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One important step to protect a system is using a firewall. Essentially, this is a network security system, acting like a security guard between internal and external networks. The firewall controls incoming and outgoing network traffic using security rules. The rules specify which connections you want to allow and the ports and zones through which the connection can be established.

Since late 2014, Adobe's proprietary but useful Adobe Acrobat Reader DC has been no longer supported under Linux. Adobe's website still only lists Windows, Mac OS and Android as supported operating systems. This is one of the many dangers of closed source software - at the whim of corporate bosses, development and distribution can simply disappear overnight, possibly never coming back. Fortunately, there are some excellent open source alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. The software featured in this article offer more than displaying PDF files; they are versatile document viewers.

You may have read the story about a man deleting his entire company with one mistaken piece of code: accidentally misusing rm -rf in Ansible. It was a fairly obvious hoax designed to be a viral marketing effort. It achieved that goal as scores of media sources carried the story. But at least it will have alerted readers to the importance of making sure their data is safe.

There is a wide range of competent note taking software for Linux, and this article seeks to cover the finest open source solutions. I have compiled this roundup of my pick of 17 excellent note applications for organizing, sharing, and taking notes.

We previously published an article on the best open source editors in 2008. Given the length of time that has elapsed, and the new projects that have come forward, it's prudent to update the article. Here's our updated list of the finest open source editors available for Linux. Naturally, it's largely a matter of preference, but it's extremely likely you'll find your ideal editor below.

Do not think home automation is just for geeks. It is now mainstream and a burgeoning industry. Become an home automation expert and try out these finest open source software for home automation. There are some real gems here. Many users flock to Domoticz and openHAB, but one of the others listed here may be a better fit for your requirements.

A download manager is computer software that is dedicated to the task of downloading files, optimizing bandwidth usage, and operating in a more organized way.

Microsoft Office still dominates market share of office suites. Businesses have often rejected free Office alternatives. However, whether this will continue is uncertain. With the cost of a price plan for Microsoft Office, the average home user or small business will welcome a free alternative. Fortunately, there are some truly excellent free alternatives available for Linux (and other operating systems).

I have selected my pick of desktop environments that are excellent candidates for older hardware. They typically run well on low-spec machines, even a system with a Pentium II 266MHz CPU, a processor that is now 16 years old. All of the desktops are released under freely distributable licenses. If your Linux box feels sluggish in general use, try one of the desktops featured below. It may just save you from discarding a perfectly good machine.

This article provides my pick of the best open source command line file transfer programs. The software featured here supports a number of different protocols. They offer shell-like command syntax, and are great for scripting purposes.

It has often been said that information confers power, and that the most important currency in our culture today is information. Keeping track of my bits and pieces of information has unfortunately been an issue for some years. In part, this is because of my passable short term memory, coupled with what can only be described as 'brain fog'. To combat this, I arm myself with open source software that helps me efficiently capture a lot of information.

Even though Terminator meets all my needs, I am always on the look out for new terminal emulators that might offer a different way of working. In this article, I explore three new terminal emulators. Each of these open source applications are a long way from the finished article. The software featured here are not stable, not feature complete, and should not be used in a production environment. But they have real potential.

Email clients offer a variety of features. Many email clients offer a slew of features, some stick with just the basics. At the end of the day, what is important is that you find an email client that offers what you need, it is reliable, and works well on your computer.

Fans of the typewriter remain a vehement group. They view the typewriter as something really special, a tool which makes the connection between languages. One of the attractions of a typewriter is that it offers a distraction-free alternative of modern day methods for producing a document. They challenge the writer to concentrate on what really matters - the content. They force the writer to think.

I would be the first to concede that Linux users will never be satisfied being denied access to a desktop environment. Linux users have a choice of many different desktop environments, all with their own different styles and strengths. Which desktop environment is best invokes strong feelings. Personally, I have no strong feelings for or against any of the environments available. This is predominately because I still spend a lot of my time either using the Linux console, or, when in X, I end up at a terminal emulator, mostly Terminator.

Mobile phone users should not regard their computer only as the means of recharging their phone, or transferring files to and from the phone's storage. There's a lot more than you can do with your Linux box. This article illustrates some good open source tools that let you manage your mobile phone.

File comparison compares the contents of computer files, finding their common contents and their differences. The result of the comparison is often known as a diff. diff is also the name of a famous console based file comparison utility that outputs the differences between two files. The diff utility was developed in the early 1970s on the Unix operating system. diff will output the parts of the files where they are different.

Text-based games often receive little coverage in the Linux press. However, there are some real ASCII gems out there waiting to be explored which are immensely addictive and great fun to play.

The focus of this article is to select the finest shell scripting books which are available to download for free. Many of the books featured here can also be freely distributed. So get reading, learning and sharing.

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is an application protocol for accessing directory services. It runs on a layer above the TCP/IP stack incorporating simplified encoding methods, and offers a convenient way to connect to, search, and modify Internet directories, specifically X.500-based directory services.