sandip's blog

Two reasons why you should get IEs4Linux:

1. You are a web-designer using Linux and want to test your sites using Internet Explorer as your visitors are predominantly IE users.
   
2. You need the latest and greatest flash player with your browser to view sites like ESPN, MetaCafe etc... The latest version of Flash is 9 which is only available to Windows and Macs whereas on the Linux side we have been left behind with 7.

Below is how I got it up and running on Fedora Core 5:

• Install cabextract and wine if you don't have it already:
  

  # yum --enablerepo=extras install cabextract wine
  

• Download and install IEs4Linux:

  $ wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-2.0.1.tar.gz
  $ tar -xvzf ies4linux-2.0.1.tar.gz
  $ cd ies4linux-2.0.1
  $ ./ies4linux
  

• Internet Explorer can now be run via the shortcut icon created on the desktop.

I have built Microsofts' common true type core fonts for the web and can be downloaded from here.

Below are the steps I took to build the rpm package on FC5:

1. Install cabextract.
   

   # yum --enablerepo=extras install cabextract
   

2. Setup your rpm build environment if you have not done so already.
3. Login as rpmbuild.
   

   # su - rpmbuild
   

4. Dowload the spec file.

   $ cd rpm/SPECS
   $ wget http://corefonts.sourceforge.net/msttcorefonts-2.0-1.spec
   

5. Build the rpm.

   $ rpmbuild --bb msttcorefonts-2.0-1.spec
   

6. Install the corefonts and restart xfs as root.

   # rpm -ihv /path/to/msttcorefonts-2.0-1.noarch.rpm
   # service xfs restart
   

If you are looking for more info visit, corefonts.sourceforge.net .

Linus Torvalds explains how the word should be pronounced.

I was only using a part of my external usb hard drive to keep backups and needed to extend the partition to accomodate the ever-growing backup files.

There are quite some ways to do this which can be referenced at FedoraNews.org and TLDP.org .

Below is a quick command line reference if you are familiar with the process already.

1. I added an additional 10GB of space:
   

   # lvextend -L+10G /dev/vg00/lvol0
   

2. Unmount the drive:

   # umount /mnt/usbdisk
   

3. Check the logical volume:

   # e2fsck -f /dev/vg00/lvol0
   

4. Increase the file system size to match.

   # resize2fs -pf /dev/vg00/lvol0
   

5. Remount:

   # mount /mnt/usbdisk
   

This is a rather long (approx 1 hour) but very informative video lecture by Richard Stallman at the Australian National University in Canberra, October 2004 -- on the free software movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System.

Topics covered include free software development, privacy, copyright, the history of GNU, Linux, and the GNU/Linux operating system.

Recently, I've been involved in developing the website for ext2read. It is a windows explorer like application from where you can read ext2/ext3 partitions. Simply download the exe and run it. It will automatically scan your file system for any ext2/ext3 partitions and list it.

I have an unused partition and want to install Ubuntu Dapper on it. On reading through the docs it seems possible to install it from an existing linux/unix box.

1. My current partition looks like below, of which "/dev/hda2" primary partition is unused:
   

   /dev/hda1               1        1044     8385898+   7  HPFS/NTFS
   /dev/hda2            1045        4699    29358787+  83  Linux LVM
   /dev/hda3            4700        4712      104422+  83  Linux
   /dev/hda4            4713        7296    20755980    5  Extended
   /dev/hda5            4713        7296    20755948+  8e  Linux LVM
   

If you are using Widows only to back-up your DVD videos... there is good news. You can install DVD Shrink on Linux using wine and do the same.

I have outlined the steps taken to do so on FC5:

1. Use yum to install wine if you don't have it installed already:
   

   # yum --enablerepo=extras install wine
   

2. Configure wine as a user:

   $ winecfg
   

   Select "Applications -> Windows Version -> Windows XP"

   This is the tricky part, as FC5 mounts the DVD automatically with the title of the DVD instead of using the same mount point, so you will need to map the drive manually each time for a different DVD.

   • Insert DVD Video.
     
   • Go to the Drives tab of the "Wine Configuration" window.
     
   • Click on the "Add" button and "Browse" to the mounted DVD in the "/media" path.
     
   • Click on "OK" button at the bottom once finished.
     
   • When listing the contents of the "dosdevices" you should see something like below:
     

       $ ls -l ~/.wine/dosdevices
       lrwxrwxrwx 1 sandip sandip 10 Jun  8 22:58 c: -> ../drive_c
       lrwxrwxrwx 1 sandip sandip 17 Jun  8 23:06 d: -> /media/DVD_VIDEO/
       lrwxrwxrwx 1 sandip sandip  1 Jun  8 22:58 z: -> /
       

     You could also manually create a symlink instead:

       $ ln -s /media/DVD_VIDEO ~/.wine/dosdevices/d:  
       

3. Download and install DVD Shrink.
   

   $ wget http://linuxweblog.com/downloads/packages/dvdshrink/dvdshrink32setup.zip
   $ unzip dvdshrink32setup.zip
   $ wine dvdshrink32setup.exe
   

4. Launch and configure DVD Shrink Preferences as below:

   $ wine 'C:\Program Files\DVD Shrink\DVD Shrink 3.2.exe'
   

   • Select "Edit -> Preferences..."
     
   • Disable audio and video preview.
     
   • Disable burining with nero.
     
   • Click on "OK" once finished.
5. Create ISO with DVDShrink and write the ISO to your DVD using cdrecord or Nautilus CD/DVD creator.
   Check out mrbrass.org for help with using DVD Shrink.

1. Download the specific kernel module rpm from linux-ntfs.org .
   
2. You can check the currently installed kernel version using `uname -rm` .
   
3. Install via:
   

   # rpm -ivh kernel-module-ntfs-*.rpm
   

4. Check the partitions to be mounted:

   # fdisk -l | grep NTFS
   

   Note: If using a dual boot, then windows is normally installed in the first partition, "/dev/hda1".

5. The listed NTFS partition can be mountable after a restart via:
   

   # mount -r -o umask=0222 -t ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt/ntfs
   

6. For automated mounts during startup, add the below line in "/etc/fstab" .

   /dev/hda1   /mnt/ntfs     ntfs    ro,defaults,umask=0222 0 0
   

Skype currently offers free calls within the US and Canada. I was able to seemlessly install and use it on Fedora Core 5 using the dynamic binary which requires Qt3.2 or greater.

Below is a quick install process:

Download and install the dynamic binary as below:

$ wget http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-1.2.0.18.tar.bz2
# tar -C /opt -xvjf /path/to/skype-1.2.0.18.tar.bz2
# ln -s /opt/skype-1.2.0.18 /opt/skype
# ln -s /opt/skype/skype /usr/bin/skype
$ cp /opt/skype/skype.desktop ~/Desktop

Once installed, you should be able to click on the desktop launcher icon and run Skype.

Enjoy the free calls!!