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Fedora vs Ubuntu: What are the key differences?  TechRepublic

Blender 3.2 is releasing this morning as the newest version of this open-source, cross-platform 3D modeling and animation software package. Blender 3.2 finally adds AMD GPU-accelerated rendering support on Linux and many other refinements...

Following yesterday's release of SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP4, today the openSUSE community has released openSUSE Leap 15.4 that is free and built from the same shared sources as SLE 15 SP4...

Ubuntu 22.04 Ups The Performance For TUXEDO's AMD Ryzen Linux Laptop  Phoronix

Last month I published a review on the TUXEDO Aura 15 Gen2 laptop that is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5000 series SoC and initially shipped with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. But with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS now having been released -- and TUXEDO Computers shifting over to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS -- here is a look at the performance uplift that can be expected from this new Ubuntu long-term support version.

How to get the Pop!_OS Window Tiling feature on other GNOME Desktops  Dignited

All of the Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts and How to Use Them  Online Tech Tips

In addition to Intel already starting work on Meteor Lake enablement in Coreboot, this week Intel open-source engineers have also been submitting more code for Raptor Lake as the CPUs expected later this year as the successor to Alder Lake...

In addition to Intel already starting work on Meteor Lake enablement in Coreboot, this week Intel open-source engineers have also been submitting more code for Raptor Lake as the CPUs expected later this year as the successor to Alder Lake...

Rufus for Linux? Here Are the Best Live USB Creating Tools  It's FOSS

The GNU C Library (Glibc) now has a memory copy (memcpy) implementation optimized for Arm's Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) that can "significantly" improve performance...

The SDL library that is widely used by cross-platform games as a software/hardware abstraction layer has merged support for the Chinese LoongArch CPU architecture...

Ubuntu Users Get a Massive Linux Kernel Update, 35 Security Vulnerabilities Patched  9to5Linux

For those making use of the lighttpd lightweight and speedy web server, a new release is now available of this BSD-licensed open-source software. Most notable with lighttpd 1.4.65 is support for WebSockets over HTTP/2...

Linux Software Market Is Booming Worldwide | Google, Twitter, IBM, RedHat, Novell, Samsung, DELL – mbu timeline  mbu timeline

I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems all too well  The Register

Install Pale Moon Browser on Debian 11 Bullseye  Linux Shout

I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems all too well  The Register

How I gave my old laptop new life with the Linux Xfce desktop Jim Hall Wed, 06/08/2022 - 03:00 1 reader likes this 1 reader likes this

A few weeks ago, I needed to give a conference presentation that included a brief demonstration of a small app I'd written for Linux. I needed a Linux laptop to bring to the conference, so I dug out an old laptop and installed Linux on it. I used the Fedora 36 Xfce spin, which worked great.

The laptop I used was purchased in 2012. The 1.70 GHz CPU, 4 GB memory, and 128 GB drive may seem small compared to my current desktop machine, but Linux and the Xfce desktop gave this old machine new life.

Xfce desktop for Linux

The Xfce desktop is a lightweight desktop that provides a sleek, modern look. The interface is familiar, with a taskbar or “panel” across the top to launch applications, change between virtual desktops, or access notifications in the system tray. The quick access dock at the bottom of the screen lets you launch frequently used applications like the terminal, file manager, and web browser.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

To start a new application, click the Applications button in the upper-left corner. This opens a menu of application launchers, with the most frequently used applications like the terminal and file manager at the top. Other applications are organized into groups, so you can navigate to the one you want.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

Managing files

Xfce's file manager is called Thunar, and it does a great job of organizing my files. I like that Thunar can also make connections to remote systems. At home, I use a Raspberry Pi using SSH as a personal file server. Thunar lets me open an SSH file transfer window so I can copy files between my laptop and the Raspberry Pi.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

Another way to access files and folders is via the quick access dock at the bottom of the screen. Click the folder icon to bring up a menu of common actions such as opening a folder in a terminal window, creating a new folder, or navigating into a specific folder.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

Other applications

I loved exploring the other applications provided in Xfce. The Mousepad text editor looks like a simple text editor, but it contains useful features for editing more than just plain text. Mousepad recognizes many file types that programmers and other power users may appreciate. Check out this partial list of programming languages available in the Document menu.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

If you prefer a different look and feel, you can adjust the interface options such as font, color scheme, and line numbers using the View menu.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

The disk utility lets you manage storage devices. While I didn't need to modify my system disk, the disk tool is a great way to initialize or reformat a USB flash drive. I found the interface very easy to use.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

More Linux resources Linux commands cheat sheet Advanced Linux commands cheat sheet Free online course: RHEL technical overview Linux networking cheat sheet SELinux cheat sheet Linux common commands cheat sheet What are Linux containers? Our latest Linux articles

I was also impressed with the Geany integrated development environment. I was a bit surprised that a full IDE ran so well on an older system. Geany advertises itself as a “powerful, stable and lightweight programmer's text editor that provides tons of useful features without bogging down your workflow.” And that's exactly what Geany provided.

I started a simple “hello world” program to test out Geany, and was pleased to see that the IDE popped up syntax help as I typed each function name. The pop-up message is unobtrusive and provides just enough syntax information where I need it. While the printf function is easy for me to remember, I always forget the order of options to other functions like fputs and realloc. This is where I need the pop-up syntax help.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

Explore the menus in Xfce to find other applications to make your work easier. You'll find apps to play music, access the terminal, or browse the web.

While I installed Linux to use my laptop for a few demos at a conference, I found Linux and the Xfce desktop made this old laptop feel quite snappy. The system performed so well that when the conference was over, I decided to keep the laptop around as a second machine.

I just love working in Xfce and using the apps. Despite the low overhead and minimal approach, I don't feel underpowered. I can do everything I need to do using Xfce and the included apps. If you have an older machine that needs new life, try installing Linux to bring new life to old hardware.

While I installed Linux to use my laptop for a few demos at a conference, I found Linux and the Xfce desktop made this old laptop feel quite snappy.

Image by:

Jonas Leupe on Unsplash

Linux Hardware What to read next 8 reasons to use the Xfce Linux desktop environment This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Register or Login to post a comment.

Using Ansible to automate software installation on my Mac Servesha Dudhgaonkar Wed, 06/08/2022 - 03:00 Register or Login to like Register or Login to like

On most systems, there are several ways to install software. Which one you use depends on the source of the application you're installing. Some software comes as a downloadable wizard to walk you through an install process, while others are files you just download and run immediately.

On macOS, a whole library of open source applications is available from Unix commands like Homebrew and MacPorts. The advantage of using commands for software installation is that you can automate them, and my favorite tool for automation is Ansible. Combining Ansible with Homebrew is an efficient and reproducible way to install your favorite open source applications.

This article demonstrates how to install one of my must-have writing tools, Asciidoctor, on macOS using Ansible. Asciidoctor is an open source text processor, meaning that it takes text written in a specific format (in this case, Asciidoc) and transforms it into other popular formats (such as HTML, PDF, and so on) for publishing. Ansible is an open source, agentless, and easy-to-understand automation tool. By using Ansible, you can simplify and automate your day-to-day tasks.

Note: While this example uses macOS, the information applies to all kinds of open source software on all platforms compatible with Ansible (including Linux, Windows, Mac, and BSD).

Installing Ansible

You can install Ansible using pip, the Python package manager. First, install pip:

$ curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py
$ python ./get-pip.py

Next, install Ansible using pip:

$ sudo python -m pip install --user ansibleInstalling Ansible using Homebrew

Alternately, you can install Ansible using the Homebrew package manager. If you've already installed Ansible with pip, skip this step because you've already achieved the same result!

$ brew install ansible

More on Ansible A quickstart guide to Ansible Ansible cheat sheet Free online course: Ansible essentials Download and install Ansible eBook: The automated enterprise eBook: Ansible for DevOps Free Ansible eBooks Latest Ansible articles Configuring Ansible

To set up Ansible, you first must create an inventory file specifying which computer or computers you want your Ansible script (called a playbook) to operate on.

Create an inventory file in a terminal or using your favorite text editor. In a terminal, type the following, replacing your-host-name with the name of your computer:

$ cat << EOF >> inventory
[localhost\]
your-host-name
EOF

If you don't know your computer's hostname, you can get it using the hostname command. Alternately, go to the Apple menu, open System Preferences, then click Sharing. Your computer's hostname is beneath the computer name at the top of Sharing preference pane.

Installing Asciidoctor using Ansible

In this example, I'm only installing applications on the computer I'm working on, which is also known by the term localhost. To start, create a playbook.yml file and copy the following content:

- name: Install software
  hosts: localhost
  become: false
  vars:
    Brew_packages:
      - asciidoctor
    install_homebrew_if_missing: false

In the first YAML sequence, you name the playbook (Install software), provide the target (localhost), and confirm that administrative privileges are not required. You also create two variables that you can use later in the playbook: Brew_packages andinstall_homebrew_if_missing.

Next, create a YAML mapping called pre_tasks, containing the logic to ensure that Homebrew itself is installed on the computer where you're running the playbook. Normally, Ansible can verify whether an application is installed or not, but when that application is the package manager that helps Ansible make that determination in the first place, you have to do it manually: 

pre_tasks:
      - name: Ensuring Homebrew Is Installed
        stat:
          path: /usr/local/bin/brew
        register: homebrew_check

      - name: Fail If Homebrew Is Not Installed and install_homebrew_if_missing Is False
        fail:
          msg: Homebrew is missing, install from http://brew.sh
        when:
         - not homebrew_check.stat.exists
          - not install_homebrew_if_missing

      - name: Installing Homebrew
        shell: /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
        when:
         - not homebrew_check.stat.exists
          - install_homebrew_if_missing

Finally, create a YAML mapping called tasks containing a call to the Homebrew module (it's a built-in module from Ansible) to install Asciidoctor in the event that it's not already present:

 tasks:
    - name: Install Asciidoctor
      homebrew:
        name: asciidoctor
        state: presentRunning an Ansible playbook

You run an Ansible playbook using the ansible-playbook command:

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory playbook.yml

The -i option specifies the inventory file you created when setting up Ansible. You can optionally add -vvvv to direct Ansible to be extra verbose when running the playbook, which can be useful when troubleshooting.

After the playbook has run, verify that Ansible has successfully installed Asciidoctor on your host:

$ asciidoctor -v
Asciidoctor X.Y.Z https://asciidoctor.org
 Runtime Environment (ruby 2.6.8p205 (2021-07-07 revision 67951)...Adapt for automation

You can add more software to the Brew_packages variable in this article's example playbook. As long as there's a Homebrew package available, Ansible installs it. Ansible only takes action when required, so you can leave all the packages you install in the playbook, effectively building a manifest of all the packages you have come to expect on your computer.

Should you find yourself on a different computer, perhaps because you're at work or you've purchased a new one, you can quickly install all the same applications in one go. Better still, should you switch to Linux, the Ansible playbook is still valid either by using Homebrew for Linux or by making a few simple updates to switch to a different package manager.

In this demo, I install one of my must-have writing tools, Asciidoctor, on macOS using Ansible.

Image by:

freephotocc via Pixabay CC0

Ansible Mac Automation What to read next Introduction to Homebrew: the painless way to install anything on a Mac This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Register or Login to post a comment.