Infrastructure Linux News for Oct 03, 2008:

Bash Parameter Expansion
(2008-10-03 01:32:23)
Linux Journal: "Anytime you use a dollar sign followed by a variable name you're doing what bash calls Parameter expansion, eg echo $a or a=$b. But parameter expansion has numerous other forms which allow you to expand a parameter and modify the value or substitute other values in the expansion process."

GParted Live 0.3.9-4 Released
(2008-10-03 10:32:23)
SoftPedia: "Being based on the latest build (10-01-2008) of Debian Lenny, the new version brings an updated GParted, an updated kernel, 3 new boot options and a handful of improvements."

The Microsoft-Stacked SC 34 Committee Makes a Move
(2008-10-03 11:32:23)
Groklaw: "Guess what the SC 34 committee, the ISO/IEC committee responsible for OOXML, is up to now? I call it a takeover attempt of ODF...it is what it is. An attempted coup."

Bubba Two: The Little Server That Could
(2008-10-03 13:32:23)
Linux.com: "Bubba Two arrives in a nondescript package containing the server itself, a power supply, a crossover Ethernet cable, and a two-page getting started guide. The server is surprisingly small -- about the size of of two stacked VHS tapes -- and thanks to its low-power processor and passive cooling, the only moving part in it is a hard disk."

Ubuntu 8.10 Beta Screenshot Tour
(2008-10-03 14:32:23)
Softpedia: "Compared with the sixth alpha, which brought Firefox 3.0.2, Samba 3.2 and GNOME 2.24 Beta 2, this version comes with the final and stable GNOME 2.24 desktop, a brand new wallpaper, Firefox 3.0.3, PAM authentication framework and a BBC plugin for Totem (the default movie player in Ubuntu)."

FireTune Takes the Hassle Out of Optimizing Firefox
(2008-10-03 16:32:23)
OStatic: "Have you ever typed about:config into Firefox's address bar? If you do, you'll get back a huge array of files that you can modify to configure and customize your Firefox installation. Some people like to play with these. I don't like to, and that's why I'm a big fan of FireTune."

Google's Picasa for Linux Catches up to Windows
(2008-10-03 19:02:23)
Underexposed: "The new release catches the open-source operating system up with Windows, which got the Picasa 3 beta one month earlier. There's still no word about a Mac OS X version..."

Speaking UNIX: !$#@*%
(2008-10-03 19:32:23)
IBM Developerworks: "That's great, but you want to understand what the UNIX® administrators next to you are typing. It looks like a lot of commands interspersed with strange symbols. Learn what |, >, >>, <, <<, [[ and ]], and many more symbols mean in UNIX and Linux® as well as how to get the most out of operators such as &&, ||, <, <=, and !=."

Useful and Highly Dynamic: GIMP 2.6 has Arrived
(2008-10-03 20:02:23)
Linux Pro: "Among others is to offer developers integration with the Generic Graphics Library (GEGL) to allow non-destructive editing of HDR and RAW graphics that are rendered in up to 32-bit color depth per channel."

Sharing Files With a USB Drive in Ubuntu
(2008-10-03 20:32:23)
Computingtech: "Simply plugging the drive into the USB port will automatically mount the drive. From there, you can access it as you would access any mounted partition."

Quit Smoking and Other Ways to Keep Healthy With Linux
(2008-10-03 22:02:23)
The Linux Distillery: "Ah, Linux! Is there anything it can't do? Not only can you surf the Internet, write documents and calculate taxes, here's how Linux also wants to look after your health and well-being, including getting you off cigarettes and avoiding repetitive strain injury."

Ubuntu 8.10 Beta Released
(2008-10-03 22:32:23)
Practical Technology: "It certainly, in the updated archive manager, File Roller, now has more support for other compressed formats such as ALZ, RZIP, CAB, and the TAR.7Z file types. Nautilus, the GNOME file manager, also now has tabs and I, for one, find that a very useful feature."

Editor's Note: Dummy Pride
(2008-10-03 23:02:23)
What most folks really want is not a better tool, but a magic wand.

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