Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

If somebody accidentally drops a critical table in MySQL, the application no longer works. The solution to this problem is to utilize the (open source) Zmanda Recovery Manager. You are a MySQL database administrator. You take regular backups of your MySQL database. Somebody drops a table critical to the MySQL application (for example, the "accounts" table in a SugarCRM application). The MySQL application no longer works. How can you recover from the situation?The answer is MySQL binary logs. Binary logs track all updates to the database with minimal impact on database performance. MySQL binary logs have to be enabled on the server. You can use the mysqlbinlog MySQL command to recover from the binary logs.

Fedora 9 is scheduled for release tomorrow. Six months after Fedora 8 was released, Fedora 9 will be available in a variety of “spins” (custom boot images for everything from desktop installs to USB devices) with improved networking and eyecandy.

Do you fancy Web-based word processors but aren't ready to leave OpenOffice.org? You can work with your Zoho Writer and Google Docs files from the convenience of OpenOffice.org Writer, courtesy of the OoGdocsIntegrator extension. Despite its name, the OoGdocsIntegrator extension can handle both Google Docs and Zoho Writer. In fact, it offers better integration with the latter than the former. Since OoGdocsIntegrator is written in Java, you have to make sure that you have the Java Runtime Environment installed on your machine and enabled in OpenOffice.org. To do this, choose Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org -> Java. Make sure that Sun's Java Runtime Environment is selected, press OK, and restart OpenOffice.org.

The company has abandoned its appeal against a German ruling that it must supply source code with Linux-based VoIP phones, in compliance with GPLv2.

Microsoft has just approached the Blender guys, and I would assume have or will approach other FOSS projects since we learn that Microsoft has assigned a guy to work with Open Source projects, with a request for information on how to make Blender run better on Windows.

The main problem with"social networking" isn't just that your"social" life has corporate boundaries. It's that your personal choices do too.

With Ubuntu 8.04 now on the streets, it’s time to catch a breather and reflect on just why Ubuntu gets all the hype. Why is Ubuntu the hottest brand in Linuxdom at this time? Why is it the distro most frequently advocated? I posed these questions to readers and LUG members; here’s the feedback from real-life Linux users.

I was gladdened yesterday when techbargains.com reported a sale on a new Lenovo ThinkPad R61 running SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop ($552, see below). It's not everyday that you run into a major PC vendor selling machines pre-loaded with Linux (excluding servers). Perhaps pre-installing Linux will become more popular, in part, due to a Vista backlash. Or, the popularity of Linux of ultra-cheap laptops (where Vista doesn't belong) such as the Asus EEE PC, will lay a foundation for its expansion. Once people see and touch and smell recent editions of Linux, they'll realize it is no more different from Windows XP than is the Mac OSX. And, as Lenovo says, Linux "Eliminates virus and spyware downtime".

Wikipedia, the upstart Internet encyclopedia that most universities forbid students to use, has suddenly become a teaching tool for professors. Recently, university teachers have swapped student term papers for assignments to write entries for the free online encyclopedia. Wikipedia is an "open-source" web site, which means that entries can be started or edited by anyone in the world with an Internet connection.

You may never have heard of BitRock, the company that has traditionally competed with OpenLogic, SpikeSource, and SourceLabs in the "open-source stacks" business but has seen much more success with its excellent installers, which upwards of 60 percent of commercial open-source projects use including SugarCRM, JasperSoft, Ringside Networks, and more. The name may be unfamiliar to you, but not for long.

As you may remember from our series on common usability terms, I have a lot of interest in graphical user interface concepts. In addition, I applaud anyone trying to improve existing concepts, people that try to think beyond set conventions to come up with an improved version of that concept, or a new concept altogether. Thorsten Wilms took on the well-established concept of the scrollbar, and came up with a few interesting tweaks.

[Sort of FOSS related, but too cool not to share. - Scott]

LXer Feature: 11-May-2008

In this week's Roundup we have why Brazil loves Linux, a review of the top 5 tiny distros, an article on how the Eee PC is easy enough for kids and why the Eee PC is cheaper with XP on it for some reason. Also, 80 of the best Linux security applications, Should Linux standardize on a single distro, an interactive Linux kernel map and for some laughs we have the top ten reasons for a Linux laptop.

I have read a few blog entries lately questioning the value of open source. The most over-the-top comes from Andy Patrizio. In his posting, titled “Big Money and Open Source May Not Compute”, Andy sounds like a school yard bully angry that his turf is finally being challenged: "Oh yea?! Well, open source hasn’t produced a billionaire. Take that!!!"

With the release of Ubuntu Hardy Heron now behind us, most eyes are turned to October when Intrepid Ibex, or Ubuntu Linux 8.10, will make its debut. While Hardy Heron was designed to be stable enough to be a long-term support release, Intrepid Ibex promises to be packed with more exciting features, something that Ubuntu fans always enjoy.

It's a bit surreal to watch ibm come off as the plucky, self-deprecating maverick. That was the specter May 1 as CEO Sam Palmisano took the stage in Los Angeles with Google chief Eric Schmidt, both their heads squarely in the cloud.

Since I’ve been writing this blog and collecting tutorials, I’ve tried to keep a focus on security and privacy. In light of your computer rights at boarder security, the House Passing the Pro-IP act, malicious script kiddies and crackers in this world, and if it’s a business machine, also worrying about your competition, there are a lot of people in this world that want to know what you’re doing on your computer and online, legally and illegally. I’m not going to go through any actual tutorial here as most of everything I wish to explain I’ve covered, but tutorials will be linked. I just think step by step we should approach security in Linux.

Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux is something of an odd-duck in Linux distribution circles. While Oracle, the database giant, produces it, under the Oracle paint job it’s all RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux). In addition, while Oracle stands behind its distribution with support, Oracle doesn’t think of itself as being in the Linux distribution business. What does it all mean and why does Oracle have one foot in the Linux business? For the answers to these and other questions, Edward Screven, Oracle’s Chief Corporate Architect, recently spoke with Jim Zemlin, head of the Linux Foundation.

Apple may open up its iPhone and iPod touch devices to third-party apps next month, but the chances that Linux users will get invited to the party are slim at best. That hasn't stopped some intrepid hackers from coming up with a better music-syncing solution than the one Mac and Windows users have—a two-way wireless transfer, from almost any music organizing app you like, no wait for iTunes or USB cable required. Linux users, let's take a look at how to set up your iPhone or iPod touch for any-time wireless access after the jump.

Sometimes, no matter how much you try to protect your computer, you need to get down and dirty with the hardware. Sometimes it's the obvious. I never cease to be amazed at how many PC problems turn out to be loose cables or -- the shame of it all! -- an unplugged electrical cord. But, other times, it will be you vs. your PC's internal workings in a battle for system superiority.

Zaragoza, Spain-based Libelium announced an x86-based multi-protocol mesh router with a Debian GNU/Linux-based OS and a user-extensible browser-based open source management interface. The modular "Meshlium" router targets ultra-long-range Zigbee-based sensor networks, fleet tracking with least-cost GPRS/WiFi routing, and multiprotocol WiFi/Bluetooth hotspots.