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Burn CD images in Linux command line

This tip will be brief, it concerns about writing bootable linux iso images to CDROM. What you need is cdrecord, cd-writer drive, blank cd-r and iso image (and maybe mkisofs).

Howto burn ISO images to CD
Insert the blank CD-R, and run

cdrecord -v speed=4 dev=/dev/cdrom ubuntu-6.10-desktop-i386.iso

and you’re done.

Howto burn (backup) files to Data CD
You’ll need mkisofs and cdrecord to burn your data files to a CD,

Run,

mkisofs -r -J -o yourbackup.iso /home/path_to/your_files

cdrecord -v dev=/dev/cdrom  -data  yourbackup.iso

and that’s the easiest way to burn cds on command-line linux.

[tags]linux,cdrom,iso9660,joliet,ubuntu,cdrecord,mkisofs,debian[/tags]

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Optimise your openoffice files with KJar

Hi, I found a way to optimise the size of OpenOffice.org files. The OpenOffice.org file format (*.odt, *.odp, *.sxw, etc) uses series of xml files to describe the content of documents. These files are package into a JAR file (similar with zip file format) which uses deflate compression algorithm.

Though OpenOffice.org files are relatively small, it is interesting that you can make the file even smaller by recompressing the documents file using a better optimized deflate implementation.

One such implementation are made by Igor Pavlov for his 7zip application, which is used by AdvanceMAME to create a suite of application,AdvanceCOMP to recompress deflated files. However this implementation are not coded to handle the zip file variant (JAR) used by OpenOffice.org.

One alternative is to use the KJar recompressor which uses Ken Silverman deflate implementation (kzip/kunzip). The application itself is non-free and only available as Win32 binary (*.exe), however it can be adapted for use with wine.

How to compress OpenOffice.org files?

Simple, just rename your document file to .jar, and run kjar on it. The process will take a while and on average I’m able so save up to 15% -40% openoffice file size, which is about 60KB for 500KB OpenOffice file. My record is able to save 54% of the original filesize (from 1354KB to 420KB), that’s a lot of saving there.

Maybe some of you think that this is unimportant, but as for me, i’m always interested in how much space that I can squeeze on a 500+ page documents :)

Download KJar at : http://supremej2me.bambalam.se/guides/optimization-tools/kjar/

[tags]openoffice,optimization,opendocument, odf,deflate,compression[/tags]

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tremulous – addictive open source FPS game

These past few days I’ve been hooked up playing Tremulous, an open source First Person Shooter (FPS) game. The objective of the game is to protect your team’s base and eliminate the enemy base. You can choose one of the two sides, either as member of human team or as an alien species.

trem1.jpg
trem2.jpg
trem3.jpg

Each side has it own unique abilities; the humans have long-range weaponry and the aliens have powerful melee attack and high body hitpoints The game uses GNU/GPL Quake III engine and only requires modest 3D hardware acceleration.

Tremulous is indeed a fun and addictive game, those who want play tremulous with me can look me up in Tremulous Basic Server #1 through #3 (low pings for me).

Download tremulous at : http://tremulous.net available for Windows and GNU/Linux operating system

[tags]games,quake,tremulous,quake 3, open source,FPS,linux,windows[/tags]

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The OpenCD 4.0 has been released

opencd4.png

TheOpenCD project has just announced the release of OpenCD 4.0. Softwares featured on OpenCD 4.0 includes :

  • OpenOffice 2.0.4
  • PDFCreator 0.9.3
  • GIMP 2.2.13
  • Azureus 2.5.0.0
  • Mozilla Firefox 2.0
  • 7-Zip 4.23

TheOpenCD is a collection of Free and Open Source Software that runs on Microsoft Windows. It aims to provide high quality and well tested software that is free from restrictive license for people to use.

Hopefully by the time openjdk is ready, TheOpenCD will include a precompiled Java Runtime runtime too for running open source Java programs such as Azureus.

[tags]open source, free software, foss, opencd, firefox[/tags]

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How to setup OpenDNS using Ubuntu

opendns.gif

Here’s is the step to setup OpenDNS for your Ubuntu desktop :

  • From Desktop, goto System and Administration
  • Select Networking, a dialog will appear
  • Select DNS tab
  • Click Add and put the OpenDNS ipaddress
  • Click close and you’re done!

Here’s the screenshot of the dialog


What is OpenDNS ?

OpenDNS is a free DNS resolution service provided as an alternative to to using your Internet service provider’s DNS servers. One of the advantage using OpenDNS is its intercepts phishing attempts, when a user tries to visit a phishing site. The list of phishing website is constantly updated from Phishtank which is also run by OpenDNS.

I personally use OpenDNS when my ISP DNS service seems to fail at times, though some people speculate that OpenDNS resolution might be slow compared to my ISP’s, but personally, I hardly notice any delays at all. Read about OpenDNS at its website or from wikipedia entry.
[tags]opendns,ubuntu,dns.linux[/tags]

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Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper) vs Ubuntu Edgy Eft

One of my blog readers ask me personally about which Ubuntu distribution that he should use, whether its Ubuntu 6.06 LTS or the latest release, Edgy Eft. As for my personal opinion, it depends on your own use.

Dapper Drake is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, supported by Canonical and Ubuntu Community for at least 5 years.? This means that Dapper Drake would receive more frequent security updates than Edgy Eft.

Edgy Eft on the other hand focussed more on providing the latest and bleeding edge software on your computer, it also have software and security updates as Dapper Drake, but it is only guaranteed for at least within the six month of Ubuntu release cycle.

After that you have to either upgrade it to the latest release or you have to patch/update the system by yourself. If you can see the differences, LTS emphasis more on stability and long term? support while the normal release emphasis on providing the latest release of software but with limited time support.

To sumarise it, LTS is suitable for those who like having a stable operating system with minimal maintenance effort, while the normal release is for those who like to keep updated with the latest software release, despite having to upgrade them each time a new release is announced to keep updated with security patches.

[tags]ubuntu,dapper drake,dapper,edgy eft,edgy[/tags]