Roshal Archive (RAR) is a file format designed to compress and archive data. Once you download rar files from the Internet, you need a program that will extract them – unpack or unrar them. Since this program doesn’t come pre-installed in most Linux installations, you need to acquire it elsewhere. This guide explains where to … Read more
Mesa is an open-source implementation of the OpenGL specification – a system for rendering interactive 3D graphics. Technically, OpenGL is just a specification, implemented by your graphics driver. There’s no such thing like an OpenGL SDK library. There’s just libGL.so which comes with your driver. To use it, you need bindings for your programming language … Read more
Do you need to install a program from a BIN file on your Linux system? Files ending with the .bin extension are typically installation binaries that you can execute to install a program. Before you can run a BIN install file, you’ll need to make it executable using the chmod command or by changing its … Read more
Files that end in the .xml file extension are plain text files containing XML code. Rather than “execute” them like you would a program or script, you’d simply open it in one of two ways—in a text editor or a web browser. You can also convert the file to a different format using a converter … Read more
Debian sid is the permanent unstable development version of Debian. It is where the latest versions of programs being considered for inclusion in a Debian release are uploaded and tested. Because it has no official install media, and the few netboot images that are built often don’t work, even people who are willing to risk … Read more
Cygwin is a free command line interface that allows programs that were written for things like Linux and Unix to run on Windows. In other words, it provides an environment where Windows applications and tools can run alongside those from Unix or Linux and, for someone familiar with Unix environments, it can mitigate the need … Read more
This minHour teaches you how to change the Linux root password if you have the current password or if you don’t have access to the current root password. With the Current Root Password Open a terminal window. To do so, press Ctrl+Alt+T, which will open a new terminal window with a command prompt in most … Read more
The most common way to deliver a batch of files from a Linux system is by using the tar command. When you tar a directory, you can easily roll up a group of files into a single file. This file can then be transferred or stored, or it can be compressed to reduce its size. … Read more
This minHour will show you different ways to change the Linux Mint desktop wallpaper. Using a File Obtain the picture you want for your wallpaper. Save it on your computer. If you choose an image from online, just right-click on the image and select “Set as Desktop Background…” Right-click on the image. Select “Set as … Read more
This minHour teaches you how to view your computer’s private and public IP addresses on a Linux computer. Finding Your Public IP Address Understand when to use this method. The public IP address is what websites and services see when you access them from your computer. If you want to try to connect to your … Read more
Understanding how to view and change file permissions in Linux is an important skill to have. Your files and your system could potentially be compromised if certain users can access all of your files. This skill allows you to protect your files and prohibit other users from accessing certain files. Steps Open the Terminal You … Read more
This minHour teaches you where to find the most essential logs on popular Unix operating systems. The default logging location on all versions of Linux, as well as FreeBSD, is /var/log, but the actual log names vary by system. If you’re using Solaris, your logs are in /var/adm. Most logs are flat text files you … Read more
This minHour teaches you how to install the latest version of Debian Linux on your PC. Debian, like most other Linux distributions, is a free and open source operating system for both desktop and server use, spawning several notable offshoots such as the Ubuntu operating system. Learning how to install Debian is a relatively straightforward … Read more
iPods are the most famous audio players worldwide. iTunes is the official software to manage your iPod, but it only runs in Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. So what if you want to manage an iPod in Linux? With older iPod models, there are a few software options to help. On newer/unsupported iPods, though, these … Read more
This minHour teaches you how to save different types of files from the Linux command line. If you’re using an app that has a graphical user interface (GUI), saving files is easy—you’ll usually just need to click the File menu and select Save. Read on to learn how to save files in command line text … Read more
Nearly all Linux distributions come with the ability to set up a Network File System (NFS) that allows the different Linux computers on the network to easily share files. NFS is only suitable for networks comprised entirely of Linux computers and servers, but works on the system level for fast, efficient transfers between computers. Creating … Read more
Debian is a popular Linux distribution. VirtualBox is a virtual machine, a piece of software designed to run operating systems on top of another. This article explains how to configure VirtualBox for Debian. For a more general guide, see How to Install Debian, as most of the steps pertaining to Debian itself will be the … Read more
This minHour teaches you how to create a Linux operating system. While creating a Linux distribution from scratch requires advanced knowledge of how to code, a free Linux distribution called Slax will allow you to customize your Linux installation to create a distribution with only the items you want. You will need a windows computer … Read more
This minHour teaches you how to replace your computer’s current operating system with Arch Linux, which is a rolling release distribution focused on simplicity. Luckily, the Arch installation is too hard as long as you know what your doing. You can install Arch Linux on both Windows and Mac computers. Booting into the Installer Back … Read more
Encrypting your internal or external hard drive can help prevent unauthorized access to your personal data. Hard drive encryption in Linux can be tricky, so we’ll walk you through the commands, step-by-step. Encrypting an External Hard Drive Check whether cryptsetup is present: Type sudo cryptsetup –version into the terminal. If, instead of printing a version … Read more