LQWiki - User contributions [en]

User:Peter Mortensen

2012-07-09T20:36:43Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Profile */ Added credentials.

==Profile==

Profile: See my [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mortense Wikipedia user page].

Credentials: [http://toolserver.org/%7Etparis/pcount/index.php?name=Mortense&lang=en&wiki=wikipedia edit statistics on Wikipedia], more than 5000.

CamCorder

2011-12-20T17:04:31Z

Peter Mortensen: moved CamCorder to Camcorder over redirect: Spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[Camcorder]]

Camcorder

2011-12-20T17:04:31Z

Peter Mortensen: moved CamCorder to Camcorder over redirect: Spelling/case.

To use your camcorder with [[Linux]], you first need to know which medium to use for transferring your videos from the camcorder to your computer.

* Some camcorders record their [[video]]s on [[DVD|DVDs]]. When you put the DVD into your computer, you can play it with [[mplayer]].
* Some camcorders record their videos on SD-cards. You can easily transfer your SD-card's content using an [[USB Card Readers|USB card reader]].
* Some camcorders record their videos on tapes and allow you to connect via [[IEEE 1394|FireWire]] to the camcorder and transfer the videos using [[applications]] like [[kino]] and dvgrab. The outcome will be .dv files that you can watch with mplayer and convert with [[ffmpeg]] or [[mencoder]].

[[Category:Hardware]]
[[Category:Tips]]

Camcorder

2011-12-20T17:03:14Z

Peter Mortensen: Eliminated a redirect.

Camcorder

2011-12-20T17:02:02Z

Peter Mortensen: Removed links after first use. Copy edited (also eliminated some redirects in the process)

To use your camcorder with [[Linux]], you first need to know which medium to use for transferring your videos from the camcorder to your computer.

* Some camcorders record their [[video]]s on [[DVD|DVDs]]. When you put the DVD into your computer, you can play it with [[mplayer]].
* Some camcorders record their videos on SD-cards. You can easily transfer your SD-card's content using an [[USB Card Readers|USB card reader]].
* Some camcorders record their videos on tapes and allow you to connect via [[FireWire]] to the camcorder and transfer the videos using [[applications]] like [[kino]] and dvgrab. The outcome will be .dv files that you can watch with mplayer and convert with [[ffmpeg]] or [[mencoder]].

[[Category:Hardware]]
[[Category:Tips]]

Digital camera

2011-12-18T11:23:41Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited.

'''Digital cameras''' allow you to make photographs and short video clips to be stored electronically on either internal memory, or removable media such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_digital SD cards].

Most '''digital cameras''' connect to a computer system via [[FireWire]] or [[USB]], allowing quick + easy transfering of photos onto the home computer for further editing. Graphic software such as The [http://www.gimp.org/ GIMP] and digikam allows easy photo editing, including the ability to create slide-shows of your photos.

== How to use with Linux ==
You must know that there are two types of [[digital camera]]s: One acts like a [[usb-storage]] when you connect the camera to the computer, and the other ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_Transfer_Protocol PTP]) needs a special, camera-specific software to get the images from the camera. Mostly, you can set your camera to act as PTP device or as mass storage.

== Get the pictures ==
You can take the memory card out of your camera and read it using a [[USB Card Readers|USB card reader]]. If you do not want that, it depends on your camera type what you can do to get the pictures.

=== PTP cameras ===
* Connect to your Linux computer
* start [[gphoto2]]
gphoto2 --get-all-files

=== Mass storage cameras ===
* Connect your camera to your [[Linux]] computer
* Find out which [[device]] has been attached
[[dmesg]]
: In this example, we assume the device has been /dev/sda1
* [[Mount]] this device
[[mount]] /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
* Find your photos and movies on /mnt/sda1

== Manage your photos ==
;Problem:
You have more pictures than your camera can store. You want to have all pictures in one folder and when you delete a picture on the camera or in the folder, you want an information and a possibility to propagate these changes. You want to manage your photos.
;Solution:
To manage my photos, [[User:ThorstenStaerk|I]] have a [[folder]] on my [[hard disk]] called '''cam'''. I keep it synchronized with my camera's SD card. Here is how you can do this as well:

Take the SD card from your camera and put it into a [[USB Card Readers|usb flash reader]] and connect it to your computer. Find out the [[block device]] mapped to the SD card:
tweedleburg:~ # hwinfo --block --short
disk:
/dev/sda SAMSUNG HD103UJ
/dev/sdb WDC WD3200AAKS-7
'''/dev/sdc Generic USB SD Reader'''
/dev/sdd Generic USB CF Reader
/dev/sde Generic USB SM Reader
/dev/sdf Generic USB MS Reader
partition:
/dev/sda1 Partition
/dev/sdb1 Partition
/dev/sdb2 Partition
'''/dev/sdc1 Partition'''
cdrom:
/dev/sr0 HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDRH20N
/dev/sr1 TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653B
In this case, the block device is ''/dev/sdc'' and the [[partitiOn]] is ''/dev/sdc1''. Mount it:
[[mkdir]] -p /mnt/sdc1
[[mount]] /dev/sdc1 /mnt/sdc1
And synchronize it with the cam-folder. If necessary, create it:
mkdir cam
[[unison]] /mnt/sdc1 cam
Now the program unison presents me a nice overview which files (pictures) have been added, deleted and modified in which folder. I can decide if I want to copy files and in which direction.

== Choosing a digital camera ==
* does it have a menu structure that you understand?
* what resolution has it (MegaPixel)?
* can you use SD cards (many computers have slots for them)?
* is it capable to use [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDHC#SDHC SDHC] cards?
* can you charge it using a standard adapter ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_usb#Mini_and_Micro micro USB])?

== See also ==
* [[digikam]]

Usb-storage

2011-12-18T11:18:39Z

Peter Mortensen: Emphasised the name of the driver.

[[usb]]-[[storage]] is a [[Linux]] [[device driver]] for USB [[hard drive]]s, memory sticks and similar.

Here is a quick overview of how ''usb-storage'' fits into the Linux picture. Suppose that you plug a USB memory stick into your computer. What happens?

The first thing is that the memory stick is a USB device, and all USB devices use a common set of protocols for communicating, these being low-speed, full speed and hi-speed. There is correspondingly a single Linux device driver that handles communication for all USB devices.

The interface this driver offers the rest of the system to the USB pen is via the filesystem: The pen will appear as a node at /proc/bus/usb/001/001 - the numbers will vary. You can have fun verifying this by having a look in that directory. Plug in a usb-pen and a new file will appear. Unplug it and it will disappear. A description of all attached USB devices is given in the file /proc/bus/usb/devices. Again this is dynamically updated so you can have fun seeing how it changes as you plug in or remove devices. The list of USB devices can also be obtained by running "lsusb" at the command line.

Next, different USB devices do different things... wow, a USB keyboard and a USB memory stick need different software at some stage! To keep things simple, USB devices fall into categories and this has the advantage that only one device driver is needed to handle all devices in some category. This is a slight fib. Some devices fall under several categories. Cameras, for instance, can commonly be read either as a mass storage device, just as if they were USB sticks, or as Pict-bridges which is a mode specific to editing still images. However that just leaves us spoilt for choice of how to communicate with the device. Let's suppose that we classify the pen drive as a USB mass storage device.

This is where the driver ''usb-storage'' comes in. The joy of classes is that we need only one driver to handle all USB storage devices. You don't need a different driver for a memory stick, a hard drive and a camera. The "USB mass storage" class defines standard ways of reading and writing to a USB device and the USB widget manufacturers need to implement these standards in their devices. At the computer end, the USB storage driver understands the standard language. The driver takes the USB device represented by /proc/bus/usb/001/002 or whatever and makes it appear as a hard drive, usually at /dev/sda, and it's partitions are at /dev/sda0, /dev/sda1 and so on.

Then filesystems can be put on the partitions and the filesystems mounted, just as for any other hard drive.

= See also =

* [[USB]]
* [[USB Flash drive]]
* [[Booting from USB]]

Usb-storage

2011-12-18T11:16:25Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited.

[[usb]]-[[storage]] is a [[Linux]] [[device driver]] for USB [[hard drive]]s, memory sticks and similar.

Here is a quick overview of how usb-storage fits into the Linux picture. Suppose that you plug a USB memory stick into your computer. What happens?

The first thing is that the memory stick is a USB device, and all USB devices use a common set of protocols for communicating, these being low-speed, full speed and hi-speed. There is correspondingly a single Linux device driver that handles communication for all USB devices.

The interface this driver offers the rest of the system to the USB pen is via the filesystem: The pen will appear as a node at /proc/bus/usb/001/001 - the numbers will vary. You can have fun verifying this by having a look in that directory. Plug in a usb-pen and a new file will appear. Unplug it and it will disappear. A description of all attached USB devices is given in the file /proc/bus/usb/devices. Again this is dynamically updated so you can have fun seeing how it changes as you plug in or remove devices. The list of USB devices can also be obtained by running "lsusb" at the command line.

Next, different USB devices do different things... wow, a USB keyboard and a USB memory stick need different software at some stage! To keep things simple, USB devices fall into categories and this has the advantage that only one device driver is needed to handle all devices in some category. This is a slight fib. Some devices fall under several categories. Cameras, for instance, can commonly be read either as a mass storage device, just as if they were USB sticks, or as Pict-bridges which is a mode specific to editing still images. However that just leaves us spoilt for choice of how to communicate with the device. Let's suppose that we classify the pen drive as a USB mass storage device.

This is where the driver ''usb-storage'' comes in. The joy of classes is that we need only one driver to handle all USB storage devices. You don't need a different driver for a memory stick, a hard drive and a camera. The "USB mass storage" class defines standard ways of reading and writing to a USB device and the USB widget manufacturers need to implement these standards in their devices. At the computer end, the USB storage driver understands the standard language. The driver takes the USB device represented by /proc/bus/usb/001/002 or whatever and makes it appear as a hard drive, usually at /dev/sda, and it's partitions are at /dev/sda0, /dev/sda1 and so on.

Then filesystems can be put on the partitions and the filesystems mounted, just as for any other hard drive.

= See also =

* [[USB]]
* [[USB Flash drive]]
* [[Booting from USB]]

Surf the web

2011-12-11T09:22:16Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited.

There are numerous [[web browser]]s already included with almost every [[Linux]] [[distribution]].

* [[Konqueror]] - on [[KDE]]
* [http://galeon.sourceforge.net/ Galeon] - on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME GNOME] only
* [[Mozilla]] - platform-independent; includes more than just a browser
* [[Firefox]] - based on Mozilla; only a browser
* [[Opera]] - commercial offering (has to be downloaded separately)
* [[Lynx]] - text-interface

You may wish to perform some of the following tasks before using your web browser, or when you are first using your web browser:
* Check the cookie settings
** In general, it is safe to allow all cookies as session cookies only.
* Enable popup blocking, if it is supported.
* Install popular plugins for your browser.

Some popular plugins include:
* [http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/alternates/ Shockwave/Flash] - install manually
* [http://fredrik.hubbe.net/plugger.html Plugger] - usually included as a package in Linux distributions
* [http://java.sun.com Java] - install manually
* [http://www.openquicktime.org/ Quicktime] - for experts only
* [http://mplayerplug-in.sf.net/ MPlayerPlug-In] - requires MPlayer, which supports a wide variety of file formats. Only available for Konqueror, Mozilla, and Firefox.
Additionally, if you are using Mozilla or Firefox, visit Mozilla's [http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/ Extension Room] for useful add-ons such as soft scrolling and mouse gesture navigation.

Backup

2011-12-10T15:03:05Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited [3].

'''Backup'''s are part of a sane recovery scheme that should help recover lost data. They can be thought of anything that is done to [[archive]] important system and user data.

= Backup strategies =

== For home users ==
Keep a folder with [[file]]s that you want to keep secure. You need to copy it to another disk so the data survives when one disk fails. Best, have your archive folder on your hard disk and copy it to at least one [[USB]] disk. Now you need software to synchronize this folder on the two disks. A good choice is [[UnisOn]]. It allows you to sync bidirectionally, and it compares the files' content rather than their change date. This allows you to identify corrupted files.

= How to do it =
== Backup your home directory ==

From the command line, type:

[[tar]] -cvzf myhomebackup.tar.gz ~

~ stands for your home [[directory]].
The ''z'' option [[pack]]s your file in [[gzip]] format.

Then copy myhomebackup.tar.gz onto some other medium: [[CD]], [[DVD]], removable drive, etc.

'''Hint:''' Using [[tar]] with the --newer option will allow you to save only [[file]]s that have changed since your last backup. This is known as ''incremental backup'', compare [[rsync]].

== Backup your computer ==

To [[backup]] your computer including all system configuration and [[kernel modules]], but excluding everything that is mounted (e.g. [[/proc]]) use
[[tar]] -cvlf slash.tar.gz /
The '''l''' option says "local [[filesystem]]s only". You need it because you do not want to backup /proc.

To store a backup of your computer on another computer in the network, use
tar -cv -f- $(ls -1 | grep -Ev "proc|sys|tmp|media|mnt") | ssh root@''target'' "cat >/root/slash.tar"
This stores a backup of your computer, but not /proc, /sys, /tmp, /media and /mnt on the computer ''target'' in /root/slash.tar.

== Backup and synchronise several computers ==

If you have several computers (maybe because you have several flats), you can upkeep an eternal archive on [[USB]] disk that you can transport. For data security, you synchronize your USB disk with your computers then. Let's say the USB disk is [[mount]]ed on /mnt/sda1, and your archive is in /root/archive. You create your archive with
[[rsync]] -e [[ssh]] -avz /root/archive /mnt/sda1
You can then show the differences between your archive on a USB disk and on your computer with
rsync -e ssh -avz --delete --dry-run /mnt/sda1/archive /root/archive
And you can update your computer's archive from a USB disk using
rsync -e ssh -avz /mnt/sda1/archive /root/archive
You can add the --delete option behind -avz to delete all content on the target that is not on the source.

== Backup MySQL ==
See [[MySQL Backup Procedure]].

= Backup utilities =
See [[list of backup applications]].

= See also =
* [[Clone your computer]]
* [[rsync]]
* [[List of backup applications]]
* [http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/backup.htm Step By Step Backup Tutorials] with all different types of backup applications.

[[Category:Concept]]
[[Category:Application]]

Backup

2011-12-10T12:06:59Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Backup your home directory */ Copy edited [2].

'''Backup'''s are part of a sane recovery scheme that should help recover lost data. They can be thought of anything that is done to [[archive]] important system and user data.

= Backup strategies =

== For home users ==
Keep a folder with [[file]]s that you want to keep secure. You need to copy it to another disk so the data survives when one disk fails. Best, have your archive folder on your hard disk and copy it to at least one [[USB]] disk. Now you need software to synchronize this folder on the two disks. A good choice is [[UnisOn]]. It allows you to sync bidirectionally, and it compares the files' content rather than their change date. This allows you to identify corrupted files.

= How to do it =
== Backup your home directory ==

From the command line, type:

[[tar]] -cvzf myhomebackup.tar.gz ~

~ stands for your home [[directory]].
The ''z'' option [[pack]]s your file in [[gzip]] format.

Then copy myhomebackup.tar.gz onto some other medium: [[CD]], [[DVD]], removable drive, etc.

'''Hint:''' Using [[tar]] with the --newer option will allow you to save only [[file]]s that have changed since your last backup. This is known as ''incremental backup'', compare [[rsync]].

== Backup your computer ==

To [[backup]] your computer including all system configuration and [[kernel modules]], but excluding everything that is mounted (e.g. [[/proc]]) use
[[tar]] -cvlf slash.tar.gz /
The '''l''' option says "local [[filesystem]]s only". You need it because you do not want to backup /proc.

To store a backup of your computer on another computer in the network, use
tar -cv -f- $(ls -1 | grep -Ev "proc|sys|tmp|media|mnt") | ssh root@''target'' "cat >/root/slash.tar"
This stores a backup of your computer, but not /proc, /sys, /tmp, /media and /mnt on the computer ''target'' in /root/slash.tar.

== Backup/Sync several computers ==

If you have several computers (maybe because you have several flats), you can upkeep an eternal archive on [[USB]] disk that you can transport. For data security, you synchronize your USB disk with your computers then. Let's say the USB disk is [[mount]]ed on /mnt/sda1 and your archive is in /root/archive. You create your archive with
[[rsync]] -e [[ssh]] -avz /root/archive /mnt/sda1
You can then show the differences between your archive on USB disk and on your computer with
rsync -e ssh -avz --delete --dry-run /mnt/sda1/archive /root/archive
And you can update your computer's archive from USB disk using
rsync -e ssh -avz /mnt/sda1/archive /root/archive
You can add the --delete option behind -avz to delete all content on the target that is not on the source.

== Backup MySQL ==
See [[MySQL Backup Procedure]].

= Backup utilities =
See [[list of backup applications]].

= See also =
* [[Clone your computer]]
* [[rsync]]
* [[list of backup applications]]
* [http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/backup.htm Step By Step Backup Tutorials] with all different types of backup applications.

[[Category:Concept]]
[[Category:Application]]

Backup

2011-12-10T12:06:02Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Backup your home directory */ Copy edited.

'''Backup'''s are part of a sane recovery scheme that should help recover lost data. They can be thought of anything that is done to [[archive]] important system and user data.

= Backup strategies =

== For home users ==
Keep a folder with [[file]]s that you want to keep secure. You need to copy it to another disk so the data survives when one disk fails. Best, have your archive folder on your hard disk and copy it to at least one [[USB]] disk. Now you need software to synchronize this folder on the two disks. A good choice is [[UnisOn]]. It allows you to sync bidirectionally, and it compares the files' content rather than their change date. This allows you to identify corrupted files.

= How to do it =
== Backup your home directory ==

From the command line, type:

[[tar]] -cvzf myhomebackup.tar.gz ~

~ stands for your home [[directory]].
The ''z'' option [[pack]]s your file in [[gzip]] format.

Then copy myhomebackup.tar.gz onto some other medium: [[CD]], [[DVD]], removable drive etc.

'''Hint:''' Using [[tar]] with the --newer option will allow you to save only [[file]]s that have changed since your last backup. This is known as ''incremental backup'', compare [[rsync]].

== Backup your computer ==

To [[backup]] your computer including all system configuration and [[kernel modules]], but excluding everything that is mounted (e.g. [[/proc]]) use
[[tar]] -cvlf slash.tar.gz /
The '''l''' option says "local [[filesystem]]s only". You need it because you do not want to backup /proc.

To store a backup of your computer on another computer in the network, use
tar -cv -f- $(ls -1 | grep -Ev "proc|sys|tmp|media|mnt") | ssh root@''target'' "cat >/root/slash.tar"
This stores a backup of your computer, but not /proc, /sys, /tmp, /media and /mnt on the computer ''target'' in /root/slash.tar.

== Backup/Sync several computers ==

If you have several computers (maybe because you have several flats), you can upkeep an eternal archive on [[USB]] disk that you can transport. For data security, you synchronize your USB disk with your computers then. Let's say the USB disk is [[mount]]ed on /mnt/sda1 and your archive is in /root/archive. You create your archive with
[[rsync]] -e [[ssh]] -avz /root/archive /mnt/sda1
You can then show the differences between your archive on USB disk and on your computer with
rsync -e ssh -avz --delete --dry-run /mnt/sda1/archive /root/archive
And you can update your computer's archive from USB disk using
rsync -e ssh -avz /mnt/sda1/archive /root/archive
You can add the --delete option behind -avz to delete all content on the target that is not on the source.

== Backup MySQL ==
See [[MySQL Backup Procedure]].

= Backup utilities =
See [[list of backup applications]].

= See also =
* [[Clone your computer]]
* [[rsync]]
* [[list of backup applications]]
* [http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/backup.htm Step By Step Backup Tutorials] with all different types of backup applications.

[[Category:Concept]]
[[Category:Application]]

IEEE 1394

2011-12-09T23:13:03Z

Peter Mortensen: Spelling/case.

For an encyclopedia article about FireWire, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire the Wikipedia article].

= Using FireWire =

Using FireWire under Linux is described in the following articles:

* [[Camcorder]]

Multimedia

2011-12-09T23:12:26Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Video */ Eliminated a redirect.

This article describes how you can listen to music and watch movies on your Linux computer.

= Sound =
* to play any kind of music [[file]], use [[mplayer]]
* to play a [[CD]], start [[kaffeine]] and click on "Play Audio CD"
* to record sound, use an [[audio editor]] like [[krecord]] or [[audacity]]
* CD ripping and encoding can be done easily with tools such as [[grip]] or [[cdparanoia]]. KDE users can [[Rip and Encode Audio CDs from the File Manager and other Frontends]]
* you can [[listen to webradio]]

= Video =
* to watch any movie [[file]], use a [[video player]] like [[mplayer]]
: mplayer will automatically contain all [[codecs]] you need if you install it as described at [[mplayer]].
* to watch any DVD (including DVDs with a menu) use [[VLC media player]]
* to get a [[video]] from your [[camcorder]] onto your computer via [[IEEE 1394|FireWire]], use [[kino]]
* to get a [[video]] from your mobile phone, use [[Bluetooth]]
* [[Watch TV using a Hauppage WinTV PVR USB2]]

* The links below describe how to use
** [[webcam]]s
** [[digital camera]]s

= See also =
* [[areas]]

Multimedia

2011-12-09T23:11:48Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Video */ Spelling/case.

This article describes how you can listen to music and watch movies on your Linux computer.

= Sound =
* to play any kind of music [[file]], use [[mplayer]]
* to play a [[CD]], start [[kaffeine]] and click on "Play Audio CD"
* to record sound, use an [[audio editor]] like [[krecord]] or [[audacity]]
* CD ripping and encoding can be done easily with tools such as [[grip]] or [[cdparanoia]]. KDE users can [[Rip and Encode Audio CDs from the File Manager and other Frontends]]
* you can [[listen to webradio]]

= Video =
* to watch any movie [[file]], use a [[video player]] like [[mplayer]]
: mplayer will automatically contain all [[codecs]] you need if you install it as described at [[mplayer]].
* to watch any DVD (including DVDs with a menu) use [[VLC media player]]
* to get a [[video]] from your [[camcorder]] onto your computer via [[FireWire]], use [[kino]]
* to get a [[video]] from your mobile phone, use [[Bluetooth]]
* [[Watch TV using a Hauppage WinTV PVR USB2]]

* The links below describe how to use
** [[webcam]]s
** [[digital camera]]s

= See also =
* [[areas]]

VLC media player

2011-12-09T23:09:10Z

Peter Mortensen: Removed a self-link. Used the full name of the player. Copy edited.

'''VLC media player''' (initially VideoLAN client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, [[mp3]], [[ogg]], ...) as well as [[DVD]]s, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in [[IPv4]] or [[IPv6]] on a high-bandwidth network. VLC media player supports all [[GNU/Linux]] flavours, all [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD BSD] flavours, [[Windows]], [[Mac OS X]], BeOS, [[Solaris]], QNX.

= Install it =
Install VLC media player as described at [[installing software]], however, for SUSE, there is an easier way to install it.

== With SUSE ==
To [[install]] VLC media player with the [[SUSE]] [[Linux]] [[distribution]], go to http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-suse.html and follow the steps to do a 1-Click install of VLC media player.

= Use it =
To use VLC media player, [[open a console]] as root and type
chmod 777 /dev/sr0
chmod 777 /dev/sr1

Then open a console as non-root and start VLC media player with the [[command]]

vlc

= References =
== See Also ==
* [[Video player]]

== External Links ==
* [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html VLC homepage]
* [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/screenshots.html VLC screenshots]

[[Category:Video]]
[[Category:Application]]

VLC

2011-12-09T23:06:48Z

Peter Mortensen: moved VLC to VLC media player: Using the full name. See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player>.

#REDIRECT [[VLC media player]]

VLC media player

2011-12-09T23:06:48Z

Peter Mortensen: moved VLC to VLC media player: Using the full name. See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player>.

'''VLC''' (initially VideoLAN client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, [[mp3]], [[ogg]], ...) as well as [[DVD]]s, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in [[IPv4]] or [[IPv6]] on a high-bandwidth network. VLC supports all [[GNU/Linux]] flavours, all [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD BSD] flavours, [[Windows]], [[Mac OS X]], BeOS, [[Solaris]], QNX.

= Install it =
Install [[VLC]] as described at [[installing Software]], however, for SUSE, there is an easier way to install it.

== with SUSE ==
To [[install]] [[VLC]] with the [[SUSE]] [[Linux]] [[distribution]], go to http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-suse.html and follow the steps to do a 1-Click Install of [[VLC]].

= use it =
To use vlc, [[open a console]] as root and type
chmod 777 /dev/sr0
chmod 777 /dev/sr1
Then open a console as non-root and start vlc with the [[command]]
vlc

= References =
== See Also ==
* [[Video player]]

== External Links ==
* [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html VLC homepage]
* [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/screenshots.html VLC screenshots]

[[Category:Video]]
[[Category:Application]]

Set up an Apache web server with SUSE Linux

2011-12-04T11:05:02Z

Peter Mortensen: Spelling/case, as on the referenced page.

This article describes how to set up a web server for [[SUSE]] [[Linux]]. We choose [[Apache]] as [[server]] [[software]].

* [[open a console]]
* enter
[[yast]] -i [[apache]]2

= Start the server =
To start the server, enter
/etc/init.d/apache2 start

= Access the server =
To access the server, point your [[browser]] to http://127.0.0.1.

[[Category:SuSE]]

Set up an apache web server with SUSE Linux

2011-12-04T11:03:48Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Set up an apache web server with SUSE Linux to Set up an Apache web server with SUSE Linux: Spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[Set up an Apache web server with SUSE Linux]]

Set up an Apache web server with SUSE Linux

2011-12-04T11:03:48Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Set up an apache web server with SUSE Linux to Set up an Apache web server with SUSE Linux: Spelling/case.

This article describes how to set up a web server for [[SUSE]] [[Linux]]. We choose [[apache]] as [[server]] [[software]].

* [[open a console]]
* enter
[[yast]] -i [[apache]]2

= Start the server =
To start the server, enter
/etc/init.d/apache2 start

= Access the server =
To access the server, point your [[browser]] to http://127.0.0.1.

[[Category:SuSE]]

Distribution specific tips and tricks

2011-12-04T11:00:35Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited.

Each [[Linux]] [[distribution]] will have some [[common tasks]] that are done differently than the way the standard application [[documentation]] says to do it. This page collects links to pages of distribution specific tips.

== For Gentoo ==
* [[Gentoo tips & tricks]]
* [[PostgreSQL on Gentoo]]

== For Fedora ==
* [[Fedora tips & tricks]]

== For Mandriva (Mandrake) ==

* [[Mandrake GUI filesharing]]
* [[URPMI#The_Easy_Way]], access to non-free or testing programs
* [[Upgrade 2007.0 to 2007.1]]
* [[Which Mandriva ".iso" should I download?]]

== For SUSE ==
* [[SUSE tips & tricks]]
* [[:Category:SuSE]]

=== For SUSE 11 ===
* [[SUSE 11 tips & tricks]]

=== For SUSE 10 ===
* [[SUSE 10.3 tips & tricks]]
* [[SUSE 10.1 tips & tricks]]
* [[SUSE 10.0 tips & tricks]]

=== For SUSE 9 ===
* [[SUSE 9.3 tips & tricks]]
* [[SUSE 9.2 tips & tricks]]

== For Ubuntu ==
* [[Ubuntu tips & tricks]]
* [[Ubuntu]]

[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category: Mandriva]]

SUSE 10.0 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:58:58Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited.

SuSE 10 tips:
[[Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0]]

=Sound=
If your [[sound]] does not work, do the following:
* start [[yast2]]
* delete your sound card config
* exit yast2
* start yast2 again
* add your soundcards again

The important step is to exit yast2. For more information see https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=116483

= Keyboard =
If you want to use a German Dvorak keyboard layout, you have to change /etc/X11/xkb/symbols/de, the "dvorak" section must contain
include "level3(ralt_switch)"
as discussed at [https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2681].

== With keyboard switcher ==
If you are using the [[KDE]] keyboard switcher, you have to make sure it draws the new settings. First, try if your layout works as you expect it by issuing
setxkbmap -model pc105 -layout de -variant dvorak
then, start kcontrol -> Regional & [[Accessibility]] -> keyboard layout. Install the "basic" variant, click on "apply". Then, chose the "dvorak" variant and click on apply again. Test that your keyboard layout works as you expect it.

[[Category:SuSE]]

Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0

2011-12-04T10:52:09Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Installing Sun JDK 5.0, Eclipse WTP, Apache Tomcat 5.5, and ANT 1.6.x on Novell SUSE 10 */ More copy editing.

= Installing Sun JDK 5.0, Eclipse WTP, Apache Tomcat 5.5, and Ant 1.6.x on Novell SUSE 10 =

==Introduction==

Like many of you reading this, I am a professional Java developer, skilled in using Windows, but looking to move to Linux.

==Steps Involved:==
#Install JDK
##Download and install JDK RPM from Sun
##Log in as root
##Execute the shell script to unpack binary RPM: <tt>./jdk-1_5_0_06-linux-i586.rpm.bin</tt>
##Now you have an RPM you can install. You can either click on it in Konqueror or execute the following command. <tt>rpm -ivh jdk-1_5_0_06-linux-i586.rpm</tt>
#Download Other Software.
##Download Tomcat from the Apache website.
##Download the Tomcat Admin web application from the same site.
##Download Ant from Apache website.
##Download Eclipse WTP all in one bundle
#Unpack Software. I unpack Ant, Tomcat, and Eclipse into '/usr/java', where Sun unzips the JDK.
#:<tt>chmod 777 /usr/java -R</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-tomcat-5.5.15.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-tomcat-5.5.15-admin.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-ant-1.6.5-bin.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:Eclipse - enter these commands in sequence (is there a way to do this with one command?)
#:<tt>tar xfv wtp-all-in-one-sdk-1.0-linux-gtk.tar.gz</tt>
#:<tt>mv eclipse /usr/java/eclipse</tt>
#Set Environment Variables. I like to edit /etc/bash.bashrc.local to set these.
#:<tt>export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_06</tt>
#:<tt>export JRE_HOME=$JAVA_HOME/jre</tt>
#:<tt>export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/java/apache-tomcat-5.5.17</tt>
#:<tt>export ANT_HOME=/usr/java/apache-ant-1.6.5</tt>
#:<tt>export ECLIPSE_HOME=/usr/java/eclipse</tt>
#:<tt>export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH:$ANT_HOME/bin:$ECLIPSE_HOME/</tt>
#Test everything by typing the following commands in a new terminal:
##ant
##javac -version
##eclipse
#Setup Tomcat for WTP use:
##Edit tomcat-users.xml. Add a username in the manager and administrator role.
##Run:
##:<tt>cd $CATALINA_HOME/bin/</tt>
##:<tt>./startup.sh</tt>
##Log into http://localhost:8080/manager/html to confirm there are no startup errors.

==Addendum: MySQL==
Although MySQL 4.x ships with SUSE Linux 10.0, I had an error with my installation. With that, I realized that maybe my strategy of letting the distribution handle everything is not in my best interest. I installed the RPMs for SUSE Linux Enterprise System 9 and installed them without issue. I installed them in the following order:
#server
#client
#headers and libraries
#shared libraries.

[[Category:Installation]]
[[Category:Programming]]

Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SUSE 10.0

2011-12-04T10:50:07Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SUSE 10.0 to Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0: Spelling, as in <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Ant>.

#REDIRECT [[Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0]]

Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0

2011-12-04T10:50:07Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SUSE 10.0 to Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0: Spelling, as in <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Ant>.

= Installing Sun JDK 5.0, Eclipse WTP, Apache Tomcat 5.5, and ANT 1.6.x on Novell SUSE 10 =

==Introduction==

Like many of you reading this, I am a professional Java developer, skilled in using Windows, but looking to move to Linux.

==Steps Involved:==
#Install JDK
##Download and install JDK RPM from Sun
##Log in as root
##Execute the shell script to unpack binary RPM: <tt>./jdk-1_5_0_06-linux-i586.rpm.bin</tt>
##Now you have an RPM you can install. You can either click on it in Konqueror or execute the following command. <tt>rpm -ivh jdk-1_5_0_06-linux-i586.rpm</tt>
#Download Other Software.
##Download Tomcat from the Apache website.
##Download the Tomcat Admin web application from the same site.
##Download Ant from Apache website.
##Download Eclipse WTP all in one bundle
#Unpack Software. I unpack Ant, Tomcat, and Eclipse into '/usr/java', where Sun unzips the JDK.
#:<tt>chmod 777 /usr/java -R</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-tomcat-5.5.15.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-tomcat-5.5.15-admin.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-ant-1.6.5-bin.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:Eclipse - enter these commands in sequence (is there a way to do this with one command?)
#:<tt>tar xfv wtp-all-in-one-sdk-1.0-linux-gtk.tar.gz</tt>
#:<tt>mv eclipse /usr/java/eclipse</tt>
#Set Environment Variables. I like to edit /etc/bash.bashrc.local to set these.
#:<tt>export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_06</tt>
#:<tt>export JRE_HOME=$JAVA_HOME/jre</tt>
#:<tt>export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/java/apache-tomcat-5.5.17</tt>
#:<tt>export ANT_HOME=/usr/java/apache-ant-1.6.5</tt>
#:<tt>export ECLIPSE_HOME=/usr/java/eclipse</tt>
#:<tt>export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH:$ANT_HOME/bin:$ECLIPSE_HOME/</tt>
#Test everything by typing the following commands in a new terminal:
##ant
##javac -version
##eclipse
#Setup Tomcat for WTP use:
##Edit tomcat-users.xml. Add a username in the manager and administrator role.
##Run:
##:<tt>cd $CATALINA_HOME/bin/</tt>
##:<tt>./startup.sh</tt>
##Log into http://localhost:8080/manager/html to confirm there are no startup errors.

==Addendum: MySQL==
Although MySQL 4.x ships with SUSE Linux 10.0, I had an error with my installation. With that, I realized that maybe my strategy of letting the distribution handle everything is not in my best interest. I installed the RPMs for SUSE Linux Enterprise System 9 and installed them without issue. I installed them in the following order:
#server
#client
#headers and libraries
#shared libraries.

[[Category:Installation]]
[[Category:Programming]]

Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0

2011-12-04T10:49:02Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited. Removed meta information (about the author). For version 9 and 10 it is "SUSE" (see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUSE_Linux_distributions#Versions>).

Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SuSE 10.0

2011-12-04T10:43:22Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SuSE 10.0 to Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SUSE 10.0: Spelling, using the more common name.

#REDIRECT [[Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SUSE 10.0]]

Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and Ant on SUSE 10.0

2011-12-04T10:43:22Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SuSE 10.0 to Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SUSE 10.0: Spelling, using the more common name.

= Installing Sun JDK 5.0, Eclipse WTP, Apache Tomcat 5.5, and ANT 1.6.x on Novell SuSE 10 =

==Intro:==
Like many of you reading this, I am a professional Java developer, skilled in using windows, but looking to move to linux. Since I am a Java pro and not a *NIX guru, feel free to make edits or provide suggestions.

==Steps Involved:==
#Install JDK
##Download and install JDK RPM from Sun
##log in as root
##execute shell script to unpack binary RPM: <tt>./jdk-1_5_0_06-linux-i586.rpm.bin</tt>
##now you have an RPM you can install. You can either click on it in Konqueror or execute the following command: <tt>rpm -ivh jdk-1_5_0_06-linux-i586.rpm</tt>
#Download Other Software.
##Download Tomcat from Apache website.
##Download Tomcat Admin webapp from same site.
##Download ANT from Apache website.
##Download eclipse WTP all in one bundle
#Unpack Software. I unpack ant, tomcat, and eclipse into '/usr/java', where sun unzips the JDK.
#:<tt>chmod 777 /usr/java -R</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-tomcat-5.5.15.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-tomcat-5.5.15-admin.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:<tt>unzip apache-ant-1.6.5-bin.zip -d /usr/java</tt>
#:eclipse - enter these commands in sequence (is there a way to do this with one command?)
#:<tt>tar xfv wtp-all-in-one-sdk-1.0-linux-gtk.tar.gz</tt>
#:<tt>mv eclipse /usr/java/eclipse</tt>
#Set Environment Variables. I like to edit /etc/bash.bashrc.local to set these.
#:<tt>export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_06</tt>
#:<tt>export JRE_HOME=$JAVA_HOME/jre</tt>
#:<tt>export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/java/apache-tomcat-5.5.17</tt>
#:<tt>export ANT_HOME=/usr/java/apache-ant-1.6.5</tt>
#:<tt>export ECLIPSE_HOME=/usr/java/eclipse</tt>
#:<tt>export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH:$ANT_HOME/bin:$ECLIPSE_HOME/</tt>
#Test everything by typing the following commands in a new terminal:
##ant
##javac -version
##eclipse
#Setup tomcat for WTP use:
##Edit tomcat-users.xml. Add a username in the manager and admin role.
##Run:
##:<tt>cd $CATALINA_HOME/bin/</tt>
##:<tt>./startup.sh</tt>
##Log into http://localhost:8080/manager/html to confirm there are no startup errors.

==Addendum: MySQL==
Although MySQL 4.x ships with SuSE Linux 10.0, I had an error with my installation. With that, I realized that maybe my strategy of letting the distribution handle everything is not in my best interest. I installed the RPMs for SuSE Linux Enterprise System 9 and installed them without issue. I installed them in the following order:
#server
#client
#headers and libraries
#shared libraries.

[[Category:Installation]]
[[Category:Programming]]

Suse 10.0 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:37:44Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 10.0 tips & tricks to SUSE 10.0 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[SUSE 10.0 tips & tricks]]

SUSE 10.0 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:37:44Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 10.0 tips & tricks to SUSE 10.0 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

SuSE 10 tips:
[[Installing JDK 5.0, Tomcat 5.5, and ANT on SuSE 10.0]]

=Sound=
If your [[sound]] does not work, do the following:
* start [[yast2]]
* delete your sound card config
* exit yast2
* start yast2 again
* add your soundcards again

The important step is to exit yast2. For more info see https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=116483

= Keyboard =
If you want to use a german dvorak keyboard layout, you have to change /etc/X11/xkb/symbols/de, the "dvorak" section must contain
include "level3(ralt_switch)"
as discussed at https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2681<br />

== With keyboard switcher ==
If you are using the [[KDE]] keyboard switcher, you have to make sure it draws the new settings. First, try if your layout works as you expect it by issueing
setxkbmap -model pc105 -layout de -variant dvorak
then, start kcontrol->Regional & [[Accessibility]]->keyboard layout. Install the "basic" variant, click on "apply". Then, chose the "dvorak" variant and click on apply again. Test that your keyboard layout works as you expect it.

[[Category:SuSE]]

Suse 10.1 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:37:22Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 10.1 tips & tricks to SUSE 10.1 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[SUSE 10.1 tips & tricks]]

SUSE 10.1 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:37:22Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 10.1 tips & tricks to SUSE 10.1 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

This article discusses problems that you should be aware of when running [[SUSE]] [[Linux]] 10.1.

= KDE update =
If you update [[KDE]] on your own, and [[sound]] does not work afterwards, check if your [[user]] is in the [[group]] [[audio]]:
me@host:~> [[cat]] /etc/group | [[grep]] audio
audio:x:17:me

[[Category:SuSE]]

Suse 10.3 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:37:00Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 10.3 tips & tricks to SUSE 10.3 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[SUSE 10.3 tips & tricks]]

SUSE 10.3 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:37:00Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 10.3 tips & tricks to SUSE 10.3 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

= CTRL_ALT_L does not work =

If you press CTRL_ALT_L normally your screen gets locked. With SUSE 10.3, just use an icon for the locking [[command]]:
[[dcop]] kdesktop KScreensaverIface lock

[[Category:SuSE]]

Suse 11 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:36:42Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 11 tips & tricks to SUSE 11 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[SUSE 11 tips & tricks]]

SUSE 11 tips & tricks

2011-12-04T10:36:42Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Suse 11 tips & tricks to SUSE 11 tips & tricks: Correct spelling/case.

= Yast does not work =
If you get a message "Another process is accessing the package database" when starting yast2, the following command may be the solution:
killall packagekitd

PostgreSQL on Gentoo

2011-12-04T10:31:23Z

Peter Mortensen: Copy edited.

= Install =

1. Standard emerge:
[[emerge]] [[postgresql]]

2. Ebuild configuration:
ebuild /var/db/pkg/dev-db/postgresql.*.*.*/postgresql.*.*.*ebuild config

[Be sure to change *.*.* to whatever version you just emerged]

3. Start PostgreSQL:
/etc/init.d/postgresql start

The sample configuration files are in /usr/share/postgresql.

Running the ebuild blabla configuration created the data directory

/var/lib/postgresql/data

and the relevant [[configuration]] [[file]]s are in there.

= See also =
* [[Distribution specific tips and tricks]]
* [[Gentoo]]
* [[PostgreSQL]]

{{stub}}

[[Category:Database]]

Talk:Postgresql on gentoo

2011-12-04T10:22:19Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Talk:Postgresql on gentoo to Talk:PostgreSQL on Gentoo: Correct spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[Talk:PostgreSQL on Gentoo]]

Talk:PostgreSQL on Gentoo

2011-12-04T10:22:19Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Talk:Postgresql on gentoo to Talk:PostgreSQL on Gentoo: Correct spelling/case.

If there's going to be "distro-specific tips & tricks" shouldn't junk like this be under "Gentoo tips & tricks" rather than its own article? And if there are going to be articles like this, aren't generic "Gentoo tips & tricks" pages pointless? [[User:Digiot|Digiot]] 10:01, Apr 8, 2004 (EDT)

I just expect this one to get long. I'll re-merge it if it turns out to be short. Thanks for asking!
[[User:AaronPeterson|AaronPeterson]] 10:20, Apr 8, 2004 (EDT)

Postgresql on gentoo

2011-12-04T10:22:19Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Postgresql on gentoo to PostgreSQL on Gentoo: Correct spelling/case.

#REDIRECT [[PostgreSQL on Gentoo]]

PostgreSQL on Gentoo

2011-12-04T10:22:19Z

Peter Mortensen: moved Postgresql on gentoo to PostgreSQL on Gentoo: Correct spelling/case.

= Install =
1. Standard emerge:
[[emerge]] [[postgresql]]
2. Ebuild config:
ebuild /var/db/pkg/dev-db/postgresql.*.*.*/postgresql.*.*.*ebuild config
[be sure to change *.*.* to whatever version you just emerged]
3. Start postgres:
/etc/init.d/postgresql start

In /usr/share/postgresql are the sample conf files.

running ebuild blabla config created the data dir::

/var/lib/postgresql/data

and the relevant [[configuration]] [[file]]s are there.

= See also =
* [[Distro specific tips & tricks]]
* [[Gentoo]]
* [[PostgreSQL]]

{{stub}}

[[Category:Database]]

User:Peter Mortensen

2011-12-04T10:12:46Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Profile */ Improved accuracy of the link text,

==Profile==

Profile: see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mortense my Wikipedia user page].

General programming tips

2011-09-05T18:41:41Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Available languages */ Copy edited.

== Unix Philosophy ==

If you are familiar with programming under different operating systems than Linux, you may notice subtle differences regarding the philosophy of the system. A good introductionary read is the free book by Eric S. Raymond, [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/ "The Art of Unix Programming"], particulary the chapter about the [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html "Unix philosophy"].

== Available languages ==
If you wonder about what languages you can expect to be already installed on a typical Linux installation, here is a short list:

* [[C/C_plus_plus_tips|C]]: From Linux kernel to utilities, many of the binaries on a typical linux system are written in C. You can expect the C standard library on every [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posix POSIX] compliant system, and a C compiler on most of them.

* [[C/C_plus_plus_tips|C++]]: Many of the larger open source projects are written in C++, and again you will find the standard library on virtually every system, and more often than not a compiler.

* Objective-C: A clean, object-oriented extension of the C programming language, featuring dynamic typing. However, for some reason, Debian does not install the Objective-C machinery by default.

* [[Java_tips|Java]]: There are many systems with the Java Runtime Enviroment installed, but low footprint server environments sometimes omit it.

* [[Bash_tips|Shell]]: Every Linux system has a shell which you can write programs for, the famous shell scripts. Most popular are [[Bash]] and [[csh]], which understand a common syntax subset, but outside that subset sometimes differ greatly.

* [[Perl_tips|Perl]]: If the typical shell script won't do, the most widespread scripting language used is Perl. It is widely deployed and used for many purposes.

* [[Python|Python]]: Though not as common as Perl, most distributions install Python by default, some of them even rely on it for their base system.

* Pascal: The programming language Pascal, popularized by Borland International as Turbo Pascal and later as Delphi, is available as their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylix_%28software%29 Kylix] GUI tool for X (and for Windows) and in a GNU-licensed (with source code to the compiler) alternative Pascal compiler, [http://www.free-pascal.org Free Pascal] for Linux, BSD and Windows.

* [[Basic_tips|Basic]]: Many scorn Basic as a simple language, but the most recent developments of both compiled and interpreted releases provide significant capabilities and are powerful scripting languages as well. Several versions exist including [http://www.xbasic.org XBasic], [http://www.binara.com/gambas-wiki Gambas] and [http://scriptbasic.sourceforge.net ScriptBasic] and [[yabasic]].

Of course it shouldn't be difficult to install development tools for your favourite language, and usually the user won't notice which language you wrote the software in, at least if it's compiled (and not interpreted).

[[Category:Programming language]]

General programming tips

2011-09-05T18:38:35Z

Peter Mortensen: /* Unix Philosophy */ Copy edited.

== Unix Philosophy ==

If you are familiar with programming under different operating systems than Linux, you may notice subtle differences regarding the philosophy of the system. A good introductionary read is the free book by Eric S. Raymond, [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/ "The Art of Unix Programming"], particulary the chapter about the [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html "Unix philosophy"].

== Available languages ==
If you wonder about what languages you can expect to be already installed on a typical Linux installation, here is a short list:

* [[C/C_plus_plus_tips|C]]: From linux kernel to utilities, many of the binaries on a typical linux system are written in C. You can expect the C standard library on every [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posix POSIX] compliant system, and a C compiler on most of them.

* [[C/C_plus_plus_tips|C++]]: Many of the larger open source projects are written in C++, and again you will find the standard library on virtually every system, and more often than not a compiler.

* Objective-C: A clean, object-oriented extension of the C programming language, featuring dynamic typing. However, for some reason, Debian does not install the Objective-C machinery default.

* [[Java_tips|Java]]: There are many systems with the Java Runtime Enviroment installed, but low footprint server enviroments sometimes omit it.

* [[Bash_tips|Shell]]: Every linux system has a shell which you can write programs for, the famous shell scripts. Most popular are [[bash]] and [[csh]], which understand a common syntax subset, but outside that subset sometimes differ greatly.

* [[Perl_tips|Perl]]: If the typical shell script won't do, the most widespread scripting language used is perl. It is widely deployed and used for many purposes.

* [[Python|Python]]: Though not as common as perl, most distributions install python by default, some of them even rely on it for their base system.

* Pascal: The programming language Pascal, popularized by Borland International as Turbo Pascal and later as Delphi, is available as their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylix_%28software%29 Kylix] GUI tool for X (and for Windows) and in a GNU-Licensed (with Source Code to the Compiler) alternative Pascal Compiler, [http://www.free-pascal.org Free Pascal] for Linux, BSD and Windows.

* [[Basic_tips|Basic]]: Many scorn Basic as a simple language, but the most recent developments of both compiled and interpreted releases provide significant capabilities and are powerful scripting languages as well. Several versions exist including [http://www.xbasic.org XBasic], [http://www.binara.com/gambas-wiki Gambas] and [http://scriptbasic.sourceforge.net ScriptBasic] and [[yabasic]].

Of course it shouldn't be difficult to install development tools for your favourite language, and usually the user won't notice which language you wrote the software in, at least if it's compiled (and not interpreted).

[[Category:Programming language]]

Vim

2011-08-29T19:02:04Z

Peter Mortensen: /* ~/.vimrc */ Expansion.

'''Vim''' ('''Vi''' I'''M'''proved) is a contemporary version of the classic [[vi]] editor, with additional capabilites.

== Introduction ==
All [[UNIX]] machines typically come with the [[vi]] [[text editor]]. However, vi lacks some more contemporary features (for example, syntax highlighting). This is where '''Vim''' comes in. If you know how to use vi, you'll find Vim to be the same except it has a number of useful features added to make editing easier. If you don't yet know how to use vi or Vim, and you didn't come from using [[ed]], you'll find the learning curve quite steep (which means, it might take you a while to learn to achieve maximum proficiency).

Vim was originally written by (and is still primarily maintained by) Bram Moolenaar. It started as a personal desire to have a useful vi-clone for the Amiga, but eventually grew as more features were added. It now runs on a variety of platforms (including Unix work-a-likes, e.g. GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and *BSD; Amiga; Windows; Mac "Classic"; and OS/2) and supports a variety of graphical toolkits (including GTK, QT, and Carbon) in addition to the command-line interface. VIM is also the latin word for "power" or "force".

Vim has a compatibility mode which produces an almost vi-compatible experience (the version of vi used seems to be one released with Sun OS 4.x, from Version 3.7 dated on 6/7/85). This is enabled by using the ":set compatible" ex-command or by running Vim with the -C option.

== Tips ==

=== Learning ===
To learn [[Vim]], [[open a console]] and call
[http://linuxcommand.org/man_pages/vimtutor1.html vimtutor]

==== A tutorial ====
While Vim is not as easy to learn initially as it is to learn nano, there are plenty advantages to using it. Some great features of Vim are copy, cut, and paste. Also there is code styling for programmers and there's also an undo/redo feature which is awesome.

There are three modes for Vim (That I know of right now). There is the visual mode, insert mode, and the command mode. Before I start breaking down the different modes let me say this: every time you delete or copy text in the command or visual mode, the deleted text is loaded into a special buffer. This buffer continues to hold the text until you delete more text/characters/lines in which case the buffer will be replaced with the newly deleted text. I say that because the buffer is also used for copying and pasting. So if you copy text and then delete some text, the next time you paste you'll be pasting the last text you deleted instead of what you copied.

When you first open a file with command vim myfile you start out in the command mode. If the file myfile exists then it will load myfile into the editor. If the file myfile does not exist then it will create a blank file with myfile as its save path which can be modified but myfile will not be created on your hard drive until you save the document.

Pressing the i key will put the editor into insert mode. Go ahead and put the editor into insert mode and type some random text you can play with. In fact you should type a couple of lines.

Pressing the Esc while in insert mode will take the editor out of insert mode and back into command mode. Now each letter on your keyboard has turned into a command which manipulates the document instead of keys which insert text into the document.

Pressing the v key puts the editor into visual mode. Visual mode is used to highlight text in the document so you can apply different commands just to that text. If you accidentally go into visual mode or you've highlighted text and don't want to do anything to it then press the v key to go back into command mode.

While in command mode, pressing the colon key (: ) opens the editors command line where you can type a command for the editor to manipulate the whole document and not just some text or a few lines. For example in the editors command line you can save the document, quit the document, quit without saving, undo change, and redo change to name a few. You can even combine commands to do them at the same time such as save and quit at the same time.

That's most of the explanation behind it. Now remember the three modes: command, insert, and visual. Everything is centralized around the command mode. Also remember the editor command line which is accessed when in the command mode. Now that I've explained all that here is what happens when pressing different keys in the different modes.

When in command mode press the colon (: ) to enter the editor command line. Here are different editor commands.
command - explanation
{| border="1"
| :w
| write/save the document
|-
| :q
| quit Vim
|-
| :q!
| quit Vim without saving
|-
| :u
| undo
|-
| :r
| redo
|-
| :wq
| write/save the document and then quit Vim
|}
If you accidentally enter the editor command line pressing Esc twice will put you back into command mode.

When you're in the command mode different keys have different functions. The commands are case sensitive.
{| border="1"
| command
| explanation
|-
| h
| move cursor left
|-
| j
| move cursor down
|-
| k
| move cursor up
|-
| l
| move cursor right
|-
| w
| move the cursor right and down the document accross each word instead of each character.
|-
| ZZ
| same as :wq. write/save the document and then quit Vim. Double tap the z key while holding the shift key (double click).
|-
| dd
| cuts/deletes an entire line of text. Double tab the d key (double click).
|-
| dw
| cuts/deletes a words of text
|-
| yy
| copies an entire line of text. Double tap the y key (double click).
|-
| p
| paste text after: if copied entire line then it will paste text after the current line. if copied a few characters then paste them after the current character.
|-
| P
| same as p but pastes text before the current character/line.
|-
| i
| enters editor into insert mode
|-
| o
| inserts a new line after the current line and then places the editor into insert mode.
|-
| u
| Undo the last edit. Same as :u.
|-
| v
| enters the editor into visual mode.
|-
| r
| replace. When you push a key after pressing r the letter the cursor is currently located on is replaced with the key pressed. You are still in command mode.
|-
| R
| replace. puts the editor into insert mode however it overwrites replacing each character if one already exists.
|-
| x
| delete a character
|}

When you're in insert mode every key on the keyboard types text into the document like a normal text editor. When you wish to leave insert mode press the Esc key.

When you're in the visual mode you can highlight text and apply different commands to it. The commands are similar to command mode and are also case sensitive.
{| border="1"
| command
| explanation
|-
| h
| move cursor left (highlighting text)
|-
| j
| move cursor down (highlighting text)
|-
| k
| move cursor up (highlighting text)
|-
| l
| move cursor right (highlighting text)
|-
| y
| copy the highlighted text and enter back into command mode
|-
| d
| cut/delete the hightlighted text and enter back into command mode
|-
| p
| paste the text from the buffer replacing the highlighted text.
|}

The following command opens myfile and automatically goes to line 23.
vim +23 myfile

It's a bit of a task remembering all those commands. The best way to learn them is to try to use Vim regularly referring to those commands for the different modes. There's a lot more commands and tricks you can do in Vim. Those are just the basic ones.

==== Interactive tutorial ====
If you installed Vim on your GNU/Linux machine then vimtutor was also installed. vimtutor is an interactive tutorial which can be run from the terminal.
vimtutor
It's easy to learn that way.

=== ~/.vimrc ===
To make a configuration file for Vim, create a file in your home directory called .vimrc, and fill it with stuff that you'd normally type into Vim's "ex" mode. For example, if you regularly do ":syntax on" from inside Vim, put "syntax on" (no colon or quotes) on a line by itself in your ~/.vimrc file.

Here's the contents of a useful .vimrc file:
<pre>
syntax on
set number
set expandtab
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set autoindent
</pre>

Where:
* "syntax on" turns on syntax highlighting
* "set number" turns on line numbers
* "set expandtab" makes Vim insert spaces (instead of tabs) whenever you hit the tab key
* "set tabstop=4" sets tabs to equal 4 spaces
* "set shiftwidth=4" makes it so when you use the text shifting command, it shifts over using 4-space indents.
* "set autoindent" has Vim use "smart indenting", ie. when you are tabbed out to, say, the 8th column, and you type something then hit enter, the cursor is helpfully placed at the 8th column again for you.

Additionally you can turn any single argument command off by adding an exclamation point (!). So "set number" can be turned off by "set number!"

(You can shut off line numbering from command mode by typing <tt>:set nonumber</tt>.)

=== Syntax highlighting ===

You can turn syntax highlighting on/off with:
:syntax off
:syntax on

If you have syntax highlighting on, but are using a dark background and the colors don't show up well, you can use this command:
:set background=dark

= External links =
* [http://www.vim.org Vim Homepage]
* [http://vi-improved.org/wiki/index.php #vim wiki]

[[Category:Editors]]

Emacs

2011-08-29T19:00:15Z

Peter Mortensen: Consistent spelling/case.

'''Emacs'''; ('''E'''diting '''MAC'''ro'''S''') The non plus ultra of hacker editors, a programmable [[text editor]] with an entire [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_(programming_language) LISP] system inside it. It was originally written by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_stallman Richard Stallman] at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_AI_lab MIT AI lab]; AI Memo 554 described it as "an advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible real-time display editor". It has since been reimplemented any number of times, by various hackers, and versions exist that run under most major operating systems. Perhaps the most widely used version, also written by Stallman and now called "[[GNU]] EMACS" or GNUMACS, runs principally under Unix. (Its close relative [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xemacs XEmacs] is the second most popular version.) It includes facilities to run compilation subprocesses and send and receive [[email]] or news; many hackers, before the time of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUI GUIs], spent up to 80% of their tube time inside it. Other variants include GOSMACS, CCA EMACS, UniPress EMACS, Montgomery EMACS, jove, epsilon, and MicroEMACS. Some EMACS versions running under window managers iconify as an overflowing kitchen sink, perhaps to suggest the one feature the editor does not (yet) include.

The latest stable release of GNU EMACS, 21.3, was released on March 24, 2003.

=== Vi vs. Emacs ===
Emacs vs [[vi]] is the subject of a holy war, but this has largely been settled by the rise of [[WYSIWYG]] editors, which have tended to displace both options, and faster hardware, which renders the baroque nature of Emacs irrelevant. The Emacs camp is sometimes jokingly referred to as the "Church of Emacs".

=== Buckies ===
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_cadet_keyboard space-cadet keyboard] was an inspiration for Emacs. This is where all the C-''x'' (That's Emacs notation for pressing the Control key while hitting the ''x'' key) and M-''x'' (same thing, only with the Alt key instead of the Control key) commands came from. These chorded keystrokes make use of "buckies", or special function keys like Control, Alt, and Shift. The name bucky comes from the early days of keyboards, before they standardized on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII ASCII]. In those days, characters used 7 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit bits], and bucky keys turned on extra bits, which were called bucky bits, meta bits, or high bits, to the top of the character's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte byte]. This changed the value of the character's byte, and produced a different character.

The use of buckies means that an experienced Emacs user has a wide range of commands available in just a few keystrokes, and doesn't have to take their hands off the main keyboard to use the arrow keys or the mouse. On the downside, there are a lot of commands to memorize (although you can usually muddle along with the arrow keys or the menu). Also, some key chords are hard to pull off. But at least Emacs is better than the space-cadet keyboard. There are occasionally double bucky|double buckies (where you press Ctrl, Alt, and another key) but triple or even quadruple buckies are very rare. (A triple bucky would require the use of the Shift key. Quadruple or quintuple bucky would need super and hyper modifier keys, which can be defined using [[xmodmap]].)

=== Features ===
Emacs supports syntax highlighting, [[CVS]], [[diff]]/[[patch]] and many other features, which draw on Emacs' built-in LISP extensibility.

Around version 19 a fork of the GNU Emacs project resulted in an alternate version [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xemacs XEmacs]. Both versions are now actively developed. The reasons for the fork are detailed on http://www.xemacs.org, but in short you could say that GNU Emacs is [[Free Software]] while XEmacs is more [[Open Source]] Software. XEmacs readily adopts changes from Emacs into its code base, so XEmacs arguably has more features. In practice the editors are much alike, so most you read about Emacs should apply to XEmacs and vice versa.

ELSE, the Emacs Language Sensitive Editor is an installable mode of the editor.

A primary attraction of Emacs is its excellent syntax highlighting (called font-locking) and indentation support, as well as a lot of advanced editing tricks. Functions such as indent-function, hungry delete and other advanced tricks makes Emacs users incredibly productive. The flip side of the coin is that this enormous functionality has to be mastered, which takes some time.

Emacs comes with an excellent tutorial and auto-generated documentation. To access the tutorial, press h while holding down the Control key, release the control key and press t.

== See also ==
* [[Emacs keystrokes]]
* [[Emacs modes]]
* [[Keyboard shortcuts at a glance]]
* [[LQWiki:Emacs_tips_and_tricks| Emacs tips and tricks to play well with LQWiki]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/ Homepage] (''www.gnu.org'')
* [http://www.emacswiki.org/ Wiki] (''www.emacswiki.org'')
* [http://www.nabble.com/Emacs-f1569.html Mailing lists] (''www.nabble.com'')
* [http://www.xemacs.org/ XEmacs homepage] (''www.xemacs.org'')

{{Jargon File/Attribution}}

[[category:Editors]]

OpenOffice Hacking

2011-08-29T18:57:24Z

Peter Mortensen: Spelling/case.

==OpenOffice.org Hacking==

OpenOffice.org documents are ZIP archives containing several XML (and other) files. If you know what you are doing, you can create documents in your own programs which can be read by OpenOffice.org applications.

===Why?===

Why would you want to do this? Well, one use I found was for a web application which -- based on form input and the contents of a [[MySQL]] database -- generates customised documents ready to download straight into OpenOffice.org for printing.

Another use was for printing my holiday photographs -- I wanted to print out pre-defined layouts, such as two pictures 160x120, or five 80x60 and one 160x20, on a single A4 sheet with guillotine marks. I did ''not'' want to have to click my way through the file requester and the position-and-size requester for each and every single picture.

And being a [[hacker]] myself, I would need a good reason '''not''' to attempt something like this!

=== What With? ===

Apart from this document, you will need OpenOffice.org; unzip; zip; and a good [[text editor]] such as [[Pico]], [[Vim]] or [[Emacs]]. Graphical editors can be [[gedit]] for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME Gnome] and [[Kate]] for [[KDE]].

===How?===

First of all, create any old document you like (but something you can mess around with) in OpenOffice.org. Now, go to an Xterm, and navigate to the directory where you saved the document. Create a temporary directory and copy your document in there. Change to the temporary directory and unzip the copy of your document.

$ unzip file.sxw
$ ls
content.xml meta.xml settings.xml styles.xml META-INF/

There should be a subdirectory called META-INF and depending on the contents of your document, there may be other subdirectories for pictures and other embedded objects. In META-INF will be a file called ''manifest.xml'' -- this is important, as it lists all the files which make up the OpenOffice document. If you split or combine any of the files, you will have to edit this manifest file to reflect any changes that you made.

$ cd META-INF/
$ ls
manifest.xml

The real juicy stuff is in a file called content.xml in the main directory. This file has the content of your document the main XML tree will contain a series of namespaces which includes all the common definitions that are used in OpenOffice.org.

The next section of the content.xml are the styles which are different from the one on the ''styles.xml'' file. This styles include fonts, paragraph and text properties definitions taken from the ''stylist'' in the Writer UI.

Finally the content comes around the tags text:p for pagraph, text:h for headings, text:list for lists and text:a for hyperlinks. This is very similar to HTML except this tags also have unique methods that define paragraph by paragraph. The most important is the name which defines the type of paragraph style it is going to be used an example could be ''text:p text:style-name="P17"'' which uses the ''P17'' previously defined on the style section.

More information about the construction of the ''content.xml'' file can be found on the [http://books.evc-cit.info/odbook/ch02.html#text-doc-superstructure-section OpenDocuments Essentials] a book by David Eisenberg.

(todo: expand)

===Hint===

You may find that these XML files have very long lines, with no breaks between the closing > of one tag and the opening < of the next. Though legitimate XML, it's harder to edit. Use

:<tt>sed -e's/></>\n</g' foo.xml > foo.xml</tt>

to sort this out.

OpenOffice.org also includes an option to have the XML properly constructed under ''Tools > Options > Load and Edit'' and selecting the option ''Optimize XML for file size''.

This will generate the correct indentation for a better view and edit of the internal XML files.

=== Ready to go ===

Once you have done the edits you want, zip up the temporary directory and give it a suitable name (eg. foo_new.sxw). Now, try loading it into OpenOffice.org and see what happens!

You can also use a gui application such as [[Gzip]] for Gnome or ArK for [[KDE]].

===Web Drive===

A CGI script needs to give a MIME-type as part of the HTML headers, then a double newline to mark the end of the headers, then finally the ZIPped output. This does ''not'' need to be base-64 encoded, but can just be in simple 8-bit binary form, since httpd (which is parsing the output you generate) will take care of whether the connection is binary-safe or not.

If you are running on a fast server and your clients' timeout is not excessively short, you should have plenty of time to send the headers, generate the zipfile on the fly (make a directory under /tmp; put your PID in the dirname to keep it unique; build up files in the directory; use a shell command to zip it) and just dump it to stdout.

(Todo: Perl example)

OpenOffice Hacking

2011-08-29T18:54:05Z

Peter Mortensen: /* What With? */ Following spelling in the corresponding Wikipedia articles.

==OpenOffice.org Hacking==

OpenOffice.org documents are ZIP archives containing several XML (and other) files. If you know what you are doing, you can create documents in your own programs which can be read by OpenOffice.org applications.

===Why?===

Why would you want to do this? Well, one use I found was for a web application which -- based on form input and the contents of a [[MySQL]] database -- generates customised documents ready to download straight into OpenOffice.org for printing.

Another use was for printing my holiday photographs -- I wanted to print out pre-defined layouts, such as two pictures 160x120, or five 80x60 and one 160x20, on a single A4 sheet with guillotine marks. I did ''not'' want to have to click my way through the file requester and the position-and-size requester for each and every single picture.

And being a [[hacker]] myself, I would need a good reason '''not''' to attempt something like this!

=== What With? ===

Apart from this document, you will need OpenOffice.org; unzip; zip; and a good [[text editor]] such as [[Pico]], [[Vim]] or [[Emacs]]. Graphical editors can be [[gedit]] for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME Gnome] and [[Kate]] for [[KDE]].

===How?===

First of all, create any old document you like (but something you can mess around with) in OpenOffice.org. Now, go to an Xterm, and navigate to the directory where you saved the document. Create a temporary directory and copy your document in there. Change to the temporary directory and unzip the copy of your document.

$ unzip file.sxw
$ ls
content.xml meta.xml settings.xml styles.xml META-INF/

There should be a subdirectory called META-INF and depending on the contents of your document, there may be other subdirectories for pictures and other embedded objects. In META-INF will be a file called ''manifest.xml'' -- this is important, as it lists all the files which make up the OpenOffice document. If you split or combine any of the files, you will have to edit this manifest file to reflect any changes that you made.

$ cd META-INF/
$ ls
manifest.xml

The real juicy stuff is in a file called content.xml in the main directory. This file has the content of your document the main xml tree will contain a series of namespaces which includes all the common definitions that are used in OpenOffice.org.

The next section of the content.xml are the styles which are different from the one on the ''styles.xml'' file. This styles include fonts, paragraph and text properties definitions taken from the ''stylist'' in the Writer UI.

Finally the content comes around the tags text:p for pagraph, text:h for headings, text:list for lists and text:a for hyperlinks. This is very similar to HTML except this tags also have unique methods that define paragraph by paragraph. The most important is the name which defines the type of paragraph style it is going to be used an example could be ''text:p text:style-name="P17"'' which uses the ''P17'' previously defined on the style section.

More information about the construction of the ''content.xml'' file can be found on the [http://books.evc-cit.info/odbook/ch02.html#text-doc-superstructure-section OpenDocuments Essentials] a book by David Eisenberg.

(todo: expand)

===Hint===

You may find that these XML files have very long lines, with no breaks between the closing > of one tag and the opening < of the next. Though legitimate XML, it's harder to edit. Use

:<tt>sed -e's/></>\n</g' foo.xml > foo.xml</tt>

to sort this out.

OpenOffice.org also includes an option to have the XML properly constructed under ''Tools > Options > Load and Edit'' and selecting the option ''Optimize XML for file size''.

This will generate the correct indentation for a better view and edit of the internal XML files.

=== Ready to go ===

Once you have done the edits you want, zip up the temporary directory and give it a suitable name (eg. foo_new.sxw). Now, try loading it into OpenOffice.org and see what happens!

You can also use a gui application such as [[Gzip]] for Gnome or ArK for [[KDE]].

===Web Drive===

A CGI script needs to give a MIME-type as part of the HTML headers, then a double newline to mark the end of the headers, then finally the ZIPped output. This does ''not'' need to be base-64 encoded, but can just be in simple 8-bit binary form, since httpd (which is parsing the output you generate) will take care of whether the connection is binary-safe or not.

If you are running on a fast server and your clients' timeout is not excessively short, you should have plenty of time to send the headers, generate the zipfile on the fly (make a directory under /tmp; put your PID in the dirname to keep it unique; build up files in the directory; use a shell command to zip it) and just dump it to stdout.

(todo: perl example)

Vim

2011-08-29T18:49:34Z

Peter Mortensen: Following the Wikipedia article on Vim, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vim_%28text_editor%29>.

'''Vim''' ('''Vi''' I'''M'''proved) is a contemporary version of the classic [[vi]] editor, with additional capabilites.

== Introduction ==
All [[UNIX]] machines typically come with the [[vi]] [[text editor]]. However, vi lacks some more contemporary features (for example, syntax highlighting). This is where '''Vim''' comes in. If you know how to use vi, you'll find Vim to be the same except it has a number of useful features added to make editing easier. If you don't yet know how to use vi or Vim, and you didn't come from using [[ed]], you'll find the learning curve quite steep (which means, it might take you a while to learn to achieve maximum proficiency).

Vim was originally written by (and is still primarily maintained by) Bram Moolenaar. It started as a personal desire to have a useful vi-clone for the Amiga, but eventually grew as more features were added. It now runs on a variety of platforms (including Unix work-a-likes, e.g. GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and *BSD; Amiga; Windows; Mac "Classic"; and OS/2) and supports a variety of graphical toolkits (including GTK, QT, and Carbon) in addition to the command-line interface. VIM is also the latin word for "power" or "force".

Vim has a compatibility mode which produces an almost vi-compatible experience (the version of vi used seems to be one released with Sun OS 4.x, from Version 3.7 dated on 6/7/85). This is enabled by using the ":set compatible" ex-command or by running Vim with the -C option.

== Tips ==

=== Learning ===
To learn [[Vim]], [[open a console]] and call
[http://linuxcommand.org/man_pages/vimtutor1.html vimtutor]

==== A tutorial ====
While Vim is not as easy to learn initially as it is to learn nano, there are plenty advantages to using it. Some great features of Vim are copy, cut, and paste. Also there is code styling for programmers and there's also an undo/redo feature which is awesome.

There are three modes for Vim (That I know of right now). There is the visual mode, insert mode, and the command mode. Before I start breaking down the different modes let me say this: every time you delete or copy text in the command or visual mode, the deleted text is loaded into a special buffer. This buffer continues to hold the text until you delete more text/characters/lines in which case the buffer will be replaced with the newly deleted text. I say that because the buffer is also used for copying and pasting. So if you copy text and then delete some text, the next time you paste you'll be pasting the last text you deleted instead of what you copied.

When you first open a file with command vim myfile you start out in the command mode. If the file myfile exists then it will load myfile into the editor. If the file myfile does not exist then it will create a blank file with myfile as its save path which can be modified but myfile will not be created on your hard drive until you save the document.

Pressing the i key will put the editor into insert mode. Go ahead and put the editor into insert mode and type some random text you can play with. In fact you should type a couple of lines.

Pressing the Esc while in insert mode will take the editor out of insert mode and back into command mode. Now each letter on your keyboard has turned into a command which manipulates the document instead of keys which insert text into the document.

Pressing the v key puts the editor into visual mode. Visual mode is used to highlight text in the document so you can apply different commands just to that text. If you accidentally go into visual mode or you've highlighted text and don't want to do anything to it then press the v key to go back into command mode.

While in command mode, pressing the colon key (: ) opens the editors command line where you can type a command for the editor to manipulate the whole document and not just some text or a few lines. For example in the editors command line you can save the document, quit the document, quit without saving, undo change, and redo change to name a few. You can even combine commands to do them at the same time such as save and quit at the same time.

That's most of the explanation behind it. Now remember the three modes: command, insert, and visual. Everything is centralized around the command mode. Also remember the editor command line which is accessed when in the command mode. Now that I've explained all that here is what happens when pressing different keys in the different modes.

When in command mode press the colon (: ) to enter the editor command line. Here are different editor commands.
command - explanation
{| border="1"
| :w
| write/save the document
|-
| :q
| quit Vim
|-
| :q!
| quit Vim without saving
|-
| :u
| undo
|-
| :r
| redo
|-
| :wq
| write/save the document and then quit Vim
|}
If you accidentally enter the editor command line pressing Esc twice will put you back into command mode.

When you're in the command mode different keys have different functions. The commands are case sensitive.
{| border="1"
| command
| explanation
|-
| h
| move cursor left
|-
| j
| move cursor down
|-
| k
| move cursor up
|-
| l
| move cursor right
|-
| w
| move the cursor right and down the document accross each word instead of each character.
|-
| ZZ
| same as :wq. write/save the document and then quit Vim. Double tap the z key while holding the shift key (double click).
|-
| dd
| cuts/deletes an entire line of text. Double tab the d key (double click).
|-
| dw
| cuts/deletes a words of text
|-
| yy
| copies an entire line of text. Double tap the y key (double click).
|-
| p
| paste text after: if copied entire line then it will paste text after the current line. if copied a few characters then paste them after the current character.
|-
| P
| same as p but pastes text before the current character/line.
|-
| i
| enters editor into insert mode
|-
| o
| inserts a new line after the current line and then places the editor into insert mode.
|-
| u
| Undo the last edit. Same as :u.
|-
| v
| enters the editor into visual mode.
|-
| r
| replace. When you push a key after pressing r the letter the cursor is currently located on is replaced with the key pressed. You are still in command mode.
|-
| R
| replace. puts the editor into insert mode however it overwrites replacing each character if one already exists.
|-
| x
| delete a character
|}

When you're in insert mode every key on the keyboard types text into the document like a normal text editor. When you wish to leave insert mode press the Esc key.

When you're in the visual mode you can highlight text and apply different commands to it. The commands are similar to command mode and are also case sensitive.
{| border="1"
| command
| explanation
|-
| h
| move cursor left (highlighting text)
|-
| j
| move cursor down (highlighting text)
|-
| k
| move cursor up (highlighting text)
|-
| l
| move cursor right (highlighting text)
|-
| y
| copy the highlighted text and enter back into command mode
|-
| d
| cut/delete the hightlighted text and enter back into command mode
|-
| p
| paste the text from the buffer replacing the highlighted text.
|}

The following command opens myfile and automatically goes to line 23.
vim +23 myfile

It's a bit of a task remembering all those commands. The best way to learn them is to try to use Vim regularly referring to those commands for the different modes. There's a lot more commands and tricks you can do in Vim. Those are just the basic ones.

==== Interactive tutorial ====
If you installed Vim on your GNU/Linux machine then vimtutor was also installed. vimtutor is an interactive tutorial which can be run from the terminal.
vimtutor
It's easy to learn that way.

=== ~/.vimrc ===
To make a config file for Vim, create a file in your home directory called .vimrc, and fill it with stuff that you'd normally type into Vim's "ex" mode. For example, if you regularly do ":syntax on" from inside Vim, put "syntax on" (no colon or quotes) on a line by itself in your ~/.vimrc file.

Here's the contents of a useful .vimrc file:
<pre>
syntax on
set number
set expandtab
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set autoindent
</pre>

Where:
* "syntax on" turns on syntax highlighting
* "set number" turns on line numbers
* "set expandtab" makes Vim insert spaces (instead of tabs) whenever you hit the tab key
* "set tabstop=4" sets tabs to equal 4 spaces
* "set shiftwidth=4" makes it so when you use the text shifting command, it shifts over using 4-space indents.
* "set autoindent" has Vim use "smart indenting", ie. when you are tabbed out to, say, the 8th column, and you type something then hit enter, the cursor is helpfully placed at the 8th column again for you.

Additionally you can turn any single argument command off by adding an exclamation point (!). So "set number" can be turned off by "set number!"

(You can shut off line numbering from command mode by typing <tt>:set nonumber</tt>.)

=== Syntax highlighting ===

You can turn syntax highlighting on/off with:
:syntax off
:syntax on

If you have syntax highlighting on, but are using a dark background and the colors don't show up well, you can use this command:
:set background=dark

= External links =
* [http://www.vim.org Vim Homepage]
* [http://vi-improved.org/wiki/index.php #vim wiki]

[[Category:Editors]]