Xiaomi Notebook Could give Linux Huge Boost

 Linux  Comments Off on Xiaomi Notebook Could give Linux Huge Boost
Sep 282015
 

Will history repeat itself with the rumored Xiaomi Linux notebook?

That’s the billion dollar question on many minds at Apple, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba and HP.

It’s a gross understatement that Xiaomi smartphones have taken Asia by storm.

With sleek designs, powerful internals and affordable prices, Xiaomi’s smartphones, tablets and TVs are quickly snapped up by eager consumers in China, India, Singapore and other parts of Asia.

Xiaomi is the largest smartphone vendor in China and the company is wildly popular among the 25-35 age group.

If Xiaomi’s smartphone business is any guide, its Linux notebooks should be trailblazers too.

Foray into Notebooks

The rumor mills predict Xiaomi’s Linux notebooks will arrive in early 2016.

While details of the Linux notebooks are still sketchy, here’s what we know.

Xiaomi’s notebooks will be powered by a Intel processor and Chinese assembler Inventec Appliance Corporation will put the laptop together. Continue reading »

Tails 1.6 Out

 Linux, Security  Comments Off on Tails 1.6 Out
Sep 282015
 

The developers of Tails have put out version 1.6 of the privacy oriented Linux distribution.

Tails 1.6 is primarily a security fix for the several vulnerabilities found in the previous version (1.5.1).

The Tails’ team is asking users to immediately upgrade to version 1.6.

Tails 1.6 – Changes

The Tor Browser has been upgraded to version 5.0.3 (based on Firefox 38.3.0 ESR) in Tails 1.6. Continue reading »

No New Features in Linux Mint 17.x After December 2015

 Linux  Comments Off on No New Features in Linux Mint 17.x After December 2015
Sep 152015
 

Here’s some good news for Linux Mint fans.

The next update of this excellent Linux desktop distribution should arrive toward the end of November or latest by December 2015.

Linux Mint 17.3 aka Rosa will be the third and last 17.x point release.

Linux Mint 17, 17.1 and 17.2 users will be able to upgrade to Rosa without having to reinstall the OS.

Linux Mint

With Linux Mint 17.3, the Cinnamon desktop also gets an upgrade to version 2.8.

Feature Freeze After 17.3

Although 17.x releases will be supported until 2019, they will receive only bug fixes and security fixes but no new features.

New features developed after release of Linux Mint 17.3 will move into 18.x. Continue reading »

Get Rid of Old Kernels in CentOS 7 and Red Hat 7

 Linux  Comments Off on Get Rid of Old Kernels in CentOS 7 and Red Hat 7
Aug 082015
 

Remove Old Kernels in CentOS 7If you’ve been using a CentOS 7 or RedHat 7 system for some time and updating it regularly, you’re bound to accumulate multiple kernels.

In this post, we’ll learn how to check the number of installed kernels on a CentOS, RedHat or Fedora box and remove the older ones.

Check Installed Kernels

Go ahead and check how many versions of the kernel you have on your CentOS, Red Hat or Fedora system with the below command. Continue reading »

How to Set Up Password Aging on CentOS 7

 Command Line, Linux  Comments Off on How to Set Up Password Aging on CentOS 7
Aug 052015
 

How to Set Password Aging on CentOS 7In this age of relentless online attacks by criminals, forcing password changes upon users is a must adopt security policy.

As any seasoned Linux system administrator will tell you, only idiots don’t implement password aging.

The concept of setting timelines for password validity is known as password aging.

The key advantage of password aging (forcing password changes) is that even if a password is cracked or stolen, its value to criminals is only for a short window of time.

In a sign of its importance, some US banks are already enforcing password changes for its customers at periodic intervals (90 days, 120 days or 180 days, depending on the bank).

Password Aging on CentOS 7

In this post, we’ll examine how to set up password aging on CentOS 7 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Continue reading »

Check Version of CentOS

 Linux  Comments Off on Check Version of CentOS
Aug 032015
 

CentOS VersionCentOS (the unsupported, free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux) is considered one of the most robust Linux distributions around.

Countless medium and large businesses and, increasingly lately, Linux enthusiasts run CentOS.

So it’s worthwhile to understand how to determine the version of CentOS running on your server or desktop via the command line.

There are three ways to find out the version of CentOS running on your system from the terminal.

1. Just run the below ‘echo’ command on the terminal.

$ [root@thomaspc ~]# echo "I am running: `cat /etc/redhat-release` (`arch`)"
I am running: CentOS Linux release 7.1.1503 (Core)  (x86_64)

2. Use the command line system information script Inxi tool.

If you don’t have inxi on your system, I strongly recommend you install this handy tool.

$ [root@thomaspc ~]# inxi -S
System:    Host: mywebsite.com Kernel: 3.10.0-123.8.1.el7.x86_64 x86_64 (64 bit) Console: tty 0
           Distro: CentOS Linux release 7.1.1503 (Core)

3. There is another way to find out the CentOS version but this one won’t give you information whether it’s a 32-bit or 64-bit version.

[root@thomaspc ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release
CentOS Linux release 7.1.1503 (Core)

I have tested the above commands on a CentOS 7 system and they work fine.

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