Fun with GNU/Linux!

Easiest way to get LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) up and running on Linux

2009-08-29T02:33:00.003+05:30

I guess most of the people already know how to set up LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) environment on Linux still most of us face issues while trying to install it on a old linux distribution like red hat or enterprise linux.

I found a working method of installing LAMP on linux and it's as easy as it gets. The complete package is here:

The downloadable package and exact instructions are given here:
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-linux.html

Basically, we just need to extract the package! no installation is required. For e.g. the package can be installed in /opt directory using the following command:

$ sudo tar zxvf xampp-linux-*.gz -C /opt

Before running xampp, stop your existing apache, mysql server.

The PATH environment variable needs to be set correctly. If the package is extracted in /opt, then the PATH variable should be set as:

$ export PATH=/opt/lampp/bin:$PATH

The above line can be added to .bashrc file in the home directory so that the correct path will be set for every shell.

If the linux machine is rebooted, xampp needs to be started manually. To start xampp by default when the machine boots, enter the following commands (as root):

$ cd /etc/rc.d/rc5.d
$ ln -s /opt/lampp/lampp S99lampp
$ ln -s /opt/lampp/lampp K01lampp

Here, we are adding the scripts to start xampp to the default runlevel (5 in this case). Runlevel 5 is for GUI boot. Whatver we add to the /etc/rc.d/rc5.d folder will be started by default when the system boots.

Also, ensure that if you already have an existing MySQL, Apache installation, disable it to start everytime using the following command (as root):

$ ntsysv

This will open up a shell GUI, where you will have to de-select mysql and httpd (apache). By de-selecting these options we ensure that these services are not started by default on boot since we are already using xampp to start mysql and apache.

I hope this information helps someone.

Welcome to GNU/Linux Nirvana!

2007-04-22T20:05:00.000+05:30

This blog is dedicated to all GNU/Linux fans like me who love to tinker with the OS. GNU/Linux as you all know is the OS for the enthusiasts who like to experiment and explore new horizons. Here are some of the highlights of my blog :)

Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)

Ubuntu is a widely popular GNU/Linux distribution for 'human beings'. It is based on Debian and thus is free and easy to use. The latest version of Ubuntu, i.e. Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) has been released on 19th April, 2007. It is easy to install and use. New GNU/Linux users would really find Ubuntu easy to use and learn.

Check out the Ubuntu 7.04 installation guide here:

Fun with Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)

OpenSuse 10.2

openSUSE 10.2 is the latest GNU/Linux distribution from Novell. It provides a cool 3D graphical desktop using 3D window managers like Compiz/Xgl and Beryl. The underlying technology behind the 3D Desktop is OpenGL. It supports a plethora of 3D options like a 3D spinning cube, rainbow effects, wobbling windows, transparency, scaling, zooming, rain, snow effects etc. The 3D desktop adds to the eye candy and also provides the user with an enriching experience.

Check out the OpenSuse 10.2 overview and awesome screen shots here:
Fun with OpenSuse 10.2

Firefox: Browser Reloaded

Firefox is a free, open-source web browser from the Mozilla foundation with loads of cool features like tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, fully customizable toolbars, automatic updates, support for themes, plug-ins, extensions etc. Firefox supports almost all known platforms like GNU/Linux, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows and other *nix variants like Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX, SGI IRIX etc. The best feature of Firefox is the plug-in architecture which allows users to develop and distribute plug-ins. A large number of plug-ins have been developed for Firefox.

Check out the Firefox overview here:
Firefox: Browser Reloaded

Localization in GNU/Linux

Localization or l10n as it is popularly known, involves translating the graphical user interface (GUI) i.e. menus, dialogs, help, documentation, etc to one's native language. Various free & open source tools are available for localization.

So, if you use any free and open source software which you would like to convert to your native language, read this article:

Linux Breaks Through the Language Barrier

Memory Leak Detection in GNU/Linux

A memory leak is a part of memory that has been allocated but not freed after its usage. Memory leaks can cause problems and bugs in software which can be hard to detect and fix. With the embedded domain on GNU/Linux really catching up and the growing number of applications being developed for embedded devices like mobiles, PDAs, gaming consoles etc., it becomes essential to have software which utilizes the limited memory available on these systems and makes best use of it. Various tools are available for detecting memory leaks in your applications. The most popular and well known tools are Purify (IBM) and Valgrind.
For a complete article on memory leak detection on GNU/Linux using Valgrind, check this out:
Get the Better of Memory Leaks with Valgrind

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (WET) is a free multi-player First Person Shooter (FPS) game for GNU/Linux & Windows. It was released in 2003 and requires the latest OpenGL drivers to run on GNU/Linux. WET is similar to another very popular online FPS i.e. Counter Strike. As in Counter Strike, there are 2 teams in WET: one team has to attack and complete the given objectives within the alloted time and the other one has to stop the attacking team from completing the objectives within the alloted time. The game is quite small (~300 MB), so anybody can download and play it for free. Here are some screen shots from my system.

More screen shots and videos coming soon...

Fun with Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)!

2007-04-22T16:03:00.000+05:30

Ubuntu is a widely popular GNU/Linux distribution for 'human beings'. It is based on Debian and thus is free and easy to use. The latest version of Ubuntu, i.e. Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) was released on 19th April, 2007. Having used OpenSuse 10.2 and getting awed by Compiz and Beryl's cool 3D effects on it, i really wanted to try the same on Ubuntu. Here are some of the cool new features of Ubuntu 7.04 (http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/704tour):

Ubuntu 7.04 Features

Migration Tool:
Windows migration tool - The new migration tool recognizes Internet Explorer favorites, Firefox bookmarks, desktop wallpaper, AOL IM contacts, Yahoo IM contacts and imports them in Ubuntu. This offers easier and faster migration for new users of Ubuntu and individuals wanting to run a dual partition. In addition to single accounts, you can migrate several users' settings in Ubuntu.
Easy installation of multimedia codecs:

Playing an MP3 or other media file just got a lot easier. If the required pieces are not yet installed, 7.04 will get the correct codecs for you, no more searching and no need for long and complicated instructions.
Desktop Effects

Stunning new desktop effects are available as a technology preview for users who choose to enable them. They remain turned off by default, for the benefit of users with older or less powerful chips and certain non-supported graphics cards.
Networking Improvements

Easier connection to wireless networks

New in 7.04 is Network Manager, a simple way to find and connect to wireless and wired networks. With a single click, view all the available wireless networks and their strengths. For those on a secured network, WPA support is built in right out of the box.
Zeroconf for instant networks

For those times without a router or any existing network, 7.04 includes the ability to connect instantly, via Avahi, a free Zeroconf implementation. It allows programs to publish and discover services and hosts running on a local network with no configuration. It also allows easy connection to network printers, music shares, and much more.
Easier install of proprietary drivers

The new Restricted Drivers Manager allow users to easily install and manage proprietary drivers for wireless and video graphics cards and other hardware that may not have completely Free drivers.
New Artwork

Feisty features all new artwork; check out the new Desktop Background image, and a boot-up splash image that has more 'bling'. The new theme also includes a polished icon set.
Easy Third Party Installation

Installation of popular third party software has never been easier. With a click of a button you can now install Java, Flash and other commonly-requested applications.
Better debugging of crashes

For those times when programs crash, 7.04 builds in a new tool to catch the data about that crash and make certain all the right information gets to the developers, making a better Ubuntu experience for all.
Xorg 7.2 included

Keeping in step with the cutting edge mentality, X11R7.2, the third release of the modular X Window system, is utilized in this and future Feisty releases. X11R7.2 comes with significant stability and correctness fixes, including improved auto-configuration heuristics, enhanced support for GL-based compositing managers such as Compiz and Beryl, and improved support for PCI systems with multiple domains. It also incorporates the new, more extensible XACE security policy framework.
New Games: Sudoku and Chess

With a change of maintainers in gnome-games, the plea for new and more exciting games was heard. After two surveys, one to figure out which game to remove and another to determine to which one to add, two winners emerged: gnome-soduku and glchess. Both of these games have now been added to gnome-games 2.17 and you can find them under Applications > Games > Chess or Sudoku. Of course, one game did get axed. Sadly Ataxx, a game similar to Reversi and Othello, didn't make it.

Chess, GNOME style

Sudoku, GNOME style
Quick diagnostic tools

Disk Usage Analyzer allows you to easily view disk usage statistics in a more intuitive manner.

Disk analyzer
Help Center

In order to make Help more accessible, Feisty features a brand new Help Center with an easier to use interface that is more stylish.
Support for more hardware, including Intel Macs

As with every new release, 7.04 comes with support for new hardware, including better support for laptops and newer peripherals. Printing support has also been updated, to support more features and newer printers.

Here we will discuss the Ubuntu installation in detail.

Getting Ubuntu

The Ubuntu installation comes in a standard CD (~700MB) so even people with slow internet connections can download it without much hassle. However, if you don't have an internet connection, you can request the CD from the Ubuntu download page. Here's the download link for Ubuntu 7.04:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

and here's the mirror link for the same:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors

The coolest part of the Ubuntu CD is that it is a Live installation CD, so you can give it a try first before installation. So, download the Ubuntu 7.04 CD from any of the above locations and burn it to a blank CD.

Put the Ubuntu CD you just burnt in your CD-ROM drive and reboot your PC. Ensure that you have selected CD-ROM as the first boot option in the BIOS. After rebooting your PC with the Ubuntu CD, you will get a cool looking boot screen. Just select the default option i.e. "Install/ Boot from CD" and press Enter. If everything goes well, you will get a cool looking Ubuntu desktop as shown below:

Installation

Just click the "Install" icon on the desktop to start the Installation wizard. You will be greeted with the wonderful welcome screen:

The installation wizard supports various languages. Just read the welcome message and release notes if you like and press the "Forward" button. On the next screen select your timezone and press the "Forward" button:

Then, select your preferred keyboard layout:

Next comes the most dreaded part of any GNU/Linux installation (especially for new users) i.e. partitioning. In Ubuntu partitioning has been greatly simplified and even newbies wouldn't find it too difficult. The basic requirement for partitioning is that you should either have some free space or an existing GNU/Linux partition on your hard disk. You should select manual partitioning only if you already know about partitioning in general and want to have complete control on your GNU/Linux installation. I chose manual partitioning as shown in the screen shot below:

Next, you have to chose the partitions onto which your GNU/Linux installation would reside. The Ubuntu installation requires at least two partitions i.e. a root partition (/) and a swap partition. I had some free space in my hard disk for the root partition and an existing swap partition from another GNU/Linux installation as shown in the screen shot below:

If you have a similar setup, highlight the free space and click "New Partition" to specify the partition size and mount point. Specify the partition type as "ext3" and mount point as "/" as shown in the screen shot below and press the "OK" button. Similarly create a swap partition by specifying the partition type as "swap" and partition size greater than or equal to the amount of your physical RAM. For example, if you have 1 GB RAM, create a swap partition of 2 GB. Recheck the partitioning screen to ensure that everything is correct and click the "Forward" button.

Next comes the unique migration screen which is hard to find in other GNU/Linux distros. Here you can import your documents and setting from Windows or other existing GNU/Linux partitions.

Next comes the user configuration screen. Here you have to specify the default user name and password for your GNU/Linux installation.

Click Forward and you will be greeted with Installation summary page. Once you are satisfied with it press the Install button to begin installation.

Installation will take about 15-20 minutes depending on the configuration of your PC. Reboot your PC after the installation is over and enjoy the fresh and uber cool flavor of Ubuntu.

Post Installation Tweaking

If you have a Nvidia or ATI based graphics card, then you will be overjoyed as Ubuntu provides you the option of downloading proprietary drivers for your card. But if you have an Intel based on-board solution like me, then you might face some problems like:

Ultra low resolution after installation (640 x 480)
Desktop Effects (3D desktop) disabled.

In addition to this, the Ubuntu installation doesn't allow you to set the root password.

If you face the issues mentioned above, follow these simple steps:

Setting the root password: At the Ubuntu grub boot menu, select the recovery option and press enter. After this, you will get the root terminal. Just use the 'passwd' command to set the new root password.
Setting the correct resolution: Use the following command in the root terminal to set the correct resolution:

_____

# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

You will get a plethora of configuration options in this command, so just choose the default settings for most of the options. Choose "Intel i810" as your graphics driver if you have an Intel based solution and also choose the correct resolution. Type exit to get your newly configured desktop.

Broadband Setup

Broadband internet setup is a breeze in Ubuntu. ADSL based broadband provides 2 modes to connect to the internet i.e.

PPPoE mode
Bridged mode

You can use both modes to connect to the internet on Ubuntu. You can check your internet mode in the ADSL modem setup page (e.g. http://192.168.1.1) in a browser. If you are using the PPPoE mode, you are not required to do any configurations in Ubuntu and your broadband internet will work by default. But if you want to use the Bridged mode, you have to follow the steps mentioned below (you'll need DNS information of your broadband service provider) :

Go to System->Administration->Network. In the "Connections" tab choose "Wired Connection", click properties and ensure that the configuration is "DHCP". In the DNS tab, add the DNS addresses provided by your service provider and click "Close".
Try pinging your your router ip i.e. 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2 etc through a terminal.
Then run the following command :

$ sudo pppoeconf

Choose default setting in all options. When prompted for user name, password, enter correct user name, password provided by your internet service provider.

After this, run the following command to start your dialer:

$ sudo pon dsl-provider

To disconnect:

$ sudo poff dsl-provider

After connecting (i.e. after running the pon command, try pinging any website from the terminal i.e. google.com). If you can ping it then your internet is connected!

You can also verify by pinging ur DNS server or by using the following command:

$ ifconfig ppp0

The output should be like this:

ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:122.163.133.73 P-t-P: 202.56.215.135 Mask: 255.255.255.255

Enabling Desktop Effects

If you want awesome eye candy like a 3D cube based desktop, translucent and wobbly windows, rain and snow effects etc. you will need to enable the Desktop Effects. First ensure that you have the set the correct resolution as mentioned above and click "System->Preferences->Desktop Effects" from the Ubuntu system menu to enable the Desktop effects as shown below:

Ubuntu 7.04 ships with the Compiz 3D window manager by default. Compiz is a great way to experience awesome eye candy without doing any configurations whatsoever on Ubuntu. You just need to enable the "Desktop Effects" from the System menu as shown above.
Compiz is cool as fine as basic 3D effects are concerned, but if you want jaw-dropping 3D effects and want to experience the real next generation 3D effects, try Beryl. Beryl is a fork of Compiz and uses OpenGL to produce drop dead gorgeous 3D effects. Here are two alternate steps about installing and configuring Beryl on your Ubuntu desktop:

Graphical installation using Synaptic Package Manager
Follow these simple steps to install Beryl onto your Ubuntu installation. You will need a fast internet connection to download the required packages. The download size is approximately 7MB.

Fire up the "Synaptic Package Manager" from "System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager".
Press the Search button and enter "Beryl" in the search box.
After pressing the enter key, the Synaptic package manager would display all the Beryl packages. Right-click on a package and choose "Mark for Installation". Try to select the maximum number of Beryl packages from the list, so that you can get all the eye candy through Beryl plug-ins.
Click on the Apply button to download and install the required Beryl packages.

Here are the screen shots for the above mentioned steps:

Text based Installation
Instead of using the graphical Synaptic package manager, you can download the Beryl packages using these simple steps:

Fire up a terminal and enter the following command:
sudo apt-get install beryl-ubuntu
This will automatically install Beryl and its required dependencies onto your Ubuntu installation.

Running Beryl
Now, comes the real part i.e. running our newly downloaded Beryl desktop. You can use either of the following methods for running Beryl:

Fire up a terminal and type the following command to start the Beryl 3D desktop:

$ beryl-manager

Go to "Applications->System Tools->Beryl Manager" to run the Beryl 3D desktop.

If all goes well, you should see the Beryl splash screen. Your system tray should show the Beryl icon - a red gem - that you can use to adjust beryl's and emerald's settings. Click on 'Beryl settings manager' or Emerald, the theme manager.

Beryl has a plug-in architecture and provides a host of configuration options for customizing your 3D desktop. Here's a screen shot of the Beryl settings manager:
Adding Beryl to Session Startup
So, you really liked the eye candy offered by Beryl and want to load it automatically every time with your Ubuntu desktop (GNOME). Follow these simple steps to add Beryl to session startup:

Go to System->Preferences->Sessions
In the "Startup Programs" tab, click the "New" button and type "beryl-manager" in the dialog box as shown below:

Beryl Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are some cool keyboard shortcuts for various Beryl effects:

3D Desktop Cube: Ctrl+Alt+(Arrow Keys), Ctrl+Alt+(Hold and drag left mouse button.
Application Switcher with preview: Alt+Tab
Ring application switcher: Super+Tab (for application switching on a single workspace, Super+Control+Tab (for application switching on all workspaces)
Zoom functionality: Super+mouse scroll
Transparency: Alt+mouse scroll
Negative windows: Super+N (negative current application window), Super+M (Negative all application windows)
View all applications together for easier workspace management: F8
Rain Effects: Shift+F9
Rainy mouse trail: Super+Ctrl+mouse move
Snow Effects: Super+F3

I have tried to list most of the commonly used shortcuts for Beryl 3D effects. If you are able to find some more, please post back here, so that i can add the same here for the benefit of other users.
Here are some screen shots from my system:

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this writeup. I'll soon put some cool videos for Ubuntu 7.04.

So, what are you waiting for? Pop-in that Ubuntu CD and begin the joy ride!

Fun with OpenSuse 10.2!

2007-02-14T14:00:00.000+05:30

openSUSE 10.2 is THE best GNU/Linux distro i have ever used. Till now, GNU/Linux was considered to be strong at the server front and somewhat lacking at the desktop front. With OpenSuse 10.2, GNU/Linux seems to have finally arrived at the desktop. It has all the essential features a normal as well as a geek user would require from an Operating System. OpenSuse 10.2 definitely gives Windows Vista a run for its money. For a complete review, check out this site: http://friendlylinux.org/2007/01/22/opensuse-102/

Some of the revolutionary features of OpenSuse 10.2 are the following:

Simplified Installation Procedure.
Completely redesigned and revamped Start menu with inbuilt "Beagle" desktop search.
Latest YaST (Yet Another Setup Tool) which is powerful yet easy to use.
Support for proprietary content like PDF, Flash and Real media.
Mouth watering eye candy with 3D Desktop using Compiz/Xgl!
A wide variety of games.
Inbuilt security features and firewall.
Excellent hardware detection.
And the list goes on....

The 3D effects in OpenSuse 10.2 are awesome and use Compiz (based on OpenGL) to produce some jaw-dropping 3D effects. Here is the the Compiz definition from wikipedia:

Compiz is one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System that is able to take advantage of OpenGL-acceleration. The integration allows it to perform compositing effects in window management, such as a minimization effect and a cube workspace.

Beryl is a fork of Compiz started by the community. Beryl has a plug-in architecture and supports a large number of plug-ins for achieving superb 3D effects like zooming, snow effects, rainfall, transparency, scaling etc. Beryl includes its own window manager Emerald.
Beryl was not included with OpenSuse 10.2, so i downloaded, installed and configured it on my system. If you want to install Beryl on your OpenSuse machine, check out this link:
http://en.opensuse.org/Beryl

Enough of the boring theory, lets have a look at some really cool 3D screen shots i took from my system:

______ Rainfall Effect ____________ 3D Desktop Cube (1)

____ 3D Desktop Cube(2)___________ 3D Movie! (1)

______ 3D Movie! (2)_________________ Hot Babes!

_____Scaling Effects (1) ___________Scaling Effects (2)

_____Scaling Effects (3) ____________ Window Effects

__Cool Application Switcher _________Transparency

___Transparent Cubes (1) _______Transparent Cubes (2)

___Transparent Cubes (3) _______Transparent Cubes (4)

___Transparent Cubes (5) _______Transparent Cubes (6)

___Transparent Cubes (7)_________ View from the top

If you are still not satisfied, wait for the videos soon...

Firefox: Browser Reloaded

2007-02-14T13:57:00.000+05:30

This article was published in the "Linux For You" magazine in November, 2004.

Firefox is a free, open-source web browser for GNU/Linux, Windows, MacOS X and other platforms. It is small, fast, easy to use and much more secure than other browsers. To know more about this latest marvel of open source read-on.....

Ask anyone which browser they use and the answer you will get is Internet Explorer. Well, that thing is about to change. Enter Firefox: Firefox is a free, open-source web browser for various platforms and is based on the Mozilla codebase. Where Firefox scores over Mozilla is that it is just a lightweight browser whereas Mozilla is a complete suite consisting of a web browser, an email client, a chat client etc. It offers many advantages over Internet Explorer like tabbed browsing, ability to block pop-up windows and enhanced security. So, what are we waiting for? Let's begin the joy ride!

Getting and Installing Firefox
You can download the latest version of Firefox from:

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/download.html

Since, Firefox is available for various platforms and languages you can download the one suitable for your machine. For GNU/Linux you can either go for the source tarball (if you are geeky one) or download the Linux/GTK2 tarball.

Installation using the Linux/GTK2 tarball is a breeze. First, extract the tarball using the following command:

# tar -zxvf firefox-*.tar.gz

Now, change (cd) into the newly created directory and run the installer using the following command:

# ./firefox-installer

Just a few seconds and we are ready to roll!

Getting Started
When you run Firefox for the first time it gives you the option of importing favorites, passwords, cookies, history and other data from your existing browser. Once you are through, the sheer look of the browser mesmerizes you, with cool looking icons, easily accessible menus and a fully customizable toolbar. Just be a little innovative and play around with the menus and toolbar until you get the feel of the power that Firefox offers you while keeping the interface easy and simple.

Screenshots
Figure 1: Pop-up Blocking

Figure 2: Download Manager

Figure 3: Tabbed Browsing

Features
There are numerous reasons for using Firefox instead of other browsers. Here is a small list:

Tabbed Browsing

Just like Mozilla, Firefox allows you to open multiple web pages inside a single window by using tabs. Tabs are extremely handy when it comes to opening multiple web pages. You can have as many tabs open as you like inside a single window. You can switch easily among different pages by clicking on the appropriate tab. In case you accidentally click the close button, it warns you that there are open tabs.

Tip: To use Tabbed browsing hold down Ctrl key while clicking on a web-link or click with the middle mouse button.

Pop-Up Blocking

With Firefox bid adieu to those annoying pop-up ads. When Firefox blocks a pop-up window an icon is displayed in the status bar. Click on this icon to see the list of sites that were blocked. If you want to allow a particular web site to display pop-up windows, just go to Tools>Options>Web Features>Add Site… and enter the URL of the website.

Fully Customizable Toolbars

The toolbars are completely customizable and you can easily add or remove buttons to the toolbar. Just click View>Toolbar>Customize…, here you can add or remove buttons, bookmarks, separators etc. by dragging and dropping them to the toolbar. You can also add your own custom toolbar. One feature that is lacking is that you can’t add your own custom icons.

Inbuilt Search Features

Firefox offers you the power of the world's most powerful search engine. Bingo! You guessed it right, it's Google. Just hit Ctrl+k or click on the search field, enter the search string and press enter. You are now ready to conquer the world!

The auto-complete mechanism remembers your previous searches and makes your work easier and faster.

Download Manager

Just like Mozilla, Firefox features an inbuilt Download Manager. It shows you the list of current, finished as well as pending downloads along with the progress bar and relevant text. You can pause and resume the download whenever you want. In case Firefox exits accidentally it warns you about pending downloads.

One thing that we would like to see in future releases of Firefox would be support for segmented downloading for faster downloads.

Efficient Sidebar

With Firefox you can easily organize your bookmarks, history etc. by using the sidebar. By using the Bookmarks sidebar you can easily access and organize your bookmarks with the click of a button. By using the History sidebar you can easily navigate back to sites and pages you have previously visited. You can also search for a particular bookmark or history item.

Cool Facts

Firefox was previously named Firebird and before that Phoenix. The name Firebird was in use by another open source project so it had to be changed. Firefox was chosen because it's similar to Firebird. It's easy to remember and sounds good. The official name is Mozilla Firefox.

Tip: You can even search for a specific page you have visited earlier! Just enter the relevant words in the search field and press enter.

Smart Update

Firefox frees you from the stress of updating itself by automatically keeping itself up-to date. Whenever there is an update available it alerts you about the update and the available options.

Table: Firefox v/s Internet Explorer 6.0

Features	Firefox	IE6.0
Tabbed Browsing	Yes	No
Pop-Up Blocking	Yes	No
Extensions and Themes	Yes	No
Smart Update	Yes	No
Fully Customizable Toolbars	Yes	No
Download Manager	Yes	No
Cookie Management	Yes	No

Extensions and Themes

Extensions are small add-ons to Firefox that change existing browser functionality or add new functionality. It can be anything from a button to a completely new feature, such as mouse gestures or image zooming. Extensions allow Firefox to stay small, lightweight and fast. Firefox comes with Extension Manager for easy installation, removal and automatic updation of extensions. It displays the list of installed extensions along with a small description of the extensions. You can personalize Firefox according to your tastes by using Themes. With Themes, you can change the look and feel of Firefox. A theme can change anything from toolbar buttons, icons to the whole browser appearance.

Themes are managed by the Theme Manager. It contains a preview for each theme, thus making the choice of which theme to use easier and faster. You can click on Use Theme button to use a particular theme.

Tip: To download more extensions and themes just click 'Get More Extensions/Themes' in the Extension/Theme Manager.

Talkback Feature

Firefox ships in with a Quality Feedback Agent that allows you to send information about a problem back to the Firefox developers that will help them to improve Firefox. Whenever Firefox crashes, a talkback window appears that contains details about the crash. You can choose to send or ignore the information about the crash.

Firefox: What the Future Holds?
In the near future Firefox will be used as the default browser in Mozilla. The current Mozilla suite will be replaced by stand-alone applications with Firefox as the web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird as the email client etc. Firefox will be available as a .zip download. There will also be a web installer which means that you will have to download a small installer and then select the components you want.

So, what are you waiting for? Go get the power of Open Source Software.

Note: This document includes work by Ben Goodger of mozilla.org as well as material from texturizer.net.

Linux Breaks Through the Language Barrier

2007-02-13T12:54:00.000+05:30

This article was published in the "Linux For You" magazine in January, 2005.

Localization or l10n as it is popularly known , involves translating the user interface-menus, dialogs, help, documentation, etc to your native language. This article will equip you with the basics and help you in getting started with the enormous task ahead.

Ever dreamt of using an application having user interface in your native language? If yes, then read on because this article will help you getting started in accomplishing your dream. A lot of people argue that Linux can have a very bright future in

India

if it is translated to various Indian languages. This is due to the fact that

India

is a vast country where different states have different cultures and people speak different languages.

There are a lot of language teams working on l10n (localization) of OSS (Open Source Software). They are providing local language support for applications by translating the UI (User Interface) i.e. dialogs, menus, help, documentation etc. to various Indian languages.

Various tools are available for translation of Linux applications. For an overview of different translation tools, check out the December 2003 issue of LFY (Page no. 70). Here we will focus on Hindi translation using KBabel which is one of the most powerful translation tools available.

Prerequisites
Before getting started you'll need Hindi language support in your distro. For this download the latest IndLinux package from http://www.indlinux.org and plug-in the following commands in a Linux terminal:

# tar -zxvf indlinux-*.tar.gz

Now, change (cd) into the newly created directory and run the installer using the following command:

# ./install.sh

Scan the README file for instructions on how to add Hindi language option to the login screen.

Since KBabel requires fonts and keymaps support from the native system, you need to set up the Hindi keymap before you can type in Hindi. For this right click on the panel and add keyboard layout switcher to it. Right click on the keyboard layout switcher and add the Hindi keymap. Now you can switch between keymaps by simply clicking on the map icon in the panel.

To see any application in Hindi interface you either need to login with Hindi support or you can set the global LANG environment variable as follows:

# export LANG=hi_IN.UTF-8

Now you can run any application such as gedit, epiphany etc. in Hindi interfaces from the same terminal.

Figure 1: Epiphany in Hindi Interface

One of the problems with Hindi translation that you can clearly see is the misalignment of shirorekha (continuous line above characters). To fix this, add the following lines to /etc/fonts/fonts.conf:

replace Raghindi with your devanagari font.

PO File Basics

Almost all the applications that run under Linux use the GNU gettext framework. All the text that is visible to the user through dialogs, menus, help, documentation etc. is stored in message catalogs called PO (Portable Object) files, which are translated. These PO files are then compiled into MO (Machine Object) files. Whenever an application executes it looks out for a MO file for that language. If the file is available it is displayed in that language otherwise it is displayed in English.

Figure 2: PO File Example

Before beginning translation, you need a POT (Portable Object Template) file which contains the text that is displayed in the interface of any application along with its corresponding translation. Generally POT files can be found in the source of any package. If not, you can create your own POT file by using the following command:

# xgettext -o

l10n links

http://i18n.kde.org/tools/kbabel
http://www.indlinux.org
http://www.indictrans.org
http://www.ankurbangla.org
http://hi.openoffice.org
http://www.cdacindia.com
http://www.ncb.ernet.in/projects/indix
http://translate.sourceforge.net
http://l10n-status.gnome.org
http://i18n.kde.org

Check out the man page of xgettext command for complete description about input/output files.

A POT file consists of 2 parts:

POT header
msgid-msgstr pairs

POT header contains name and version of the package being translated, translator details, POT file creation and revision date, language team details and encoding scheme used.

msgid variable contains the original English string that appears in the UI of an application and msgstr contains the corresponding translated string. You need to read the original string from msgid and type the corresponding translated string in Hindi. As simple as that!

Using KBabel for translation

KBabel is one of the most powerful translation tools available. KBabel comes with a standard KDE installation. But if you are a geeky one you can download the latest version from http://www.kde.org. It has a host of advanced features like full navigation capabilities, statistics function, spell checking, dictionary functionality, plural form support, automatic headers update, UTF-8 support, and a rough translation tool that can translate your files roughly by using a translation database. You can add items to the translation database by using already translated PO files. KBabel also includes validation of translated strings, syntax check etc. You can also search for a particular word by selecting the word and clicking search, KBabel displays all the possible translations for that word.

Tip: You need to fill-up the translation database before beginning translation for quick and consistent reference. For that you'll need PO files of already translated applications. Just visit http://www.gnomebangalore.org and request a free CD that consists of source code of GNOME, OpenOffice and Mono etc.

KBabel has a very good catalog manager which can be used for keeping track of translation of large projects like OpenOffice, GNOME etc. Just give the path of the top-level directory where you have put your translations. It shows the status of all the files of that project (translated, untranslated or fuzzy). Just click an untranslated file and start translating!

KBabelDict allows you to translate any text using KBabel capabilities for automated translation. The KBabel suite will help you to translate quickly and also to keep translations consistent. For convenience, KBabel window is divided into 4 parts:

The upper-left edit box is read-only and contains the current msgid field from the opened PO file and its English text.
The bottom-left edit box contains the msgstr field related to the msgid shown and here you can edit the translated text.
The top-right part of the window is a comments panel where you can view the comments added for the entry currently being edited.
The bottom-right part of the window is the editor window. It has two tabbed panels-one storing search information, the other context information.

Figure 3: KBabel GUI Interface

Read the KBabel Handbook for more details.

Table: KBabel keyboard shortcuts

Key	Description
Page Up	Move to previous message
Page Down	Move to next message
Ctrl+Page Up	Move to previous fuzzy message
Ctrl+Page Down	Move to next fuzzy message
Alt+Page Up	Move to previous untranslated message
Alt+Page Down	Move to next untranslated message
Shift+Page Up	Move to previous error message
Shift+Page Down	Move to next error message
Ctrl+Shift+Page Up	Move to previous fuzzy or untranslated message
Ctrl+Shift+Page Down	Move to next fuzzy or untranslated message

Below is a step-by-step process of translating your first file:

Open KBabel, choose settings>configure KBabel and enter your details.
Open settings>Translation Database and add PO files of already translated packages to the database.
Open an untranslated file and click settings>Rough Translation.
Now you only need to translate those strings that it fails to find in the database.
Change the keymap to Hindi, read the untranslated string (msgid) and write the translated string (msgstr) in Hindi.
Once you are done with the file do a spell check if you have one for Hindi, syntax check etc.
The header will be automatically updated once you save the file with .po extension.

Running the Application

Once you have translated all the files of an application you need to build a PO compendium i.e. a PO file containing all translations extracted from a set of PO files. You can use gettext utilities like msgcat and msgmerge for this purpose. Since an application requires MO files at runtime, you'll need to compile PO file to MO file using the following command:

# msgfmt -o

For Hindi language copy this MO file to /usr/share/locale/hi/LC_MESSAGES:

# cp /usr/share/locale/hi/LC_MESSAGES/

To test an application set the global LANG variable to Hindi:

# export LANG=hi_IN.UTF-8

Now, run the application from the same terminal and you'll be able to see the application in Hindi interface.

So, now you have localized your first application, but wait, this is not even the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of lines that need to be translated for each application and each Linux distro ships-in with thousands of applications. So, you can imagine what a mammoth task this is.

In the beginning try translating small files and once you become comfortable with it move onto larger ones.

Contributing

If you are keen to jump into the world of translations, it would be advisable to join one of the translation groups that are already doing the job rather than doing it alone. You can also subscribe to the mailing lists to keep in touch with other members of the group, take and offer help, know the status of translations, share files etc.

So, get going and use your translation skills for the benefit of non-English speaking open source community.

Get the Better of Memory Leaks with Valgrind

2007-02-11T19:06:00.000+05:30

This article was published in the "Linux For You" magazine in February, 2006.

Memory leaks can cause problems and bugs in software which can be hard to detect. In this article we shall discuss Valgrind--an open source tool that helps you to detect and fix memory leaks in your applications.

Modern software development techniques employ great innovation. Extreme care is taken to ensure that the code written performs well, whether it is on the User Interface (GUI) front, features or performance front. With the rapid advent of applications that are being developed and ported on GNU/Linux platform, it becomes essential for a GNU/Linux developer to develop software which caters to the user’s need and performs well on a variety of hardware--almost the entire gamut of hardware that GNU/Linux runs on.

With the embedded domain on GNU/Linux really catching up and the growing number of applications being developed for embedded devices like mobiles, PDAs, gaming consoles etc., it has become essential to have software which utilizes the limited memory available on these systems and makes best use of it.

In spite of great care being taken for developing quality software, developers being humans, are bound to err. This results in bugs in the software. One such bug which can cause problems on PC and spell catastrophe in embedded devices is a “Memory Leak”.

In this article, we shall discuss about a free and open-source tool called Valgrind, with which you can easily detect and fix memory leaks in your applications.

What Exactly is a Memory Leak?

According to Valgrind manual: A memory leak is a part of memory that has been allocated but not freed after its usage or when pointer to a memory allocation is deleted, thereby making the memory unusable. The more often this memory leak occurs the more valuable memory will be wasted and taken away from other processes thereby affecting the whole system. If your applications’ usage exceeds the virtual memory size, it will crash the system.

According to Valgrind manual, some of the common memory related errors are:

Use of uninitialized memory.
Reading/writing memory after it has been freed.
Reading/writing off the end of malloced blocks.
Reading/writing inappropriate areas on the stack.
Memory leaks – where pointers to malloced blocks are lost forever.
Mismatched use of malloc/new/new[] vs free/delete/delete[].
Some misuses of the POSIX pthreads API.

Memory leak detection tools

Various tools are available for detecting memory leaks and other bugs in your programs. The most popular and well known tools are Purify (IBM) and Valgrind. IBM’s Purify runs on GNU/Linux and Windows but is proprietary and expensive. Being tux lovers we shall focus on a free, open-source memory-leak detection tool called Valgrind.

Displaying Virtual Memory (VM) usage
To begin with, let’s check out the memory usage of your application using a commonly used utility ‘ps’ available on all *nix platforms.

‘ps’ command displays the process status. Using the various options available with it, it can be used for displaying an application’s process-id, memory usage, cpu-utilization etc. For example, to display the process name, process id and VM usage of currently running applications in the shell, following command should be used:

$ ps -o cmd,pid,vsize

Numerous options for the ‘ps’ command are available through which you can view resource utilization of an application.

If you have installed GNOME, you can use ‘gnome-system-monitor’ command to view the process id, VM usage etc. in a GUI window.

Using the above you can check the VM usage of your application, but to dig deep inside your code for memory leaks, you need Valgrind.

Tip: You can also use 'vmstat' command to display the VM usage of your applications.

Getting and installing Valgrind
You can download the latest version of Valgrind from this month’s LFY CD or from http://valgrind.org/downloads/source_code.html.

For installing Valgrind first extract it, using:
$ tar –jxvf valgrind-version.tar.bz2
$ cd valgrind-version

Follow the three well-known steps:
$ ./configure
$ make
$ make install

This would install Valgrind onto your system.

Using Valgrind
To check your application for memory leaks, place valgrind before the application name while executing the application.
$ valgrind

Valgrind can be used on existing GNU/Linux commands, for example:
$ valgrind ps

This will display the ‘ps’ command output along with detailed report by valgrind.

Valgrind includes various tools which can be used for detecting different types of problems. These are:

memcheck: checks for memory leaks, accesses to uninitialized memory etc.
addrcheck: similar to memcheck but doesn't perform thorough memory checking, runs faster and uses less memory than memcheck.
cachegrind: cachegrind is a cache simulator.
massif: massif is a heap profiler.
lackey: lackey is a sample tool that can be used as a template for generating your own tools.

Tip: You can check out the Valgrind man page for more details and options.

To specify the tool to be used, enter the following command:
$ valgrind --tool=

For e.g. for using the memcheck tool on an application a.out, the command would be:
$ valgrind --tool=memcheck ./a.out

Suppressing errors
Valgrind, by default reports errors in all programs/libraries installed on your GNU/Linux system on which your application is dependent. Since, we are interested in our own application; we can easily suppress these errors by creating a .supp file and giving its path while running Valgrind. Valgrind reads this file at startup and suppresses errors having entry is in the .supp file.
$ valgrind --suppressions=./suppfile.supp

Tip: Details about the format of suppression files can be found in the Valgrind manual.

A simple example using Valgrind
Let’s explore the beauty of Valgrind using a simple example given below (Listing 1):

--------------------------------CODE-----------------------------

Listing 1:
#include
#include
int main()
{
char *p = (char *)malloc(20*sizeof(char));
strcpy(p, “linux rocks!”);
printf(“%s\n”, p);
return 0;
}

--------------------------------CODE-----------------------------

In this program, we have allocated a memory of 20 bytes but it is not freed before the program exits. Let’s analyze this program using Valgrind.

Compile this program using the following command:
$ gcc -g -o listing1 listing1.c

Run the program using valgrind:
$ valgrind --tool=memcheck ./listing1

This will display a brief memory leak summary about our program:

ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed 18 from 1)
malloc/free: in use at exit: 20 bytes in 1 blocks.
malloc/free: 1 allocs, 0 frees, 20 bytes allocated.

LEAK SUMMARY:
definitely lost: 20 bytes in 1 blocks.
possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
still reachable: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.

The memory leak summary clearly displays that we have allocated 20 bytes using malloc() but we haven’t freed the memory after use. The above memory leak summary is very brief and doesn’t display the source-code where we have allocated the memory. For detailed memory-leak report, plug-in the following command:
$ valgrind --tool=memcheck --leak-check=full ./listing1

This command displays the following output:

ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed 18 from 1)
malloc/free: in use at exit: 20 bytes in 1 blocks.
malloc/free: 1 allocs, 0 frees, 20 bytes allocated.

20 bytes in 1 blocks are definitely lost in loss record 1 of 1
at 0x1B8FEA35: malloc (vg_replace_malloc.c:149)
by 0x8048375: main (listing1.c:4)

LEAK SUMMARY:
definitely lost: 20 bytes in 1 blocks.
possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
still reachable: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks

From the above output we can conclude that 20 bytes of memory was allocated in listing1.c at line 4 but was not freed after use. So, the correct code would be:

--------------------------------CODE-----------------------------

Listing 2:
#include
#include
int main()
{
char *p = (char *)malloc(20*sizeof(char)); /* Allocate 20 bytes of memory */
strcpy(p, “linux rocks!”);
printf(“%s\n”, p);
free(p); /* Free the allocated memory */
return 0;
}

--------------------------------CODE-----------------------------

The Valgrind output for the above program is:

ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed 18 from 1)
malloc/free: in use at exit: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
malloc/free: 1 allocs, 1 frees, 20 bytes allocated.

The above output indicates that all the allocates memory has been freed and there are no memory leaks in the application.

You can also save the Valgrind output to a log file and view the memory leak details using a graphical front-end such as Alleyoop as shown in the following figure:

Figure: Memory Leak Usage using Alleyoop

So, by using Valgrind and various tools available with it, you can easily detect and fix memory leaks and other memory-related bugs in your applications.

Advantages of Valgrind
Valgrind currently supports all major GNU/Linux distributions on x86 architecture. Some of its benefits include:

Valgrind works directly with executables, so there is no need to modify, recompile or relink your applications.
Valgrind can be used to debug small as well as large applications.
Valgrind can be used with other tools like GDB (GNU Debugger), KDevelop (as a plug-in).
It can be used with almost any kind of software written in any language.
It can be used as a platform for writing new debugging tools.
Valgrind is free, open-source and available under GPL 2.
Several graphical front-ends are available for Valgrind, some of which include Alleyoop, Valgui, GNUGrind, KDevelop (with Valgrind as a plug-in)

Limitations of Valgrind
Every software has some limitations and Valgrind is no exception.

Application runs 25 to 50 times slower through Valgrind.
Memory consumption is increased while running the application through Valgrind.
Highly optimized code can sometimes cheat Valgrind.
Works only on GNU/Linux, x86 platforms.

Summary
Memory related bugs in software can be hard to detect and fix. Using Valgrind and various graphical front-ends available with it, you can easily detect and fix memory leaks in your application. Efficient utilization of memory, especially on embedded systems is a must and Valgrind allows you to achieve just that!

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Welcome to GNU/Linux Nirvana!

Fun with Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)!

Easy installation of multimedia codecs:

Desktop Effects

Networking Improvements

Easier connection to wireless networks

Zeroconf for instant networks

Easier install of proprietary drivers

New Artwork

Easy Third Party Installation

Better debugging of crashes

Xorg 7.2 included

New Games: Sudoku and Chess

Quick diagnostic tools

Help Center

Support for more hardware, including Intel Macs

Fun with OpenSuse 10.2!

Firefox: Browser Reloaded

Linux Breaks Through the Language Barrier

Get the Better of Memory Leaks with Valgrind