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linuxjournal.com.rss.xml (51966B)
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1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2 <rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/" xmlns:og="http://ogp.me/ns#" xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#" xmlns:schema="http://schema.org/" xmlns:sioc="http://rdfs.org/sioc/ns#" xmlns:sioct="http://rdfs.org/sioc/types#" xmlns:skos="http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#" version="2.0" xml:base="https://www.linuxjournal.com/node/feed">
3 <channel>
4 <title>Linux Journal - The Original Magazine of the Linux Community</title>
5 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/node/feed</link>
6 <description/>
7 <language>en</language>
8
9 <item>
10 <title>7 Important Linux Commands for Every Linux User</title>
11 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/7-important-linux-commands-every-linux-user</link>
12 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340856" class="layout layout--onecol">
13 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
14
15 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/seven-linux-commands.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="7 Important Linux Commands for Every Linux User" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
16
17 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Suparna Ganguly</a></div>
18
19 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p dir="ltr">Linux might sound scary for first-time Linux users, but actually, it isn’t. Linux is a bunch of open-source Unix operating systems based on Linux Kernel. These operating systems are called Linux distributions, such as Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint.</p>
20
21 <p dir="ltr">Since its inception in 1991, Linux has garnered popularity for being open-source. People can modify and redistribute Linux under their own brand. When using a Linux OS, you need a shell to access the services provided. Also, it’s recommended to run your Linux OS through a CLI or command-line interface. CLI makes time-consuming processes quicker.</p>
22
23 <p dir="ltr">This article presents a guide to 7 important Linux commands for every Linux user to know. So, let’s begin.</p>
24
25 <h2 dir="ltr">cat Command</h2>
26
27 <p dir="ltr">cat is the shortened form of “concatenate”. It’s a frequently used multi-purpose Linux command. This command is used to create, display, and copy a file content on the standard output.</p>
28
29 <h3 dir="ltr">Syntax</h3>
30
31 <pre dir="ltr">
32 cat [OPTION]... [FILE]..</pre>
33
34 <p dir="ltr">To create a file, type:</p>
35
36 <pre dir="ltr">
37 cat > <file name>
38
39 // Enter file content</pre>
40
41 <p dir="ltr">To save the file created, press Ctrl+D. And to display the file content, execute:</p>
42
43 <pre dir="ltr">
44 cat <file name></pre>
45
46 <h2 dir="ltr">cd Command</h2>
47
48 <p dir="ltr">The cd command is used to navigate through the directories and files in Linux. It needs either the entire path or the directory name depending on the current directory.</p>
49
50 <h3 dir="ltr">Syntax</h3>
51
52 <pre dir="ltr">
53 cd [Options] [Directory]</pre>
54
55 <p dir="ltr">Suppose you’re in /home/username/Documents. You want to navigate to a subdirectory of Documents which is Photos. To do that, execute:</p>
56
57 <pre dir="ltr">
58 cd Photos</pre>
59
60 <p dir="ltr">To move to an entirely different directory, type cd and then the directory’s absolute path.</p>
61
62 <pre dir="ltr">
63 cd /home/username/Movies</pre>
64
65 <p dir="ltr">The above command will switch to /home/username/Movies. Apart from this, the commands, cd.., cd, and cd- are used to move one directory up, to go to the home folder, and to go to the previous directory respectively.</p>
66
67 <p dir="ltr">Reminder: Linux’s shell is case-sensitive. So, make sure you type the name’s directory as it is.</p>
68
69 <h2 dir="ltr">echo Command</h2>
70
71 <p dir="ltr">The echo command displays a line of text or string passed as an argument. It’s used for the purpose of debugging shell programs in the Linux terminal.</p>
72
73 <h3 dir="ltr">Syntax</h3>
74
75 <pre dir="ltr">
76 echo [Option] [String]</pre>
77
78 <p dir="ltr">Other examples of the echo command are:</p>
79
80 <ul><li dir="ltr">
81 <p dir="ltr"><code>echo "String"</code>: This displays the string within the quotes.</p>
82 </li>
83 <li dir="ltr">
84 <p dir="ltr"><code>echo -e "Learn \nBy \nDoing"</code>: Here the ‘-e’ tag allows the echo command to understand the backslash escape sequences in the argument.</p></li></ul></div>
85
86 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/7-important-linux-commands-every-linux-user" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
87 </div>
88
89 </div>
90 </div>
91
92 </description>
93 <pubDate>Wed, 13 Oct 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
94 <dc:creator>Suparna Ganguly</dc:creator>
95 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340856 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
96 </item>
97 <item>
98 <title>In PuTTY, Scripted Passwords are Exposed Passwords</title>
99 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/putty-scripted-passwords-are-exposed-passwords</link>
100 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340855" class="layout layout--onecol">
101 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
102
103 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/putty-scripted-passwords-are-exposed-passwords.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="PuTTY Scripted Passwords are Exposed Passwords" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
104
105 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/charles-fisher" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/charles-fisher" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Charles Fisher</a></div>
106
107 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><a href="https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/">PuTTY</a> is one of the oldest and most popular SSH clients, originally for Windows, but now available on several platforms. It has won corporate support and endorsement, and is prepared and bundled within several third-party repositories.</p>
108
109 <p>Unfortunately, the 0.74 stable PuTTY release does not safely guard plain-text passwords provided to it via the <code>-pw</code> command line option for the <code>psftp</code>, <code>pscp</code>, and <code>plink</code> utilities as the documentation clearly warns. There is evidence within the source code that the authors are aware of the problem, but the exposure is confirmed on Microsoft Windows, Oracle Linux, and the package prepared by the OpenBSD project.</p>
110
111 <p>After discussions with the original author of PuTTY, Simon Tatham developed a new <code>-pwfile</code> option, which will read an SSH password from a file, removing it from the command line. This feature can be backported into the current 0.76 stable release. Full instructions for applying the backport and a <code>.netrc</code> wrapper for <code>psftp</code> are presented, also implemented in Windows under <a href="https://frippery.org/busybox/">Busybox</a>.</p>
112
113 <p>While the <code>-pw</code> option is attractive for SSH users who are required to use passwords (and forbidden from using keys) for scripting activities, the exposure risk should be understood for any use of the feature. Users with security concerns should obtain the <code>-pwfile</code> functionality, either by applying a patch to the 0.76 stable release, or using a snapshot release found on the PuTTY website.</p>
114
115 <h2>Vulnerability</h2>
116
117 <p>The <code>psftp</code>, <code>pscp</code>, and <code>plink</code> utilities are able to accept a password on the command line, as their usage output describes:</p></div>
118
119 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/putty-scripted-passwords-are-exposed-passwords" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
120 </div>
121
122 </div>
123 </div>
124
125 </description>
126 <pubDate>Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
127 <dc:creator>Charles Fisher</dc:creator>
128 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340855 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
129 </item>
130 <item>
131 <title>How To Pick a Linux Distribution for Non-Techies</title>
132 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/how-pick-linux-distribution</link>
133 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340854" class="layout layout--onecol">
134 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
135
136 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/linux-distributions.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="How To Pick a Linux Distribution" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
137
138 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/ujjwal-anand" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/ujjwal-anand" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Ujjwal Anand</a></div>
139
140 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p dir="ltr">I have suffered from distrohopping. Now that I have settled for the last two years, here are some tips to save your time.</p>
141
142 <ol><li dir="ltr">
143 <p dir="ltr">All distros run the same operating system at their core, Linux. They are more similar than different. Hence, the marginal cost (time) of looking for a better distro is much more than the marginal benefit of it.</p>
144 </li>
145 <li dir="ltr">
146 <p dir="ltr">Say no to distributions made for specific purposes like Kali, CentOS, and OpenSuse. OpenSuse is great, but it is made for enterprise use. An everyday user won't ever need most of its features. To maintain it would be a waste of time. The same goes for the RedHat family.</p>
147 </li>
148 <li dir="ltr">
149 <p dir="ltr">Instead of trimming Suse, you better pick a distro made for everyday people, such as AntiX and SolusOS. Read their descriptions and target users on Distrowatch.</p>
150 </li>
151 <li dir="ltr">
152 <p dir="ltr">Avoid technical distributions like arch, its forks, and Gentoo. They are for the programmer types. If you are not one, you will likely break it. Updates tend to be massive and very frequent. And you can't install a new package without updating first. You don't want to deal with this. If you want it only for AUR, just learn to compile a little bit.</p>
153 </li>
154 <li dir="ltr">
155 <p dir="ltr">Say no to most desktop environments (DEs) besides LXDE and LXQT. Prefer window managers (WMs) for maximum performance. DEs can be buggy and cause distraction. They increase boot time and update size. It may be reasonable to rule out all distros that don't come with a window manager so you don't have to do the work post-installation. Know the rule; the less stuff you have, the fewer things you can break, the fewer problems you will face. Keep it minimal. Don't allow the bling-bling to distract you.</p>
156 </li>
157 <li dir="ltr">
158 <p dir="ltr">Try out different Init systems. Ever since systemd was adopted, Linux has started to feel like Windows, complex and out of hand. I do have it on Manjaro (but I did have to mask a couple of unneeded services to lower the boot time). A particular init system might work better on your specific hardware. Try some isos on a virtual machine.</p>
159 </li>
160 <li dir="ltr">
161 <p dir="ltr">Avoid forks because they simply are not different enough. In addition, they tend to carry their parent distro's issues on top of their own issues. Developers can do only so much about it. Independent distributions can fix issues more quickly because they can. Prefer original and independent distros.</p>
162 </li>
163 <li dir="ltr">
164 <p dir="ltr">Don't worry about software availability. Every distro hosts tools to help you install packages not present in their repos. Furthermore, package managers like Appimage and Flatpak allow you to install packages on all distros. Avoid snap. It slows down bootup and doesn't allow you to control app updates. This may change in the future though.</p></li></ol></div>
165
166 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/how-pick-linux-distribution" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
167 </div>
168
169 </div>
170 </div>
171
172 </description>
173 <pubDate>Thu, 30 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
174 <dc:creator>Ujjwal Anand</dc:creator>
175 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340854 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
176 </item>
177 <item>
178 <title>What’s New in Debian 11 “Bullseye”?</title>
179 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/whats-new-debian-11-bullseye</link>
180 <description><div data-history-node-id="1340853" class="row bs-3col-stacked node node--type-news node--view-mode-rss">
181
182
183 <div class="col-sm-12 bs-region bs-region--top">
184
185 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-above">
186 <div class="field--label">Image</div>
187 <div class="field--item"> <img alt="What’s New in Debian 11 “Bullseye”?" src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/debian-11-bullseye_0.jpg" width="800" height="471" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
188 </div>
189
190 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><a href="https://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> is a preferred choice of millions of Linux users for some of the most popular and powerful operating systems, like Ubuntu and its derivatives are based on Debian.</p>
191
192 <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.debian.org/News/2021/20210814">Debian 11 </a>has finally been released, finally, after a long development work of two years. Bullseye – that’s the name given to this latest Debian Linux distro. So what are the updates and upgrades? In this article, let’s check out what’s new in Debian 11.</p>
193
194 <h2 dir="ltr">Debian 11’s Architecture</h2>
195
196 <p dir="ltr">Debian supports a good range of hardware architectures. </p>
197
198 <p dir="ltr"><strong>Supported Architectures</strong></p>
199
200 <ol dir="ltr"><li>ARM EABI (armel)</li>
201 <li>ARMv7 (EABI hard-float ABI and armhf)</li>
202 <li>64-bit ARM (arm64)</li>
203 <li>32-bit PC (i386)</li>
204 <li>64-bit PC (amd64)</li>
205 <li>Little-endian MIPS (mipsel)</li>
206 <li>64-bit little-endian PowerPC</li>
207 <li>64-bit little-endian MIPS</li>
208 <li>IBM System z (s390x)</li>
209 </ol><p dir="ltr"><strong>Not Supported Hardware</strong></p>
210
211 <ol dir="ltr"><li>Old MIPS 32-bit CPUs</li>
212 </ol><h2 dir="ltr">Linux Kernel Information</h2>
213
214 <p dir="ltr">Debian 11 supports the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel_version_history">Linux Kernel 5.10 LTS</a>. Debian 10 Buster, the earlier version to Debian 11, used Linux Kernel 4.19 while released. A newer kernel means a new set of bug fixes, new hardware support, and improved performance.</p>
215
216 <p dir="ltr">This is the perfect kernel for Debian bullseye considering the Debian lifecycle. </p>
217
218 <h2 dir="ltr">Supports exFAT</h2>
219
220 <p dir="ltr">exFAT is the shortened form of the Extensible File Allocation Table. It’s a filesystem used for flash memory, such as SD cards and USB flash drives.</p>
221
222 <p dir="ltr">Now Debian 11 provides support for the exFAT. For mounting the <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/exfat-specification">exFAT filesystem</a>, you don’t need the filesystem-in-userspace implementation provided by the exfat-fuse package additionally anymore. Thanks to kernel 5.10! exFAT comes in handy with it. Tools for checking and creating an exFAT are given in the exfatprogs package.</p>
223
224 <h2 dir="ltr">Bauhaus Movement Inspired Theme & Wallpaper</h2>
225
226 <p dir="ltr">Debian features cool wallpapers and a default theme for each of the major releases. Debian 11’s theme is inspired by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus">Bauhaus movement.</a> Bauhaus means “building house” and it was an art and design movement from 20th century Germany. The Bauhaus movement revolved around abstract, geometric style featuring little emotion or sentiments. </p>
227
228 <p dir="ltr">Its modern aesthetic still is immensely influential for designers, architects, and artists. You can see this theme all through Debian 11 whether it’s the installer, login window, or the Grub menu.</p>
229
230 <h2 dir="ltr">Newer Desktop Environment Versions</h2>
231
232 <p dir="ltr">Debian 11 offers newer desktop environment versions. Desktop flavors you get here are, KDE Plasma 5.20, GNOME 3.38, LXDE 11, LXQt 0.16, Xfce 4.16, and MATE 1.24. Debian prefers stability and it’s quite clear from the desktop environments. You might not get the latest cutting-edge distributions like Fedora or Arch/Manjaro.</p>
233
234 <h2 dir="ltr">Updated Packages</h2>
235
236 <p dir="ltr">Debian 11 consists of more than 11,294 new packages out of 59,551 packages. It also reduced over 9,519 “obsolete” packages and removed 42,821 that were updated. A total of 5,434 packages remained as they were.</p>
237
238 <p dir="ltr">A good number of software applications and package updates are included in Debian bullseye, such as Apache 2.4.48, Calligra 3.2, Emacs 27.1, LibreOffice 7.0, Inkscape 1.0.2, Linux kernel 5.10 series, Perl 5.32, PHP 7.4, Vim 8.2, PostgreSQL 13, and the list goes on. All these ready-to-use software packages are built with over 30,000 source packages.</p>
239
240 <p dir="ltr">With this huge selection of packages and wide architecture support, Debian has always stayed committed to its aim of being The Universal Operating System.</p>
241
242 <h2 dir="ltr">Improved Printer and Scanner Features</h2>
243
244 <p dir="ltr">Debian 11 presents a new ipp-usb package. It is built with a vendor-neutral IPP-over-USB protocol that is supported by many latest printers. So, many modern-day printers will be supported now by Debian. And you won’t need the drivers for that.</p>
245
246 <p dir="ltr">SANE driverless backend lets you use scanners without any trouble.</p>
247
248 <h2 dir="ltr">Endnotes</h2>
249
250 <p dir="ltr">Want to try Debian Bullseye? Get it <a href="https://www.debian.org/releases/bullseye/installmanual">from here</a>. You can also check “bullseye” with <a href="https://www.debian.org/CD/live/">Live Images</a> without installing it on your PC. This will load and run the entire OS in read-only mode. These live images are available for the i386 and amd64 architectures in the form of USB sticks, DVDs, and netboot setups. Debian Live has a standard image. So you can try a basic Debian without any GUIs.</p>
251
252 <p dir="ltr">And that’s the ending of this article. Hope you find our Debian 11 guide helpful.</p></div>
253
254 <div class="field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--items">
255 <div class="field--item"><a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/tag/linux-0" hreflang="en">#Linux</a></div>
256 <div class="field--item"><a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/tag/debian" hreflang="en">Debian</a></div>
257 <div class="field--item"><a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/tag/news" hreflang="en">News</a></div>
258 </div>
259
260 </div>
261
262
263
264
265
266 </div>
267
268 </description>
269 <pubDate>Wed, 29 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
270 <dc:creator>Suparna Ganguly</dc:creator>
271 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340853 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
272 </item>
273 <item>
274 <title>Privacy-focused Linux Distributions to Secure Your Online Presence in 2021</title>
275 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/privacy-focused-linux-distributions-secure-your-online-presence-2021</link>
276 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340851" class="layout layout--onecol">
277 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
278
279 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/privacy-focused-linux-distributions.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="Privacy-focused Linux Distributions to Secure Your Online Presence in 2021" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
280
281 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Suparna Ganguly</a></div>
282
283 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Linux distros are usually more secure than their Windows and Mac counterparts. Linux Operating Systems being open-source leaves very less scope of unauthorized access to its core. However, with the advancement of technologies, <a href="https://www.techradar.com/in/news/synology-nas-devices-are-being-hacked-to-target-linux-systems">incidents </a>of attacks are not rare.</p>
284
285 <p dir="ltr">Are you in a fix with the coming <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-warns-over-this-unusual-malware-that-targets-windows-and-linux/">reports</a> of Linux systems targeted malware attacks? Worried about your online presence? Then maybe it’s time to go for a secure, privacy-focused Linux distro. This article presents a guide to 3 privacy-oriented Linux distributions that respect your privacy online.</p>
286
287 <h2 dir="ltr">Why You Need a Privacy-focused Linux Distro</h2>
288
289 <p dir="ltr">But before jumping into that, let’s have a brief overview regarding the importance of a secure Linux Operating System. You may know that the Operating System is the core software of your computer. It helps maintain communication across all the hardware, software, memory, and processor of the system. It also manages the hardware parts.</p>
290
291 <p dir="ltr">If your computer isn’t secure enough to use, then hackers can get easy access to the OS and can exploit it to view your files and track your presence on the internet. Privacy-focused Linux distributions offer a lot of good choices packed with the most reliable features to select from.</p>
292
293 <h2 dir="ltr">5 Privacy-focused Linux Distributions</h2>
294
295 <p dir="ltr">Now let’s take a look at the most privacy-focused Linux distros that allow staying secure.</p>
296
297 <h3 dir="ltr">Septor Linux</h3>
298
299 <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/septor/">Septor Linux </a>is an OS created by the project called Serbian Linux. Serbian Linux also produces Serbian language-based general general-purpose Linux distribution. Septor implements the<a href="https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/"> KDE Plasma desktop </a>environment and is a newcomer among all other distros.</p>
300
301 <p dir="ltr">The Septor operating system offers a stable and reliable user experience. It’s suitable for a vast range of computers because it is built upon <a href="https://www.debian.org/">Debian GNU/Linux.</a> So, a solid privacy level is what you can expect. The distro routes all of the internet traffic through <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor </a>network to earn privacy credentials. The distro used to use a launcher script to pick up the latest Tor, however, now Tor comes in bundles with it by default.</p></div>
302
303 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/privacy-focused-linux-distributions-secure-your-online-presence-2021" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
304 </div>
305
306 </div>
307 </div>
308
309 </description>
310 <pubDate>Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
311 <dc:creator>Suparna Ganguly</dc:creator>
312 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340851 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
313 </item>
314 <item>
315 <title>A Guide to 5 Fair Selections of Open Source Ticketing Tools for Linux</title>
316 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/guide-5-fair-selections-open-source-ticketing-tools-linux</link>
317 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340850" class="layout layout--onecol">
318 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
319
320 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/open-source-ticketing-tools-for-linux.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="A Guide to 5 Fair Selections of Open Source Ticketing Tools for Linux" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
321
322 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Suparna Ganguly</a></div>
323
324 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p dir="ltr">Are you in search of open-source ticketing tools for Linux? Well, this article brings a guide to 5 fair selections of open source ticketing software to provide uninterrupted customer support.</p>
325
326 <h2 dir="ltr">Why You Need Ticketing Tools</h2>
327
328 <p dir="ltr">A customer trouble ticketing (help desk) is an assistance resource to solve a customer query. Companies often provide customer support using email, website, and/or telephone. The importance of ticketing software is a crucial part for any business to be successful.</p>
329
330 <p dir="ltr">Your business can’t run properly without a satisfied client base. Increased customer retention is what businesses need. Right ticketing tools help ensure the best customer service for any business. </p>
331
332 <p dir="ltr">Linux makes sure enterprises get the best possible customer service software for their businesses to have sustainable growth. Because a powerful set of ticketing software provides undivided support that the businesses deserve.</p>
333
334 <h2 dir="ltr">5 Best Ticketing Tools for Linux</h2>
335
336 <p dir="ltr">This section takes you through 5 different ticketing software to be downloaded on Linux and why you should use them. So let’s begin!</p>
337
338 <h3 dir="ltr">osTicket</h3>
339
340 <p dir="ltr">For all the newly started businesses, <a href="https://osticket.com/download/">osTicket </a>would be a viable open source ticketing tool. It’s a lightweight and efficient support ticket software used by a good number of companies. If you run an enterprise or a non-profit and are not ready for paid ticketing tools just yet, osTicket is a must-try.</p>
341
342 <p dir="ltr">osTicket provides a simple and intuitive web interface to integrate customer queries via phone, email, and web forms. Worried of spam emails? osTicket helps reduce spam enabling captcha filling and auto-refreshing techniques.</p>
343
344 <p dir="ltr">You can work on a priority basis through this ticketing tool and get the issues solved in the lowest possible time.</p>
345
346 <h3 dir="ltr">PHD Help Desk</h3>
347
348 <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/phd/">PHD Help Desk</a> is a PHP+Javascript+MySQL-based open source ticketing tool and is used in the registry. PHD helps follow-up incidents in an organization. PHD has a user base all across the world. The latest version of the PHD Help Desk is 2.12.</p>
349
350 <p dir="ltr">This ticketing tool works in various ways. Using PHD, incidents can be classified and registered into multiple levels, such as the state of incident, type, sub-type, priority, description of Incident, historical factors, to name a few. </p>
351
352 <p dir="ltr">The database is consulted in a particular format depending on the user requirements. The data is then processed on a tallying sheet. Some of the advanced features of PHD Help Desk are the ability to export tickets into excel format, a PHPMailer Library to configure emails, and new password creation.</p></div>
353
354 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/guide-5-fair-selections-open-source-ticketing-tools-linux" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
355 </div>
356
357 </div>
358 </div>
359
360 </description>
361 <pubDate>Wed, 15 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
362 <dc:creator>Suparna Ganguly</dc:creator>
363 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340850 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
364 </item>
365 <item>
366 <title>In Search of Linux Laptops? Check these 6 Places to Get Your Laptop in 2021</title>
367 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/search-linux-laptops-check-these-6-places-get-your-laptop-2021</link>
368 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340849" class="layout layout--onecol">
369 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
370
371 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/linux-laptops-2021.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="Linux Laptops" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
372
373 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Suparna Ganguly</a></div>
374
375 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p dir="ltr">Are you in search of Linux laptops? This article takes you through 6 different places that offer the best Linux laptops. So get prepared to choose your Linux laptop in 2021.</p>
376
377 <h2 dir="ltr">Dell</h2>
378
379 <p dir="ltr">When it comes to laptops, the first name that comes to my mind is <a href="https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/sc/laptops">Dell</a>. For over 20 years Dell has been selling high-end Linux laptops. In a Dell store, you can get Ubuntu and Redhat Enterprise Linux laptops. These laptops are built to meet the needs of developers, businesses, and sysadmins.</p>
380
381 <p dir="ltr">For developers, who travel a lot, <a href="https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystems">XPS 13 Developer Edition</a> would be the confirmed best choice. Dell XPS comes at an expensive cost of around $1,000. So, if you’re in search of something less expensive, you can check Dell Inspiron laptops. Dell’s <a href="https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/workstations-isv-certified/sc/workstations">Precision workstations </a>with RHEL or Ubuntu are designed for small business owners or CG professionals.</p>
382
383 <p dir="ltr">Side Note: Dell doesn’t have a separate section for Linux laptops. Type Ubuntu in the search to get a view of all its laptops with Linux preinstalled.</p>
384
385 <h2 dir="ltr">Slimbook</h2>
386
387 <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://kde.slimbook.es/">Slimbook</a> is well known for its thin, rigid, and light durable laptops starting at a reasonable price of €930 (approx $1,075). These come with a nice screen, solid battery life, powerful CPU, and very good speakers.</p>
388
389 <p dir="ltr">This brand is from Spain. Slimbook came ahead of its competitors launching the first KDE laptops.</p>
390
391 <p dir="ltr">Slimbook brings laptops with a good variety of popular Linux distros, such as KDE Neon, Ubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Linux Mint, Kubuntu. Additionally, their laptops have two Spanish Linux distros – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAX_(operating_system)">Max</a> and <a href="https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=lliurex">Lliurex</a>. You can choose Windows OS as well with their laptops, but for that, additional costs are there.</p>
392
393 <p dir="ltr">Slimbook offers desktop systems too. So, if you ever need desktops, <a href="https://slimbook.es/en/one-en">check it here</a>. </p>
394
395 <h2 dir="ltr">System76 </h2>
396
397 <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://system76.com/">System76</a>’s Linux laptops are very well built, powerful, and extremely portable. If you are a software developer, you travel a lot, and you’re in search of a laptop with 32G RAM and 1T SSD, then go for System76.</p>
398
399 <p dir="ltr">System76 laptops used to be Ubuntu-powered, initially. Later on, in 2017, this US-based company released their own Linux distro, called the <a href="https://pop.system76.com/">Pop! OS</a>. Pop OS is designed using Ubuntu. After that, Pop became the default OS with Ubuntu being still available.</p></div>
400
401 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/search-linux-laptops-check-these-6-places-get-your-laptop-2021" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
402 </div>
403
404 </div>
405 </div>
406
407 </description>
408 <pubDate>Wed, 08 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
409 <dc:creator>Suparna Ganguly</dc:creator>
410 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340849 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
411 </item>
412 <item>
413 <title>Q&A trip to Linux’s Black Hole - /dev/null</title>
414 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/qa-trip-linuxs-black-hole-devnull</link>
415 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340848" class="layout layout--onecol">
416 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
417
418 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/qa-trip-to-linux-black-hole-dev-null.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="Q&A trip to Linux’s Black Hole - /dev/null" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
419
420 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/nawaz-abbasi" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/nawaz-abbasi" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Nawaz Abbasi</a></div>
421
422 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p dir="ltr">As per <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-a-black-hole-k4.html">NASA</a>, “A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out”. Something similar exists in the Linux universe as well - it discards anything written to it and when read, just returns an EOF (end-of-file). It’s a special file which is also referred to as null device - <code>/dev/null</code></p>
423
424 <h2 dir="ltr">So, it’s just a file?</h2>
425
426 <p dir="ltr">Yes and most of the things in Linux is a file but <code>/dev/null</code> is not a regular file – lets dig deeper.</p>
427
428 <p dir="ltr"><img alt="/dev/null 1" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4adad0f7-0c75-4fbe-9be7-b631e0cc8b56" height="200" src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/u%5Buid%5D/dev-null-1.jpg" width="850" /></p>
429
430 <p dir="ltr"><code>c</code> in <code>crw-rw-rw-</code> tells us that it's a character special file, which means it processes data character by character. This can be checked using <code>test -c</code> as well:</p>
431
432 <p dir="ltr"><img alt="/dev/null 2" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="dbcf7ef5-2431-4987-8324-48494f3e93f0" height="200" src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/u%5Buid%5D/dev-null-2.jpg" width="850" /></p>
433
434 <h2 dir="ltr">What are the contents of the file?</h2>
435
436 <p dir="ltr">Let’s check that using the <code>cat</code> command:</p>
437
438 <p dir="ltr"><img alt="/dev/null 3" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b8bc4f13-e7f1-412d-9435-1c43abdfb23a" height="84" src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/u%5Buid%5D/dev-null-3.jpg" width="357" /></p>
439
440 <p dir="ltr">As stated earlier, it just returns an EOF (end-of-file) when read. So, it's empty!</p>
441
442 <h2 dir="ltr">What more can we know about the file?</h2>
443
444 <p dir="ltr">Let’s find out using the <code>stat</code> command:</p>
445
446 <p dir="ltr"><img alt="/dev/null 4" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5f4a9297-f36c-435e-8798-195bcbbe2af0" height="227" src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/u%5Buid%5D/dev-null-4.jpg" width="850" /></p>
447
448 <p dir="ltr">This tells us that its size is 0. Also, it’s good to note that the file’s read and write permission is enabled for everyone but it doesn't require execute permission. </p>
449
450 <h2 dir="ltr">What happens to the file’s size when we write data to it?</h2>
451
452 <p dir="ltr">Let’s try that:</p>
453
454 <p dir="ltr"><img alt="/dev/null 5" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="482ce308-2281-4b89-b69f-c88cbc8234f1" height="286" src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/u%5Buid%5D/dev-null-5.jpg" width="850" /></p>
455
456 <p dir="ltr">The <code>cat</code> command returned nothing and as per the <code>stat</code> command, its size did not change.</p>
457
458 <p dir="ltr">As stated earlier, it discards anything written to it. You may write any amount of data to it, which will be immediately discarded, so its size will always remain 0 – Singularity?</p>
459
460 <p dir="ltr">In other words, you cannot change <code>/dev/null</code></p></div>
461
462 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/qa-trip-linuxs-black-hole-devnull" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
463 </div>
464
465 </div>
466 </div>
467
468 </description>
469 <pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
470 <dc:creator>Nawaz Abbasi</dc:creator>
471 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340848 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
472 </item>
473 <item>
474 <title>Download These 7 Cool Apps on Your Linux Machine to Make Life Easier</title>
475 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/download-these-7-cool-apps-your-linux-machine-make-life-easier</link>
476 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340847" class="layout layout--onecol">
477 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
478
479 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/linux-apps.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="Linux Apps" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
480
481 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/suparna-ganguly" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Suparna Ganguly</a></div>
482
483 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p dir="ltr">Not only the Linux distros are open-source but the apps for Linux are also free. Though some business apps come with a cost, most of the apps created for individuals don’t have any charges.</p>
484
485 <p dir="ltr">Want to know about some of the cool apps to download on your Linux machine?</p>
486
487 <p dir="ltr">This article walks you through 7 apps to download on Linux to make your life easier. Head over to the next section! </p>
488
489 <h2 dir="ltr">Ulauncher</h2>
490
491 <p dir="ltr">Before downloading any other application on Linux, we recommend getting <a href="https://ulauncher.io/">Ulauncher</a>. That’s because you can launch any application via Ulauncher just by using the keyboard.</p>
492
493 <p dir="ltr">Try adding <a href="https://ext.ulauncher.io/">Ulaucher extensions</a> to get the most of this app inspired by <a href="https://www.alfredapp.com/">Alfred</a> for Mac. You can extend capabilities with the extensions, such as looking up dictionary definitions, launching web searches, finding and copying emojis to a clipboard, and lots more.</p>
494
495 <p dir="ltr">Ulaucher runs smoothly and allows searching files and apps using hotkeys. Ulaucher features include built-in themes, customizable shortcuts, Fuzzy search, a wide variety of plugins, searching on Google, Stack Overflow, and Wikipedia.</p>
496
497 <h2 dir="ltr">Thunderbird</h2>
498
499 <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/">Thunderbird </a>by Mozilla is an open-source email client. Some Linux distros offer Thunderbird installed. If it’s not, hop onto your App Center or Software Center and get it installed. You can download the app from their website as well.</p>
500
501 <p dir="ltr">The setup wizard guides you through the process of creating your own email address. Thunderbird provides email settings for most of the common email application providers. So, an existing email account can be added too. Attach multiple email accounts as per your needs.</p>
502
503 <p dir="ltr">Want to make Thunderbird look cool? Add-ons, such as themes, Lightning extension, sorting out Mail folders, are some of the features to try out.</p>
504
505 <h2 dir="ltr">Steam</h2>
506
507 <p dir="ltr">Looking for gaming clients on Linux? Use <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/linux">Steam</a> from Valve. Steam is, admittedly, the best games distribution store for top OSs like Linux.</p>
508
509 <p dir="ltr">From Shadow of the <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/750920/">Tomb Raider </a>to <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/421020/DiRT_4/">DiRT 4</a>, and from <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/570/Dota_2/">DOTA 2</a> to <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/364360/Total_War_WARHAMMER/">Warhammer</a> – Steam boasts many thousands of indie hits, retro-flavored, and AAA titled <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6981492-Best-Linux-Games/">games for Linux</a>. </p></div>
510
511 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/download-these-7-cool-apps-your-linux-machine-make-life-easier" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
512 </div>
513
514 </div>
515 </div>
516
517 </description>
518 <pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
519 <dc:creator>Suparna Ganguly</dc:creator>
520 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340847 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
521 </item>
522 <item>
523 <title>Improve The CrowdSec Multi-Server Installation With HTTPS Between Agents</title>
524 <link>https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/improve-crowdsec-multi-server-installation-https-between-agents</link>
525 <description> <div data-history-node-id="1340846" class="layout layout--onecol">
526 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
527
528 <div class="field field--name-field-node-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <img src="https://www.linuxjournal.com/sites/default/files/nodeimage/story/crowdsec-multi-server-installation-with-https.jpg" width="850" height="500" alt="CrowdSec Multi-Server Installation With HTTPS" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></div>
529
530 <div class="field field--name-node-author field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item">by <a title="View user profile." href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/manuel-sabban" lang="" about="https://www.linuxjournal.com/users/manuel-sabban" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Manuel Sabban</a></div>
531
532 <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h2 dir="ltr">Prerequisites</h2>
533
534 <p dir="ltr">This article is a follow-up from the <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/how-set-crowdsec-multi-server-installation">Crowdsec multi-server setup</a>. It applies to a configuration with at least two servers (referred to as <code>server-1</code> and one of <code>server-2</code> or <code>server-3</code>).</p>
535
536 <h2 dir="ltr">Goals</h2>
537
538 <p dir="ltr">To address security issues posed by clear http communication in our previous <a href="https://crowdsec.net/2021/05/04/multi-server-setup/">crowdsec multi-server installation</a>, we propose solutions to achieve communication between Crowdsec agents over encrypted channels. On top of that, the third solution allows <code>server-2</code> or <code>server-3</code> to trust <code>server-1</code> identity, and avoid man-in -the -middle attacks.</p>
539
540 <h2 dir="ltr">Using self-signed certificates</h2>
541
542 <h3 dir="ltr">Create the certificate</h3>
543
544 <p dir="ltr">First we have to create a certificate. This can be achieved with the following one-liner.</p>
545
546 <pre dir="ltr">
547 openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout encrypted-key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365 -addext "subjectAltName = IP:172.31.100.242"</pre>
548
549 <p dir="ltr">For now crowdsec is not able to ask for the passphrase of the private key when starting. Thus we have the choice to decipher by hand the private key each time we start or reload crowdsec or store the key unencrypted. In any way to strip the passphrase one can do:</p>
550
551 <pre dir="ltr">
552 openssl rsa -in encrypted-key.pem -out key.pem</pre>
553
554 <p dir="ltr">Then, the unencrypted key file can be safely deleted after Crowdsec is started.</p>
555
556 <h3 dir="ltr">Configure crowdsec for using a self-signed certificate</h3>
557
558 <p dir="ltr">On <code>server-1</code> we have to tell crowdsec to use the generated certificate. Hence, the <code>tls.cert_file</code> and <code>tls.key_file</code> option in the <code>api.server</code> section of the following <code>/etc/crowdec/config.yaml</code> excerpt set to the generated certificate file.</p>
559
560 <pre dir="ltr">
561 api:
562
563 server:
564
565 log_level: info
566
567 listen_uri: 10.0.0.1:8080
568
569 profiles_path: /etc/crowdsec/profiles.yaml
570
571 online_client: # Crowdsec API credentials (to push signals and receive bad
572
573 tls:
574
575 cert_file: /etc/crowdsec/ssl/cert.pem
576
577 key_file: /etc/crowdsec/ssl/key.pem</pre>
578
579 <p dir="ltr">On the client side configuration changes happen in two files. First we have to modify <code>/etc/crowdec/config.yaml</code> to accept self-signed certificates by setting the <code>insecure_skip_verify</code> to <code>true</code>.</p>
580
581 <p dir="ltr">We have to change <code>http</code> for <code>https</code> in the <code>/etc/crowdsec/local_api_credentials.yaml</code> file too in order to reflect the changes. This small change has to be done on all three servers (<code>server-1</code>, <code>server-2</code> and <code>server-3</code>).</p></div>
582
583 <div class="field field--name-node-link field--type-ds field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/improve-crowdsec-multi-server-installation-https-between-agents" hreflang="en">Go to Full Article</a>
584 </div>
585
586 </div>
587 </div>
588
589 </description>
590 <pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2021 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
591 <dc:creator>Manuel Sabban</dc:creator>
592 <guid isPermaLink="false">1340846 at https://www.linuxjournal.com</guid>
593 </item>
594
595 </channel>
596 </rss>