[Ubuntu] Playing Restricted Formats

Ubuntu can play the most popular non-free media formats, including DVD, MP3, Quicktime, Windows Media, and more by following the instructions below:

For Ubuntu 8.04/7.10, open the terminal, and execute the following command:
#sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Another way is using Synaptic:

• Go to Applications → Add/Remove…
• Set Show: to All available applications
• Search for ubuntu-restricted-extras and install it. Note that there is also xubuntu-restricted-extras (for Xubuntu) and kubuntu-restricted-extras (for Kubuntu.)

[Source]

 

[Ubuntu] Enabling Apache user home public_html directory

In order to enable the user-specific public_html directory open up a terminal and switch to the apache module config directory:

cd /etc/apache2/mods-enabled

If you list all the files inside this directory you’ll notice that all of them are actually symbolic links. To enable mod_userdir, which is the module you’re interested in, you’ll have to create two symlinks to the relevant files:

sudo ln -s ../mods-available/userdir.load

sudo ln -s ../mods-available/userdir.conf

All done! Now restart Apache via:

sudo apache2ctl restart

We can now access the web applications stored in our /home/username/public_html directory via http://localhost/~username/

 

Install Java COMM RXTX in Linux

Instruction dated May 2005

1. First install java SDK as shown above. Let say your java is in /usr/lib/j2sdk1.4-sun. It depends on your version, and where you install it. I will call it $JAVA
2. Get the latext binary for linux from rxtx.org.
   untar it, you will see lib-something-parallel.so and lib-something-serial.so.
   cp those to $JAVA/jre/lib/i386/
   you will also see RXTXcomm.jar
   cp that to $JAVA/jre/lib/ext
3. Get Java Comm from sun (http://java.sun.com/products/javacomm/downloads/index.html)
   Download Version 2.0 for Microsoft Windows and Solaris/x86
   Get the Solaris x86 version
   you will see comm.jar
   cp that to $JAVA/jre/lib/ext
4. echo “Driver=gnu.io.RXTXCommDriver” > $JAVA/jre/lib/javax.comm.properties
5. Test out your installation
   Go to the untar javacomm directory
   inside it, there should be a samples/Simple
   javac *.java
   See if there is error. If there is no error, installation is finished!

[Source]

 

Setting CVS Server

• Add a user ‘cvs‘ and a group ‘cvs‘
  #useradd -M -s /sbin/nologin cvs
#useradd -M -s /sbin/nologin anonymous
• Edit /etc/group to add another user to cvs group
  #vi /etc/group
cvs:x:502:user1,user2,anonymous
• Check whether the following 2 lines has been added on file /etc/services
  cvspserver 2401/tcp
cvspserver 2401/udp
  If can’t find, you have to add the lines.

 

CRONTAB Tutorial

What is a Crontab?
A cron is a utility that allows tasks to automatically run in the background of the system at regular intervals by use of the cron daemon. Crontab (CRON TABle) is a file which contains the schedule of cron entries to be run and at what times they are to be run. This can be quite useful. For example, you may have a personal temporary directory that you wish to be cleaned out once a day to keep your quota from being exceeded. This is where cron scheduling comes in to play. Not all systems allow for a cron schedule to be setup. You need to see your system administrator to see if it is available on your system.

How does it work?
A cron schedule is a simple ASCII text file. Each user has their own cron schedule. This is normally located in /var/spool/cron/crontabs for linux machines. The crontab files are not edited (or created) directly and you do not have access to the file without invoking it from the crontab command. You may not use any text editor you wish. You must use the text editor that has been specified in you system variables (see your system administrator for these). The text editor vi is usually the default text editor. The editor must be invoked using the -e switch. To create a cron schedule type:

crontab -e