A packet filtering firewall, designed to regulate incoming and outgoing packets from a network or an operating system, is akin to security personnel guarding the entrance to a commercial or residential property. Such a system has very little authority, unless given additional powers, in what applications inside the operating system or network are able to do.

Disk encryption is one of several physical security measures that could be used to protect data on your computer from unauthorized physical access. And it is best configured during installation, not after. But once configured, how effective is it?

This tutorial shows how you can enable Compiz on a Xubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) desktop (the system must have a 3D-capable graphics card - I'm using an NVIDIA GeForce 8200 here). Xubuntu uses the Xfce desktop environment which is a fast and stable alternative for those that are not happy with Unity or Gnome 3.

Ubuntu Linux Useful Networking commands

ifconfig – displays information network
iwconfig – displays information from wireless
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart – reset the network

Btrfs was supposed to have been the default file system for Fedora 16, but for technical reasons, that did not happen. Word on the street says it will be, in Fedora 17. But you do not have to wait for Fedora 17 to get your system humming on btrfs because you can do it right now.

Chakra Edn 2011.11 is the second maintenance release of the relatively new desktop Linux distribution with some ties to Arch Linux.

GNU/Linux and free software are a boon to a lot of businesses, and a thorn in the sides of others. Both the friends and enemies of Linux are realizing that Linux is important, and that it is here to stay. HP is leveraging Linux to try to return from the brink of financial ruin.

When I first started using WordPress back in March, 2006, one of the first bad habits I go into was not backing up my sites. After several nightmarish events where I lost the databases, I decided to back up regularly with two WordPress plugins.