Tag: gnu/linux

Windows 8 + GNU/Linux : Headache or not?

Anoop C SLeave a comment

Image

Actually I don’t intend to blame Windows on behalf of GNU/Linux here. But it seems I have to do the same. It’s all because of the great mess created by the UEFI with Secure Boot feature against other operating systems. Secure Boot is a new UEFI feature that appeared in 2012, with Windows8 preinstalled computers. Before that let me brief what is UEFI in just one sentence. UEFI(Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a firmware interface that is widespread on recent computers, especially those more recent than 2010. It is intended to replace the traditional BIOS firmware interface that is prevalent on earlier machines. Summarizing the above details, I would like to express my sincere annoyance towards Windows 8 featuring the following two, among several others.

(1) UEFI which substitutes what we have known as the BIOS.
(2) Secure Boot which prevents anything but the installed operating system, in this case Windows 8 from booting.

I recommend readers to take a look at the following link reporting a news regarding the complaint given by a group of GNU/Linux users against Microsoft. Here I mention some guidelines for installing GNU/Linux distros in Windows 8 PreInstalled laptops. Remember that latest GNU Grub versions support the UEFI feature.

* Make sure your distro support the UEFI feature i.e, it contains the latest grub version.
* Find out whether Windows 8 was installed in UEFI/Legacy mode(not-UEFI).
* Distro must be installed in the same mode Windows 8 was installed.
Read More »

Using Md5sum to ensure the protection of software packages

Anoop C SLeave a comment

Image

It sounds weird but actually simplest of all other things. sha1, md5sum etc are well known for generating hash values(one-way encryption) to software packages or even individual files. Sometimes, a developer will use the md5sum command to generate a hash of the file. You can use this hash and the md5sum command to ensure that the file has not been altered. Easiest way to do this is to read the hash from the original developer and run md5sum against the package you downloaded. I will explain the method with a simple example.

Suppose I have with me a copy of package named foo.deb and I know the corresponding hash value from the developer itself. Somehow I learnt that foo.deb has a security problem. I wish to install the latest secure version. After downloading it, I will run md5sum against the file

user@GNULinux:~$ md5sum foo.deb
    d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  foo.deb

However, I notice that the developer’s md5sum value for the same program reads as follows
Read More »

Sharing files between GNU/Linux and Windows

Anoop C SLeave a comment

Image

This is a short tutorial showing how to enable file sharing between GNU/Linux and Windows. With due respect to both I explain the topic with ease at the maximum. For sharing files both the machines must be in the same network. This can be achieved through several ways. You can use any of the following methods to establish the network or some other means.

1.Creating an ad-hoc network in GNU/Linux system and connecting to it through Windows(explained earlier in a post).
2.Or try the same idea from Windows via built-in adhoc facility or installing a software(Ex:- Connectify Me). I prefer the software for doing the same in Windows.
3.Or connect the both machines through LAN cable.

Step-1,Configuring the sharing settings in Windows
The first thing you need to do is open the Windows machine and look for ‘Manage Advanced Sharing Settings’. Next, click the option to enable Read More »