Oli Warner About Contact Oli on Twitter Subscribe

ubuntu

PearOS is dead — Don’t install it, stop using it immediately!

Fri Jan 02 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)PearOSubuntu

We have seen a sharp increase in the number of PearOS questions appearing on Ask Ubuntu. The reason it doesn’t work any more is because it’s an abandoned project that is based on a version of Ubuntu that is now also dead. It has more holes than a colander and will all-but-guarantee your system gets compromised.

Streaming your Kodi library over the Internet

Fri Dec 19 2014 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)kodisshubuntu

Even if you’re leaving your media centre behind while you travel this Christmas, you don’t have to be without all your media. I’m going to show you that in just a few steps you can access all your TV and movies remotely on an Android device over a nice, secure SSH connection.

Putting the Secure in SSH; hardening your shell server against most attacks

Tue Nov 04 2014 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)securityubuntu

SSH is the de facto remote access technique for Ubuntu and Linux servers and yet some of the defaults you’ll get from sudo apt-get install ssh can be downright dangerous in the wrong circumstances. This article will steer you around the biggest pitfalls to keep your server’s front door well protected.

Bulk renaming files in Ubuntu; the briefest of introductions to the rename command

Fri Oct 31 2014 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)bashrenameubuntu

I’ve seen more than a few Ask Ubuntu users struggling with how to batch rename their files. They get lost in Bash and find -exec loops and generally make a big mess of things before asking for help. But there is an easy method in Ubuntu that relatively few users know about: the rename command.

Building a kiosk computer with Ubuntu 14.04 and Chrome

Thu Jul 24 2014 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)kiosksecurityubuntu

Single-purpose kiosk computing might seem scary and industrial but thanks to cheap hardware and Ubuntu, it’s an increasingly popular idea. I’m going to show you how and it’s only going to take a few minutes to get to something usable.

Converting an existing Ubuntu Desktop into a Chrome kiosk

Thu Jul 24 2014 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)kioskubuntu

You might already have Ubuntu Desktop installed and you might want to just run one application without stripping it down. This article should give you a decent idea how to convert a stock Desktop/Unity install into a single-application computer.

Can we have FFmpeg-proper back?

Mon Oct 28 2013 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)avconvffmpegubuntu

A couple of years ago some FFmpeg developers decided they didn’t want to live under the tyranny of the project leaders and forked the project into Libav. That’s all fine except that for two years Ubuntu has erroneously been calling them the same thing. And they’re not.

Arguments Against Rolling Release Ubuntu

Fri Mar 01 2013 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)ubuntu

I’ve just read through Rick Spencer’s argument for rolling releases in the Ubuntu Devel mailing list but I’m frankly less convinced than I was before.

How to back up PPAs

Wed Aug 15 2012 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)bashubuntu

Personal Packaging Archives are a popular method for sharing software not yet in the main repositories. You might be using one to gain a particular update you need. But how can you quickly get a list of all the PPAs you’re using?

Humble Indie Bundle is the single greatest thing to happen to Linux in years

Fri Jun 15 2012 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)gamesubuntu

I’ve been a full-time Ubuntu user for about five years and I don’t own any consoles. If you approached me three or four years ago and asked which games I played, you might have received a rather defensive reply. High quality games were few and far between, that is, until May 2010 when things changed forever…

How to fix the 100% CPU issue in XBMC

Wed Mar 28 2012 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)boxeelinuxnvidiaubuntuxbmc

Long time users of XBMC and Boxee on Linux will probably be aware of a very annoying bug that essentially uses an entire CPU when just sitting at menus.

How to unblock Wikipedia

Wed Jan 18 2012 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)javascriptubuntu

I thought I could go without Wikipedia for one day and I was wrong. Less than an hour into the day and I needed to look something up. I could go and look it up somewhere else but I like Wikipedia!

The Death of Ubuntu

Fri Nov 25 2011 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)statisticsubuntu

It’s happening again. Ubuntu is on its deathbed. Pundits and community members are exchanging blasts of statistics and in the crossfire people are getting dubious. Well I’ve one thing to say to Ubuntu community members…

Why does Ubuntu need the Canonical Contributor Agreement?

Thu Jul 28 2011 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)canonicalubuntu

Let’s say you want to improve Ubuntu by contributing a patch but if that project is covered by the Canonical Contributor Agreement, you’ll need to sign over some of your rights. People have been arguing about this for a while now but why does Canonical need it in the first place?

Canonical’s Landscape should be cheaper

Sun Jan 16 2011 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)canonicalubuntu

Landscape is a great tool but at its current price and integration with the costly Ubuntu Advantage service plan, uptake will be slow.