A Networked Home

Archive for the ‘Linux Tips’ Category

When looking to add or remove a service available in Linux you need look no further than the handy “Services” menu which can be found under “System” - “Administration”.

Here you will find lots of useful programs than can be enabled or disabled with the click of a check box. For instance you can enable Folder Sharing - in this case across a Windows network via Samba.

If you don’t see the option for Samba then don’t worry, we will cover that in the next Linux tip!

A few days ago I was running a batch of updates for Linux Ubuntu 7.1 on my laptop. I had it sitting on the floor of my office while I was working on the desktop PC. Without warning the battery died in the middle of the update installation.

I plugged the laptop in and rebooted it, hoping to restart the update process without any issues.

When I clicked the “Install Updates” button I received a message telling me there was a problem and that I needed to run (I forget the file name now) manually first.

It took only a few seconds to figure out that this could be run in the “Terminal” (”Applications”, “Accessories”, “Terminal”). However, when I pasted in the command given to me by the error message, I received the baffling message that in order to execute this command I need to be a “Superuser”.

Some quick Google searching found that this ominous term simply amounts to typing the word “sudo” in front of the command you want to run. “Sudo (space) ‘command’”, enter password, and you are on your way!

This was very simple, but also a very important tip for those of us who are new to the world of Linux.