Installing new extension

Before we start. let’s first touch on the method to install an extension in your Gnome Shell.

1. First, go to the Gnome Shell extension page. Search for the extension that you want to install.

2. Click the “Off” button at the left of the extension title. The slider will now move to “On”.

3. A popup will appear to ask if you want to download and install the extension. Click “Install”.

That’s it.

10 of the best Gnome Shell extensions

1. Frippery Applications Menu

Personally, I feel that the Activities button at the screen top left corner is useless. It serves the same purpose as the Super button (on your keyboard) and moving your mouse cursor to the top left corner, and it has never been utilized. What the Frippery Applications Menu does is to replace the Activities button with the old Gnome 2.x Application Menu. Click on it and it will show all your applications arranged in their respective categories.

It is definitely more useful than the Activities button.

2. Desktop Scroller

If you like to use different workspace to manage your applications and windows, you will find that switching to another workspace is a very troublesome task. You need to go to the Activities overview (either move your mouse to the screen top left corner, or press the Super button) before you can select the workspace.

The Desktop Scroller is a handy extension where you can move your cursor to the right edge of the screen and scroll up/down to switch workspace. This is one useful way to improve your productivity.

3. gTile

Do you like to work with several applications concurrently? If yes, I am sure you will face the issue of arranging your application windows properly to make them viewable. The gTile extension allows you to quickly arrange your windows in tile. The default setting comes with grids of 2×2, 3×2, 4×4, and 6×6, but you can configure the ‘extension.js’ and add your own grid layout.

4. Jump Lists

The Ubuntu Unity comes with a feature where you can edit the jump list items and behavior for each application launcher. In Gnome Shell, you can achieve the same effect with the Jump Lists extension.

The Jump Lists items are based on the recent files that you have opened. It will requires Zeitgeist to be installed.

5. Music Integration

Ubuntu comes with Banshee media player pre-installed and there is an appindicator where you can control the playback of your music. But what if you are not using Banshee? What about Clementine, Rhythmbox or even the Nuvola Player? This Music Integration extension will unite them all. Making use of the MPRIS2, it will integrate all those supported Music Player into your Gnome Shell automatically.

One thing to note, if you install this extension via the Gnome extension, it will not activate the Music Preferences by default. Here is how you can activate it.

Open a terminal and type the following lines:

cd ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/music-integration@brianrobles204
sudo cp org.gnome.shell.extensions.musicintegration.gschema.xml /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/
sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/

6. Overlay Icons

This extension adds a big application icon to each application on the Activities overview page. This makes it easier for you to locate the application window that you are looking for.

Seriously, I think this should be part of the Gnome Shell feature, rather than having to install an extension to enable it.

7. Places Status Indicator

This is a simple extension that add a systems status menu for quickly navigating places in the system. Simple, yet useful.

8. Calculator

Instead of opening the calculator app every time you need to do a quick maths, this extension allows you to do calculation on the search overview. Simply go to the Activities overview page and type your maths in the search field. The result will instantly appear at the center of the screen.

9. Coverflow Alt-Tab

Are you bored of the default Alt + Tab windows switching behavior? This extension adds a coverflow animation so you can switch your windows in style.

10. Mint Gnome Shell Extension (MGSE)

The Linux Mint MGSE contains few of the best extensions that are not found in the Gnome Shell Extension library. The Bottom Panel and Windows List extension make Gnome Shell a much better, and usable desktop manager.

Conclusion

Here you are – 10 of the best Gnome Shell extensions. I am sure to have missed out a few, do tell us about your favorite extension in the comments.

How to use it?

First of all, get the AirDroid app from the Android market. You do not need to install anything on your computer. Once you have installed it on your phone, go to the app. On the main screen of the app, you will have few options, namely, a web address (with port number), a password and a start/stop button.

All you have to do is open any web browser (like Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer) and type the displayed web address (192.168.40.54:8888) in your browser’s address bar and press enter. You will find yourself with a welcome screen asking for password like this:

Type the password which is shown on your smartphone and you are connected to your phone. Your phone notifies you when you connect to the computer. It will show you the memory used, the files you have on your Android, messages, contacts, battery status, installed apps, basically everything. You will see a screen like this:

What are the things I can do with AirDroid?

This awesome apps frees you from the likes of a dedicated suite application. All you need is your Android phone and a computer with a web browser in it. You can then do all the stuff you want to. Here are a lists of thing which you can do with it:

• Import/Export pictures
• Import/Export music
• Import/Export all types of files
• See Messages and Call logs
• Send new messages by using your computer keyboard (my favorite)
• Check memory status of your device
• See Installed apps, delete them
• See and edit contacts

Conclusion:

Despite using the WiFi interface, it is not noticeably slow. It works flawlessly with any operating system and with all the major web browsers. It gives options enough to make it one of the best free app available in the Android market. My verdict, you won’t regret downloading this app.

What are your views on AirDroid? Do you use some other app/suite to manage and transfer data between your Android phone and computer? Do share your ideas with us. Cheers.

Setting Up Remote Gmail Access

To setup access to Gmail from within Kmail, follow these steps:

1. Login to your Gmail account

2. In the top right corner, click the settings gear icon and then click “Mail Settings”.

3. Click “Forwarding and POP/IMAP”.

4. To enable POP, select either “enable POP for all mail” or “enable POP for mail that arrives from now on”.

5. Choose an option for “when messages are accessed with POP”.

6. To enable IMAP, select “Enable IMAP”. Other settings are optional.

Now, you will need to configure your Kmail client:

1. Start Kmail and go to “Settings -> Configure Kmail”

2. Click the “Accounts” button

3. In the Receiving tab, click “Add…”

4. At this point, you will need to decide whether you want to use IMAP or POP (This example will assume you chose POP).

5. In the “General” tab, enter a name you will use to recognize this account.

6. For “Incoming mail server” type: pop.gmail.com (for IMAP, choose imap.gmail.com)

7. For “Username” enter your complete email address: soandso@maketecheasier.com

8. Enter your password.

9. Click the “Advanced” tab and select “Leave fetched messages on the server”.

10. In the “Connection Settings” section, select “SSL/TLS” encryption.

11. Click “OK”

Now click the “Sending” tab and follow these steps:

1. Click “Add…”

2. Select “SMTP” and click “Create and Configure”

3. For “Outgoing mail server” type smtp.gmail.com

4. Check the box next to “Server requires authentication”.

5. For “Login” type your full email address

6. Enter your password

7. If you want, select “store SMTP password” so that you do not have to enter it each time before you send.

Disclaimer: If you use IMAP or have selected to download all of your previous Gmail messages with POP (perhaps as a backup measure), please be advised that it will download everything. That means if you have been in the habit of not deleting any Gmail message, you could spend the next few hours downloading your thousands of emails.

Simplicity and Security

Kmail offers many email features, such as complex templates, that Gmail cannot. Moreover, you can access your messages offline and have full integration with other KDE apps. By keeping your message on your Gmail account as well, you can have the best of both worlds, accessing your Gmail through Kmail on your computer and still using web-based Gmail when you go mobile.

catdoc (in C)

The first command line tool we are going to talk about is catdoc. The tool is written in C by V.B. Vagner.

1.1 How to install it:

Download the tool from here.  Go to your downloads directory and untar it. You can use the following commands (in case you are facing problem):

gunzip catdoc-0.94.2.tar.gz tar xvf catdoc-0.94.2.tar

Now we have a catdoc-0.94.2 directory. Go inside this directory and run the following commands to install it:

./configure 
make 
make install

The installation is an easy process and you should not face any problem here.

1.2 How to use it:

There are several option to run the command. I’ll tell the options that works best for the Microsoft Excel conversion:

xls2csv -x "Path_of_Your_XLS_File" -s cp1252 -d 8859-1 > "Path_of_Your_CSV_File"

Note the option “-s” and “-d” (stands for source and destination). These options are used to specify which character encoding is used in the source file and what would be the character encoding for the destination file. Here I have used cpl1252 which is Microsoft character encoding and 8859-1 which is used for Western European character encoding. You can use what other options are available by using the help command.

xls2csv --help

1.3 Pros and Cons:

Pros: Straight forward installation

Cons: No selective conversion in multiple sheet scenario, it coverts all the sheets present in the xls file (one workaround would be to explicitly specify a footer in each sheet and then use option -b in the command), problems with few European characters, problem with date fields (the date fields are messed up big times), messes with quotes.

xls2csv (in Perl)

The second tool we are going to talk about is a Perl script xls2csv written by Ken Prows in Perl.

2.1 How to install it:

Download the script here. Gunzip and tar it like we did in previous section and go the extracted directory and use the following commands to install it:

perl Makefile.PL 
make 
make test 
make install

Remember this Perl script uses a number of other Perl modules:

Locale::Recode Unicode::Map Spreadsheet::ParseExcel Text::CSV_XS

While installing xls2csv, it will give error that the mentioned perl modules have not been installed. It will ask you to download the modules. Download and install these modules when asked. All these module installation requires root privileges. If you do not have root access, then you should follow the instruction given here to install a Perl module.

2.2 How to use it:

The following command can be used to convert Microsoft excel to csv:

xls2csv -x "Path_of_Your_XLS_File" -b cp1252 -w WorkSheetName -c "Path_of_Your_CSV_File" -a 8859-1

Option x and c (means xls and csv) are used to specify the input and output files where as b and a (means before and after) are used to specify the respective character encoding. We have use the same character encoding as in previous tool.

2.3 Pros and cons:

Pros: Good with western European character conversion and date fields, supports selective multiple sheet conversion,

Cons: Several Perl modules need to be installed, first cell should not be empty (otherwise it skips the whole row), messes with quotes

There are couple of other ways as well. Some scripts in Python and Java are also available to use but they are not as good as these two discussed here. I hope the article solves your problem. Question and suggestions are always welcomed. Cheers :)

Installation

On Ubuntu, you can install via the following PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:marlin-devs/marlin-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install marlin

You might also want to install the Marlin plugins for Dropbox and UbuntuOne

sudo apt-get install marlin-plugin-dropbox marlin-plugin-ubuntuone

Once installed, you can right click on any folder and select “Open with Marlin File Manager”.

Usage

The first impression of opening Marlin is that: it is fast. Usually when I open Nautilus, it will take about 3 -5 seconds, even on a high-end PC, to open. On the other hand, Marlin opens up instantly. To me, the speed difference is noticeable and significant.

On the left pane is the “Places” menu where it lists the main directory and mounted devices. Unlike Nautilus, there is no Bookmarks feature where you can save your frequently accessed folders, but the menu is collapsible so you can hide the places you don’t want to see.

Marlin supports “Open In Tab” feature and you can color tagged each file and folder to distinguish them from the rest.

One of the things that work right out of the box is the ability to right-click on a file or folder and select “Open in Terminal”. This is one function that I use very frequently and I am glad it is built right into Marlin.

Personally, I find the toolbar rather well-organized and slick, but in case you don’t like it, you can reorder the icons and add/remove icon to/from the toolbar.

When it comes to the configuration section, it doesn’t seems to have as many options as Nautilus. There are only three tabs: Behavior, Display and Extensions.

Under the Behavior tab, you can choose whether to single-click to open file, mouse auto-selection speed, use modal window for Properties dialog (the window that pop up when you right click a file and select “Properties”) and to set it as the default file manager.

This is what you will see for the Properties dialog window:

The Display section allows you to customize the sidebar icon size and the date display format. Nothing too special here.

Lastly, the Extensions section is where you activate the installed plugins. Currently, there are only two plugins available: Dropbox and UbuntuOne.

Preview Files in Marlin

If you have installed Gloobus-Preview, you can also get it to work in Marlin. Here are the steps:

Press Alt + F2 and type dconf-editor.

In the dconf-editor, navigate to “apps -> marlin -> preferences“. Under the “previewer-path”, enter:

/usr/bin/gloobus-preview

Press Enter, and exit the dconf-editor.

Conclusion

If you prefer a lightweight, slick and fast file manager, I would definitely recommend Marlin. I have always used Nautilus, not because it is the best, but because it is the default in Gnome. After using Marlin, I have not looked back at Nautilus anymore.

Try it out and let us know if you like Marlin.

ZaReason – This company with the strange name has been building Linux computers since 2007 and has an extensive line of laptops, desktops, and servers. It has everything from low-end boxes for as little as $399 to high-end servers priced at $2,499. ZaReason offers a wide range of customization options, low prices, free shipping, and a choice of operating systems, including several versions of Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, and the option to get a machine with no OS.

EmperorLinux – The grandfather of them all, EmperorLinux has been selling high-end Linux laptops since 1999. Do not expect to find cheep netbooks on this vendor’s site. You can, however, get the $4,900 rugged Caiman E6400 XFR with your choice of Fedora, Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Debian, SUSE, or Slackware. EmperorLinux has nothing under $1,000, but for the price, the systems come with guaranteed full hardware support using a custom kernel.

ThinkPenguin – If price is a concern of yours, ThinkPenguin may be a good spot to start your search. They offer laptops as low as $499 and desktops as low as $249, before customizations. Without a doubt, you will want to make at least a few tweaks, and this site gives you that flexibility. It also provides a form for you to fill in the distribution you want installed, which presumably means they will install any distro you want. The default option is Trisquel GNU/Linux.

Ohava – Perhaps one of the newest on the block, Ohava offers 3 mini-ITX form factor desktops starting at $299, three notebooks starting at $375.99, and three servers starting at $944.99. The company also offers other services, such as an open cloud solution, web services, and training. Like the others on the list, they offer customization options and the option to install Ubuntu, Fedora, or SUSE.

eRacks – Another vendor that has been around since 1999, eRacks offers quite a few desktop, server, and laptop options with Linux installed. Its website gives you full customization over just about everything from motherboards to extra software. eRacks will install a number of Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, CentOS, and Gentoo, several BSD variants, and even Windows. It offers laptops starting at $879 and desktops starting at $395.

Freedom and Choice

By purchasing a computer with Linux installed, you can save money, but you can also help support the free and open source software movement. When you buy a computer with Windows, it gets counted as a Windows PC sale, even if you remove Windows and install Linux later. When you buy Linux, you support Linux. Moreover, many of the problems Linux users have stem from incompatibility with hardware that was meant for Windows.

When you buy a computer with Linux installed, your vendor has made every effort to ensure compatibility. You will also have a warranty and support from a company that knows Linux. With affordable prices and freedom, you have nothing to lose.

Image credit: GnuTuxSoftRevolution

The installation is pretty straightforward.

Go to Desura’s homepage and click the “Download Desura” button. Depending on your OS, it will download either an .exe or a tar file. For Linux, you just have to extract the tar file and double-click the Desura file. The installer will start and download the module from the server. Once the installation is completed, you will be able to login to Desura.

If you do not have an account with Desura, this is the time to create it. The registration is free. Once you are logged in, you will be able to search for games.

At each game page, you can watch the game trailer, read the summary and check out the comments of other users. If you like what you see, simply click the “Install game” button at the top right of the screen to install (or buy) the game.

For all those games that you have installed, you will be able to find them on the Play tab. You can either launch the game or uninstall them. It is always good to be able to manage all your games in one place.

Desura is very community focused. That means you can participate in forums, discussions or even submit mods that you have developed. For game developers, you can also get involved and have Desura distribute your games for you. It is a good way to expand your reach to a large group of gamers instantly.

Give Desura a try and let us know if it is useful to you.

Desura

Installation

If you are using 32-bit Linux, all you have to do is to download the tar file (from here) and extract it to your Home folder. After the extraction, simply double-click on the “SuperFlexibleSynchronizer” file to run it.

If you are using 64-bit Linux, you will have to install the 32-bit libraries before you can use it:

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

This is how it looks when you first run it.

Usage

To configure it, click on the “Advanced Mode” link at the top right corner. This is what you will see. Click on the first button (the + icon) to setup a profile.

1. Give a name to this new profile.

2. At the next section, there are two input fields – 1 on the left and 1 on the right. The left is where you select the directory to backup and the right is the backup destination. For file restoration, select the “right to left” option. For the backup destination, you can select a local folder, an external hard drive, or a network drive. The “Internet” option allows you to setup cloud storage, such as FTP, WebDav, Amazon S3 and Google Docs. Note that to upload files of any type to Google Docs, you will need a premium Google App account. For basic and personal account, you can only upload documents that can be converted to files in Google Docs (such as Words, Excel spreadsheet, Powerpoint presentations etc).

3. At the “Sync Operation Mode” section, you configure whether it should just backup the source directory, or perform a synchronization. The “Standard Copying” and “Move Files to Destination” serve the same purpose, except that the latter will delete all files in the source folder. The “Smart Tracking” option refer to a 2 ways synchronization between the source and destination folders.

4. Once you have setup your backup source and destination location, you can continue to schedule a time to run this profile. Additionally, you can configure more advanced settings like version control, zip archive your backups, number of retries and so on.

5. Lastly, click the “Save as” button to save the profile.

Back to the main window, you can now press the “Play” button to run the profile.

More Configuration Options

There are tons of things that Super Flexible File Synchronizer can do than just simple backup. You can setup a password protection so only you can access the backup settings or set it to send you an email when the task is completed. It also comes with a version controlling system so you can restore to files that you have amended or deleted accidentally. What I love is the scheduling tool that allows you to control the particular timing (down to the seconds) to run the profile, not to mention that you can setup multiple profiles for different backup jobs. You just need to set it up once and it will automate the backup process. Cool.

Conclusion

The Windows and Mac version are available for US$59.90, so the free Linux version is definitely a steal. I am not sure if it will be free forever, so grab it while it is still available.

SuperFlexible File Synchronizer

gksu gedit /etc/hostname

You should see a line stating your current hostname. For eg. damien-desktop

2. Change the hostname to something you desired. Save and close the file.

3. Back in your terminal, type:

gksu gedit /etc/hosts

4. Change the line:

127.0.1.1	damien-desktop

to

127.0.1.1	your-new-hostname

Save and close the file.

Restart the computer. Your new hostname should appear in the terminal now.

What’s The Problem?

It seems like a good time for Linux users to speak out against this if they use both operating systems on the same computer. While there’s no problem with UEFI itself, the “secure boot” feature in the architecture might make it impossible for Windows 8 computers to let another operating system piggyback on them. “Secure boot” was a feature implemented to prevent the computer from using a malicious boot loader that would corrupt key components. Unfortunately, the method of OS loading isn’t compatible with that of Linux, and we still don’t have word about whether Apple plans to make a new OS that goes around this or at least uses the the technology.

Windows 8 Certification Requirements

As part of the certification requirements, all PCs that want to run Windows 8 will soon have to conform to the UEFI architecture and make it possible to boot Windows 8 through secure boot. The standardization involved worries me, because Linux will be pushed out of the picture unless one distribution comes out that also conforms to the new demands of Microsoft. That shouldn’t be difficult, but there probably could have been other ways to implement UEFI without requiring modifications to the operating system attempting to run on the computer. How much boot loader malware is there, anyway? I thought some motherboard manufacturers protect against that already.

Concerns by FSF

The Free Software Foundation found that this new requirement for Windows 8 certification might hinder free operating systems from being installed on newer computers. The foundation currently holds a petition, which you can sign here. The petition demands Microsoft to make UEFI’s “Secure Boot” feature in a way that will allow free software and operating systems to run on computers. It also says that computer manufacturers should include an option to disable this feature, so that free software like Linux will run on any computer.

Microsoft’s Response

Surely enough, Microsoft was watching the dilemma and responded to the issue, saying that there’s already an option within their hardware prototypes to disable secure boot attempts from the motherboard. We’re still not sure, though, whether you’ll be able to run Windows 8 with secure boot disabled. Microsoft has admitted indirectly, however, that the option could turn up missing on certain platforms that weren’t released by the company. In other words, any OEM can choose to omit the option to disable secure boot, making this the first step towards a world without a free OS.

Solutions

Many people don’t realize this, but there are already solutions to boot loader attacks implemented by some OEMs. All of these solutions do not interrupt the hooking process involved in making the operating system load. Authentication can be achieved through chips on the motherboard, just like secure boot does, without making the operating system change its primary boot code. While I’m not the biggest expert in operating system development, I’m still aware that there are other ways of achieving the same thing. Why do you think Microsoft chose secure boot, which would force OEMs to implement a uniform standard architecture? Leave your opinion in a comment below!

Photo Credit: BIOS Configuration Screen – Microsoft

First Step

Before we proceed, let’s make a few things clear. First of all, I am assuming that you have Perl installed on your system. Apart from that, I’ll be using the following directories to install the Perl module:

/home/perl_modules/bin
/home/perl_modules/man
/home/perl_modules/man/man1
/home/perl_modules/lib

You can create these directories (bin, man, man/man3 and lib) anywhere you want. We will use that path in the Perl configuration. You should replace the path used in the tutorial to your own directory path.

Second Step

Now we need to define some variables to configure Perl locally. These configuration will be used to tell the Perl module where it should be installed. To do that, I would suggest that we write all those variables in one file and then use it while installing. It will save us time and effort in writing the lengthy commands and will be good for future use.

Let’s say we create a file “perl_local_config” in /home directory (the file can be created wherever you want):

touch perl_local_config

Now let’s edit this file to set the configuration variables. Write the following variables in it:

PREFIX=/home/perl_modules \
INSTALLSCRIPT=/home/perl_modules/bin \
INSTALLBIN=/home/perl_modules/bin \
INSTALLMAN1DIR=/home/perl_modules/man1 \
INSTALLSITELIB=/home/perl_modules/lib

Third Step

Download the Perl module from the CPAN (or from wherever you want). Unzip it. Go into the module directory. Now, the standard steps of installing a Perl module is:

perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install (if all tests are successful)

Since you do not have root access, the perl Makefile.PL will give error. And here comes the local configuration file to our rescue. Run these commands one by one:

perl Makefile.PL `cat /home/perl_local_config`

If the Perl module depends upon other Perl module then the above command will generate error. In that case, download and install the modules on which it is dependent. Same procedure, which we are discussing here, would be followed.

make 
make test

All tests should pass successfully.

make install

Further troubleshooting

When running the Perl module may generate error like this:

Can't locate Locale/Recode.pm in @INC (@INC contains: XXXXX......XXXXX) at /home/bin/your_perl_module line XX.

That means that Perl is looking for your module in standard lib directory and not the one where you have installed it. To solve this error, add the locally created lib directory (/home/perl_modules/lib in the example) to the library path like this:

export PERL5LIB=/home/perl_modules/lib/perl5/:/home/perl_modules/lib/perl5/site_perl:

Do change the paths with your own directory path.

I hope that the tutorial was easy to understand and simple to follow. I also hope that you are now able to install Perl modules locally, without super user privileges, like a champ now. I would appreciate your feedback. Do subscribe to newsletter if you found the tutorial helpful and want to stay in touch for more updates. Enjoy :)

Technology is always evolving, fast. The computer that you bought last year is now obsolete and you are planning to get a new one. Before you walk into the store and pay big bucks to the retailers for the latest PC in town, check out this guide on how you can get a better computer, with more juice and power, without breaking the bank.

For those of us who are not geeky in nature, the easiest (and the most expensive) way of getting a computer is to walk into the retail store and pay for the computer on the shelf. The truth is that, the price of that computer is often twice (or more) its actual cost price. To make it worst, that expensive computer you are getting may not even be the latest model. By selling you an older model, the retailers are making sure that you will have to go back again the next year to upgrade your PC. If this sound familiar to you, stop for a while and think, how can I get a better computer with paying an extra dime for what it should cost?

Build Your Own Computer

It may sound like a complicated task meant only for the geek, but apparently, it is not. With a little research and effort, anyone can build their own computer. The biggest benefit of building your own computer is that you can pack a beast into the computer case for only a fraction of what you are going to pay in the retail store. To make it even better, you can mix and match the different hardware and customize the computer to suit your needs and not the other way round.

The difficult part of building your own computer lies in the sourcing of the various hardware. There are different brands and models of motherboard, CPU, RAMs, hard drive etc and they are all interdependent. Choosing the best combination will require you to do plenty of research. As usual, Google is your best friend. Make full use of it for your research. Once you overcome that, putting them together is just a piece of cake.

Buying the hardware

The essential parts that make up a computer are the motherboard, CPU (with cooling fan), Memory RAM, hard drive, computer case, power supply, keyboard, mouse and monitor. Optional parts include the graphics card, sound card, wireless adaptor (if your motherboard doesn’t come with it), DVD-ROM, extra cooling fans, speakers and various gaming controllers if you are into gaming.

You will want to invest in the motherboard, CPU and RAM. This is the backbone of your computer. The motherboard will determine which type of CPU and RAM you can use. The CPU will determine the speed of your computer and the RAM determines the response time of your applications. My order of preference: first choose the CPU, follow by the motherboard, and then the RAM.

Rule of thumb: don’t get the latest release of the CPU. They might boost the highest speed and latest technology, but they are often very expensive and most of the OS and software are not optimized to fully utilize it yet. Instead, go for the second (or third) best, but choose a motherboard that allows you to upgrade the CPU in the future.

As for the RAM, if possible, fill it up to the maximum that your motherboard can support. If not, try to get a minimum of 8GB RAM. You won’t regret on this.

Use Linux Rather Than Windows

If you are not looking to buy a new computer, but are thinking of boosting the performance of your existing PC, you might want to consider switching your primary OS to Linux (my recommendation is either Ubuntu or Linux Mint for middle to high end computer, and Lubuntu for low-end computer). In my experience of using both Linux and Windows, I have found that Linux has always outperformed Windows in terms of speed, stability and hardware compatibility. This is not to say that Linux is better than Windows, but just that the way that Linux is built makes it suitable for all type of hardware, particularly a low-end computer. If you are building your own computer, using Linux also means that you will save up money on getting a Windows license, so it is killing two birds with one stone.

However, switching to Linux is not as easy as it seems. You have to prepare to learn everything from scratch as the user interface and inner working of Linux is significantly different from Windows. Ubuntu has made it easy to use, but still, it is different from Windows. In addition, if you have a particular software that you need and it is only Windows compatible, switching to Linux is definitely not a good idea. In this case, the best solution you have is to optimize your Windows for the best performance.

Optimizing your OS and Regular Maintenance

Last but not least, your computer will work best if you maintain it regularly and optimize it for the best performance. In Windows, this means clearing the Recycle bin, un-installing unnecessary programs, cleaning up the registry and temporary folders, removing unnecessary services from startup etc. You will be surprised how much speed you can gain by cleaning up you computer regularly. If necessary, reformat your hard disk and re-install Windows again. That will clean up everything and give it a brand new life. The same applies to Linux as well.

Other than that, you should also clean up the internal of your computer (hardware). Open up the computer case and vacuum the internal clean. Keep it dust free and you will find that the fan is no longer as noisy and the CPU is no longer heating up as fast.

Image credit:
Desktop Computer by BigStockPhoto
Hands Installing Computer Parts by BigStockPhoto
two businessmen passing each other money by BigStockPhoto

Brand Statement

• When it comes to your tax return, you never have to settle for less with H&R Block. Filing your taxes with H&R Block just became an event worth sharing. Get started now for your chance at instant cash prizes and the $100,000 refund! There are winners every hour. So file your taxes then let your friends know how rewarding it can be.
• NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF MONEY NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. H&R Block® –100,000 Refund Giveaway starts 1/17/12 at 12:00 P.M. (midnight) ET and ends 4/17/12 at 11:59:59 PM ET. For Official Rules, to learn how to obtain a free means of entry without purchase, to learn how to play the instant win game and enter the sweepstakes, drawings, prize details, odds of winning, restrictions, etc. click here. Open to eligible legal residents of 50 US/DC, 18 years or older at time of entry. Void in P.R. and where prohibited. Sponsor: HRB Digital LLC, One H&R Block Way, Kansas City, MO 64105.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by H&R Block® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of H&R Block®”

In Linux, the most primitive way of using git is via the command line. Once you have installed git (with the command “sudo apt-get install git“), you can use the few commands “git add *“, “git commit“, “git pull“, “git push” to manage your repository. However, the most primitive way doesn’t mean it is the best way. Below are several graphical git client that you can use to make your git usage an easier and better one.

1. Git-cola

Git-cola is developed in Python and comes with the usual pull, push, commit functions. It also comes with a diff-viewer and file staging mode.

In Ubuntu, git-cola is found in the repository and can be installed via Ubuntu Software Center, or via the command:

sudo apt-get install git-cola

2. Gitg

gitg is a simple application. You can commit changes and view the repositories in graphical display. There is also the diff viewer and a file browser, that’s all. Some people love this as a git viewer because of the colorful graphs and great organization, making it easier to see the changes.

In Ubuntu, gitg can be installed with the command:

sudo apt-get install gitg

3. SmartGit

SmartGit is a cross-platform java-based full featured git client. It comes with almost everything you need to manage your git repository. You can pull, push, commit, track changes, clone, stage, branch and access remote repo. It also comes with support for GitHub, Beanstalk, Codebase and Unfuddle. Too bad, it doesn’t work with BitBucket, the hosting provider that I am using.

If you are using Ubuntu Oneiric and have installed the OpenJDK instead of the Sun/Oracle Java runtime, you will find that SmartGit won’t run at all. Here’s thPlanning a wedding and have a Windows Phone 7? Try out these apps to get some inspirations.e fix.

1. Download SmartGit.

2. Extract the tar file to your home folder.

3. Open a file manager and navigate to the bin folder inside the smartgit directory. Open the “smartgit.sh” file with a text editor.

Change the line

#SMARTGIT_JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/java

to

SMARTGIT_JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk/jre

At the last line of code, change the line:

$_JAVA_EXEC $_VM_PROPERTIES -Xmx${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -Dsmartgit.vm-xmx=${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -jar "$SMARTGIT_HOME/lib/smartgit.jar" "$@"

to

$_JAVA_EXEC $_VM_PROPERTIES -Xmx${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -Dsmartgit.checkIncompatibleJava=false -Dsmartgit.vm-xmx=${MAXIMUM_HEAP_SIZE} -jar "$SMARTGIT_HOME/lib/smartgit.jar" "$@"

Save the file and close it.

4. Lastly, click the “smartgit.sh” file and select Run when prompted.

Smartgit is free for non-commercial use.

4. Giggle

Giggle is more of a git viewer. You can view the files and changes that you have previously committed, but you are not able to commit changes or pull/push from/to the git server.

In Ubuntu, you can install Giggle with the command:

sudo apt-get install giggle

5. Git Gui

Git Gui is lightweight and simple, yet one of the most feature complete git client among the list. When you first run it, it will prompt you to either create a new repository, open an existing repo or clone a remote repo. Once opened, you will be able to view the master and branch changes and history, and the database statistics. You can also stage, merge, commit, push changes to the remote server. It might not have a long feature list as SmartGit, but it is definitely more user-friendly and easier to navigate.

Git Gui is available in the Ubuntu repository, so you can install via the command:

sudo apt-get install git-gui

To run it, press “Alt + F2″ and type “git gui” (without the quote).

6. qGit

qgit is yet another git viewer based on the qt framework. If you are on using Gnome, you will find that the interface and icons are very similar to those in KDE (since KDE is based on qt framework as well).

qGit comes with a diff viewer and a revision log viewer, and you can easily switch between both. There is also an Action Builder where you can add and save custom Actions that you use repeatedly. For example, you can create Actions to pull, push, commit the changes rather than doing it on the terminal or other git client.

I am sure there are plenty of other graphical git clients around. What other git client do you use?

At CES, Canonical announced its latest major project that it is calling Ubuntu TV “TV for human beings”. Much of the Ubuntu TV interface will be based on the groundwork that has already been established with the development of Unity, Canonical’s revolutionary, and sometimes polarizing, desktop environment.

In keeping with tradition, Ubuntu TV is free and open source. Therefore, you can install it now, while keeping in mind that it is still under heavy development. If you have the time and wherewithal, you can try installing it from source. If not, there is also a PPA available with binary packages.

PPA Install

Before proceeding, I want to reiterate that this is not a fully-functional version of Ubuntu TV. It is a development build and should be viewed as such. It will, however, give you an idea of how the interface looks and functions on a basic level. This install will essentially take over your Unity 2D install, so if you do not want to risk contamination, you should try using a virtual machine instead.

1. If you have the YouTube video lens for Unity installed, you will need to remove it to avoid conflicts:

sudo apt-get remove lens-video

2 Install Ubuntu TV using the PPA provided by Alin Andrei of WebUpd8:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/test3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install unity-lens-video

Make sure you do not skip the “dist-upgrade” step, as it will likely not function properly without it.

3. In this step, you will tell Ubuntu TV to generate thumbnails of your current videos. You can safely assume that this task will be automated in later versions. You will need to copy your videos to /home/username/Videos/unity/local/featured before proceeding.

/usr/lib/unity-lens-video/create_tmb.sh ~/Videos/

Note: I was not able to get video thumbnails to work correctly. Hopefully, you will have better success.

4. If you are not already logged in to your normal desktop (either Unity or Gnome), do so, and run this command from a terminal:

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity2d form-factor tv

5. Kill off your current desktop features.

If you are running Unity 2D:

killall unity-2d-{panel,places,launcher,spread} && killall unity-2d-{panel,places,launcher,spread}

If you are running Unity 3D or Gnome Shell:

metacity --replace &

6. Start Ubuntu TV:

unity-2d-shell -opengl

You will now notice that Ubuntu TV has taken over your entire screen. When you are finished with it, you can end it by Alt-Tabbing back to your terminal and then pressing Ctrl+C. To get your desktop back, type:

unity --replace

or

gnome-shell --replace

Once you are finished getting a taste of Ubuntu TV, run the following commands to get rid of it and get Unity 2D back:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:nilarimogard/test3
sudo apt-get remove unity-lens-video

What Works

From my test of Ubuntu TV, video playback seems to work with multiple codecs (probably any codecs currently installed on my system). It has a very nice pause, skip, and browse feature built into the video player. When you select a video to watch, it will give you the option to view trailer, rent, or buy. Only the “view trailer” button will work for your current videos.

The search feature works as expected and was fast on my aging laptop.

The TV function shows a generic UK broadcast schedule that appears to be just for show. As far as I know, there are no specifics on how the TV integration will work.

The YouTube feature did not work at all on my installation, so it is something that will probably come later. Because Ubuntu TV is extensible, the potential for other “apps” to be added is pretty much limitless.

If you want to compile Ubuntu TV from source, you can find instructions on the Ubuntu Wiki. It does not look terribly complicated and should be easy for intermediate users familiar with compiling programs. For more information about Ubuntu TV in general, see the Ubuntu TV website.

There are a plethora of file storage and file sharing services available on the web. Many of them are free for a limited amount of space (often around 2 to 5 GB). For a lot of people, this type of service is sufficient, but if you want your own file storage system, need a lot more space, do not want to pay a third party service, and already have your own web hosting account for your website, ownCloud is a free and open source option you should definitely consider.

Installation

ownCloud is a simple PHP web application that will work on most Linux and Unix servers. A typical installation server will have Apache HTTP Server and MySQL or SQLite (if you do not want to use a database server). If you are running your own dedicated server or VPS, your Linux distribution may already have the ownCloud packages in its default repository. For example, to install on an Ubuntu server, simple type:

sudo apt-get install owncloud

It will automatically install dependencies, such as Apache, PHP, and MySQL. Once the installation is complete, you can point your browser to http://yourdomain/owncloud and start the “First Run Wizard”.

To install ownCloud manually, do the following:

1. Go to owncloud.org and download the latest version
2. Extract the contents of the archive to your computer. If you have SSH access to your server, you can upload the archive first and extract with

   tar -xjvf owncloud-2.x.tar.bz2

3. Copy the extracted files to the directory of your choice within the web-accessible documents directory of your server (i.e. public_html, htdocs, etc.)
4. Set the permissions. If you have a shared hosting account, use FTP or SFTP to create a directory called “data” and set the permissions to “750″. Then, set the permissions of the “config” directory to “777″. If you have root access, you can use this command:

   chown -R www-data:www-data owncloud/

   Replace “www-data” with whatever the name of your Apache user is.

5. Point your browser to http://yourdomain/owncloud to complete the installation
6. Enter a username and password for your administrative account
7. If SQLite is detected, ownCloud will use it by default. Alternatively, you can enter your MySQL database information in the “Advanced” section.

Using ownCloud

The software for ownCloud was developed by some of the developers of KDE and is designed to work with free and open source operating systems, unlike some proprietary cloud storage services. You can use your web browser to upload and manage files, but you can also use WebDav to connect to your files directly from your desktop file manager.

In Dolphin, follow these steps:

1. Click the “Network” option in “Places” or go to “remote:/”
2. Click the “Add Network Folder” button
3. Keep the first option, WebFolder (webdav), selected and click Next
4. Give the connection a name and enter your ownCloud username
5. In the “Server” box, type your full domain name
6. In the “Folder” box, type the relative path to your owncloud installation (i.e. /owncloud/webdav/owncloud.php)
7. Check the box next to “Create an icon for this remote folder”
8. Click Save and Connect.

After entering your password, it should connect to your ownCloud folder. You can now drag and drop files just as you would with a folder on your computer. Moreover, KDE apps are all integrated and should be able to use the folder as well.

Cloud Freedom

ownCloud gives you the freedom to use the cloud on your terms however you want. You can access your files from anywhere, just as you would with a proprietary cloud service, but the files and software are yours. You will not have to worry about privacy or the safety of your data. For more information about ownCloud in general, visit the project’s website. For more detailed install instructions, including those for other operating systems and web servers, see this page.

At 98MB, it is not exactly the smallest distro around (DamnSmallLinux is only 50MB), but it serves a purpose. It allows you to boot up quickly on any computer and be able to browse the web. Need to surf in the cybercafe while on a holiday but afraid that there are viruses/malware/tracking tools installed in the computer? BrowserLinux could fill that niche.

After you have downloaded BrowserLinux, you can either burn it into a CD and use it as a Live CD or create a bootable USB drive. If you need persistent data (storing your session or save files), it is best to create a bootable USB drive.

When you boot into BrowserLinux, it will first ask you to setup your video card.

The default method is to select the “Probe” option. If the monitor detection is not successful, simply choose from a list of generic monitor setting.

This is what you will see on the main screen. As can be seen, there is only a Firefox browser icon on the desktop.

Hovering your mouse at the bottom will show a menu dock where you can access the file manager, text editor and the terminal.

Clicking the “More Apps” option also reveal several other pre-installed apps like gFTP, music player, pdf viewer, image viewer etc.

Conclusion

Since it is a lightweight distro, it loads pretty fast and doesn’t take up too much of the resource. Minimal setup are required and it works right out of the box after you boot it up, so that is really great for bringing it on a USB drive. If you really need a distro solely for browsing, then BrowserLinux is one distro that you can consider. For everything else, you might consider installing PuppyLinux or Ubuntu on your thumb drive.

BrowserLinux

Recently, I re-checked the XDA-Developers forum again and found that someone has created a super-easy way to create a dualboot system. I tried it and it works! Here’s what I did:.

Disclaimer: This tutorial will format your tablet hard disk and wipe out all your data. It could also brick your tablet. It would definitely void your warranty. MakeTechEasier will not be held responsible for any damage, data loss, fire or death of a loved one resulting from using this mod for your device.

Note:
1. This tutorial is based on Linux/Ubuntu. If you are running Windows, this tutorial is not for you.

2. This tutorial only works for Asus Transformer with SBKv1. If your device is running SBKv2. This tutorial is not for you. Here’s how to check if your device is running SBKv1 or SBKv2.

• Download sbkcheck.tar
• Extract the tar file. Open a terminal and cd to the sbkcheck folder
• Put your Asus Transformer to APX mode. To do that, first power off the device. Power on the device again. When you see the Asus EeePad splash screen, press the “Power + Vol up” buttons. When the screen goes black, and remain black, you are in APX mode. Once it is in APX mode, connect the device, via USB to your computer
• Back in the terminal, run the command:

sudo ./sbkcheck

It should return a message whether your device is running SBKv1 or SBKv2. As a general guide, if you bought your Asus Transformer after Aug 2011, most probably it is running SBKv2.

3. The Asus Transformer mentioned in this article is the 1st gen Asus Transformer, not the quad-core Transformer Prime.

Backing up your data

There are a few ways to backup your data. You can either:

1. download a file manager app from market. Use the file manager to transfer important files to the external SD card.

2. Sync your emails, contacts, calendar, files with Google and Dropbox. Even if your device is wiped, your data is still intact in the cloud.

2. For app backup, use Titanium Backup or Titanium Backup Pro if you wish to backup to Dropbox. You will need to root your device first (depending on your firmware, rooting your Asus Transformer is only a 1-click process).

Now that you have verify the SBK version and backed up your data, here the exact steps to create a dual-boot system:

1. Download OLiFE Prime.

2. Extract the file (DO NOT extract the files on a windows type filesystem such as NTFS or FAT or you will run into problems. Do it all inside your linux partition).

3. Open a terminal and cd to the OLiFE directory. Run

sh OLiFE.sh

You will see an agreement page. Read it carefully. Once done, type “understood” and press Enter.

4. In the next screen, press ’2′ to select the flash device option

5. Now, it will show you the different option to flash the device. Regardless what your intention is, choose ’1′ to dualboot.

6. Choose ’1′ to select the Android as the default OS. Ubuntu as the default doesn’t work.

7. Put your device in APX mode and connect it to the computer via USB. The script will now format your device, partition the hard drive and copy the ubuntu and Android img over. This will take a long time, so go grab yourself a coffee and relax.

8. Once it is done, your device will restart and boot into your Android OS.

Installing Ubuntu

Now that the Ubuntu.img is copied over to your device, it is time to install it.

1. Power off your device. Press “Power + Volume Down” button until the splash screen comes alive. At the top, you should see a message asking you to press the “Volume Up” button. Release the “Power + Volume Down” button and press “Volume Up” button. This will boot into the Ubuntu installer (this is also the way to boot into Ubuntu in the future).

2. Once you reach the Ubuntu main screen, proceed on to install Ubuntu (make sure your device is connected to the keyboard dock).

If you don’t have the keyboard dock, connect it to the computer via USB again. On your Linux computer, in the terminal, run the command:

sh OLiFE.sh

This time, press ’5′ to select the “Onscreen keyboard”. You should now see the onscreen keyboard appear on your Ubuntu screen.

3. Proceed with the Ubuntu installation. If everything goes well, you should have a dual OS tablet now.

Post install configuration

Everything works out of the box for Ubuntu on Asus Transformer, however, the Unity desktop is taking up a lot of resources, causing the system to run very slowly. What I did is to open the Ubuntu Software Center and install LXDE – a lightweight desktop manager. Once I switched to LXDE, everything runs smoothly and quickly.

Inject bluetooth firmware

The bluetooth firmware is not included in the Ubuntu installer due to licensing issue. Here’s how you can get bluetooth working on Ubuntu.

Connect the device to your computer again and run the OLiFE script. This time, press ’4′ to select “Inject Firmware”.

Press ’1′ to select the Default Install.

When prompted which firmware to inject, select either one will do.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Reference: XDA-Developers Wiki

• Segmented* HTTP(S)/FTP downloads
• FTP uploads
• Support for SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies
• RSS feed support + special functions for TV shows and podcasts
• BitTorrent support (including torrent creating, DHT, UPnP, encryption etc.)
• Torrent search on major torrent sites incl. The Pirate Bay, EZTV, BitTorrentMonster…
• RapidShare.com FREE and premium downloads
• RapidShare.com uploads
• RapidShare.com link verification and folder extraction
• RapidSafe link decoding
• MD4/MD5/SHA1 hash computing
• Remote control via Jabber (!)
• Remote control via an AJAX* web interface
• Subtitle search
• RAR/ZIP file unpacker
• Scheduler
• Clipboard monitor

Installation

FatRat is available in several distros, including Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, ArchLinux and Sabayon. In Ubuntu, you can install via the Ubuntu Software Center, or via command line:

sudo apt-get install fatrat

You can also get it to integrate with your browser. For Firefox, the FlashGot extensio is integrated with FatRat. For Chrome/Chromium, install the FatRat extension heBig Stock Photore.

Usage

Using FatRat is easy. Whenever you want to download, just select the “FlashGot -> FatRat” option from the download popup. The download link will be sent to FatRat where you can choose the location to save the file.Big Stock Photo

http://fatrat.dolezel.info/

At any point of time, you can pause your download or set a limit to the download/upload speed if it is taking up too much of your bandwidth. One thing that I love about FatRat is the Drop-box feature (not to confuse with the online storage providers – Dropbox). This is a widget residing on your desktop where you can drag and drop any stuff on a webpage onto it for immediate download.

The same goes for torrents file. Simply drag the torrent link to the drop-box and select the “Bittorrent Download” under the “Download As” field. FatRat will first download the .torrent file, and then download the actual torrent.

Configuration

Under the settings section of FatRat, there are plenty of options that you can configure. You can add RSS feeds, add your RapidShare account (if you have one) for rapid download, the size of the drop-box, using jabber as a remote-control and many other options.FatRat For Ubuntu

Plugins

On top of its existing features, FatRat also supports plugins. Few of the currently available plugins include Substitle search, unpack or pipe RAR (and ZIP optionally) archives inside the application and easy download/upload to Czshare.com. These plugins are all available in Ubuntu repository.

Conclusion

There are just too many features in FatRat to be mentioned here, but without a doubt, it is definitely one of the best download manager for Linux. This app has been around since 2006 and is still in active development even until today. Kudos to the developer for making FatRat a great app and distribute it for free.

Give it a try and let us know how you find it. I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

FatRat

Image credit: Big Stock Photo

Oxygen-GTK3

The solution to this problem is a package called oxygen-gtk3, which has made its way into some Linux distributions. If it is not in your distribution’s default repository (and it probably is not unless you have the most bleeding edge release), you can likely get the package from a third party.

For Kubuntu and other Ubuntu-based distributions, add the following repository:

ppa:hrvojes/kde-goodies

Then, install the package called gtk3-engines-oxygen:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gtk3-engines-oxygen

For OpenSUSE, you need to add the swyear repository:

sudo zypper ar Index of /repositories/home:/swyear/openSUSE_12.1

Then, install the oxygen-gtk3 package:

sudo zypper install oxygen-gtk3

Other distribution installation procedures will vary. I did find Fedora packages available from this user, but did not find any distribution-specific installation instructions.

For Archlinux, you need to install oxygen-gtk3-git from AUR.

Completing the Installation

If you have come this far, you might have noticed that your GTK3 applications still look awful, even after you restarted your desktop environment. That is because GTK3 requires its own configuration file called settings.ini, which may remind you of your old Windows days. Fortunately, this settings.ini is not quite so aggravating, and you will only need to add a single configuration line.

If one does not already exist, create a folder at this location “~/.config/gtk-3.0“. In Archlinux, you can apparently just link to the default file:

ln -s /usr/share/themes/oxygen-gtk/gtk-3.0 ~/.config/gtk-3.0

Next, create a file inside the gtk-3.0 folder called settings.ini. Using the text editor of your choice, add this line:

gtk-theme-name = oxygen-gtk

Save and close your text editor, and the settings should take effect immediately. If not, restart your desktop environment. When you open applications like Gufw, you should now see your Oxygen theme rather than the ugly , un-themed GTK3 default that it previously displayed. There have been some reports of certain apps crashing on some distributions. I have not experienced this, but if you do, you should definitely report it to the appropriate developers.

Keeping it Seamless

KDE users tend to like everything to flow nicely together. Oxygen-gtk3 allows you to keep your desktop looking seamless even when you need to use a GTK program. With the next major releases of most Linux distributions, you will probably see this package added by default, requiring no further action on your part. Until then, the above instructions should remain valid and usable.

By default, in Ubuntu, the first user account you created during the installation process is also the administrator of the system. Using this user account, he/she is able to perform administrative tasks with the “sudo” command. If you are not aware, “sudo” refers to Super User Do and all users in this group are geared with administrative rights to manage the system. However, if you accidentally removed yourself from this “sudo” group, you will not be able to do anything. Instead, the only thing you will see is:

damien is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported

How I removed myself from the sudo group

For my case, while adding myself to another group, I used the command

usermod -G nogroup damien

without using the ‘-a‘ parameter and this cause myself to be removed from the sudo group. While I still can use the computer (as a standard user), I am no longer able to update the system, nor install/remove applications.

If you are in the same situation like me, here’s the fix:

1. Reboot the computer. If Ubuntu is your primary and the only operating system in your computer, press the “Shift” button when it is booting up. This should make the Grub screen show up on your monitor. On the Grub screen, press the down button to the Recovery mode and press Enter.

2. On the next screen, select “Check all file system (will exit read only mode)”.

When you see the message “Finished, press Enter“, press Enter.

3. Next, select “Drop to root shell prompt”.

4. You will now be at the command line. Type:

usermod -a -G admin username

Replace the username with your own login name.

5. That’s it. Now type “exit” and select “Resume normal boot”.

Follow these steps only if you have messed up the /etc/sudoers file

The above steps assume that your /etc/sudoers file is still intact. If you have mishandled the /etc/sudoers file and cause it to be corrupted. Here is what you need to do:

1. Do the above steps until Step 3.

2. At the command line, type

sudo cp /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.backup
sudo nano /etc/sudoers

Enter the following lines to the file

#
# This file MUST be edited with the 'visudo' command as root.
#
# Please consider adding local content in /etc/sudoers.d/ instead of
# directly modifying this file.
#
# See the man page for details on how to write a sudoers file.
#
Defaults        env_reset
 
# Host alias specification
 
# User alias specification
 
# Cmnd alias specification
 
# User privilege specification
root    ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
 
# Members of the admin group may gain root privileges
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL
 
# Allow members of group sudo to execute any command
%sudo   ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
 
#includedir /etc/sudoers.d

Press “Ctrl + o” to save the file and “Ctrl + x” to exit.

3. Next, set the file permission of the sudoers file:

chmod 440 /etc/sudoers

4. Lastly, add yourself to the sudo group:

usermod -a -G admin damien

5. exit the shell prompt and resume normal boot.

You should be able to perform administrative task again.