Open Source, Open Blog
I was shopping around for a mouse for gaming. After reading the reviews, I found that I wanted to give the Microsoft Sidewinder x8 a try (previously had a Logitech G5 that broke). It works great in Windows, which I dual boot on my gaming machine. However, when I try to use it in Linux…it doesn’t operate at all. (2.6.26 kernel)
Googling around hasn’t turned up much at all…so I figured I’d ask here. So…here goes:
This article is from 2006! The information here may not be the most current. You can visit an updated version here!
Doesn’t sound like anything new right? Well, some people may not know of this method.
Normally, to host your own webpage you would need to spend around 7 bucks to purchase a domain. Next you would need a hosting plan that usually runs around 3-15 dollars per month to serve up your web pages.
What most don’t realize is that you can skip these steps all together…you don’t need to get dedicated Windows or Linux Hosting (this blog is hosted on dedicated hosting…but started out in my apartment!) to serve pages up to your friends and family. You absolutely do not need to get domain name services through a provider. You can even host your own webserver using a dialup connection (that’s right…I said dialup) although. I don’t recommend it (but I’ve done it using 56.6kbps).
Why would you want to do this? My reply…to stay connected to friends and family…perhaps throw up a gallery so that your grandparents can see pics of your new dog/car/tinfoil hat. Sure, you could waste my time with MyWaste..er..space and be barraged daily by advertisers and solicitors…or you could roll your own web host, install a gallery or website, and provide media to your friends and family without costing yourself a dime. That’s right, NO COST (except time spent getting it running). Just remember, your website might not survive a digging or slashdotting if you run it yourself. Keep that in mind 🙂 So without more chatter, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of things:
Do you cringe at the thought of buying a domain and putting up with the headache of trying to make sure your IP address is up to date with your domain? Do you hate the 40 dollars you spend on DNS service each year to resolve your IP address to your hostname? Read on and learn the the flat-broke-and-busted way of maintaining a fixed hostname for your IP…even if you have dialup.
I’ll divide this up into 2 sections. The first will deal with Linux. The second, Windows. This is only something that I’ve found easy to do and the price is just right (it’s free). The only thing that I recommend is a dedicated internet connection (cable, DSL) but even this is not necessary as dialup can be used. I recommend that you use the Linux way of doing things since it is more secure and doesn’t require a restart every time you patch it.
*note: I’m assuming that you aren’t behind a firewall/proxy of any kind and that your ISP doesn’t block port 80 traffic. If your ISP blocks port 80, see the appendix at the end of this article.
LINUX
No matter what version of Linux you run, chances are that you’ll be able to install the apache webserver. This is good news as over half the websites of the world are run by the extremely efficient and speedy apache. I’m not going to address the specifics of how to set up your website…only how to get it a fixed address without buying a domain. So, you have your pages dropped into your webservers public directory…good. Now, how to resolve your IP…lets say it is…25.24.4.166 (for our example) and you want it to have a host.name.com to bind to. Easy to resolve. Go to http://www.no-ip.com/index.php and sign up. You can get a site from noip that is like yourname.theirdomain.com/.net/.info. They have cool names like sytes.net and servebeer.org…even workisboring.com
You’ll be able to choose your own top level name…for instance, Ithink.dnsiskinky.com could be your new domain name. Next download a client from the download tab: https://www.no-ip.com/downloads.php
The linux client is a tar.gz source and is simple to install. Follow the instructions when installing. You may have to install compilation tools (devel packages like GCC) to install the client. You now are the proud owner of yoursite.theirsite.com and your IP will ALWAYS update (as long as noip.com is up) each time you log on/sign on/beam up or whatever it is you do.
How does this help you? Well, if you’re like me, you have a dynamic IP address. If you connect to the internet via cable, dialup, or dsl…you also have a dynamic IP address. Dynamic means that it will change from time to time without warning. So by binding yoursite.theirsite.com to your IP address…you don’t ever have to worry about what IP address you have anymore. Instead, you’ll always be able to connect using yoursite.theirsite.com. You can host a webserver using Apache and a virtual host (also known as a Virtual Private server or VPS Hosting) in this style as well (look for another how-to on this subject later) so that everyone can visit a shiny website at yoursite.theirsite.com.
What usability reasons do you have for using Gnome vs. KDE? I’m looking for usability issues here and not specific bugs that cause you to drop one on its head. Bugs can be fixed. I’m talking about hard features that lack from one environment to the other. What makes you use it in Ubuntu versus KDE? Remember, not bugs…features!
I prefer using KDE or Openbox as my main desktop when using Linux. I’ve used Gnome quite a bit too when working for rPath last year (Foresight is THE Gnome distro). Still, I prefer KDE…I really like the direction that 4.x is going also. Sure, they’re not there yet, but I trust they will be because I haven’t been let down in the past 🙂 I have a little faith (Plus I’ve run snapshots of 4.2).
The thing that boggles my mind is that everyone says Gnome is better for a Windows convert taking his/her Linux steps for the first time. I have to disagree based on the experience I’ve had with conversions of new users from Windows. I think KDE gives the best experience for a new Windows user…it’s familiar or at least feels familiar…things are in similar places to Windows.
I’d say that 80-90% of the users I convert across to using Linux prefer KDE to Gnome. I always wonder why people think Gnome is so new user friendly. Since I’ve always wondered, perhaps some Gnome users can tell me, what usability reasons do you have for using Gnome vs. KDE? I’ve often heard that Gnome has integration and simplicity as the main reason…but could I not argue the same for KDE? I’m looking for usability issues here and not specific bugs that cause you to drop one on its head. Bugs can be fixed. I’m talking about hard features that lack from one environment to the other. What makes you use it in Ubuntu versus KDE? Remember, not bugs…features! Please let me know which desktop you prefer below and don’t forget to let me know the reason in the comments section below.
[poll id=”1″]
I wanted a quick way to be able to find out what files weren’t visible to others (and therefore, not visible to website visitors). Messing with arguments and the file command, you can do the following:
find -type f ! -perm -444
This locates all files not visible to ‘others’ in the current directory. You can apply this to directories as well:
find -type d ! -perm -111
Hope this helps people like it helped me. 🙂
Demasiado Personal writes
“There’s a game studio made by only two people, that released an excellent game for Windows, called World of Goo. I recently saw that the piracy on this game is over 95%, and it’s only a 20 dollars game.”
The blog brings up another valid point
“Now, the fun begins. Some of you will ask, what does this have to do with Linux anyway? Easy to answer. Lately this programmers are working in a Linux native port, and that gives us an amazing opportunity. Imagine for a moment what would happen if Linux users bought more original copies than Windows users. I can answer what could happen. Those innovative programmers will make next game for Linux, and not Windows.”
So if you can afford 20 Dollars for an Award Winning game that will provide hours of entertainment, let your MONEY do the talking for you 🙂 Afterall, these guys won awards with a fantastic game and are taking the time to port it to Linux…I think of it as a donation…and if Linux sells more than Windows, it may show validity for Linux as a platform! The Linux version is currently in Beta, but your 20 dollars will get you access to the Beta AND the release when it is made ready.
3 months ago, CodeWeavers CEO Jeremy White issued a “Lame Duck” challenge for the President. If any of those goals were met, he’d offer CrossOver free for one day. Fast forward 3 months and at least one of his six lame duck goals were met. Thus, CrossOver is available today only for FREE.
To get in on the action, head over to the CodeWeavers CrossOver Lame Duck Page.
