Rhonda, one of our readers asks: "...I forgot my username and password on my ubuntu/Linux computer. How do I get back on? I have 2 computers just so you understand. One I use windows and the other I use ubuntu. I don't want to throw the computer away so any help would be greatly appreciated..." I'm assuming [...]

                                                              This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Firewall BuilderThis article continues the series of articles on Firewall Builder, a graphical firewall configuration and management tool that supports many Open Source firewall platforms as well as Cisco IOS access lists and [...]

Granted, Launchpad might not be something newer Ubuntu users or less experienced users consider joining? However, I recently checked out the site and created my account. When I'm ready to create a couple packages, I can upload them to launchpad, where I or anyone in the community can access and use them, from anywhere. Additionally, [...]

                                                              This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Building a Web Developer / Designer PCIn an earlier post to this series, I talked about converting an old ancient IBM Thinkpad T22 Laptop into a proxy server (using Squid). While this did substantially improve my web surfing speed, it occurred to me that the [...]

                                                              This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Firewall BuilderThis article continues the series of articles on Fireall Builder, a graphical firewall configuration and management tool that supports many Open Source firewall platforms as well as Cisco IOS access lists and [...]

I read an interesting post comparing the different browsers and how they compare (in terms of performance) with each other. The conclusion of the post Linux Browser Shootout with Peacekeeper, suggested that Epiphany-Webkit was the best. From their web site: "...Epiphany-WebKit absolutely blitzes the Peacekeeper and annihilates all of its competition (even Safari 4 and Google [...]

                                                              This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Building a Web Developer / Designer PCOne thing I particularly enjoy are tools that make my work simpler. I was reading a post on Smashing Magazine about "35 CSS-Lifesavers For Efficient Web Design" that mentioned Compass. It's a a real stylesheet framework. As such it's [...]

                                                              This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Firewall BuilderThis article continues the series of articles on Firewall Builder, a graphical firewall configuration and management tool that supports many Open Source firewall platforms as well as Cisco IOS access lists and [...]

I recently was asked by a new Ubuntu user (also involved in web, graphic design, etc.), what some of the more common day to day commands I use are. Many of these commands can increase productivity, etc. by making things (for me at least), easier to do. My system desktop has a transparent terminal integrated into [...]

When I need to run a Windows based application on my trusty Ubuntu Hardy box, I don't use Wine. Don't get me wrong, it's just that I don't want to have to manage the Wine environment and prefer to have Windows and it's associated applications tucked away in it's own virtual system. This way if [...]

I had an interesting morning playing with my Ubuntu (Hardy - 8.04) system. I just created a nice new desktop, with super effects and graphics and wondered if there's not a way to create a more customized "ear candy" environment (since I've already covered the eye candy aspect). I discovered that Ubuntu (and most likely [...]

                                                              This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Firewall BuilderThis article continues the series of articles on Firewall Builder, a graphical firewall configuration and management tool that supports many Open Source firewall platforms as well as Cisco IOS access lists and [...]

Earlier I posted Mono in Ubuntu, Yes or No? It was a post where I learned a bit about the issues surrounding Ubuntu's default inclusion of Mono. During that post, I arrived at the position that it should not be included by default (and that I'd prefer to remove it from my system). A developer [...]

It seems there's a fair bit of discussion (heated at times), about the current issues with Mono being installed by default in Ubuntu Linux. I've seen and read some of the flame wars currently in blog posts and forums. Seems that an ordinary person like myself can be easily mislead if not properly informed. The [...]

"Danny", one of our readers asks: "I have a ati r128 graphics driver. I dont see the driver in hardware drivers at all. The driver is a inf file. I dont know how to install it. Please help me!" I don't have much information provided in the question (more information is always helpful and allows for better [...]

One of our readers "Garry" writes: "I restored ubuntu 8.04 and it wanted to do 188 updates and then 294 updates. The problem is it takes up all disc space and then the system is unstable. What can be done to fix this problem? Thanks" There is a way you can approach  this... 1) Only select a few [...]

"Steve" asks: "I would like to download linux to cd but don't want it on the host computer how do I do that?" I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, do you mean you don't want it installed on the host computer or you don't want the .iso file on the host computer? 1) Several years ago, I [...]

My primary reason for using Ubuntu Linux, is that I find it a far more productive, cost effective and customizable system. Everyone has their own reasons and needs for any particular OS. That said, I'm often asked by new Linux (Ubuntu) users what things I do immediately after installing Ubuntu; to tweak it a bit [...]

                                                              This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Firewall Builder This article continues the series of articles on Fireall Builder, a graphical firewall configuration and management tool that supports many Open Source firewall platforms as well as Cisco IOS access lists and Cisco ASA (PIX). Firewall Builder was introduced on this site earlier [...]

Prelude: Why write about a screenshot tool? It is a mistake to think that only "big" things (supported hardware, multimedia codecs, office applications and data conversion) matter when you want to successfully switch to an alternative operating system. For true happinessTM, the small things are as, or even more, important - the things that make your [...]