Bits of Linux: 2015 #1

In this edition: Today the edX course Intro to Linux starts, a $20 laptop running Linux, run your favorite Linux distro in a Chrome OS window, 2 security talks from DEF CON 22, an online tool to help you improve your shell scripts and more.

📰 Articles / Videos

Gentoo Development Guide: bash -- Standard Shell

A thorough understanding of bash programming is vital when working with ebuilds. This part of the Gentoo Development Guide provides and an overview of the basic concepts you need to learn to write Bash scripts.

Google Intern added support to run Crouton in a Chrome OS Window

A Google intern submitted a 4,471 lines patch to enable fearless to run their favorite Linux distributions on their Chrome Devices in a nice window without jumping between virtual terminals as before.

Install Linux on a used laptop

With Windows XP officially discontinued there are many Windows XP laptops for sale on eBay, many of these run really well with a light Linux distro. This video shows how well Linux Mint 16 XFCE works on a $20 laptop:

💬 Discussions / Q&A

I'm confused, if ChromeOS is based off of linux, why can't it run linux apps?

Linux is just a kernel. There are no "Linux" apps per say. Chrome os has its own apis just like android does which is also Linux based. Chrome os does not include all the other things that enable most Linux apps.

ELI5 whats a shell vs theme vs a desktop enviroment

Think of a seashell. It is a covering that protects what is underneath from what is above. A shell is a layer of software that protects the system from users and brokers access to it. The command-line is a text-based shell. Think of wallpaper and carpet in your livingroom...

Why do you love Linux & FOSS?

What do you like the most? To me, it's the fact that it furthers innovation. That the technology created is a common, public good, rather than something controlled by a limited few. I like that I'm in control. That I can "pop open the hood" and look at a project's source code, if it piques my interest or if there's a bug that I just have to squash. So what about you? What do you like most about Linux and FOSS?

Which desktop environment do you prefer and why?

I don't really understand the difference between Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu, and Mint, other than the fact that they use different desktop environments. If each one is only slightly different I could be wrong, then why does it matter? Also, how is Ubuntu and Debian different, other than the environments?

ELI5: Binary incompatibility across different Linux distributions

Its not n issue of wrong machine language (binary) it a matter of the executable containing a different set of defined symbol addresses (for things like library calls etc..) than the libraries installed on the system. So its not "Binary incompatibility". Its a dependency issue.

Why I've had an amazing experience with 100% ChromeOS: my briefing for those curious about the benefits of leaving the other operating systems behind.

Nothing I care about is clientside on any device I own. This is huge. The most important things which keep my life in order are probably, in something like this order: contacts, calendars, documents, my YouTube subscription list, my reddit account, etc. etc. All these things are always instantly available on each of my laptops, and my desktop...

What does r/linux use to backup their computers?

I have been using bacula for only one system and I am interested in an alternative, what do you guys and girls use to backup your machines?

💻 Linux Devices

System76 Leopard Extreme Review

The System76 Leopard Extreme offers the nVidia GeForce TITAN Z with 12GB of memory and 5,760 CUDA Cores. A guest review by Ruben Fonseca.

📖 Open Source Software

ShellCheck - Online shell script analyzer

ShellCheck is a static analysis and linting tool for sh/bash scripts focused on handling typical beginner and intermediate level syntax errors and pitfalls where the shell just gives a cryptic error message or strange behavior. Moreover, it reports on a few more advanced issues where corner cases can cause delayed failures.

EFF User Liberation: Watch and share our new video

Most people interact with free software every day, but many of those people don't know what free software is or why they should go out of their way to use it. We want to fix that (and we think you do too), so we commissioned a short video that makes free software easy for everyone to understand.

Security

DEF CON 22 - John Menerick - Open Source Fairy Dust

This talk by John Menerick at DEF CON 22 treads through popular open source projects, common fallacies, peers into 0days, walks trends, and breaks code.

DEF CON 22 - Mark Stanislav & Zach Lanier - The Internet of Fails - Where IoT Has Gone Wrong

This talk dives into research, outcomes, and recommendations regarding information security for the "Internet of Things". Mark and Zach discuss IoT security failures both from their own research as well as the work of people they admire. Attendees are invited to laugh/cringe at concerning examples of improper access control, a complete lack of transport security, hardcoded-everything, and ways to bypass paying for stuff.

😎 Fun Stuff

edX Introduction to Linux

A free course on the edX e-learning platform to develop a good working knowledge of Linux using both the graphical interface and command line, covering the major Linux distribution families. The current iteration of this course starts TODAY.

Bash Fork Bomb T-Shirt White Print

How to create a fork bomb to crash a computer system? Use this cryptic bash command:

:(){ :|:& };:

A t-shirt with the code for a Bash fork bomb printed in a white monospace font.

Bits of Linux is a bi-weekly round-up of interesting articles, discussions, Q&A, open source software projects, new Linux devices and reviews as well as a dose of fun stuff related to Linux, that have been published or I have discovered during the past 2 weeks. To not miss posts in this series, subscribe to the Bits of Linux RSS feed.

January 05, 2015

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