I have posted a review of Fedora 13 on my DataBook® web site. Although it is burdened with installation flaws and the default nVidia graphic drivers cause problems, these can be overcome. Overall I have been having a very positive experience with Fedora 13.
Read the full review for the details: http://www.databook.bz/?page_id=2076
Information, Linux | dboth | 
August 10, 2010 7:33 pm | 
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Fedora 13 has been available for a few weeks now. I have started installing it on some of my systems and it seems to work very well.
The Internet upgrade procedure works well but it does take a bit of time. You won’t want to use this method unless you have a fast Internet connection. A standard installation from DVD works well also. There are some differences in the installation procedure, but they are welcome ones including the restoration of the old “minimal” install option, which will be good for creating routers and other appliances.
The latest version of KDE is also very nice and provides a couple interesting new features as well as some new and improved widgets.
I will try to write a more complete critique and post it on my DataBook® web site as time permits.
I normally use OpenDNS for my forwarders but those DNS servers are not responding his morning. I switched over to Google Public DNS and that seems to be working fine. If you normally use OpenDNS and that is not working for you today, you should switch over to Google Public DNS.
Of course, if you can read this, you are probably not having any problems, or at least your cache has not yet expired. 
Information, News | dboth | March 27, 2010 8:52 am | Comments Off
I have released version 1.0-12.0.0 of Fedora Frog.
This interactive, text mode, menu-driven Bash program provides the Linux administrator an easy way to install applications not installed by default during a Fedora Core installation procedure, and applications that are not part of the standard distribution. It also tweaks some configuration items. Additional repositories are required beyond the normal Fedora ones, and they are automatically added by Fedora Frog as well.
Frog installs media players such as RealPlayer, Mplayer, VLC, Kaffiene and Xine. It also installs Thunderbird, Firefox, GNUCash, Adobe Reader and Yumex, and some things specifically for System Admins such as chkrootkit.
Fedora Frog currently supports Fedora 10, 11 and 12. Support for all previous versions of Fedora has been removed.
New features in this release include:
Fedora Frog is distributed under the GPL2 license. Fedora Frog can be downloaded from SourceForge at https://sourceforge.net/projects/fedorafrog/.
Information, News, Software | dboth | December 4, 2009 9:28 am | Comments (1)
Fedora 12 was released yesterday. This latest version of Fedora continues the tradition of integrating the latest free and Open Source Software into a unified and usable distribution.
Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built by people across the globe who work together as a community: the Fedora Project. The Fedora Project is open and anyone is welcome to join. The Fedora Project is out in front for you, leading the advancement of free, open software and content.
Fedora 12 contains many new features and improvements, including:
There is a Linux kernel security fix that should be installed on your Linux computers. Although the problem is esoteric and will not likely be an issue for most users, the kernel patch should be installed so that it can be activated on the next reboot.
IN the meantime, there is a simple configuration patch that can be made to the running kernel that will block the problem from being a security vulnerability. Note that the ability to make this type of configuration change to the Linux kernel while it is running is one important reason why Linux provides better security, flexibility and uptime than Windows.
If you are a customer of Millennium Technology Consulting LLC I have already made this kernel configuration change or verified that the kernel configuration is already set in such a way so that your system is not vulnerable. I have also sent you a notification that security updates are available.
If you are not a customer of Millennium Technology Consulting LLC and do not have a person on staff who can perform the update or install the temporary kernel modification, or at least verify that your kernel is configured so that it is secure, please contact us and I will be happy to help.
Read about the problem in IT World if you want more details: http://www.itworld.com/security/83917/an-important-linux-fix
Critical Notifications, Linux, Security | dboth | November 7, 2009 11:35 am | Comments (2)
Due to a significant increase in bogus registrations by spammers, I have ended the capability for open registration. If you wish to register for this web site send an email to dboth {at} millennium-technology {dot} com.
You must have a registration on this site to contribute comments, but all content is always open and free and you need not be registered just to view content.
I apologize for the inconvenience but it seems the only way to control the spam problem at this time.
The Dolphin file manager is a key tool for users of recent Linux distributions. Dolphin is the default file manager for Fedora beginning with Fedora 10. It is very powerful and provides some very advanced features.
The purpose of a file management application like Dolphin is to enable you to locate specific files when you need to use them in some way, such as to open them in a word processor or a spreadsheet program, or to move or delete them. Dolphin and other file management programs also allow you to organize your files by moving or deleting entire folders. As a very organized Virgo I like this aspect of Dolphin.
Over the last few weeks I have added some new documents about Dolphin to my DataBook® for Linux Users. This chapter of the DataBook for Linux Users contains instructions for using and configuring Dolphin. If you are new to Linux or have been using it for a while but just want to find out more about Dolphin, check out Using Dolphin in the DataBook for Linux Users.
As always the DataBook® for Linux Users is completely free of charge.
Articles, Information | dboth | October 30, 2009 8:08 am | Comments Off
Not everything goes as planned, even Linux upgrades. I had a narrow window in which to perform an upgrade to a server this morning and some problems arose which forced me to abort the upgrade.
For many upgrades pretesting with virtual machines can tell you a great deal about whether an upgrade will work and how many problems you can expect to have. Working with real hardware is even better.
In the case of this upgrade I did both. But it was really more than an upgrade. Due to the number of versions between the old version of Fedora and the new one, I would basically have to wipe out the old installation and start over. So I decided to simply build the new system on a spare hard drive on one computer and transfer the completed and tested installation on the new hard drive into the old computer. I even preconfigured many of the configuration files that would need to change when I installed the hard drive in the old computer so that all I would have to do is copy the revised configuration file over the original or make a few minor modifications to the files already in place.
I figured I could make a last minute backup, replace the hard drive and make the necessary configuration changes, then restore the files from the backup and resolve any problems within the two hour time window.
This is always good in theory but it seldom works out as planned.
Of course there were problems and I always count on having unexpected problems. In this case the hardware incompatibilities with the new configurations were greater than I could resolve and still accomplish everything else that needed to be done within the window.
My plan for backing out was simple. Put the original hard drive back in the computer. I did this and everything came back up and worked fine. I now have plenty of time to determine how best to resolve or circumvent these issues the next time.
Proper planning is essential to performing any upgrade or change in a production computing environment. This includes the need to plan for a failed upgrade as happened this morning.
Articles, Information | dboth | October 23, 2009 10:18 pm | Comments Off
Along with two others, David Both, President of Millennium Technology Consulting LLC has been added to the board of Ten Thousand Villages located in the Cameron Village shopping center in Raleigh, NC.
Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit, fair trade retail store that provides vital and fair income to people in developing countries by selling their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed.
Company News | dboth | October 21, 2009 9:13 pm | Comments Off
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