This post was originally published on 13 July, 2006.  This version has been updated.

I have a problem with facebook, myspace, and other social networking websites out there.  The problem is when I upload my data to their webservers….I don’t own it anymore.  They do.  And they can do whatever they want with it once it is there.

With this in mind, I’d rather setup my own twitter using Status.net or my own digg using Pligg.  But I’d do it on MY OWN SERVER.  That way, any content I upload is MINE.  It doesn’t reside on some server in California or DC and get recycled to advertisements.

I like to control my own stuff.  I don’t like to be cut out of the loop.  If you’re like me, then you’ll want to host your own domain, website and webserver so that your friends/family/shrink can quickly and easily connect up to see new photos, find out the latest family developments, and understand why you wear tinfoil hats every Thursday after 4pm.

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 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?  The answer might be to stay connected to friends and family…perhaps install 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 facebook and be barraged daily by advertisers and solicitors and be inundated with the minutiae of what all your friends had to eat for the day …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:

Meat and Potatoes

If you have Cable or DSL at home (not a business account) you have something called a dynamic connection.  Dynamic connection means that it can change every once in a while.  DSL and cable ISP’s purchase blocks of IP Addresses in the dynamic range so that they can keep consumers separate from businesses.  It’s also easier for them to manage dynamic pools of people than to have to remember static connections that don’t change for everyone.

Because of this problem…an ever changing connection for you at home…web servers and websites do not do very well.  The reason for this is because when you visit a website on a dynamic connection one day, it might be different the next day.  In order for visitors of a website to find you each and every single time, you need a “domain” or web name that points back to the address (IP Address) your internet service provider changes on a whim.  You’ll also need an update service to update your website each time your ISP decides to change things on you.

Believe it or not, there are free services out there to do that for you.  You just have to be willing to do a little extra work in the beginning to set things up.  You can also do this without spending 20-40 bucks a month on DNS service.

I’ll divide this up into 2 sections.  The first will deal with Linux hosting.  The second, Windows hosting.  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 apache. I’m not going to address the specifics of how to set up your apache…only how to get it a fixed address without buying a domain.  So, you have your html or php pages located into your webservers public directory…good…whatever application you have is installed on your server.  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.  Other services like dyndns.org also exist and provide the free service as well.

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 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.

Now you can give your friends/family/dog walker/mailman the address to your new webserver…maybe it’s Ithink.dnsiskinky.com like we used in the example above.  Now when they visit that address in their web browser, your application or web page displays for them.  You also get bragging rights at being the most technical friend/relative/dog walker client/household that everyone knows.  Now let’s cover Windows.

WINDOWS

First you need a free and clear webserver since one is not included by default with windows. You can download Apache for this as well OR try the Abyss Webserver.

Interestingly enough, Abyss is also free!  I ran it while my linux machine was being worked on (bad hard disk…it was a Quantum 200MB drive from 1913…had to upgrade) and it worked just great off of Windows XP.  Download that puppy and install it.  Make sure you read all of the documentation and familiarize yourself with how Abyss does business.

The next step…getting a hostname… is even easier than the linux method because you don’t have to manually install the noip client…they have a windows installer.  Go to http://www.no-ip.com/index.php and sign up.  Choose the domain name you would like (see above examples in Linux section).  Next, download the noip client from the download tab: https://www.no-ip.com/downloads.php but this time choose the windows client.  From there, you’ll be able to install this with a simple double click.  Fill in all of your information (pretty self explanatory) and make sure that it will run with each time you sign on.  You’re set! Your IP will now resolve to the yourchoice.theirhostname.com

CONCLUSION

You don’t have to spend a dime to keep a domain bound to your IP.  This is perfect for the home user who just wants a gallery or homepage.  It’s even good for someone who has a weblog or enthusiast site.  It’s good for someone who wants to be able to find their files and music…setup Jinzora and stream all your music library to yourself anywhere you are!  Setup Amahi and have access to all the goodness it brings.

Please remember, this wouldn’t be good for a business to have.  You will probably violate your ISP’s terms and conditions for using their connection if you tried to run a business this way.  In that case, there are plenty of options for hosting your site on cheap servers.

It’s always good form to put a link of the stuff you are using on your website to direct traffic back to your software provider.  When I used noip, I included a noip link on my main page and also an abyss webserver icon as well.  It’s just good form and some companies/software providers necessitate the use of their logo or a link on sites that use their software/code.  Just be a nice person and give a link back to them.  Good luck! Have fun!

Also, please note that having hosted my own webserver for quite some time (circa 2001) I’ve found Linux and Apache as a combination to be more secure, faster, and more stable than any webserver I’ve hosted on the Windows Platform. I included information on Windows mainly to introduce you to the concept of free and open source software. If you thought getting a webserver for free was great, think about getting a whole operating system! Give it a try, you don’t even have to install it (use a Live CD).

APPENDIX

If your ISP blocks port 80 traffic, your webserver won’t work.  Before deciding that your ISP is blocking however, make sure your firewall has the appropriate rules to allow incoming traffic.  You can do a quick add to IPTABLES in the following manner:

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT

iptables -A INPUT -j DROP

If you’ve opened up the appropriate ports and things still don’t work, it will be safe to say that you’ve determined the ISP is blocking port 80.  How you can get around this conundrum is to switch the listening port on the webserver to a different one and redirect traffic there.

1. See how to do this for IIS Webservers
2. See how to do this for Apache Webservers (normally in /etc/apache2/httpd.conf but your distro may vary.)
3. See how to do this for Abyss Webservers

If you still have problems, drop me a line in the comments section.  I may not be able to answer all questions but I can most likely get you to a person/place/thing that can.  Have fun and thanks for reading!

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Host Your Own Domain, Website and Webserver originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on February 13, 2010.

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 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 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.

WINDOWS

First you need a free and clear webserver since one is not included by default with windows. You can download Apache for this as well OR try the Abyss Webserver.

Interestingly enough, Abyss is also free!  I ran it while my linux machine was being worked on (bad hard disk…it was a Quantum 200MB drive from 1913…had to upgrade) and it worked just great off of Windows XP.  Download that puppy and install it.  Make sure you read all of the documentation and familiarize yourself with how Abyss does business.

The next step…getting a hostname… is even easier than the linux method because you don’t have to manually install the noip client…they have a windows installer.  Go to http://www.no-ip.com/index.php and sign up.  Choose the domain name you would like (see above examples in Linux section).  Next, download the noip client from the download tab: https://www.no-ip.com/downloads.php but this time choose the windows client.  From there, you’ll be able to install this with a simple double click.  Fill in all of your information (pretty self explanatory) and make sure that it will run with each time you sign on.  You’re set! Your IP will now resolve to the yourchoice.theirhostname.com

CONCLUSION

You don’t have to spend a dime to keep a domain bound to your IP.  This is perfect for the home user who just wants a gallery or homepage.  It’s even good for someone who has a weblog or enthusiast site.  I would not recommend this to anyone who has a business and wants to run a site.  Just remember that the best things in life are free.  Thanks open source!!!

PS: It’s always good form to put a link of the stuff you are using on your website to direct traffic back to your software provider.  When I used noip, I included a noip link on my mainpage and also an abyss webserver icon as well.  It’s just good form and some companies/software providers necessitate the use of their logo or a link on sites that use their software/code.  Just be a nice person and give a linkback to them.  Good luck! Have fun!

PSS: Also, please note that having hosted my own webserver for quite some time (circa 2001) I’ve found Linux and Apache as a combination to be more secure, faster, and more stable than any webserver I’ve hosted on the Windows Platform. I included information on Windows mainly to introduce you to the concept of free and open source software. If you thought getting a webserver for free was great, think about getting a whole operating system! Give it a try, you don’t even have to install it (use a Live CD).


APPENDIX

If your ISP blocks port 80 traffic, your webserver won’t work.  Before deciding that your ISP is blocking however, make sure your firewall has the appropriate rules to allow incoming traffic.  You can do a quick add to IPTABLES in the following manner:

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT

iptables -A INPUT -j DROP

If you’ve opened up the appropriate ports and things still don’t work, it will be safe to say that you’ve determined the ISP is blocking port 80.  How you can get around this conundrum is to switch the listening port on the webserver to a different one and redirect traffic there.

1. See how to do this for IIS Webservers
2. See how to do this for Apache Webservers (normally in /etc/apache2/httpd.conf but your distro may vary.)
3. See how to do this for Abyss Webservers

If you still have problems, drop me a line in the comments section.  I may not be able to answer all questions but I can most likely get you to a person/place/thing that can.  Have fun and thanks for reading!

This article was originally published on July 13, 2006 and has been updated and reposted.

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Host Your Own Domain and Webserver originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on December 13, 2008.

If you don’t have Zimbra, they have a free Open Source Community Edition available. It’s feature rich and quite configurable for your email. It can even be used to retrieve multiple email sources and bring them all into one place…it also has identity management so you can send from multiple accounts. Very nice stuff.

“I use Thunderbird for my email client. It’s quite speedy and nice. Coming from various places of employment that used Outlook and Exchange, I miss being able to schedule appointments via my email client (of course, with Zimbra, I’m able to do this via the web interface..but I like using Thunderbird for its ability to sort and
handle my email).

Enter Lightning, the sunbird-like extension for Thunderbird. So how does one integratelightning with say, Zimbra? It was rather simple and easy to do so. I’m posting what I did to get this up and running so that others won’t fumble through the Zimbra forums trying to piece various posts together finally arriving at a solution after banging heads against the wall repeatedly. Note that I’m assuming you use Zimbra/Thunderbird with IMAP.

Zimbra and Thunderbird Preparation

To get things rolling, install Lightning, the extension from Mozilla AND install the Provider Add on Extension for Thunderbird as well. This Provider Add on Extension also works for Google Calendar (or so it is blogged about often). I’m assuming that you know how to install Thunderbird extensions (which are different than Firefox ones) and that you’ve been able to install both of those plugins in the order listed.

Open Zimbra and browse to your calendar. Right click it and choose “share calendar”. You don’t need to actually share your calendar because you’ll need to provide your login and password initially when connecting…so you’ll be able to login as yourself through Thunderbird/Lightening…you just need to copy the URL at the bottom of the pop-up window that appears when you choose share calendar. So copy that URL and switch back to your Thunderbird email client.

Thunderbird/Lightning Config

After restarting when you installed the extensions above, you’ll see the lightening calendar bar in your default view. Click on Calendars and you’ll see there is one called ‘home’. This is your default one. Let’s add a calendar…click on ‘New’. Choose “On The Network” for your location.

Next, choose icalendar (ICS) and input the URL you copied from the previous step in the blank and click Next. Give the calendar a unique name and pick a color (I’m partial to green), click next, then click finish. It should prompt you for a login and password…make sure you use your Zimbra Login and Password.

Zimbra Config

None needed…everything is ready to go.

Tidbits of Handy Information?

There is one downside I’ve found so far. When you create an appointment in Lightning, it creates it as an ICS attached email…so it’s not completely integrated. You’ll need to send out your appointments like this. It also warns you that the appointment has already been added to your calendar when hitting the accept button…which is odd but it works just fine and ignoring this small problem is easy.

Integrate the ReminderFox extension with Thunderbird to give you reminder pop-ups for all your appointments and tasks

I hooked into my google calendar so I could view my personal appointments (go to DMV, pay bill, etc) as well as my work appointments. Instructions for hooking into Google calendar are here.

If you have problems connecting your Zimbra calendar, look at NAT for the problems. Think about opening up the right ports in your firewalls to allow access to IMAP and think of the proper FQDN for your server. You may have to use IP address instead if things are in a DMZ/orange zone.”

I hope this gives this post a bit more exposure as many people often wonder how to hook Zimbra and their Google Calendar into Thunderbird.

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Zimbra or Google Calendar with Thunderbird and Lightning originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on September 11, 2007.

Are you one of the many that love the default theme and think it’s eye catching but wish you could change it and make it your own? Do you wish there were more themes, icon sets, and bling for your desktop that would be easy to add? I did too. Here’s how I was able to customize PCLinuxOS 2007:

PCLOS Default

PCLOS Custom

I like my desktops to appear pleasing to both my eyes and the eyes of others. Normally, I visit VladStudio for great wallpapers and customize my desktop with them. With PCLinuxOS though, I found that many of the styles, icon sets, and themes included in the repository are perfect for making your desktop beautiful.

I often look at kde-look.org in search of the right desktop wallpaper. The problem I have with kde-look.org isn’t a lack in content…but rather, a mess of different formats. Some themes are installable, others are zipped up as source. While I could get those installed…I opt for the Gnome approach to themes…drop an archive in the theme window and it’s installed. The closes thing I can come to doing this is installing themes using the Synaptic Package Manager in PCLinuxOS.

Installing Icons

Let’s get started installing icons. Open Synaptic (the big red S icon by your kmenu or can be found by going to Kmenu >> System >> Configuration >> Packaging) and install the following packages:

1. kde-icons-aquafusion
2. kde-icons-crystalclear
3. kde-icons-crystaldiamond
4. kde-icons-crystalgt
5. kde-icons-exquisite
6. kde-icons-fairytaleworld
7. kde-icons-genuinecrystal
8. kde-icons-gorilla
9. kde-icons-korilla
10. kde-icons-krystaline
11. kde-icons-lila
12. kde-icons-lila-blue
13. kde-icons-lila-red
14. kde-icons-lila-white
15. kde-icons-newcrystal
16. kde-icons-noia
17. kde-icons-noiawarm
18. kde-icons-nuovext
19. kde-icons-nuvola
20. kde-icons-os-k
21. kde-icons-oxygen
22. kde-icons-primary
23. kde-icons-sparkling
24. kde-icons-tulliana
25. kde-icons-vista
26. kde-icons-faces
27. kdemoreartwork-tiblit
28. kdemoreartwork-winxp

That takes care of installing many new icons that will be available after you install them in the KDE Control Center. Up next, let’s install some more eye appealing artwork in the form of wallpapers.

Installing Wallpapers/Cursors

I love gryphen’s wallpapers. Gryphen is the project leader of a great team of graphic artists that helped give PCLinuxOS 2007 it’s fantastic look. They didn’t stop there though…they had many other wallpapers they did and most of them are available through synaptic. Keep synaptic open and install the following:

1. cursor-theme-blueprint
2. cursor-theme-comix
3. cursor-theme-Chameleon-Anthracite
4. cursor-theme-Chameleon-DarkSkyBlue
5. cursor-theme-Chameleon-Pearl
6. cursor-theme-Chameleon-White
7. cursor-theme-crystal
8. cursor-theme-premium
9. cursor-theme-xprience
10. kde-wallpapers-gryphen
11. kdeartwork-kde-wallpaper

The hard part is done…now comes the fun part. This is where you get to decide what looks best on your desktop by choosing the different themes, wallpapers, window decorations, and icon sets you’ve installed.

Choosing a Cursor

Open up the KDE Control Center (should be the square icon next to the round PCLinuxOS Control Center icon…or get to it by going to PC >> System >> Configuration >> Control Center).

Click on Peripherals >> Mouse. Next, select the Cursor Theme tab.

As you can see from the picture, I’ve chosen the Comix Cursor theme. There are many others to choose from that you’ve installed via synaptic. Look around for one that suits you and select it. Click the “Apply” button and if told you have to restart KDE for changes to take place…click “Ok”. Logout and back in and take a look at your new cursors!

Setting Up Fonts

After logging back in, open up the KDE Control Center. Click on Appearance and Themes >> Fonts. If you own a copy of Microsoft Windows and still have the license information, you can install the “webcore-fonts” package which will give you some more fonts to choose from. Experiment around…open up your Home directory in Konqueror so you can change fonts and hit the apply button which will show the changes you’ve made. Having a Home directory up will show you the changes you’ve made to titlebars, menu’s, and icon text. Once you’ve found the best combination that you like (I recommend Verdana for standard fonts and for something interesting…Babelfish) click apply and we’ll move on to the next area of customization.

The Wallpaper aka Background

In the KDE Control Center, select Appearance and Themes >> Background. There should be many more background wallpapers installed now. Cycle through them and choose one that you prefer. As you can see, I selected one of gryphen’s awesome wallpapers as my desktop. As you can also see, I’m of the mindset that dark backgrounds are easier on the eyes than light ones…especially if I’m staring at the screen for hours each day.

The Icon

Now it’s time to choose the all important Icon Set. In the KDE Control Center, select Appearance and Themes >> Icons. There are many icon sets you can choose from. Cycle through each of these hitting the apply button to see the visible changes. Remember, you can open up your Home in Konqueror to see the changes better in a window. As you can see, I’ve selected the “Primary” icon set.

Another quick tip you may or may not know…if you right click the Kmenu (or PC Menu as some call it) there is a different option for you to choose Kmenu styles. Right click the Kmenu and choose “switch to KICKOFF Style Menu”. This allows you to go from the left picture to the right picture with a simple right click. You can then right click again to switch back.

You’ve Got Style!

Next up we get to choose the menu style. My favorite relates to the Comix Cursor Theme I previously installed and is called interestingly enough, Comix. I selected this one by going to the KDE Control Center >> Appearance and Themes >> Style. From there I chose Comix. There are some advanced settings you can mess around with if you’d like…find those by clicking the configure button next to comix. Don’t forget that you can tweak the effects and toolbar settings also by using the tabs inside the Style menu.

So What is the Theme Section for?

I leave the theme section alone. Mainly because it is the whole kit and kaboodle. It’s an icon set, style, window decoration, wallpaper, and font schema rolled into one. I like granular control over my desktop. You may choose to install something from kde-look.org or use one of the themes that is present in the control center and that’s fine…I just didn’t elect to do so here.

Decorate those Windows

Next up on our customization journey is the Window Decoration. This is the top bar of each window that allows you to minimize, maximize, or close a window. You can choose from one of many different types of decorations. My favorite seemed to flow with my choosing of Comix cursor theme and the Comix menu as well as my choice of primary icon set…and that favorite is Smooth Blend. I think it compliments the various components I’ve elected to go with thus far. When you’re all done choosing we’ll finish up with the splash screen and KDM screen.

Make a Splash

I really like the splash screen that comes by default with PCLinuxOS…but change is sometimes good. Therefore, I’ve decided to go with another theme designed by gryphen for my splash. If you don’t already have it open, go into the KDE Control Center >> Appearance and Themes >> Splash Screen. I changed to the “darkscale” theme. There are many other splash screens you can choose from on kde-look.org that are pretty simple to install using the “add” button. You can also “test” each theme out using the test button.

KDM Theme

In the KDE Control Center select System Administration. In this section, you’ll need to switch to Administrator Mode by clicking on the corresponding button and supplying your root password. Select KDM Theme Manager and click on the “Administrator Mode” button. From there, select or install a theme of your choosing and click “Ok”. You can find many of these themes also at kde-look.org. Experiment around and see which one you like.

The Login Manager

In the same area, system administration, inside the KDE Control Center…you’ll find the section titled “Login Manager”. Go there and once again click the administrator mode button and supply your root password. After this, tweak your fonts to match those that you chose in the fonts section above by clickin on the “font” tab and selecting them. You can check out the other tabs and adjust how you see fit and even enable autologin in this section though doing it in the PCLinuxOS Control Center is a bit easier and more central for management. when you are through, click “Ok”.

Final Thoughts

KDE is a very customizable desktop. Even more so I’ve found than Gnome is. There are countless options that you can choose to tweak. I’m sure I’ve missed a few in this post. If so, please let me know what I’ve missed in the comments and I’ll attempt to post it! Thanks for reading and I hope this has helped you to take more ownership in your KDE Desktop

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Install extra Themes and Icons in PCLinuxOS originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on August 8, 2007.

With the popularity of Ubuntu swelling these days, one can hardly visit digg or other tech news sites without seeing a Dapper Drake or Breezy Badger (both recent titles of Ubuntu releases). Another strong indicator that Linux in general, dapper drake aside, may be seeing an influx of users is the news that Microsoft receives a call back from Windows computers daily. Many users expressed deep concern about false positives where Microsoft receives reports that you are using a pirate copy of Windows when you are running a licensed version. Also, why not examine why WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) fits the bill for Spyware? So, what’s a ticked off user to do? Give Linux the old college try, that’s what!

I’ve seen an influx of people dusting off Mandrake (that’s right, Mandrake not Mandriva…we’re talking pre-name change) and Red Hat 7.2 disks and firing off questions in forums about how to do various things in Linux. Renewed interest in alterntives to Microsoft coupled with big headlines for Ubuntu means many new users are examining Ubuntu when they evaluate (or re-evaluate) the state of Linux. This being said, I have 5 Tips for New Ubuntu Users that you won’t hear anywhere else.

1. Keep in mind that Ubuntu IS NOT the only Linux out there

There are countless distributions out there, each with its own specific flavor and variety. If you didn’t like something in Ubuntu, chances are that someone else didn’t like it either and they found other users who didn’t like it and grouped together to create something more fitting for their preferences. Chances are that those same users now have a distribution of Linux (or flavor) that caters to your individual tastes and likes. Instead of being locked down (Like Windows) to one incarnation of software, you have something inherent in all Linux flavors….choice. Plus, you don’t have to pay someone to take that choice away when you use it (think about it, MS has you pay them and removes all choice from you…gotta love it!).

Ubuntu may be great for many people and many new users, but it isn’t the best the community has to offer. There are other distributions of Linux that offer both paid and free versions that are much more suited for new users. Distributions like Xandros, Linsipire for paid supported versions, and MEPIS, Kanotix, and PCLinuxOS offer much more for the new user than Ubuntu can and will. Bottom line: Don’t think Ubuntu is Linux and Linux is Ubuntu. It’s not. There’s a whole world of new Linux distributions out there. Find the one that suits you. Don’t make a purchase based on what others are saying about something. Find out for yourself…afterall, if no one found anything that suited them best, we’d all be wearing, driving, and using the same things that everyone else was. Choice is good.

2. If you’re afraid of the shell (aka command line), Ubuntu may be scary for you.

As stated previously, there are tons of other flavors of Linux out there. What makes Ubuntu so scary to some new users is that in order to get your multimedia working, you’ll need to edit files via shell. If this is scary for you, consider switching to Xandros or Linspire. While you may pay for them, you won’t have to crack a config file or check anything with a shell tool.

Many people here will tell you that I don’t know what I’m talking about. They’ll scream, “You can get Ubuntu Multimedia working without the shell!” and in certain instances they’d be correct. For instance, if you know how to operate kedit or kate in superuser mode, you’ll be set…of course, no shortcut exists for this in Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubuntu so you’ll have to create a shortcut. In doing this, you’ll have to “kdesu kate” from the command line or figure out how to make that shortcut…both tasks that are a bit daunting to new users.

So let’s say that in Ubuntu you do figure out this information and are able to edit your files out there to get multimedia working without dropping to a shell (command line). Great! Congrats! Now let’s continue with multimedia and get 3D graphics to work for you. If you’re like me, you need nvidia drivers…something that you MUST DO via shell in Ubuntu. In fact, don’t you have to install graphics drivers via shell all the time with all distributions? Nope. MEPIS has nvidia and ati driver installs in 2-3 clicks. There you go, new user, you’re forced to drop to a shell when you don’t need to. Ubuntu is a fantastic distribution for those of us who don’t fear the shell…but it’s not for your standard Windows convert. Take a look at what still needs a console for Ubuntu. Also, please understand that Ubuntu isn’t alone in this…there are only a handful of distros that DON’T require you to drop to a shell (command line). Make an informed decision for yourself though, don’t take others’ word for it.

3. Ubuntu doesn’t come with an owners manual or User Guide

I’m pretty sure all Ubuntu fans are going to spontaneously combust when they read #3, pointing out various online resources of information and listing various urls of help sites. Despite all of these online resources, Ubuntu does not have a manual. There is no published manual geared toward new users. Sure, there are how-to’s, tutorials, and other handy wikis such as ubuntuguide.org…but there isn’t anything that you can download to your desktop or print out to refer to when you’re getting started. I’m also sure that many will claim that owners manuals are only available from commercial distributions…but they’d be wrong. The PCLinuxOS community published new user guides geared to help new users at operating the LiveCD, Installing PCLinuxOS, and a General User Guide that can be downloaded free of charge in PDF Format.

4. You can’t install from source with Ubuntu without configuring the ability to compile from source.

Ubuntu comes crippled when you install it. The area that it is crippled has to do with the ability to install from source. What this means is that if you are out searching for a piece of software and find that it isn’t listed in Synaptic (apt) for Ubuntu and that it doesn’t have an rpm (most likely it would be a rather new package…the community is good about getting packages put together) you’ll not be able to install it from source without first configuring that ability. Many programs out there must be installed from source because software developers don’t have time to custom tailor packages to 300+ flavors of Linux…so they release source code and you’re able to download this code and install it on your system. This ability is default in a majority of Linux distributions out there…but not Ubuntu. To get it to work in Ubuntu, you have to first configure it to work.

What this entails is installing the “build-essential” package…but of course, how would you know that as a new user? Check the manual. Crap. No manual. Check the online resource (wiki, etc.). If you didn’t know the first thing about forums and weren’t very good at using google (e.g., you listen to music and check email on yoru PC and that’s about it…which takes care of a large chunk of normal users) how would you know to do this? You wouldn’t. Ubuntu is crippled in this instance…it’s one of the few distributions out there that takes away your ability to install from source at the beginning. So if you want the ability to install anything right away and to dive into things…Ubuntu may not be what you want.

Some claim that Ubuntu needs to be this way for security purposes. This is nonsense to me. Linux has always been about putting control in the users hands, not removing it from them. That’s why I am of the opinion that this IS NOT a good thing…regardless of any security problems a developer thinks I might have. Sure it is easy enough to install things when I read an ubuntu quick start…but the idea is to get new users up and running and giving them a bicycle with one wheel and not telling them where to find the other wheel is silly to me. I’d rather give a new user Slackware than Ubuntu for this reason alone. I may be of the minority of thought on this subject as well…but it makes little sense that someone would want Linux without GCC. It’s almost like having Windows without DOS (which really sucked when we went from 98 to XP from a system administrator point of view). Now I’m rambling…but you should understand where I’m coming from now. I don’t like someone else to take away something that has been inherent in Linux since the beginning.

5. Ubuntu will never be as fast as other Distributions; it’s not optimized for it.

“But Devnet, Ubuntu is the fastest distribution I’ve ever ran!” I’m sure you believe that. However, I’d argue that you lack understanding of 3rd through 6th generation processor architectures. Ubuntu is compiled to support a large variety of processors. It uses i386 optimized instruction sets in order to support old hardware (i386 supports CPUs operating at 33Mhz and above). In doing this, they do not make use of all that power you have under your CPU hood. Many other distributions also use this to make sure they reach the widest audience they can. However, for the average desktop user, this is like having a two stroke engine inside of a corvette. You have the processing power of Celeron, Pentium 4, and AMD Athlon or above right? Why aren’t you utilizing it? If you’re going to use or are using Ubuntu, you’re not taking advantage of the optimizations that i586 and i686 instruction sets have to offer…which mainly is enhanced performance.

If you are using a Dell, HP, Gateway, Compaq, or Emachines laptop or desktop that you’ve purchased in the past 2 years and you’re running Ubuntu, you’re not taking advantage of what your processor has to offer.

Confused? Let distrowatch do the hunting for you. Results from i386 architecture, i586 architecture, and i686 architecture. Give PCLinuxOS a try…it’s optimized i586. Give Foresight Linux a try, it’s i686. Give Arch Linux a try…it’s i686. Try Vector Linux and Slackware…both noted as some of the fastest distributions out there. All of these distros offer a great performing desktop and if you’re using Ubuntu, you’ve already had to drop to the shell once or twice so using these distributions should be water under the bridge you old hand.

Ubuntu, Pretty in Brown? Don’t Let Others Decide For You

In closing, I’d like to advise the new Linux convert to try ALL distributions that are in the top ten distributions listed at distrowatch. These receive the most page views at distrowatch and they receive those for good reason…they generally offer a fantastic desktop experience. Please remember that Ubuntu might be the perfect distribution for you and that is great! Welcome to the wonderful world of Debian based Linux. However, before you throw yourself into the Ubuntu fray and classify all Linux as Ubuntu when you try it out, do yourself a favor and check out other distros. You may find that they suit you better than what everyone thinks suits you best.

Devnet

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5 Unique Tips for New Ubuntu Users originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on June 29, 2006.