How to Bell the Linux Mint Cat

 Linux  Comments Off on How to Bell the Linux Mint Cat
Nov 172014
 

So like a lot of smart people you too have started running Linux Mint on your computer.

And then suddenly you wonder which version of Linux Mint you’re running.

Now there are many ways to bell a Linux Mint cat.

You can get the answer via the graphical interface or through the command line.

For the GUI version, go to Menu (bottom left of screen), type System Settings in the search box, hit Enter, click on System Info (see below Hardware) and voila you have the answer.

And the answer is Linux Mint 17. As the below screenshot shows, you also get additional information like desktop version (Cinnamon in my case), Linux kernel version, processor, memory, hard-drive size and graphics card in the computer.

Which Version of Linux am I running?

Command Line Version

Some Linux newbies love to live on the command line, having quickly developed a visceral aversion for GUI tools.

So let’s check the command line technique to find out which version of Linux Mint we have running on our PC.

On the command line, there are three ways to find out which version of Linux Mint you have running on your desktop or laptop.

Run any of the commands below (shown in blue) in the terminal and you get the response in an instant.

cat /etc/issue
Linux Mint 17 Qiana \n \l

lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: LinuxMint
Description: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Release: 17
Codename: qiana

lsb_release -rcs
17
qiana

Linux gets an Exclusive Browser – Fifth

 Linux, Products  Comments Off on Linux gets an Exclusive Browser – Fifth
Nov 162014
 

Ever since the Firefox people started talking about inserting ads in the browser, my agony has known no bounds.

Is there no hope for ordinary folks to go about their daily online lives without being molested (tracked) by giant corporations like Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Google (Chrome) or Apple (Safari) or bombarded by ads as some idiots with cockamamie ideas want to.

So it was with great delight I stumbled upon reports of a new browser exclusively for Linux called Fifth.

The new browser is the work of Finnish developer Lauri Kasanen.

Based on information provided by Kasanen, Fifth browser seems to do well on memory use (less compared to other browsers)  but badly on cold startup.

Fifth – Details

Borrowing the best features from Opera browser, Fifth is based on a custom Webkit port to FLTK and licensed under GPLv3.

Here are other key features of Fifth:

* Supports best features of Opera like speed dial, content blocking and per-site settings

* SSL certificates are handled in a SSH-like way and Certificate Authorities are ignored because of “rogue CAs and governments”

* Provides users the ability to spoof several items routinely used by web sites and tracking companies to profile visitors

* Absence of support for ‘misfeatures’ like WebGL, WebCL, plugins, audio and video that degrade user experience and/or expose a huge attack surface, and instead video is replaced with download and stream buttons

Visit Sourceforge to download Fifth.

Related Content
Read the details about Fifth

Linux Mint 17.1 ‘Rebecca’ RC Ready

 Linux  Comments Off on Linux Mint 17.1 ‘Rebecca’ RC Ready
Nov 142014
 

The release candidates of Cinnamon and MATE editions of Linux Mint 17.1 ‘Rebecca’ have passed quality testing and approved for release, according to Linux Mint project leader Clement Lefebvre.

The two RCs should be available by November 16, 2014.

Although technically still a beta version, a release candidate is considered stable since all product features have been designed, coded and tested through one or more beta cycles with no known showstopper bugs (source: Wikipedia).

Release candidate versions are usually offered to all members of the public unlike beta versions that are restricted to developers.

As best as I know, Linux Mint 17.1 uses kernel 3.13.0-37.

Praise is already starting to come in from early adopters of Linux Mint 17.1 beta and release candidates.

Improvements

Cinnamon edition of Linux Mint 17.1 features the new Cinnamon 2.4 desktop, of which an early version was released as a preview in the Romeo section of the Linux Mint 17 repository. Continue reading »

Cinnamon 2.4 – Will Good get Better?

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Nov 032014
 

The Linux Mint folks are tooting the horn about the release of Cinnamon 2.4 and I for one am pleased as punch.

As someone who’s been using Cinnamon on Linux Mint 17 for several months now, I can state without exaggeration that this desktop is simply awesome for a recent migrant from the Windows/Mac world.

Cinnamon 2.4 will be included in Linux Mint 17.1 ‘Rebecca,’ due at the end of November 2014 and in LMDE 2 “Betsy” slated for Spring 2015.

The current version of of Cinnamon (both on my Linux Mint 17 PC and on Software Manager) is 2.2.16.

Cinnamon 2.4 – Changes

Now don’t expect anything dramatic in the upgrade.

The improvements are modest, but together they are another step in entrenching Cinnamon as the most popular Linux desktop environment.

Expect to see more hardware support, more settings, more polish and fewer memory leaks in Cinnamon 2.4. Continue reading »

Tails Upgraded to Version 1.2

 Linux, Security  Comments Off on Tails Upgraded to Version 1.2
Oct 212014
 

The Tails project is asking users to upgrade to its newest release, Tails 1.2, stating that it has fixed a bunch of security issues and bugs in the new version.

Tails (an acronym for The Amnesic Incognito Live System) is the Debian Linux-based anonymous operating system that provides greater anonymity and privacy compared to other operating systems.

The free software is meant to be run off a DVD, USB stick, or SD card and leave no ‘fingerprints’ on the computer.

Highlights of Tails 1.2

* Fix for the POODLE vulnerability by replacing the Iceweasel-based browser with Firefox 31.2.0 extended support release Continue reading »

Linux Notes Apps for Lesser Mortals

 Apps, Linux  Comments Off on Linux Notes Apps for Lesser Mortals
Oct 192014
 

If you ask me, all the great men (and women) in history rose to eminence without ever clicking on a notes application.

Alexander the Great, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi and countless other ‘illustrious’ figures never clicked on a notes app.

Gibbon and Nabokov wrote their classic, timeless works without a notes app (Nabokov famously used index cards to write his peerless novels).

In what can only be described as the hallmark of greatness, these giants seemed to instinctively know what’s important in their lives and what’s not. Which task to focus on first,  which ones to get to later. and the ones to ignore.

Lesser Mortals

But for the lesser mortals of our era, life without icons for a bunch of notes apps on our PC desktop is inconceivable.

Truth be said, it seems like all life would come to a screeching halt without notes apps.

So there are notes applications galore for Windows, Mac and even Linux.

EverNote may be getting all the hype in the notes universe but there are several unsung heroes for Linux too.

Here are a bunch of notes applications for Linux (I’ll focus on Ubuntu and LinuxMint)

TomBoy

TomBoy is an extremely simple, lightweight note app to use.

Tomboy Notes App for Linux

Tomboy looks bare bone but will probably do the job for most people who don’t need the bells and whistles.

Creating a new note is as simple as clicking Ctrl + N. Supports formatting with bold, underline, font size increase/decrease, italics etc. Comes with sync, export to HTML and search features.

Notes are automatically saved.

Should you want more features, Tomboy has a bunch of Add-ins (plugins) that you can download to expand its capabilities.

Search Feature in Tomboy Notes App

I found Tomboy on my Linux Mint 17 PC. I’m not sure if it came with Linux Mint or I installed it later. Check in the Applications of your Linux Mint system and if you don’t find it, you can install Tomboy via the Synaptic Package manager or Software Manager. The version of Tomboy on my system is 1.15.4 (as of October 2014).

If you’re using some other Linux distro, you can download TomBoy on the Gnome site.

Besides Linux, Tomboy is also available for Mac and Windows.

Get all the information about Tomboy notes app on the Gnome page.

By the way, there’s a C++ port of Tomboy called Gnote. If you’re running Ubuntu, get Gnote from the Ubuntu Software Center. In LinuxMint,the application is available on Software Manager and Synaptic Package Manager.

MyNotex

MyNotex is what I use for my notes.

MyNotex Notes App for Linux

This app is more sophisticated than Tomboy/Gnote and includes formatting options like bold, italics and color options for the text. You can insert files and pictures into your notes. There’s a search feature that lets you search by title, keyword or date. Continue reading »

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