Category Archives: Linux

NetbootCD

This is a very useful boot disk – it allows you to download the latest network installer from the relevant site and boot it, without having to burn or create another stick. It supports the major distributions: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Mandriva, Scientific Linux, CentOS and Slackware.

Be warned, though, Network Installers by nature can be heavily console-based.

NetbootCD.

Linux Training

In between my running, I am now going to start seeking profession certification in linux. It’ll give me something to get a leg up back into the software world, plus let me use something I care about, rather than the very frustrating (and annoying) Windows 7.

Zombies, Run! Audio Extraction Script

Here’s a snippet to extract all the ZR zips. Copy all the zips onto your desktop and run this in a console window

for a in *.zip
do
unzip -o $a -d `basename $a .zip`
rm $a
rm `basename $a .zip`/*.json
done

Now, each ZR zip contains the audio (as mp3s), plus a json file detailing what item ranges can be picked up during each block and with what probability. We don’t need this for what we are doing.

There’s also no telling whether or not Six to Start will start including other files within their zips, so rather than extract just the mp3s, I extract everything, then take out what I know I don’t need.

 

Encrypted LVM — Setting Up, Shrinking and Growing

I’ve been tinkering with my LVM config and exploring, and trying to learn how to setup an encrypted Logical Volume, and then, how to grow and shrink it. I’d like to share my workings with you so you know too. This is a long article, so I’ve hidden it under a cut.

Remember, before you do ANYTHING that involves shrinking or resizing partitions on your hard drive, you MUST make a backup. Ideally as an image. If anything goes wrong, you will need to revert back to this image.

Continue reading

Security

As a result of the Ubuntu Forums hack recently, I’ve now had to spend several hours going through all my internet logins accounts to see whether or not I have used the same password anywhere else. Not surprising, I have so I have to go through and change them all. Fortunately, LastPass allows me to generate secure passwords which  I can use to replace other passwords. The only real place where I would be concerned if they have access would by emails, but I have 2-factor authentication turned on there, and have had it turned on for many months, and they need my email address, password AND phone to get into my account. Even my backup codes are stored on a TrueCrypt volume stored on a LUKS partition on my laptop so they would need two passwords to get at those.

Mind you, it IS good that these forums were hacked, it’s given me a reason to go through my accounts and see which ones I still use and which ones I can delete.

 

Ubuntu Forums

Hello,

You are receiving this message because you have an account registered with this address on ubuntuforums.org.

The Ubuntu forums software was compromised by an external attacker. As a result, the attacker has gained access to read your username, email address and an encrypted copy of your password from the forum database.

If you have used this password and email address to authenticate at any other website, you are urged to reset the password on those accounts immediately as the attacker may be able to use the compromised personal information to access these other accounts. It is important to have a distinct password for different accounts.

The ubuntuforums.org website is currently offline and we are working to restore this service. Please take the time to change your ubuntuforums.org account password when service is restored.

We apologize for any inconvenience to the Ubuntu community, thank you for your understanding.

The Canonical Sysadmins.

Samaritans adopt Linux for reliability

Linux is slowly but surely gaining ground as more and more people see its effectiveness.

jamesgoode98's avatarLinux News

linux-os-tux-wallpaper-3The British charity, the Samaritans, have chosen the Linux operating system to achieve improved computer systems.

Linux is an alternative operating system to Microsoft’s Windows and has been adopted widely in public sector projects around the world largely because of its reliability and low cost.
Charities such as the Samaritans have little money to spend on new technology and it is vital to acquire the best technology at competitive prices.

Linux is easy to use

The widely held assumption that Linux is a powerful system for Geek types is strongly challenged by the Samaritans. They have looked carefully and chosen an easy to use system, which is used by non-technical people.

Gaining ground

There is more work that needs to be done to convince people that Linux systems are easy to use. Many people realise that Linux is almost always more cost effective.

According to the BBC report, link below…

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