Linux Community

Oggify (improved)

2008-09-05T03:57:07Z

Aside from any argument over which audio file format is best (I like FOSS, thus ogg), I reworked my oggify script, attempting to implement what I learned here.

#!/bin/bash

# convert mp3 and wav to ogg
# tonytraductor / http://www.BaldwinSoftware.com

echo -e "Oggify, at your service.\nOggify will convert all mp3 and wav files in this directory to ogg files, and REMOVE the old mp3 and wav files.\nFirst, it will make all file extensions lower case, and remove spaces from the file names.\n\nDo you wish to continue? (type y to continue)"

read ans

if [ $ans == y ]; then

echo "Removing spaces in names, and removing capitals from file extensions..."

##
# Note: Ubuntu users (possibly any deb based distro?) will have to alter the rename command to
# rename 's/\ /_/' *.(file extension)

# make extensions all lower case

for i in *.MP3
do
rename MP3 mp3 *.MP3
done

for i in .WAV
do
rename WAV wav *.WAV
done

# remove spaces in names

for i in .mp3
do
rename \ _ *.mp3
done

for i in *.wav
do
rename \ _ *.wav
done

echo "Converting mp3 files to wav..."

# converting all mp3 files to wav,
# so there will be nothing but wavs
# DELETING the mp3 files as soon as the wav is completed

for i in *.mp3
do

n=$i

echo "Converting $n to wav..."

mpg123 -w "$n.wav" "$n"

echo "Stripping mp3 extension from wav file name..."

rename .mp3. . $n.wav

echo "Removing mp3 file..."

rm $n

done

# and, now, converting those wav files to ogg
# DELETING wav files after oggs are created

echo "Converting wav files to ogg..."

for i in *.wav
do
n=$i
oggenc $n

echo "Ogg created, removing wav file..."
rm $n

done

# more clean up

echo -e "Your oggs are all fresh and toasty and ready to enjoy, friend.\nHappy Listening!"

exit

else

echo -e "Oh..okay...Ogg files are an excellent audio file format, though.\nYou can learn more about them at www.vorbis.com\nB'bye now..."

fi

exit

# This program was written by tony baldwin - tonytraductor@linguasos.org
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Linux Promotional Posters

2008-09-04T14:06:58Z

Might be old but I just saw them for the first time yesterday:

Linux Promotional Posters.

HTML exe creator

2008-09-03T03:20:45Z

Years ago I made a CD menu out of HTML files - I don't remember the app but it took an existing HTML page(or pages) and made that into an executable.

Is there a good open source app that does the same thing? I run Ubuntu.
Thnks!

Oggify... converting all your wav and mp3 to ogg

2008-09-02T19:03:11Z

I have too many wav and mp3 files, really.
I mean wav files are BIG.
And mp3 files suck, and are a proprietary format.
So, I wanted to convert ALL of my tunes to ogg-vorbis format,
an open source audio file format.

So, I wrote this:

#!/bin/bash

# convert mp3 and wav to ogg
# copyright tonytraductor / http://www.BaldwinSoftware.com
# released under the terms of the Gnu Public License v.2 or later.
# no promises...if it breaks something, call your mom...

echo "Oggify, at your service."

# removing spaces in names or
## mp3s

echo "Removing spaces in names..."

for i in $(ls -1 *.mp3)
do
rename \ _ *.mp3
done

## and wavs

for i in $(ls -1 *.wav)
do
rename \ _ *.wav
done

echo "Converting mp3 files to wav..."

# converting all mp3 files to wav,
#so there will be nothing but wavs

for i in $(ls -1 *.mp3)
do
n=$i
mpg123 -w "$n.wav" "$n"
done

# stripping the .mp3 extension from filename.mp3.wav

for i in $(ls -1 *.wav)
do
rename .mp3. . *.wav
done

# clean up as we go

rm -f *.mp3

# and, now, converting those wav files to ogg

echo "Converting wav to ogg..."

for i in *.wav
do
oggenc $i
done

# more clean up

echo "Removing mp3 and wav files..."

# removing all those big, fat wav files.

rm -f *.wav

echo "Your oggs are all fresh and toasty and ready to enjoy, friend."
echo "Happy listening!"

exit

I had written a gui version, too, with zenity, but, bah...
Who needs a gui?

Interactive map of GNU/Linux OS and FOSS

2008-09-02T00:51:07Z

Comments are welcome

Wait, what?

2008-08-31T20:40:07Z

Has anyone heard about this? When we, Verizon subscribers, visit the site espn360.com we're greeted with the front page and a message: "Congratulations! Your high speed internet service provider, Verizon, carries ESPN360.com."

I run a quick Google search and, of course, run into the Wikipedia article, quoting:
"ESPN360.com is a broadband network for live sports programming in the United States, Mexico, Brazil and Europe. In the U.S. the network can only be accessed through Internet service providers who have signed up and paid ESPN for the programming. The entire service is free to the individual (the ISP pays for the cost) with few advertisements. There are occasions where ESPN360.com is "all access" and permits all individuals to access the site. These periods are advertised on the ESPN family of networks. (In that way, ESPN360.com is similar to the ESPN cable networks, in which distributors sign carriage deals.) Outside the US the service is available via both subscribing and non-subscribing ISP's with some of the content offered on a subscription basis only."

What?

I'm guessing (because I've not researched it) that, because ESPN is not an ISP, they can do whatever they feel like regarding subscription and availability. But in my educated opinion, this is borderline Net Neutrality issues, isn't it? Am I wrong? Can anyone who wants to sign up for it? If that's not the case, this reeks of foul play.

automagical archiving of POP/gmail?

2008-08-31T00:30:55Z

I've just recently set myself up with gmail, and set it up to pick up mail from a couple of my domains, and set up
thunderbird on my home machine to pick up the gmail via pop, but, use the web interface on my laptop to access mail, and, I'm
kind of thinking at this point that it would simplify my existence if I only used the web interface.
Except one thing.
I want to have my mail archived here, in addition to on the google gmail servers.
Call me what you will...a skeptic, paranoid...I don't know, but I've seen free web services and mail accounts, etc. come and go,
or, stop being free, etc., and, for this and related reasons, I just want to make sure I have all mail backed up in my home/office.

So, I'm thinking, probably there's a way I can set up procmail or mutt or something, with cron, or something, to regularly download
the mail and archive it here, while only reading it on the gmail web interface.

Has anyone done this?
I'm sure I'm not crazy to think this can be done, but, in truth, I've never done anything quite like it.
I've only ever used POP or webmail interfaces, and never dealt with retreiving mail via a text-only environment.
Anyone have any tips or know of a good how-to that might be useful?

thanks
tony

Reiser File System

2008-08-30T04:37:53Z

I'm not going to make jokes in this post, because it really is not a joking matter. Although I'd be lying if I said I haven't laughed at some of the jokes I've heard on this story.

But I will seriously ask. The Namesys website is down and has been for some time now. And obviously Hans Reiser won't be doing any coding for at least 15 years.

So has any other group picked up development and/or support of ReiserFS?

Registrars/Hosts?

2008-08-30T04:33:32Z

I have been working on a Linux distribution for quite some time, and I have run out of money to pay the URL fee... gibbix.org ----- yeah. Sad, huh? But, I am a college student, so I guess this kind of crap happens. I have just plum run out of money. The system is called Gibbix. It's a BusyBox system with a smattering of other influences. The idea for the system is that it is a bit back to basics. It's meant for seasoned Linux veterans, and it's meant for only those who really want to learn or those who really want to be taken back to some older times. Anyway, I had posted about this system before, but things changed along the way. Now, I have to search for a low cost domain registrar, and if anyone knows of any good and inexpensive hosts... I would love to hear about them! Thx.

Java IDE

2008-08-29T16:16:49Z

I'm taking a CS class that teaches basic Java concept. (Sob, we don't get to arrays until November and the semester is over in December.) Anyway they use JCreator on Windows, but in my home/office I am almost exclusive Linux/Ubuntu. I know that there are a number of Java IDE for Linux, but ideally I would like something kind of basic.

Does anyone know of a basic IDE for Java that is simple and easy to use?

I'm looking for experience here, I know I could use Google/Synaptic and find one, but I need experience.

Thanks in advance.

Multi-bootable USB media

2008-08-28T23:53:09Z

So I'm wondering if there's a way I can put multiple bootable CD-Images (ie like an Ubuntu LIVE-CD, etc) on a USB stick that I have, and have something like LILO come up on boot asking which image to boot from, anyone know if this is possible, and how to do it?

In a move of sheer genius I removed all my kernels

2008-08-28T00:40:24Z

So yeah, go ahead and laugh.

Anyway, I don't want to have to reinstall (I do have a separate /home partition, but my root partition isn't actually big enough for an install), so I'm thinking I just need some sort of kernel back, and then I can go and install it normally. I'm using Ubuntu btw, if that makes a difference.

I have an older Ubuntu live CD that I'm using to post right now. I tried copying over the kernel from there, but I get the following error when I try to manually start it from Grub (by first typing in kernel with various options, then typing in boot).

VFS: Cannot open root device or unknown block (0,0)
Please append a correct "root=" boot option
Kernel panic not synking: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown - block (0,0)

[edit]Well that's what chroot does. Thanks simbab, you're my hero.[/edit]

cleaning up?

2008-08-27T17:30:27Z

So I've been a sysadmin for many years, dealing with mostly Linux servers, but I've only been using Linux exclusivley as a desktop for about 4....

We all know that windows machines tend to bog down and crap out, it's only a matter of time. And most of us, being computer folk, know how to clean it up and get it running nice and shiny-like again. Myself included. What I've never had to deal with (not having to deal with user applications being installed in the server world) is a Linux machine starting to act this way. Now, I'll give it that I've had this system running for 4 years, much longer than a Windows machine would last given heavy day to day use with games, web, email etc. - But, now it's starting to bog down, and I don't know where to begin cleaning it up. I have plenty of disk space, my RAM is sufficient..

Any ideas where to start cleaning up and getting things running smoothly again?

Gkrellm mailcheck and gmail? other biffity options?

2008-08-27T01:44:38Z

Why won't the gkrellm2 mailcheck thingy inform me of new mails on my gmail account?

And, yes, before you ask the obvious, I have enabled POP mail in gmail, and am successfully
downloading and reading messages in Thunderbird.

I passed the same parameters to gkrellm that I did to Thunderbird.
POP server: pop.gmail.com
use ssl, port 995
username
password
blah, blah...
But no flying tux, no flipping envelope...no number of new messages...no joy...

Or, if that's just hopeless, has anyone another suggestion?
I have xbiff on here, but can't quite figure out how to set it up.
xbiff -h
is rather vague.
I figure I could load that in my slit {
proc digression {} {
if [$mindstatus eq {wandering in the gutter}]; then
{
puts "...uh...hehe...could I load my app in your slit, baby...huh, huh..."
}
}, right there with gkrellm, and stuff.
Or, is there another good mail biff thingy for use with fluxbox?
I'm using LinguasOS,
a remaster of PCFluxboxOS.

Gkrellm was checking my mail before, from several domains...but, now I am using gmail to collect from several addresses on said several domains I own, so that I can have it all in one place, available online, and load it to various machines (laptop, main office box, etc.) via pop, etc.

Thanks
/tony

Ventrilo or similar?

2008-08-23T13:53:48Z

So, my boyfriend is a gamer. My laptop died, so he's letting me take his laptop to work (I work 16 hour overnight shifts, it's hell without a laptop). He's going to be using my kubuntu 8.04 desktop while I'm at work. He plays World of Warcraft, and his guild regularly runs a raid the night I'm at work. I don't want him letting me borrow his laptop to stop him from running his raid, so I'm trying to get WoW and Ventrilo set up. I feel pretty good about the WoW setup, but wanted to know if there are any tips for Ventrilo. Wine App DB lists it as silver or gold, depending which listing I look at.
I'd also be totally fine with something like Ventrilo, but all his guildmates are on Ventrilo so it'd have to let him connect with them. I have no idea how any of this is set up, cos I don't game.

TclScreenUp

2008-08-23T12:16:19Z

I thought I'd share this with you.
I wrote a little tcl-ish utility that grabs a screenshot, allowing you to set a delay
prior to grabbing the shot (perhaps to minimize the window of the app, etc.),
allows you to set the dimensions of the shot, shows a preview, offers the option
to edit in GIMP, then, uploads it to your web server, then, displays the url, and offers you the ability to copy/paste
the url (for quick posting to your LJ!), or open it immediately in your preferred browser
for a check/preview thereof.
It allows you to save profiles with your server information, preferred browser, etc.
You can have multiple profiles, since you choose which to load (useful if you use
more than one webhost, such as I do, etc.)

Handy for grabbing quick screenshots to post here or elsewhere on LJ, or
to your MySpace, or where ever you like.

Oh, it uses ImageMagick's import to grab shots (this is Linux only), and requires
Tcl 8.5, tcl ftp, and Img.
(Instructions for acquiring all of the above are in the readme).
I would have used scp for moving the images, but I only have ftp access to several
of my webhosts, since they are on shared servers.

It is GPL-ed, of course.

More infor here.

Linux music making tools

2008-08-18T04:42:46Z

so I'm starting a goth/punk/industrial/whatever project, and I'm looking for computer tools to help me out. I have quite a large of programming knowledge, so I can probably use CSound and Supercollider and Chuck, but if you know any other sound programming tools that are free and work on linux, please let me know, basically I'm making this post to try to find as many open source linux-runnable sound/music software as I can, preferabally as much of it as I can that can be used in a live performing atmosphere. Stuff that can take in audio and MIDI signals, and I can write stuff to process it on the fly. Hardware isn't that important as I have a pretty powerful computer and a good (read: not gaming) soundcard lying around somewhere that I'm going to install any day now. Thanks for any help you can provide.

linux @ 2008-08-17T21:24:00

2008-08-18T02:24:23Z

Does anybody know of a Windows program that mimics the behaviour of OSX and most (all?) Linux systems when a disc/drive is inserted into the system? I'd like an icon to show up on my desktop when a DVD or a hard drive or anything is put into my computer. For XP, specifically.

linux @ 2008-08-16T21:47:00

2008-08-17T01:47:59Z

a while back i posted this
and i come back to you with the same problem.
jedi_diplomat suggested "It almost sounds like X didn't start correctly. That's happened to me once or twice. Um...I fix it by rebooting, or hitting Ctrl+Alt+F1 and then Ctrl+ALT=F7, which sometimes works when X freezes." but that didn't work.

i've gotten my applications and applets on my taskbar running again, but the actual windows aren't showing up.

the thing on top of my taskbar is the external task bar and my windows will show up there, but not on the bottom one.
the thing in the corner is the kasbar.

external task bar:

kasbar:

so all my windows appear there, but not on my real task bar and i can't figure out why. i had my dad take a look at it and he can't figure it out. i don't really know if it's something in konsole or what.

ideas? help?
keep in mind, i'm semi retarded and i ended up screwing up my kubuntu for awhile by trying to manually update it through konsole. so very detailed (easy) instructions would be so so lovely.

Image map software

2008-08-16T11:18:52Z

I haven't been able to find a linux imagemap program - does one even exist?

New Laptop

2008-08-15T16:33:57Z

I am having a problem finding a Unix-like OS for my new laptop (Compaq Presario CQ50). The only Linux distribution that I have seen that came close to working was Pardus. With Pardus I had sound and wireless networking, but I couldn't get any video driver to work other than vesa. I have yet to try Solaris. PCBSD would go into the installer if I used x86, but not AMD64 (common problem with all unices). I would prefer to use a 64bit OS that can support a dual core arch... but if I must use 32bit that's fine. I really just hate Windows Vista, and Compaq/HP has not made XP drivers available. Further more, I love GNU/Linux and because Linux has not worked on this laptop, I have begun looking into other Unix systems (mainly BSD and Solaris).

if external drive is not mounted?

2008-08-13T20:57:49Z

So... Is there a way to tell the file system not to write to a mount point if the device is not mounted?

lets say I have an external device mounted at /mnt/ext-disk

a script is set to write some backups there

if the disk is not mounted, the files get written to the root filesystem, which of course, in my case, fills up the root filesystem causing all kinds of havoc.

now I realize I could add some checking to my script to make sure the disk is mounted, but I wonder if there is a better way?

BSOD Beijing

2008-08-12T16:35:37Z

So apparently, on the olympic stadium roof in Beijing moving images were being displayed. This would have an awesome effect as one can imagine. You could display blue skies, or starry skies, or ocean scenes, or Blue Screens of Death. Apparently the latter is what was chosen.

This is yet one more reason to use GNU/Linux systems instead of Win32 or Win64. Apparently, Bill Gates attended the ceremony... I wonder what he thought?

gvfsd-cdda in Ubuntu Hardy

2008-08-10T13:39:26Z

Assuming this is a deamon (and it's not terribly critical), where do I go to kill this thing and make sure it never starts again? I'm having the same issue as the guys in this thread on UbuntuForums.

Anyone know it's purpose?

I think this thing is why abcde throws an access error and why K3B asks me to kill it every time I want to rip a CD.

Many thanks in advance.

xlock or lock screen question

2008-08-09T18:16:37Z

I'd like to be able to lock the screen on my laptop, but don't want to download xcreensaver with all of the screensavers (trying to save space on the hdd, since it's only 6gb, and at the moment only has c. 2.8gb free).
Is there a way to lock the screen other than xscreensaver-command lock, in fluxbox (no gnome or kde, thanks), or,
to apt-get xscreensaver without all the screen savers?
This is on Linguas OS, based on PCLinuxOS.

thanks
tony