Tag: linux

📅 June 18, 2020

Man Page Alternatives

A few man page alternatives to help you be more productive

Man page. Short for manual page. It’s a form of software documentation usually found on a Unix or Unix-like operating system ( like Linux and macOS ). So when you’re using the terminal and you’re not sure how a command or a program works, you can always RTFM.

The problem with man pages is that, some pages, are massivly long and sometimes depending on the command or program it’s hard to find the information you need.

Here’s a few manpage alternatives that are abbreviated and straight to the point to help you be more productive.

Continue reading “Man Page Alternatives”

📅 June 15, 2020

HOW TO: Install macOS Catalina in a Docker Container on Linux

Run macOS Catalina in a Docker Container on your Linux machine.

We already have a tutorial on how to install macOS Catalina on Linux. A simple tutorial on how set up a macOS VM in QEMU, accelerated by KVM. This is basically the same tutorial but everything runs, near native with X11 forwarding, in Docker.

Continue reading “HOW TO: Install macOS Catalina in a Docker Container on Linux”

📅 June 5, 2020

SpaceX Sent NASA Astronatus Into Orbit Powered by Linux

Powered by Linux, SpaceX successfully delivered NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley into orbit

Even if you’re a macOS/iOS user or a Windows user, you are using Linux every single day. And you, probably, don’t even know it. How the hell is that even possible? Let me break it down for you. If you… :

  1. Use ANY Android based device, including eReaders
  2. Use a virtual assistant like Alexa
  3. Use TiVo, Roku or a SmartTV
  4. If you’re gaming using SteamOS
  5. Use social media websites/apps and basically the entire internet ( almost )
  6. Use retail and go through the points of sale
  7. Took a flight? The Federal Aviation Administration operates on Linux. So does the New York Stock Exchange, the Pentagon, Library of Congress, House of Representatives, Senate and the White House.
  8. Used the in-flight entertainment
  9. Use smart devices and have a smart home
  10. Use the infotaiment in your car
  11. Have a router
  12. Use iCloud

… then you are using Linux.

On May 30, history was made when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon successfully delivered NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley into orbit. What is less known about the event is that the launch was powered by Linux.

The Falcon 9’s onboard operating system is a stripped-down Linux running on three ordinary dual-core x86 processors. The flight software itself runs separately on each processor and is written in C/C++.

The Dragon spacecraft also runs Linux with flight software written in C++. The ship’s touchscreen interface is rendered using Chromium and JavaScript. If something were to go wrong with the interface, the astronauts have physical buttons to control the spacecraft.

However, SpaceX isn’t the first to bring the power of the open source kernel and software into the orbit. In 2013, the International Space Station reportedly switched from Windows to Linux. Not to mentions that NASA runs on Linux and even the Astrobee robots, that were deployed to the ISS not too long ago, run on Linux.

Read more about it here. Also read We are the SpaceX software team, ask us anything!

📅 May 27, 2020

HOW TO: Easily Install Arch Linux Using EZarch Install Script

Probably the easiest way to install Arch Linux on your computer.

Arch is a fantastic Linux distro. From being a rolling release to its stability, to the Pacman package manager and AUR. Not to mention the Arch Wiki. However, the lack of a default GUI installer drives users away to other Arch-based distros like Manjaro and ArcoLinux.

But if you want to run pure Arch, you can either follow the installation guide or use an installer like Anarchy, Zen or ezarch. Let’s take a quick look at ezarch installation script….

Continue reading “HOW TO: Easily Install Arch Linux Using EZarch Install Script”

📅 May 4, 2020

HOW TO: Fix Netflix and Other Videos Not Playing in Firefox on a Fresh Install of Pop!_OS 20.04

 

Other than Arch-based distros, my favorite distro is Pop!_OS from System76. So, I’ve decided to install it on old laptop that was just laying around gathering dust. Superb release.

However, after spending a few minutes to customize it, I’ve noticed that even though YouTube videos play just fine in Firefox, other video streaming sites like Netflix or vimeo and even gifv embeds on Reddit return errors.

Luckily, there’s an easy fix….

Continue reading “HOW TO: Fix Netflix and Other Videos Not Playing in Firefox on a Fresh Install of Pop!_OS 20.04”

📅 April 30, 2020

Bashtop: An Htop Alternative Written in Bash

An Htop Alternative Written in Bash

Here’s a quick post about a cool Linux program ( macOS support coming soon ) called bashtop. It’s a resource monitor that shows usage and stats for processor, memory, disks, network and processes, an alternative to Htop, that’s writte in bash.

The great thing about bashtop being written in bash is that it comes with no real dependencies for running the program and it’s very easy to install. If you’re on Arch and derivates you can install it from the community repo or AUR. If you’re on Debian/Ubuntu and derivates there’s a .deb you can use. Or you can clone repository and just install it that way.

Features:.

  • Fast and responsive UI with UP, DOWN keys process selection.
  • Function for showing detailed stats for selected process.
  • Ability to filter processes.
  • Easy switching between sorting options.
  • Send SIGTERM, SIGKILL, SIGINT to selected process.
  • UI menu for changing all config file options.
  • Auto scaling graph for network usage.
  • Shows message in menu if new version is available
  • Themes

For more info check out the project page on Github.

📅 April 16, 2020

Search and Preview Fonts Using The Terminal

a commandline tool that lets you quickly search for fonts that are installed on your machine and preview them

fontpreview is a commandline tool that lets you quickly search for fonts that are installed on your machine and preview them. The fuzzy search feature is provided by fzf and the preview is generated with imagemagick and then displayed using sxiv.

This tool is highly customizable, almost all of the variables in this tool can be changed using the commandline flags or you can configure them using environment variables.

Arch and Arch based distro users can install fontpreview from AUR. But it’s easy to install it on other distros too. Check out fontpreview on Github to learn how to install and configure it.

📅 March 31, 2020

The Easiest Way to Remove EXIF Metadata

the easiest way to remove metadata from files you upload online

 

When you upload a file online, you might upload more than what you’re willing to share with the world. This is valid for all types of file, being it a photo, a video or audio file, PDF etc.

The two most common file types shared online today are photos and videos. And both file types have one thing in common that can give away a lot more information than you might think. That’s metadata.

Besides what’s visible in the photo itself, metadata can reveal when and where the photo was taken, the device that was used to take the photo and other unique characteristics that can fingerprint you across the web. By not removing metadata, a hacker or OSINT researcher can easily find out where you live, where you work, your preferences and habits etc, just by extracting the Exif data hidden inside the photos you post online.

We previously covered why and how to remove metadata from a file before uploading it online, using an amazing tool called ExifTool.

If you find ExifTool too complicated to use or if it’s an overkill for your needs, here’s another free, open source and cross-platform GUI tool that’s built on top of ExifTool library: ExifCleaner.

ExifCleaner works with all file formats supported by ExifTool and allows you to process tens, hundreds, or even thousands of files at once by dragging and dropping those files onto the app window.

Also, the program automatically detects your operating system’s dark mode setting to reduce eye strain. It will change back to day mode when your computer does.

You can get ExifCleaner on Linux, macOS and Windows or build it from the source code. Linux users can download ExifCleaner as an .AppImage or .deb file.

Download ExifCleaner

📅 January 21, 2020

Stacer: an Open Source System Optimizer and Application Monitor for Linux

an open source system optimizer and application monitor for Linux.

Stacer is an open source system optimizer and application monitor for Linux. It’s an all-in-one program that will allow you to enable/disable startup applications, provides a system cleaner similar to BleachBit, a system search, enable/disable system services that are running on boot and/or running right now, a process manager, package uninstaller and a heads up display of your resources.

Can you already perform/check everything that Stacer offers out of the box either from the command-line or the built-in graphical tools? Of course you can. Stacer is just a nice all-in-one solution.

Stacer is available for Debian, Fedora, Arch/Manjaro users can find it in AUR, as a PPA or you can build it from source. For more info check out the official project page on github.