I love GNU/Linux. You can do everything on a GNU/Linux system that you can on a Microsoft Windows or a Apple Mac, but for the most part, any software costs are negligible - okay, to be honest, TCO of a GNU/Linux system will be shift costs from software to internet access and administration. But hey, that’s no problem if you know what you’re doing. Oh, wait, that could be a problem - except for that little internet thing.

Plenty of GNU/Linux resources from people all over the world on the internet. And that’s where this post comes in! IBM is dedicated to GNU/Linux, and not just by pouring millions into development and patenting! They have this huge database of how-tos, articles, download links and so forth available from their Linux developerWorks website. Like this nice little walk-through on how to use linux scripts to build your own wireless ISP. Now, you’d expect IBM to promote IBM Linux products (do they have those?), well, they don’t. This site’s instructions, recommendations and walk-throughs are all based around software that can be downloaded freely from other sources on the internet (checkout their downloads page if you don’t believe me!).

Links:
IBM developerWorks - Linux
IBM developerWorks - New to Linux
IBM developerWorks - Technical Library (be sure to checkout their LPI certification prep series!)

Ok, I’ll admit it. Alcoholic beverages have killed a fair number of my brain cells. As a result I’m continually forgetting things (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!). Any way, here are two completely unrelated things I’ve forgotten and have had to look up today. So I don’t forget them again, and so you, dear reader, don’t have to go looking too far for them, I’m putting them here:

How To: Redirect Errors From Standard Out to Nowhere (*nux)

Here’s how to get rid of those annoying error messages you really don’t care about when running a script (everybody’s got their own excuse for not wanting to see this type of thing, even though it can be handy now and again):

user@computer:~$ [command] [options] 2>&1

Stick “2>&1” at the end of your command string, that about covers it!!

How To: Launch Firefox With a Specific Chrome Interface (Windows)

Ever install a nifty little Mozilla Firefox extension and want to run it as a standalone program? Here’s how:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox>firefox.exe -chrome [chrome path]

Add the “-chrome” option to the firefox command, then add the chrome path after that. Here’s an example of how to launch the bookmarks manager as a standalone program:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox&gt;firefox.exe <strong>-chrome chrome://browser/content/bookmarks/bookmarksManager.xul</strong>

Enjoy!!