yeah, i promised to start a documentation on linux. wait , i won't limit this to linux only but i will also entend it to windoze. i'd been a windoze user starting with win98se, winme, winxp. i don't use win2000 much. Why i'm i saying this? when i worked with this versions i love toying with the registry this had given my a better way to handle the os. Now all this thirdparty softwares that tweaks urs windows reg all in the name of making it faster only cause you problems. They sit between your mouse clicks and the registry, which i never like and sometimes corrupt your registry . so i like to manually do my tweaking and customization and before you know it your windows is up running fast and stable(not possible). i won't forget to give my antivirus and other good software recommendation to work with ur windoze.

i want to write on linux for the newbie not because i'm claiming to be an oldbie in linux(have to learn everyday too) but to share my experience with linux, what lead me to it, what i did that work, how i did it and many other interesting discussions. i will also welcome peoples interesting contributions alongside with me, peoples correction and advices.sorry had to go for lunch now.brb

Well well what can I say; just about everyone here seems to be into Linux.

Unfortunatley I have never had a Linux system, and the way things are going will probably never have one. I did have a firewall / proxy once running Smoothwall, and then IPCOp a few years ago, this was before I bought my ADSL wireless router. Being in the IT trade now for over 10 years now it wasnt very difficult to get it up and running, however I think it would still pose a few problems for your average bloke.

In my view I would have put my hand up to Windows, cos it keeps me in the employed (due to it unpredictable nature) . Having said that I find Linux to "Geeky" and not universal to many flavours!!!. I probably would have been more intrested in the past, when I was quite technical, but the simple truth is that my customers want their IT "short and simple". To many, Windows is a very straight foreward and internationally universal OS, on which they can run their familar applications - beit at home, work, school, or friends PC.

I guess in Linux's defence it can be very stable, and I also believe that in some industries an OS like that is essential - so when it comes to web servers or firewalls I can understand. These are specialist PC serving specific functions which can also be considered as back office functions.

But when we talk about OS for desktops and Laptops it makes no sense to me to use an OS other windows. I can understand that everyones preference is different and some have the skill set to manipluate Linux to work in the favour. However your average user is not so literate and propbably does not have the time to find out how to run his favorite Windows App on a Linux OS system.

In my opinon Linux is for those who have an issue with Microsoft's monoply and software licencing policies. Linux users tend to be those that are very IT literate and have time to investigate the web and make things work. With Microsoft this has already been done for you, so all us have to do is use the system.

Cheers

i always say somethng and will continue saying it, " why are people lazy"? I can't argue the fact dat windoze get u employed which is fine. iwon't mind working for microsoft too, if they pay... but let not leave out the truth. We are not talking abut the present linux, it's the future linux. Kde 3.4.1 is a popular linux-window-manager. it was released like some months back, now 3.4.2 is out this wk or so. 3.5 is scheduled to come out soon. Just wait, and give linux time. like mac os too, they suffer some losses abut some years back when windows xp took over the market, now many window users are shifting to mac os cos of their innovation, ipod, and stable os. Some of the new features promised in the future window is know to have existed in mac os. so what are we saying. mac is even know to have taken some features for linux.
readup some news and see what's on with windows longhorn and vista. Windows is fine, but they have alot of work to do. so it's better they do it fast or else.
IBM started DOS be4 windows brought out MS-DOS. Now IBM is shifting to Linux to handle their mainframe computers.

i'm due for a drink, later.

Windows executables don't run on Linux and vice versa.

@shockreaction i think you are wrong there. You can run Linux codes in Windows by using cygwin and you can use Wine to run Windows codes in Linux.

Windows executables don't run on Linux and vice versa.

@shockreaction i think you are wrong there. You can run Linux codes in Windows by using cygwin and you can use Wine to run Windows codes in Linux.

Niggy:

i always say somethng and will continue saying it, " why are people lazy"? I can't argue the fact that windoze get you employed which is fine. iwon't mind working for microsoft too, if they pay... but let not leave out the truth. We are not talking abut the present linux, it's the future linux. Kde 3.4.1 is a popular linux-window-manager. it was released like some months back, now 3.4.2 is out this wk or so. 3.5 is scheduled to come out soon. Just wait, and give linux time. like mac os too, they suffer some losses abut some years back when windows xp took over the market, now many window users are shifting to mac os because of their innovation, ipod, and stable os. Some of the new features promised in the future window is know to have existed in mac os. so what are we saying. mac is even know to have taken some features for linux.
readup some news and see what's on with windows longhorn and vista. Windows is fine, but they have alot of work to do. so it's better they do it fast or else.
IBM started DOS be4 windows brought out MS-DOS. Now IBM is shifting to Linux to handle their mainframe computers.

Enuf said!

Mid-day News:

Announcing KDE 3.4.2

July 28, 2005 (The INTERNET). The KDE Project today announced the immediate
availability of KDE 3.4.2, a maintenance release for the latest generation
of the most advanced and powerful free desktop for GNU/Linux and other
UNIXes. KDE 3.4.2 ships with a basic desktop and fifteen other packages
(PIM, administration, network, edutainment, utilities, multimedia, games,
artwork, web development and more). KDE's award-winning tools and
applications are available in 51 languages including a new Afrikaans
language pack.

KDE, including all its libraries and its applications, is available
for free under Open Source licenses. KDE can be obtained in source
and numerous binary formats from http://download.kde.org and can also be
obtained on CD-ROM or with any of the major GNU/Linux - UNIX systems
shipping today.

source: http://www.licklinux.com/x/

This is a good documentation on networking for linux-newbies

http://www.linuxvirgins.com/networking.html

http://www.linuxvirgins.com/faq.html

http://www.linuxvirgins.com/index.html

i have fedora core 4 too, on desktop, upgraded via yum from 3. I rarelly use the OS though.

I am minus my desktop at the moment, and I am working on a site that will need a lot of flash animation. Can anyone recommend a program that will create flash animations within a linux environment?

maya works in linux, but i guess you will need WINE or CODEWEAVER.
ain't into animation so can't help you much.Sorry...

@chxta, follow this link: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5235

might find sth interesting.
i'm googling for you...so give me awhile

blender is a good 3d animation software for linux and windows.
you can download the linux version @ http://www.blender.org/cms/Blender.31.0.html
i'm currently downloading the linux and windows version. Mac is also supported
enjoy!

but don't forget to hit the thanks botton below!

There is an amazing replacement for the default kmenu launch in linux.It's KBFX. You can download the rpm or source package at www.kde-look.org or google for it.(www.google.com/linux)
Just remove the default kmenu launch and enable the kbfx service. That's all. You can also drag and drop klaunch png pictures to make a change.
Below is my resent fedora core 4 desktop with kbfx launch menu.

may fedora be with you.

Do you know that the Animations in TITANIC by James Cameron were done using Linux?
Now you know.

Have you tried XFCE. It's a desktop manager like KDE and GNOME. It's Amazing!

Dell and IBM on Monday both introduced new server products with features and software packaged to appeal to the Linux market and due to make their debut at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

more news@ www.eweek.com

I thank God Dell is finally publicly shifting base from MS. Sometimes ago M. Dell pump in some huge chunk of money into Redhat, i think this is a sign of better things to come.

Also watch out for kernel 2.6.13 scheduled for some weeks to come, and kde 4.0(don't know when yet).

Dunno about KDE 4.0 KDE 3.5 alpha was just released to FTP servers.

Screenshots here: http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=407&slide=3

DL Klax Live CD with KDE 3.5 here:http://ktown.kde.org/~binner/klax/devel.html

Gnome 2,12 Beta 2 is out

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2005-August/msg00044.html

hey guys new to this forum.

got interested in this computers room it is hot here am really impressed.

ok guys am a windows man but seems like the earth is rotating towards linux tis time.

guys how can i get started with linux using it as an OS and programming on it.?

@johnbosco,
hi, hmmm since some early post have explained many things i won't like to repeat them. i will like you to start with a live cd. With this you can run linux without installing it on your system or crashing your harddisk as a newbie. If you have a good internet link download any of the following live cds:
Simply mepis
kanotix
pclinuxos
The first two are debian base (.deb) while the last pclinuxos is redhat base(.rpm but customized)

i work with fedora core 4 which is redhat base so i can easily solve your problem in case you choose to come along with fedora.
My story is i was able to learn linux fast when i started with a distro that my friends are using already. i could easily reach for help.
But also any linux distro has online forums where you can post ur question and other people solve them. You can also read solutions to your problem which had alread been posted by other users and solved too.

i like learning fast, so i were you i'll like to start with the real distro and pick up at a fast learning rate instead tarrying with some live cds. Live cds is just for babes. You can reach me here for fast solutions or my messenger, i'm always online.

The choice is yours man.

This is an output from my iptables -L, anyone might fine it useful so i decided to post it

# Generated by iptables-save v1.2.7a on Fri Aug 19 08:58:25 2005
*mangle
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [314106:171882525]
:INPUT ACCEPT [164308:117257000]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [145871:54100795]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [194868:119042996]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [335125:172881864]
COMMIT
# Completed on Fri Aug 19 08:58:25 2005
# Generated by iptables-save v1.2.7a on Fri Aug 19 08:58:25 2005
*nat
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [20402:1498730]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [355:21264]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [5457:296634]
-A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE
COMMIT
# Completed on Fri Aug 19 08:58:25 2005
# Generated by iptables-save v1.2.7a on Fri Aug 19 08:58:25 2005
*filter
:INPUT DROP [0:0]
:FORWARD DROP [0:0]
:OUTPUT DROP [0:0]
:accept-log - [0:0]
:drop-lan - [0:0]
:drop-log - [0:0]
:drop-reserved - [0:0]
-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i ! eth0 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -s 0.0.0.0/254.0.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -s 2.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -s 96.0.0.0/224.0.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -s 169.254.0.0/255.255.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -s 223.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -s 224.0.0.0/240.0.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -s 240.0.0.0/240.0.0.0 -i eth0 -j drop-reserved
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 0 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 3 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 11 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p udp -m udp --sport 67 --dport 68 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --sport 67 --dport 68 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 1875 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p udp -m udp --dport 1024:65535 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 172.21.10.122 -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 1024:65535 -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth0 -j DROP
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 111 -j drop-lan
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -p udp -m udp --dport 111 -j drop-lan
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 137:139 -j drop-lan
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -p udp -m udp --dport 137:139 -j drop-lan
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 635 -j drop-lan
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -p udp -m udp --dport 635 -j drop-lan
-A FORWARD -i ! eth0 -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -j DROP
-A OUTPUT -o lo -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -o ! eth0 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -s 172.21.10.122 -o eth0 -p icmp -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -s 172.21.10.122 -o eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --sport 68 --dport 67 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -s 172.21.10.122 -o eth0 -p udp -m udp --sport 68 --dport 67 -j ACCEPT

as you can see i enable my squid proxy to do web cache. The default port is 3128. Down to the access list(acl) i defined some sites(some porn site which i want my squid to block) and my network niggy
then i denied or enable then at the http access session. note; never enable the http_deny_all option else your network will never browse the internet!
i made that mistake once. Then what else, yeah your network must be defined (acl src). change my niggy to your network name.
i gotta go for lunch now.

Niggy:

@johnbosco,
hi, hmmm since some early post have explained many things i won't like to repeat them. i will like you to start with a live CD. With this you can run linux without installing it on your system or crashing your harddisk as a newbie. If you have a good internet link download any of the following live cds:
Simply mepis
kanotix
pclinuxos
The first two are debian base (.deb) while the last pclinuxos is redhat base(.rpm but customized)

i work with fedora core 4 which is redhat base so i can easily solve your problem in case you choose to come along with fedora.
My story is i was able to learn linux fast when i started with a distro that my friends are using already. i could easily reach for help.
But also any linux distro has online forums where you can post your question and other people solve them. You can also read solutions to your problem which had alread been posted by other users and solved too.

i like learning fast, so i were you i'll like to start with the real distro and pick up at a fast learning rate instead tarrying with some live cds. Live cds is just for babes. You can reach me here for fast solutions or my messenger, i'm always online.

The choice is yours man.

I don't agree with you on this. Live Cds are useful depending on your particular situation. I for one am not a geeky person and don't like meddling around with the command line. All I want is a system up and running in less than 30 minutes. Simply Mepis, ProMepis, Knoppix, Kanotix all do this. And they give me an extra advantage in allowing me to test my hardware works.

Let me give you an example. Remember when you had to check out if Fedora had ndiswrapper for me? Imagine I had dled 4 or is it 5 CDs and only to find out that I can't use my wireless card. Fine I could use an ethernet card, but the location of my router is such that I don't find it convenient using hard wired connections. As far as am concerned, if the distro cannot have ndiswrapper embedded, am not going to bother using it.

For a user, the best way forward is a live Cd which you can in anycase hard disk install and probably dual boot with windoze

BTW, Niggy have any experience with Suse? I have downloaded the boot.iso and am going to use it to do an FTP install. I did a test run just now and it seems simple enough. Will probably do it at night when there will be little traffic around my router and I can leave my laptop without any body stepping on it.

here is my own squid.conf:

shutdown_lifetime 5 seconds
icp_port 0

http_port 192.168.0.1:800

acl QUERY urlpath_regex cgi-bin \?
no_cache deny QUERY

cache_effective_user squid
cache_effective_group squid

pid_filename /var/run/squid.pid

cache_access_log /dev/null
cache_log /dev/null
cache_store_log none

cache_mgr cyberwayi@gmail.com

log_mime_hdrs off
forwarded_for off

acl all src 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0
acl localhost src 127.0.0.1/255.255.255.255
acl localnet src 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0
acl SSL_ports port 443 563
acl Safe_ports port 80 # http
acl Safe_ports port 21 # ftp
acl Safe_ports port 443 563 # https, snews
acl Safe_ports port 70 # gopher
acl Safe_ports port 210 # wais
acl Safe_ports port 1025-65535 # unregistered ports
acl Safe_ports port 280 # http-mgmt
acl Safe_ports port 488 # gss-http
acl Safe_ports port 591 # filemaker
acl Safe_ports port 777 # multiling http
acl Safe_ports port 800 # Squids port (for icons)

acl IPCop_http port 81
acl IPCop_https port 445
acl IPCop_ip dst 192.168.0.1
acl IPCop_blue_ip dst 127.0.0.1
acl CONNECT method CONNECT

acl bad url_regex -i "/etc/squid/bad"

acl badfiles urlpath_regex -i \.exe
acl badfiles urlpath_regex -i \.lq
acl badfiles urlpath_regex -i \.cab
acl badfiles urlpath_regex -i \.zip
acl badfiles urlpath_regex -i \.ico


http_access deny bad
http_access deny badfiles
http_access allow localhost
http_access allow IPCop_ip IPCop_blue_ip localnet IPCop_http
http_access allow CONNECT IPCop_ip IPCop_blue_ip localnet IPCop_https
http_access deny !Safe_ports
http_access deny CONNECT !SSL_ports
http_access allow localnet
http_access deny all

maximum_object_size 10000 KB
minimum_object_size 0 KB


cache_mem 6264 KB
cache_dir aufs /var/log/cache 2000 16 256

request_body_max_size 0 KB
reply_body_max_size 0 allow all

visible_hostname nova.cyberway

httpd_accel_host virtual
httpd_accel_port 80
httpd_accel_with_proxy on
httpd_accel_uses_host_header on

















@johnbosco, don't worry about these conf files. you will only need to touch what u need.


@niggy, i will really like to learn iptables, how can u help me.

jof, let take the squid.conf step by step

start squid by doin /etc/init.d/squid start or squid -z

do u get any error?

if u study my script, the major thing to be done is

1. http_port 3128 (can use and port)
2. icp_port 3130
3. hierarchy_stoplist cgi-bin ?
4. acl QUERY urlpath_regex cgi-bin \?
5. no_cache deny QUERY
6. cache_mem 20 MB
7. cache_swap_low 90
8. cache_swap_high 95
9. maximum_object_size 4096 KB
10. maximum_object_size_in_memory 80 KB
11. ipcache_size 1024
12. ipcache_low 90
13. ipcache_high 95
14. cache_dir ufs /var/spool/squid 4000 16 256
15. cache_access_log /var/log/squid/access.log
16. cache_log /var/log/squid/cache.log
17. cache_store_log /var/log/squid/store.log
18. pid_filename /var/run/squid.pid
19. cache_dir ufs /var/spool/squid 4000 16 256
20. cache_access_log /var/log/squid/access.log
21. cache_log /var/log/squid/cache.log
22. cache_store_log /var/log/squid/store.log
23. pid_filename /var/run/squid.pid
.....................
You can check the list for other options pls, a very important part is the acl and http_access. you must define your network name and network address in the acl and allow the network at http_access.

Then from ur client machines,u configure their browers to use proxy (address of ur squid) and port 3128. that's all

and for ur script let me study it now

@ Niggy, I installed XFCE. Man, that rubbish's da bomb!

Meantime I found a flash software here for Linux. Still in the experimental stage though. Unfortunately it won't install in my Ubuntu. I have tried every trick I know, but it keeps asking me to update my libc6.

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of f4l:
f4l depends on libc6 (>= 2.3.2.ds1-21); however:
Version of libc6 on system is 2.3.2.ds1-20ubuntu13.
f4l depends on libgcc1 (>= 1:4.0.0-9); however:
Version of libgcc1 on system is 1:4.0-0pre6ubuntu7.
f4l depends on libqt3c102-mt (>= 3:3.3.4); however:
Package libqt3c102-mt is not installed.
f4l depends on libqt3c102-mt (>= 3:3.3.4-3); however:
Package libqt3c102-mt is not installed.
f4l depends on libfontconfig1 (>= 2.3.0); however:
Version of libfontconfig1 on system is 2.2.3-4ubuntu7.
f4l depends on libxrender1 (>= 1:0.9.0-2); however:
Version of libxrender1 on system is 0.9.0-0ubuntu4.
f4l depends on libexpat1 (>= 1.95.8-3); however:
Version of libexpat1 on system is 1.95.8-1.
dpkg: error processing f4l (--install):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
f4l

I tried using apt-get to update when Ubuntu's in-built update manager failed to do the trick, but it was same old same old...

My new desktop...

[img]http://www.juventuz.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=785536[/img]

@niggy my squid and iptables are doing great, but i want to know the innre workings of iptables. am good with squid.