Category: Technology

A very interesting feature described here shows that it is possible to assign custom key = value attributes to the files and folders on the filesystem level. To use this feature one have to enable it from /etc/fstab during mount time and then get a package of utilities to get/set attributes.

For the past few months I\’ve been working a lot with Linux and M$ in parallels and most of the times I was migrating different things from M$ to Linux. During this months I realized why so many people are still stick to M$.

The idea is that it is true that you can replace any functionality of M$ by Linux including servers/desktops/terminals and whatever but the problem is that it is still a bit hard to set up a replacement since there is a lack of GUI (kind of easy usable configuration tools) and all the software comes from different vendors what makes it a bit hard setting it to work together.

For instance, let\’s take the combination of Active Directory + Domain + M$ Exchange: it provides a directory server with all those easy administration, data replication and whatever else, plus the whole collaboration package from M$ Exchange. It is known that Active Directory can be replaced with OpenLDAP, Domain can be [almost fully] handled by Samba and M$ Exchange can be replaced by putting together MTA, IMAP, POP and whatever else required. All of the applications can work with OpenLDAP to have a centralized username/passwords and other stuff and it seems that the whole combination is replaced, but not. Have you ever tried butting all of these together? If yes – how long did it take you and finally – how easy is it to administrate? I mean if there is a common place [ok – two] where you can go to do any tasks related to the package above?

I know, there is a major plus in Linux way – a matter of choice. You can choose an MTA you like (Sendmail, Exim, Postfix, Courier, whatever) as well as any IMAP, POP, and even LDAP server can vary from OpenLDAP to Netscap Directory Server or new RedHat/Fedora Directory Server of similar SuSE product. This is what you will never get with M$. But on the other hand it still kinda difficult to set it up and even more difficult to watch it afterwards.

Of course there were some attempts to create some kind of centralized panels for administration [like Webmin or even linuxconf tool] but they all suck at some points. The major problem with them [from my point of view] is that they are modular and different modules are contributed by different people and most of the time there is a problem with compatibility.

The whole post above is not to tell that M$ is better that Linux [although in some cases it might be] but to try and figure out what is missing in Linux to make it easier for people to get used to it.

As an example to confirm the above I would describe the next situation: a while ago a was setting up a simple Linux firewall with a bunch of network services that I usually add to these kind of boxes like [iptables, squid, dhcp, caching DNS and some others] and a guy, who asked me to make this installation was very upset since he can not control this box in a comfortable way (lets say using web interface to have a centralized administration) and the only way for him to change something in the settings was to either call me to SSH to the box and re-configure it or use a bunch of small tools that left him each for changing different settings.

I have an account with Gmail (to use this email when I don\’t want to mess with my personal mail) and I use Firefox notifier to see if there are any new messages. Today my notifier stopped working giving me a Login Failure error while I am still able to login to my Gmail by going there directly :(

Strange :( I don\’t like when things stop working with no reason.

Many times I face the same discussion in forums, lists and in all other places about linux distributions and in particular, the question \”Which linux [distribution] is better?\”.

I\’ve been using linux for something like 3 years now and I have tried few different distros and still I am using Fedora one. There are many criterias which can influence the choice of preferred distro, among them one may find: choice of packages included in the distro, freshness of these packages, ease of installation, ease of updating, ease of administration, amount of configuration to be done after installation, beauty of GUI and anything else.

If you ask me what makes me use Fedora distro, I would answer that first of all it is a use. I am used to it and it seems that I know all major points about it. Second is the ease of installation and update of the system. Finally – look and feel.

Of course there a few things that I don\’t think much comfortable with like the choice of packages coming with distro, but this can be easily fixed due to the ease of update. I mean – every time I install Fedora I need to get APT installed and few things like mplayer, amarok, licq and some other, but overall there are not too many packages that I need to get and there is an easy way of doing it.

The major plus in Fedora is that it is RPM based (that means that the system can be maintained with almost no \”./configure && make && make install\”, it is easy to track dependences, it is easy add/update/delete software and it is widely supported.

So to kinda sum this up, if you doubt on which distro you should choose – first decide on what are the most critical criterias for you, then consider your habits (it is a bit difficult to switch from distro to distro if have used one for a while since on one hand everything is similar, but on the other hand there some small differences that can really drive you crazy all the time) and finally take a look around and see what other people a using for some time.

P.S.: and stop asking just plain question \”Which distro is better/the best?\” since it is too general. If you doubt and you still want to ask something like this – be more specific, giving a list of things you expect from the distro.

Today night I tried to install FC4 on my home PC and failed. Right after the boot prompt of the installation CD (after I press Enter to continue) I get kernel panic and a lot of crap on the screen.

After browsing the fedora buglist I found that many people have same problem (especially on Intel mainboards – the one I have). Guys even posted a screenshot here and here.

From the list of possible solutions:

• check your RAM first! (my works fine)
• try booting with \’pci=nosort text\’ options
• install bootloaded using older versions and then try to boot kernel from cd using bootloader installed on harddisk
• the most funny, but works in many cases: try to write some crap at the installation boot prompt when it first appears and after getting an error that such image is missing – press enter to boot default image.

I haven\’t tried any of the above, but I will definitely do when I get to my PC.

more info on this problem can be found here, here and here