Posts Tagged ‘linux’
10 Major Updates In Ubuntu 17.10 Artful Aardvark
20/10/2017
What’s New In Ubuntu 17.10 “Artful Aardvark”?
1. GNOME is the default Desktop
2. Wayland is the default display server
3. Linux Kernel 4.13
4. Dock
Install Wine And Run Windows Apps in Linux
How to install Wine in Linux?
Or you can follow the steps below to install from the PPA.
Install Wine on Fedora or Derivatives
dnf install winehq-stableDevelopment branch
dnf install winehq-develStaging branch
dnf install winehq-staging
Install Wine on Ubuntu or Derivatives
sudo apt-key add Release.key
sudo apt-add-repository https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install –install-recommends winehq-stableDevelopment branch
sudo apt-get install –install-recommends winehq-develStaging branch
sudo apt-get install –install-recommends winehq-staging
Timeshift System Restore Utility
How to install Timeshift in Linux?
For Ubuntu and Ubuntu based distros such as Mint
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install timeshift
Keywords:
System Restore Utility, System Restore Utility Programs, System Restore Utility Software, What Is A System Restore Utility, What Is System Restore Utility
Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Adobe Products for Linux
Adobe provides a number of applications under Adobe Creative Suite, now under Adobe Creative Cloud. It’s not just limited to Photoshop but contains various other software that helps primarily in Web design, logo making, video editing, pdf editing and more.
However, Adobe Creative Suite is a proprietary software costing you a good amount of your money and if you are a Linux user, even if you are willing to spend that money, it’s not available for your OS.
In this article, we are going to cover some of the best Adobe products alternative for Linux.
Best Adobe alternatives for Linux
If you are not in a mood of reading the article, you can watch this video from our YouTube channel. Do subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Linux related videos.
I have included one non-FOSS item in this list. This is because I really couldn’t find a decent alternative to Adobe Acrobat in Linux.
For the rest, here we go!
1. GIMP: Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is the most popular and widely used graphics editing tool both for regular and professional users. It’s an excellent tool for photo editing, website design, and graphics creation.
When it comes to an alternative to Adobe Photoshop, GIMP provides the best replacement.
CREATE BOOTABLE WINDOWS USB STICK FROM LINUX
- Legacy / MBR-style / IBM PC compatible bootmode;
- Native UEFI booting is supported for Windows 7 and later images (with a limitation: only FAT filesystem can be used as the target filesystem).
- support for both wxWidgets 2 and 3;
- use pkexec instead of gksudo for privilege escalation;
- UEFI boot support;
- numerous bug fixes.
Some newer WoeUSB changes include:
- support customizing the –label of the newly created filesystem in –format mode;
- implement checking on target filesystem in –install mode;
- command line: check if target media is busy before continuing and bail out when the target partition is mounted;
- support Linux distributions that uses “grub2” as prefix name, such as Fedora;
- –install and –format installation options are deprecated in favor of –partition and –device, to be more clear what both options will do. The old options will still be available until WoeUSB v3.0;
- from now on, GRUB will pause when the ENTER key is used before starting to load Windows. This is useful if you want to see if there are errors in the GRUB loading stage.
Also, since the application name has changed, the executables have changed as well: “woeusbgui” for the GUI and “woeusb” for the command line tool.
You can see what’s new in each new WoeUSB release (there were 13 new releases for the past 2 days) on GitHub.
Despite the major code refactoring and numerous bug fixes, I still encountered an error using the WoeUSB GUI, which I also found in the original WinUSB. When the Windows USB stick is completed, WoeUSB displayed the following message: “Installation failed ! Exit code: 256”. This bug was closed on GitHub and it looks like it doesn’t affect the actual Windows USB stick in any way.
In my test, I was able to install Windows 10 64bit in VirtualBox (on an Ubuntu 17.04 host) despite this error.
Set Up Bluetooth in Linux
Bluetooth is still very important in the world today given that a wide range of devices rely on its protocol to perform various operations. Most laptops come with built-in Bluetooth adapters, but even if yours doesn’t, external Bluetooth dongles are cheap and plentiful in supply.
Having Bluetooth properly set up on your machine allows you to use a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, headset or any Bluetooth accessories you might own.
Unfortunately, it’s a hit or miss in Linux. I haven’t had Bluetooth working out of the box across the range of hardware and distros I have tried.
But usually once you’ve installed a few packages and made a few tweaks, everything works flawlessly, at least that has been my experience.
So if you’ve had trouble connecting to your Bluetooth accessories from your Linux PC, this post should help.
Getting Started
First, you need to install the required packages on your computer. If you’re on Ubuntu or an Ubuntu-based distro, run the following command:
sudo apt-get install bluetooth bluez bluez-tools rfkill
Next, make sure your Bluetooth device is not blocked. You can verify that using the rfkill
utility:
Bluetooth In Linux Mint, Bluetooth In Linux, Bluetooth In Linux Kernel, Enable Bluetooth In Linux, Bluetooth Linux Config, Bluetooth Enable Linux, Bluetooth On Linux Mint, Bluetooth On Linux Ubuntu, Install Bluetooth In Linux System, Bluetooth Virtualbox Linux
Install Ubuntu Linux On Windows 10 In 24 Steps
Introduction
This guide will show you how to download and install Ubuntu Linux on Windows 10 in such a way that it won’t harm Windows. (You can find uninstall Ubuntu instructions here.)
The upside to following this guide is that Ubuntu Linux will only run when you tell it to and it doesn’t require any special partitioning of your disks.
The method used to install Ubuntu is to download a piece of software called Virtualbox from Oracle which allows you to run other operating systems as virtual computers on top of your current operating system which in your case is Windows 10.
What You Will Need
In order to install Ubuntu Linux on Windows 10 you will need to download the following applications:
- Oracle Virtualbox (link tells you all about virtualbox)
- Ubuntu (links to a review of Ubuntu)
- Virtualbox Guest Additions (links to a description of guest additions)
Steps Required To Run Ubuntu Linux On Windows 10
- Download Oracle Virtualbox
- Download Ubuntu
- Download Virtualbox Guest Additions
- Install Virtualbox
- Create a Ubuntu virtual machine
- Install Ubuntu
- Install Virtualbox Guest Additions
What About Windows 7 And Windows 8 Users
Here are some alternative guides for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users
Download Oracle Virtualbox
Keywords:
How To Install Ubuntu Linux On Windows 10, Install Linux Ubuntu With Windows 10, Install Ubuntu On Windows 10 Computer, Install Ubuntu On Windows 10 Uefi, Install Ubuntu Windows 10 Usb
Run Your Browser In Firejail
Objective
Install Firejail and use it to sandbox applications, like web browsers, that interact with the open Internet.
Distributions
This will work with any current Linux distribution.
Requirements
A working Linux install with root privileges.
Difficulty
Easy
Conventions
- # – requires given command to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of
sudo
command - $ – given command to be executed as a regular non-privileged user
Introduction
The single biggest threat to your Linux system is your web browser. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. A browser is a large and complex piece of software with the ability to execute code, and it accesses the open Internet and executes just about everything that it comes into contact with.
The best way to handle this problem is by compartmentalizing your browser, or any other Internet-facing application, away from the rest of your system. This way, it can’t do nearly as much damage if it is compromised. That’s what Firejail is for. Firejail is a sandboxing program that allows programs to run in individual sandboxes with their own set of parameters, limiting their contact with the rest of your system. Firejail is easy to use, and it’s available in the repositories of nearly every major distribution, except for Fedora and CentOS.
Install Firejail
Debian/Ubuntu
$ sudo apt install firejail
Fedora/CentOS
Download the Firejail .rpm
from their Sourceforge page https://sourceforge.net/projects/firejail/files/firejail/
, and install it manually.
# rpm -i firejail_X.Y-Z.x86_64.rpm
OpenSUSE
# zypper install firejail
Arch Linux
# pacman -S firejail
Gentoo
# emerge --ask firejail
Basic Usage
To run an application through Firejail, you only need to prefix the command with firejail
.
$ firejail firefox
Firefox will start up like it usually would, but contained in it’s own sandbox. This will work with virtually any application that you can think of, including command line ones.
$ firejail tar xpf somefile.tar.gz
Firejail will stay running as long as the application does. Even if you’re using something that’ll be open for a while, you don’t have to worry about Firejail stopping and your application being insecure. Actually, if something like that does happen, the application will stop too. You can also use Firejail along with graphically intensive programs. It won’t slow them down much, if at all.
$ firejail wine64 '~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/Wow-64.exe'
Passing Arguments
There are tons of features available through flags in Firejail. You probably won’t ever use most of them, but you can certainly check them out in Firejail’s man
page. The couple detailed here are the most common.
–seccomp
The --seccomp
flag tells Firejail to filter out and block any of a number of system calls. It has it’s own default list of system calls that it will block by default, but you can also specify them with --seccomp=syscall,syscall
. Just add --seccomp
to your regular Firejail command to use it.
$ firejail --seccomp firefox
–private
The --private
flag acts sort of like a private window in a web browser does. It creates a separate sandbox in temporary storage and deletes itself after you close the application.
$ firejail --private firefox
Of course, you can string them together.
$ firejail --seccomp --private firefox
Firejail Profiles
Firejail has independent configurations for most of the programs that you’d commonly run it with. It refers to them as, “profiles.” These profiles pass specific flags and bits of configuration to Firejail by default whenever the corresponding program is run. You don’t need to do anything for Firejail to use it’s default profiles. If you want to modify the profiles or create your own, you can copy them into your local directory at ~/.config/firejail/
.
Firejail By Default
There are a few ways to get Firejail to run by default with a program. The easiest is probably to modify the launchers of the programs that you plan to use Firejail with. That can be tedious, though, and you don’t necessarily need to do it. If you want Firejail to run with every program that it has a default profile for, you can run a simple command as root, and Firejail will set itself up.
# firecfg
If you don’t with that wide range of programs using Firejail by default, you can manually set the ones that you want.
# ln -s /usr/bin/firejail /usr/local/bin/firefox
This creates a symbolic link between firejail and the program being run. Substitute the actual path for your system and program.
Closing Thoughts
Firejail is an excellent way to compartmentalize applications on Linux and keep a potential breach quarantined before it even happens. It also has potential for stopping bugs from bringing down more than just the program that they affect. With how easy it is to use, there’s no reason not to run Firejail your system.
Secure Your Linux Desktop with Iptables
Linux may have a reputation for security, but it isn’t perfect. Many distributions also don’t have the best security defaults, so it’s best to implement some best practices for security. One such example is using a firewall.
There are a few options for firewalls in Linux, but most are actually just wrappers around iptables. For this guide we will show you how to work with iptables directly.
What Is Iptables?
Iptables is the Linux kernel firewall. It comes with every Linux distribution, and it’s the most direct way to control traffic coming into and out of your computer.
Iptables has a reputation for being complex, and it can be. You don’t need to know everything about iptables to use it effectively on your desktop, though. You just need some basic knowledge of how it works and how its rules are structured.
Command Structure
All iptables rules follow the same basic structure. Each rule is a single-line command to iptables that tells it how to handle traffic on a specific port. Take a look at the example below:
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED --sport 80 -j ACCEPT
That might look like a lot, but it’s really simple when you break it down. First, this rule begins with -A
because it will append onto your iptables rules.
Next, the -i
flag specifies the interface that the rule is for. In this case, it’s eth0
. When you write your own rules, make sure that you know which interface you’re connected to your network through.
The following flag, -p
, names the protocol. This rule is for tcp
, which is Web traffic.
The -m
flag is a little different. It is used to assert that there is a condition that must be met in order for traffic not to be rejected. The condition in this rule is the state.
State is actually the next flag. You need to give --state
a list of acceptable states written in all caps and separated with commas. This rule accepts both new and established connections.
The second to last flag here is --sport
. It stands for “source port,” and it tells iptables where the traffic is coming from. There is also a --dport
flag that stands for “destination port.” It’s used for OUTPUT
rules for handling which port traffic is arriving from.
Finally, there’s the -j
flag. It tells iptable which action to “jump” to. In this case it should ACCEPT
the traffic that meets the previous conditions.
Keywords:
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Speed up your Mint
Speeding up your Linux Mint is fun! That way, you’ll get more performance out of your computer for free.
Note: are you using Ubuntu? There’s a separate page for speed tips for Ubuntu.
There are several tweaks to make Linux Mint 18.x run faster. Some are quite safe, some are risky. Here you’ll find only the safe ones.
I don’t like risky tweaks, because I think that stability and reliability are much more important than a little speed gain. That’s why I’ve collected a couple of speed tips, that you can apply safely and with which you can make your Mint run considerably faster in many cases.
Those tips are mainly how-to’s that can be found elsewhere on this website as well, but scattered all over the site. I’ve bundled them on this page, that only deals with speed gain.
Note: even though you can apply those tips safely, nothing in life is really for free…. You always pay some “price”. You disable a particular system service, a couple of nice visual effects or some feature.
Each tweak therefore has its own “price tag”. So you should consider before you apply a tip, whether you’re willing to pay the “price” for it.