# Gnu/Linux Miscellaneous

Here are some rarely used tasks that I do not
want to forget.

See <a href="../gnulinux.html"> more sections
on Gnu/Linux </a>.

** Firefox Extensions **

Firefox is now my preferred browser.

Google for "Firefox extensions"
and look for handy items.

Extensions I always use are 

--
o Adblock: block ads by URL with wildcards.  
  Get a listing of all blockable elements and edit.
o Nuke Anything: delete any visible element of a page
o GoogleBar: All sorts of google searches on a separate 
  menu bar.
o WebDeveloper: Examine exactly how a webpage is put together
  and change it.
o Gmail Notifier: Click on the M at the right-bottom
  to set preferences for automatic login.  Or just click
  on the M to log in manually.
o SessionSaver: Browser reopens exactly the way you left it,
  even after a crash.
o Go To: right click on a link and see alternate versions of
  the same link.
o Stumble Upon: random cool links for your area of interest,
  recommended by others like yourself.
_

Less essential:
__
o TargetAlert: put icons after links to special file types.
o Dictionary search: highlight a word, then right click
  to access dictionary search.
o Linky: Specify where links open, after highlighting.
o Tabbrowser Preferences: Get many more options
  for tabs, such as switching when the mouse 
  is over a tab.
o Digger: right click on Go button to see
  alternate versions of the current URL.
o Go To: right click -> Go To submenu, to see
  alternate versions of the current URL.
o Open Long URL: Adds option to File menu to paste mult-line URLs.
o Sage: RSS news feeds. Enable View -> Sidebar -> Sage.  
  When you go to a news page or blog, hit the magnifying
  glass for "discover feeds."  Select shortcuts 
  for the sidebar.  Click one to see the latest stories.
  Hit alt-s to make the sidebar appear and disappear.
_

Here's how I install the java plugin

=>
cd $HOME/.mozilla/plugins
ln -s $JAVA_HOME/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so .
<=

** fvwm2: a parsimonious window manager **

The best way to save memory is to use a
frugal window manager and desktop
environment, rather than Gnome or KDE.  I
found that fvwm2 uses less than 20% of the
memory of either Gnome or KDE.  But if you
haven't anything better to do with your
memory, then waste it on a pretty desktop.

fvmw2 is much more easily customized from
config files rather than the mouse.  In fact,
you cannot really configure fvmw2 with the
mouse.  Once you have the config files, you
can copy them onto any new installation and
immediately have the environment you want.
KDE and Gnome on the other hand force you to
remember and repeat GUI manipulation.

Since fvwm2 is just a window manager like
Enlightenment or Sawmill, you can also run
Gnome or KDE on top of it.  But they don't
look very good together in the default
configuration.  Gnome and KDE are just a set
of standard desktop utilities.  The other
window managers do not allow the same degree
of customization.  fvwm2 is so configurable
that you can easily lay out your own desktop
and toolbars with standard utilities.  The
extended desktop is arbitrarily large, and
dragging across virtual windows works better
than KDE or Gnome.

To switch from an existing Gnome or KDE
installation, simply put a ``.Xclients'' file
in your home directory, with something like
the following:

=>
xterm -iconic +cn -aw -sb -si -rw -sk -ls -b 4 -vb -sl 800 -fg white -bg black &
xterm -iconic +cn -aw -sb -si -rw -sk -ls -b 4 -vb -sl 800 -fg white -bg black &
fvwm2 &
xterm -title login -iconic 
<=

Note that all processes but the last login
xterm are in the background.  Stop your X
desktop, and restart with ``startx''.  You
should pop straight into the new desktop.
Stop the window manager by typing ``exit''
into the login xterm.

Copy ``/etc/X11/fvwm2/system.fvwm2rc'' to
``~/.fvwm2rc'' in your home directory and
edit to change your default configuration.
"Linux in a Nutshell" has a good short
introduction.

** ``ls'' **

Here's my favorite alias for ``ls''

=>
  $ alias ls='ls -AxFqsh --color'
<=

You can set default colors with the variable
``LS_COLORS'' by putting the command ``eval
`dircolors`'' in a login file.  To see more
about defaults type ``dircolors
--print-database''.  I don't like dark blue
for directories, so I set them to cyan with

=>
  $ export LS_COLORS="no=00:fi=00:di=01;36:ln=01;34:pi=40;33:so=01;35:\
  bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:ex=01;32:\
  *.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.zip=01;31:\
  *.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.gz=01;31:"
<=

Attribute codes are ``00=none 01=bold
04=underscore 05=blink 07=reverse
08=concealed'', text color codes are
``30=black 31=red 32=green 33=yellow 34=blue
35=magenta 36=cyan 37=white'', and background
color codes are ``40=black 41=red 42=green
43=yellow 44=blue 45=magenta 46=cyan
47=white''.  Here are the some useful types:

=>
  no: normal, global default, although everything should be something.
  fi: normal file
  di: directory
  ln: symbolic link
  pi: FIFO, pipe
  so: socket
  bd: block device driver
  cd: character device driver
  or: orphan, symlink to nonexistent file
  ex: files with execute permission
<=

** Play or save a Real audio stream **

First download the *ram file:

=>
wget http://www.foobar.com/episode.ram
<=

Look inside to get the rtsp url.

=>
$ cat hitchhikers_episode1.ram
rtsp://rmv8.foobar.com/episode.rm
<=

Play the stream directly with

=>
mplayer rtsp://rmv8.foobar.com/episode.rm
<=

Or download it first, and play later

=>
mplayer -dumpstream rtsp://rmv8.foobar.com/episode.rm
mplayer stream.dump
<=


** Running on a network without NIS/DHCP **

Here is a deprecated way to attach to an
office network without using NIS or DHCP.
All steps are performed as root.

--

o  Add the host with your home directory to
``/etc/hosts'' in case the DNS server fails to respond.

o Edit ``/etc/fstab'' 
to mount NFS directories.  For example:

=>
na:/home/harlan /lair/harlan nfs defaults
spitfire:/export/d04/SunOS /pub/dev nfs defaults
spitfire:/export/d13 /network/spitfire/export/d13 nfs defaults
<=

Create the directories and mount with ``mkdir
-p /pub/dev ; mount /pub/dev''.

o Add your group name and group ID to
``/etc/group'' with a line like
``develop:x:202:harlan''.

o Change the group and user ID of an existing
user, or create a new user.

To discover your group and user ID's, type
``id -a''.

Edit ``/etc/passwd'' to change the group and
user ID of an existing user.  For example:

=>
harlan:x:225:202:harlan:/lair/harlan:/bin/bash
<=

(User ID is first.)

Alternately, add a new user with the
following command:

=>
  $ user=harlan
  $ useradd -u 225 -g 202 -G develop -d /lair/$user -s /bin/bash \
     -c "$user" -p yeq89W.HCdjmY $user
<=

(The ``-G'' flag can specify other groups,
separated by commas.)  The encrypted password
can be generated by the following perl
command:

=>
  perl -e 'print crypt("your_password_here","xx"),"\n";'
<=

Replace the salt ``"xx"'' by two other
characters of mixed case.

_


Bill Harlan, 2002-2006