LQWiki - User contributions [en]

File:Hosts

2017-08-16T01:16:07Z

ShadowCat8: Updated versions of the Windows platform.

The '''hosts''' file is a text file within an operating system that contains associations of IP addresses, hostnames and aliases for the system and the machines on the network that the system is aware of. While '''B'''erkeley '''I'''nternet '''N'''ame '''D'''omain ('''[[BIND]]''' a.k.a. [[DNS]]) servers will give the IP addresses for servers on the Internet, and within a local network if one is set up for it, the first systems any computer will know about as it boots are the ones in the hosts file.

=Creating a hosts file=

==Format of entries==
The format of entries within a hosts file is written as one line per entry containing the IP address of the host, followed by the host's canonical name followed by any aliases assigned to the host.
Examples:
<tt><CODE><PRE>127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain
192.168.1.15 thiscomputer.example.com thiscomp
75.126.162.205 wiki.linuxquestions.org LQWiki lqwiki</PRE></CODE></tt>

==Rules of hosts files==

#The fields within an entry must be separated by some number (greater than 0) of blanks and/or tabs.
#Host names must begin with an alphabetic character and end with an alphanumeric.
#Host names must be made up of only alphanumeric characters, minus signs ('-') and periods ('.').
#If a line contains a hash ('#') character, anything following the hash is ignored.

=Location of hosts file=

==*nix systems==
For the majority of Unix-based systems, the location for the hosts file is /etc/hosts.

==Windows 2000/XP/7/8(.1)/10==
For as much as Microsoft has tried rewriting all of computing and networking their own way, at some point, they had to join the rest of the world. Using the Microsoft terminology, in Windows 2K/XP/7/8(.1)/10, the hosts file is located at %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

=Uses of the hosts file=

==Booting==
As written above, when a system is booting up, the first computers it will know about are the ones listed in the hosts file. For most systems, the entries in the hosts file will contain information about important hosts on the local network for when DNS isn't accessible/available.

==NIS==
'''N'''etwork '''I'''nformation '''S'''ervice ('''[[NIS]]''') is a network management system developed by Sun Microsystems. Networks that use NIS take the entries from the hosts files of the systems on the local network to build the NIS host database. On most NIS networks, every system on the local network will have an entry in their hosts file for every other host on the local network.

==Isolated networks==
Very small private networks that are isolated from contact with the Internet or any other network use the hosts file instead of DNS. Since the network is not connected to the Internet, setting up a DNS server on such a small network tends to be more work than it's worth.

=Considerations for using a hosts file=

==DNS versus hosts==
When setting up a hosts file, the question to keep in mind is; Who/What does this machine have to know about? Who/What is going to tell this machine? Well, there is a file that tells the machine which to check first when looking for another machine; [[nsswitch.conf]]. This file is also under the /etc/ directory and tells the machine what order it should look at DNS, NIS and the hosts file.

==Updating==
When using hosts files on a small network, and you have to make a change in a hosts file on one machine on the local network, you need to make sure that the change gets reflected in *all* hosts files on the network.

=Cool things to do with a hosts file=

==Bypass broken/incorrect DNS==
There are times that a website or server to which you are trying to connect on the internet has incorrect/false entries in the DNS tables. You know the server is there by IP address, but can't connect to the domain because of DNS entries. In cases like this, you can just make an entry in your hosts file. An old example from my hosts file:
<tt><CODE><PRE>195.56.146.238 www.openwrt.org downloads.openwrt.org wiki.openwrt.org dev.openwrt.org openwrt.org forum.openwrt.org</PRE></CODE></tt>
This was an entry I had in my hosts file during a period that the OpenWrt project was moving their servers. The new DNS had propagated already and where DNS was pointing, there was no server yet. So, I added the above line to be able to access the server at the previous location. As of this writing, openwrt.org is correctly responding at 78.24.191.177, so I have since commented out the entry.

==Cut down the amount of irritating banner ads==
Many folks get tired of those floating flash-banner ads that all but completely cover the screen, forcing you to click to just get to the page you asked for. Then there are all the banner ads that will also create a bunch of popups on your screen. Well, when you have at last had enough of those servers, you can stop the receiving of their traffic with a simple entry in your hosts file. Here's an example:
<tt><CODE><PRE>127.0.0.1 irritating.exampleadserver.com alternate.exampleadserver.com</PRE></CODE></tt>
Looping the entry for the offending advertising server back to your localhost will cause the areas mapped for the ads to give 404 errors in those advertising spots on the webpage.

User:ShadowCat8

2012-06-11T17:28:34Z

ShadowCat8:

Greetings,

My "screenname"/net-name is '''ShadowCat8''' and I have been lurking across the web under that moniker since approximately 1994.

I have been into computers, programming and telecommunications since 1980, starting with my own Commodore 64 and have never lost my love for computing. In that time, I have created 3 special-use, private builds of linux; 2 out of the [http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/ Linux From Scratch Project (a.k.a. LFS)] and one based off of [http://www.gentoo.org/ Gentoo Linux]. And, yet, I '''STILL''' don't consider myself an expert. There's far too much in linux to know and too much being created/updated/changed every day to really "know everything". In fact, below you can read one of my taglines that drives that point home.

However, I do like to help others out, so I try to contribute where I can. I found [http://www.linuxquestions.org LinuxQuestions.org] in the same fashion I think over 75% of folks find it; By having a problem, and searching the web for the answer and one of the search results led me to LQ. It's a great community and I'm glad to be here. So, if you have an issue, remember to post your question on [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ the LinuxQuestions.org forums], and if I can help, I will post.

And as [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/user/oldwierdal-466325/ oldwierdal] did say: "Linux vobiscum. Et cum source-code tuo."

'''POWER TO THE PENGUIN!'''

Regards,

ShadowCat8

----
"Anyone who tells you that they know EVERYTHING about linux... is lying!"

User:ShadowCat8

2012-05-22T16:41:00Z

ShadowCat8:

Greetings,

My "screenname"/handle is '''ShadowCat8''' and I have been lurking across the web under that moniker since approximately 1994.

I have been into computers, programming and telecommunications since 1980, starting with my own Commodore 64 and have never lost my love for computing. In that time, I have created 3 special-use, private builds of linux; 2 out of the [http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/ Linux From Scratch Project (a.k.a. LFS)] and one based off of [http://www.gentoo.org/ Gentoo Linux]. And, yet, I '''STILL''' don't consider myself an expert. There's far too much in linux to know and too much being created/updated/changed every day to really "know everything". In fact, below you can read one of my taglines that drives that point home.

However, I do like to help others out, so I try to contribute where I can. I found [http://www.linuxquestions.org LinuxQuestions.org] in the same fashion I think over 75% of folks find it; By having a problem, and searching the web for the answer and one of the search results led me to LQ. It's a great community and I'm glad to be here. So, if you have an issue, remember to post your question on [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ the LinuxQuestions.org forums], and if I can help, I will post.

And as [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/user/oldwierdal-466325/ oldwierdal] did say: "Linux vobiscum. Et cum source-code tuo."

'''POWER TO THE PENGUIN!'''

Regards,

ShadowCat8

----
"Anyone who tells you that they know EVERYTHING about linux... is lying!"

User:ShadowCat8

2012-05-21T23:36:05Z

ShadowCat8: Created page with 'Greetings, My "screenname"/handle is '''ShadowCat8''' and I have been lurking across the web under that moniker since approximately 1994. I have been into computers, programmin…'

Greetings,

My "screenname"/handle is '''ShadowCat8''' and I have been lurking across the web under that moniker since approximately 1994.

I have been into computers, programming and telecommunications since 1980, starting with my own Commodore 64 and have never lost my love for computing. In that time, I have created 3 special-use, private builds of linux; 2 out of the [http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/ Linux From Scratch Project (a.k.a. LFS)] and one based off of [http://www.gentoo.org/ Gentoo Linux]. And, yet, I '''STILL''' don't consider myself an expert. There's far too much in linux to know and too much being created/updated/changed each and every day to really "know" everything. In fact, below you can read one of my taglines that drives that point home.

However, I do like to help others out, so I try to contribute where I can. I found [http://www.linuxquestions.org LinuxQuestions.org] in the same fashion I think over 75% of folks find it; By having a problem, and searching the web for the answer and the search result led me to LQ. It's a great community and I'm glad to be here. So, if you have an issue, remember to post your guestion on [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ the LinuxQuestions.org forums], and if I can help, I will post.

And as [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/user/oldwierdal-466325/ oldwierdal] did say: "Linux vobiscum. Et cum source-code tuo."

'''POWER TO THE PENGUIN!'''

Regards,

ShadowCat8

----
"Anyone who tells you that they know EVERYTHING about linux... is lying!"

Linux software equivalent to Windows software

2009-11-18T23:23:07Z

ShadowCat8: /* Office and Productivity */ - added link to Rpm

When [[migrating to Linux from Windows]], a common question is "Where can I get an [[application]] for Linux that is similar to XYZ program on Windows?" Fear not! Listed below are programs that could be considered roughly equivalent to certain popular Windows applications. Note that the Linux programs might not have all the features which can be found in Windows proprietary software, but unless you are an expert in some Windows program this should not be a major obstacle.

= Office and Productivity =

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Windows apps !! Linux apps !! Description
|-
| Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org
| [[OpenOffice]], [[KOffice]], [[Siag Office]]
|Office package
|-
| Word
| [[OOWriter]], [[AbiWord]], [[KWord]], [[LaTeX]]
|Word processing and typesetting
|-
| Notepad, Wordpad, TheGun, EditPlus, SciTE ||
[[KWrite]],
[[Kate]], [http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/ BlueFish], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafpad Leafpad], [[Gedit]], [[Joe]]
| [[text editors]]
|-
| Access, dBase, Foxpro, Paradox
| [[Kexi]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Base OOBase]
| Database
|-
| Excel, Lotus123, QuattroPro
| [[OOCalc]], [[Gnumeric]], [[KSpread]]
| Spreadsheet
|-
| Visio
| [[Kivio]], [[Dia]], OpenOffice.org [[oodraw]]
| Diagramming
|-
| PowerPoint
| [[OOImpress]], [[KPresenter]]
| Presentation
|-
| Microsoft Project Manager
| [[MrProject]], [[Imendio Planner]], Kplato
| Project management
|-
| Outlook, Thunderbird + Lightning, Sunbird
| [[Evolution]], [[Kontact]], [[BALSA]], [[Thunderbird]] + [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/ Lightning], [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/ Sunbird]
| Personal information managers
|-
| Alcohol 120%, Discjuggler, Easy CD Creator, Nero Burning ROM ||
[[K3b]],
[[XCDRoast]], [[CD/DVD_Burning|''more'']]
|CD burning
|-
| Quicken, Microsoft Money, TurboTax
| [[GnuCash]], [[KMyMoney]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JGnash jGnash], [[MoneyDance]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grisbi Grisbi], [http://www.arachnoid.com/PLCash/ PLCash], [[CrossOver]] Office with Quicken, [http://www.lazy8.nu/ lazy8ledger]
| Accounting
|-
| ActiveSync ||
[[SynCE]]
|Synchronization with Windows Mobile devices
|-
| WinEdt, TeXnicCenter
| [[Kile]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texmaker Texmaker], [[LyX]]
| LaTeX IDEs
|-
| Veritas Backup Exec, [http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm Cobian Backup] ||
[[UniSon]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veritas_Netbackup Veritas Netbackup], [[list of backUp applications|''more'']]
| [[Backup]]
|-
| Google Desktop ||
[[Beagle]], [[Recoll]], [http://desktop.google.com/linux Google Desktop]
| Desktop Search
|-
| Norton Ghost ||
[[Partition Image]],
[[g4u]],
[[Mondo]],
[[dd]]
|Disk imaging
|-
| Norton Partition Magic ||
[[QTparted]], [[GParted]], [[Palimpsest]] (in development)
|Disk partitioning
|-
|[http://www.codeproject.com/vb/net/Disk_Size_Explorer.asp Disk Size Explorer]
|[http://www.methylblue.com/filelight/ File Light], [[Konqueror]]
| Disk usage analyzers
|-
|[http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html Filemon], [http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Regmon.html Regmon]
| [http://syscalltrack.sourceforge.net/ syscalltrack]
| system call tracking (file monitor & others)
|-
| WinMerge, SyncToy ||
[http://meld.sourceforge.net/ Meld], [[Unison]], [http://synkron.sourceforge.net/ Synkron], [http://samba.anu.edu.au/rsync Rsync]
| File synchronization
|-
| Windows Update, Add/Remove programs||
[[apt-get]], [http://aptitude.sourceforge.net/ Aptitude], [[portage]], [[Rpm|rpm]], [[urpmi]], [[yast]], [[yum]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_Package_Manager Synaptic]
|Every Linux distribution has an infrastructure to manage installed software which is quite different from Windows. For instance, all updates are handled by a single program. See [[package management]].
|-
| WinRunner || [http://hoopajoo.net/projects/xautomation.html xautomation] || automating interactive applications
|-
| 7-Zip, Winzip, Winrar ||
[[Karchiver]],
[[File Roller]],
[[ark]],
[[hjsplit]]; [[packing and unpacking files|''command line tools'']]
|Archivers
|-
| chkdsk || [[fsck]] || check your file system (and the [[hard disk]] beneath it) for errors
|-
| Daemon Tools ||
[[mount]], [http://tuxenclave.wordpress.com/2007/12/01/gmount-iso-virtual-drive-for-linux/ GMount-ISO]
|ISO mounting
|-
| Disclib ||
[[gWhere]]
|}

== Desktop Publishing ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Windows apps !! Linux apps !! Description
|-
| Dreamweaver, NVU, KompoZer ||
[[OOWeb]],
[[NVU]],
[[html editors|more]]
|[[Web Design]]
|-
| Quark, Quark Express, Microsoft Publisher ||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribus Scribus],
OpenOffice.org [[oodraw]]
|DTP software
|-
| Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader ||
[[Adobe Acrobat Reader]],
[[Xpdf]],
[[Kpdf]],
[[Ghostview]],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evince Evince]; [[PDF|''more'']]
|PDF readers
|-
| Adobe Acrobat Distiller, PDFCreator ||
[http://www.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/~vrbehr/cups-pdf/ CUPS-PDF],
[[OpenOffice.org]],
kprint -- can fax, convert to pdf, and combine pages. [[PDF|''more'']]
|PDF authoring
|-
| Adobe Acrobat PDF editor ||
[http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk pdftk], [http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfedit pdfedit], [http://www.warwick.ac.uk/go/pdfjam pdfjam], [[PDF|''more'']]
|PDF editing tools
|-
| SilverFast ||
[[xSane]], [http://www.hamrick.com/vsm.html VueScan]
| [[scanning]]
|-
| FinePrint ||
[http://wfr.tcl.tk/279 page-crunch], [http://freshmeat.net/projects/mpage/ mpage], Kprinter, [http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~ajcd/psutils/index.html psnup/PSutils], [http://www.warwick.ac.uk/go/pdfjam pdfnup/PDFjam]
| Document printing/reformatting tools
|}

= Networking =
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Windows apps !! Linux apps !! Description
|-
| Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, Opera, Lynx, etc. ||
[[Firefox]],
[[Galeon]],
[[Konqueror]],
[[Netscape]],
[[Opera]], [[Browsers|''more'']]
|Internet browsers for the World Wide Web.
|-
| Outlook Express, Outlook, Thunderbird, Pegasus, Lotus Notes ||
[[Kontact]],
[[Evolution]],
[[Thunderbird]],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claws_mail Claws Mail]
[[Sylpheed]]
|Email clients.
|-
| ICQ, MSN Messenger, AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), Trillian, Pidgin ||
[[PidgIn]],
[[Kopete]],
[[aMSN]],
[[Gabber]],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emesene Emesene (MSN)],
[[Centericq]]
| [[Instant messaging]] [[software]].
|-
| Microsoft Netmeeting ||
[[Gnomemeeting]]
|-
| Microsoft HyperTerminal ||
[[minicom]]
|-
| FileZilla FTP Client, WS FTP, Bullet Proof FTP, CuteFTP ||
[http://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client FileZilla FTP Client],
[http://www.kftp.org/misc/description KFTP (KFTPGrabber)],
[[Kasablanca]],
[[FireFTP]],
[[Konqueror]],
[[KBear]],
[http://www.crossftp.com/ CrossFTP],
[[Nautilus]]
|FTP clients. Note that dedicated FTP clients are rarely needed on Linux, since the default file manager can usually browse FTP shares. Several GNOME programs can directly open and edit files on FTP, SFTP and WebDAV shares.
|-
| mIRC ||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konversation Konversation],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quassel_IRC Quassel],
[[KVIrc]],
[[XChat]],
[[BitchX]]
| [[IRC Clients]]
|-
|[http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/ UltraVNC], TightVNC, RealVNC, Remote Desktop ||
[http://www.tightvnc.com/ TightVNC],
[http://www.realvnc.com/ RealVNC], [http://www.rdesktop.org/ rdesktop],
[http://freshmeat.net/projects/freenx/ FreeNX],
[http://freshmeat.net/projects/x11vnc/ x11vnc],
[http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/ Synergy],
XDMCP, [[SSH]] with X11 forwarding (-X or -Y option)
| [[Desktop Sharing]]
|-
| MailWasher ||
[[KShowmail]]
|-
|Forte Free Agent, [[Thunderbird]], [[Pan]] ||
[[Thunderbird]], [[Pan]], [[Sylpheed]], [http://www.newsreaders.com/unix/clients.html See More Clients Here]
|News Reader (Usenet [[newsgroup]]s)
|-
| eMule ||
[[aMule]]
|ED2K P2P network clients
|-
| [[Azureus]], [http://utorrent.com/ utorrent] ||
[[Azureus]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qtorrent Qtorrent], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ktorrent Ktorrent], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittornado bittornado], [[Deluge]], [[Transmission]]
|BitTorrent P2P network clients
|-
| Skype, Voipbuster ||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype Skype], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linphone Linphone], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenWengo OPenwenGo], [[Ekiga]]
|VOIP software
|-
| Bitvise Tunnelier ||
[http://sourceforge.net/projects/gstm/ gSTM]
|gSTM is a front-end for managing SSH-tunneled port redirects.
|}

== Server ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Windows apps !! Linux apps !! Description
|-
| IIS, [[Apache]] ||
[[Apache]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPlanet iPlanet], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thttpd thttpd], [http://www.lighttpd.net/ lighttpd], [http://yaws.hyber.org/ YAWS] [http://www.zope.org/ ZOPE]
|HTTP servers
|-
| Folder sharing, printer sharing ||
[[Samba]]
|Share files and printers between Windows and Linux systems. Installed by default on most distributions.
|-
|IIS, [http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/ FileZilla FTP Client & Server]
|[[proftpd]], [[vsftpd]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure-ftpd pure-ftpd]
|FTP servers, for hosting files.
|-
|[http://www.netlimiter.com/ NetLimiter] ||
[http://monkey.org/~marius/pages/?page=trickle Trickle], [http://l7-filter.sourceforge.net/ Level 7 Filter], [http://www.clarkconnect.com/info/index.php ClarkConnect], [http://www.bandwidtharbitrator.com/ Bandwidth Arbitrator], [http://www.mastershaper.org/index.php/Main_Page MasterShaper]
|Bandwidth shaping and management.
|-
| Exchange ||
[[Citadel]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbra zimbra], [[Open-Xchange]]
|Groupware (sharing of appointments, contacts, e-mail, documents, etc. between members of a group)
|-
| Sharepoint ||
[http://www.knowledgetree.com/opensource KnowledgeTree]
|Manage and secure documents, collaborate around document creation and editing, full document contents indexing
|-
| Norton/McAfee Antivirus, [http://clamwin.com/ ClamWin], AVG, AntiVir ||
[[ClamAV]], [http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afl AVG Antivirus], [http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-for-linux-edition.html Avast Home for Linux]
| Antivirus software.
|-
| ZoneAlarm , Sygate SPF||
[[Guarddog]], [[Firestarter]], [[GUFW]], [[iptables]]
| Firewall software
|}

= Multimedia =

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Windows apps !! Linux apps !! Description
|-
|[http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/ Adobe Photoshop],[http://www.corel.com/ Corel Photo-Paint], GIMP, GIMPShop ||
[[GIMP]],
[[GIMPShop]],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krita Krita], [http://www.kanzelsberger.com/pixel/ Pixel (non-free high quality)],
[http://www.lightcrafts.com/ LightZone (non-free high quality)]
|Raster graphics editors
|-
|[http://www.corel.com/ Corel Draw], [http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/ Adobe Illustrator] ||
[http://www.inkscape.org/ Inkscape]
|Vector graphics editors
|-
| Irfanview, ACDSee ||
[[XnView]], [[Gqview|GQView]], [http://mirageiv.berlios.de/ Mirage], [[GThumb]]
|Image viewers
|-
| 3D Studio MAX, Blender, [http://www.autodesk.com Maya] ||
[[Blender]],
[http://www.autodesk.com Maya],
[http://www.softimage.com Softimage],
[[K-3D]]
|3D modeling software
|-
| Windows Media Player, PowerDVD ||
[[MPlayer]],
[[Xine]],
[[Totem]],
[[Kaffeine]],
[[VLC]]
| [[Video Players]]
|-
| SIA Smaart Live ||
[http://sf.net/projects/brp-pacu/ BRP-PACU]
|-
| Winamp, Sonique, iTunes, [http://www.atunes.org/ aTunes] ||
[[amaroK]],
[http://www.atunes.org/ aTunes],
[[XMMS]],
[[Beep media player|BMP]],
[http://audacious-media-player.org/Main_Page Audacious],
[[noatun]],
[[RhythmBox]],
[[xine]] will play aac and wma, [http://banshee-project.org/index.php/Main_Page Banshee]
|[[Music Players]]
|-
| Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere Elements,[http://www.goldwave.com/mqrelease.php Multiquence] ||
[[Cinelerra]],
[[KDenlive]],
[[LiVES]],
[[Kino]],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avidemux AviDemux]
|Video editing tools
|-
| Audacity, Cubase, CoolEdit, [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave] ||
[[Ardour]],
[http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/ Rosegarden],
[[Audacity]],
[http://www.gnu.org/software/gnusound/ GNUsound],
[[Beast]]
|Digital audio workstation software
|-
| Audio Catalyst, dbpoweramp, CDex ||
[[Grip]],
[[Audacity]]
|-
| Cakewalk ||
[[kmid]],
[[kmidi]]
|-
|[http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/ NoteWorthy Composer], MuseScore, LilyPond||
[http://www.musescore.org/ MuseScore],[http://lilypond.org/web/ LilyPond]
|Musical score typesetting
|-
|[http://www.guitar-pro.com/ GuitarPro], TuxGuitar ||
[http://www.tuxguitar.com.ar/ TuxGuitar]
|Guitar tablature editors
|-
| Microsoft Paint, Kid Pix, Tux Paint ||
[[Tux Paint]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KolourPaint KolourPaint]
|Basic raster painting programs
|-
| Videora ||
[http://thinliquidfilm.org/ thinliquidfilm]
|-
|TMPGEnc DVD Author, Roxio DVDit ||
[http://www.bombono.org/ Bombono DVD]
|DVD authoring software
|}

= Education =
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Windows apps !! Linux apps !! Description
|-
| || [[KTouch]] || Touch typing tutors
|-
| Maple, Mathematica || Maple, Mathematica, [http://maxima.sourceforge.net/ Maxima]
| Computer algebra systems
|-
| Matlab ||
Matlab, [http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/ Octave],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SciLab SciLab]
| High level numeric computation environments
|-
| SPSS, Stata, EViews ||
[http://www.r-project.org/ R-project],
[http://www.stata.com/products/unix.html Stata],
[http://www.gnu.org/software/pspp/pspp.html PSPP],
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Plus S-Plus]
| Statistical analysis
|-
| Verilog ||
[http://www.icarus.com/eda/verilog/ iverilog]
| Verilog Simulator
|-
| Google Earth, NASA World Wind, Celestia, Stellarium ||
[http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html Google Earth], [http://www.shatters.net/celestia/ Celestia], [http://www.stellarium.org/ Stellarium], [http://edu.kde.org/marble/ Marble], [http://www.geody.com/ Geody]
| Geography and astronomy
|}

''Please add new applications to this list. A good resource is the [http://www.nawaz.org/wiki/index.php?title=Table_of_Equivalents BeetleSpace Windows/Linux Software Table of Equivalents], which is GNU FDL licensed.''

= See also =

* [[running windows software]]
* [http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html The table of equivalents / replacements / analogs of Windows software in Linux.] (''www.linuxrsp.ru'')
* [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareEquivalents Ubuntu software equivalents's page] (''wiki.ubuntu.com'')
* [http://www.linuxeq.com/ The Linux Equivalent Project] (''www.linuxeq.com'')

[[Category:FAQ]]

User talk:ThorstenStaerk

2009-11-18T21:27:13Z

ShadowCat8: /* How do you get a new page recognized? */ - Added author info and date/time

== Vandalism ==

There's a guy by the name of "Linux" going around and blanking all the pages. Can you block him and clean it up please? [[User:Linux|Linux]] 19:02, June 7, 2007 (EDT)
: why ? In most cases, your blanked pages are better than the blahblah before. And if you want to stop, I do not need to block you, just quit. --[[User:ThorstenStaerk|ThorstenStaerk]] 08:04, June 8, 2007 (EDT)

== Proper Way To Start Sysadmin Page ==

What do you recommend as a starting point for sysadmin, just pick a topic and write it?

--[[User:Cmnorton|Cmnorton]] 15:25, March 24, 2008 (EDT)

== Comparison of Linux distributions ==

Hi ThorstenStaerk, it didn't seem to be significant to me, but I can see what you mean about the small details. Perhaps it would be better stated as something like "Includes many common shortcuts to save time (such as the 'll' command, etc.)" - [[User:Blackice|Blackice]] 18:21, October 1, 2008 (UTC)

== beep ==

i added the author's name to distinguish it from the normal system beep or 'printf("\a")'.

Couple questions:

first, is this the right place to ask you something? or is there a message link i'm missing

second, was removing the redirect for previous 'beep' -> 'Turn off system beep' ok? I included it in the new beep article in 'see also' because I thought it was still relevant.

i'm discovering there are a lot of programs out there called beep!

I'm new to wwiki so please let me know if i ever do anything taboo or whatever, i'm just killing time and helping where i can

Hi ThorstenStaerk: I know you've seen me darting around editing stuff, but now I'm running out of ideas, I'm not techy, and I'm a linux newbie. if you know of something, even boring stuff, that needs done, please offer suggestions and I'll get right to it. I kill time while at work, read, edit where I know a little about it, learning lots. have a good week -Scott

Thank you for the ideas, and thanks for having LiVES in your favorite list - I had not heard of that software - I compiled it from source with no problems and having fun editing some video now :]

""""""

hi, biorezonanta is not spam , can i edit please.
thank you
biorezonanta

== How do you get a new page recognized? ==

A quick question:

How can you get a new file recognized as having been written?
I ask because of the submission I made for [[File:Hosts]] is still showing up on the [[Special:WantedPages|Most Wanted]] list.

TIA.

[[User:ShadowCat8|ShadowCat8]] 21:27, November 18, 2009 (UTC)

User talk:ThorstenStaerk

2009-11-18T21:24:14Z

ShadowCat8: /* How do you get a new page recognized? */ new section

Gentoo tips & tricks

2009-11-18T21:02:33Z

ShadowCat8: /* Masked packages */ - Updated with a bit more specific info & corrected minor errors (typos)

This is a collection of '''tips & tricks''' for the peculiarities of [[Gentoo]].

== Use flags ==
[[USE flags]] are the way Gentoo organizes the compile time options. This is a feature that sets Gentoo apart from other distributions. While USE flags are set during the install, you can go back and change them at anytime. If you do, make sure that you use Portage to recompile any programs that might take advantage of any USE flag changes. Also, when using Portage to install new programs, you can request it to compile that program with a USE flag specifically for it, or make an entry in /etc/portage/package.use for that package and/or version. You have a list of them in your /etc/make.conf for your overall system. See the external links below for more information.

===Tools===
ufed = USE flag editor, emerge ufed, then run ufed as root

A problem with ufed, is that it organizes your useflags alphabetically, So if you added an experimental one by hand in your make.conf, it will be hidden amongst your countless others.

=== Files ===
/etc/[[make.conf]] has a USE flag section in it for general package building on a system.
/usr/portage/profiles/use.desc and /usr/portage/profiles/use.local.desc contain lists of all valid USE flags with brief descriptions of what each flag does.

=== Rebuilding what needs to be rebuilt ===
If you've added a new USE flag to your make.conf then just run
emerge --update --newuse world

== Masked packages ==
A lot of times you'll want to emerge a masked package (or a masked version of one). One short way to do this is <code>ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" emerge package</code> (replace x86 with your architecture). A slightly shorter way is to create a file called <code>/usr/sbin/expmerge</code>, with the following contents:
<pre>#!/bin/sh
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" emerge $*</pre>
Then just <code>expmerge package</code>.
Mixing unstable with stable packages can lead to problems, so it's recommended you pick one type and use it all the time. This is more important for libraries rather then programs.

NOTE: The aforementioned method of emerging masked packages is deprecated and unsupported. Please use the /etc/portage/package.keywords file to unmask a particular package. (man portage, man emerge) This is done by using the following command:
<pre> $ echo "package-category/package-name ~x86" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords</pre>

== Emerge tips ==
*emerge sync -- syncs portage with the lateset tree
*emerge world -uDp, -- list things to be updated 
*emerge world -uD -- get almost everything updated 
*revdep-rebuild -- check for packages that break by rebuilding a dependancy
*'''WARNING''' emerge -U -- will break your system guaranteed

==Gentoo & KDE==
Remember - when installing [[KDE]] on Gentoo, you don't have to install every kde package. Instead, you can simply choose to install a "small" subset of them - ''for example'':

<pre># emerge kdebase kdeartwork</pre>

Prior to this, if you want to check out what packages would be installed, use the --pretend option - ''for example'':

<pre># emerge --pretend kdebase kdeartwork | less</pre>

(As a useful alternative to --pretend, you could use the --ask option - see ''man emerge'' for more information).

N.B - As of KDE 3.4 onwards, you will be able to utilise ''split ebuilds'' - this approach enables you to install individual KDE applications, without a plethora of other KDE apps automatically being installed (as in the monolithic approach).

== See also ==
* [[GenToo]]
* [[Installing Slackware and Gentoo]]
* [[USE flags]]
* [[Make.conf]]
* [[emerge]]
* [[paludis]]
* [[Common tasks]]
* [[Distribution specific tips and tricks]]
* [[Gentoo and distcc]]

== External links==
* [http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=157851 A sorted list of useflags for make.conf] (''forums.gentoo.org'').
* [http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=2&chap=1 Gentoo Portage Documentation] (''www.gentoo.org'')

Gentoo tips & tricks

2009-11-18T20:47:59Z

ShadowCat8: /* Use flags */ - Updated with a bit more specific info & corrected minor errors (typos)

This is a collection of '''tips & tricks''' for the peculiarities of [[Gentoo]].

== Use flags ==
[[USE flags]] are the way Gentoo organizes the compile time options. This is a feature that sets Gentoo apart from other distributions. While USE flags are set during the install, you can go back and change them at anytime. If you do, make sure that you use Portage to recompile any programs that might take advantage of any USE flag changes. Also, when using Portage to install new programs, you can request it to compile that program with a USE flag specifically for it, or make an entry in /etc/portage/package.use for that package and/or version. You have a list of them in your /etc/make.conf for your overall system. See the external links below for more information.

===Tools===
ufed = USE flag editor, emerge ufed, then run ufed as root

A problem with ufed, is that it organizes your useflags alphabetically, So if you added an experimental one by hand in your make.conf, it will be hidden amongst your countless others.

=== Files ===
/etc/[[make.conf]] has a USE flag section in it for general package building on a system.
/usr/portage/profiles/use.desc and /usr/portage/profiles/use.local.desc contain lists of all valid USE flags with brief descriptions of what each flag does.

=== Rebuilding what needs to be rebuilt ===
If you've added a new USE flag to your make.conf then just run
emerge --update --newuse world

== Masked packages ==
A lot of times you'll want to emerge a masked package (or a masked version of one). One short way to do this is <code>ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" emerge package</code> (replace x86 with your architecture). A slightly shorter way is to create a file called <code>/usr/sbin/expmerge</code>, with the following contents:
<pre>#!/bin/sh
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" emerge $*</pre>
Then just <code>expmerge package</code>.
Mixing unstable with stable packages can lead to problems, so it's recommended you pick one type and use it all the time. This is more important for libraries rather then programs.

NOTE: the aforementioned method of emerging masked packages is deprecated and unsupported. please use /etc/portage/ (man portage, man emerge) This is used by:
<pre>echo "package-category/package-name" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords</pre>

== Emerge tips ==
*emerge sync -- syncs portage with the lateset tree
*emerge world -uDp, -- list things to be updated 
*emerge world -uD -- get almost everything updated 
*revdep-rebuild -- check for packages that break by rebuilding a dependancy
*'''WARNING''' emerge -U -- will break your system guaranteed

==Gentoo & KDE==
Remember - when installing [[KDE]] on Gentoo, you don't have to install every kde package. Instead, you can simply choose to install a "small" subset of them - ''for example'':

<pre># emerge kdebase kdeartwork</pre>

Prior to this, if you want to check out what packages would be installed, use the --pretend option - ''for example'':

<pre># emerge --pretend kdebase kdeartwork | less</pre>

(As a useful alternative to --pretend, you could use the --ask option - see ''man emerge'' for more information).

N.B - As of KDE 3.4 onwards, you will be able to utilise ''split ebuilds'' - this approach enables you to install individual KDE applications, without a plethora of other KDE apps automatically being installed (as in the monolithic approach).

== See also ==
* [[GenToo]]
* [[Installing Slackware and Gentoo]]
* [[USE flags]]
* [[Make.conf]]
* [[emerge]]
* [[paludis]]
* [[Common tasks]]
* [[Distribution specific tips and tricks]]
* [[Gentoo and distcc]]

== External links==
* [http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=157851 A sorted list of useflags for make.conf] (''forums.gentoo.org'').
* [http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=2&chap=1 Gentoo Portage Documentation] (''www.gentoo.org'')

Talk:Compiz

2009-11-12T17:41:33Z

ShadowCat8: Created page with 'As a note: Wasn't Compiz part of that development project that Novell started right after they bought '''SuSE'''? The project that gave birth to '''XGL'''?'

As a note: Wasn't Compiz part of that development project that Novell started right after they bought '''[[SuSE]]'''? The project that gave birth to '''[[XGL]]'''?

Compiz

2009-11-12T17:35:52Z

ShadowCat8: Minor spelling and grammatical corrections

'''Compiz''' is a composite [[window manager]] with very little desktop capabilities (no iconbar, application menus, etc). It is designed to be used as a drop-in replacement for other window managers in today's [[desktop environment]]s, such as [[KDE]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME GNOME], which provide these desktop utilities.

As a composite window manager, Compiz allows the mangling of the windows themselves. This is accomplished by use of 3D, and as such, Compiz requires 3D acceleration, as well as a supported X server (either one that uses [[AIGLX]] or the [[XGL]] server). Even the most basic of 3D acceleration is likely to be enough to run Compiz in a acceptable manner, although some visual effects may not be usable. All the effects that Compiz can perform are implemented as plug-ins, and the window decorations are handled by a 'window decorator' rather than Compiz itself. All the plug-ins can be activated or de-activated separately, and have actions bound to various key-combinations (which most plug-ins use to activate or de-activate their effects, at the very least). All key-combinations are customizable, along with various other preferences.

'''Compiz Fusion''' is a community project spawned out of Compiz's history. It contains its own window decorator, called Emerald, and several plug-ins. Both projects are currently (as of 2008) being developed, with Compiz handling the core functionality, and Compiz Fusion being more user-orientated and developing add-on plug-ins, themes, etc, in a effort to make things more user-friendly.

== External Links ==
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiz
* [http://www.compiz.org/ Compiz]
* [http://www.compiz-fusion.org/ Compiz Fusion]

File talk:Hosts

2009-11-12T17:25:34Z

ShadowCat8: Created page with 'How do I get rid of the following line at the top of the page? "No file by this name exists, but you can upload one." It's not available to delete from the edit page.'

How do I get rid of the following line at the top of the page?
"No file by this name exists, but you can upload one."

It's not available to delete from the edit page.

File:Hosts

2009-11-10T17:38:15Z

ShadowCat8: Re-save

The '''hosts''' file is a text file within an operating system that contains associations of IP addresses, hostnames and aliases for the system and the machines on the network that the system is aware of. While '''B'''erkeley '''I'''nternet '''N'''ame '''D'''omain ('''[[BIND]]''' a.k.a. [[DNS]]) servers will give the IP addresses for servers on the Internet, and within a local network if one is set up for it, the first systems any computer will know about as it boots are the ones in the hosts file.

=Creating a hosts file=

==Format of entries==
The format of entries within a hosts file is written as one line per entry containing the IP address of the host, followed by the host's canonical name followed by any aliases assigned to the host.
Examples:
<tt><CODE><PRE>127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain
192.168.1.15 thiscomputer.example.com thiscomp
75.126.162.205 wiki.linuxquestions.org LQWiki lqwiki</PRE></CODE></tt>

==Rules of hosts files==

#The fields within an entry must be separated by some number (greater than 0) of blanks and/or tabs.
#Host names must begin with an alphabetic character and end with an alphanumeric.
#Host names must be made up of only alphanumeric characters, minus signs ('-') and periods ('.').
#If a line contains a hash ('#') character, anything following the hash is ignored.

=Location of hosts file=

==*nix systems==
For the majority of Unix-based systems, the location for the hosts file is /etc/hosts.

==Windows 2000/XP==
For as much as Microsoft has tried rewriting all of computing and networking their own way, at some point, they had to join the rest of the world. Using the Microsoft terminology, in Windows XP/2K, the hosts file is located at %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

=Uses of the hosts file=

==Booting==
As written above, when a system is booting up, the first computers it will know about are the ones listed in the hosts file. For most systems, the entries in the hosts file will contain information about important hosts on the local network for when DNS isn't accessible/available.

==NIS==
'''N'''etwork '''I'''nformation '''S'''ervice ('''[[NIS]]''') is a network management system developed by Sun Microsystems. Networks that use NIS take the entries from the hosts files of the systems on the local network to build the NIS host database. On most NIS networks, every system on the local network will have an entry in their hosts file for every other host on the local network.

==Isolated networks==
Very small private networks that are isolated from contact with the Internet or any other network use the hosts file instead of DNS. Since the network is not connected to the Internet, setting up a DNS server on such a small network tends to be more work than it's worth.

=Considerations for using a hosts file=

==DNS versus hosts==
When setting up a hosts file, the question to keep in mind is; Who/What does this machine have to know about? Who/What is going to tell this machine? Well, there is a file that tells the machine which to check first when looking for another machine; [[nsswitch.conf]]. This file is also under the /etc/ directory and tells the machine what order it should look at DNS, NIS and the hosts file.

==Updating==
When using hosts files on a small network, and you have to make a change in a hosts file on one machine on the local network, you need to make sure that the change gets reflected in *all* hosts files on the network.

=Cool things to do with a hosts file=

==Bypass broken/incorrect DNS==
There are times that a website or server to which you are trying to connect on the internet has incorrect/false entries in the DNS tables. You know the server is there by IP address, but can't connect to the domain because of DNS entries. In cases like this, you can just make an entry in your hosts file. An old example from my hosts file:
<tt><CODE><PRE>195.56.146.238 www.openwrt.org downloads.openwrt.org wiki.openwrt.org dev.openwrt.org openwrt.org forum.openwrt.org</PRE></CODE></tt>
This was an entry I had in my hosts file during a period that the OpenWrt project was moving their servers. The new DNS had propagated already and where DNS was pointing, there was no server yet. So, I added the above line to be able to access the server at the previous location. As of this writing, openwrt.org is correctly responding at 78.24.191.177, so I have since commented out the entry.

==Cut down the amount of irritating banner ads==
Many folks get tired of those floating flash-banner ads that all but completely cover the screen, forcing you to click to just get to the page you asked for. Then there are all the banner ads that will also create a bunch of popups on your screen. Well, when you have at last had enough of those servers, you can stop the receiving of their traffic with a simple entry in your hosts file. Here's an example:
<tt><CODE><PRE>127.0.0.1 irritating.exampleadserver.com alternate.exampleadserver.com</PRE></CODE></tt>
Looping the entry for the offending advertising server back to your localhost will cause the areas mapped for the ads to give 404 errors in those advertising spots on the webpage.

File:Hosts

2009-11-10T17:32:29Z

ShadowCat8: Initial submission

The '''hosts''' file is a text file within an operating system that contains associations of IP addresses, hostnames and aliases for the system and the machines on the network that the system is aware of. While '''B'''erkeley '''I'''nternet '''N'''ame '''D'''omain ('''[[BIND]]''' a.k.a. [[DNS]]) servers will give the IP addresses for servers on the Internet, and within a local network if one is set up for it, the first systems any computer will know about as it boots are the ones in the hosts file.

=Creating a hosts file=

==Format of entries==
The format of entries within a hosts file is written as one line per entry containing the IP address of the host, followed by the host's canonical name followed by any aliases assigned to the host.
Examples:
<tt><CODE><PRE>127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain
192.168.1.15 thiscomputer.example.com thiscomp
75.126.162.205 wiki.linuxquestions.org LQWiki lqwiki</PRE></CODE></tt>

==Rules of hosts files==

#The fields within an entry must be separated by some number (greater than 0) of blanks and/or tabs.
#Host names must begin with an alphabetic character and end with an alphanumeric.
#Host names must be made up of only alphanumeric characters, minus signs ('-') and periods ('.').
#If a line contains a hash ('#') character, anything following the hash is ignored.

=Location of hosts file=

==*nix systems==
For the majority of Unix-based systems, the location for the hosts file is /etc/hosts.

==Windows 2000/XP==
For as much as Microsoft has tried rewriting all of computing and networking their own way, at some point, they had to join the rest of the world. Using the Microsoft terminology, in Windows XP/2K, the hosts file is located at %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

=Uses of the hosts file=

==Booting==
As written above, when a system is booting up, the first computers it will know about are the ones listed in the hosts file. For most systems, the entries in the hosts file will contain information about important hosts on the local network for when DNS isn't accessible/available.

==NIS==
'''N'''etwork '''I'''nformation '''S'''ervice ('''[[NIS]]''') is a network management system developed by Sun Microsystems. Networks that use NIS take the entries from the hosts files of the systems on the local network to build the NIS host database. On most NIS networks, every system on the local network will have an entry in their hosts file for every other host on the local network.

==Isolated networks==
Very small private networks that are isolated from contact with the Internet or any other network use the hosts file instead of DNS. Since the network is not connected to the Internet, setting up a DNS server on such a small network tends to be more work than it's worth.

=Considerations for using a hosts file=

==DNS versus hosts==
When setting up a hosts file, the question to keep in mind is; Who/What does this machine have to know about? Who/What is going to tell this machine? Well, there is a file that tells the machine which to check first when looking for another machine; [[nsswitch.conf]]. This file is also under the /etc/ directory and tells the machine what order it should look at DNS, NIS and the hosts file.

==Updating==
When using hosts files on a small network, and you have to make a change in a hosts file on one machine on the local network, you need to make sure that the change gets reflected in *all* hosts files on the network.

=Cool things to do with a hosts file=

==Bypass broken/incorrect DNS==
There are times that a website or server to which you are trying to connect on the internet has incorrect/false entries in the DNS tables. You know the server is there by IP address, but can't connect to the domain because of DNS entries. In cases like this, you can just make an entry in your hosts file. An old example from my hosts file:
<tt><CODE><PRE>195.56.146.238 www.openwrt.org downloads.openwrt.org wiki.openwrt.org dev.openwrt.org openwrt.org forum.openwrt.org</PRE></CODE></tt>
This was an entry I had in my hosts file during a period that the OpenWrt project was moving their servers. The new DNS had propagated already and where DNS was pointing, there was no server yet. So, I added the above line to be able to access the server at the previous location. As of this writing, openwrt.org is correctly responding at 78.24.191.177, so I have since commented out the entry.

==Cut down the amount of irritating banner ads==
Many folks get tired of those floating flash-banner ads that all but completely cover the screen, forcing you to click to just get to the page you asked for. Then there are all the banner ads that will also create a bunch of popups on your screen. Well, when you have at last had enough of those servers, you can stop the receiving of their traffic with a simple entry in your hosts file. Here's an example:
<tt><CODE><PRE>127.0.0.1 irritating.exampleadserver.com alternate.exampleadserver.com</PRE></CODE></tt>
Looping the entry for the offending advertising server back to your localhost will cause the areas mapped for the ads to give 404 errors in those advertising spots on the webpage.