Category: Linux

Linux is my primary operating system. I used it on the servers, desktops, laptops, netbooks, and even mobile phones since approximately 1997. I’ve tried a number of distributions over the years, and even created a couple myself. I still look around sometimes to see what others are up to. But most of my machines are running some sort of Red Hat – either a quick and easy Fedora Linux, or a stable and secure Red Hat Enterprise Server, or a cheaper CentOS alternative.

And while by now I am very comfortable in the Linux environment (both graphical and command line), I still discover a lot of new and interesting things about it. When I come across something worthy, I usually share it with the rest of the Open Software world, using this category.

Fedora 18 features

Fedora Engineering Steering Committee has recently had a meeting where the upcoming Fedora 18 features were decided.  Out of the whole list, I am actually really looking forward to just one – 256 color terminals:

Many terminal programs (like vim and ls for example) can take advantage of 256 color terminals, and all xterms I know of support at least 256 colors and sometimes more.
So let’s break through the artificial 8 color limit!

Also when preparing this page, while searching the net I noticed that Mac OS X Terminal’s default $TERM value is xterm-256color since Lion 10.7 That will ease some of the compatibility issues noted below.

You can see vim’s default appearance using the above expanded palette at:

http://www.pixelbeat.org/docs/terminal_colours/#256

Sure, the upgraded Perl and Python, Samba4 and Active Directory integration, FedFs and even the MATE Desktop (based on Gnome 2.x) are all cool.  But I don’t use any of them on a daily basis anymore.  Most of my needs have moved beyond desktop and straight into the browser.  But the colorful terminal still plays a major role in my daily routine, so I’m glad to see there will be an enhancement.

What’s your most expected feature?

I’ve been using a combination of ps and grep for y…

I’ve been using a combination of ps and grep for years now.  Apparently, there is an easier way – pgrep and pkill utilities, which are a part of procps package on Fedora and CentOS distributions.

By means of On This Day WordPress plugin I got rem…

By means of On This Day WordPress plugin I got reminded of how I used to build my own Linux box for home’s media center, back in 2003.  These days there is no need, thanks to XBMC and other similar applications.  Which got me curious as to when was the first release of XBMC.  Coincidentally, it was back in 2003.  First time I’ve heard about it was probably three years ago.

Valve launches the Linux blog

Valve, a well-known game development company, has launched the Linux blog.  Apparently, there are quite a few efforts taken to port games to Linux.

The Valve Linux Team

Our mission is to strengthen the gaming scene on Linux, both for players and developers. This includes Linux ports of Steam and Valve games, as well as partner games. We are also investigating open source initiatives that could benefit the community and game developers.

Initially formed in 2011, the Valve Linux team is currently 11 people and growing. Our mission is to investigate open source development with a specific focus on supporting Steam and other Valve products on the Linux platform. The Linux background of our team varies from those who have a deep knowledge of Linux development to those who have just scratched the surface. However, one thing we all share is a great passion for supporting all things Valve on Linux.

While I’m happy to see more Linux activity and interest in Open Source, I have to say that I am a bit puzzled with the timing here.  The two trends that I see are:

  1. The move from desktop gaming to the console gaming.
  2. The move from desktop computing (desktops, laptops) to mobile computing (netbooks, tablets, smartphones).

Valve probably sees these differently.  Maybe Linux advanced far enough on the desktop to stir this interest.  Or maybe they are betting on the rise of Liux-based gaming consoles.  I don’t know.

Regardless, I hope they will continue their work in this area, and I really hope that it will result in  improvements to Open Source software.  After all, we could use some expertise from people who clearly know what they are doing.