Linux

It is a fact of Internet life that to experience all the multimedia riches offered by many websites you must have Flash Player and Real Player installed on your computer. This is perfectly fine for anyone who wants to install Real Player but not so good for 64-bit Linux users who want to install 64-bit Flash.

Despite the increasing number of users of 64-bit Linux, Adobe still have not released a non-beta version of the Flash library so we 64-bit Linux users are forced to manually download and install the library into whichever folder it is supposed to go. Not particularly difficult you might think except for the fact that the download does not come with instructions. Likewise, Real Player for Linux does not come with installation instructions and so this little guide to installing Flash and Real Player came into existence.

A Couple of neat tricks I learned while trying to establish a wi-fi Internet connection through the command line are the command line instructions for discovering a computer’s hardware and the device drivers that make them work. Those commands are:

lshw
lspci
lsusb

and

lsdev

The first three of those commands are available on most, if not all, Linux environments. lsdev must be installed using sudo apt-get install procinfo .

You should run them as the root user either by adding sudo before the command else by typing sudo su (followed by pressing the return) key as your first instruction. If you use sudo su then remember to type exit after you’ve finished issuing commands.

A few of days ago I updated my Linux distro with the usual sudo apt-get dist-upgrade. I’ve been on a fucking steep learning curve ever since. I’m glad I ran the update but I wish it hadn’t buggered up my operating system by removing my desktop environment.

Trust me, it’s only after you’ve had to use a computer without a graphical desktop that has a nice graphical file manager and a nice graphical web browser that you appreciate how much you depend on them and the developers who build them.

Don’t get me wrong, I know how to navigate the command line to find, backup and edit files but it’s so much easier to command a computer with a mouse than to issue textual instructions.

I can hear you forming the question: “Why didn’t you just re-run the update or re-install the removed components?”

Believe me, if only it had been so easy… Something I learned through all of this: Linux, Command Line and Wi-Fi Adapters do not mix.

For two days, the only Internet access I’ve had through this computer is via my trustee Kubuntu Live Disk.

Getting Linux to use a Wi-Fi adapter without a graphical desktop is damn near impossible. I spent plenty of time surfing the Net, checking manual pages and posting in the Kubuntu forum. I’ve learned a few tricks, I’ve learned new things about Linux, I have something new to write about; and I’m happy about that; but none of this new knowledge helped.

If like me, you have to manipulate huge text files containing thousands of lines of data and you hate trawling through them manually, slowly, one-by-one, line-by-line then boy do I have a few tricks to teach you.

These tricks of mass manipulation of text files will turn your week long, heart-wrenching job into a 5 minute heart-lifting pleasure bordering on the orgasmic [just trying to liven things-up].

I used to export and paste my text files into an Open Office spreadsheet then sort them before cutting and pasting. Doing so used to cut in half the time taken to edit my text files. I even pseudo-shuffled lines of data by typing letters of the alphabet beside each data line then sorting them into groups of like letters (e.g alla’s together, all b’s together…). They were the Dark Years (o.k Weeks ;-) but I’m allowed ) to tell my tale my way; and if I want to make people feel sorry for us lonely, depressed webmasters then I will. I’m glad those days are over.

I like to get things done as quickly as possible. I don’t like to dawdle. A trait that has put me out of really good jobs and embarrassed others at the same time: I’ve built spreadsheets and devised processes that convert week-long jobs into 2 hour, Monday morning tasks; who needs an extra employee once he’s killed his job position :-? But that didn’t bother me. Progress and evolution, onwards and upwards; they are mymottos.

I’ve been using Linux for several years. My distro of choice is Kubuntu, the KDE environment version of Ubuntu. My relationship with Linux has had many good times and all the fun of the occasional arguments that beset all happy couples.  Yes, I’m a geek and love all things IT and technical; and as a … Read more