Dual booting is a common practice with plenty of Linux users. Dual booting refers to the act of installing two separate operating systems on the same computer. Each OS is given its own partition, which tends to be inaccessible for all practical purposes to the other OS. Transferring files between two systems can prove to be a significant challenge, and this article deals with sorting out an issue like that.

KDE and GNOME are two of the most popular desktop environments on the Linux operating system. They are developed by two separate communities of developers, with some APIs that are unique and the others, which are common. This makes it easier for third party applications to be developed, as well as there is a common environment to work on. As an end user, you may find each of them to have their own strengths and weaknesses, and depending on which of the two align to your needs more, there can be a significant level of variation in usability.

The KDE and GNOME variants of common distros are often characterized by their naming system itself. For instance, Ubuntu’s default desktop environment is GNOME, while the KDE variant is known as Kubuntu.

The Apache HTTP server is a software package used to run and maintain web servers. It was and is hugely popular; from the initial growth of the Internet to the current scenario, Apache is said to serve every two out of three websites.

Apache is frequently used in tandem with the Linux networking environment, making them both invaluable to plenty of web servers. In light of the huge amount of traffic website servers need to handle, it is essential that the Apache software’s performance is optimised to the fullest.

Ubuntu is a relatively new Linux distribution, based on Debian. It is a free operating system that unabashedly welcomes people to download and share it. Despite being owned by a UK-based company called Canonical Ltd., it retains its open source roots completely, so much as to its very name being derived from an African philosophy that stresses on ‘humanity’.

Canonical releases a new version of Ubuntu every six months, so as to keep the OS absolutely up to date, and revamped, if need be. It also guarantees long term support for each major release for at least five years.

User account creation is one of the rare aspects of Linux administration where using text (command line) mode really isn’t any more challenging than using the usual graphical user interface tool. It goes without saying that it is an approachable step for a Linux newbie, and can go a long way in getting an idea about how to proceed in a command line environment.

The most obvious way to go about creating a user account is to use the useradd utility. Adduser is an alternative, which works exactly the same way as useradd (though it may or may not be present in all systems). For all practical purposes, they can be considered to be one and the same.

The Linux environment provides a number of protocols that are intended to create and administer networks, both simple and complex. Networks are the foundations of modern communications, and Linux-based networks account for quite a number of them.

TCP/IP is a layered network protocol first developed by the US Department of Defense for providing a communications bridge between computers of different makes. The protocol essentially aimed to keep the software and hardware portions of networking away from each other so as to avoid any potential conflicts. TCP/IP’s complete focus on interoperability and bridging has made it extremely popular for its focus on usability as opposed to semantics. This protocol is completely integrated into the Linux kernel, and is extremely popular due to its efficiency.

Linux is an operating system with a very wide range of variants. In the Linux environment, they are called distributions, or ‘distros’ in short. Often enough, the abundance of choice can be as much of a hindrance as a lack of it. This makes it boil down to evaluating yourself for what kind of user you are, your general needs, any specific issues and ease at working in a certain kind of environment. This is what makes choosing a Linux distro an important part of a foray into the Linux environment.

Free software, or, to be more specific, Linux, has not been as widespread and popular in enterprises as people had expected years back. This has always seemed like an anomaly to the public in general, and only served to further the myth that Linux is not meant to be used by anyone except pure techies. The proponents and supporters of proprietary software operating systems like Microsoft would like you to believe that Linux is very threadbare on actual features. The insinuation is that Linux is at the very bottom of the user-friendliness and convenience scale, and is simply a waste of time in the constraints of corporate life, such as deadlines.

A privileged program in Linux is one that has special access permissions (privileges) to use files or devices that are usually restricted. This can be done by either using the user ID of a privileged user (root based daemons fall into this category), or by a set user-ID-root (which gives the privileged program another identity effectively).

Privileged programs are a potential risk due to their use of restricted resources, and efforts need to be made to mitigate any potential misuse by someone with malicious intent.

A set-user-ID program can be made to only hold special privileges when it explicitly needs them. If the need for the privileges is only temporary, the program should be made to lose the privileges forever after its explicit purpose is served. For instance, if you want the program to drop its special privileges, add a line of code akin to:

Linux is not really the OS of choice for just absolutely nerdy coders. It has a number of hidden features that will get a chuckle or two out of you at the very least, and give you a great way to kill some time too! These hidden features are called Easter eggs, and Linux has a rather funny assortment of them!

1. An alien goat game!

To be exact, it is a game of GEGLs. In case you have absolutely no idea about what that stands for, it expands to ‘Genetically Engineered Goat, Large’. This hidden game in GNOME is called ‘Killer GEGLs from Outer Space’ and has creatures that resemble goats, only with an extra, alien looking paw by their side. All you need to do to start this game is to hit Alt+F2 on your keyboard, and type ‘gegls from outer space’ in the window that comes up. Have fun!