Hack It!

Moving to wordpress

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:27:00 +0000

I have moved my blog to wordpress. Please update your bookmarks to arunsag.wordpress.com . Thanks :-)

Micro blogging with emacs addons

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:03:00 +0000

Emacs has become my favourite application these days, Its now part of my digital life. I always wondered why i have missed such an nice app before.

For those who are n00bs and non-geeks goto http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/tour/

Emacs-color-theme:
Makes life colourful :D. It hasn't made into Fedora repository yet, But package review is on at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=501101

Add the following to your ~/.emacs file to get it working

(require 'color-theme)
(color-theme-initialize)
(color-theme-robin-hood

Emacs-jabber:
I used it to connect Gtalk from emacs, FYI gtalk uses a open protocol named XMPP (jabber).It is a great app. Find the package review request at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=508316

Add the following to your ~/.emacs file to get it working

(setq jabber-account-list
'(("email@gmail.com"
(:network-server . "talk.google.com")
(:connection-type . ssl))))

Back to Micro blogging:

Identi.ca is a free software microblogging service, similar to Twitter, based on the Laconi.ca code base. It has a Twitter bridge, which means you can associate your twitter account to identi.ca , so that the notices you post to identi.ca will be posted to your twitter account too;

It has a XMPP bridge, which means you can post notices to identi.ca from gtalk (gtalk uses XMPP). To post notices to identi.ca using gtalk add update@identi.ca bot to your gtalk contacts list and activate the bridge in identi.ca .

Facebook has a identi.ca app http://apps.facebook.com/identica/, which fetches notices from your identi.ca account and posts updates in facebook;

So the tree goes like,
XMPP (gtalk)-> Identi.ca ->{Twitter,facebook}

Now, the heck it relates to emacs? yes, use emacs-jabber and msg update@identi.ca to post notices;

BitlBee:

Alternatively, you can use BitlBee; BitlBee brings IM (instant messaging) to IRC clients. It's a great solution for people who have an IRC client running all the time and don't want to run an additional MSN/AIM/whatever client.

Bitlbee and erc can be combined to get a good experience;

Configuring bitlbee:

cat /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf |grep -v "#"
[settings]

RunMode = inetd
User = bitlbee
DaemonInterface = 127.0.0.1
DaemonPort = 6667
ClientInterface = 0.0.0.0
AuthMode = Open
ConfigDir = /var/lib/bitlbee/
PingInterval = 0

[defaults]

We use xinetd to run bitlbee:

bash-4.0$ cat /etc/xinetd.d/bitlbee
# default: off
# description: bitlbee is an IRC gateway to other IM networks.
service ircd
{
disable = no
socket_type = stream
protocol = tcp
wait = no
user = bitlbee
bind = 127.0.0.1
server = /usr/sbin/bitlbee
type = UNLISTED
port = 6667
log_on_failure += USERID
}

Start xinetd,

service xinetd start
chkconfig xinetd on

Now in emacs,

M-x erc
IRC Server: 127.0.0.1
IRC Port:6667
Nick:zer0c00l
Password:

Above erc commands should get you inside bitlbee's local irc server;

Register your nickname:

You should register your nick with local bitlbee irc server using,

register 'password'

(Don't forget to auto identify =P )

Add your IM account(s):

account add jabber email@gmail.com 'password'

Activate your IM account(s):

account on 0

Now it should automatically connect you to gtalk; Bitlbee supports Various IM networks including yahoo;

Identica Mode for Emacs:

If you don't want wasting your time with bitlbee, emacs-jabber and XMPP bridge; Then emacs-identica-mode is the one for you;Its under review at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=532241

Identica mode for emacs HOWTO: http://blog.nethazard.net/identica-mode-for-emacs/

Setting up a Network installation Server

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:51:00 +0000

Couple of days back , i have installed nearly 100 machines of my alma mater's lab with Fedora 11. I used PXE based network installation instead of using DVD's on each machine.I tried to document it here, as it might help someone who tries to do the same in future.

To install Fedora , we need the iso image (DVD) inside the hard disk. If you have a DVD but not the iso file its easy to create the iso file from DVD, just insert the DVD inside the machine and issue the following command,

dd if=/dev/sr0 of=/media/disk-1/fedora11.iso

Install following packages in your existing Fedora installation by using,

yum install httpd syslinux tftp-server dhcp system-config-kickstart

Configure TFTP server:

The TFTP Server configuration file is stored in /etc/xinetd.d/tftp

Example configuration file,

service tftp
{
disable = no
socket_type = dgram
protocol = udp
wait = yes
user = root
server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
server_args = -s /tftpboot/
per_source = 11
cps = 100 2
flags = IPv4
}

Note the server_args variable , it refers to the TFTP root.

start the TFTP server using,

/etc/init.d/xinetd start

Configuring DHCP:

The DHCP configuration file is stored in /etc/dhcpd.conf
Sample configuration file:

allow booting;
allow bootp;
ddns-update-style interim;
ignore client-updates;
authoritative;
subnet 172.16.16.0 netmask 255.255.240.0 {
option subnet-mask 255.255.240.0;
option broadcast-address 172.16.31.255;
range dynamic-bootp 172.16.28.2 172.16.28.240;
next-server 172.16.24.199 ;
filename "pxelinux.0";
}

Note 1:
In above sample configuration file, next-server is the IP address of your TFTP server.
The IP addresses in above configuration file should be adjusted according to your network.

Note 2:
If DHCP fails to start, check /var/log/messages for error messages.

Start the DHCP server using,

/etc/init.d/dhcpd start

Using Kickstart:

Kick start file is used to automate the installation process,

Open kickstart file creator by issuing following command,

system-config-kickstart

When configuring kickstart using GUI, it should be noted that, the "Installation Method" should be "HTTP" , "HTTP server" field should be the IP address of machine which is having Fedora DVD dump. The "HTTP Directory" should be the directory in which you dumped (mounted) the iso file (here it is 'fedora11').

The packages to be installed can be preselected from the GUI tool.

After selecting various options from the kickstart GUI tool, save the file as ks.cfg.

Setting up Apache Webserver:

I have assumed my machines IP address is 172.16.24.199

Create a folder named fedora11 in /var/www/html/ (need to be root)

Mount the Fedora's ISO image (needs to be root) inside /var/www/html/fedora11/ using,

mount -o loop /media/disk-1/fedora11.iso /var/www/html/fedora11/

Copy the ks.cfg (kickstart file) inside /var/www/html/

Start Apache webserver using,

service httpd start

Copying files to TFTP root:

Create a directory named /tftproot

Copy the kernel (vmlinuz) and ramdisk (initrd.img ) from the DVD and paste it in /tftproot/ directory. (you can find kernel and ramdisk in images/pxeboot/ directory of the installation media or the ISO file.)

Copy the /usr/share/syslinux/pxelinux.0 inside /tftpboot/ directory.

Create a directory named /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg

Create a file named 'default' and place it inside /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/ directory,

The content of the 'default' file should be,

DEFAULT pxeboot
TIMEOUT 10
LABEL pxeboot
KERNEL vmlinuz
APPEND initrd=initrd.img ksdevice=eth0 ks=http://172.16.24.199/ks.cfg lang=en_US keymap=us
ONERROR LOCALBOOT 0

Booting clients:

Switch on the machine in which you wish to install Fedora, enter into Bios setup and Enable PXE booting with LAN. Set the first boot device to network interface card (if required) and start booting from the network. Thats it!

Further Reading:
Cobbler - Installation server https://fedorahosted.org/cobbler/
ks.cfg - Sample kickstart file http://sagarun.fedorapeople.org/misc/ks.cfg

What i am up to these days

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:17:00 +0000

Whenever some one ping's me in gtalk the first question he/she asks is "What doin?" "vetti?" ( 'vetti' means scratching the chair/bench without doing/having any job to do :P)

I am really tired of answering those people, how many times i can sing the same song to each and everyone? so i decided to write what really i am up to these days.

I am happy to announce that, i finished my dgplug summer training task, which is "Kannel SMS setup on fedora" check it out http://wiki.dgplug.org/index.php/SummerTraining09:Projects/Kannel_SMS_setup_on_fedora

Then i joined Indradg's intern ship, and did following tasks

Configured squid http://www.burntomlette.in/index.php?title=Squid

Configured OpenLDAP and made squid to authenticate it users with OpenLDAP http://www.burntomlette.in/index.php?title=Squid_authentication_with_LDAP

Indradg wanted me to use Fedora-DS instead of OpenLDAP , so i did the same.
http://www.burntomlette.in/index.php?title=Squid_authentication_with_FedoraDS

Currently i am working on a piece of php code which i wrote for a website and trying to port it under codeigniter framework.

In the mean time i am keeping an eye on spechards MediaSpy project ;) and Qt software.

Finally, Yesterday my Head Of the Department has asked me to have a look inside my alma mater's IBM blade server and configure mail, so have to work on it :) !

My response to subverted national draft policy on open standards

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:55:00 +0000

Pro-Microsoft entities like NASSCOM,MAIT are trying to subvert the Draft policy on open standards crafted by GOI by changing it in last minute.
Download the subverted draft from here.Everything seems ok, except the section 6.

In response to the subverted draft, i have sent an email to those who are relevant as urged by this post.

===
Dear Sir,

I am an engineering graduate from TamilNadu. I happened to read the updated (subverted) National draft policy on open standards from http://fosscomm.in/OpenStandards?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=Policy_On_Open_Standards_V2.pdf .

I strongly disagree with section 6,which has been introduced to favour proprietary software companies like Microsoft.Why there should be mandatory characteristics in section 5 , as they can be overlooked as specified in section 6.

More than one standard will create lot of confusion.There is no use in this Policy if you go ahead with section 6.

I came to know that section 6 was introduced by NASSCOM and MAIT who always favour the people who they do business with (Microsoft)(no ethics only profit?).

I would like to give you some pointers regarding the reactions in electronic media about the policy change:

1. http://lists.fosscom.in/pipermail/network-fosscom.in/2009-July/000346.html
2. http://osindia.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-minute-dramas-around-around-open.html

Thanks and Regards
Arun SAG

--
A computer is like air conditioning: it becomes useless when you open windows.
<-Fighting 4 Freedom->

===

Similarly kapil has sent an explanatory reply on the subverted draft, you can find the copy of his response here.

Getting started with Git and Gitorious

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:32:00 +0000

This is my small 'how to' regarding Git and Gitorious.Its targeted towards the beginners.

For Git mbuf has created a nice presentation named "di-git-ally-managing-love-letters" :),i suggest beginners to read and understand it first.

Link to the presentation:
http://shakthimaan.com/downloads/glv/presentations/di-git-ally-managing-love-letters.pdf

He explained the slides in an IRC classroom session, the logs of that class is available in dgplug's wiki

Link to the his session logs:
http://www.dgplug.org/irclogs/2009/2009-06-30_mbuf_git.log

The above two materials can be used as an excellent how-to for Git beginners.

Gitorious:

Gitorious is a website that provides you with infrastructure to manage your project.It uses Git as a Version Control System.

Using Gitorious:

1.You need to create an account in Gitorious.Its fairly simple and straight forward.

2.You need the public key to be uploaded (copied and pasted) in Gitorious.

Creating a public key:

Install openssh:

sudo yum install openssh

Run ssh-keygen:

bash-3.2$ ssh-keygen
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/zer0c00l/.ssh/id_rsa):/home/zer0c00l/.ssh/id_rsa_test
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in id_rsa_test.
Your public key has been saved in /home/zer0c00l/.ssh/id_rsa_test.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
fb:db:03:4d:43:ca:37:02:0f:b6:90:22:ca:71:60:15 zer0c00l@localhost
The key's randomart image is:
+--[ RSA 2048]----+
| ooE. . |
|..... o + . |
|..o. . o * o |
|.. . = = |
| S = o |
| .. . |
| . . |
| . .. |
| o... |
+-----------------+
bash-3.2$

Note: The password need not be your root or current user accounts password.

The public key will be stored in: /home/(yourusername)/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

bash-3.2$ cat /home/zer0c00l/.ssh/id_rsa_test.pub
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABIwAAAQEA0nQ56VUU7nHjBWZPUja1nsCofdYfJhAu9XZtcixKBTZp6lKgQxnOwXYszhk6W9eV/GRcht3DL7L6i1pnyc8vic1xpC9/tkMcwEkglLhWfN3SNR6MmNPTb4mM1DeLCdyd5f7Ff6kYgy2s8RmYBf2YopfbMUlyXIlKec1AHIsqvG+YixCMTOpl5io0619ac1R0xaP6E7h8hepvUEGcKmBnuxg8UhEifj+m3NG3XJvWWUx1zTvB1CXyFNx3qiFj+UxkdrmeDO/PdEPd9HcaN1jX3e1Y+jqUD8QdlEVAC9tkGIN6mG3BpVgWdsRlMtEFUPsHPFGC6tmjzuJAVOT1Hk5ROQ== zer0c00l@localhost
bash-3.2$

So copy it and paste the public key in Gitorious.

Note: Don't copy my key :P, you don't know the password.

3.Create a project

http://gitorious.org/new

4.Add repositories

5.Push the code from your local Git repository to remote Gitorious repository.

Gitorious provides users with possible workflow commands relevant to each operation.(see screen shot for more details )

Edit: If you want to start and don't know where to begin, start cloning my code ;)

git clone git://gitorious.org/kalaisurabi_php_code/mainline.git

My Summer Training Task:Kannel SMS setup on fedora

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:42:00 +0000

I came to know about dgplug's summer training when kushal announced it in ilugc,i didn't know mbuf will be there to guide us [:)] ,my task in summer training is to setup a SMS gateway on fedora with kannel, test it and document it.

With the help of kannel you can send/receive sms from your GNU/Linux box.(Don't just think of some third party text message sending sites [:P], its more than that )

Here are the use case scenarios i am trying to address:

* User sends us a text message.

* We might send them a reply after processing it (web application is used to process the text message).

* We might also periodically able to send the user text messages.

I successfully completed testing the last use case and in the process of documenting it.

I always wanted to create a desktop app for GNU/Linux with GTK+ ,i am thinking of picking up another project after finishing this task [;)].

Apart from summer training i am now teaching php in a private training centre for free,you know what teaching is the best way for doing some GNU/Linux advocacy [:D].

btw: Switch to firefox 3.5 ;)

Nerd or Geek?

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:06:00 +0000

I had an interesting conversation with my school and college mate , whether we both are nerds or geeks...

Conversation with mafriend@gmail.com/gmail.26A0C263

Conversation with mafriend@gmail.com on Wed 13 May 2009 03:21:44 PM IST:
(03:21:44 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: just looked at ur fotoz awsome dude
(03:22:08 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:22:09 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:22:13 PM) SAGA: thnx da
(03:22:20 PM) SAGA: thats uvari
(03:22:21 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:22:27 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: gracylyne is rit (gracelyne started it all, she commented on my photo , and called me NERD)
(03:22:32 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: u r nerdy guy
(03:22:32 PM) SAGA: hehehe
(03:22:33 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:22:36 PM) SAGA: illaaa
(03:22:38 PM) SAGA: geek
(03:22:41 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:22:42 PM) SAGA: hehehe
(03:23:11 PM) SAGA: did u saw that thing on back of ma tshirt? (there was a nice sentence abt linux in my t-shirt, which i uploaded in a social n/wking website)
(03:23:36 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: u r a GEEK i agree
(03:23:44 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: s that was awesome
(03:23:49 PM) SAGA: yaa
(03:23:57 PM) SAGA: nerds are bookish ppl
(03:24:13 PM) SAGA: there is lot of difference b/w geeks and nerds
(03:24:23 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: ok :-)
(03:26:26 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: nerds are not bookish
(03:26:46 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: they are the people with above average IQ
(03:26:57 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: geeks are imaginative
(03:27:04 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:27:42 PM) SAGA: http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-the-Difference-Between-Nerds-and-Geeks

(03:29:32 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: "geek" is someone who is a nerd without "skillz."
(03:29:38 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: this is perfect
(03:29:44 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:29:48 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:30:11 PM) SAGA: i never had probs with socializing with ppl as nerds

(03:31:14 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: Hobbies involving Calculus, Quantum Physics, and other theoretical sciences are good indications of a nerd, while an obsession with Japanese Manga or some form of technology puts them in line with a geek.
(03:31:25 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: this is another perfect short
(03:31:52 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:32:01 PM) SAGA: so your are a nerd
(03:32:07 PM) SAGA: and SAG is a geek
(03:32:09 PM) SAGA: right?
(03:32:41 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: i dont agree
(03:32:45 PM) SAGA: yy?
(03:32:49 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: im a lame man still
(03:32:55 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: nerds may speak in layman's terms for your benefit because you may not understand the basic concepts of their area interest. Geeks may speak in detail about their own interests, unconcerned with whether or not you truly comprehend it.
(03:33:13 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: this point is little obstarcle 2 me 2 be called as nerd
(03:33:21 PM) SAGA: hahahaha
(03:33:22 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:33:25 PM) SAGA: whatever
(03:33:36 PM) SAGA: but nerd and geeks are complicated terms
(03:33:38 PM) SAGA: :)
(03:33:58 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: ill say the most complicated
(03:34:03 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:34:04 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:34:07 PM) SAGA: correct
(03:34:08 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: im 80% nerd and 20% geek
(03:34:19 PM) SAGA: i am the opposite
(03:34:20 PM) SAGA: :P
(03:34:27 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: s :-)
(03:34:41 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: all coz of daniel thomaz (daniel thomaz is ma school )
(03:34:49 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: theve made people like that
(03:34:55 PM) SAGA: hey , i saw pearl 2 days back (pearl is a girl, and my school mate)
(03:34:55 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: blame them
(03:35:01 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: Ho!
(03:35:03 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: gr8
(03:35:04 PM) SAGA: but didnt have chance to speak wit her
(03:35:15 PM) SAGA: she looks same
(03:35:20 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: she became lean and black
(03:35:21 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: ma mom said
(03:35:23 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:35:29 PM) SAGA: she became lean
(03:35:31 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: she saw her a year back
(03:35:35 PM) SAGA: oh
(03:35:39 PM) SAGA: i saw her in a marriage
(03:35:42 PM) SAGA: tvl
(03:35:47 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: Oh!
(03:35:51 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: whos marriage
(03:35:52 PM) SAGA: she stared at me from a long distance
(03:35:53 PM) SAGA: lol
(03:36:02 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: did she know u
(03:36:07 PM) SAGA: ADJ family marriage function
(03:36:10 PM) SAGA: i guess so
(03:36:15 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: Oh!
(03:36:25 PM) SAGA: i look the same right?
(03:36:45 PM) SAGA: u have her email id or something?
(03:36:50 PM) SAGA: she never uses computers?
(03:37:10 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: no
(03:37:19 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: i dont have any of her contacts
(03:37:21 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: Nerds may not feel the need to defend attacks against their areas of interest, since their fields are far too advanced to be toppled by simple arguments. However, geeks may find the need to defend their interests when attacked. The interests of geeks are often ridiculed or put-down by those who do not fully appreciate them. For nerds, they know that their interests are beyond normal peoples' understanding, so they just accept that as a natural phenomenon.
(03:37:40 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: this is little interesting abt NERDY behaviour
(03:37:52 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:37:55 PM) SAGA: Nerds dont care
(03:37:56 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:37:57 PM) SAGA: yaaa
(03:38:11 PM) SAGA: but i care if my opinion is harmed
(03:38:13 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:38:16 PM) SAGA: i am no nerd
(03:38:17 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:38:37 PM) mafriend@gmail.com: i wont care
(03:38:45 PM) SAGA: :)
(03:38:47 PM) SAGA: :D
(03:39:19 PM) SAGA: mafriend its an interesting conversation
(03:39:23 PM) SAGA: i am gonna save it
(03:39:24 PM) SAGA: :D

So All guyz and gals Dont call me Nerd call me Geek ! I am not a Nerd, I am the Geek :D

How GNU/Linux helps those poor and helpless windoze users

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:13:00 +0000

I used to be the Windows virus killer in my hostel, when ever some one's system gets infected or he gets annoyed by those windows virus they call me.LOL even they call me as a doctor :P .I don't use that windoze sh1t these days.

But you cannot say those poor folks that, i can't remove that autorun.inf and KHATARA.exe (some virus that targets ms outlook), its all about helping your neighbours right?

May be my tips will help those other doctors (aka windoze virus killer ;) )

I usually plug that infected usb drive inside my GNU/Linux box and use the below command:

find . -name "*.exe" -exec rm -i {} +;

What it does is that, it recursively searches from the current directory for files with EXE extension, when it finds a file with EXE extension it passes it as an argument to interactive rm command , which deletes that EXE file if you press 'y' .HeHe i won't press that 'y' ,the usb drive owner usually does that :P (some viruses usually replicate themselves , you could see some 100 virus files inside an usb drive :O, so the owner will press 'y' 100 times :P).

some windoze apologist may say, "who cares about your linux, i will format my usb drive", What if your usb drive contains some usefull data that you really care about?, please don't say "I WILL USE THAT FREE ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM WHICH IS JUST 10 MB" , most antivirus programs don't give a sh1t about those new viruses these days.

Some people ask about the operating system i am using, i usually explain about it,impressed folks usually ask me to install GNU/Linux for them:),so far i did some 20 GNU/Linux installs in the hostel alone.

It's really sad that i am going to leave the hostel soon (course completed ), i am going to really miss this virus doctor job ;)

Happy hacking ;)

Super ubuntu for linux noobs

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Some one from http://hacktolive.org/ has created/remastered the ubuntu 8.10 with additional features ;), he calls it as super ubuntu. It has all type of media playback by default and has most of the apps.

Here is the list of features:

* System and application updates: all updates released for Ubuntu, GIMP 2.6.3, OpenOffice.org 3, Firefox 3.0.4
* Better Multimedia Support: MPlayer and VLC, DVD-playback, MP3 support and other multimedia codecs
* Better Internet experience: aMSN, aMule, Adobe Flash player and Opera
* Support for portable applications/other installation methods: Autopackage, SFS Technology, Smart Package Manager, Wine and Zero Install
* Support for more technologies: Java RE, Microsoft Office 2007 file formats, others...
* Graphical interfaces/managers: compizconfig-settings-manager (Compiz), Gufw (Uncomplicated firewall), ndisgtk (NDISwrapper) and padevchooser (PulseAudio)
* Utilities: Adobe Reader, EnvyNG, Furius ISO Mount, GParted, NDISwrapper, Ubuntu Tweak and StartUp-Manager
* Extra repositories

Download Super ubuntu:

http://hacktolive.org/wiki/Super_Ubuntu (http)

http://www.mininova.org/tor/2101216 (torrent)

This version of ubuntu has been created with reconstructor (http://reconstructor.aperantis.com/)

PS:I intentionally omitted GNU as this version ubuntu doesn't confirm to GNU's philosophy .

Download All media player plugins of ubuntu 8.10 offline

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:10:00 +0000

Ubuntu 9.04 is going to be out soon (just 1 day i guess),This is post is for 8.10 users, If you install ubuntu 8.10 in your machine, you will have download each and every media plugins from the internet.

I found an offline installer for ubuntu 8.10 that could install you with all necessary plugins to enable multimedia playback.

Here is the link:
http://www.zshare.net/download/58154243c664b105/ (http)
http://www.mininova.org/tor/2450336 (torrent)

Read more about ubuntu offline installer here: http://hacktolive.org/wiki/Ubuntu-restricted-extras_offline_installer

Ok you have a good internet connection, you don't want this offline installer or it doesn't work ,you could still install all these plugins using a single command.

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Enable all software sources in software sources list before using above command (see below picture)

Download VLC media player offline: http://hacktolive.org/wiki/VLC_offline_installer_(Ubuntu)

WARNING:The above said steps will install proprietary blobs inside your computer, if you really care about the free software philosophy and freedom, refrain from using them.

Microsoft thinks their users are fools.

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:37:00 +0000

I came to know that windows 7(aka: vista 7) will only allow users to run three applications at a time.This is real shame.

"This edition is intended for poor and developing nations" (omg)

Here is the press release:

We know emerging markets have unique needs and we will offer Windows 7 Home Basic, only in emerging markets, for customers looking for an entry-point Windows experience on a full-size value PC.

We’ll also continue to offer Windows Starter edition, which will only be offered pre-installed by an OEM. Windows Starter edition will now be available worldwide. This edition is available only in the OEM channel on new PCs limited to specific types of hardware.

Do yourself a favour: Use free and fully functional operating systems like fedora or ubuntu, don't use this cripple ware please.

References:
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/21/1356245&from=rss

My maiden Drupal webportal

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 04:33:00 +0000

I have been asked to develop a web portal for my departments upcoming international conference, iconct09.

First i showed them drupal.They were using old and outdated proprietary server side scripting language ASP.

I took care of drupal modules,juniors took care of the themes, i would like to mention some of the modules i used.

Conference ->Awesome module by zyxware technologies, i personally thank Mr.Santhosh raju who now maintains the module for zyxware,When ever i say there is an issue with the module, he helped me by fixing the code immediately, i sometimes wondered is this an example for cathedral and Bazaar, yes it is, the developer directly gets feedback from the end user and changes things.

Email registration -> allows user to login using email id

Feedback -> Cool floating feedback bar

CCK ->content construction kit (needed by Conference module)

Auto assign Role ->Assigns default role to newly registered users

SMTP authentication support -> allows you to use another smtp server (local windoze smtp server or gmail smtp server)

Admin menu and Admin menu drop down -> Cool drop down menu for admins

Jquery Menu -> To enable cool expandable jquery menus.

Backup and Migrate -> To backup mysql database

Theme -> Acquia Marina

Have a look at the web portal and feel free to give a feedback ;) http://www.mepcoeng.ac.in:81/iconct09

Issues:

For some people their organization may be blocking port 81, so use a web proxy like https://ctunnel.com/ ;)

This month Fedora classrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:41:00 +0000

This month fedora classroom classes are going to happen on april 4 and 5.

Topics Finalized are ,

April 4:

1.Setting up a Virtual Routing Environment using Fedora and User Mode Linux -- Balaji Gurudass
2.Introduction to Netlink Sockets - What are they -- Balaji Gurudass

April 5:

1.Introduction to busybox and qemu on fedora -- Balaji Gurudass
2.Fedora Networking Basics -- Kevin Fenzi

Classes will start at 10.15 UTC ('date -u' will give you the time in UTC ;) )

Meet you all there in irc.freenode.net #fedora-classroom

More Details @ https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Classroom

Flirting with ettercap #1

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:05:00 +0000

Playing in schools network is kind of fun ;-).You might have heard about cain , it for windoze to play around in network.

Gnu/Linux got a more cool tool called ettercap (i have been using it for years) get it from ettercap.sourceforge.net.

Fedora Guys could install it with "yum install ettercap"

Getting Started with Ettercap:

i mostly work in runlevel 3, if not open up terminal (or ctrl+alt+f1 ;)) Switch to root user, because normal users cannot open raw sockets i guess. (correct me if i am wrong)

Just type: "ettercap"

It will ask you to select an user interface.

ettercap NG-0.7.3 copyright 2001-2004 ALoR & NaGA

Please select an User Interface

Here Interface refers to whether you want "Text" interface or "Ncurses" interface or "Gtk" interface.As we are working in terminal we use text interface (I am a command freak )

T <- for Text interface
C <- for Ncurses interface
G <- for GTK interface

we are going to use T. Type:"ettercap -T" in terminal.

You will see contents of packets being printed on your terminal so we started listening to the active interface.Any time press 'q' to quit ettercap its the safest way to quit ettercap (no ctrl+c please, its deprecated )

Now Type: "ettercap -Tq"

What we are doing is, asking ettercap to be quiet, "Hey ettercap don't sh*t on my screen by printing the contents of each packet you capture"

Network Interface Selection:

A computer might have more than one network interfaces like your wired lan, wireles lan,loopback interface and so on.

ettercap can work on any interfaces, all we have to is tell ettercap which network interface to use.

To list the available network interfaces

Type "ettercap -Tq -I"

ettercap NG-0.7.3 copyright 2001-2004 ALoR & NaGA

List of available Network Interfaces:

eth0 eth0
lo Local Loopback

so, we have two network interfaces eth0 and lo.

To select the network interface use "ettercap -Tq -i eth0", i have selected my wired lan so that ettercap will listen and sniff packets.

If you are those windoze user, i am sorry you have to deal with odd network interface names.

Man in the niddle attack with ettercap:

Type:"ettercap -Tq -i eth0 -M arp:remote /target-range1/ /target-range2/

The packets between target-range1 and target-range will be hijacked and they will be going through our machine (magic of arp-cache-poisoning)

Example:"ettercap -Tq -i eth0 -M arp:remote /192.168.1.1/ //"

Let 192.168.1.1 is the gateway of our network,then all the packets between the gateway and all the machines in the subnet will be going through our machine (i.e we are the gateway for all the machines :P )

Another Example:"ettercap -Tq -i eth0 -M arp:remote /192.168.1.12-25/ /192.168.1.26-50/

We could specify range of ip address.

Packet Logging:

type:"ettercap -Tq -L dump -i eth0"

Two files will be created dump.eci and dump.ecp these files can be analysed with etterlog ;) .

type:"etterlog dump.eci"

It will display the connection details of dumped packets.

type:"etterlog -p dump.eci"

It will display the passwords captured if any ;)

man etterlog for more details.

Some people might want to view the captured packets in more cool protocol analyser like wireshark, but you cannot open dump.eci and dump.ecp with wireshark.To do so you have to save the packets in pcap (tcpdump) format.

use "ettercap -Tq -w dump -i eth0"

After completing packet capture you could directly open the dump using wireshark.

converting from pcap format to etterlog format:

Type:"ettercap -Tq -L dump -r pcap" where pcap is the packet dump file we just saved in tcpdump format.

Links:

http://openmaniak.com/id/ettercap_arp.php

http://openmaniak.com/ettercap_filter.php

Coming soon: Ettercap plugins :D

Making pidgin work in Mepco

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:55:00 +0000

For those who use Gnu/linux, pidgin (www.pidgin.im ) is the default internet messenger, the default settings in pidgin won't allow you to connect gtalk in mepco.

The reason is ,
chatenabled.google.com and talk.google.com is blocked.

We need some minor tweak to get every thing work click->Accounts->Edit account info

And in advanced tab use the setting as in above picture.

PS:The credits goes to nitin as he was the first to find this hack B-)

The quote i love a lot

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Yesterday i happened to watch pulp fiction, there was a quote by SAMUEL L. JACKSON, I simply loved it here it is,

Jules: You read the Bible?

Ringo: Not regularly.

Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you." I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. .45 here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin, Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.

Beware of TOYA boys

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:57:00 +0000

You know whenever people come to my room with some kind of virus problem in their windoze machine, i usually ask them to give a try to Gnu/Linux.

But you know these Toya boys, usually ask those people remove GNU/linux, by telling some FUD's.
They never change for good and dont allow others to change.

I thought initially that its only happening to me, no these TOYA boys are every where...
Take a look at http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2009/03/toya-boys-fight-linux-flow.html

So what is TOYA? TOYA="Talkin' Out Your A**."

India Moves to Free Software, So Microsoft Fights Back with Gentle Bribes and Partners

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:05:00 +0000

Roy schestowitz of boycottnovell writes on Recent FOSS happening in india, and how microsoft is fighting back with bribes..

Dont forget to read "Microsoft Fights Back with “Addiction” Ware" subpost ;)

Read more at http://boycottnovell.com/2009/03/16/india-moves-to-free-software/

Wanna Learn Gnu/Linux? Fedora Guys will teach you

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:45:00 +0000

The fedora community is going to conduct weekend long list of events for people to get acquainted with fedora and Gnu/Linux.It will be like virtual class room.

All classes will be held in irc @ #fedora-classroom in irc.freenode.net. If you are not familiar with irc, see https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate/IRCHowTo

Those who frequently ask me about *standard books* to learn Gnu/Linux please make use of this opportunity.

For more information about the classes and time lines please go to https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Classroom

Badam halwa foss conf 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai (TCE), has conducted a 3 day conference on free open source software (www.fossconf.in) with a little help ilugc and nrcfoss.I attended all the three days.

As we registered for a demo stall, for the first two days i was busy explaining about my demo stall.
The demo stall was on "Security power tools in linux".Initially i thought of giving demo on nmap,ettercap and metasploit framework.But removed metasploit framework at the last moment.

Most people came there were familiar with nmap.I explained them about ettercap.How to create hostlist.How to do a MITM with ettercap.How to use various ettercap plugins.I explained about arp cache poisoning.

They provided internet connection (both wireless and wired) and assigned ip in class A.So i took some range to demo ettercap.

I nmaped their proxy server.Intercepted communication between particular range of computers and the proxy server to demo ettercap (well no offence, i havent stored or captured any thing important).

People were amazed to see the TFT screen of my laptop when i started packet visualization (packet visualization just printf's all packets)

One guy from TCE claimed that nmap is a freeware not free software (Oh my holy god), i took pain to show the license information in the man pages of nmap.(/gpl)

Kids of TVS matric higher secondary school,explained about their demo stalls in cute english.I bow Mr.Raman who made a wise choice of giving prizes to encourage the school students.

Today in Tamilnadu foss grows really in schools not in colleges (:() .I know a lot of engineering students who dont know a heck about linux, this is a real shame.

I met people like shakthi kannan (http://www.shakthimaan.com/) .Jaya Engineering college CSE hod, who is the stepping stone for foss in his college (www.jayafossclub.org).I met collabnet people (people who created svn).Ubuntu tamil team.

On the last day, the demo stalls were closed, so attended talks. Morning I attended the first session which was about NRC-FOSS academic initiatives (?).And raised some interesting questions.

Then second session i attended was about "Network tools in linux" by barathi subramaniam.Which was very basic to me.

The third was about Eclipse IDE.

And fourth was a blast, people who created SVN explained us about SVN,GIT and CVS.

See pictures:http://www.shakthimaan.com/Mambo/gallery/album53
more pictures:http://www.flickr.com/photos/35956002@N03/

Long live foss and foss conference.. :-)

Mepco got enlightened

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:48:00 +0000

The Computer Society of India of Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi organized a two-day workshop, "Innovate 09", on Free/Open Source Softwares on February 21 (Saturday) and February 22 (Sunday), 2009 in the college premises. Mr. S.Baskar, CEO of LinuXpert Systems, Chennai and Mr. Ravi Jaya, free-lance trainer conducted this training programme. This event recorded a total of 382 participants comprising of students from various colleges in the vicinity of Mepco schlenk engineering college.

Name of the College Total No. of Participants

1) Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi 168
2) Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College, Sivakasi 110
3) Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil 90
4) Sethu Institute of Technology, Kariapatti 7
5) Karunya University, Coimbatore 3
6) SCAD Engineering College, Tirunelveli 2
7) PSNA Engineering College, Dindigul 1
8) Dr. Sivandhi Adithanar Engineering College, Tiruchendur 1

Total 382 students

Before the commencement of workshop, we had installed Fedora-10 distribution in four labs comprising of nearly 140 machines using
the FOSS-Lab Server provided by LinuXpert Systems.

On day one, around 345 students attended the session which dealt with the introduction and basics to the Linux Operating System like Linux installation, Introduction to FOSS, Basic Linux commands, Introduction to LAMP/MySQL, Web Development with PHP and Apache HTTPD Web Server in Linux.

On day two, around 275 students participated in the session which included Shell Scripting, PERL Programming, Python scripting, Virtualization and MySQL Administration using PHPMyAdmin.

The workshop accomplished the aim of providing a spark of knowledge about FOSS into the minds of the students...

My first talk on Gnu/Linux and free software

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Today,I have conducted a tech talk on Gnu/Linux in my college ..People were very excited about the compiz-fusion effects i shown them..I just covered the very basic things..Even most of them asked questions back..One girl came forward and tried her hands with compiz effects :)

It was really a mixture of fun , free software philosophy and knowledge ...Thanks to club innovative.

Upcoming Foss Events:

State level workshop on Linux -venue:Mepco schlenk Engineering College,sivakasi. date:Feb21,Feb22
(All are invited, for more details please contact jagadish1988[at]gmail[dot][com] )

National level Conference on FOSS: -Venue:TCE, madurai dates:Feb 27, Feb 28 and Mar 1

(For more details goto www.fossconf.in)

well i am not going to conduct those events (just a participant)..They are going to be conducted by professionals

See you all there :)

Those who missed my tech talk please feel free to download the presentation(pdf) (odp) and mail me for any clarifications..

A call to the Gnu/Linux community!

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:43:00 +0000

Credits for the original poster:http://gedece.blogspot.com

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.

This game is being pirated because it's really good, but with the same mindlessness that they pirate big chain's 40 or 60 dollar games. And that's something that's completely unfair, because this isn't some impersonal game chain, here they are going against a pair of extremely imaginative programmers that released an addictive, intelligent and anything but monotonous game,

The game also features a generous whole chapter demo, so you can't complain that you can't test it before buying it.

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.

Even more, when the Linux version of World of Goo is released and we buy a lot of copies, this will bring a press release of enormous importance "There are more Original copies of a Linux version of a game sold than for Windows". This sends three important messages: There are games for Linux, there's money to be made programming for Linux and, more important of all, there's no need for anticopy systems under Linux to make people buy the games.

This is why I make this political declaration: I'm now saving the 20 dollars to buy the game once it's released for Linux. I strongly suggest you all do the same.

This article can be copied in other sites, as long as Demasiado Personal http://gedece.blogspot.com is given credit as the first site where this appeared.

How your piracy helps Microsoft?

noreply@blogger.com (Arun SAG) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:07:00 +0000

I hate the word "piracy" people from M$ uses it often..

Richard stallman says "pirates are people attacking ships; they have nothing to do with software "

Well i found something on IT wire.com on how microsoft feels about piracy!

Snippets from ITwire article:

"Gates has also, in the past, confirmed how important piracy is to Microsoft: "Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but people don't pay for the software... Someday they will, though. As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.""

Read more