Linux for you -jan09

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Adobe announces Linux Version of AIR 1.5 Adobe has released Adobe AIR 1.5 for Linux. Adobe AIR 1.5, a key component of the Adobe Flash Platform, enables Web developers to use HTML, JavaScript, ActionScript and the free, open source Flex framework to deliver Web applications outside the browser.

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Roll Out a DVD Movie | Coding an Android Phone Dialler Rs 100 ISSN 0974-1054 VD0 Dra 1 eedo Fr Fe THE COMPLETE MAGAZINE ON OPEN SOURCE VOLUME: 06 ISSUE: 11 January 2009 116 PAGES ISSUE# 72 An Effortless fire it up! Upgrade Vulnerability Assessment ...but is it really worth it? Get started with OpenVAS Fedora How Secure Localisation is a WEP Key Project Hah! I can crack it within minutes 80 languages, and there's Network room for more... Troubleshooting Some handy tools Fedora India to get the job done Sneak-peek into Python Scripts India-based community PackageKit for your home network A distribution-neutral Graph Your Network software manager Cacti makes it oh-so-easy! Published by EFY—ISO 9001:2000 Certified India INR 100 Exclusive Interviews Singapore S$ 9.5 Malaysia MYR 19 Paul Frields, Fedora Project Leader & Max Spevack of Community Arch team
!?!!?!! Who said, “Opportu W Wh Who said, “Opportunity tun !?! Who said, “Opportunity W d O knocksknocksonce” once” k only only Who said, “Opportun d Op O !?! r said, “Opportun RHCE !?! at just Rs. 2,500* only r Offe y till onl 08 valid Feb 15, 20
Contents January 2009 • Vol. 06 no. 11 • ISSn 0974-1054 FOR YOU & ME ISSuE SpEcIal 18 Director’s Cut: Let’s Roll Out A DVD Movie 24 Fedora 10: An Effortless Upgrade 28 Interviews: Fedora Project Leader Paul Frields & Community Architecture fire it up! manager Max Spevack 34 Fedora India: A Collaborative configure An Effortless Upgrade && make ...but is it really worth it?..................................24 36 Like the Comfort of Your Locality Exclusive Interviews 38 Now, Package Management is Intelligent Paul Frields, Fedora Project Leader & by Design Max Spevack of Community Arch team..........28 . 42 Virtualisation Out-of-the-Box 48 The Little GNOME Stands Tall Fedora India Sneak-peek into India-based community........34 GEEks Fedora Localisation Project 50 Programming in Python for Friends and 80 languages, and there's room for more... ...36 Relatives: Part 9—Scripts for Home Network PackageKit A distribution-neutral software manager.........38 AdMin 54 Sniff! Sniff!! Who Clogs My Network? 58 It’s So Easy to See Your Network Activity, hah! 62 Graph Your Network! 68 Have You Done a Vulnerability Assessment? PlAYERs Cover illustration courtesy: fedoraproject.org/wiki/Artwork/F10Themes/Solar 106 Virtual Microsoft | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com
Contents lFY dvd dEvElOPERs 76 My Own Phone Dialler Only on Android 82 Session Management Using PHP: Part 2—Server-side Sessions 88 The Crux of Linux Notifier Chains 92 What’s in the Glass(Fish)? COlUMns 47 FreedomYug: How To Melt Down 71 FOSS is __FUN__: Freedom and Security 91 The Joy of Programming: Some Puzzling Things About C Language! lFY Cd 96 CodeSport 98 A Voyage To The Kernel: Segment: 2.2, Day 7 REGUlAR FEATUREs 06 Editorial 08 Feedback 10 Technology News 16 Q&A Section 72 Industry News 95 Linux Jobs 102 Tips & Tricks 104 CD Page Note: All articles in this issue, except for interviews, verbatim quotes, or unless otherwise explicitly mentioned, will be released under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence a month after the date of publication. Refer to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ for a copy 108 FOSS Yellow Pages of the licence. www.openITis.com | LInuX For you | January 2009 |
E D I T O R I A L Editor Dear Readers, Rahul chopRa Editorial, Subscriptions First, let me wish you all a Very Happy New Year on behalf of the entire LINUX & advertising For You team. DElhi (hQ) To start off this year with a BIG BANG, we have for you the distro that many of D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi 110020 our readers keep asking for—Fedora’s latest release! Along with it comes a brief Phone: (011) 26810602, 26810603 Fax: 26817563 review of Fedora 10, interviews with Fedora’s project leader, Paul Frields, and E-mail: info@efyindia.com Max Spevack (the guy who heads the community architecture team), a feature BaNGaloRE on Fedora’s Indian community, and more. No. 9, 17th Main, 1st Cross, HAL II Stage, For those of you who are into IT management, there’s an additional bonanza— Indiranagar, Bangalore 560008 Ph: (080) 25260023; Fax: 25260394 our issue theme focused on network monitoring and management. Apart from E-mail: efyblr@efyindia.com the latest editions of the top FOSS solutions related to this theme that have been chENNai packed onto the LFY CD, we also have four articles that should empower you to M. Nackeeran DBS House, 31-A, Cathedral Garden Road manage IT better. Near Palmgroove Hotel, Chennai 600034 Ph: 044-28275191; Mobile: 09962502404 Every time we approach the New Year, the buzz at LINUX For You increases E-mail: efychn2@efyindia.com —all thanks to Open Source India (a.k.a. LinuxAsia). Yes, it’s time for us to start customer care E-mail: support@efyindia.com finalising the speakers’ list and push sponsors to fund the event. Thankfully, some inroads have already been made this year. Back issues Kits ‘n’ Spares D-88/5, Okhla Industrial Area, The 2009 edition of OSI is going to be held at Chennai from 12th to 14th March. Phase I, New Delhi 110020 The venue is the Chennai Trade Centre, and the event is titled ‘Open Source Phone: (011) 32975879, 26371661-2 E-mail: kits@efyindia.com India Tech Days’, which we believe best symbolises the heightened focus on the Website: www.kitsnspares.com content and the target audience of this edition. Our primary audience is going to advertising be IT managers and software developers. But plans are being finalised to reach KolKata D.C. Mehra out to newbies too. Ph: (033) 22294788 Telefax: 22650094 It is to be our first time in Chennai, but going by the response we have E-mail: efycal@efyindia.com Mobile: 09432422932 received so far from our readers and open source followers in the region, it mumBai seems OSI Tech Days is going to be an event that will be remembered for all Flory D’Souza the right reasons. Ph: (022) 24950047, 24928520; Fax: 24954278 E-mail: efymum@efyindia.com Since 2003, when this event was launched as LinuxAsia, our mission has been to puNE Zakir Shaikh create a platform that enables an increase in the development and adoption of Mobile: 09372407753 open source in India, and in Asia. E-mail: efypune@efyindia.com hYDERaBaD We invite your views and support to achieve that mission. P.S. Muralidharan Ph: 09849962660 E-mail: efyhyd@efyindia.com Exclusive News-stand Best wishes! Distributor (india) iNDia BooK houSE pvt ltD Arch No, 30, below Mahalaxmi Bridge, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai - 400034 Tel; 24942538, 24925651, 24927383 Fax; 24950392 E-mail: info@ibhworld.com Printed, published and owned by Ramesh Chopra. Printed at Ratna Offset, C-101, DDA Shed, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase Rahul Chopra I, New Delhi 110020, on 28th of the previous month, and published from D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New Editor, LFY Delhi 110020. Copyright © 2008. All articles in this issue, except for interviews, verbatim quotes, or unless otherwise lfyedit@efyindia.com explicitly mentioned, will be released under under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License a month after the date of publication. Refer to http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ for a copy of the licence. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility whatsoever is taken for any loss due to publishing errors. Articles that cannot be used are returned to the authors if accompanied by a self-addressed and sufficiently stamped envelope. But no responsibility is taken for any loss or delay in returning the material. Disputes, if any, will be settled in a New Delhi court only. | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com
You said it… regular reader of the magazine since August 2008. I’m currently using Ubuntu Ultimate and I’ve a request: can you include Ubuntu Ultimate 2009 and printf(); no use of APIs,” did you mean Mandriva Powerpack 2009 in the LFY to say APIs like dlopen() and dlsym()? DVD? As an Ubuntu fan, I’m very passionate about Ubuntu Ultimate We need to do these acrobatics and also Mandriva. Since I don’t because we are linking a non- have broadband connectivity, I can’t standard C library and the symbol download these images. address of the ‘display’ function is not —Sarath Mohan, by e-mail known to the compiler. Since glibc is Thanks for the article on present with the compiler itself, the ED: It’s great to know that LFY is libraries. Some of them are address resolution is not required. helping you in your journey with Linux really helpful—it helps me to Going further, if you were able to :-) Mandriva ‘Free’ 2009 was bundled understand the importance of some build the ‘display’ executable in the with the November issue. Check it out! coding -- for example, exern ‘C’. dynamic library section, try: The Mandriva Powerpack editions —Vineesh Kumar, by e-mail to are not freely distributable. As for Nilesh Govande, on his article on [root@localhost dynamic]# nm -u display the Ubuntu Ultimate edition, it was Libraries published on Page 66 in U dlclose@@GLIBC_2.0 released after our Ubuntu multi-boot the December 2008 issue U dlerror@@GLIBC_2.0 DVD was packed. So, we couldn’t U dlopen@@GLIBC_2.1 bundle it. Let’s hope they release the First of all, thanks for this U dlsym@@GLIBC_2.0 Ultimate edition on time for v9.04. We’ll wonderful article—it really U exit@@GLIBC_2.0 surely try to bundle it then. helped me a lot. I am new to the C U fprintf@@GLIBC_2.0 programming language and my w __gmon_start__ Errata question may seem pretty naive but w _Jv_RegisterClasses Misprints in December 2008 issue: some help would be really great. U __libc_start_main@@GLIBC_2.0  Pg 37: In column 1, first paragraph, When you described the process of the spelling of Kasargod was spelled as writing main.c for a dynamic library, So the functions dlopen(), dlsym(), Kazargode. you showed it with different APIs. etc, are present in your libc itself. Even:  Pg 37: Anoop John’s name was misspelled as Anoop Johnson My question is: When we call /******a.c*******/  Pg 37: It was a 44-day long Freedom Walk, printf() in the normal way in, say, #include and not 43 days long as printed. example.c, even then it is dynamically int main()  Pg 88: In column 2, the second command linked. Am I right? But in that case we { snippet reads create table session; use just call it printf(), with no use of APIs. printf(“Hello!!!!!\n”); session; It should have read create database Can you please spare a few moments return 0; session; use session; of your time to explain the difference, }  Pg 89: In column 2, source code for login. or suggest some reading material #gcc a.c php reads: so I can equip myself with sufficient #./a.out $con=mysql_connect(‘127.0.0.1’,’root’,’sivasi knowledge before proceeding? Hello!!!!! va’) or dye(mysql_error()); —Himanshu Mall, by e-mail to mysql_select_db(‘session’,$con) or Nilesh Govande on his article on Hence, even the linking of glibc is dye(mysql_error()); Libraries invisible to us. But if you really want It should have read: $con=mysql_connect(‘127.0.0.1’,’user’,’pass’ to view it, try: ) or die(mysql_error()); Nilesh replies: To answer your mysql_select_db(‘session’,$con) or question on whether when printf() #gcc -v a.c die(mysql_error()); is called the normal way, is it even Please send your comments or suggestions to: then dynamically linked...you are Now, notice the output! absolutely right, it is. In fact, printf() The Editor LINUX FOR YOU Magazine being part of libc will always get I’m studying in the 10th D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi 110020 linked dynamically unless you specify standard and want to enhance Ph.: 011-26810601/02/03, Fax: 26817563 -static at compile time. When you my knowledge of Linux. Thanks for e-mail: lfyedit@efyindia.com Website: www.openITis.com wrote, “But then there we just call it making me a Linux geek. I’ve been a | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com
TECHNOLOGY NEWS openSUSE 11.1 eliminates the EULA MySQL 5.1 simplifies The openSUSE project has released version 11.1 of its operating system with management of large-scale significant enhancements to desktop productivity, entertainment applications, and database apps software and systems management. The new version was entirely developed using Designed to improve performance the recently released openSUSE Build and simplify the management of Service 1.0, a collaboration system large-scale database applications, the that enables contributors to work production-ready MySQL 5.1 has been closely together on Linux packages or released. MySQL 5.1 features a number solution stacks. Updates to openSUSE of new enterprise-class enhancements, 11.1 include: kernel 2.6.27.7, which including table and index partitioning, adds support for a number of new row-based and hybrid replication, devices and improved video camera an event scheduler, along with a new support; remote desktop experience MySQL Query Analyser. with Nomad; improvements to YaST MySQL 5.1 is available now for a that includes an improved partitioner, wide variety of hardware and software new printer module, and a new platforms, including Red Hat Enterprise module to check system security; Linux, SuSE Enterprise Linux Server, latest versions of major applications Microsoft Windows, Solaris 10 including Firefox 3.0.4, OpenOffice.org 3.0, GNOME 2.24.1, KDE 4.1.3 and KDE Operating System (OS), Macintosh 3.5.10 and Mono 2.0.1; further improvements to software management through OS X, Free BSD, HP-UX, IBM AIX, improvements to the zypper/libzypp utilities; and much more. IBM i5/OS and other popular Linux Additionally, this release also brings in a simpler licence that eliminates the distributions. For downloads and more EULA and removes software that previously made it difficult to redistribute information on MySQL 5.1, go to dev. openSUSE. Version 11.1 can be freely downloaded now at www.opensuse.org. mysql.com/downloads. 3D graphics acceleration and bridged-networking with BBC iPlayer comes to Linux VirtualBox 2.1 The British Broadcasting Corporation Sun Microsystems has announced a new version of Sun xVM VirtualBox (BBC) and Adobe Systems have desktop virtualisation software. Sun claims that users of version 2.1 will announced the public beta of the benefit from significant improvements in graphics and network performance, new BBC iPlayer Desktop download easier configuration, hardware platform support for the latest processors and manager built on Adobe AIR. The additional interoperability. new BBC iPlayer Desktop beta will The new version boasts of accelerated 3D graphics, improved network enable Linux (and also Mac) users performance that makes network intensive to download programmes to their applications like rich media faster and desktops. Previously, the ability to finally introduces bridged networking download programmes was only configurations, and comes with built- available to Windows users. The new in iSCSI support to connect to storage download manager allows users to view systems. In addition, xVM VirtualBox their favourite BBC shows, online or 2.1 software offers improved support for offline. The BBC iPlayer Desktop beta VMware’s and Microsoft’s virtualisation also integrates Adobe Flash Rights formats and enables support for the new Management Server software for Intel Core micro-architecture in the Intel content protection. Core i7 processor (codenamed Nehalem). The BBC iPlayer Desktop application It also allows users to run a powerful on Adobe AIR will be available to BBC 64-bit guest OS on 32-bit host platforms without the need to upgrade the host OS, iPlayer Labs users, who can sign up at while taking advantage of multi-thread applications on powerful hardware. xVM www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/labs. It will be VirtualBox software is available free of charge from the VirtualBox.org. rolled out to all users during 2009. 10 | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com
TECHNOLOGY NEWS Python 3.0 is now intentionally backwards incompatible Movial Octopus: A central point Python developers have released the final version of Python 3.0 (also called Python of contact for all multimedia 3000 or Py3k), a major reworking of the programming language that is incompatible requirements with the Python 2 series. The language is mostly the same, but many details, Movial has announced it is contributing especially how built-in objects like dictionaries and strings work, have changed the Movial Octopus Media Engine, the considerably, and a lot of deprecated features have finally been removed. multimedia enabling source code, to the Also, the standard library has been reorganised in a mobile Linux community. Octopus uses few prominent places, developers said. the OpenMAX standard and enables In a document outlining the changes, Guido easy integration of multimedia into van Rossum, creator, Python, said, “Nevertheless, different mobile applications. after digesting the changes, you’ll find that Python really hasn’t changed all that The Movial Octopus Media Engine much—by and large, we’re mostly fixing well-known annoyances and warts, and controls audio and video content removing a lot of old cruft.” that can be read from local files or The print statement has been replaced with a print() function, with keyword streamed over the network. Octopus arguments to replace most of the special syntax of the old print statement (PEP provides a higher-level API for end-user 3105). applications to manage multimedia Another major change is that Unicode will now be the default. Python 3.0 uses content. Target applications include the concepts of text and (binary) data instead of Unicode strings and 8-bit strings. media players as well as voice and video All text is Unicode; however encoded Unicode is represented as binary data. call applications for devices such as The type used to hold text is str, the type used to hold data is bytes. The biggest MIDs and Netbooks. Octopus works difference with the 2.x situation is that any attempt to mix text and data in Python as a background service that several 3.0 raises TypeError, whereas if you were to mix Unicode and 8-bit strings in Python applications can use simultaneously. 2.x, it would work if the 8-bit string happened to contain only 7-bit (ASCII) bytes, For media content operations, such but you would get UnicodeDecodeError if it contained non-ASCII values. as video calls, Internet streaming and MP3 playback, Octopus uses either Hackable:1, a new distro for hackable devices GStreamer or OpenMAX IL components. A new distribution for the Neo and other hackable devices dubbed Hackable:1 Developers can download Octopus has been released. Based on the DebianOnFreerunner, it packages the OM2007.2 at sandbox.movial.com/wiki/index. applications, extending and bug-fixing them. It is intended to become a stable php/Octopus. The current client API is platform for the VAR market and is fun to use for everybody else. Some of the a D-Bus API and plans are underway to highlights include: OM2007.2 packaged as .deb offer an OpenMAX AL API in 2009. packages that include the dialler, SMS, contacts, neod, phone-kit, gsmd, matchbox and panel Novell’s new PlateSpin applets; improved sound quality ( fixes for gsmd supports leading hypervisors for echo cancellation); extended AUX and power Novell has enhanced its PlateSpin menus; simple onscreen keyboard with all hacker Workload Management solution. characters on a short press on the AUX button; The new PlateSpin Recon, PlateSpin GPS works out of the box; many GPRS providers Migrate, PlateSpin Protect and preconfigured for easy use; and GSM multiplexing PlateSpin Orchestrate enable users to preconfigured (that is, you can have calls and profile, migrate, protect and manage SMSs coming in during a GPRS session). server workloads between physical and The distro comes as a tarball and you can virtual infrastructures in heterogeneous download it from www.hackable1.org/hackable1/ IT environments. PlateSpin Workload ?C=M;O=D. In order to get started, you’ll require Management, according to the a 2 GB SD card and a card reader for your PC/ company, is the only solution on the laptop. Partition and format the SD card, and then simply untar the tarball onto it. market today to support 32- and 64-bit Your Flash even remains untouched, so you can easily give it a test run. For more Linux and Windows servers, as well as information, check out www.hackable1.org. all leading hypervisors. 12 | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com
TECHNOLOGY NEWS Adobe announces Linux New OpenSolaris unveils Time Slider visualisation tool Version of AIR 1.5 The OpenSolaris community has announced the release of OpenSolaris 2008.11. Adobe has released Adobe AIR 1.5 for New features in OpenSolaris include Time Slider, an easy to use graphical interface Linux. Adobe AIR 1.5, a key component that brings powerful ZFS functions like instant snapshots, to all users. Developers of the Adobe Flash Platform, enables also have expanded access to repositories allowing them to get innovations out to Web developers to use HTML, all OpenSolaris users through the updated package manager. JavaScript, ActionScript and the free, In addition to performance gains, this latest version makes it easier for open source Flex framework to deliver companies to deploy Web applications outside the browser. OpenSolaris solutions AIR 1.5 includes functionality within their data centres. introduced in Flash Player 10, such These enhancements as support for custom filters and include a new Automated effects, native 3D transformation and Installer application, animation, and extensible rich text layout. allowing users to decide Offering new features and performance which packages to include improvements to create more expressive within the installation AIR applications, version 1.5 incorporates Web service; the Distro the WebKit HTML engine, and now Constructor that enables accelerates application performance users to create their own with ‘SquirrelFish’, the new WebKit custom image for deployment across their systems; and a new storage feature called JavaScript interpreter. Version 1.5 also COMSTAR Storage Framework that allows developers to create an open storage includes a new, encrypted database that server with OpenSolaris. meets enterprise security compliance A few highlights of the enhanced OS are support for improved overall system requirements while storing data more performance by taking advantage of Intel Quick Path Interconnect, better scalability securely on customers’ computers. with Intel Hyper-Threading technology, and virtualisation with support for Intel AIR 1.5 is available as a free Virtualisation Technology. For more information, visit www.opensolaris.com download at get.adobe.com/air. The Adobe AIR 1.5 for Linux software Ingres rolls out Ingres Database 9.2 development kit is also available for free: Ingres Corporation has announced the availability of Ingres Database 9.2, an open www.adobe.com/products/air/tools/sdk. source database that helps organisations develop and manage business-critical applications at an affordable cost. Ingres Database 9.2, according to the company, Hybrid: a cost-cutting open/ copes with even the most complex, multi-language requirements including business proprietary approach intelligence, content management, data warehousing, enterprise resource planning netCORE has come up with an (ERP) and logistics management. innovative concept called ‘Hybrid This database is engineered to keep your Ingres-based solutions up and available Messaging Environment’. This is an around the clock, and is claimed to be the only open source database that combines integration of netCORE’s Linux-based the flexibility of open source with the business-critical availability and reliability of Mailing Solution (EMS) with the commercial database management system platforms. existing MS Exchange/Lotus server. Ingres Database 9.2 is said to reduce the time, complexity, and database Hybrid Messaging Solution administration (DBA) requirements by simplifying and automating many tasks supports a Linux-friendly messaging traditionally associated with maintaining a business-class database. Upgrades from environment and enables full Outlook previous releases are a simple, highly automated task with no requirement to reload functionality. Enterprises can scale their data. In addition, the release focuses on improved application development, with e-mail systems and choose the most enhanced availability and supportability. economical storage components, while The database provides multi-language support with expanded Unicode the servers can communicate on a peer- features. The new features focus on increasing the availability of the server, such as to-peer basis with Exchange and the enhancements to point-in-time restore and online backup. Visit esd.ingres.com/ rest of the e-mail ecosystem. product/Ingres_Database/9.2 to download Ingres Database 9.2. www.openITis.com | LInuX For you | January 2009 | 13
grub> md5crypt you’re done, execute the following Password: ***** command as root: Encrypted: $1$6kdFq$sy6oqBCUMPa.wEK95. J8S/ urpmi wvdial Copy this encrypted password and After installing it you can exit grub mode by typing quit at the configure the /etc/wvdial.conf file grub> prompt. as given below, but first, remember Now open the /etc/grub.conf file in to check your dmesg to confirm a text editor and add the following in your modem settings. In case your the global section of the config file: computer does not recognise your device as modem, then check the I am using Mandriva 2009 on password --md5 $1$6kdFq$sy6oqBCUMPa. dmesg for the ‘Product ID’ and my laptop. How can I check my wEK95.J8S/ ‘Vendor ID’ of the card. Once you runlevel and also the services that know these IDs, modprobe for the are running on my system? Save the edited file and restart you driver by running the following —Shiv Prasad, by e-mail computer. Try entering single user command as root: mode and see the Grub prompt you for A. Use command runlevel or a password now. modprobe usbserial vendor=0x product=0x runlevel is. You can use the chkconfig I am a subscriber of LFY command to check which processes since its inception, and enjoy the Now run the following command to are scheduled to run on which run content and distribution packages create /etc/wvdial.conf: level. Please read man pages for these provided. I am trying to install the commands to know more. Tata Indicom USB stick modem on wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf my P-III processor desktop with I am a student and a regular Mandriva 2007. Open the /etc/wvdial.conf file in a reader of LINUX For You. I have However, during a modem text editor and add the following to it: a computer in my room which is query in KPPP, it first gives a shared by my room mates. They message that modem is detected, [Modem0] often change the root password and then as the status bar shows Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0 of my computer. I know that by progress, a message window Baud = 115200 applying password to my GRUB appears with a message “Query SetVolume = 0 I can restrict them from doing timed out”, and the process Dial Command = ATDT so. Can you please let me know terminates. Init1 = ATZ how I can set a password for Can you please let me know FlowControl = Hardware (CRTSCTS) GRUB, which I have not done how this can be installed? Also, [Dialer tata] during my OS installation. I this distribution does not have the Username = am using Fedora. Do I need to wvdial package and a guideline Password = reinstall it? is required as to how this can be Phone = #777 —Jophie Thomas, Mangalore obtained. Stupid Mode = 1 —A.K.Das, Jamshedpur Inherits = Modem0 A. Not at all! You do not need to reinstall OS just to apply a password You can try to install wvdial from Now run wvdial as follows: to GRUB. Here are the steps that will the Mandriva DVD. In case you don’t help you out. Open terminal and log have the DVD media handy, you can wvdial tata in as root. Now type grub at the root refer to easyurpmi.zarb.org/old prompt. Use the md5crypt command and follow the steps to configure Hope this helps and you are able to to encrypt password as follows: the online software repository. Once connect to the Internet. 16 | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com
For U & Me | Let's Try Director’s Cut Let’s Roll Out A DVD Movie Whoever said producing DVD movies on Linux is a no-no, should think again! I am an unabashedly proud part of the home video DVD creation process owner of a MacBook and I without having to go through all the others. was taken aback at how easy I will also try to point out alternatives and it was to create and edit a references on the Web that might contain home video DVD on it. Being more information on these alternatives. a downright fan of GNU/Linux, however, A user of intermediate proficiency with the first impulse I had was to replicate the GNU/Linux would very easily be able to follow experience on Fedora, a GNU/Linux flavour the steps listed below. Novices can surely that I am terribly attached to and have come follow, but might require a little patience. to swear by over the last few years. This article is my attempt at sharing Breakdown some of my findings with you. I don’t know Here are the steps that you would roughly if these are the best possible techniques, but need to follow to get your home video DVD I am sure that they work. I have also tried to that can be played back on a standalone write this article so that one could use any DVD player: 18 | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com
Let's Try | For U & Me  Import your video footage from hard disk. I use mencoder, brother your camera of MPlayer, and in my mind an  Edit, arrange and beautify (add underrated and underused piece of music, special effects, etc) your software. You should definitely have video footage these two gems installed on your  Convert your work into DVD machine. Do that with: compatible video  Create a layout (menus) for your yum -y install mplayer mencoder DVD  Burn your DVD You are probably going to have Let me mention at the outset that Yum install a whole lot of other following the guidelines in this article dependencies with it as well, so don’t might turn out easier on Fedora than panic! on other GNU/Linux distros, but Now there are two ways in which definitely won’t be impossible. For we could use mencoder to import Fedora users, the Livna repository the video. One would be to import (which has recently been merged with using real-time encoding to some RPMFusion) will be very handy, and popular video format like Xvid, or you should first add the repository we could import raw footage, that by clicking on all the right places is, unencoded video format. An at rpmfusion.org/Configuration. encoding algorithm would, of course, Add both the free and non-free take much less space than raw repositories. footage, but it would also result in Once this is done, you can install some loss of quality. any required software for your home I prefer to import raw video and DVD with Yum. work on it. That’s because we will eventually have to encode the edited Importing video footage movie to the particular format that The way to import video footage DVD video uses, and encoding twice would depend largely on the will result in quality that you might equipment that you have. If you use not be too happy with. However, a digital (still) camera to capture you could also just take the video your video, then the process is as you have shot and convert it into an simple as attaching your camera to encoded format like Xvid without your Linux box via a USB cable and any editing. (This could be done copying the files off it. Personally, I if you have a DVD player that also use a card reader. supports DivX file formats and you If you use a tape-based video are sure that you don’t have any camera, which is a little dated (like unnecessary footage—or also if you the one I have), then you are probably are plain lazy!) going to need some extra hardware on Here are a couple of variations your machine. I have a very cheap PCI on the same theme. Both of these TV card on my machine that, apart would grab video coming from the from having the RF input for the TV TV card and encode it on-the-fly to signal, also has a Composite and an a specified format. S-Video input. These are just different standards for analogue video, and mencoder -of avi -tv driver=v4l:\ S-Video is supposed to give somewhat input=1:device=/dev/video0:forceaudio:\ better video quality than Composite. norm=NTSC:width=640:height=480 \ For most of us, the difference will be -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:\ imperceptible. vbitrate=2000 -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:\ Using an appropriate cable, br=224 -o output.avi tv:// connect the output of your video camera to the input of your TV mencoder -of avi -tv driver=v4l:input=1:\ card. At this point you are ready device=/dev/video0:forceaudio:norm=PAL:\ to transfer the footage to your width=640:height=480 -ovc xvid -xvidencopts \ www.openITis.com | LInuX For you | January 2009 | 19
For U & Me | Let's Try though). input=1 specifies the Composite input on my TV card (that’s where I connect the video camera). mode=3 specifies the same (mono) output to be routed to both the output channels—don’t use that if you have a stereo output coming in; use it if you find sound coming out of one speaker only when you play back your output file. vbitrate and bitrate are the video bitrates and a higher value for either would provide better quality at the cost of a bigger output file. tv:// is to instruct mencoder to take the input from the TV card. I suggest you experiment a little with short captures (let’s say between 10 and 20 seconds; you need to press Ctrl+C to stop the encoding) with different parameters, to see and decide for yourself what works for you before jumping headlong into a big project. You can quickly play back the short clip with mplayer . But as I mentioned, I like working with raw video, so I use: mencoder -of avi -tv driver=v4l:input=1:\ device=/dev/video0:forceaudio:\ norm=PAL:width=640:height=480 \ -ovc copy -oac copy -o output.avi tv:// Figure 1: The main DeVeDe window Be warned that this will take up an abnormal amount of disk space because this does a raw dump of both audio and video streams. If disk space is at a premium, it would serve you well to use the lavc option (given above) with a higher vbitrate so that you have a decent trade-off between hard disk usage and quality. You’ll have to run one of these commands and simultaneously play back the tape on your camcorder. After that you should have your output file on your hard disk. This will be your raw footage. If you are uncomfortable with one large file you can manually pause the camcorder from time to time and start Figure 2: Title properties encoding in a different file. pass=2:bitrate=300 -oac mp3lame -lameopts \ Editing and arranging footage cbr:br=224:mode=3 -o output.avi tv:// This really is a part of the DVD creation process that cannot be taught. How you go about this step would More information on the parameters used here can, depend on your personal aesthetics and sense of artistry. of course, be obtained by man mencoder, but here is a Crisp editing will do wonders for any movie—I guarantee breakdown of the essentials: that from personal experience.  -of avi specifies the output file format to be an audio- What is more pertinent for this article is the software video interleave (a .avi file basically) that you could use to do your video magic. There are a  norm specifies your camcorder/TV card output number of choices available, but I like Kino (that’s because standard (mine can be changed) it is in many ways similar to iMovie on the Mac). Again,  -ovc defines the type of video encoding to be used (the Fedora users can just install Kino with: first uses lavc and the second xvid)  -oac defines the output audio format (mp3 in both yum install kino cases)  -o specifies the output file name For my favourite tutorial you can view www. You might need to change some settings depending yourmachines.org/tutorials/kino.html. It will teach you on your software set-up. For example, you might try everything that you need to know, including how to add driver=v4l2 if it is supported on your system. Your input titling to your movie ( for credits, etc), how to add black device might be different from /dev/video0 (unlikely video to segregate various portions of your footage, how 20 | January 2009 | LInuX For you | www.openITis.com