-launches-biometric-ubuntu-linux-laptops/

Finally, desktop Linux has (according to some measurements anyway) finally started to gain a measurable adoption rate, just 1.5% behind that of Mac OSX:

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

Vendors such as Canonical are actually finally putting some effort into promoting Linux as a usable, practical desktop OS:
http://www.workswithu.com/

No-one told Linux that it was "dead on the desktop". Linux is dominant in every other area of computing, from supercomputers to clusters to servers to infrastructure machines (such as routers) to embedded devices in general (such as cellphones),

For the humor impaired I'm aware that vmware does not run on CE.

Just for interest for people who didn't know, if you started with a netbook with a hard disk and Linux ... you can install Virtual box and then run Windows or even Windows CE I suppose under that.

http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-virtualbox-2.0.0-on-ubuntu-8.04-desktop

No cost ... apart from the Windows and the Windows applications you might want to run.

A higher-performing and simpler option might be to install Wine. You wouldn't be guaranteed to able to install and run **EVERY** Windows application (especially applications that explicitly try to make sure they are being installed on "genuine Windows") ... but you should be able to run most Windows applications this way.

Wine is up to version 1.1.4 these days:
http://www.winehq.org/

It has fairly extensive compatibility ... except as I say for applications that deliberately try to self destruct if they suspect they are not running on "genuine" Windows.

I have even heard a rumour that there are some applications from a certain near-monopoly supplier that attempt to discover if the OS is running native or under a VM and will stop working if they see a VM. Now **THAT** is truly going to great lengths just to be difficult and to try to rip customers off.

• http://www.howtoforge.com/quick-n-easy-lamp-server-centos-rhel/
• http://serverlinux.blogspot.com/2008/06/creating-complete-lamp-solution-in.html
• http://www.rayheffer.com/linux%20web%20server.shtml

The more you start tweaking stuff, the more you will learn.

I'm not sure if gparted can do it yet, but you can shrink and grow ext2/3 partitions at the command line using a combination of tools.

0x000000 Security. Very snarky and somewhat crazy security blogger. Usually interesting.
Phoronix. Linux + hardware + games = Nothing not to love unless you are lame.
Anandtech. Hardware. Glorious hardware. Make sure to put on the adult diapers before visting.
HowtoForge. How to do stuff. Usually in Linux.
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. More fun than a barrel of iMacs.
Signal to Noise. The official 37signals blog. They are pompus, they can be pricks at times, but they usually have interesting things to say.
Scobleizer. Robert Scoble. His job is talking to people using social networking tools who own companies that make social networking tools. At some point there will be a business plan. Just not today.

BTW the only reason itunes and quicktime are number one is because everyone with an ipod is forced to use it.

I could use my iPod, if I had one but I don't, on my Linux PC, which I do have, using gtkpod.

Make Your Own Ubuntu Live CD/DVD or Distro with Remastersys

I'm surprised this isn't more well known, Ubuntu + Remastersys is very nice and easy:

http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/

Official Remastersys forum, here's where you ask and learn:
http://loscompanion.com/forums/index.php?board=58.0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remastersys
http://lifehacker.com/software/linux-tip/make-an-ubuntu-backup-live-cddvd-with-remastersys-330181.php
http://klikit.pbwiki.com/Remastersys
http://www.ubuntu-unleashed.com/2007/09/remaster-and-clone-your-ubuntu-install.html
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/creating-custom-ubuntu-live-cd-with-remastersys.html
http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu-linux-mint-livecd-with-remastersys

For those that don't already have it handy, here is the repo info for you /etc/apt/sources.list file.

# Remastersys
deb http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/repository remastersys/

Please MOD this up if you find it useful, I think it is, but it gets buried with time and people don't see it because I'm posting as anonymous coward, thanks!

In short, I don't need Windows, it failed me long ago and fails me now, no reason to expect or care for it (or the convicted monopoly) to improve.

Make Your Own Ubuntu Live CD/DVD or Distro with Remastersys

I'm surprised this isn't more well known, Ubuntu + Remastersys is very nice and easy:

http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/

Official Remastersys forum, here's where you ask and learn:
http://loscompanion.com/forums/index.php?board=58.0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remastersys
http://lifehacker.com/software/linux-tip/make-an-ubuntu-backup-live-cddvd-with-remastersys-330181.php
http://klikit.pbwiki.com/Remastersys
http://www.ubuntu-unleashed.com/2007/09/remaster-and-clone-your-ubuntu-install.html
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/creating-custom-ubuntu-live-cd-with-remastersys.html
http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu-linux-mint-livecd-with-remastersys

For those that don't already have it handy, here is the repo info for you /etc/apt/sources.list file.

# Remastersys
deb http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/repository remastersys/

Please MOD this up if you find it useful, I think it is, but it gets buried with time and people don't see it because I'm posting as anonymous coward, thanks!

Check out the 'PERFECT SERVER HOWTO' on http://www.howtoforge.com/ for your preferred distro. It is all you need for what you want to achieve and 'ISPconfig' costs nothing (unlike some other control panels).
I can only speak of the 'Fedora' 'HOWTO' - you should get good results and have fun doing it.
You only have to have one friend that pays to make your virtual server hire significantly more affordable, chances are that they will not be hammering the server and once you have put in some work getting them setup it will just be a matter of collecting the fees.

I see what the naysayers are saying, however, if you do pick up those 'artist', 'photographer' and other not-so commercial projects you will have an excuse for staying in better touch with people you might otherwise not stay in touch with.

Even if it takes you a whole weekend of fettling I think the effort will be worth the while, have a go with 'ISPconfig' as per tried-and-trusted instructions and take things from there, one project at a time:

http://www.ispconfig.org/index.htm

http://www.howtoforge.com/fedora-8-server-lamp-email-dns-ftp-ispconfig

You might also be interested in getting a few extra domains to practice with. You can get dynamic ones for free at http://www.dyndns.com/ and check that everything (including email) works. Note that you will have to look in your junk email for emails from a dyndns address.

Check out the 'PERFECT SERVER HOWTO' on http://www.howtoforge.com/ for your preferred distro. It is all you need for what you want to achieve and 'ISPconfig' costs nothing (unlike some other control panels).
I can only speak of the 'Fedora' 'HOWTO' - you should get good results and have fun doing it.
You only have to have one friend that pays to make your virtual server hire significantly more affordable, chances are that they will not be hammering the server and once you have put in some work getting them setup it will just be a matter of collecting the fees.

I see what the naysayers are saying, however, if you do pick up those 'artist', 'photographer' and other not-so commercial projects you will have an excuse for staying in better touch with people you might otherwise not stay in touch with.

Even if it takes you a whole weekend of fettling I think the effort will be worth the while, have a go with 'ISPconfig' as per tried-and-trusted instructions and take things from there, one project at a time:

http://www.ispconfig.org/index.htm

http://www.howtoforge.com/fedora-8-server-lamp-email-dns-ftp-ispconfig

You might also be interested in getting a few extra domains to practice with. You can get dynamic ones for free at http://www.dyndns.com/ and check that everything (including email) works. Note that you will have to look in your junk email for emails from a dyndns address.

Don't give up. VirtualBox is DEFINITELY worth it. I run Windows on it and everything works except videogames (that's what Wine is for ;-) )

Here's an installation guide for Ubuntu, they tell you how to compile from sources.

http://www.howtoforge.com/virtualbox_ubuntu

When I was moving from a windows server 2003 server to a Ubuntu server I realized the main reason people refuse to switch to linux. I noticed that even though it will install everything I need right off the bat and there are nice guides on The Perfect Ubuntu Server it was still more work then I was willing to do. I had been hosting 3 of my private owned domain names on my "server"(old P4 desktop) and in order to set up the Virtual Hosts I had to make configuration files and use command prompt. Until they make it so you don't need to read an entire manual on how to setup a simple configuration of the linux software then it will not be the year of the linux desktop.

I'll bet you've got an ATI video card, just like me. ATI's been a real problem for Linux... they still keep their damned hardware secret, and it's a PITA to write drivers for them. I'll also bet you tried to install Ubuntu Feisty. It was possible to install Feisty on a 9400 with an ATI card, but it took a hack during the install. Gusty Gibbon installed on my 9400 with an ATI card out-of-the-box. I would recommend that you try it again. Definitely go for the x64 version, IMO. Then, be sure to do 'sudo apt-get upgrade', since Gusty Gibbon is a bit unstable out-of-the-box. Also, check out Automatix after the install, and assuming you're like most /.-ers, you'll want to install some additional packages. Check out the Perfect Server page for some good advice on upgrades.

Dell laptops have been poor for Linux in the past, but not as bad as Compaq and HP. Dell's problem is the configurability, as you say. HP and Compaq had no excuse. However, I hear good things for Linux are in the works, especially now that Dell ships Ubuntu on some models. We hackers can whine all we want, but ATI loves to ignore us. Apparently Dell whined, and ATI is listening, though I have yet to see ATI lift one damned finger, other than to issue a press release. They claim they've seen the light. HP apparently took notice, as well, and may start testing their laptops for Linux compatibility.

Obligatory mac4lin link: http://www.howtoforge.com/mac4lin_make_linux_look_like_a_mac

1. M2N-E Asus Motherboard + 1 Gbyte DDR2 + AMD X2 5000+ CPU with unlocked clock multiplier. No Graphics card.
2. Antec Nine Hundred case with 450 watt energy efficient PS. 6 Seagate Sata2 500 GB disk drives.
3. APC backup unit with 1000+VA, like the XS1200. APC is the preferred brand, since driver install is easy.

Assemble hardware, and temporarily install a DVD-ROM, keyboard, and graphics card for installation of Ubuntu server. I've used 6.10, 7.04, and 7.10 successfully. Boot your favorite version of alternate install CD of Ubuntu AMD64 server and install it, after partitioning all the disks with small partitions of 1024 cylinders as partition 1, and the rest of the disk as partition 2. Then create RAID1 arrays on partition 1 (partition type FD) of disks A & B, and another RAID1 array on disks C & D. Partition 1 of disk E is a swap partition, and partition 1 of disk F is spare. After creation of the RAID1 array on A & B as /dev/md0, then use this for the root mount point. /dev/md1 on C & D can be used in the future for upgrading to newer releases without having to trash the original on /dev/md0. I don't bother with a LAMP installation, since I want pure file services. I do add DHCP, TFTP, SSH, NFS, and Samba services either during the installation, or after. After a successful install and reboot, then modify the grub menu to set up a serial console. http://www.howtoforge.com/setting_up_a_serial_console

Yank out the DVD, graphics card and keyboard, hook up a serial cable, and verify that it reboots with output directed to the serial port. The whole point of making the server headless is to remove all temptation to run an X-Server on the machine. This way lies madness and disk corruption. Preservation of the data takes precedence over convenience. You can do everything you need via SSH, or in a pinch, with the serial port. After beheading the machine, I usually continue configuration via SSH from another box on the network. Next, create a RAID6 array on the 6 disks using the 2nd partitions, which will give you a little under 2TB of usable storage. RAID6 may seem a bit of overkill, but RAID5 arrays usually have their moment of truth during a rebuild after a drive failure, and this is when unreadable sectors usually rise up and bite you very hard. With Raid6, you still have a margin of error after a disk failure, and we all know it's not a matter of if, but when.

Now install loop-AES. This always requires a build from source code, and instructions can be found on the ubuntu forums . Loop-AES is more complex to install than LUKS, or other linux disk encryption schemes, but the performance and security are the best available. This is why the OS should be in 64 bit mode, since this gives a little faster speed to the AES256 encryption. Creation of a suitable encryption key is covered elsewhere, but I strongly recommend 65 keys, a good random salt value, and a high iteration count on "losetup". I use an iteration count of 2,000,000, which takes about 2 minutes for the CPU to perform. The keyfile & salt value should be stored on an separate USB key, stored in an encrypted filesystem with a different salt value, a high iteration count, and a 20 character strong password. This combination is military grade, and places the weak link of the security chain squarely in your head. In other words, your password and the USB key become the only possible method for recovering your data, so making copies of the USB key is strongly recommended. I keep a copy at the bank, in a deposit box, as well as

Which was discovered to NOT be a Mac, cuz he was running SOME DISTRO and modified it according to:

http://www.howtoforge.com/mac4lin_make_linux_look_like_a_mac_p6

which was found to really be based on:

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Environment/KDE/KDM-Vista-like-Theme-25822.shtml

and

http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=31585

Of course now that I'd done the simple search I find it coincidentally, everywhere.

It's important to note that the servers may not have been actually rooted. There is a large number of ssh dictionary breakin attempts on every machine I administrate on several completely different ip blocks. The worst hit is usually my personal server that tended to get hit with several thousand attempts per hour(enough that legitimate logins were a problem) before I installed countermeasures. Even now the countermeasures are locking out 5 to 8 hosts per day.

They have managed to get user accounts on a few occasions and most of the time they never even attempt to gain root. They just start scanning for new hosts.

I'm now running a python script called DenyHosts to find and lockout dictionary attacks. "apt-get install denyhosts" for debian users. Even on much more liberal settings than the default it's lowered my cpu load considerably and locks out attacks in the first minute rather than the hour it would otherwise take me to notice.

Ask and ye shall receive. This is what I used to get ruby up and running on our VMs:

http://www.howtoforge.com/ruby_on_rails_apache2_fa stcgi_debian

Not 100% accurate, but any hiccups I ran into were easily solved by installing a few libraries.