Extreme Sarcasm

I have been using Linux (starting with Red Hat 6.4) since 2001. The ‘Killer App’ that got me interested in Linux was Apache. At the time I was developing websites for local bands, but I was paying a hosting company (lunarpages) to host the site. I grew tired of using the clunky administration panel, and was frustrated over the limitations that lunarpages put on what you could and could not do with your website.

In 2001, there were not too many options when it came to web server software. I could use Microsoft IIS 4, or I could use Apache. I attempted to run Apache for Windows, but I encountered some technical difficulties. Projects such as LAMP or XAMPP that we all take for granted these days did not exist in 2001. So, I went out and got a book titled “Learn Red Hat Linux” that came with install discs for Red Hat 6.4.

I foolishly thought I could skip to the section that explained how to configure Apache without reading the prior chapters that explain how to use basic commands (ls, cd, grep) or how to use a text editor (vim). It was like reading a book written in hieroglyphs. None of it seemed to make sense. I did not understand why I needed to know a bunch of what seemed to me to be unrelated information just to get Apache up and running.

After a few days, I broke down and deicded to read the first few chapters. To my surprise, the previous chapters did not contain a bunch of useless information. Without the background knowledge of how the file system structure works, where executable files are located, config files, etc – you might as well be reading hieroglyphs.

Eventually, I had that moment where everything clicked and Linux finally made sense to me. What I thought was unnecessary technical nonsense was in fact extremely important. I realized the simplicity, and the thought put into Linux and became hooked. I got rid of my windows install completely, and started experimenting with all the different variants of Linux distributions available on the net. I have spent countless hours finding out what made FreeBSD different from Fedora or Ubuntu.

I cant even begin to explain the way I felt the first time I successfully installed something from source code (./configure, make, make install ). Something about it just seemed so cool.

The thing I loved the most about using Linux is the fact that I learned something new nearly every time I used it. The variety of things that you can do with it is only limited by your own imagination.

Although I was strictly a Red Hat/Fedora user for many years, I have made the switch over to Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux distribution. I am currently running Ubuntu 10.4 Desktop x86

Ubuntu Stuff

Medibuntu
Medibuntu (Multimedia, Entertainment & Distractions In Ubuntu) is a repository of packages that cannot be included into the Ubuntu distribution for legal reasons (copyright, license, patent, etc).

Medibuntu is a packaging project dedicated to distributing software that cannot be included in Ubuntu for various reasons, related to geographical variations in legislation regarding intellectual property, security and other issues:

• patentability of software, algorithms, formats and other abstract creation
• legal restrictions on freedom of speech or communication
• restrictions on the use of certain types of technical solution, such as cryptography
• legal restrictions on imports of software technology, requiring for example specific permissions

To install the medibuntu software repositories for Ubuntu 10.04, copy and paste the following text into a terminal.

echo deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ karmic free non-free | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update

To install the medibuntu software repositories for Ubuntu 10.10 x86, copy and paste the following text into a terminal.

sudo wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list
cd && wget http://packages.medibuntu.org/pool/free/m/medibuntu-keyring/medibuntu-keyring_2008.04.20_all.deb && sudo dpkg -i medibuntu-keyring_2008.04.20_all.deb && rm medibuntu-keyring_2008.04.20_all.deb
sudo apt-get update

Basic Ubuntu packages that I cannot live without

sudo apt-get install vim-common openssh-client openssh-server nmap gnugo chromium-browser aptitude samba4 smb4k winbind4 samba4-clients samba-tools smbc smbclient filezilla

For Ubuntu installations where the computer has a decent video card, use the following apt-get install

sudo apt-get install compiz compiz-fusion-plugins-main compiz-gnome compiz-plugins compizconfig-backend-gconf xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl-extra rss-glx kscreensaver-xsavers-extra kscreensaver-xsavers kscreensaver xscreensaver xscreensaver-data xscreensaver-gl kpat

Bash Configuration

Feel free to use my .bashrc settings if you like. I set up Linux boxes quite frequently and I have the contents of my .bashrc file posted here so I can copy it to new installations.

PS1="${TITLEBAR}\[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;37m\]\@ \[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;33m\]| \[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;37m\]\u\[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;33m\]@\[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;37m\]\H \[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;33m\]| \[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;37m\]\w\n\[\033[0m\]\[\033[1;33m\]%\[\033[0;0m\]"
alias ls='ls -lh --color=auto'
alias gunzip='gunzip -d'
alias tarc='tar -cvf'
alias tarx='tar -xvf'
alias df='df -h'
alias du='du -h'
alias apti='sudo apt-get install'
alias apts='sudo apt-cache search'
alias aptr='sudo apt-get remove'

IRSSI

IRSSI is a text mode IRC client for Linux, Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X. I have used many IRC clients over the years, and this is my personal favorite. As you can tell, I am a big fan of the freenode IRC network. I can regularly be found in #linux, #ubuntu, #networking or any of the channels listed below. My nick on IRC is Richie086. Basically the commands listed below are for future reference so I dont have to type each command every time I install irssi.

/set nick Richie086
/set real_name Richie086
/HILIGHT nick
/server add -auto -network Freenode irc.freenode.net
/network add -autosendcmd "/msg nickserv identify ; wait 2000" Freenode
/channel add -auto #space Freenode
/channel add -auto #physics Freenode
/channel add -auto #networking Freenode
/channel add -auto #mac Freenode
/channel add -auto #ubuntu Freenode
/channel add -auto #linux Freenode /channel add -auto #vbox Freenode
/channel add -auto #astronomy Freenode