Cool miscellaneous wallpapers and tips for Debian/Ubuntu.

To install some nice tiling wallpapers for Debian or Ubuntu/Mint type this command. sudo apt-get install propaganda-debiansudo apt-get install propaganda-debian This will install the lovely Propaganda wallpapers, then in KDE you will be able to use the wallpapers right away. The images are installed in /usr/share/wallpapers. Install some more themes this way. sudo apt install … Read more

Installing gcc 4.7.0 from source on Linux Mint 12.

Install gcc from source on Linux Mint 12 After downloading the source tarball for the gcc 4.7.0 release, and unpacking the tarball, enter the source directory: cd gcc-4.7.0/cd gcc-4.7.0/ Then we need to create an empty folder under the gcc-4.7.0/ folder to perform the actual build. mkdir mintbuildmkdir mintbuild Then enter this folder: cd mintbuildcd … Read more

Useful Linux tips and how to edit the /etc/sudoers file without error.

The magic SysRQ key combination is used to reset the Linux system if nothing else will work. To use this key combination, press: Alt+SysRQ then tap these keys in order: R, S, E, I, U, B. This will perform a safe re-boot of your Linux system assuming the Magic SysRQ keys are enabled in your … Read more

How to switch on panel editing mode in the Mint Cinnamon desktop.

How to switch on panel editing mode in the Linux Mint Cinnamon desktop. If you want to move the window buttons on to the bottom panel just like they are in the Gnome 2 desktop, then read on. Firstly, navigate to the panel settings dialog pictured in the screenshot and tick the panel edit mode … Read more

Creating a new user on a Linux workstation with the shell.

Creating a new user with the Linux command-line is very easy, the command-line adduser command is easier to use than the useradd command and automates a lot of the steps involved in creating a new user and their home directory. The sequence shown below is the simple task of creating a new user and shows … Read more

Linux Mint Cinnamon desktop taking over from Gnome 3 and Unity.

The annoying bugs that I was plagued with on my Ubuntu 12.04 installation seem to have gone now that I have installed the Linux Mint 12 x86_64 DVD. I have the Cinnamon desktop running and it is even better than the modified Gnome 3 desktop that the standard Linux Mint installation provides. The MATE desktop … Read more

Linux Mint MATE desktop and Linux vanilla kernel compilation.

The MATE desktop used with the Linux Mint 12 distribution works a million times better than when the packages are installed on the Ubuntu distribution. The fork of the Gnome 2 code is a perfect alternative to any other desktop. The Gnome Shell desktop that is the main interface of Linux Mint 12 works perfectly … Read more

Ubuntu 12.04 Unity desktop and many annoying errors.

The Unity desktop in Ubuntu 12.04 is annoying the heck out of me at the moment. I keep getting popups that warn of errors with the Unity desktop and the associated system tray applications. A good reason to use KDE, I seem a little inflexible in my criticism of the Unity desktop interface, but it … Read more

Linux Mint 12 KDE released onto the Internet!

The KDE 4.7.4 respin of the excellent Linux Mint 12 distribution has been released. The KDE desktop is a good alternative to the Gnome Shell cinnamon desktop included with the default Linux Mint 12 distribution. There are a few options when it comes to downloading this distribution. 32 bit ISO: http://mirror.netcologne.de/mint//stable/12/linuxmint-12-kde-dvd-32bit.iso 64 bit ISO: http://mirror.netcologne.de/mint//stable/12/linuxmint-12-kde-dvd-64bit.iso … Read more

Using Linux commands to see information about your hardware.

Using the vmstat command to see which hard disk partitions are the busiest is very easy. Use the vmstat -p /dev/sda1 command and your hard disk information will be printed showing the number of reads and writes for each partition. On my Ubuntu system, the /dev/sda1 partition is the busiest. john@deep-thought ~ $ vmstat -p … Read more

Some Ubuntu and Linux Mint tips and tricks.

Uncompressing rar files.Adding all files in current folder to a zip file.Mounting an improperly shut down Windows XP installation with Knoppix 6.4 Linux.Reading just the start or ending of a file.Some useful bash aliases. Apt errors. To deal with the message you get sometimes telling you that some packages have been kept back when you … Read more