Issue 12

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In Issue 12 of Free Software Magazine, Jerome Gotangco guides us through securing email communication and Yousef Ourabi shows us how to harden our Linux servers. Rosalyn Hunter introduces the GNU/Linux CLI for beginners and Terry Hancock explains LyX. We also get to have some fun when Robin Monks reviews some clones of a classic game: Tetris. And more...

Editorial

Editorial

Everybody's a server

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The IT world has a reputation of being extremely fast-paced. And it is: an accounting program in the ’80s would have been written in COBOL. In the ’90s it would have been written with a RAD (Rapid Application Developer) environment such as Delphi or Visual Basic. In the… ’00s (noughties?), today, the same application would probably be written as a web system, possibly using all of the “Web 2.0” technologies to make it responsive and highly usable.

User space

Structured writing with LyX

What you see is what you mean?

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In the hubbub over the Open Document Format and competing “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) word processors, a long-standing alternative model of word processing systems, with much deeper roots in the free software world, has been mostly overlooked. The author of LyX, Matthias Ettrich, calls this approach “what you see is what you mean” (WYSIWYM). However, it’s a philosophy that you will find in many “native” free software text-processing systems everywhere, from online “content management systems” to book publishing.

A beginner’s introduction to the GNU/Linux command line

An introduction to the command line for novices that teaches some simple commands such as ls, cd and pwd and explains how to learn more

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So you have decided to try a free software operating system such as GNU/Linux, congratulations. GNU/Linux is not that different from other operating systems on the surface. You point and click using the mouse and call down menus to get programs to work.

However, these icons and windows are just the sweet candy coating on top of a much older system, a system of programs designed to be accessed by the command line.

Secure your email communication with free software

A guide for installing, configuring and using Mozilla Thunderbird, Enigmail, and GnuPG to provide secure and encrypted email

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Email is one of the most common activities we perform on the internet. However, email is also one of the most vulnerable internet services currently used. Email spam is common, but what most people are not aware of is that email identity theft is common as well. There is also continuous concern over the privacy and security issues surrounding the matter. However, most users dismiss security software as complex and still continue to send email messages with very little or no regard at all to security.

Server side

Stylish XML

Part two: using XSL to transform your XML documents

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Part one of this article looked at how Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) can be used to make XML documents look good in a web browser. In part two, I’ll explore the more complex eXtensible Style sheet Language (XSL) and how it can be used to transform XML into HTML and PDF documents.

Limitations of XML/CSS

Hardening Linux Web Servers

Comprehensive security spans several disciplines, learn how to secure a system, to host securely coded PHP and Java web services

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Security is a process, not a result. It is a process which is difficult to adopt under normal conditions; the problem is compounded when it spans several job descriptions. All the system level security in the world is rendered useless by insecure web-applications. The converse is also true—programming best practices, such as always verifying user input, are useless when the code is running on a server which hasn’t been properly hardened.

The GP2x PDA

A PDA focused on games and GNU/Linux

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Games under GNU/Linux have usually been a lacklustre affair. For every Tux Racer, there are a hundred sub-standard Pac-man clones you’d be embarrassed to advocate. For every commercial version of Quake, there’s a hundred other worthy games the publisher elected not to port to GNU/Linux. Without good games, there’s no market, and without the market, no effort is spared. And so the cycle continues. In this article, I will look at two of the areas in which GNU/Linux games have succeeded, and a new device that combines them both, which could help expose GNU/Linux to the populous.

Mind set

Freedom, as in fighting for

Welcome to the battlefield

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The battle between individual rights and the powers of the State is reaching a frenzy across the globe. Never before has technology given us such freedom to create, to invent, and to escape traditional boundaries. And never before has technology given the State such a chance to control us. In this series of articles exclusive to Free Software Magazine, I’ll take you into some of the warzones and show you what it’s like at the front-line…

The rise of the machines

I hope the year for Linux never comes

It’s only from lofty heights that empires fall

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Toward the end of 2005 I was reading about “the year for Linux” everywhere I went. No matter where I looked, I always found articles by GNU/Linux fans (like me) that expected this year (2006) to be “the year for Linux” (once and for all). In fact, it’s been quite a few years now that I’ve been reading that “this will be the year for Linux”. And let me tell you something: I don’t want the year for Linux to come… ever! Period.

Towards a free matter economy (Part 6)

Legal Landmines

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This article explores the legal problems that will be faced by free-design communities developing hardware for space.

I have learned that distributed problems require distributed solutions—that centralization of power, the first resort of politicians who feed on crisis, is actually worse than useless, because centralizers regard the more effective coping strategies as threats and act to thwart them.—Eric Raymond

Published on web

Interview of Frank Mittelbach

A combined interview of the LaTeX Project director

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Free Software Magazine and the TeX Users Group (TUG) both like to publish interviews. Recently, Gianluca Pignalberi of Free Software Magazine and Dave Walden of TUG both approached Frank Mittelbach about interviewing him. Rather than doing two separate interviews, Mittelbach, Pignalberi, and Walden decided on a combined interview in keeping with the mutual interests already shared by Free Software Magazine and TUG.

DW: Frank, please start by telling us a bit about yourself and how you got involved with LaTeX.

Bandan Das's picture

It's Out!

Submitted by Bandan Das on Sun, 2006-05-21 15:45.

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Hmm... So finally it's out! Made me wait really long :) The topics covered seem really interesting. Off to enjoy!

b's picture

Thank you~! I just digg'ed

Submitted by b on Mon, 2006-05-22 05:51.

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Thank you~! I just digg'ed it.

admin's picture

DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM DOWNLOADING?

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If you have a problem downloading or another problem with our system, PLEASE DON'T POST COMMENTS HERE.

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If you have feedback about Issue 12, feel free to post comments here.

Thanks

petitt's picture

thanks

Submitted by petitt on Tue, 2006-05-23 11:33.

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thanks

Ricardas's picture

Thanks

Submitted by Ricardas on Mon, 2006-05-29 19:17.

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Thank you !!!

Paula Silva's picture

Great idea

Submitted by Paula Silva on Mon, 2006-06-05 11:42.

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I haven't noticed before but this idea of having articles seperated in different PDFs so we can download just the article we would like to read -- for those with less bandwidth -- is a great idea.

Thanks in their name :)

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Thanks

Submitted by shamshad on Thu, 2006-06-08 14:56.

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I am fine and i you fine,this is very nice web,i learn alot of thanks form this web,

nipunap's picture

What a nice place..!!!

Submitted by nipunap on Fri, 2006-06-16 13:59.

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nice web....
nice works...
nice people...
nice projects...
nice attitudes...
best distribution of knowledge....
What a nice place.... :-)
i have got more
fun from this site and magazine....

Please let this know to ur friends

kamatak's picture

Great Magazine!

Submitted by kamatak on Sat, 2006-07-29 10:56.

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Now downloading all issues. Hope to read all. ;)

Keep up great work.

Anonymous visitor's picture

Nice Magazine

Submitted by Anonymous visitor on Sat, 2007-01-27 09:48.

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Asalamualiqum!
I am a new user i serch a great & nice magazine when i search this i will get it.
this is nice.
bye
Muhammad Asif Jameel.
0092-334-6453723.
Lahore(Pakistan).



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Interviews

Interview with Fuat Kircaali, CEO of Sys-Con

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Fuat Kircaali is the founder and CEO of SYS-CON Media, the company which publishes “Linux Business News” among its 16 i-technology titles.

Most emailed

Editorial

On “making it”

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When I first started thinking about Free Software Magazine, I was feeling enthusiastic about the dream. I had Dave, Gianluca, and Alan willing to help me, I had established members of the free software community willing to help me out, I had writers volunteering their time and energy for free, and I had a generous offer from OpenHosting for servers, all before I’d proved myself. There was a sense of excitement in the air, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I could make this work.