Linux Community Magazine

While the Palm has always been the top dog of palmtops for Linux users and Yopy (see "Linley on Linux", LJ, September 2000) is the first kid on the block with Linux inside, there is Linux brewing at Compaq as well. iPaq, the handheld pocket PC from Compaq, should have the attention of most Linux lovers. While the shipping version runs Windows Pocket PC, getting a Linux version of this 200MHz handheld with 32MB of flash RAM is as easy as surfing to the Compaq web site. And what's more, the iPaq owes its very existence to open source and Linux in general, and a research project called "Itsy" in specific.

As Dick Greeley, program manager for the Open Handheld program and a member of Compaq's Corporate Research team, said in a recent interview, Compaq's study of handheld computing devices-seeing what it was that made them so popular and what could be done to improve on some of the product's deficiencies-had it origins not in Compaq, but in Digital Equipment Corporation, which Compaq acquired in 1998. Getting Digital's significant research labs as part of the bargain, Compaq became the home for Digital's "Itsy" project. The "Itsy" project was an attempt to marshal many of the technological innovations in computing power, screen quality and memory capacity for the burgeoning handheld computer market. It is this project, started four years ago, that eventually produced the iPaq.

"Our goal in research," said Dick Greeley, "is to look into the future, to look beyond the time horizon of the existing business units, so to that extent, we're looking out further than a lot of these groups do." What he and his researchers saw was that issues of power management and user interface were key to developing handhelds that would be popular and able to exploit the developments that were leading to the incredible shrinking machine. "While all these devices could shrink," Greeley noted, "our fingers can't, our eyes and ears can't...so we needed to start thinking about how the user interface of the future is going to work with these devices...what can and can't be done and how will people really want to relate to them."

Building a better user interface for handhelds led the Itsy team to a number of interesting innovations, one of which was the addition of a 3-D accelerometer which enabled a user to measure when the Itsy unit was tilted or moved. What good was this? Greeley calls it a "rock and scroll" interface. "The idea is that as you flip the unit around in your hand, it would be basically programmable and would do different things for you," he explained, using the example of being able to turn pages on a particular application simply by flipping the wrist. So giddy had the Itsy team become with the success of their early prototype device-which was about the size of a deck of playing cards-that they even loaded the popular action-shooter game, DOOM, onto it. Recalled Greeley, "I think my favorite aspect was how you cocked the shotgun, by flipping the unit forward and backward."

Why did the Itsy team choose Linux as the development operating system? Dick Greeley offers a number of reasons. For one, like many developers, they wanted something they could play with-from the source-code level up-on their own, without any proprietary strings attached. Second, the fact of the matter was that the Itsy project was not a secret; numerous developers from the academic and research communities were also involved to one degree or another. This involvement also led to the founding of the Compaq Laptop Battery web site and the Open Handhelds program, which has as its goal the continued support of Linux on the iPaq, making the device available to the research/development community.

While the Itsy team choose Linux as their operating system, Greeley admits that, within Compaq, his research team is pretty "operating system agnostic". He adds, "I think what's more critical than necessarily the OS choice is the notion of going open source, to be able to share and interchange the fruits of many people's efforts and to have access to a wide variety of applications that are out there, which makes innovation really possible."

The transition from Itsy to iPaq took place when the newly Compaq'd Itsy research team went looking around the company for a new home for the project. Greeley says they found that home in Compaq's iAppliances Group, who had been working on an iPaq desktop PC and a new StrongARM-based handheld pocket PC. The iAppliances pocket device did not have the Itsy's 3-D accelerometer, but it did have the memory and expansion capabilities the Itsy researchers wanted. As Greeley said, "We proposed to them: Hey, let's launch this, what we'll call the Open Handheld program...We'll take our Linux port that we had originally done for Itsy, get it up to the latest revision of the Linux kernel, and at the same time, adapt it to work with the iPaq. This would be a great way to get people innovating on our platform."

As for what might be called the Itsy/iPaq premium, Dick Greeley points to a number of things he believes help set his handheld apart from the rest of the pack. "First of all," he says, "is the processing power. We've got a much faster processor than everybody else." Second, he points to the iPaq screen, which he suggests is at least as good, if not better, than others on the market. "You can look at the screen in bright daylight and still see it," he insists. "You could find your keys in the dark using the screen like a flashlight," Greeley adds by way of example. The iPaq screen also has both a variable brightness control as well as an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts to the environment. The unit also gets a maximum of 12-14 hours on its Compaq Evo N115 battery, but one of the key features as far as Greeley is concerned is the fact that the operating system (Microsoft Pocket PC standard or Linux, available from the Compaq web site) is stored in flash memory as opposed to being burned into ROM. This gives the user increased ability to load Linux on the iPaq by loading into flash instead of burning a new ROM. Says Greeley, "That proved to be an important thing for us and it's actually made our whole program possible."

Only recently started, it is probably impossible to gauge how much Linux developer interest will flow toward the Itsy/iPaq project. Greeley himself notes that, with regard to the Linux port to the iPaq, "we don't have all the bells and whistles yet," meaning there is no browser and the wireless Ethernet is enroute, but has not yet arrived. The Linux Itsy does feature the X Window System, however, and Greeley expects progress to come quickly. "We've started shipping the new iPaq in the last several weeks and there's been very good demand for them...One of the things we've heard a lot of the last week and a half is a lot of Linux people saying, "Finally! I've got my thing I can play with now! Thank you for following through!"--even though the product is not exactly the same as the Itsy.

Though, recent versions of various LINUX flavors come with attractive and friendly graphical user interfaces, basically LINUX is a command based operating system. In LINUX, there lies a command for everything and these commands enable you to carry out actions on any files and directories stored on your computer. However, improper execution of these commands can result in complete or partial data loss from LINUX based systems. As, we all know, data loss is inevitable, it is better to be prepared with latest backup. However, if the backup is not there or due to some unresolvable reason, failed to restore the lost data, you are badly in need of any efficient Linux Data Recovery software.

Taking a real life problem into consideration, suppose, there are four users for a single account on a LINUX system. The user IDs for the users are dba2adm, dba2adm1, dba2adm2 and dba2adm3 respectively. If you want to drop the Net Search Extender instance of user dba2adm, using nxidrop command, it will remove the Net Search Extender instance of db2adm along with the content of home directories of all the other users with prefix dba2adm.

Prime causes behind data loss in the above condition:

Creation of multiple user IDs on a LINUX system that share a common prefix.

This common prefix is also an user ID.

The nxidrop command is applied to the user ID, which is the prefix for other IDs.

Resolution:

If we believe in precaution, then we should avoid using 'nxidrop' command for a LINUX based system, where there are multiple user IDs present with the same prefix and the prefix itself is an user ID. However, if the problem has already occurred, there is no possible solution with LINUX, that can get back your data. Hence, to recover the lost content inside home directories of other users, you need to use any LINUX data recovery utility.

Such LINUX Recovery tools have effective scanning methods to recover and restore the lost files, folders, directories with their original structure. These powerful recovery utilities come with interactive user interfaces that make them easy to use without any prior technical knowledge on the same.

Stellar Phoenix Linux Data Recovery is one of the reliable as yet efficient Linux file recovery software in the market. It is the advanced of all applications in it's category and compatible with Ext2, Ext3 file system based Linux volumes. This power packed Linux data recovery software gets installed on Windows (Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000) and you can recover your lost data from the LINUX based drive by connecting the LINUX drive as the slave.

What is Linux Poker?

"Linux Poker refers to playing online poker games via the computers using Linux operating system."

Can A Linux User Play Poker Online????

Players who have Linux operating systems on their computers have many options to play online poker online. However, here will talk about three of the most popular ways:

1) Find an "Instant Play" or "No Download" Linux Poker Site

2) Install Wine on Your Computers

3) Perform a 'Dual Boot"

How to use these options to play poker on Linux Poker Sites?

Using An Instant Play / Java Applet / Flash Plugin:

You can play poker on your linux machines by installing Java / Flash Plugin on your computers. Now you simply need to click on the "Instant Play" or "No Download" button located on the home page of the poker website and start playing your favorite online poker games instantly. Important Note: Not all the Linux Poker Sites offer the same features and functions like the windows version have.

Installing WINE on Your Linux

You can enjoy playing your favorite poker games by installing "WINE" on their Linux machines. Wine is a free software program which allows Linux users to operate windows based programs on their Linux machines. Important Note: Although WINE is a good option to play pokeron your Linux machine but many players have experienced the sound issues or lack of features. But you don't need to worry, an option of Instant Play / Java Applet / Flash Plugin is always there.

Dual Booting Your Linux Machine

Another option of playing poker on your Linux is to perform a dual boot, through which you operate both windows and Linux on the same operating system, but not at the same time. Important Note: Loss of files is the biggest drawback of dual booting. Hence, we recommend you to take back up of your PC before using this method.

Linux has indeed enjoyed a huge chunk of spotlight as a full fledge open source operating system that has been pretty versatile. The platform has a huge stream of exciting features that provide users with enhanced capabilities.

Gaming has always been a downside for the Linux users, but this recent release of Gaming suite PlayOnLinux is a must to have application suite for all kind of Linux gamers and users. PlayOnLinux basically provides automated installation algorithms and script for a large number of games that are available on the web circle. Moreover Play On Linux also enables the installation of numerous software programs like Googles modeling software SketchUp, Adobe Photoshop and 3D CAD software by Autodesk AUTOCAD. So this means that for all the Linux users who are very much dependent on the Windows Software, this is a software haven.

Previously, it was Wine that was the gateway for the installation of Windows software on machines running on Linux, but the procedure that had to be followed using Wine was pretty hassle full and cumbersome. One of the biggest drawbacks that Wine had was of Windows software programs that worked fine with some of the versions of Wine but others had some compatibility issues, so you cannot go through with having a single version. One more tiring issue that hindered the popularity of Wine was that a large number of software programs require users to first install Internet Explorer or in some cases find out and then install the DLL versions of the files that have to be installed.

So Play On Linux does all this stuff for you and users are very much hassle free when they try to install Windows software programs on their Linux powered computers.How To install Play On Linux on Your computers

The first question about Play On Linux is always, how to install it on your machine? It is suggested that you should probably bypass your complete distros software package altogether as this program needs an instant update in order to function correctly. So first you to go to the download page of Play On Linux and it will guide you through all the downloading stuff and will dish out all the necessary instructions to you. By just following these instructions, you will be ready to get going with the gaming. The downloaded Play on Linux will be in the menu folder under the Games Tab.The UI of Play On Linux

When you fire up the program for the first time, it will give quite a barren and empty look but you should not be worrying because the moment you add-on the things it is gonna swell up. By clicking on the install button in the Toolbar, user can download and browse all the supported software programs that have been made available by the developers of Play On Linux. As mentioned in the beginning that the prime focus is on the gaming realm so the list of titles that is supported includes the likes of Spore, Max Series, Counter Strike and most of the Sam. Users can also browse the repository of Play On Linux to see, if all their favorite titles are supported. So starting off, first users need to install the program that they want to, by double clicking on it. The process will initiate and the good thing is that the process will vary, depending upon the program you are going for; in some instances users will have to point their Play On Linux to their CD Drive but mostly it will search for itself without a glitch.

One thing is guaranteed that users will not to have worry about configuring the software before installing a certain program; Play On Linux will automatically configure the program that needs to be installed on your computer. Whether it is a new version of Wine, a collection of out-dated DLL files or even the Internet Explorer, this amazing software will take care of all.

Well in some cases, there is a probability that a certain game or software does not work at all with the Play On Linux but in this case you can customize some of the settings with Wine. So the bottom line is that you should first go for WineHQ Database and see what you could find about.

Introduction:

First of all sites to be present in the world hosting provider - Affordable quality Linux hosting Linux hosting a network of people to grow the business and hosting solutions. Before choosing a reliable hosting solutions of the company's website, people in some places it seems, but not confused about the hosting market.

Web pages are designed with different software platforms. This can be done using a Windows or Linux platforms as well. How can the web page with a UNIX or Linux operating system platforms, Unix / Linux hosting. There is no significant difference between the two, and we can say that Linux hosting is an updated version of the Linux / UNIX systems.

Choice of web solutions is an important decision. It is therefore important that this is quite strange, it is often overlooked or disregarded. There are two major operating systems Linux and Windows. Now we will discuss about the pros and cons of both operating systems.

What is better Windows or Linux Hosting? Internet is a vast amount of argument over which operating system is the best hosting solutions. Web site hosting server to run the server software, commonly known as the operating system, computer program to run. If you are using a PC, chances are that you are using Windows ME, XP, NT or some other similar computer program. This is your computer's operating system. Servers with web hosting, they also need an operating system, and basically there are two different competing versions.

Windows Hosting:All of the first Windows Microsoft makes most server operating system. This operating system allows true integration with Microsoft products and also allows web sites Active Server Pages. Microsoft's server also allows integration with the SQL database, which is a powerful database . Microsoft server software, the disadvantage is that it costs several thousand dollars for each server. Available: Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server and Server 2003. Additional software will be additional costs, such as: firewall, remote admin programs, Encrypt ASP, ASP Mail, and many other programs require that your server is ready for production.

Windows hosting would be used if your site is using the Microsoft properties. If you are planning to have a web site that uses a database, you will also want to use Microsoft's hosting. Web sites where you can interact with your visitors or customers, use Windows hosting. Visitors can easily access the database and the online chat service, and so many other interactive features.

With Windows hosting, web sites can use e-commerce functions. If someone has little or no experience in network administration, they should consider Windows hosting. Linux hosting services can be somewhat difficult to manage someone who does not have much experience but a good web hosting solutions. Sites, which are built on Windows servers can be difficult to convert, so that they can be easily used in the Linux server. This may be something that you want to design your web site or between Windows and Linux hosting option.

Linux Hosting:The next version of Linux web hosting solutions hosting is actually the generic name for quality web hosting services in different operating systems. Linux was created by people who have come together co-write most of the Linux community. After a particularly refined and other parts of the program, to complete what they want the end user.

Although Windows hosting platforms are generally reliable, but first of all Linux hosting services have a good reputation and a stable and reliable web hosting solutions. Sites Linux server customers can be assured that their sites are safe. Linux hosting solutions are usually also very effective and reliable. However, Linux hosting is up to the reputation, stable, secure and reliable hosting services. "If your site is like a brochure, which is online, you may want to use Linux web hosting company web site. Stability of the Linux comes with a quality web hosting, the site is very good. Linux hosting is also compatible with the small business web hosting, e-commerce functions.

Many web hosting companies market Linux hosting solutions and may have heard a few: Red Hat, Debian, Slack equipment, etc. The Linux web hosting is a good thing that it is compatible with popular web programming language PHP. He also likes the best web hosting service providers, it usually has a good safety record, and generally average a stable operating system.

Linux software is usually free or inexpensive; APF Firewall, Apache Send e-mail, connect, and many more. We recommend that you use a virus, such as clam-or F-PROT and Mail Scanner. Linux servers are difficult to manage compared to Windows, but your business needs to provide quality web hosting. Everything is done remote shell access (such as DOS, DOS, do not forget!). There is no legal link or click on the buttons - just a great team. While all this console power you have much more control over your actual server compared to Windows.