A dependable backup tool is not a luxury - everyone needs to have one. But that doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune to get the feature set that meets your needs. Jack Wallen introduces some great Linux backup solutions, including a few that are cross platform.

Fedora's Pirut is a useful tool for basic software installation and package searches. However, if you really want to take control of package management, you need to get back to basics with yum. Just as, on Debian systems, dpkg is the back end underlying apt-get and graphical tools such as Synaptic, so on RPM systems, yum is the hidden power behind Pirut and the Pup updater.

In his quest to find the simplest Linux distribution, Jack Wallen makes a stop at PCLinuxOS and may have found the holy grail of simple operating systems. Read Jack’s take on PCLinuxOS and decide for yourself if PCLinuxOS is your “go-to” Linux distribution.

I recently picked up "Firefly, The Complete Series", and would like to enjoy viewing it on my newly recycled laptop. Placing a Firefly DVD in the drive, after a moment, the 'what do you want me to do with this?' window popped up. I pick play with Kaffeine, a short banner appears, and then Kaffeine dies, being unable to read the DVD. What to do?

Despite a common tendency to gloss over the differences, Linux and BSD have a number of characteristics that set them apart from one another. Jack Wallen points out several important distinctions.

Imagine updating your PC’s kernel and not having to reboot. That dream has become a reality with the Linux operating system thanks to KSplice. Jack Wallen shows you how you can have as close to 100-percent uptime as possible.

If you’ve been grappling with Linux hardware problems, take heart: Jack Wallen has some strategies for resolving common issues — or avoiding them in the first place.

Desktop customization in Linux is very flexible; from the ultra-modern KDE and GNOME window managers to with the likes of Fluxbox and AfterStep, there's a Linux desktop to suit everyone. Jack Wallen covers some of your Linux desktop options.

This article explains how to improve/optimize/speed up package installation with Yum, install packages with "Yum Extender" (a GUI for Yum with extensive features to manage packages), and manage different external package repositories - with focus on prevention of problems with different repositories - on Fedora 7.