Linux Blog

Ubuntu installer for Windows users

Wubi is an officially supported Ubuntu installer for Windows users that can bring you to the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other Windows application, in a simple and safe way. Are you curious about Linux and Ubuntu? Trying them out has never been easier!

Wubi is Simple
No need to burn a CD. Just run the installer, enter a password for the new account, and click "Install", go grab a coffee, and when you are back, Ubuntu will be ready for you.

Wubi is Safe
You keep Windows as it is, Wubi only adds an extra option to boot into Ubuntu. Wubi does not require you to modify the partitions of your PC, or to use a different bootloader, and does not install special drivers. It works just like any other application. Wubi is spyware and malware free, and being open source, anyone can verify that.

Wubi is Discrete
Wubi keeps most of the files in one folder, and if you do not like it, you can simply uninstall it as any other application.

Wubi is Free
Wubi and Ubuntu cost absolutely nothing (free as in beer), but yet provide a state of the art, fully functional, operating system that does not require any activation and does not impose any restriction on its use (free as in freedom).

Download wubi exe: here

20 Awesome Devices That Run Linux (But Weren’t Designed To)

A common attitude among people who believe in free software is to stick it to “the man.” For some people, that translates into spending a ton of free time porting Linux to devices that were never designed for it.
This is one of the things that always amazes me when I read about the latest high-tech devices that been modified to run Linux. Some of these implementations may be incomplete, and I’m not sure why someone would take a brand new device and risk bricking it…
Here’s a short list of devices that make unlikely with Linux. Enjoy!

AppleTV: http://www.mactel-linux.org/wiki/AppleTV
Browser: http://www.workspot.com/screenshots/gimp.html
Gmail: http://www.hackaday.com/2005/04/14/run-linux-on-gmail/
GameCube: http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/04/01/warp_pipe.html
Dreamcast: http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT7466555948.html
HTC Smartphones: http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Xanadux
iPod: http://ipodlinux.org/Main_Page
Mainframes: http://parisc-linux.org/
Palm PDAs: http://palmtelinux.sourceforge.net/
PS2: http://playstation2-linux.com/
Edit: MSN TV2 http://www.toc2rta.com/index.php/?q=node/2
PSP: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1906893,00.asp
Edit: JuiceBox: http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/02/run_linux_on_a_juicebox.html
Edit: Mac Classic: http://mac.linux-m68k.org/
Wii: http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Main_Page
Windows: http://wubi-installer.org/
http://goodbye-microsoft.com/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/instlux/
Wireless Routers: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Installation http://hyperwrt.org/
Xbox: http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/linux-install.php
Xbox360: http://www.free60.org/wiki/Main_Page

Last but not least, a toaster: http://pics.defcon.org/showphoto.php?photo=53&cat=512
I showed you mine, now you get to show me yours! What would you like to see running Linux?
Edit… PS3, VirtualPC and USB drives were removed.
Here’s another for you all… Your Mom Can Run Linux: http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-08-03-032-26-OP-DT

Installation and Configuration of MySQL in Ubuntu

To install MySQL, run the following command from a terminal prompt:
sudo apt-get install mysql-server

During the installation process you will be prompted to enter a password for the MySQL root user.

Once the installation is complete, restart the MySQL server: sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart
Check if MySQL is running: sudo netstat -tap | grep mysql
you should see the following line or something similar:

tcp 0 0 localhost.localdomain:mysql *:* LISTEN -

Configuration

You can edit the /etc/mysql/my.cnf file to configure the basic settings -- log file, port number, etc. For example, to configure MySQL to listen for connections from network hosts, change the bind_address directive to the server's IP address:

bind-address = 192.168.0.5

[Note] Replace 192.168.0.5 with the appropriate address.

After making a change to /etc/mysql/my.cnf the mysql daemon will need to be restarted:

sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart

Password protected GRUB in Ubuntu

Ubuntu installs GNU GRUB as its default boot loader, which allows for great flexibility and recovery options. For example, when you install additional kernel images, these are automatically added as available boot options in the grub menu. Also, by default, alternate boot options are available for each kernel entry that may be used for system recovery.

To add a password for use with grub, first you must generate an md5 password hash using the grub-md5-crypt utility: grub-md5-crypt

The command will ask you to enter a password and offer a resulting hash value as shown below:

Password: (enter new password)
Retype password: (repeat password)
$1$s3YiK$M3lxAbqA6JLm2FbDWnClQ0

Add the resulting hash value to the file /etc/grub/menu.lst in the following format:

password --md5 $1$s3YiK$M3lxAbqA6JLm2FbDWnClQ0

To require use of the password for entering single user mode, change the value of the lockalternative variable in the file /boot/grub/menu.lst to true, as shown in the following example.

# lockalternative=true

ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) setup and configuration in Ubuntu

The default firewall configuration tool for Ubuntu is ufw. Developed to ease iptables firewall configuration, ufw provides a user friendly way to create an IPv4 or IPv6 host-based firewall.

The following are some examples of how to use ufw:

First, ufw needs to be enabled. From a terminal prompt enter: sudo ufw enable
To open a port (ssh in this example): sudo ufw allow 22
Similarly, to close an opened port: sudo ufw deny 22
To remove a rule, use delete followed by the rule: sudo ufw delete deny 22
ufw can be disabled by: sudo ufw disable

It is also possible to allow access from specific hosts or networks to a port. The following example allows ssh access from host 192.168.0.2 to any ip address on this host:

sudo ufw allow proto tcp from 192.168.0.2 to any port 22