The problem: when you install using a package manager like apt or dpkg or rpm, you can easily use that same package manager to uninstall the app, but when you compile an app, uninstalling can be difficult, since nothing kept track of where everything was installed. The solution: checkinstall, which compiles code into a binary of your choice & then installs the newly-created package, thus making it easy to manage & uninstall the software. Nifty, eh? Read Creating .deb-Packages With Checkinstall for a nice HOWTO on the process. It's focused on deb, but you can just as easily create rpm's as well. Update! Linux.com just published an excellent guide to Checkinstall as well, at CLI Magic: CheckInstall. DEFINITELY worth reading! (Check out all of my posts on compiling, dpkg, & rpm.) ...

After making Linux users suffer for years with Acrobat Reader 5, while 6 was developed & made available for everyone else, Adobe has finally achieved Reader parity with the release of Acrobat Reader 7. If you use Linux, go grab it at the FTP site (available in RPM & TAR) - it's good to have, since even though KPDF is now arguably the best PDF reader on Linux, some PDFs still work best with Adobe's own software. ...

When it comes to RPM-based distros, the best - easily - is SUSE. 10.1 is now out, & the reviews are starting to appear, and they are uniformly positive. Here's a lengthy look at SUSE, including quite a bit about the ultra-cool XGL extensions that are the best damn eye candy I've ever seen on any platform. Interested? Then go read Mad Penguin's "First Look at SUSE Linux 10.1". You'll find it interesting ... I guarantee. (Check out all of our posts on SUSE.) ...

Following up on my earlier post about Mandrake, Turkix 3.0, a Live CD based on Mandrake, is out & available for download. Now, I've got good news and bad news. The good news: there are some really cool features in Turkix, like an XP-style control center (to make things easy for the Windows refugees), a Windows-style file hierarchy (same reason, natch), Grpmx (an RPM-based software installation wizard), and more. Sounds like cool stuff! The bad news: it appears to be in Turkish, at least according to the release notes and the screenshots I saw. If you speak Turkish, go get it (600MB ISO)! (If I'm wrong about the distro existing only in Turkish, please let me know.) ...

So I'm reading this review of Fedora Core 3 last night, when I notice that Dag Wieers, the main dude behind the best Fedora Core APT repository, has responded to the review in the comments. I noticed in particular this bit o' info in the last para of his comment that I think bears pointing to: Something the article could have mentioned is the new Smart Package Manager that is the first tool that allows to use _all_ repositories in a very smart way. It avoids conflicts, allows users to control what package they want for what distribution and in fact gives the user control. It does not force the user to choose one over another, it allows users to pick what they need. You can find the Smart Package Manager RPM package for FC3 at: http://dag.wieers.com/packages/smart/ and it comes pre-configured with 13 (!) repositories, even with fedora.us and livna.org, although fedora.us is not yet active. Smart has been designed from the bottom up by Gustavo Niemeyer, the same person that ported apt to ...

SUSE's crown jewel has always been YAST, the amazing slice-it, dice-it, do-pretty-much-every-dang-thing Yet Another System Tool that lets you configure hardware, add & remove software, turn on or off services, view information, set up networking, and on and on and on and on (me, I prefer using YAST via the command line, as it's about a gazillion times faster, but the GUI works just fine). And now that SUSE has open sourced YAST, well, maybe you non-SUSE users will be seeing a little YAST in your future as well. In the meantime, if you use SUSE & YAST, you oughta read YaST is Among the Best System Setup Tools Available, available on Novell's web site. It's officially about Novell Linux Desktop, but even SUSE Pro users will get something out of it. It's mainly about software installation (& uninstallation) via YAST, which would definitely be a good thing to learn (me, again I prefer the command line & RPM, but hey, I know that a lot of folks prefer a GUI). ...

Just today I was installing 9.2 on one of my machines, thinking, "my goodness, for an RPM-based distro, SUSE sure is nice", and thinking to myself that 9.3 should be out soon & will be probably be pretty darn good. Well imagine my surprise to find out that Novell has published a SUSE LINUX 9.3 Professional Review that gives an overview of new stuff in 9.3, and includes screenshots. If you're interested in finding out what's comin' 'round the mountain real soon now, then check this one out. It looks really nice: KDE 3.4, GNOME 2.10, Mozilla Firefox 1.0, Evolution 2.1.5, Xen, auto recognition of Bluetooth, OpenOffice.org 2.0, Beagle (which means really awesome machine-wide searching), GIMP 2.2.3, & 2.6.11 kernel. You can already pre-order it! ...

I'm not really a clip art kind of guy - as I used to tell my Web Design students, "You know what the problem with putting clip art on your web pages is? It looks like clip art!" - but when it comes to text documents, clip art is a different matter. Used in moderation, it can be a nice way to spiff up a flier or newsletter. If you use OpenOffice.org, be aware that you can install additional clip art that will work with that software. If you use Debian, run the following command: apt-get install openclipart openclipart-openoffice.org openclipart-png openclipart-svg If you use an RPM-based system, head over to the Open Clip Art Library site and download a package appropriate to your system. Finally, if you installed MSFT Office & want to use that clip art with OOo, read Importing MS Office clip art to the OO Gallery. Quite handy! (Check out all of my posts on OpenOffice.org.) ...

One of the best things about Debian is APT, the package management system that makes installing & deleting software & associated dependencies faaaaar easier than that process is on any other distro. All other package management schemes are far less capable than APT, and once you master APT, you'll agree. Linux Journal has published an excerpt from Linux Patch Management: Keeping Linux Systems Up to Date titled "Making apt Work for You: A Book Excerpt". It's a great overview of the various commands you can use with APT, & it's well worth your perusal. I especially like the table that lists the various apt-related software, many of which I didn't know. Read this one, people - it's helpful, and that's all I ask in something I point ya to. (And by the way - I wrote an article in Linux Magazine on APT for RPM-based systems a few years ago that some of you non-Debian-usin' folk might like.) (Check out all of our posts on Debian and APT.) ...

Windows & Mac OS make it really, really simple to install software because there's really only one way to install: click on Setup.exe or Install.exe in the case of Windows, or a .dmg in the case of Mac OS. Linux is more difficult because there's such a variety of packaging formats. Now here comes the excellent How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu!, which delivers exactly what it says. This puppy covers the package manager as a concept, the APT GUI Synaptic, using APT via the terminal (my preferred method), and how to install a package manually, no matter if that package is a .deb, .rpm, .tar.gz, .sh, .bin, or even a .exe. And while the title is for Ubuntu, this guide works for pretty much any Debian-based distro. Read & bookmark this one, guys - it's a keeper! (Check out all of our posts on K/Ubuntu & software installation.) ...

If SUSE continues down this path, they are screwing up in a big way. Red Hat/Fedora also does this - leaves MP3 support out of the install - but you can re-enable MP3 support by installing a single RPM. SUSE, however, according to a review of the forthcoming 9.3 release, has actually compiled GStreamer, Arts, & the KDE Multimedia packages WITHOUT SUPPORT FOR MP3. That means it's not just a matter of installing a single RPM & getting MP3 support back, oh no. Instead, you have to recompile all of those multimedia packages, which is a total PITA and, frankly, a load of bull. Oh … and the reviewer actually did the recompiles, and then guess what? An update broke 'em all again! Joy! OK, there is one package that does support MP3 playback: Real player. Wheeeeee! Now, I'm quite thrilled that the Real player isn't the stinking pile of poo that it used to be, but c'mon. It's no Amarok. Or Juk. Or XMMS. Or Rhythmbox. Ridiculous. Who the heck wants to use the Real player to manage all of ...

Among Linux distros, Mandrake is quite popular; in fact, at DistroWatch, it's often #1 in the rankings. A lot of people like it 'cause it's relatively easy to use and it's RPM-based, which a lot of folks find very comfortable. The current version of Mandrakelinux is 10.1 (released in October 2004), & it includes the following software: Linux Kernel 2.6.8 Xorg 6.7.0 KDE 3.2.3 GNOME 2.6 Mozilla 1.7.2 OpenOffice.org 1.1.3 & a lot more! Check out the big ol' list of features, & then download the CD ISOs or the DVD ISOs (available via ftp or you can grab 'em with BitTorrent). Notice that you'll have to promise to join the MandrakeClub (& eventually pay $$$), but it's just a promise. If you don't like Mandrake, delete it and don't pay, since you didn't use it. There's a new review of Mandrakelinux 10.1 out called "A Month later with Mandrake Linux 10.1 Official". The reviewer loves it, ...

Fedora Core 3: an RPM-based distro centered on GNOME & based on the 2.6.8 kernel. Ubuntu: a Debian-based (& therefore DEB) distro centered on GNOME (centered? hell, that's all you can run!) & based on the 2.6.8 kernel. So which is better? Which handles networking more smoothly? Which makes it easier to install & update packages? Which has better multimedia capabilities? Which should you run? Welllllll, OSNews has a nice lil' review that attempts to answer those questions - and more! - & if you're a GNOME-usin', 2.6.8-kernel-upgradin', up-to-date distro installin' kinda person, you really oughta read "Review: Fedora Core 3 Vs Ubuntu Warty Warhog". You'll learn somethin'. Now, if you're already using Ubuntu, you're more than likely using 4.1, the Warty Warthog release. Coming up in April 2005 is the next release, code-named Hoary Hedgehog. If you're super-impatient & just HAVE to be on the bleeding edge, then read "Ubuntu: From Warty to Hoary" & learn how to update ...

Some of these are a bit long in the tooth at this point (the article is from January), but this is still a neat overview of 18 (count 'em, 18) different Live CD distros of Linux, including the following: Basilisk (based on Fedora), BeatrIX (based on Debian/Knoppix/Ubuntu), Berry Linux (based on Fedora), Damn Small Linux (based on Debian), FreeSBIE (based on Free BSD), Gnoppix (Knoppix/Debian plus Gnome, now merged with Ubuntu), Kanotix (modified Knoppix/Debian), Knoppix (the first big live CD, based on Debian), Luit (Debian/Xfce, rox filing system), Mandrake Move (based on Mandrake), Mepis (Debian), Morphix (modular Debian), PCLinuxOS Preview (a Mandrake fork), Sam (Mandrake/Xfce), SLAX (Slackware), Suse 9.1 and 9.2 (rpm-based), Ubuntu Live (Debian), & Xfld (Debian/Damn Small Linux and Xfce). Whew! Now,don't expect anything in-depth. Instead, this of this article like a tapas bar: you get a sampler of each distro, & not much more. He does do a good job categorizing distros by ...

My buddy Robert Citek has been interested, over the last couple of years, in ways to kill Unix machines. In other words, he tries to create scripts that will bring *nix machines to their knees. His interest isn't malicious - he's one of the most honest guys I know - but he thinks that by understanding where the weaknesses are, it will better enable him to shore those up and turn weaknesses into strengths. Robert knows Linux really, really, really well (actually, he knows RPM-based distros really well; Debian-based distros are still something new to him), but he bought a Mac OS X laptop a year ago, so now he's focusing on ways to kill Mac OS X (which is still Unix, remember). Here's his latest report, from the CWE-LUG mailing list: <Robert's email> I was able to successfully kill my Mac last night with the following script [Scott: remove the blank lines from the script; this blog's wysiwyg keeps inserting them]: perl -le ' @foo=qw(hello) ; for (my $i ; $i<100 ; $i++) { ...