Linux Cookbook

Another good blog, more cool open source software

Check out Little Ubuntu for some good stuff like this list of Awesome Ubuntu/Linux Apps you might not know about and this followup, Awesome Ubuntu/Linux Apps you might not know about V2.

Malicious Software, Microsoft and Linux

This is classic: My first Linux virus? tells the story of what happens when you accept Microsoft's EULA (see my article, Declining the Windows Vista EULA).

I don't want to ruin the story, but you can read about the "virus" here.

Enjoy (especially the comments)!

Emergency Shutdown

I've pointed to FOSSwire before, but they're good. And this is a new one to me: Fix a Frozen System with the Magic SysRq Keys.

It doesn't happen often, but once in a while things go kerflooey on your Linux system and you need to do a shutdown. Jacob at FOSSwire gives the short answer on how to get control back and shutdown in an orderly manner--without hitting the Power key.

Hit the <Alt> <SysRq/PrtScn> keys together, and, holding them down, type REISUB, and you're on your way.

I haven't tried this myself, and (since Jacob warns not to do this if you just need to reboot), am not about to try it until I really need to. But if you want to read more about the "magic" and other helpful tricks, check these articles out:

• Developer Tutorials article on "Magic SysRq"
• Ctrl-Alt-Del and other special key combinations from the Linux Documentation Project
• Five Ways to Fix App Woes from Linux Clues

Get the Facts, RIP

It couldn't last: my favorite resource for Microsoft FUD and unintentional support for open source software, Microsoft's "Get the Facts" website, is no longer. Originally positioned by Microsoft to be a repository of good, un-biased information from third-party researchers about how much better Windows Server is than Linux, it was from the start a propaganda site that published Microsoft-sponsored research, cherry-picked content and misleading editorial content.

I read about the death at Linux Watch: <a href="http://linux-watch.com/news/NS5294337662.html">Microsoft kills off anti-Linux 'Get the Facts' site</a>. I wrote about "Get the Facts" earlier this summer here (<a href="http://www.linuxcookbook.com/2007/07/microsofts-get-.html">"Microsoft's "Get the Facts" (tm) Campaign, Deconstructed"</a>), and was hoping to make a mini-career of deconstructing all that propaganda. Now, I'll just have to look for the FUD in new places, but the good news is that Microsoft's replacement, <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/compare/default.mspx">windowsserver/compare</a>, looks like it'll be chock full of FUD-goodness. I suspect all those old links to Microsoft's "research" results will be broken now, though.

Cleaning Windows?

This is the first post in this category: Windows "Wins", stories about some of the <irony>"wins"</irony> that you get when you're using Windows.

Lately I've been noticing that people spend a lot of time doing "maintenance" of one sort or another to keep their Windows systems running well. I remember back when I used Windows that I'd usually have to re-install the whole thing from scratch at least once a year (but that was back in Windows 98 days).

Anyway, apparently things are worse now, between the crapware that gets installed by the hardware vendors and the various other garbageware that installs itself from the Internet.

So, you could check out Top 10 Ways to Clean Up Your PC on Lifehacker. Or, more amazingly (to me) you can read PC World's 20 Tools to Get the Junk Off Your PC. I couldn't believe it, but a lot of these "tools" are products that you have to buy to get the other software (that you also paid for) to work right.

Amazing.