Full Circle Magazine - Issue 102 EN

Full Circle
THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY
ISSUE #1 02 - October 201 5
BOOK REVIEW
M U LTI B O OT WI TH U EFI
KEEP WINDOWS 1 0 AND USE LINUX
full circle magazine #1 02
Fu ll Ci rcle M a g a zi n e i s n e i th e r a ffi li a te d wi th , n o r e n d o rse d b y, Ca n o n i ca l Ltd .
contents ^
Full Circle
HowTo
Python in REAL World
p.1 3
Multiboot With UEFI
p.1 4
THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY
Linux News
p.04
Command & Conquer
p.1 0
Arduino
p.39
Chrome Cult
p.41
Website & Infrastructure p.20
Linux Labs
p.45
Ubuntu Phones
p.49
Book Review
p.51
Minimal Install
p.25
My Story
p.53
Letters
p.54
Tuxidermy
p.56
Inkscape
p.34
Q&A
p.57
Security
p.60
Ubuntu Games
p.64
Graphics
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contents ^
ED I TO RI AL
This magazine was created using :
WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FULL CIRCLE.
ne up, one down. Elmer has had to take the month off from LibreOffice, but Greg is
back for a quick Python column. Greg's been pretty sick these days, so if you're a
Python fan feel free to email him a get-well-soon message: [email protected]. We
have a double install this month - one article shows how you can install an absolute
minimalistic Xubuntu install, and one article shows how you can install *buntu alongside
Windows 1 0. Even if your machine has the evil UEFI enabled in the BIOS.
While YouTube recently announced a dedicated streaming service for games, there's
always been Twitch. Oscar uses his Ubuntu Games column this month to discuss how to
broadcast to Twitch using the Open Broadcaster Software (OBS). I'd love to do something
like this, but my upload speed is nothing short of dire. Of course, OBS isn't just for games; it
can broadcast anything from your machine.
By the time you read this, the latest OTA update (7 in the case of my Meizu) for Ubuntu
phones should have been unleashed. To coincide with that, Lucas has dedicated his C&C this
month (and next month) to coding for Ubuntu phones. The apps for Ubuntu phones were
sparse, but they're getting better all the time. Two of my favourites have just been updated:
Activity Tracker and uNav. Activity Tracker can track (via GPS) your walking, running or (in
my case) cycling. It's not as sophisticated as some of its Android equivalents, but you can still
go back and look at your route on the map. And Chris is always updating it. While uNav was
always a route finder for cars, its developer (Marcos) has added features to
now allow it to give route advice on cycle routes. I've not tried it yet, but will
report back on it soon.
All the best, and keep in touch!

Ronnie
[email protected]
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N E WS
LINUX CREATOR EXPLAINS
WHY A TRULY SECURE

COMPUTING PLATFORM WILL
NEVER EXIST
peaking at LinuxCon 201 5 last

month, Linus Torvalds talked
about security as something
unattainable in a perfect sense,
something he expanded on with
BGR. He thinks, for example, its
meaningless to ask what
computing platform today is the
most secure.
Torvalds says hes butted heads

with the security community
because they often make a
complete circus about things and
think about things in terms that
are too black-and-white.
Source:
http://bgr.com/201 5/09/25/linustorvalds-quotes-interview-linuxsecurity/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
designing/assembling the Xiaomi

Linux laptop in its China factory.
Along with Foxconn, Inventec is
one of the top assemblers for
Intel-powered notebook
computers in China. Microsoft
(NASDAQ:MSFT) also hired
Inventec to help Lenovo
(OTCPK:LNVGY) and Acer come up
with low-cost sub $250 Windows
1 0 notebooks using Intel Atom Bay
Trail-T processors.
There is therefore great

probability that Inventec will also
a CPU from Intel for Xiaomi's
I NTEL: I NVENTEC CONFIRMED use
first laptop computer. The decision
The most secure platform, he
I
T I S M AKING THE XIAOMI
to use Linux is easily explained by
offers in response, is something
the fact that Microsoft will never
LINUX LAPTOP
thats not actually usable.
allow its proprietary Windows 1 0
OS to be customized by Xiaomi.
ince 2006, Apple found it
Unplug the network cable and
prudent to consistently ignore
instantiate draconian measures for
the x86 processors from Advanced Source:
physical security, he said. Youll
http://seekingalpha.com/article/35
Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD).
make sure nobody can get in, but
youll also make sure that nobody Consequently, its imitator, Xiaomi, 35486-intel-inventec-confirmed-itis-making-the-xiaomi-linux-laptop
actually wants to use the platform. is also unlikely to use them in its
first laptop product. Intel's huge
And that may sound like an
R&D spending has made its x86
extreme case, but its a very
fundamental issue in security. You CPUs higher performing than
AMD's best processors.
cannot look at security as
something separate.
Inventec Appliance Corp. is
4
H ADOOP O PEN D ATA

PLATFORM MOVES UNDER
LINUX FOUNDATION ' S WING
ix months down the line from

its creation, the Open Data
Platform Hadoop initiative driven
by Pivotal and Hortonworks has
today unveiled new members,
work on a core spec and reference
implementation, plus a formal
governance structure.
The initiative caused
controversy at its launch in
February because of its declared
aim of defining a core set of opensource Apache technologies to
speed adoption of Hadoop.
Opponents dismissed it as a
marketing effort and argued that
interoperability across projects is
not a major issue.
In a move that could further
grate with those not in the Open
Data Platform camp, the initiative
is also now being hosted at the
Linux Foundation as a collaborative
project.
contents ^
NEWS
Source:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/had
oop-open-data-platform-movesunder-linux-foundations-wing/
machines appear to be part of the

network being targeted. That
technique can make it harder for
defenders to stop the attack.
"In short: Xor.DDoS is a multiplatform, polymorphic malware for

Linux OS, andits ultimate goal is to
DDoS other machines,"a separate
writeup on the botnet explained.
"The name Xor.DDoS stems from the
heavy usage ofXOR encryption in
both malware andnetwork
communication to the C&Cs
(commandandcontrol servers)."
B OTNET PREYING ON LINUX

COMPUTERS DELIVERS
POTENT DD O S ATTACKS
ecurity researchers have

uncovered a network of
infected Linux computers that's
flooding gaming and education
sites with as much as 1 50 gigabits
per second of malicious
trafficenough in some cases to
take the targets completely
offline.
The XOR DDoS (or Xor.DDoS)
botnet, as the distributed denialof-service network has been
dubbed, targets as many as 20
sites each day, according to an
advisory published Tuesday by
content delivery network Akamai
Technologies. About 90 percent of
the targets are located in Asia. In
some cases, the IP address of the
participating bot is spoofed in a
way that makes the compromised
Source:
http://arstechnica.com/security/20
1 5/09/botnet-preying-on-linuxcomputers-delivers-potent-ddosattacks/
LINUX FOUNDATION : O PEN

SOURCE CODE WORTH $5B
ow much is open source code

worth? The answer: $5 billion,
according to a newly released
Linux Foundation report that aims
to illustrate the estimated value of
development costs saved by the
code embedded in its Collaborative
Projects.
The report, "A $5 Billion Value:
Estimating the Total Development
Cost of Linux Foundation's
Collaborative Projects," found that
the total lines of source code that
are present in the Collaborative
Projects are 1 1 5,01 3,302.
The time that would be needed
to recreate the total effort of
these projects was found to be
41 ,1 92.25 person years, meaning it
would take 1 ,373 developers 30
years to recreate the code bases.
protagonist [Elliot], played by Rami

Malek, a tech at the security firm
AllSafe. We are also introduced to
the shows Macbeth, [Tyrell
Wellick], played by Martin
Wallstrm. When these characters
are introduced to each other,
[Tyrell] notices [Elliot] is using the
Gnome desktop on his work
computer while [Tyrell] says hes,
actually on KDE myself. I know
[Gnome] is supposedto be better,
but you know what they say, old
habits, they die hard.
While this short exchange

would appear to most as two
And the price tag for that is
techies talking shop, this is a scene
about $5 billion, the report
with a surprisingly deep
concludes.
interpretation. Back in the 90s,
when I didnt care if kids stayed off
Source:
my lawn or not, there was a great
http://www.informationweek.com/ desktop environment war in the
software/operating-systems/linux- land of Linux. KDE was not free, it
foundation-open-source-codewas claimed by the knights of GNU,
worth-$5b/a/d-id/1 322432
and this resulted in the creation of
the Gnome.
Source:
https://hackaday.com/201 5/1 0/02/
WHY AREN T WE ARGUING why-arent-we-arguing-more-aboutmr-robot/
M ORE ABOUT M R ROBOT?
n episode 0 of Mr Robot, were

introduced to our hero

contents ^
NEWS
ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST
LINUX KERNEL RELEASE: A
LOOK AT COLLABORATIVE
VALUE
Nearly 1 2,000 developers from

more than 1 ,200 companies have
contributed to the Linux kernel
since tracking began 1 0 years ago.
STYLE
prominent Linux kernel

developer announced in a
blog post that she would step
The rate of Linux development down from her direct work in the
is unmatched. The average number kernel community, saying that the
of changes accepted into the
community values blunt honesty,
kernel per hour is 7.71 , which
often containing profane and
translates to 1 85 changes every
personal attacks, above basic
day and nearly 1 ,300 per week.
human decency.
he Linux community often

recognizes two anniversaries
for Linux: August 25th is the day
Linus Torvalds first posted that he
was working on Linux and said
Hello, everybody out there and
In recent years, the powerful
October 5th is the day he released
growth of the Linux kernel and
the first kernel.
resulting innovation has inspired
To mark the anniversary of the others to adapt the principles,
practices and methodologies that
first kernel release in 1 991 , we
make Linux so successful to solve
look at some facts and consider
some of todays most complex
the progress that has been made
technology problems.
since that early version.
* Version 0.01 of the Linux kernel
Source:
had 1 0,239 lines of code (source:
http://www.linux.com/news/featur
Wikipedia).
ed-blogs/1 85-jennifer* Version 4.1 , released in July
cloer/857378-anniversary-of-first201 5, has more than 1 9 million
linux-kernel-release-a-look-atlines of code (source: Phoronix).
collaborative-value
The current Linux kernel is the
result of one of the largest
collaborative projects ever
attempted. According to the Who
Writes Linux Linux development
LINUX KERNEL DEV S ARAH
report published in February of
SHARP QUITS, CITING
this year:
BRUTAL COMMUNICATIONS
Sarah Sharp, an Intel employee

who, until recently, was the
maintainer of the USB 3.0 host
controller driver, wrote that she
could no longer work within a
developer culture that required
overworked maintainers to be rude
and brusque in order to get the job
done. She continues to work on
other open-source software
projects, but says that she has
begun to dread even minor
interaction with the kernel
community.
O PEN N ETWORK LINUX

SIMPLIFIES O PEN COMPUTE
PROJECT SWITCH
CONFIGURATION
ig Switch Networks, Facebook

and NTT have announced that
they have come together to create
a unified operating system called
Open Network Linux for Open
Compute Projects (OCP) switch
hardware.
While the name doesnt exactly
roll off the tongue, the project is
designed to help companies,
whether web scale-type companies
like Facebook or others looking to
take advantage of the Open
Compute Projects open source
switches, to use the platform as a
base to configure the switchs
forwarding algorithms (more on
that in a minute) in a way that
makes sense to them.
Source:
http://www.networkworld.com/art
Up until now, the project has
icle/2988850/opensourceconsisted of a set of disparate
subnet/linux-kernel-dev-sarahcomponents that engineers had to
sharp-quits-citing-brutalstitch together. Open Network
communications-style.html
Linux helps bring these
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht components together in a flexible
way, while removing some of the
contents ^
NEWS
engineering complexity.
is maintained by Steven Rostedt, a

Red Hat principal software
Source:
programmer, became the most
http://techcrunch.com/201 5/1 0/07 important real-time Linux variant.
/open-network-linux-is-ready-toDisagreements on how to
power-open-compute-projectimplement real-time functionality
switches/
into Linux still exist. So The Linux
Foundation, the non-profit
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht organization dedicated to
accelerating the growth of Linux
and collaborative development,
and its allies, created the new RealTime Linux (RTL) Collaborative
REAL-TIME LINUX GETS A
Project.
for each new release of the

Mangaka Linux distribution, we
report that the Mangaka Linux Chu
OS will ship with a beautiful
interface that combines elements
from the popular Cinnamon and
GNOME desktops. It will also
include some of the latest and
most popular Linux apps.
"Now, our new team wantedto

celebrate the 7 years ofAnimesoft
International, releasing the Release
Candidate ofthe new CHU that has
LEG -UP INTO MORE COMPLEX
Cinnamon+Gnome as desktop and
filledwith most recent Kodi media
Source:
COMPUTING SYSTEMS
http://www.zdnet.com/article/new centre, Skype, Google apps,
-real-time-linux-project-launched- OpenOffice, Mozilla apps, Wine,
ack in 2006, Linus Torvalds
codecs andmultimedia editors
said, "Controlling a laser with real-time-linux-rtl-collaborativeinstalledout-of-the-box just for
Linux is crazy, but everyone in this project/
you!" says Animesoft International
room is crazy in his own way. So if
you want to use Linux to control an Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht in an email to Softpedia.
industrial welding laser, I have no
As you might know, Mangaka
problem with your using
Linux is an Ubuntu-based computer
PREEMPT_RT." The debate was
operating system targeted at
started on whether Linux should
U
BUNTU FOR ANIME AND
and manga fans, as it
be a real-time operating system.
M ANGA M ANGAKA LINUX anime
includes several applications for
fansubbing and fandubbing. The
Real-time Linux started years
CHU SWITCHES TO
final release of Mangaka Linux Chu
earlier when academics created
C
INNAMON AND GNOME
will be available in the coming
the first real-time Linux distros
weeks and it'll be based on the
such as eKURT, University of
elebrating seven years of
latest Ubuntu 1 4.04 LTS (Trusty
Kansas; RTAI, University of Milano;
activity and in the good
and RTLinux, New Mexico Institute tradition of the project to move to Tahr) release.
of Mining and Technology. As the
a different desktop environment
Source:
years went by, PREMPT-RT, which
7
http://news.softpedia.com/news/u
buntu-for-anime-and-mangamangaka-linux-chu-switches-tocinnamon-and-gnome494322.shtml
THE LINUX FOUNDATION :

H OW TO FIX THE INTERNET
he Linux Foundation, the

organisation designed to
promote Linux and open source
software development practices,
plans to improve internet security
by coordinating teams of
dedicated coders, and large firms
with the financial power to fund
them.
Speaking at technology
conference IP EXPO in London
today, Jim Zemlin, executive
director of the Linux Foundation,
began by outlining the ubiquity of
Linux, the open source operating
system originally developed by
Linus Torvalds.
Since 2005, over 8,000
developers from around 800 firms
have contributed to the Linux
kernel (the fundamental part of
contents ^
NEWS
the operating system that

translates user or other types of
requests into instructions for the
device's CPU). Zemlin said that a
major new kernel comes out every
two to three months, which is a far
more regular update than other
operating systems, like Microsoft's
Windows platform, which usually
sees new revisions only every five
or more years.
The development process for
Linux is extremely collaborative,
and Zemlin highlighted this as a
major strength of open source
software in general, which he said
firms are now seeking to turn to
their advantage.
Source:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/u
buntu-for-anime-and-mangamangaka-linux-chu-switches-tocinnamon-and-gnome494322.shtml
A DECADE OF LINUX PATENT

NON -AGGRESSION : THE
O PEN I NVENTION N ETWORK
ack in 2005, Linux was still

under attack by SCO for
imaginary copyright violations, and
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was
claiming that Linux violated more
than 200 of the company's patents.
Linux needed all the intellectual
property (IP) law help it could get.
So IBM, Sony, Philips, Red Hat, and
Novell formed the Open Invention
Network (OIN) patent consortium,
to defend Linux against IP attacks.
OIN's plan was to acquire Linuxrelated patents and share them
royalty-free to any organization
that agrees not to assert its
patents against Linux or its
applications.
It worked.
SCO is history. True, Microsoft,
while embracing Linux and open
source, is also still profiting from
licensing never proved patents to
Android vendors, but they're no
longer rattling their legal sabers at
the Linux distributors or Google.
Still, while Linux has IP legal
fights on its hands, OIN has been a
success story.
Source:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/adecade-of-linux-patent-nonaggression-the-open-inventionnetwork/
LINUX FOUNDATION AND

ONOS PARTNER ON O PEN
SOURCE SDN AND NFV
N ETWORKS
NOS develops an SDN

operating system for carriergrade networks. Designed for high
availability, high scalability and
high performance, the platform is
funded and supported by a range
of industry partners, including
AT&T, NTT Communications, SK
Telecom, China Unicom, Ciena,
Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei,
Intel and NEC.
The ONOS platform was open
sourced in December 201 4, and
has issued four new releases since
then.
As part of the partnership with
the Linux Foundation, ONOS will
"transform service providers'
infrastructure for increased

monetization by achieving high
capex and opex efficiencies and
creating new innovative services
using the power of open source
SDN and NFV," the Linux
Foundation said in a statement.
"The Linux Foundation will assist
ONOS to organize, grow and
harness the power of this global
community to take ONOS and the
solutions enabled by it to the next
level of production readiness and
drive adoption in production
networks."
Source:
http://thevarguy.com/opensource-application-softwarecompanies/1 01 31 5/linuxfoundation-and-onos
LINUS TORVALDS I S "REALLY

H APPY" WITH LINUX KERNEL
4.3 RELEASE CANDIDATE 6
inus Torvalds announced that

the sixth Release Candidate of
Linux kernel 4.3 is available for
download and testing from the
usual places, and it appears that
things are calming down very well
contents ^
NEWS
for this release, which makes Mr.

Torvalds really happy.
"Things continue to be calm, and
in fact have gotten progressively
calmer. All ofwhich makes me really
happy, although my suspicious
nature looks for things to blame,"
says Linus Torvalds. "Are people just
on their best behavior because the
Kernel Summit is imminent, and
everybody is putting their best foot
forward?"
According to Linus Torvalds,

Linux kernel 4.3 Release Candidate
6 consists of a great number of
driver updates, especially for
things like InfiniBand, which
includes a copyright message
clarification, and GPU (Graphics
Processing Unit), various small
architecture updates mostly for
x86 KVM (Kernel Virtual Machine)
fixes for SMM emulation as well
as a few mm improvements.
Source:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/li
nus-torvalds-is-really-happy-withlinux-kernel-4-3-release-candidate6-494775.shtml
US NUKE BOFFINRY TO BE
POWERED BY FACEBOOKINSPIRED LINUX SERVERS
inux clusters built from

Facebook's blueprints will help
crunch numbers for the US
government's hydrogen bomb
scientists.
The computer system, dubbed
the Tundra Extreme Scale series,
will cost $39m, and at its peak
perform between seven and nine
thousand trillion math calculations
per second that's seven to nine
petaflops.
The machines will be installed
at America's Los Alamos, Sandia,
and Lawrence Livermore national
laboratories from April 201 6, with
the last rack scheduled to be in
place by September 201 8. There,
they will carry out "stockpile
stewardship," which is a
wonderfully sterile and
bureaucratic way of saying nuclear
weapon reliability testing and
simulation.
Essentially, the computer
system will be used to calculate
whether or not Uncle Sam's
stockpile of nukes, stored away in
grim silence, can be relied upon to

wipe cities from the face of the
Earth at short notice. Discovering
your thermonuclear warheads have
deteriorated into duds only after
you press the big red button will
be a bit of a bother. Politicians and
military commanders want to avoid
that scenario.
before 1 985, NTP is one of the

oldest Internet protocols in
current use. NTP was originally
designed by David L. Mills of the
University of Delaware, who still
oversees its development.
One of the 8 security

vulnerabilities discovered by
Ciscos engineers allows attackers
to manipulate a targets clock,
Source:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/201 5 making the victim believe they
/1 0/22/us_nuke_boffins_powered_ traveled to the future. Cisco
engineers have stated that the
by_ocp/
vulnerabilities affect the Network
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Time Protocol daemon (ntpd),
responsible for synchronizing time
across computer networks (like the
Intranets or smaller
NTP FLAW IN LINUX, M AC, Internet,
LANs).
AND BSD OS DISTROS CAN

BE USED TO COMPROMISE
ENCRYPTION
Source:
http://www.techworm.net/201 5/1
0/ntp-flaw-linux-mac-bsd-osdistros-compromiseencryption.html
ight security vulnerabilities

have been discovered by Cisco
researchers in the Network Time
Protocol (NTP) used by Linux, Mac, Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
and BSD OS distributions. Network
Time Protocol (NTP) is a
networking protocol for clock
synchronization between
computer systems over packetswitched, variable-latency data
networks. In operation since
contents ^
CO M M AN D & CO N Q U ER
Co d i n g F o r U b u n t u P h o n e s
Written by Lucas Westermann
sudo apt update && sudo apt

recently received a BQ Aquaris
E4.5 device running Ubuntu. Part install ubuntu-sdk
of the reason for getting it was a
This command updates the
promise to write a series of articles
package list, and immediately
about developing for the phone.
afterwards installs the ubuntu-sdk
This will be part 1 , covering setup
package.
and a basic hello world program.
The official install page notes

that anyone running a
development version of 1 5.1 0
Ubuntu released the Ubuntu
should ensure their packages are
SDK in order to make development all up-to-date, before installing
easier. I will be focusing on this
ubuntu-sdk, with a sudo apt distprogram for the series. If youre
upgrade.
averse to SDKs, I would imagine its
possible to still develop for
LAUNCH THE APPLICATION
Ubuntu, but I wont be covering it
in this series.
ubuntu-sdk
I NSTALL THE SDK
ADDING THE REPOSITORY

sudo add-apt-repository
ppa:ubuntu-sdk-team/ppa
This command will add the

official ubuntu-sdk PPA, to allow
you to easily get the newest
packages.
I NSTALL THE PACKAGE
CREATE YOUR PROJECT

The SDK will first ask you for a
name and a save location. I chose
HelloWorld and ~/Ubuntu SDK
Projects/, but youre welcome to
choose anything you want.
Note: if you dont want an

emulator, and want to run it only
on a physical device, you can skip
this step.
The next page will ask for

personal information - your
POST KIT CREATION
nickname, full name, email, the app
name, and the framework you
The wizard then simply asks
want to develop for. I chose the
what Kit(s) you want to use, and
ubuntu-sdk-1 5.04 framework (as I
asks about version control. I
am running 1 5.04).
enabled both Desktop and the
armhf kit I just created, and
skipped over the version control.
B UILD TARGETS
By default, there is only the

Or, just find and click on the sdk Desktop kit available. So youll
need to choose create new kit,
icon.
and choose armhf if youre
planning to run it on a phone. Once
Once the application has
you select the architecture, it will
launched, youll want to click on
prompt you for your password, and
Create a New Project, or File ->
New File or Project. For the sake of begin installing the kit. Note: If
youre running this in a virtual
the Hello World program, Ive
chosen an HTML5 App. If you want machine (for any reason), or a small
to experiment with anything else, partition, make sure you have more
than 1 0GB dedicated to the hard
feel free to do so.
drive. (Using the Ubuntu base,
updates, the SDK, and the kit

install, I ran out of space on my
test 1 0GB partition).
10
THE H ELLO WORLD

APPLICATION
As it turns out, the basic HTML5
app is already a Hello World
application. As such, we wont be
doing any actual coding. Instead, I
will focus on running the device
locally, and on the physical device.
If you want to adjust the HTML,
feel free.
contents ^
COMMAND & CONQUER

D ESKTOP
U BUNTU PHONE
(EMULATED)
If you look in the lower left of
the SDK window (shown below),
youll see an image of a Desktop
(or an Ubuntu logo, depending on
which kit you selected). Below that
are two green arrows, and a
hammer. The first green arrow is
run, the other is debug, and the
hammer is build. The Desktop kit
is used to run the application
within Ubuntu, in a separate
window. So, if you hit the run
button, you should see something
similar to the below screenshot
(assuming you used an HTML5
App).
In order to run it on an Ubuntu

Phone, youll need to create an
emulator. To do so, go to Devices,
and click the large plus sign. There,
youll need to give it a name
(without spaces), choose the
architecture, as well as the Ubuntu
image you want. I chose bq-stable
over devel, since my goal is to test
it on a physical bq device later.
Once you enter the
information, it will prompt you for
a password, and then begin
creating the emulator.
Once the emulator is created,

simply click on the Icon above the
green arrow, and select (with your
arrow keys) the kit you want to
use. In the case of the example, its
the armhf kit you want. Then
clicking run will launch the
emulator, and eventually load the
app into the emulator.
Once it appears in your Ubuntu

Devices panel, it will show a
message about frameworks. Just
allow it to automatically select a
framework, and youre done. This
will create a new Kit called
Ubuntu Device. In order to build
and run your application on the
phone, you need to click on the
tab/icon for Projects. There,
want to click on the button
U BUNTU PHONE (PHYSICAL) youll
Add Kit (just above the hammer
icon), and select the Ubuntu
The Ubuntu Devices section
from the emulated section will also Device from the menu.
display any usb connected Ubuntu
devices. However, my Aquaris E4.5
was not recognized at first. It turns
out I had forgotten to enable
developer mode. On the phone, go
to Settings -> About This Phone,
and then Developer Mode. Make
sure there is a green checkmark.
Then plug it in. You can check to
Once the kit is
see if its connected properly by
added,
you must
running adb devices in the list. Or
select it (the icon
lsusb (to see if the device is even
above the green
recognized). It should also appear
arrow in the bottom
as an MTP device. Once the
left), and run the
physical device is connected,
project. This will
switch to the Ubuntu Devices
then open the app
panel, and ensure its listed here
on your phone.
too. Also, make sure its unlocked.
If it isnt, youll see something
In order to stop
similar to this in your log:
the application, click
arch:error:closed.
11
contents ^
COMMAND & CONQUER

on Application Output on the
bottom of the window. There, you
can click on a red square to stop
the application from running. If
you forget to do so, the Ubuntu
SDK will warn you about it, and
offer to force-quit the application.
The Ubuntu Podcast covers all

the latest news and issues facing
Ubuntu Linux users and Free
Software fans in general. The
show appeals to the newest user
and the oldest coder. Our
discussions cover the
development of Ubuntu but
arent overly technical. We are
lucky enough to have some
great guests on the show, telling
us first hand about the latest
exciting developments they are
working on, in a way that we can
all understand! We also talk
about the Ubuntu community
and what it gets up to.
WRAP-U P
That was it for this month. Now
that weve gotten the basics out of
the way (running applications),
well be ready to start
programming! If you have any
questions, requests, suggestions,
or just want to say hi, I can be
reached at
[email protected].
The show is presented by

members of the UKs Ubuntu
Linux community. Because it is
covered by the Ubuntu Code of
Conduct it is suitable for all.
The show is broadcast live every
fortnight on a Tuesday evening
(British time) and is available for
download the following day.
Lucas has learned all he knows from
repeatedly breaking his system, then

having no other option but to
discover how to fix it. You can email
Lucas at: [email protected].
podcast.ubuntu-uk.org
12
contents ^
H OW-TO
P yt h o n I n T h e R E AL W o rl d
Written by Greg D. Walters
elcome fellow pythoners. As

the kids here in the central
parts of the U.S. say, Whats
Shakin Bacon? Im not exactly
sure what thats supposed to
mean, but I assume its a good
thing.
You might notice the new
header. I decided that Ive taught
you all the basics of Python that I
can for general programming, so
now we are going to delve into
using Python to talk to other types
of computers and controllers, like
the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino
micro controller. Well look at
things like temperature sensors,
controlling motors, flashing LEDs
and more.
This issue we will be focusing
on what well need to do this and
focus on a few of the projects we
will be looking at in the future.
Next issue, we will start the first
project.
One of the things we will talk
about next time will be the
Raspberry Pi. The Pi is a credit-card
sized computer that natively runs
Linux on an SD card. Its output

goes to your TV set via HDMI. It
also has an Ethernet connection
for Internet access.
You can find out more at the
official site
https://www.raspberrypi.org. If
you want to follow along with the
projects, you will need a Pi, SD
card, Keyboard, Mouse, a 5volt DC
power supply like the ones on
modern cell phones, and access to
an HDMI monitor or TV. Eventually,
you should also consider getting a
breadboard and some connecting
wires for when we start to
interface to the outside world. You
can find any number of places that
sell the Pi on the Internet. Here in
the U.S., we can get them for
around $35.
One other thing about the Pi is
that it provides access to a series
of pins that support GPIO (General
Purpose Input/Output). Basically,
this means that you can write
programs that will send signals to
the output pins and read the
signals from the input pins. This
can be used to interface to things
like LEDs, sensors, push buttons,

etc. Many people have made home
automation systems, multiple
processor systems (by linking 40 or
so Pi computers together to
emulate a supercomputer),
weather stations, even drones. So
you can imagine that the
possibilities are endless. Thats
why I decided to start with it for
this series of articles.
poorly health-wise, so Im saving

my strength for the next article.
Until then, grab some electronics
and get ready for fun!
After a while, we will begin to

work with the Arduino, which
according to the official website
(https://www.arduino.cc): Arduino
is an open-source electronics
platform basedon easy-to-use
hardware andsoftware. It's
intendedfor anyone making
interactive projects.
Once again, this is an exciting
device to work with. In this part of
the series, we will look at talking to
the Arduino, first in its native
scripting language, and then in
Python and eventually interfacing
the Pi with the Arduino.
I know this months article is
fairly short, but Ive been doing
13
Greg Walters is owner of RainyDay
Solutions, LLC, a consulting company

in Aurora, Colorado, and has been
programming since 1 972. He enjoys
cooking, hiking, music, and spending
time with his family. His website is
www.thedesignatedgeek.net.
contents ^
H OW-TO M u lti boot Wi th U EFI , W1 0 & Severa l D i stros
Written byFrank Dennisen
boot loader of the selected distro.

The specific boot loader has its
own partition for its data, and it
will show a second menu to the
user to select a particular kernel
version and eventually extra boot
options. The chainloader module
of grub2 is used to start another
boot loader.
1 0 on the first half of the hard disk. mount my home directories in the
preferred distro (Kubuntu). The
The central boot loader needs a other distros are just for
physical partition (the boot loader experimenting, so they never
does not speak LVM), and I will
contain important data.
place it on the solid state drive.
Other partitions that are shared
STEP 1 : PREPARE FOR THE
between all distros are:
Previously, I had a lot of
a physical partition used as swap INSTALLATION OF WINDOWS
problems when I made a multiarea, and
10
boot system with Linux distros,
I
also
use
LVM
(Logical
Volume
a
logical
volume
for
temporary
because the boot loader (grub2)
Manager) as much as possible. In
files that are erased when Linux
Decouple first the solid state
and its directory (/boot/) must be
LVM, one can assign one or more
starts up (/tmp).
disk from the motherboard to
shared. The problem is that each
make sure Windows 1 0 uses only
distro installs a different version of physical partitions to a so-called
volume
group,
and
create
logical
Both
partitions
will
be
on
the
the hard disk.
grub2. The result could be that the
partitions
in
the
volume
group.
hard
drive
as
they
contain
volatile
PC refuses to boot after a distro
These logical partitions are called
data.
Windows 1 0 is sold in the form
update due to inconsistencies
logical volumes in LVM speak. It is
of a USB stick, so plug the stick in
between the updates that the
very
easy
to
change
the
size
of
I
will
create
for
each
distro:
one of the USB slots and boot the
distro made in the /boot directory
logical
volumes
when
needed.
a
physical
partition
on
the
solid
PC. Enter the BIOS to enable UEFI
and the boot loader installed on
Another advantage is that the
state drive for the specific boot
and secure boot. For my
the hard disk.
name of a logical volume can not
loader (/boot),
motherboard type, I must press
change,
so
you
can
safely
address
a
a
logical
volume
on
the
solid
state
the Del key a few times just after
To prevent this I intend to use
logical
volume
lv
in
volume
group
drive
for
the
root
file
system
of
the
the PC boots.
the two-step boot mechanism
distro (/), and finally
described in article Howto: GRUB2 hdvg as /dev/mapper/hdvg-lv or
/dev/hdvg/lv.
a logical volume for persistent
and multiboot Pt. 4 that was
STEP 2: PREPARE THE BIOS
data (/var) on the hard disk.
published FCM#88. The central
I intend to create one volume
boot loader gets a separate
The nasty thing is that the
group hdvg on the hard disk for
One usually also provides a
partition for its data and it will
procedure depends on the
the volatile data of the distros, and separate partition for the user
allow the user to select a distro
motherboard type, so you
another one ssdvg on the solid
data (/home), but I will not do that probably have to experiment to
from a menu. The central boot
state drive. I will install Windows
because I have a NAS from which I find the exact settings for your
loader will then start the specific
14
contents ^
have a PC with a hard disk of
1 TB, a solid state drive of 250
GB, and a CD/DVD drive. I want to
install Windows 1 0 and four Linux
distros on it using UEFI and secure
boot.
HOWTO - MULTIMODE UEFI

motherboard. Mine is an ASUS
A88X-Plus. For this type of
motherboard, one must enter
Advanced Mode and then select
the Boot tab.
proposes to divide the hard disk in

four partitions. I reduced the size
of the largest partition to 500
GByte so I have enough space for
the future Linux partitions.
To enable UEFI, go into

Compatibility Support Mode and
set:
Launch CSM to Enabled,
Boot Device Control to UEFI
only,
Boot from storage devices to
Both, UEFI first and
Boot from PCIe/PCI expansion
devices to UEFI drive first.
During the installation, you

have to answer a few questions,
but finally your PC reboots into
Windows 1 0.
To enable secure boot, set

Secure boot to Windows UEFI
mode.
Make the USB stick the first
boot device. I had to select UEFI:
KDI-MSFTWindows1 0. Always
select the UEFI variant in case you
have multiple options. Save the
configuration and exit.
STEP 3: INSTALL WINDOWS

The PC reboots now and starts
with the installation of Windows
1 0.
The installation program
In a multiboot environment,
you must disable fast reboot to
avoid corruption of your Windows
8, 8.1 or 1 0 installation.
Go to the Control Panel,
select System, Power options,
and then Choose what the power
options do. Click on Change
settings that are currently
unavailable, and finally remove
the tick in front of Turn on fast
startup (recommended). Save
changes and reboot your PC.
Now remove the USB stick with
the Windows 1 0 software.
STEP 4: INSTALL KUBUNTU

Download the iso-image of
Kubuntu 1 4.04 LTS 64-bit, burn it
on a DVD, put it in the CD/DVD
drive, and shutdown the system.
Reconnect the solid state drive

to the motherboard and boot the
PC.
AND LOGICAL VOLUMES IN

KUBUNTU LIVE
Go into BIOS and select the

DVD as boot device. I had to select
UEFI: P3 TSTST corp CDDVDW SH224 DB. Always select the UEFI
variant in case you have multiple
options. Save the configuration
and exit.
Quit the installation, and

Kubuntu live is started
automatically.
Open now a terminal: you find
one under Applications->System as
Terminal Konsole.
Install gparted with following

Select first Start Kubuntu,
command:
wait some time until you can select
your language, and Install
sudo apt-get install gparted
Kubuntu. In step Disk Setup,
choose Manual as Installation
Start gparted:
Type.
sudo gparted
Bummer: the installer does not

allow to create LVM volume groups
Select the appropriate disk: you
and logical volumes, but it can
should be able to figure out from
work with logical volumes if they
the sizes which one is the hard disk
are created in advance.
and which one is the solid state
drive. Make sure to remember the
So you now have the choice:
identification (for example:
forget about LVM and create only /dev/sda7) of each partition you
physical partitions, or
have created.
jump to the Kubuntu live and
create the physical partitions and
The hard disk already has a
logical volumes there.
partition table. Select the
unallocated area and select
I will explore the latter option. Partition->New to add a new
partition: give it a size of 1 GB and
STEP 5 : CREATE PARTITIONS select linux-swap as file system.
15
contents ^

This partition will be used as swap
space. Repeat the process to add
another partition, with file system
lvm2pv, that spans the complete
unallocated area. Press the Apply
button.
Note: there is no need to
format the partitions: let the
installer do that.
The SSD drive does not have a
partition table yet. Select the
device and select Device->Create
Partition Table. Under Advanced,
change the type from msdos to
gpt, and Apply.
sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb6
Create the volume group hdvg

and assign the partition to it:
sudo vgcreate hdvg /dev/sdb6
Create logical volume var1 of

30 Gbyte in volume group hdvg:
sudo lvcreate -n var1 -L 30G
hdvg
In the same way, create logical

volumes var2, var3 and var4 and a
1 0 Gbyte logical volume tmp.
Create now the volume group

ssdvg on the solid state drive, and
Create now 6 partitions:
create four logical volumes root1 ,
one of 1 00 Mbyte with file system root2, root3, root4 of 20 GByte
ext2 for the central boot loader,
each.
four of 1 GByte also with file
system ext2 for the specific boot
Go back to the installer by
loaders, and
pressing Install Kubuntu on the
a last one with file system lvm2pv desktop.
that spans the complete
unallocated area.
Press the Apply button. Close
gparted and return to the terminal.
Add the physical partition with
file system lvm2pv that we just
created on the hard disk (in my
case this was called /dev/sdb6) to
LVM:
STEP 6 : RESTART THE

KUBUNTU INSTALLATION
Choose again, Manual as

Installation Type in step Disk
Setup.
Use the central boot partition
for /boot/central, and the first

specific boot partition for /boot. In
both cases, select ext2 as the file
system.
Use /dev/ssdvg/root1 as /,
/dev/hdvg/var1 as /var, and
/dev/hdvg/tmp as /tmp, all with a
ext4 file system. Finally use the
swap partition as swap space. Let
the installer format all partitions.
Continue with the installation.
Install the boot loader on the solid
state drive and finally your PC will
reboot.
config-file.bak), and add a

comment with your name and
date, and the reason why you
made the change to the modified
file. In this way you can easily
revert changes or find all files that
you modified. Use the live DVD to
repair in case things go terribly
wrong.
You must reduce as much as
possible the number of writes to
your solid state drive to increase
its lifetime.
The file system, by default,

writes the access time of each file
If you boot directly into
or directory that you read. This
Windows, enter the BIOS and make information is almost never used,
sure that Ubuntu is the first boot
so it is safe to disable this feature.
device. I had to select Ubuntu (P4 You should at least do this for the
: WDC WD1 0EAVS-00D7B1 ).
solid state drive, but it does no
harm if you do this too for your
You should now be able to start hard disk as it will make your disk
up Windows and Kubuntu via the
access faster.
grub menu.
Edit /etc/fstab as root, and add
noatime
options field
STEP 7 : CONFIGURE LINUX (don't forgetin the
the comma) of the
TO USE THE SSD
partitions or logical volumes that
are on any of the disks.
Note: in this step you will make
some changes to configuration
Example:
files. Be very careful doing so:
always make a backup file of the
UUID=8482863b-d04e-40d2-be10original version (sudo cp config-file f5f3df88b8cd / ext4
16
contents ^

errors=remount-ro 0 1
UUID=f65f89ac-b2b0-4345-949a6965e3513db3 /boot ext2
defaults 0 2
becomes:
UUID=8482863b-d04e-40d2-be10f5f3df88b8cd / ext4
errors=remount-ro,noatime 0 1
UUID=f65f89ac-b2b0-4345-949a6965e3513db3 /boot ext2
defaults,noatime 0 2
Verify that you entered the

correct syntax by executing: sudo
mount -a.
A second modification is to run
the trim command at boot up time
and not via a cron job. Edit
/etc/rc.local as root, and add
fstrim -v <partition> for each
partition that is written on the
solid state drive that is written
often by this distro. I have added:
fstrim -v /
Edit /etc/cron-weekly/fstrim as
root, and put a hash '# in front of
fstrim-all. Example:
#exec fstrim-all
In case your cache partition is

on the solid state drive, you should
also reduce the number of times

Linux uses the cache by editing
/etc/sysctl.conf as root and adding
following lines:
vm.swappiness=1
vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50
Some applications like Firefox

and Java write a lot to the home
directory. Also this causes
unnecessary wear of the solid
state drive. For example, google
firefox and ssd to find
instructions to make applications
solid-state-drive friendly.
STEP 8 : CONFIGURE THE 2STEP BOOT MENU
I found my inspiration in article

Howto: GRUB2 and multiboot Pt.
4 that was published in FullCircle
88. Our central boot partition,
/boot/central, is the equivalent of
/mnt/GRUBpart/boot in the article.
Take into account that UEFI
requires a lot of changes to the
procedure.
First, add chain loader entries
to /etc/grub.d/40_custom.
Chain loader entries for use
menuentry 'Kubuntu 14.04 amd64 op /dev/sda9' {

insmod part_gpt
insmod chain
set root='hd0,gpt5'
set prefix=($root)/grub
configfile $prefix/grub.cfg
set efi_root='hd2,gpt2'
chainloader ($efi_root)/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
}
without UEFI are very simple. Such

an entry looks as follows: if
hd0,msdos1 is the grub name of
the partition where you want to
jump to (the partition that is
mounted on /boot or on / if you
have no separate boot partition):
menuentry 'Ubuntu' {
set root='hd0,msdos1'
chainloader +1
}
Hint: inspect /boot/grub/grub.cfg
to find out how partitions are

named by grub. Use the grub shell
in case you are in doubt about the
correct names: reboot your PC, go
into the BIOS, disable secure boot,
save and exit, and press escape
when you see the grub menu. You
can now enter commands like dir
(hd0,msdos1 )/ to see the contents
of a given partition: this will help
you to verify if an assumed grub
name is correct. Use the command
reboot to reboot the PC.
17
A chain loader entry for UEFI is

much more complicated. It looks as
shown above, if hd0,gpt5 is the
grub name of the partition where
you want to jump to (the partition
that is mounted on /boot or on / if
you have no separate boot
partition), and if hd2,gpt is the
grub name for the EFI partition.
Note : check and correct the
paths to the different files when

you use another distro and/or
partition scheme!
It is probably better to work
with the uuid as the hard disk
numbers (hdx) in grub can change
if you, for example, start up with
an USB stick plugged in. Use sudo
blkid /dev/sda5 to find the uuid of
partition /dev/sda5. The chain
loader entry looks now as shown
(page after next) at the bottom
(don't forget to enter the correct
values for the hints too).
contents ^

Add a chainloader entry
(previous page, top right) to jump
to Kubuntu itself and copy the
entries for Windows 1 0 and
System Setup from
/boot/grub/grub.cfg to
/etc/grub.d/40_custom.
Execute:
sudo update-grub
reboot, and verify that the new

entries work. Correct if necessary.
Prepare the central boot
directory:
sudo mkdir /boot/central/efi
cd /etc/grub.d
sudo mount -o bind /boot/efi

/boot/central/efi
sudo chmod -x *linux* *mem*

*prober* *uefi*
sudo cp
/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg
.bak
sudo grub-install /dev/sda
boot-directory=/boot/central
Make a backup of grub.cfg,

generate the grub.cfg first for the
central boot loader, and
afterwards again for Kubuntu.
sudo cp /boot/grub/grub.cfg
/boot/grub/grub.cfg.bak
sudo update-grub
sudo cp /boot/grub/grub.cfg
/boot/central/grub/
sudo cp
/boot/grub/unicode.pf2
/boot/central/grub/
sudo chmod +x *linux* *mem*
sudo chmod -x *custom*
sudo update-grub
Prepare the central boot loader

and create 2 new boot entries,
called central_grub and
central_shim. The -d option

indicates the disk that contains the
efi partition, and -p is the number
of the efi partition. The efi
partition in my case is /dev/sdb2 so
we get:
sudo cp -R
/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu
/boot/efi/EFI/central
sudo mv
.bak
sudo rm
/boot/efi/EFI/central/grub.cf
g.bak
menuentry 'Kubuntu 14.04 amd64 op /dev/sda9' {

insmod part_gpt
insmod chain
set root='hd0,gpt5'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt5 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt5
f65f89ac-b2b0-4345-949a-6965e3513db3
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root f65f89ac-b2b0-4345-949a-6965e3513db3
fi
set prefix=($root)/grub
set efi_root='hd2,gpt2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=efi_root --hint-bios=hd2,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd2,gpt2 --hintbaremetal=ahci2,gpt2 EC4E-2E34
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=efi_root EC4E-2E34
fi
chainloader ($efi_root)/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
}
18
contents ^

sudo efibootmgr -c -l
\\EFI\\central\\grubx64.efi
-L central_grub -d /dev/sdb
-p 2
sudo efibootmgr -c -l
\\EFI\\central\\shimx64.efi
-L central_shim -d /dev/sdb
-p 2
Verify the contents of

/boot/efi/EFI/central/grub.cfg and
/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg.
These files have following content:
search.fs_uuid 5b686b70-7fdf495c-afa8-33847392b06f root
hd0,gpt1
set prefix=($root)'/grub'
Make sure that uuid and root

refer to, respectively, the central
boot partition and the kubuntu
specific boot partition. Correct if
necessary.
STEP 9: I NSTALL THE OTHER

DISTROS
worry anymore about creating

partitions. Make sure that
/boot/central, /tmp, and the swap
partition, are not formatted again.
The installers of some distros
always format the swap partition.
This partition will then get a new
uuid. In that case you need to
correct the uuid of the swap
partition in the /etc/fstab file of
the other distros.
Add now a chain loader entry in
/boot/central/grub/grub.cfg for
the new installed distro. Make sure
you use the correct paths: for
Debian you must replace
ubuntu/grubx64.efi by
debian/grubx64.efi.
Reboot, go in the BIOS, enable
secure boot, and make
central_shim the default boot
loader.
THE END
You should now be able to

The next distro I installed was
Debian but I was obliged to disable easily switch between Kubuntu,
Debian and Windows 1 0. Enjoy!
secure boot in the BIOS first.
Installation is similar to the
installation of the first distro,
except that you don't have to
files are considered to be insecure

by the BIOS as they are not signed.
A last remark: you can not

combine grub splash images with
Secure Boot because the image
Frank graduated as a civil engineer,
mechanical in 1 986 and now

develops software for the big
Internet routers. He uses Linux at
home and professionally. He is very
interested to find out how things like
Linux work under the hood.
19
contents ^
H OW-TO
Websi te Wi th I n fra stru ctu re Pt. 3
Written by John
ow that our Linux VM is built

and secure, it's time to install
the web server.
CHOOSE?
Installing a web server is as easy

Now that Apache is installed,
as running this command!
we must tune, configure and
secure the web server.
The most popular web servers

sudo apt-get install apache2
are Apache, ngix, Microsoft and
(Centos7 yum install httpd)
Google
(list
taken
from
WHAT EXACTLY IS A WEB
netcraft.com). I am not really
Make sure to answer Y to
SERVER?
familiar with Google's web server continue (or hit enter)
offering, and Microsoft is definitely
A web server is software which off the list (try to wonder why!) - so
We can now check that the webserves web pages (and potentially we get to choose between Apache
server
started properly (shown
other files for example binaries and ngix.
below) - using a web browser, key
like videos, packages, etc).
the IP address of the server (in my
Apache has been around for
example it is 1 59.203.90.1 1 1 ).
And how does this really
longer and has the largest market
actually work? The web server runs share. Ngix is supposed to be
as a daemon. Daemon - at least in lighter and therefore maybe faster. CONFIGURATION AND TUNING
the *nix family means software
that runs in background (meaning
I chose Apache for this tutorial
there is typically no output on the there is no specific reason why not
screen, the program runs silently
ngix, which is also an excellent
without interaction from the user), server, other than I personally have
and typically listens on a TCP port more exposure with Apache
(more on TCP ports in part 2,
software in general.
published last week).
When a request is sent to that
specific listening port, the daemon
wakes up and produces an action
for a web server, the daemon
typically sends back a web page.
WHICH WEB SERVER TO
TUNING FIRST
Typically, tuning is done at the
end. Having said this, I personally
tend to forget about tuning and
therefore I can end up with a web
server thats sluggish should
workload pick up. So let's tune it
right now it won't have any side
effect.
Edit the file
I NSTALL APACHE WEB

SERVER
Before we start, note that I will

also add the commands for
Centos7.
20
contents ^
HOWTO - WEBSITE WITH INFRASTRUCTURE
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf, and
add the following at the end of the
file (for Centos7, its:
/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf):
sudo vi
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf
<IfModule mpm_prefork_module>
StartServers 2
MinSpareServers 6
MaxSpareServers 12
MaxClients 80
MaxRequestsPerChild 3000
</IfModule>
For these to take effect, save

the file and restart the Apache
service with:
sudo service apache2 restart
(Centos7: systemctl restart
httpd)
What does this all mean?

StartServers defines the
minimum number of child server
processes created when web
server starts. 2 works well for me,
not sure what the default is.
MinSpareServers is the minimum
number of threads waiting for
requests while MaxSpareServers is
the maximum number. Higher the
number, more load the server can
handle, however we have to
balance the values with our server
resources (1 CPU & 51 2MB of
RAM). 6 and 1 2 work well here.

MaxClients is the max number of
simultaneous requests that will be
served (any additional will be
queued). 80 works well here.
MaxRequestsPerChild is the
threshold after which a child
process will re-spawn. For example,
as any software, Apache can have
memory leaks so restarting the
child process after a given number
of requests served will clean up
potentially leaked resources.
And add all this to the file (in

Centos7, the folder is:
Check the sites-enabled folder /etc/httpd/conf.d)
it is now gone!
sudo a2dissite 000-default
Restart the server (service

apache2 restart) basically no
site served anymore, just a folder
browser:
D ISABLE DEFAULT SITE

It is now time to disable the
default site, meaning the page
which was served when we keyed
in the IP address of the server.
Basically we want to do this for
security and convenience reasons when somebody keys in the IP
address of my server, I'd rather
send the user to my web page then
the default Apache page.
First we have to find the name
of the default site
What does this all mean?

Apache is listening on port 80
(more below).
Our site will be iceberg ServerName is the name of your
tutorial.com (iceberg.com is
website.
already taken!), so we will create a DocumentRoot is the path where
configuration file called icebergthe files of the web server are
tutorial.conf (note: we could have stored.
chosen any name I just assume
ErrorLog defines the path of
that using a configuration filename where error logs are stored.
with the same name as final site
just helps in the long run for
We have therefore to create the
maintenance):
path to these folders:
CREATE OUR SITE
sudo vi /etc/apache2/sitesavailable/icebergtutorial.conf
To disable, use:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin
[email protected]
ServerName icebergtutorial.com
ServerAlias *.icebergtutorial.com
DocumentRoot
/var/www/icebergtutorial/public_html/
ErrorLog
/var/www/icebergtutorial/logs/error.log
CustomLog
/var/www/icebergtutorial/logs/access.log
combined
</VirtualHost>
21
sudo mkdir -p
/var/www/icebergtutorial/public_html/
contents ^

sudo mkdir -p
/var/www/icebergtutorial/logs
Refresh the page, you should now

see something like this:
And also make sure these

folders and files can be read:
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www
And finally enable the site:

sudo a2ensite icebergtutorial.conf
If we try to access the website,

we'll get this this is expected
behavior since there are no files
(we created only the folders):
Q UICK NOTES ABOUT TCP

PORTS
We already spoke about TCP

ports in the previous article. A
great tool to check what ports are
open is nmap. To scan the first
1 000 ports, type:
sudo nmap localhost
and you will see which ports are

open.
By default, Apache is looking
for a file called index.html let's
create one:
sudo vi /var/www/icebergtutorial/public_html/index.ht
ml
Key in, for example, Hello

there!, then close and save.
We can see here that 22 (SSH)

and 80 (http) are open which is
expected.
To scan other port ranges, you
can use the -p option (ex: nmap -p
2000-3000 localhost).
VIRTUAL SITES
It is possible to host several

sites on the same server. Since the
server has a unique IP address, the
originating URL will help Apache
go to the right site - in other
words, serve the pages from the
correct folder.
So we can have several
configuration files in the folder
/etc/apache2/sites-available/
For example (remember that
for maintenance reasons, the name
of the folder is the name of the
URL itself):
iceberg-tutorial.conf
... DocumentRoot
/var/www/icebergtutorial/public_html/ ...
whatever-site.conf
... DocumentRoot
/var/www/whateversite/public_html/ ...
If the originating URL is

www.iceberg-tutorial.com, Apache
will serve the pages from
/var/www/icebergtutorial/public_html/, while, if the
originating URL is www.whateversite.com, Apache will serve the
pages from /var/www/whateversite/public_html/
SECURITY
What would a web server setup
be without security? It would
probably be like leaving your car in
the garage with the keys on the
ignition somebody may steal the
car or not. Maybe it's not a great
analogy, but you probably got the
point!
Apache is open source
software, therefore it is very easy
to add modules and there are a
bunch of security modules
available.
Remember however that
security is not foolproof it is only
a mitigating factor so you must
pro-actively check the system logs
for intrusions or attempts of
intrusion. Let's make another
analogy it's like you purchased
that outstanding vault. Breaking
into that vault will be difficult, but
if an attacker has enough time and
the right skills, he could potentially
break inside. Same here check
frequently your system logs (more
in the howto article on that).
O UT OF THE BOX SECURITY

By out of the box is meant
22
contents ^
that no download is required just

add all below to the end of the file
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf:
ServerTokens Prod
ServerSignature Off
FileETag None
TraceEnable off
Timeout 60
<Directory />
Options None
AllowOverride None
Order deny,allow
<LimitExcept GET POST
HEAD>
deny from all
</LimitExcept>
</Directory>
LoadModule headers_module
/usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_
headers.so
Header edit Set-Cookie ^(.*)$
$1;HttpOnly;Secure
Header always append X-FrameOptions SAMEORIGIN
Quick comments what all this

means
ServerTokens and
ServerSignature will not disclose
the Apache version (signature of
web server will be just Apache).
This avoids giving an attacker
information regarding specific
exploits available for your version
(eg: just making this up version
1 .4.2 has the XXX known

vulnerability).
TraceEnabled doesn't allow
debugging (additional trace) and
TimeOut is probably self
explanatory!
The Directory directive adds
restrictions on root folder.
As explained earlier, Apache can
easily be enhanced with modules.
Here we ask Apache to load the
headers_module, which will be
used in the 2 commands below
(Header Edits and Header
always ) in order to block XSS or
using iFrames attacks. I am not an
expert on these topics my
recommendation is copy-paste the
entire line (Header Edits and
Header always ) into Google for
more details.
ADDITIONAL SECURITY
MODULE M OD S ECURITY FOR
APACHE
Extremely popular for Apache
servers (and maybe others),
ModSecurity is a must-have
module. Note this is not
mandatory, however I highly
recommend installing it (it's free
and it adds security so why not?).
Once ModSecurity is installed, it

doesn't do anything out of the box
you must turn on what options
you need. To make things easier,
common rules (also called CRS Core Set Rules) are available and
just need to be turned on.
There are many websites with
all the instructions on how to
install ModSecurity and turn on
CRS for all step-by-step
instructions, please follow the link
below (there are many other
tutorials available online on how-to
proceed):
https://www.digitalocean.com/co
mmunity/tutorials/how-to-set-upmodsecurity-with-apache-onubuntu-1 4-04-and-debian-8
CLEANUP AND SOME

STATISTICS
The folder /var/www/icebergtutorial/logs will start filling up

with logs:
Check out access.log you

should see the IP address from
which you have accessed the web
server (meaning the IP address of
23
where the browser ran) cool

stuff, isn't it?
We can now also run statistics
what pages were open, IP source,
browser info, etc. Of course, you
can use Google analytics; however
as a pure geek, I personally
enjoyed browsing the web logs to
get my own stats.
Note that the log file size will
continue increasing so we must
clean it up. This very small script
(shown on the next page)will count
all unique access to the web server
and then compress the log. It's a
bash job, all lines starting with #
are comments. Once the script is
created, you can add the script to a
cron job to run daily:
FINAL N OTE WEBSITE

REGISTRATION AND DNS
Once the web server is set up
and pages ready, you will probably
register a website name it is
easier to remember www.icebergtutorial.com rather than
1 59.203.90.1 1 1 .
In order to do this, find your
favorite website registrar online,
and follow all the steps (you'll have
contents ^
to pay something usually it's

around $1 5 for one year).
You will then have to also set up

a DNS entry at Digital Ocean this
is the link which controls where
the browser will jump to when
anyone tries to access
www.iceberg-tutorial.com (no
additional charge free at last!).
#!/bin/bash
cd /var/www/iceberg-tutorial/logs
# Get the current date in format YYYY-MM-DD
MYDATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
#Get some stats
#
Do not count any bot (grep -v bot)
Do not count any internal IP V6 access ::1
All information on theses steps

is very well explained here:
https://www.digitalocean.com/co
mmunity/tutorials/how-to-set-upa-host-name-with-digitalocean
Do not count me grep -v 159.203.90.111
Print 1st field (that is the IP addresses
Sort all IPs
Keep only uniq IPs
I hope you have enjoyed these

articles and that you will create
your own website, from scratch!
# Count them and add to file using >> (which means append). Caution > would mean
overwrite
# ===> The file statistics.txt will keep for each day the total number of unique IP
addresses which have accessed the web site
RESULT=$(cat access.log | grep -v -i "bot" | grep -v "::1" | grep -v 159.203.90.111 |
gawk '{print $1}' | sort | uniq | wc -l)
echo $MYDATE "
" $RESULT >> statistics.txt
# Compress the log

cat access.log | xz > access__$MYDATE.xz
# Truncate the file (basically it is like rm file && touch file)
:>access.log
24
contents ^
H OW-TO
Written by Curtis Patranella
he best way to be secure on

your computer is to control
what is installed on it. For the most
control, I would suggest starting
off with an Ubuntu Minimal Install
and build upon that.
I chose Ubuntu because it (and
its derivatives... like LinuxMint) is
(in my opinion) the most userfriendly Linux distro out there. It is
very easy to get support from the
forums; the repositories contain
most of the useful software; new
repositories/PPA's are easy to add;
you can install via .deb files (akin
to M$ .exe/.msi files); you can
easily create the flavor you want,
AND they offer a Minimal Install
disk containing a very base system
you can build on.
U b u n t u - B a s e d M i n i m a l I n s ta l l
I have spent a very long time

compiling this information, testing
it out, etc, and have decided to put
it all together as a *buntu Minimal
Install Guide. Why the * in front
of buntu? Because you can turn
the Minimal Install into any flavor
of buntu you want. You can
create a homebrew, Xubuntu,
Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Openbox, etc.
Xubuntu, you can use this

command:
For this guide, I am going to

show you how to do a Minimal
Xubuntu Install. If you want
something else, this guide will still
be of use to you, and then you can
alter what I have listed below in
the customization section.
CREATING THE B ASE SYSTEM
You can download the Mini ISO

from here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/communi
The Minimal Install does not put ty/Installation/MinimalCD
ANYTHING on the disk except what
is required to boot and use the
Get a list and description of the
base system. There are no music
packages on Mini.iso (Ubuntu
players, office suites, picture
1 5.04) here:
viewers, etc... Heck, there isn't
http://packages.ubuntu.com/vivid/
even a desktop or graphical login. ubuntu-minimal
It is command-line only.
HOWEVER, this can EASILY be
To see what packages are
changed. You add what you want.
included as the Depends for
apt-cache show xubuntudesktop | grep "Depends"
Choose your language,

territory, and keyboard layout at
the prompts.
Name your computer.
To see what packages are used

as Recommends for Xubuntu, you
can use this command:
Choose the Mirror (simply

select your country if possible).
apt-cache show xubuntudesktop | grep "Recommends"
Set proxy (or leave blank if none

are needed).
Either burn the ISO to disk, or

use Unetbootin to create a
bootable USB thumbdrive.
Make sure your computer is
connected to the Internet via an
Ethernet cable.
This is a net install, so it will

then begin downloading
components to install.
Fill in the name you want to
use.
Choose your username. For

security purposes, you can choose
a username other than your first
Boot to the minimal install disk name. Think about it, half of
logging into your computer is
and choose Install. Note: the
knowing the username. The other
Tab key will cycle through
answers, and Enter will select the half, of course, is knowing the
password.
answer you have highlighted. In
some areas, you can use the
Choose your password. I like to
left/right arrow keys to choose
make my passwords something I
between Yes, No, and Go
can remember, but are not easy to
Back.
guess or emulate. For example, I
25
contents ^
HOWTO - UBUNTU-BASED MINIMAL INSTALL
might pick a phrase like: I hate

Mondays, but will change it so
that, even if someone knows you
hate Mondays, they will have a
hard time figuring out how you did
your password. I hate Mondays
can turn into Ih@3m0nd&z. This
way you are using (no repeat)
numbers, letters, symbols, and
capitalization for your password.
You are then given a choice to

encrypt your Home directory. I
would say yes... this way, if anyone
boots to a live CD on your system;
takes your drive; etc. they will not
be able to access your files in your
Home Folder without finding a way
to decrypt it.
Confirm or change your
timezone.
NOTE: At this point, prior to
moving on, you may remove your

USB thumbdrive. The reason you
may wish to do this, is because
there are occasions in which Grub
gets written to the thumbdrive
instead of the hard drive. If you hit
enter and moved on to Partition
Disks, you can Go Back to the
timezone, remove your USB
thumbdrive, and proceed. If you
continued the installation with the
USB thumbdrive still connected,
and Grub was written to the USB

thumbdrive... don't worry, it is an
easy fix that will be listed in
Troubleshooting at the end of
this Guide.
Partition Disks: Unless you have
other plans, I would choose
Guided use entire disk and set
up encrypted LVM. This will
encrypt the installation and
require a passphrase in order to
boot the computer.
how you want to manage upgrades

to the system. I would NOT choose
Landscape. Landscape is a
proprietary web service. I generally
choose Install security updates
automatically, but you don't have
to.
Next, you will be asked to make
a software selection. Here you can
choose to install a full system,
server, etc. The idea here is to do
an install that you fully control, so
DO NOT SELECT ANYTHING. Just
skip it (choose Continue), and
move on.
It will then ask you to select the

disk (usually there is only one
choice... unless you left in your USB
You will then be asked to install
thumbstick). You will then need to
the Grub Boot Loader to the MBR.
confirm the changes to be made.
Make sure it does not write to the
If you chose encrypted LVM, you USB thumbdrive (if you did not
remove it), and choose yes. If it
will now need to provide a
accidentally writes to the USB
passphrase. I would do this in a
thumbdrive, we can fix it in the
similar fashion as I suggested
troubleshooting section.
above with the password.
You will then be asked to
change or confirm the amount to
use for the guided partition. I
would just select continue (unless
you have other plans).
confirm the changes to be made.
You will now need to choose

confirm the UTC clock settings.
You will then be prompted to
remove any installation media and
reboot.
CUSTOMIZING THE
I NSTALLATION
26
Here is where we are going to

make your system shine the way
you want it. Here you can create
the desktop you want with the
programs you want. As stated
earlier, I will be setting up a
Minimal Xubuntu system. You can
alter this as you get to the
appropriate parts of this
customization.
After rebooting, You will be
brought to the command-line login
prompt. Put in your credentials
and log in. At this point you have a
couple of options on how you wish
to proceed.
You can:
Hand-type in all of the
commands.
Run a script. (I will provide a way
for you to get a script in the script
section).
Copy and paste the commands.
NOTE: your best bet is to use a
pre-made script (discussed in the

Script section).
The problem with options 2

and 3 above, is that you have no
ability at this point to access a text
file or script. In order to do this,
you are going to have to mount a
contents ^
USB thumbdrive. The trick at this

point though is... it will not automount. No worries. If you want to
mount a USB thumbdrive, do the
following:
Plug in the USB thumbdrive.
Type in the command:
sudo fdisk -l
NOTE: You are looking for a
If you choose the copy/paste

method, you may run into some
issues... however, nano is
installed by default. To edit a text
file, you would use the command
nano filename (without the
quotes, replacing filename with
the name of the file).
When you are done with the
USB thumbstick, you can unmount
it with the command:
sudo apt-get install --noinstall-recommends

packagename
This installs the bare essentials

of a package. It is a lighter install,
but the program may not have the
functionality you expect. You can
see what requirements or
recommends a package may be
missing by using the command:
apt-cache show packagename
sudo umount /media/usb
sudo apt-get install

packagename
Create a mount point: sudo

mkdir /media/usb
Here is the step-by-step

commands we are going to use
(refer to the Script section for
automating this process):
This is the standard method of

installing packages, suggested
packages will be listed, but not
installed.
Mount the USB thumbdirve:
NOTE: There are a couple of
partition like /dev/sdb1 ,

remember what it is called (most
likely /dev/sdb1 ).
sudo mount /dev/sdb1

/media/usb
Change to the USB directory:

cd /media/usb
You can now list the files

contained there by typing in: ls
You can now run any sh script
with the command: sh filename.sh
(replacing filename with the
name of your .sh file.
ways you can install from the

command-line. Each one has its
lovers and haters. Each one has its
perks and disadvantages. They are
as follows:
sudo apt-get install -install-recommends
packagename
For this guide, I am going to

simply use this command (for most
things): sudo apt-get install
packagename
If you wish to do otherwise, you
are free to do so.
CUSTOMIZING THE SYSTEM

(PART 1 )
This installs a package and all of

its recommends. This may install a
The packages you decide to use
large amount of files, some of
can be based upon your desire for
which you may not need.
security, minimal footprint (uses
less computer resources), etc. I am
27
choosing these packages due to

functionality, small footprint,
customization abilities, and
security.
The Beginning:
The first thing we need to do is
update the Repositories with the
command:
sudo apt-get -y --force-yes
update && sudo apt-get -y -force-yes upgrade
The second thing we need to do

is install the Depends.
Warning (1 ) : I ran into a few
issues during test installs. I believe

I narrowed down the problems.
One of the problems was that the
package ubuntu-extras-keyring
could not be found. Watch for this
while running a script, as it will
cause an error where the Depends
will not install. I read a few posts
saying that ubuntu-extraskeyring has been removed from
the core install. It is listed in the
Depends below, but it might be
advisable to remove it from the
install (I removed it in the Scripts
section below).
Warning (2) : Another issue I
had was related to policykit-1 and

contents ^
dpkg. I believe I resolved it by

adding policykit-1 to the
Depends install (which was not
listed in the official, original list of
Depends).
It is my understanding that you

can install the Depends a couple of
ways, but I have not tested Method
1:
M ETHOD 1 : (NOT TESTED,

BUT SHOULD WORK)
Type in the command:
sudo apt-get install --noinstall-recommends xubuntudesktop
This supposedly installs only

the Xubuntu Desktop (you can
substitute ubuntu-desktop or
lubuntu-desktop for xubuntudesktop)
M ETHOD 2: (THE ONE I
TESTED AND KNOW WORKS)

First, let's install Policykit 1 to
make everything else work more
smoothly:
policykit-1
To install the Depends, Type the to another section, to make it

easier for you to have a system
Command:
that is 1 00% bare-bones if you
want it, or full of every bell and
sudo apt-get install alsabase alsa-utils anacron bc
whistle you desire.
ca-certificates dmz-cursortheme doc-base foomatic-dbcompressed-ppds genisoimage
ghostscript-x gtk2-enginespixbuf inputattach languageselector-gnome libasound2plugins libpam-systemd
libsasl2-modules libxp6
memtest86+ openprinting-ppds
pm-utils printer-driverpnm2ppa rfkill softwareproperties-gtk ubuntudrivers-common ubuntu-extraskeyring update-manager
wireless-tools wpasupplicant
xdg-user-dirs xdg-user-dirsgtk xkb-data xorg zenity
My suggestion is that you

actually use all of the Depends
(except ubuntu-extras-keyring)
but if you feel you can leave some
out, so be it.
THE RECOMMENDS
How you want to handle the
Recommends is up to you, but I
think there is quite a bit of room to
trim the fat here (which I already
have done to a degree). In the list
below, I removed Recommended
Packages (like abiword,
gnumeric, etc), and moved others
(like catfish, and blueman, etc)
I have divided the Recommends

into what I believe are your Basic
Recommends and your Other
Recommends. The Basic
Recommends will provide the
functionality you may be used to,
and the Other Recommends can
probably be left out without much
grief (if you decide you want them,
that's cool too).
B ASIC RECOMMENDS
Note: I added gdebi, aptitude,
and synaptic to this list for better
package support.
sudo apt-get install acpisupport app-install-datapartner apport-gtk aptoffline avahi-autoipd avahidaemon desktop-file-utils
gdebi gvfs-backends gvfs-fuse
im-config kerneloops-daemon
laptop-detect libnotify-bin
libnss-mdns libpam-gnomekeyring libxfce4ui-utils
policykit-desktop-privileges
pcmciautils aptitude synaptic
software-center updatenotifier whoopsie xcursorthemes xdg-utils
28
O THER RECOMMENDS
sudo apt-get install espeak
fonts-droid fonts-liberation
fonts-opensymbol gcc speechdispatcher ttf-ubuntu-fontfamily light-locker lightlocker-settings make mugshot
xubuntu-community-wallpapers
xubuntu-docs xubuntu-icontheme
Note: You can use

"xscreensaver xscreensaver-glextra xscreensaver-data-extra
xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod"
instead of "light-locker light-lockersettings" which is lightdm
dependent.
SUMMARY SO FAR
At this point, you will have a
command-line OS installed on your
system. There are no programs to
speak of no browser, no PDF
viewer, no text program (aside
from Nano), etc.
I MPROVING THE SYSTEM

This is the point in which we will
turn a very, very basic system into
our workhorse. Keep in mind that
you can alter most of the program
options I list below. For example,
instead of using xfce4-terminal for
contents ^
your terminal, you can use xterm,

and so on.
Most of the items below are

optional, install only what you
believe you want and will use. I am
simply providing enough
information so that people can
build a fully functional system that
they are generally accustomed to,
without the bloat of a lot of
programs they won't use.
To Compile and Install from
Source:
sudo apt-get install buildessential checkinstall cvs
subversion git-core mercurial
automake autoconf libtool
pkg-config libcurl4-openssldev intltool libxml2-dev
libgtk2.0-dev libnotify-dev
libglib2.0-dev libevent-dev
gcc
Install Archive Management:

sudo apt-get install unace
rar unrar p7zip p7zip-full
p7zip-rar sharutils uudeview
mpack arj cabextract fileroller unzip zip
Install a Terminal:
sudo apt-get install xfce4terminal pastebinit
sudo apt-get install fontsdejavu-core fonts-freefontttf xfce4-appfinder xfce4notifyd xfce4-panel xfce4session xfce4-settings
xfdesktop4 xfwm4 xubuntuartwork xubuntu-defaultsettings xfce4-power-manager
Install Desktop Environment

Plug-ins:
sudo apt-get install xfce4cpugraph-plugin xfce4-dict
xfce4-indicator-plugin xfce4mailwatch-plugin xfce4netload-plugin xfce4-notesplugin xfce4-places-plugin
xfce4-quicklauncher-plugin
xfce4-screenshooter xfce4systemload-plugin xfce4taskmanager xfce4-verveplugin xfce4-volumed xfce4weather-plugin xfce4whiskermenu-plugin xfce4-xkbplugin indicator-application
indicator-messages indicatorpower indicator-sound
Install File Management:

sudo apt-get install catfish
gigolo thunar thunar-volman
tumbler thunar-archive-plugin
thunar-media-tags-plugin
menulibre
Install a Desktop Manager (for a

Graphical Logon):
sudo apt-get install lightdm
lightdm-gtk-greeter
Install Print Capabilities:

sudo apt-get install cups
cups-bsd cups-client cupsfilters printer-driver-c2esp
printer-driver-foo2zjs
printer-driver-min12xxw
printer-driver-ptouch
printer-driver-pxljr printerdriver-sag-gdi printerdriver-splix simple-scan
system-config-printer-gnome
hplip
Install Bluetooth:
sudo apt-get install blueman
bluez bluez-alsa bluez-cups
Install Networking Tools:

sudo apt-get install networkmanager-gnome networkmanager-pptp network-managerpptp-gnome
Enhance Sound Capabilities:

gstreamer0.10-plugins-baseapps gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio
pavucontrol
Install Basic Utilities:

sudo apt-get install gnomesystem-tools gtk-theme-config
gucharmap
Install a Browser:
sudo apt-get install firefox

firefox-locale-en xul-extubufox
NOTE: If you want to watch
Netflix, you will need to install

Chromium (or Google Chrome)
chromium-browser
Install Conky:
sudo apt-get install conkyall curl lm-sensors hddtemp
If you have a laptop, you may be

interested in enhanced power
management via TLP. You may also
be interested in a great encryption
program called VeraCrypt that was
forked from TrueCrypt. There is
also a nice password vault called
Keypass2. If you are interested in
these programs, you will want to
add the following PPA's:
sudo apt-add-repository -y
ppa:linrunner/tlp
sudo add-apt-repository
ppa:unit193/encryption
sudo apt-add-repository
ppa:jtaylor/keepass
You will then want to update

the repositories:
Install a Desktop Environment:

29
contents ^

sudo apt-get -y --force-yes
update && sudo apt-get -y -force-yes upgrade
Install Basic Applications:
NOTE: The following
applications cover security,

encryption, passwords, basic
functionality, etc.
sudo apt-get install gnomecalculator rsync grsync
seahorse gufw parcellite
unetbootin extlinux filezilla
veracrypt leafpad xfburn
gparted gmountiso keepass2
deluge tlp tlp-rdw
Install Other Applications:

sudo apt-get install mousepad
libreoffice-calc libreofficepdfimport libreoffice-writer
libreoffice-gtk pinta vlc
evince ristretto orage
thunderbird
Install Media Codecs, DVD

Playback, and (if you desire) Java
and Flash:
NOTE: A lot of this can be done
via installing ubuntu-restrictedextras, but I wanted to give you

more control.

flashplugin-installer
openjdk-8-jdk ffmpeg
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad
lame libdvdread4 libavcodecextra gstreamer0.10-fluendomp3 gstreamer0.10-pluginsugly gstreamer1.0-fluendo-mp3
gstreamer1.0-libav
gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad
gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly
libavcodec-ffmpeg-extra56
gstreamer0.10-plugins-badmultiverse libav-tools
chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra
oxideqt-codecs-extra
customization. Once you are

booted up to your nice, new
desktop, you will need to open the
terminal and then we can finish up.
Enable DVD Playback:
sudo
/usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/in
stall-css.sh
Start TLP for Laptops:

sudo tlp start
Note: as an option you can also

install M$ Core Fonts via:
sudo apt-get install ttfmscorefonts-installer
Clean Up the System:
Make a Directory for Adding

Fonts: (Just place new fonts in this
folder and they will be available to
you)
mkdir ~/.fonts
Activate Sensors for Conky:

sudo sensors-detect
sudo service kmod start
sudo chmod u+s
/usr/sbin/hddtemp
You can get a list of all installed

packages by using:
dpkg --get-selections >
~/Downloads/list.txt
Edit Conky:
NOTE: There are a lot of
interesting scripts you can find on

the Internet. Find information at
the following links:
http://conky.sourceforge.net/confi
g_settings.html
sudo apt-get autoclean &&

sudo apt-get clean && sudo
apt-get autoremove
Create a Directory for Source

Compiling:
REBOOT THE SYSTEM
sudo chown $USER

/usr/local/src
http://conky.sourceforge.net/varia
bles.html
After Reboot, you can then

make some final configurations
and enjoy your system.
sudo chmod u+rwx

/usr/local/src
leafpad ~/.conkyrc
SUMMARY SO FAR
NOTE: You will want to edit the

copied .conkyrc file, not the
original.
You now have a full-fledged,

working system. We can now move
on to some last minute tweaks and
Copy Files:
cp /etc/conky/conky.conf
~/.conkyrc
30
That's it, we're done. Enjoy!
TROUBLESHOOTING
Things rarely go 1 00% smooth
and easy. If you run into a few
problems that may occur during
contents ^
computer takes a long time to

boot due to a locating network
issue and/or you have no Internet
Problem: You accidently installed (after removing the Ethernet
Grub on the USB thumbdrive and cable) even though the wireless
now you cannot boot into Linux. seems to be connected.
file and save it. Be careful to insure launch each script after the
that the format of your .sh file
prerequisites are done (like
resembles my text.
needing to reboot).
I cannot automate everything
NOTE: I would choose a name
(like inserting text into a specific
that is a single word or hyphenated place in a populated file), and so
text. For example: If you want to
there are things that (at least for
name it Lame Script This Guy
me) have to be done manually.
Solution : Plug your USB
Solution : This can be fixed by
Wrote.sh, it would be better to
thumbdrive back in, boot the
doing the following:
name it
NOTE: If necessary, you can
computer, and then remove the
sudo leafpad
lamescriptthisguywrote.sh...
as
make
the script executable by
USB thumbdrive.
/etc/network/interfaces
for me, I would pick something
running the command: chmod +x
simple like, basicinstall.sh.
[filename].sh (though I haven't run
Open a Terminal:
Comment out (#) all of the
into the need so far).
items except auto lo and iface lo
sudo grub-install /dev/sda
NOTE
:
There
are
(I'm
guessing)
inet loopback
millions of people better at writing
NOTE: Run the script with the
Reboot the computer and all
scripts than me, and if you are one command: sh filename.sh
Reboot This should resolve
should be well.
of them, PLEASE write a better
the issue.
one. The only issues I have had
Do NOT run the script as sudo.
Problem: You are booting to a
with mine are:
The various commands will use
black screen.
SCRIPTS
Sometimes, not everything
sudo when needed.
installs (probably due to me
Solution : Boot to Grub (hold
Even though I have an IT
putting in an errant return, etc).
Below is an example of how to
Shift while booting), press e for background, I am an extreme noob One solution I have found is to
make a Script File.
Edit. Add nomodeset (no
when it comes to writing Linux
break the script down into several Create a blank document, and
quotation marks) before quiet
scripts. Bash/SH Scripts are akin to batches of installations instead of name it whatever you want, with a
splash and then press F1 0. It
M$ Batch Files. The pound
a huge installation segment.
.sh at the end (example:
should then boot to the initial
sign/hashtag (#) is used for
Breaking the scripts into many
filename.sh).
command prompt. If it is still doing comments.
pieces also comes in handy when
Open the empty document with a
it after you have completed
troubleshooting during an Install.
text editor (leafpad, etc) and the
installing your system, you will
Below I will show you how to
Sometimes I put the cart before
very first line should be:
need to correct drivers or
create an Installation Script to
the horse, and some things cannot #!/bin/bash
permanently edit Grub.
make your life easier when
occur because the prerequisites
Hit Enter to go to the next line.
installing your system. You can
were not met. I solved this by
From here, you can fill in the
Problem: When you unplug your create a file called [whatever you
breaking my scripts down into
commands you want to run in the
wired Ethernet cable, the
want].sh and copy the text into the multiple scripts, so that you can
script.
31
contents ^
installation, hopefully these tips
can help you out.

the entire segment of text
E XAMPLES OF SCRIPT FILES copy
from #!/bin/bash through to
If you want to change any of the
programs listed, feel free to do so.
#End of Script)
Well, that's it for now.

Hopefully you will have a lot of fun
creating your own Homebrew
B ASIC I NSTALLATION
System. It is my intention to write
Copy the entire segment of text another article expanding on this
one, perhaps getting into
from #!/bin/bash through to
tweaking/customizing the install,
#End of Script.
including things you can do with
Shown top right on this page is Firefox, writing a Conky script, etc.
an example of an After Installation
(and After Reboot) Script. Again,
#!/bin/bash
#!/bin/bash
#Activate DVD Playback:
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh
#Start TLP for Laptops:
sudo tlp start
#Make Directories:
mkdir ~/.fonts
#Directory For Source Compiling:
sudo chown $USER /usr/local/src
sudo chmod u+rwx /usr/local/src
#Copy Files:
cp /etc/conky/conky.conf ~/.conkyrc
#Activate Sensors for Conky:
sudo sensors-detect
sudo service kmod start
sudo chmod u+s /usr/sbin/hddtemp
#Can get a list of all installed packages by using:
dpkg --get-selections > ~/Downloads/list.txt
#Update Repositories:
echo "Updating Repositories."
sudo apt-get -y --force-yes update
sudo apt-get -y --force-yes upgrade
#Edit Conky
leafpad ~/.conkyrc
#Install Necessary Depends:

#End of Script
echo "Installing Necessary Depends."
sudo apt-get install policykit-1
sudo apt-get install alsa-base alsa-utils anacron bc ca-certificates dmz-cursor-theme doc-base foomatic-db-compressedppds genisoimage ghostscript-x gtk2-engines-pixbuf inputattach language-selector-gnome libasound2-plugins libpamsystemd libsasl2-modules libxp6 memtest86+ openprinting-ppds pm-utils printer-driver-pnm2ppa rfkill softwareproperties-gtk ubuntu-drivers-common update-manager wireless-tools wpasupplicant xdg-user-dirs xdg-user-dirs-gtk xkbdata xorg zenity
#Install Basic Recommends:
echo "Installing Basic Recommends."
sudo apt-get install acpi-support app-install-data-partner apport-gtk apt-offline avahi-autoipd avahi-daemon desktopfile-utils gdebi gvfs-backends gvfs-fuse im-config kerneloops-daemon laptop-detect libnotify-bin libnss-mdns libpamgnome-keyring libxfce4ui-utils policykit-desktop-privileges pcmciautils aptitude synaptic software-center updatenotifier whoopsie xcursor-themes xdg-utils build-essential checkinstall cvs subversion git-core mercurial automake
autoconf libtool pkg-config libcurl4-openssl-dev intltool libxml2-dev libgtk2.0-dev libnotify-dev libglib2.0-dev
libevent-dev
#End of Script
32
contents ^
33
contents ^
H OW-TO
I n k s ca p e - P a r t 4 1
Written by Mark Crutch
his month we're going to start

looking at Live Path Effects
(LPEs). These are a way to add
more powerful capabilities to
paths such as drawing a pattern
that follows a path (for creating
ropes and chains), or rendering a
path as though it's been roughly
sketched. There are 1 3 LPEs in
version 0.48, increasing to 1 5 in
0.91 with a slight change of UI as
well.
Let's dive straight in with a
relatively simple LPE: Spiro Spline.
Draw a path using Bzier tool,
consisting of straight lines forming
a simple spiral type of shape.
Something like this:
Now select the path and open

the LPE dialog using the Path >
Path Effects... menu option (Path
Effect Editor... in 0.48). At this
point, the user interface diverges.

To add the Spiro Spline LPE to your
path:
In 0.48.x, select Spiro spline
from the drop-down list of effects
at the top of the dialog, then click
on the Add button next to it.
In 0.91 , click the + button at the
bottom left of the dialog. This will
open another dialog listing the
available effects. Scroll down and
select Spiro spline, then click the
Add button. The second dialog will
close, adding the effect to the list
in the main dialog.
them all, and use the buttons on

the tool control bar to change
them to smooth, symmetrical or
auto-smooth. Immediately you
should see the effects of the spiro
algorithm, as your square spiral
turns into a super-smooth version.
The real difference comes when

you start to manipulate the path:
spiro splines are indifferent to
changes in the node handles, so
the most practical way to modify
the path is to move the nodes
themselves. The algorithm is a
little unstable, and can sometimes
You may be forgiven for
shoot off into wild shapes as you
thinking that your new spiral is just do so; undoing your edit, or
a normal result of switching to
moving the nodes a little more, will
smooth nodes, but that's not the
generally get things back on track.
case. In the LPE dialog, you'll
For example, this image shows a
notice that the Spiro Spline entry
green original path, plus the same
has an eye icon next to it. Click
path with the spiro LPE added in
that to toggle the effect on and
purple, demonstrating just how
With the Spiro Spline effect
off, and you'll notice that the spiro out-of-control the spiro algorithm
added to your path, you might be a version of the path is noticeably
can get!
little underwhelmed to see that
smoother than the normal version.
there's been no change to the
Here's the original (black), smooth
appearance of your spiral. This is
(green), and spiro (purple) versions
because the spiro algorithm works of the path overlaid on top of
only on paths where some of the
each other so you can more easily
nodes are smooth or symmetrical. see the differences between them.
Currently, all the nodes in our
shape are corner/cusp nodes.
Double-click on the path to both
select it and switch to the node
tool, and you should see that all
the nodes have the diamondshaped handles that represent
cusp nodes. Press CTRL-A to select
34
contents ^
HOWTO - INKSCAPE
As well as moving nodes,
there's one other way to
manipulate spiro paths: straighten
some sections. Simply select the
end nodes of a segment and use
the Make selected segments
lines button on the tool control
bar to straighten it. The spiro
algorithm will ensure a smooth
transition between straight and
curved segments. If you need to
introduce a sharp transition into
your path, you first have to convert
one of your smooth nodes into a
corner node. That alone isn't
usually enough to do the job
though moving the adjacent
node to one side will usually also
alter the path on the opposite side
in an effort to maintain the spiro
path's smoothness. The secret is to
move the handles of the corner
node so that they're no longer colinear, then you'll be able to move
the spiro paths on either side as
you would expect, with a sharp
transition occurring at the corner
node.
The spiro algorithm was
originally created by Raph Levien
for font design (see
http://www.levien.com/spiro/ for
more details), but it can also be
useful for flowing, organic shapes
such as plants, leaves, and...

tentacles. It's so useful, in fact,
that Inkscape has dedicated
buttons on the Bzier and Pencil
toolbars which automatically add
the Spiro Spline LPE to any lines
you draw with them. Select the
Pencil tool and ensure that the
smoothing is set to about 50% - a
little either way won't make much
difference. On the tool control bar
(shown above), enable Spiro mode
using the second button on the
bar:
Now it's time to draw
something on the canvas: the kind
of shape that suits spiro mode. Try
drawing a circle, keeping it as neat
as you can, and finishing in the
starting node. As you draw you'll
see a green line indicating your
path, regardless of your current fill
and stroke settings don't worry,
that's just a guideline that won't be
visible when you've finished.
Unless you have supernatural
control over your muscles, the
green path is likely to be bumpy
and distorted; yet, on releasing the
mouse button, it will be replaced
with a nicely rounded circle. If your
which, as we've seen, don't really

play a role in the spiro algorithm.
Instead you need to click-and-drag
original path was extremely rough, as you place each node, in order to
you might not get a perfect circle, set the curves as you go along.
but the final shape will certainly be Personally, I find this to be much
harder to control, but give it a try
a lot smoother than your handto see if you're better at it than
drawn efforts.
me! You can always lay down
straight segments with spiro mode
Select the path you've drawn,
and, in the Path Effects dialog, you enabled, then explicitly change
some points into cusp nodes
should see that the Spiro Spline
effect has been added. Toggle the afterwards. It's not a huge
workflow improvement, but does
visibility button (the eye-shaped
save you a trip to the Path Effects
icon) to see how the spiro version
dialog to manually add the LPE.
compares with your original path.
Now try the process again with a
One big problem with having
different shape a figure of eight,
spiro
buttons on these two tools it
or a spiral. As you can see, for
that it's easy for newcomers to
some shapes it's a lot easier to
create something neat and smooth Inkscape to enable them, then
forget about it. A common
using spiro mode.
question on the support forums is,
why can't I change the shape of
When using the Bzier tool in
my path using the node handles?
spiro mode, the icon on the tool
The answer is usually because the
control bar is the same, but the
Spiro LPE has unintentionally been
drawing process is a little
different. I usually suggest drawing added, so watch out for that if you
Bzier paths as a series of straight find yourself similarly stuck.
line segments by single-clicking to
Let's move on to another LPE:
place each node, then going back
Gears.
in Node Edit mode to add curves
afterwards. If you take that
You first have to draw a path
approach with spiro mode enabled,
with
at least three nodes to
you'll get a series of corner nodes
begin, I'll use exactly three so that
35
contents ^
HOWTO - INKSCAPE
it's clear what the relevance of

each one is. With your path drawn
and selected, open the Path
Effects dialog and add the Gears
LPE. You should immediately see
your path replaced by a gear.
Double-click on it so that you can
see the three nodes and move
them around. It should quickly
become apparent that the nodes
are used to set:
1 ) The angle of the first gear tooth,
relative to the center point.
2) The center point of the gear.
3) The radius of the gear (from
the center to the mid-point of the
tooth).
With your gear selected, switch

to the Bzier tool. The start and
end nodes of your path should be
visible: click on the end node, then
double-click somewhere else on
the canvas to add another
segment to your path. Now the
path has four nodes, and you
should find that a second gear has
been added, centered at the new
end node.
You can repeat this process to

add more nodes, and hence more
gears. Applying the Gear LPE to
any path with more than three
nodes follows the same rules: the
first three nodes define the
parameters for the first gear, and
any subsequent nodes set the
center points for additional gears
in the chain. Once you've got a few
gears on screen, switch to the node
tool to move their centers, noting
how Inkscape automatically adjusts
the radius and number of teeth in
the process. Try dragging the first
node around the second one to
crank your gear train into life (after
all, it is a LIVE path effect).
you're working on a small screen!).
But if we apply both LPEs to the

path, the effects differ greatly
You may have guessed from the depending on the order. We'll start
UI that it's possible to apply more with the least surprising
than one LPE to a path. In
combination: Gears first and Spiro
programming terms you can think Spline second.
of an LPE as a function that takes a
path as an input, and produces
another path as an output,
allowing you to chain them
together. Be aware, however, that
the order in which you chain them
is significant. Consider this simple
path, made up of cusp nodes:
As well as the values that are

implicitly set by the positions of
the nodes, there are two additional
parameters required to fully
If we apply either the Spiro
specify the effect. These can be
Spline or Gears LPE to the path we
found at the bottom of the Path
get the results we'd expect:
Effects dialog, in fields labelled
Teeth (the number of teeth on
the first gear), and Phi (the
tooth pressure angle - set it to
about 20 for realistic looking
teeth). Almost all LPEs populate
this part of the dialog with a UI of
some sort, and in some cases the
number of additional parameters is
rather excessive (watch out if
36
It may not be easy to see, but

the only real effect is that the
teeth of the gears have become
more rounded (though each gear
also has one tooth that's
misshapen). Thinking about our
chain of LPEs the general effect
makes some sense: the first LPE
outputs a composite path in the
shape of the gears, then the spiro
algorithm is applied to that path,
smoothing out any cusp nodes that
are present in it. But what happens
if we apply the Spiro Spline LPE
first, and the Gears LPE second?
contents ^
HOWTO - INKSCAPE
P YTHON SPECIAL EDITIONS:
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py01 / http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-py02/
Now we've got a load more

gears! This is because the path that
is created by the Spiro Spline LPE
has more nodes than our original
input path. Although we drew 6
nodes, the spiro version of the
path actually has 1 3, so when the
second LPE runs it creates a lot of
extra gears. We could have
predicted this result had we only
kept an eye on Inkscape's status
bar: when an LPE is active it shows
the number of nodes in the output
path, not the number in the
original path. Try using the Gears
LPE again, and have a look at how
many nodes that generates!
Why not practice drawing

naturalistic curves and mechanistic
gears, then next time we'll
continue to look at some of the
other LPEs that are available.
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-issue-three/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-volume-four/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-volume-five/
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/pythonspecial-edition-volume-six/
Mark uses Inkscape to create three

webcomics, 'The Greys', 'Monsters,
Inked' and 'Elvie', which can all be
found at
http://www.peppertop.com/
37
contents ^
38
contents ^
AR D U I N O
Tron -Clu b Electron i cs Box
Written by Ronnie Tucker
ast month I showed you the

first monthly subscription box
from TronClub.com. Since I havent
done much tinkering with Arduino
lately, I thought Id show you this
months TronClub contents.
There seems to have been a bit
of a print error in this months
book that I have. Some of the
circuit names, on the right side of
the page, are a bit smudged, but
thats about all I can fault the book
on.
Inside the book are several

loose pages, but thats a good
thing. How? Because they are
corrections to this months circuits,
and also a correction for one circuit
in last months box. Its good that
theyre providing these as it means
you can tape/glue the correction
over the wrong diagram and keep
the books for later reference.
Thankfully, the circuit I stopped at
last month is the one thats
corrected this month. So now I can
continue from Box 1 circuit 1 2.
39
contents ^
HOWTO - ARDUINO
The box contents this month
include the inevitable breadboard
and some wires, but also a battery
holder (batteries included!), some
more components (ICs, buzzer,
microphone, more LEDs, etc), and
even a dinky little servo motor.
Speaking of dinky, my favourite
part of this months box is that it
includes, quite possibly, the cutest
little screwdriver ever!
Ronnie is the founder and (still!)
editor of Full Circle. He's a part-time

arts and crafts sort of guy, and now
an Arduino tinkerer.
To the workbench!
40
contents ^
CH RO M E CU LT
Priva cy
Written by S. J. Webb
rivacy is no longer private per

world governments and
business corporations. However
TAILS is one option to maintain
online privacy, unless you have a
Chromebook. The countermeasures the Chrome OS needs
to ensure your internet privacy are:
Browser Extensions, and VPN
Apps. All of these items are found
in the Chrome Web Store that you
can install. The apps and
extensions also work on the
Chromium browser.
The Extensions in my Chrome
browser are: Privacy Badger,
Ghostery, and HTTPS Everywhere.
Privacy Badger and HTTPS
Everywhere were developed by
Electronic Frontier Foundation.
This foundations goal is to protect
your digital rights and online
anonymity. Ghostery is a
proprietary freeware software
developed by Evidon Incorporated.
The VPN in my Chrome Browser is
Zenmate. I will review these items
in fuller detail. You will find the
enabled extensions and VPN in the
upper right-hand corner of the
Chrome Browser.
graphic user interface. I then

moved on to use Zenmate.
Zenmate operates out of the
United Kingdom.
As defined by Wikipedia, a
virtual private network (VPN)
extends a private network across a
public network, such as the
Internet. It enables users to send
and receive data across shared or
public networks as if their
computing devices were directly
connected to the private network,
and thus are benefiting from the
functionality, security and
management policies of the
private network. A VPN is created
by establishing a virtual point-topoint connection through the use
of dedicated connections, virtual
tunneling protocols, or traffic
encryption.
Zenmate offers a free VPN app

for the Chrome OS. You also have
an option for a monthly
subscription. Zenmate has a
seamless interface. It is very easy
to activate or deactivate the VPN.
When the shield in the upper right
corner is grey, Zenmate is off.
Additionally, the free Zenmate
offers various locations for the end
address. Zenmate does a great job.
There are many VPN providers

in the Chrome Store that offer this
service for free or on a monthly
paid subscription. My first choice
was the Tunnelbear Extension.
However I quickly disliked this
extension. It provided only 500MB
of free service, and it has a difficult
41
I would like to credit Grant

Brunner at extremetech.com for
the three extensions mentioned
earlier. Privacy Badger blocks
online trackers that monitor your
online browsing habits. It thwarts
future snooping attempts. You
open the extension and can choose
which trackers can be active in the
Chrome Browser.
The HTTPS Everywhere

extension forces websites to use
the Secure Socket Layers (SSL)
encryption between the web
server and the Chrome browser.
SSL helps keep your privacy private
on a daily basis. You can connect to
websites that lack SSL encryption,
however any person can review
your connection between the
browser and the web server.
contents ^
HOWTO - CHROME CULT
Ghostery blocks HTTP requests

and redirects using cookie blocking
and cookie protection. It has a
simple interface similar to
Privacy Badger and HTTPS
Everywhere. Ghostery reports all
tracking sites in the web browser
Yet Ghostery is criticized. The
within a purple box that populates
company
will take the tracking
in the lower right corner of the
reports and sell them to online
browser.
advertisers while keeping your
identity anonymous. The company
calls this practice Ghostrank, and
this is how it supports itself
financially.
However, there are times when an

extension or VPN will prevent a
website from being displayed.
There are other limitations to

this setup. I have yet to find all of
the issues using the VPN and
extensions arrangement in my
browser. However I feel a bit more
There is some overlap in the
confident in my privacy when
online privacy from these
online. It is far from being
extensions. Yet each extension
anonymous when using TAILS;
works in a different fashion. Due to perhaps in time TOR can be
the complexity of online intrusions, brought to the Chrome OS.
this varied defense is useful.
42
Next month Chrome Cult will

look into encryption tools for a
Chromebook.
SJ Webb is a Linux Hobbyist and
Research Coordinator. He enjoys

fishing, hot rodding, and spending
time with his kids and wife. He
thanks Mike Ferarri for his
mentorship.
contents ^
H OW-TO
Wri te For Fu ll Ci rcle M a g a zi n e
G UIDELINES
he single rule for an article is

that it must somehow be
document.
REVIEWS
Images should be JPG, no wider

than 800 pixels, and use low
compression.
G AMES/APPLICATIONS
linked to Ubuntu or one of the

many derivatives of Ubuntu
(Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc). Do not use tables or any type of
bold or italic formatting.
RULES
There is no word limit for articles,

but be advised that long articles
may be split across several issues.
For advice, please refer to the
Official Full Circle Style Guide :
http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/7
5d471
Write your article in whichever
software you choose, I would
recommend LibreOffice, but most
importantly - PLEASE SPELL AND
GRAMMAR CHECK IT!
In your article, please indicate

where you would like a particular
image to be placed by indicating
the image name in a new
paragraph or by embedding the
image in the ODT (Open Office)
If you are writing a review,

please follow these guidelines :
When you are ready to submit
your article please email it to:
[email protected]
TRANSLATIONS
If you would like to translate
Full Circle into your native
language please send an email to
[email protected] and
we will either put you in touch with
an existing team, or give you
access to the raw text to translate
from. With a completed PDF, you
will be able to upload your file to
the main Full Circle site.
When reviewing games/applications please state clearly:
title of the game

who makes the game
is it free, or a paid download?
where to get it from (give download/homepage URL)
is it Linux native, or did you use Wine?
your marks out of five
a summary with positive and negative points
H ARDWARE
When reviewing hardware please state clearly:
make and model of the hardware

what category would you put this hardware into?
any glitches that you may have had while using the hardware?
easy to get the hardware working in Linux?
did you have to use Windows drivers?
marks out of five
a summary with positive and negative points
You don't need to be an expert to write an

article - write about the games, applications
and hardware that you use every day.
43
contents ^
44
contents ^
L I N U X L AB
Wi pi n g H a rd D rives
Written by Charles McColm
uilding a dedicated computer

for wiping hard drives is not as
complicated or expensive as you
might imagine, thanks to the free
software Darik's Boot And Nuke.
With a minimal amount of
hardware, you can build a machine
dedicated to wiping both SATA and
PATA hard drives.
This article is intended for
people who have a need to wipe a
lot of hard drives, or just have a
spare system lying around they
dont know what to do with. If you
need audit-ready reporting for
regulatory compliance, or SSD
support, then you might want to
check out Blancco software (they
also make the free DBAN
software).
drives takes up a lot more energy

than using 1 machine to wipe 6
drives.
You develop a good workflow of
removing and testing drives.
It gives volunteers (if youre a
refurbishing project) another task
they can do without needing to
know all the details of building a
machine.
M ATERIALS YOU ' LL NEED

The materials you'll need will
vary depending on what you have
available, whether you're doing
this solo or have volunteers
helping you, and how multipurpose you want to make your
machine. This list is by no means
exhaustive, but I'm including a bit
more than you need to start with:

a motherboard with SATA and
PATA headers (you can use one
with just SATA or PATA but having
both onboard simplifies things).
PCI/PCIe SATA/PATA expansion
card (if you want to add more
SATA/PATA headers, you can get
cards with more connectors than
the card linked to here, this was a
cheap card) (optional).
a good power supply unit (500W
or better recommended).
a SCSI controller card if you want
to wipe older 50/68 pin SCSI drives
(optional).
DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke).
SATA data cables.
PATA data cables (finding one in a
store might be tough but you can
find lots of old machines with
You might wonder "why build a

dedicated machine when you can
just pop a DVD into each machine
and wipe the machine that way?"
Several reasons:
Donated machines don't always
function, so you might have to pull
the hard drive and erase it outside
of the donated machine.
Having 6 machines wiping hard
them).
Molex to SATA Y power cable
(optional, for expansion if you
have an older power supply).
DVD-ROM drive (to boot DBAN
from).
Docking module for IDE
(optional).
You can put DBAN on a multiboot USB key, but since USB keys
tend to be writeable, you risk
overwriting your USB key when
you run DBAN. Using a CD/DVD to
boot DBAN eliminates the
potential of overwriting your
media. If you want to get really
fancy, you can set up a server and
PXE boot (network boot) DBAN,
but this is beyond the scope of this
article. The idea here is to get you
started as fast as possible.
STEPS
45
Build your drive wiping machine

(hardware side).
Burn the DBAN ISO to a CD/DVD.
Set your DBAN machine BIOS to
boot from CD/DVD first.
Connect your drives and run
DBAN.
contents ^
LINUX LAB
B UILD YOUR DRIVE-WIPING
MACHINE (HARDWARE SIDE)
RAM slots. The case we chose was

an empty non-branded mid-tower
ATX silver case. We used zip ties to
hide the front panel sound and
We started our build with a MSI USB connectors behind the ridge
945GZM3 (MS-7267) motherboard. of the case because we don't use
This motherboard was one of many the front ports in our DBAN
machine.
motherboards sitting around the
shop which we had fixed capacitors
Our power supply's
for. We picked this motherboard
motherboard
molex connectors
for a few reasons:
were so short that we had to use a
It supported a dual core
zip tie to keep it from falling into
processor.
the CPU fan. Two molex Y to SATA
It used DDR2 RAM.
power connectors were used to
It had 4 SATA headers on the
provide extra SATA power headers.
motherboard and 1 PATA header
Then we added all the SATA cables
(which we didn't use).
and a SATA controller card plus
It already had a dual-core
two more SATA cables for a total
processor and heatsink+fan
of 6 SATA data ports. If you have
installed.
more controller cards, you can add
It had easy to read headers on
more cables but remember you're
the front panel.
going to have to power all those
hard drives! According to
We had motherboards that
Superuser.com, each hard drive
supported more PCI slots which
uses approximately 25 watts.
are handy if you want to use a lot
of PCI controller cards for more
Because we've been around
IDE/SATA ports, but in our
experience we usually don't DBAN awhile, we have lots of other
controller cards and useful
more than 6 hard drives at once.
adapters. We added a PCI IDE
(Both because of power, and
controller card for an extra 2
because, if one drive is bad, the
cables (4 IDE drives). As a rule, we
rest slow down too). We had a
don't DBAN PATA and SATA
couple of 1 GB DDR2 RAM sticks
together; doing so tends to create
around which we put into the 2
issues.
On the first dban machine we

ever built, we used docking
modules, but we found that over
time, even with training, the
modules would get misplaced or
ruined. Some docking modules had
to be locked for a drive to be
recognized (we got around this by
soldering the two wires leading to
the locking mechanism together so
they were always locked), but
perhaps the most annoying
problem was that it just took too
much time to put the drives in the
docks. If a PATA drive wasnt
jumpered correctly, wed have to
pull it out of the dock and reinsert
it. Drives hanging out the side of
the machine arent pretty, but its
simple for volunteers to connect
and disconnect drives.
B URN THE DBAN ISO TO A

CD/DVD
to the CD/DVD. DBAN is small so it

can easily fit on a CD.
SET YOUR DBAN MACHINE

BIOS TO BOOT FROM
CD/DVD FIRST
Setting your machine to boot
from CD/DVD first might seem like
a simple task, and if youre used to
a particular machine, it is. But
there are a lot of motherboards
out there and manufacturers often
do things differently from one
another. Just getting into the BIOS
can be tricky, especially if the
computer is fast and the
manufacturer has chosen to
display a splash screen instead of
the hotkeys for booting to another
device or entering the BIOS. In
general:
Dell tends to use F2, Del, or
Enter,
IBM tends to use F1 or Enter,
HP/Compaq tend to use F1 0,
Just about everyone else uses
the Del key.
When you download DBAN, you

get DBAN in an ISO format. You
won't be able to just copy the file
to a DVD, you need special
Hitting the right key before the
software like Nero (Windows), K3B
(Linux), or Brasero (Linux) to burn operating system loads is... key.
the ISO to CD/DVD. Nero, K3B and
Once youre in the BIOS, most
Brasero know how to handle ISO
files so they get properly unpacked systems just let you change the
boot order to make CD/DVD the
46
contents ^
LINUX LAB
first device. A few BIOSes also

require that you set another
setting in another spot (which can
vary) to enable booting from
devices other than the hard drive.
If youve set your system to boot
from CD/DVD first, and it isnt
booting, check first to see the
BIOS recognizes the drive, then
look through some of your other
BIOS menus to make sure there
isnt another option you need to
set to boot from CD/DVD. These
special cases are most often on
business-class systems where
manufacturers recognize that
system administrators dont want
just anyone rebooting the
machines with a CD/DVD/USB key
in them.
If you can boot to your DBAN
CD/DVD, youre set. If not, check
the DVD. If you see only the ISO
file on the DVD, it hasnt been
burned correctly; re-burn with K3b
or Brasero. The DVD should
contain many files.
bit more complicated because you

can have more than one drive on a
cable and the drives need to be
jumpered correctly. With 2 drives
on a cable you have 2 options:
Master/Slave or both drives set to
Cable Select. We found the
simplest method that worked
when training new volunteers was
just to instruct them to set all hard
drives to cable select, and let the
cable determine which was master
and slave. Again, for SATA drives
this isnt an issue.
Darilks Boot And Nuke has
several options for wiping. If you
simply want to wipe all the drives
attached using a standard 3-pass
solution, type: autonuke. The F3
key displays other methods of
wiping including dod (Department
of Defence 5220.22-M), dodshort
(the default method, 3 passes),
ops2 (RCMP TSSIT OPS-II method,
8 passes), gutmann (35 passes),
prng (PRNG stream), or a quick (1
pass).
CONNECT YOUR DRIVES AND

RUN DBAN
Serial ATA drives are
straightforward, 1 SATA hard drive
per cable. PATA or IDE drives are a
In our region of Ontario,

Canada, our refurbishing
certification body, the Ontario
Electronic Stewardship, mandates
that drives we wipe for reuse be
wiped with at least the dodshort
(3-pass DoD 5220.22-M) method.
Some donors may request a
stronger method. At least a couple
of donors have asked us to use the
ops2 (8-pass method) on donated
drives.
drive took us several days to wipe

using the ops2 (RCMP 8-pass
wipe). A 3-pass wipe on the 1 TB
took us a full 8-hour shift. If youre
dealing with a lot of large drives
you may want to check to make
sure they dont have bad sectors
first.
To determine whether a drive

has bad sectors or not, you can use
a manufacturers tool like
Seagates SeaTools, or an open
source solution like Gsmartcontrol.
If youre an individual or small
organization repairing computers, We prefer using open source tools
both for licensing reasons and
you may want to consider using a
quick method if youre just wiping because they tend to be simple to
malware in addition to the OS off a set up on our PXE boot server. Any
Ubuntu DVD/USB key can be used
drive. One pass is much shorter
to test drives with gsmartcontrol,
than three.
but youll have to install
The amount of time dban takes gsmartcontrol in the live
environment:
to wipe a drive depends on the
method chosen, the size of the
hard drive, and if the drive contains gsmartcontrol
any bad sectors or other errors.
Drives with bad sectors can take a
When gsmartcontrol loads, all
lot longer to wipe. A 1 TB hard
drives attached will be displayed
(including DVD drives). To see the
smart information about any drive,
double-click on the hard drive. A
new window opens with 6 tabs:
Identity, Attributes, Capabilities,
Error Log, Self-test Logs, and
Perform Tests. Click the Perform
47
contents ^
LINUX LAB
faster than a 500GB hard drive.

Successfully wiped drives show
SUCCESS both on the wiping
screen (while a larger/slower drive
Our projects process is to run
is still wiping), and on the
the short test. If a drive fails the
completed screen (when all drives
short test, its physically destroyed. finish). Drive model and serial
If it passes the short test but
numbers are displayed on both
displays errors, we examine the
screens, so, if a drive fails, its easy
errors to determine if the errors
to determine which drive has failed
are non-serious (e.g. the computer provided you can read the serial
was shut down improperly and
number and model on the drives
didnt completely write to the
physical label. In the screenshot,
drive) or serious. Depending on the the first drive is a Seagate (we
size of the hard drive, we might
know from the ST38081 5AS model
perform an extended test (on a
number) hard drive with a serial
The short test isnt
comprehensive, but its usually the 500GB-1 TB we might run a longer number of 6RA2G57W. For
best test to run to determine if the test if were not sure the drive has particular donors, I normally create
a spreadsheet with the drive
drive has any serious errors. All of a more serious issue).
model, size, serial number, and
the tests write to the Self-test
When wiping hard drives, its
method used to wipe the drive,
Logs tab once the test is complete.
normally a good idea to try to wipe along with our projects
Any errors show in the Error Log
drives that are the same size to
information and my name and
and Attributes tab. If an error
signature to state that Ive been
appears its important to read the keep the wiping time down. An
80GB hard drive will wipe much
present to see the drives wiped.
complete text of the error on the
Attributes tab. If you hover over an
attribute in pink/red, a text pop-up
appears explaining the error. It
might take some sleuthing to
determine how serious the error is.
Generally, any errors in red are
serious failures. Pink attributes:
youll probably want to get more
information about these to
determine whether theyre serious
or not. Some attributes are quite
48
Tests tab to run a test on a drive.
You can perform 3 different tests:
a Short Self-test (one-minute to
two-minute test) designed to show
most errors without running a
complete surface scan, an
Extended Self-Test (86 minutes+)
which runs a complete surface scan
and runs different routines built-in
to the drive, and a Conveyance
Self-test (approximately 2 minutes)
designed to indicate if there was
any damage during transportation
of a hard drive.
handy to look at when building

systems (Airflow Temperature for
example).
Building a dedicated wiping

machine can be as simple as using
an existing machine and booting
from a DBAN CD, or as complicated
as a system with several expansion
cards (IDE, SATA, SCSI), molex
power splitters, and docking
modules. We used what was on
hand and we found that simplicity
is often best, especially because
we have a lot of different
volunteers and have a lot of drives
to wipe. Dariks Boot and Nuke can
wipe drives using a number of
different methods, but the default
3-pass DoD method is thorough
enough that it satisfies some
waste/refurbishing governing
bodies (of course you should
always check for your area if youre
professionally refurbishing
computers). Weve used tools like
foremost (created by the NSA) and
Recuva (a Windows tool from
Piriform, the same company that
makes the popular CCleaner tool)
to check wiped drives, and neither
have been successful recovering
any data.
Dban - http://www.dban.org/
contents ^
U B U N TU P H O N E S
OTA-7
he full list of Ubuntu Phone

updates are provided below:
SCOPES
Improved social media handling
support for Likes and Retweets
B ROWSER
Add search to history view
Improved context menu with
options to download links
Http basic auth support
G ALLERY
Support SVG format
Soundcloud webapp now plays in
the background
B UG FIXES
Fix for test.mmrow exploit
https://launchpad.net/canonicaldevices-systemimage/+milestone/ww40-201 5
Fixes for the UI freezing (FD
leaks)
Does not create crash reports on

stable channel by default
Fix the QML cache and restore
consistent app startup times
Fixes to use less memory by
default in the browser and avoid
webapps showing a white screen
Improvements to screen banking,
use of proximity sensor
shortly. Users of Ubuntu on the

desktop, server, cloud and snappy
Ubuntu Core devices are not
affected.
U PDATE ON U BUNTU PHONE
Ubuntu as we know it (with .deb

files and Unity 7) the current
Ubuntu Phone OS will merge with
what is now known as Ubuntu
Personal (with Snappy and Unity 8).
Full story at:
This means that Ubuntu Personal
https://insights.ubuntu.com/201 5/ will be the convergence OS that
1 0/1 5/update-on-ubuntu-phonewill run on both desktops and
security-issue/
phones whereby a phone can be
plugged into a display device and
be used as a desktop machine
U BUNTU, U BUNTU PERSONAL would be.
SECURITY ISSUE
security vulnerability has

been discovered on the
Ubuntu Phone. We take security
very seriously, and want to provide
clear information as to what
happened; and what steps have
been taken to rectify the issue and
protect against future similar
incidents.
At this point, we believe that
the core issue has been addressed.
An app which exploited the issue
has been removed; the 1 5 people
who installed that app have been
contacted; and a fix for all Ubuntu
Phone users will be released
AND U BUNTU P HONE
buCon 201 5 revealed that

while Ubuntu would remain as
David Planella at UbuCon 201 5
49
Photo: Sujeevan Vijayakumaran

contents ^
50
contents ^
B O O K R E VI E W
D a ta An d G o l i a t h
Written by Jon Hoskin
visited his blog, Schneier on

Security, or read one of his
previous books which number in
double digits attesting to both
his knowledge and longevity in the
field. You can find him in many
YouTube videos such as NSA
Surveillance and What To Do About
It - Bruce Schneier. Or maybe take a
look at The Schneier Model (Kevin
O'Brien, Full Circle Magazine #1 01 ,
p48). His most recent written
offering is Data and Goliath, and
will be of interest to those with a
need to know, but will likely
interest many more given the
growing fear of our Internetconnected world.
Data and Goliath
by Bruce Schneier
W. W. Norton & Company
320 Pages
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-039324481 6
f you have any interest in

computer/data security, you
probably already know the name
Bruce Schneier. You may have
With an almost daily calamity,

exploit or cause for concern, the
entire planet knows there is a
problem with big data even if we
can't articulate its nature. Big
doesn't begin to describe how
extensive and overwhelming it is,
and, more importantly, what it will
enable in the future. When
machines can predict your actions
and reactions better than you can,
at what point do we lose control?
Nevertheless, Data and Goliath

is here to save the day, albeit with
some strings attached. His
approach is divided into three
sections:
The world we're creating
What's at stake
What to do about it.
exploits and keep a select few for

when they are demonstrably
needed.
While the U.S. has the capacity

to arbitrarily save all data, it makes
as much sense as the ill-conceived
military philosophy expressed as:
Kill them all, let God decide. First
There is no doubt about the
and foremost, it turns a democracy
immense potential good that this
into a surveilled society which
represents, but he asks about the inhibits progress and suppresses
costs and security consequences.
conversations considering change.
Of course plenty of facts are cited Unfortunately, this tactic is used
but the importance of this book is with purposeful effect on
that he questions everything with populations around the globe.
the careful eye of someone who
Schneier explains all facets of this
knows the field and has the
issue including impacts on human
experience to recognize where real rights and liberty. And it's costly.
balance is needed. For example, he At $72 Billion a year for the U.S., it
notes that the U.S. National
impacts both domestically and
Security Agency does in fact
internationally. If you can't trust a
purchase zero-day exploits, and
countrys security policies and
the whole world would be better
laws, why would you think you can
off if they simply released them to trust software or data security
the computer industry for
therefrom? Thus the NSA in the
patching. But, he recognizes that a U.S. has been likened to an
security offense capability may at autoimmune disease, because it
times be the only viable option,
attacks all other systems. And
and should exist along with a
most obvious, if apparently
palpable defense. Thus he
unappreciated, is that the more we
suggests the NSA release most
save, the more difficult it is to keep
51
contents ^
BOOK REVIEW
it all secure, a problem for which

we need no reminders.
As noted above, this book can
save the day, but only if we are
willing to do something about it.
Politicians are unwilling to control
excess surveillance because
without push-back from the
electorate, they respond like David
Cameron. He said I am simply not
prepared to be a prime minister
who has to address the people
after a terrorist incident and
explain that I could have done
more to prevent it. Schneier
makes a critical comparison with
organized crime, saying Terrorists
don't cause more damage or kill
more people; we just fear them
more.
Likewise, corporations should
be more accountable and not let
Externalities limit the incentive
for companies to improve their
security. Without fiscal
responsibility, the only ones hurt
are those providing the data who
are usually paying for the privilege
in one fashion or another. Poor
decisions by the very large
automotive, air transportation or
food processing industries to name
a few are nevertheless liable, so
why should big data and related
industries be any different?

Finally, the individual also has
to play a larger role until much
better security is baked into the
industry as a whole. A variety of
specific options are noted and
worth considering/using by
individuals wanting to have an
impact. The book is much more
than an insightful comprehensive
look at the problem, it's also a call
to virtual arms with Schneier
identifying what Government,
Corporations and the Rest of us
need to do. Near-term, it can only
get worse, but if it doesnt get
better, we have only ourselves to
blame.
Jon is an advocate and user of open
source software. Known by some as

the doctor of chocolate (PhD in Food
Science), he is employed doing
computer support at a university in
the SE U.S. He is still impressed by
how easy Linux distros are to install.
52
contents ^
MY STO RY
Written by Jaideep Tibrewala
y journey started with Unix

when I was a student at UWMadison. As a Computer Science
student in the 90s, all CS course
work was done on Sun
Sparc/Solaris machines. I was
pretty fascinated by this Unix
world, and the different flavors
available at college, which included
HP-UX and DEC. They just felt
more powerful in computing
power than Windows at that time.
However, it was not practical to
buy a UNIX machine for personal
use, nor was any of my class
homework possible on Unix.
The UW-Madison CS
department had an underground
lab where the geeky CS students
spent hours doing research work.
Many of the lab machines ran an
alternative operating system
called Linux. This was the
alternative to UNIX that I could
bring home. So, sometime in 1 997,
I decided to install Redhat on my
desktop PC. Installation went
smoothly and my experience with
Linux started.
My early years with Linux were
not very smooth. I wasted many

hours trying to get a custom kernel
to compile. Then get modem
drivers, the sound card, graphics
card, Quake 3, and so on to work.
Thanks to the various Linux forums
and volunteers for their guidance.
Linux was still very immature at
that point in time, but I wasnt
giving up. Small victories gave me a
sense of achievement. When
Redhat spun off and created
Fedora, that was my first change. I
stuck with Fedora for quite a few
years, and had gotten comfortable
using KDE and some of the cool
features it provided (eg: Amarok).
apps that I use 90% of the time on

my laptop work very well in
Over time I jumped from
Xubuntu. Gimp is a great
Kubuntu to Ubuntu and finally to
replacement for beginner photo
Xubuntu. I realized that I needed
editors like me. And I have the best
something that was lightweight on set of rotating wallpapers thanks
RAM, and worked efficiently on old to Variety and wallhaven.
hardware/laptops. I stopped caring
about bells and whistles from KDE
What I dont like about Ubuntu or Gnome. I dont do programming there are still some things which I
any more, but am comfortable
miss from Windows. I havent been
working with the command-line
able to find a good linux app that
when required.
will do a BPM analysis of my songs
AND store the value in the
I currently dual-boot my laptop respective mp3 files, nor a good
and live in Windows during the
replacement for a WYSIWYG app
week, and switch to Xubuntu
like Dreamweaver. Im a big Excel
during the weekends. Now that
geek, and LibreOffice or
After a while, I got tired of the almost everything works as well in OpenOffice just dont compare, so
plug-and-pray world of Fedora,
Ubuntu, I prefer to stick to Ubuntu. I have to subscribe to Crossover
with things breaking from one
For the last three upgrades, things Linux to install and use MS Office.
upgrade to another, and decided to have gone very smoothly and not
Java doesnt work in Chromium. I
research other Linux flavors, with a disrupted my dual-boot
can't get Quicken to work in
focus on something that is a lot
environment.
Xubuntu or Crossover. And, in
more user-friendly and with
some ways, the Windows UI is a lot
hardware and peripherals working
What I like about Xubuntu is
crisper than my current setup.
out-of-the-box. Thats where I
that its fast, has a good interface,
came across Ubuntu. My first
allows me to mount my NTFS data
Nonetheless, I enjoy using
installation was Kubuntu Feisty in partition that I share with
Xubuntu and hope to continue
2007, and I instantly preferred it
Windows, and doesnt slow down
being a devoted user for a long
over Fedora. The environment was the system with unnecessary
time. Congrats to FCM, and I look
cleaner and worked a lot more
background services. Most of the
forward to reading 1 00 more.
seamlessly with hardware.
53
contents ^
LE T TE RS
CHECKING FINANCES
ould you please do an article

about a finance program that
would be suitable for the average
person? Something not just for
accountants.
Gordon Loughnan
Ronnie says: Anyone out there
with knowledge ofaccounts
software andwants to write
something up? Email it to:
[email protected]
B LUETOOTH WOES
ack in the day (prior to Ubuntu

1 4.04 I think), I never had a
problem connecting a Bluetooth
device to my laptop. Since then, no
luck at all. I am a dedicated
Xubuntu user and I really would
like Bluetooth to work.
Downloaded the 1 5.1 0 beta,
tried it hoping this problem had
been fixed. No dice. The devices
pair OK but they cannot connect.
If you would like to submit a letter for publication, compliment

or complaint, please email it to: [email protected] .
PLEASE NOTE: some letters may be edited for space.
Why, with an organization

seemingly as adept as Canonical,
has there been no progress on the
Bluetooth front.
Temporary or permanent fixes
abound but that begs the question
rather than answering it.
I've tried numerous fixes
gleaned from multiple blogs and
forums with no luck. Can you
shed any light on this issue?
Dick Smith
P YTHON J UBILEE
EPUB#1 01 1 01
couple of people noticed two

minor problems with the
FCM#1 01 EPUB:
The meta data shows it as issue
1 91 not 1 01
The cover image is not marked as
'cover' and so does not show when
imported into Google books
Brian says:
Point 1 ) Guilty as charged.
In mitigation, I can only say that
I entered the Metadata by candle
light on my laptop and the 9 and 0
are adjacent to each other.
hank you very much for the

LibreOffice Golden Jubilee
Edition. Everything in the same
Point 2) piqued my interest. A
place. Very convenient! Would it be download from the FCM site
possible to do the same with the
looked like this.
Python series, please? A Python
Diamond Jubilee Edition would be
great!
Sylvain Pelletier
Ronnie says: Brian says hell try
to make a Python jubilee edition.
54
Join us on:
goo.gl/FRTMl
facebook.com/fullcircle
magazine
twitter.com/#!/fullcirclemag
linkedin.com/company/fullcircle-magazine
ubuntuforums.org/forum
display.php?f=270
FULL CIRCLE N EEDS YOU !

Without reader input
Full Circle would be an
empty PDF file (which I don't
think many people would find
particularly interesting). We
are always looking for articles,
reviews, anything! Even small
things like letters and desktop
screens help fill the magazine.
See the article Writing for Full
Circle in this issue to read our
basic guidelines.
Have a look at the last page of
any issue to get the details of
where to send your
contributions.
contents ^
LETTERS
And the code for the cover page http://android.stackexchange.com/ need to.
questions/1 9092/how-can-i-readis:
my-epub-books-in-google-booksfor-android
<body>
<h1 title="Cover">Full
Circle Magazine</h1>
<p><img alt="OOPS"
src="../Images/Cover.jpg"
/></p>
<h3
class="sigil_not_in_toc">Issu
e #101</h3>
</body>
Everything looks OK so far.

As I know nothing about Google
Books, I decided to open it. Of
course the app contains no
information on how to get an ePub
into it. The device I was using then
decided to commit suicide by
hurling itself onto a concrete floor.
A search revealed: As ofMarch
2013, Google Play Books supports
third-party ePub or PDFfiles. You
can uploadbooks to your account by
visiting
https://play.google.com/books/uplo
ads in your web browser (when
loggedin to your Google account, of
course). You are permittedto store
up to 1,000 uploadedfiles on your
account at a time, andeach file
must be no larger than 50 MB in
size.
The modified ePub can now be

found in the Calibre Library.
Before:
So the downloaded file is now

uploaded to Google Play Books
where it appears to undergo some
file manipulation.
I can only surmise that the file
became corrupted for you during
either a download or upload, or its
manipulation by Google.
I did notice that there was one
additional problem introduced by
uploading the file to Google Play
whether or not it is the same under
Android as in the browser I can't
check right now.
Google removes the blank line
between paragraphs. As
paragraphs in the ePub are
justified, its difficult to see when
one ends and the next begins.
If you have Calibre installed on
your computer, then it is easy to
edit the Metadata after importing
the ePub.
Right-clicking on the ePub gives
you the option to edit the book
and indent the paragraphs if you
In the left column, under Styles,

double-click on FCM1 5.css and
look for
p {
font-family: Ubuntu;
font-weight: normal;
text-align: justify;
font-size: 12pt;
line-height: 14pt;
}
and add
text-indent: 30pt;
to make it read
p {
text-indent: 30pt;
font-family: Ubuntu;
font-weight: normal;
text-align: justify;
font-size: 12pt;
line-height: 14pt;
}
After:
Viewed from Google Books

An indent of 30pt may be too
much; you might be happier with,
say, 1 2pt:
text-indent: 12pt;
Hope this is some help,
Brian
Save and exit.
55
contents ^
56
contents ^
Q &A
If you have a Linux question, email it to: [email protected] , and

Gord will answer them in a future issue. Please include as much
information as you can about your query.
Compiled by Gord Campbell
When I try to update my

Q system,
I get this error
message:
Failed to fetch
http://ppa.launchpad.net/kile
/stable/ubuntu/dists/vivid/ma
in/binary-amd64/Packages 404
Not Found
(Thanks to claracc in the

Ubuntu Forums) You have
obtained the correct response
since the aforementioned ppas are
not in the pointed address. You can
go to software updater and in the
"other software" tab, disable these
ppas. Reload sources and it is
fixed.
to upgrade from
Q 1I'm2.04planning
to 1 4.04. What should I
back up?
(Thanks to mastablasta in
the Ubuntu Forums) You can
make an image of the whole
system (clone), or back up just
individual folders. I would mostly
back up just the data from my
home folder for the upgrade.
Then, before doing the upgrade, I
first try a live session to ensure

that all works as it should.
a command that I can
Q useIs there
to get my power supply
data?
There is no command to
query the model number,
wattage rating, etc. if that is what
you're asking for.
You may be able to check the
voltage levels with sensors if your
motherboard supports it. They're
not always accurate and correctly
labelled though. Install lm-sensors,
then:
sudo sensors-detect
You only need to run this

command once and not every time
you want to see sensors.
sensors
After applying the update and

rebooting, I cannot sign into my
system. Enter my password, get
the spinning wheel and Nada.
Locks up tighter than a drum after
about 8 seconds. A total freeze.
* Is it possible to run a Windows

.msi installer?
http://goo.gl/SrYYmx
(Thanks to Howefield in the

Ubuntu Forums) In the short
term, try booting into a previous
kernel. If you don't get a grub
screen at boot up, press the shift
key after switching the machine on
and press the advanced options
button and choose the previously
working kernel.
* When is it necessary to reboot an

Ubuntu system?
http://goo.gl/NLKG3Q
TOP QUESTIONS AT
ASKUBUNTU
* Disk slowly filling up but no

visible file size changes
http://goo.gl/acohCU
* Timestamp, year 2038 problem

for 64-bit Ubuntu system
http://goo.gl/NRqaPl
* What's the best way to write an

Ubuntu ISO image on a USB stick?
A buggy kernel was uploaded to http://goo.gl/o9H3k2
-proposed a repository not
enabled by default, so only those
* How to secure my laptop so that
willing and able, with a higher
hacking by physical access is not
tolerance to breakage,
possible?
would/should be affected.
http://goo.gl/SggQ74
* Is there a software for visual

This morning, I was notified of display of disk space?
a software update in 1 4.04.
http://goo.gl/XZa99g
* find vs. locate

http://goo.gl/IgXpNQ
57
* How to execute a specific

command on opening a terminal
http://goo.gl/6iVa7T
contents ^
Q&A
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Private folder sharing
ast month I commented about

the difficulties I had in setting
up a server with numerous shared
folders, with each one available to
only a single user. I think the
problem is solved.
each computer to be backed up, I

added the user on the server, with
the same password as on their
Windows system. I also needed to
set up the password in Samba. For
user jean, I entered the command:
testparm
And the server part is done.
sudo smbpasswd -a jean
Then I responded to the

prompts with appropriate
passwords.
Here are more specifics: the

Then I created a folder for each
folders are on a drive in a USB 3.0
external dock. They are used as the user on the external drive. The last
set of commands:
target for Macrium Reflect image
backups of Windows systems; a
sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf
single 4 TB drive can hold image
backups of all the workstations in
Add something along these
the organization.
lines:
The key to making it work was
[jean]
to put an entry in /etc/fstab to
path =
/home/administrator/shares/je
mount the external drive at boot
time. If you are interested, Google an
available = yes
will reveal lots of good
read only = no
browseable = yes
information about fstab. In the
valid users = jean
specific case, a new drive will be
administrator
used from time to time, to allow
public = no
writeable = yes
off-site backup. The command
"sudo blkid" is useful for setting up directory mask = 0750
and modifying the fstab entry.
(save and exit)
The computer is running
Then:
Xubuntu, which includes the
program "users and groups". For
sudo service smbd restart
Gord had a long career in the
computer industry, then retired for

several years. More recently, he
somehow found himself "The IT Guy"
at a 1 5-person accounting firm in
downtown Toronto.
58
contents ^
D
L
O
S
59
T
U
O
contents ^
S e c u ri t y
Written by Gary White
et me start with a huge

disclaimer. I am not a security
expert. I'm a long-time computer
user, and, like most people, would
like to think that my activities on
the Internet are, for the most part,
private and secure. But privacy and
security are very different from
each other. Lets start with privacy.
Through history, when
technology gets involved, privacy
on some level is given up for the
sake of convenience. As an
example, here in the States, early
in our history, if you wanted to get
a message to someone far away,
you sent a letter. Very private, but
it took weeks, and sometimes
months, to get that message to a
person. We didn't have any
technology to speed things up.
Then along came the telegraph.
Now we have technology! We got
our message across the lands, but
first you had to hand that message
to someone who then had to read
it and telegraph it on until it
reached its destination. Then
someone on the other end wrote it
down and delivered it. Less private,
H o w M u c h D o Yo u W a n t , o r N e e d ?
but much faster. We just took it for
granted that all these people were
of good character and didn't
disclose the content of said
message to anyone who would
listen.
Then along came the
telephone, but not like todays
phone systems. Those who had
phones shared the lines with
others in their area. These were
known as party lines. One could
easily pick up the handset and
listen in on others conversations.
Again, some privacy was given up
for the ability to talk to and hear
the voice of a loved one far away.
Fortunately, we still have the
ability to get a private message to
somebody: we mail a letter.
Slower, but technology affects
only the speed of delivery, not the
content of the message.
in mere seconds, and since its an

electronic digital message, privacy
was always expected. But we were
wrong. Not only are others
interested in what we say, but also
on what we do on the Internet.
Here again, technology has reared
it ugly head and privacy takes a hit.
and blinds on our windows. These

are all just the tools of security to
help keep parts of our lives private.
Keeping your computer updated
helps keep the unwanted at bay,
but most security breakdowns are
usually caused by the user, not the
computer or software.
Security, on the other hand, are

the tools we use to try to make our
message, the computer, and our
lives, private. If we go back to that
letter we sent in olden times, we
might have used a wax seal with an
imprint of some form to ensure
that the recipient of said letter
would know that it wasn't opened.
Party telephone lines became
private lines. Total privacy was
never ensured, but we took it for
granted that it was.
So where am I going with this...

you might ask. As we should all
know by now, almost everyone
and everything on the Internet
wants a little piece of our privacy.
From search engines to retail sites
to the recently released Windows
1 0, everyone thinks that they know
what is best for you and aims to
provide it to you with every click of
the mouse, wanted or not. My
government, and probably yours,
has a vested interest in what
people are doing on or with the
Internet.
Now, in the Internet age, most

of us go about our day taking for
granted that others are watching
In the age of the Internet, we
out for us. We trust that our
again took it for granted that when computers are secure because we
we searched the Internet or hit the update them regularly. We install
send button, the email or text
antivirus and anti-malware
message we want to send just
software, firewalls, passwords,
magically arrives at its destination encryption, put locks on our doors
60
What we need to ask ourselves

is how much privacy are we willing
to give up to use the Internet.
Some would say we shouldn't have
to give up any at all. Others find all
this tracking to be a useful service.
Is the digital highway all that much
contents ^
SECURITY
different than a real highway? Do

you care if someone sees you
going to town, or only if they see
you going into that establishment
that only adults frequent?
If you are using a laptop with a
USB stick loaded up with the Tails
operating system, going from Wi-Fi
spot to Wi-Fi spot in different
towns, then privacy is high on your
list. If you never bother with
updates, and are signed up to sites
like Facebook or Twitter, and have
a need to post pictures of that new
flat screen TV and Tweeting about
going on vacation for a week
starting Saturday, then privacy or
security isn't a top priority.
U SING BASH COMMAND

HISTORY
by Jeremy Boden
ould you like the command

entry screen to be a bit less
work to use? Instead of repetitive
typing of commands, access to
previously entered commands can
be a big help. This feature works
either in a real command entry
screen (accessed via one of the
CTRL+ALT+F1 thru CTRL+ALT+F6
shortcuts) or perhaps more
commonly, via the Terminal
window option.
It turns out that a command

entry screen keeps a copy of
We all view privacy differently, (typically) the last 500 commands
and conduct our lives based on
entered. One option would be to
that view. Do your homework, and enter the history command
ask questions, as you find the right (without any parameters), I
balance of privacy, security and
(currently) see a long list:
usefulness you want from your
computing and phone facilities.
[493 lines omitted]
494 locate amstex.sty
Issues with privacy and security
495 cd
will be with us for some time.
...
Don't just take them for granted,
500 sudo aptget clean
501 sudo du h /backup | sort
no matter how convenient they
k 2
are.
502 history
Note that the commands
entered are listed in reverse order,
so that the most recent command

is shown last. Actually, the history
command comes with a multitude
of options which I shan't discuss.
Instead, we can access the
command history in a simple
interactive way.
It is a well known fact that
pressing the uparrow/downarrow
keys will scroll through your
command history; in particular the
uparrow will display the previous
command in a command screen,
clearly you will want to avoid
pressing this key too many times!
So we search our history using
reverse intelligent search.
My command screen is waiting
for me to enter a command, so it
reads:
jeremy@hector:~$
Pressing CTRL+R, will cause this

to change to:
(reverseisearch)`':
I entered mlo (I was expecting

to type mlocate) and my screen
changed to:
(reverseisearch)`mlo': sudo
/usr/bin/updatedb.mlocate
Note that the search string is

shown enclosed between a
61
backtick character and a single

quote and separated from the full
command by a colon. I chose to run
this command unchanged, by
pressing the enter key.
If your search string includes
spaces, enter the exact number of
spaces required.
Note that in my search, it was
only necessary to enter a few
adjacent characters it is not
necessary to start from the
beginning of the command.
It may happen that your search
string matches a number of
different commands to access an
older command, just press CTRL+R
again.
To amend and run the retrieved
command, press the leftarrow or
rightarrow keys, type in the
alterations and press enter to run
the command.
At any point, prior to pressing the
enter key, you can abandon
running the command by pressing
CTRL+C.
After pressing enter (to run the
command) or CTRL+C to cancel any
command execution, your
command entry screen will return
to its original appearance.
contents ^
LI N U X LO O PBACK
Written by S. J. Webb
nix was developed by AT&T

during the 1 970s. Let's take a
quick look at how AT&T started its
research lab, Bell Lab. This lab
fostered the growth of: radio
astronomy, the transistor, the
laser, information theory, the Unix
OS, and the C/C++ programming
language. Employees of this lab
won eight Nobel Prizes for their
discoveries.
departments were assigned to a

Volta laid the early ground work
new building in Murray Hill, New
for Bell Lab.
Jersey.This building was named the
Bell Lab.
Bell Labs was founded and coowned by Western Electric and
The Bell Lab core rose out of
AT&T. These two companies
Volta Laboratory and Bureau. Volta created Bell Labs to focus solely on
was founded by Alexander Graham researching technology and
Bell. Volta Lab focused on the
equipment for the Bell Telephone
development of sound
Operating System. They created
transmission for AT&T. Bell wanted telephones, telephone switches,
to improve the quality of life for
and other transmission equipment.
deaf individuals, too, from the
research Volta Lab generated.
In the 1 920s Bell Lab
Three years after Alexander

Graham Bells death, AT&T created
the Bell Telephone Laboratories in
1 925. It is referred to as the Idea
Factory. Over 4000 engineers and
scientists from varying
demonstrated facsimile
transmissions in the United States.
Facsimile transmission was created
in Europe earlier. The development
of synchronized sound film arose,
ending the silent film era. Longdistance television transmission
was established by Herbert Ives to
Secretary Of Commerce Herbert
Hoover. One of the first encryption
tools, one-time pad cipher, was
developed by Gilbert Vernam and
Joseph Mauborgne.
The 1 930s saw the
development of radio astronomy.
During World War II, Bell Lab
developed SIGSALY that digitally
scrambled Allied speech
transmissions. Also, the first
photovoltaic cell was developed,
which laid the groundwork for
solar energy. In 1 947, the first
transistor was developed, which
then started solid-state
electronics. Additionally, Claude
Shannon developed information
theory, which eventually gave way
to modern cryptography using
various calculators.
During the 1 950s, the Lab
62
contents ^
LINUX LOOPBACK
developed electronic music

created by computers, and
improved equipment for the Bell
Telephone System. The first
transatlantic phonecall between
Scotland and Newfoundland was
established. Computer network
design thrived under Robert Prim
and Joe Kruskal through
contributions from their
mathematical expertise. In 1 958,
the laser was first described in a
technical paper by Art Schawlow
and Charles Townes.
Next month, Linux Loopback

will cover Bell Labs history from
the 1 960s to the present.
SJ Webb is a Linux Hobbyist and
Research Coordinator. He enjoys

fishing, hot rodding, and spending
time with his kids and wife. He
thanks Mike Ferarri for his
mentorship.
63
contents ^
U B U N T U G AM E S
Strea m i n g G a m es
Written by Oscar Rivera
remember growing up last

century and watching football
(soccer) games on TV every
weekend. My brother and I would
always watch all of the important
soccer games on TV with dad, so in
a way it's been kind of like a family
tradition to watch sports on TV
(also live at a stadium, but that's a
different topic). Every four years,
the FIFA World Cup is a great
excuse to watch games every day
for a whole month. Soccer isn't the
only sport we've enjoyed watching,
there's also baseball, basketball,
hockey, the list goes on and on....
and let's not forget the Olympics.
to broadcast your games while you

play them, or even broadcast other
people's games. Some of the top
tournaments in recent eSports
history have, in fact, been
professionally broadcast with
commentaries by broadcasters in
multiple languages.
Broadcasting has taken off as
sort of a separate entity that

enhances the gaming experience.
In fact, there are many casters
(short for broadcaster) who have
developed loyal fan-bases and are
broadcasting games for a living.
But let's focus on you, the Linux
gamer, who may be interested in
broadcasting your own games for
others to see. Perhaps live
Growing up, I also enjoyed

playing video games, but back then
there was no such thing as eSports,
a fancy name for competitive video
games. If you had told me that one
day I'd be watching other people
play video games live from the
comfort of my home, I wouldn't
have believed it. Now, it's become
common to watch video games live
on a PC and to cheer for your
favorite player or team.
The latest trend for eSports is
64
broadcasting isn't your thing, but

instead you would prefer to record
your games and post them on
Youtube or elsewhere. Whether
you prefer recording or live
broadcasting, Open Broadcaster
Software will help you accomplish
your goals.
I first found out about OBS by
accident after going to
http://www.twitch.tv/ while trying
to watch a professional gamer's
broadcast. While browsing through
the website, I came across Open
Broadcaster Software and just the
name alone was enough to
convince me to give it a try. Ever
since, I have used it for a number
of things, not limited only to
broadcasting but also for recording
my games and for taking
screenshots of games that may not
support the use of screenshots in
Linux. On the twitch.tv homepage,
if you scroll all the way down to
where it says Become a
broadcaster and click on the Let's
Get Started button, you'll be taken
to the twitch.tv broadcasting
software downloads page. There
will be five broadcasting tools
contents ^
UBUNTU GAMES
listed here, however the only one

that's available for Linux is Open
Broadcaster Software. Not only is
it the only open source tool, it's
also one of only two that you don't
have to pay money to use. All of
them provide a free-to-try option,
but eventually they would ask you
to fork over some money, except
for OBS.
Instead of clicking on the
Download button I suggest you
click on the Setup Guide option.
This will not only display a link to
download the software from
obsproject.com, but will also give
you a much better set of
instructions than the ones given at
the obsproject.com website. This is
the guide that I followed when I
set up OBS immediately following
initial installation.
To install OBS, you can go
directly to the Open Broadcaster
Project website at
https://obsproject.com/ and click
on the Linux option which will then
take you to the Linux Download
page. Here, you will find that there
is an Official Ubuntu build as well
as unofficial builds for Arch Linux,
OpenSUSE and Gentoo, as well as
the option to Build from Source.
Upon downloading the official
Ubuntu build, it should

automatically go through the
installing process via the Ubuntu
Software Center.
Once installed, you should take
the time to adjust the settings so
that it runs properly. When you
first fire up OBS, you'll need to set
it up, otherwise it won't be able to
do much without initial user input.
Rather than try to explain to you
how to set it up here, instead I
recommend you read either the
Quick Start Guide, the Overview
Guide, or the one I mentioned from

the twitch.tv website. Those
guides are pretty simple and easy
to follow, while at the same time
they contain all you need to get
started.
Don't be overwhelmed by
looking at all of the options when
you first look at the OBS interface.
In a nutshell, you'll find the main
screen taking up the biggest real
estate in the main GUI. That's
where you'll see what it is that
you're recording/broadcasting. On
65
the bottom, second from the left,

you'll find a box that says Sources,
which is a good place to get
started and where you'll choose
the source you'll be
streaming/recording. Next to the
Sources, in the middle, you'll find
the Mixer which you may need to
use from time to time. On the right
are most of the important options
which are: Start Streaming, Start
Recording, Settings, and Exit.
You'll first want to go to
Settings and do everything that
the guide requires you to do. Out
of all the guides I've suggested, my
favorite by far is the one provided
in the twitch.tv website. Although
I've read all three of them, I've
found the twitch.tv guide the
easiest to follow. If you are
interested in streaming, you'll also
need to create an account with
twitch.tv, so that you have an
outlet onto which you can stream
your games. Having created your
account, you'll want to go to the
Dashboard on twitch.tv and click
on where it says Stream Key, then
click on Show Key, and follow the
prompts until your stream key is
revealed. Copy the stream key, and
then, under the Settings of OBS,
you'll go to the Stream tab and
under Service, select Twitch, then,
contents ^
UBUNTU GAMES
under Server, find the server

closest to you. Finally, on the input
box next to Stream Key, paste the
stream key you copied earlier and
you should be ready to go.
If you followed all of the
instructions properly, you should
now be ready to go. Now just hit
the Start Streaming button on the
main interface of OBS and double
check on twitch.tv to make sure
that it's working properly. Keep in
mind that there is a slight delay in
your broadcast so don't freak out if
you don't see anything yet.
Instead, wait a few seconds to
account for the latency delay, and,
if you followed the steps properly,
you should see everything you
have been doing a few seconds
earlier on your twitch.tv channel.
You're successfully broadcasting
your desktop!
Now, just start up any game and
it should automatically be
streaming on your channel. When
you're done playing, don't forget
to click on the Stop Recording
button. If streaming is not your
thing, and instead you are
interested in recording, then click
on the Start Recording button to
record your game (or whatever
else you want to record), and,
when you're finished, click the

same button which should now say
Stop Recording, go to the folder
that you selected to store your
recordings and find your recent
recording, then double-click it to
watch the video and make sure
everything worked fine.
I've been using OBS for a few
months now and I honestly think
it's a great tool not only for gamers
but also for anyone interested in
recording their desktop. For
example, say that you're going to
make an instructional video for a
friend, colleague, family member,
or a stranger who may need help,
then OBS is the tool that will make
it very easy for you to show them
exactly how to do it.
Under the Audio option, you

can select to record yourself
talking by choosing one of the
microphones available on your PC,
for example the one from your
web-cam. This makes it very easy
for you to explain everything while
you're doing it so that, when the
video is created, they can see what
you've done while you also talk
about it.
inclined, then try out OBS and

begin broadcasting or recording
your own games.
I've got some exciting video
game articles planned for
upcoming issues, so until next
time, I hope you enjoy OBS as
much as I did.
After using it only a couple of

times I began asking myself how I
managed to go so long without
knowing about OBS and without
using it. Go to twitch.tv if you
haven't done so yet and look up
any game you find to watch
broadcasts of it, and, if you are so
Oscar graduated from CSUN, is a
Music Director/Teacher, beta tester,

Wikipedia editor, and Ubuntu
Forums contributor. You can contact
him via: www.gplus.to/7bluehand or
email: [email protected]
66
contents ^
PATRO N S
PATRONS
Bill Berninghausen
Jack McMahon
Linda P
Remke Schuurmans
Norman Phillips
Tom Rausner
Charles Battersby
Tom Bell
Oscar Rivera
Alex Crabtree
John Malon
Ray Spain
Richard Underwood
Charles Anderson
Ricardo Coalla
Chris Giltnane
William von Hagen
Mark Shuttleworth
Juan Ortiz
Joe Gulizia
Kevin Raulins
Doug Bruce
Pekka Niemi
Rob Fitzgerald
Brian M Murray
Roy Milner
Brian Bogdan
Scott Mack
Dennis Mack
John Helmers
D ONATIONS
John Niendorf
Daniel Witzel
Douglas Brown
Donald Altman
Patrick Scango
Tony Wood
Paul Miller
Colin McCubbin
Randy Brinson
John Fromm
Graham Driver
Chris Burmajster
Steven McKee
Manuel Rey Garcia
Alejandro Carmona Ligeon
sinia vidovi
Glenn Heaton
CHA CHA CHA CHANGES

Our admin went AWOL for months, and
I had no idea if/when the site
would/wouldnt get paid. Initially the
plan was to move the site and domain
name to my hosting, but eventually I
managed to track him down and get
the FCM domain name, and site hosting
transferred to me.
The new site is now up. HUGE thanks to
Lucas Westermann (Mr. Command &
Conquer) for taking on the job of
completely rebuilding the site, and
scripts, from scratch, in his own time.
The Patreon page that Ive set up is to
help me pay the domain and hosting
fees. The yearly target was quickly
reached thanks to those listed on this
page. FCM is not going away. Dont
worry about that.
Several people have asked for a PayPal
(single donation) option, so Ive added
a button to the side of the site
A big thank you to all those whove

used Patreon and the PayPal button.
Its a big help.
https://www.patreon.com/
fullcirclemagazine
67
contents ^
H OW TO CO N TRI BU TE
Full Circle Team
FCM#1 03
FULL CIRCLE NEEDS YOU!
A magazine isn't a magazine without articles and Full Circle is no

exception. We need your opinions, desktops, stories, how-to's,
reviews, and anything else you want to tell your fellow *buntu users.
Send your articles to: [email protected]
Deadline :
Sunday 08th Nov. 201 5.

Release :
Friday 27th Nov. 201 5.
We are always looking for new articles to include in Full Circle. For help and advice
please see the Official Full Circle Style Guide : http://url.fullcirclemagazine.org/75d471
Send your comments or Linux experiences to: [email protected]
Hardware/software reviews should be sent to: [email protected]
Questions for Q&A should go to: [email protected]
Desktop screens should be emailed to: [email protected]
... or you can visit our site via: fullcirclemagazine.org
Editor - Ronnie Tucker

[email protected]
Webmaster - Lucas Westermann
[email protected]
Podcast - Les Pounder & Co.
[email protected]
Editing & Proofreading
Mike Kennedy, Gord Campbell, Robert
Orsino, Josh Hertel, Bert Jerred, Jim
Dyer and Emily Gonyer
Our thanks go to Canonical, the many
translation teams around the world
and Thorsten Wilms for the FCM logo.
Getting Full Circle Magazine:
EPUB Format - Recent editions of Full Circle have a link to the epub file on the downloads page. If you have any problems with
the epub file, you can drop an email to: [email protected]
Issuu - You can read Full Circle online via Issuu: http://issuu.com/fullcirclemagazine. Please share and rate FCM as it helps to
spread the word about FCM and Ubuntu Linux.
Google Play - You can now read Full Circle on Google Play/Books. Either search for 'full circle magazine' or
click this link: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Ronnie+Tucker
68
contents ^

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Full Circle

THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY

ISSUE #1 02 - October 201 5

Fu ll Ci rcle M a g a zi n e i s n e i th e r a ffi li a te d wi th , n o r e n d o rse d b y, Ca n o n i ca l Ltd .

Multiboot With UEFI

THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR THE UBUNTU LINUX COMMUNITY

Command & Conquer

Website & Infrastructure p.20

This magazine was created using :

WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FULL CIRCLE.

All the best, and keep in touch!

full circle magazine #1 02

Find Full Circle on:

WHY A TRULY SECURE

peaking at LinuxCon 201 5 last

Torvalds says hes butted heads

designing/assembling the Xiaomi

There is therefore great

H ADOOP O PEN D ATA

ix months down the line from

machines appear to be part of the

Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

"In short: Xor.DDoS is a multiplatform, polymorphic malware for

B OTNET PREYING ON LINUX

ecurity researchers have

LINUX FOUNDATION : O PEN

ow much is open source code

protagonist [Elliot], played by Rami

While this short exchange

M ORE ABOUT M R ROBOT?

n episode 0 of Mr Robot, were

Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht

Nearly 1 2,000 developers from

prominent Linux kernel

he Linux community often

full circle magazine #1 02

Sarah Sharp, an Intel employee

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ig Switch Networks, Facebook

is maintained by Steven Rostedt, a

for each new release of the

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THE LINUX FOUNDATION :

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ack in 2005, Linux was still

full circle magazine #1 02

LINUX FOUNDATION AND

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infrastructure for increased

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for this release, which makes Mr.

According to Linus Torvalds,

inux clusters built from

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before 1 985, NTP is one of the

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