Monday 30 September 2013

How to Use Xmonad, a Tiling Window Manager for Linux


image
Tiling window managers make your life easier by automatically arranging windows on the screen for you. Xmonad is a minimal one that’s easy to get started with — all you have to do is learn a few keyboard shortcuts.
Xmonad is also highly configurable. In spite of this, you don’t have to touch the configuration file if you don’t want to – it works out of the box.

Installation

Xmonad doesn’t include an application launcher by default. You’ll probably also want dmenu, a basic application launcher that works with xmonad. To install both on Ubuntu, run the following command:
sudo apt-get install xmonad suckless-tools

Omit suckless-tools from the command if you’d rather not install dmenu. This package contains dmenu – if you’re using an older version of Ubuntu, you may have to install dwm-tools instead.
If you’re using another Linux distribution, you should find xmonad and dmenu in its repositories, too.
After installing xmonad, log out of your Ubuntu system, click the icon next to your name on the login screen, and select XMonad before logging back in.

Getting Started

This is what you’ll see when you start xmonad:

Don’t worry, it didn’t fail to load — it just starts with an empty screen. Press Alt+Shift+Enter to launch a terminal.

To launch additional terminals, press the Alt+Shift+Enter shortcut again. Xmonad automatically resizes and arranges the windows on screen, tiling them. This is what a “tiling window manager” does.

To move the focus using the keyboard, use the Alt+J or Alt+K keyboard shortcuts. The focus also follows the mouse, so all you have to do is hover your cursor over a window to focus it.
Use the Alt+Space keyboard shortcut to switch between the different tiling modes. One of the modes shows only one window on the screen at a time.

If you installed dmenu, you can press Alt+P to pull it up. Type the first few letters of an application’s name, and then press Enter to launch it.

Graphical applications like Firefox appear tiled, just like the terminal windows.

Here are some other important keyboard shortcuts to get you started:
  • Alt+Shift+C – Close the focused window.
  • Alt+. & Alt+, – Control the number of windows displayed in the master pane on the left.
  • Alt+Enter – Move the focused window to the master pane on the left.
  • Alt+Shift+J & Alt+Shift+K – Swap the focused window with an adjacent window.
  • Alt+H & Alt+L – Resize the border between the master and secondary panes.
  • Alt+Shift+Q – Log out.
Xmonad supports workspaces, too. For example, to switch to workspace two, use the Alt+2 keyboard shortcut. To move the currently focused window to workspace three, use the Alt+Shift+3 keyboard shortcut. Each workspace can have its own tiling mode settings.

Configuring Xmonad

Xmonad is extremely configurable, if you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Xmonad itself is written in Haskell, and its configuration file format uses Haskell, too. Xmonad’s configuration file is located at ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs (that is, /home/YOU/.xmonad/xmonad.hs). This file doesn’t exist by default – you’ll have to create it yourself.
To get started configuring xmonad, you may want to start with a template file. For more advanced configuration, check out this list of configuration tips on the official wiki.
After modifying the configuration, use the Alt+Q keyboard shortcut to reload your configuration. You can also change the default modifier key in the configuration file – if you do, use your custom modifer key in place of every Alt in this post.
What do you think of xmonad? Do you prefer a different tiling window manager? Leave a comment and let us know.

Monday 16 September 2013

How do I set up a Cron job?

Put a shell script in one of these folders: /etc/cron.daily, /etc/cron.hourly, /etc/cron.monthly or /etc/cron.weekly.
If these are not enough for you you can add more specific tasks eg. twice a month or every 5 minutes or... go to the therminal and type:
crontab -e
this will open your personal crontab (cron configuration file), the first line in that file explains it all (don't you think)! In every line you can define one command to run, and the format is quite simple when you get the hang of it. So the structure is:
minute hour day-of-month mounth day-of-week command
For all the numbers you can use lists eg, 5,34,55 in the first field will mean run et 5 past 34 past and 55 past what ever hour is defined.
You can also use intervals, they are defined like this: */20 this example mens every 20th and is in the minutes this will be equivalent to 0,20,40
So to run a command every monday at 5:30 in efternoon will look like this:
30 17 * * 1 /path/to/command
or every 15 minutes
*/15 * * * * /path/to/command
Note that the day-of-week goes from 0-6 where 0 = sunday.
You can read more here.

Wednesday 4 September 2013

20 Funny Commands of Linux or Linux is Fun in Terminal

Linux is fun! Huhhh. OK so you don’t believe me. Mind me at the end of this article you will have to believe that Linux is actually a fun box.
Linux Funny Commands
20 Linux Funny Commands

1. Command: sl (Steam Locomotive)

You might be aware of command ‘ls‘ the list command and use it frequently to view the contents of a folder but because of miss-typing sometimes you would result in ‘sl‘, how about getting a little fun in terminal and not “command not found“.

Install sl

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install sl   (In Debian like OS)
root@tecmint:~# yum -y install sl   (In Red Hat like OS)
Output
root@tecmint:~# sl
sl funny command
sl command
This command works even when you type ‘LS‘ and not ‘ls‘.

2. Command: telnet

No! No!! it is not as much complex as it seems. You would be familiar with telnet. Telnet is a text-oriented bidirectional network protocol over network. Here is nothing to be installed. What you should have is a Linux box and a working Internet.
root@tecmint:~# telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
telnet command
telnet command

3. Command: fortune

what about getting your random fortune, sometimes funny in terminal.

Install fortune

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install fortune  (for aptitude based system)
root@tecmint:~# yum install fortune   (for yum based system)
root@tecmint:~# fortune

You're not my type.  For that matter, you're not even my species!!!
Future looks spotty.  You will spill soup in late evening.
You worry too much about your job.  Stop it.  You are not paid enough to worry.
Your love life will be... interesting.

4. Command: rev (Reverse)

It reverse every string given to it, is not it funny.
root@tecmint:~# rev

123abc 
cba321 

xuniL eb ot nrob
born to be Linux

5. Command: factor

Time for some Mathematics, this command output all the possible factors of a given number.
root@tecmint:~# factor

5 
5: 5 

12 
12: 2 2 3 

1001 
1001: 7 11 13 

5442134 
5442134: 2 2721067

6. Command: script

OK fine this is not a command and a script but it is nice.
root@tecmint:~# for i in {1..12}; do for j in $(seq 1 $i); do echo -ne $i×$j=$((i*j))\\t;done; echo;done 

1×1=1 
2×1=2 2×2=4 
3×1=3 3×2=6 3×3=9 
4×1=4 4×2=8 4×3=12 4×4=16 
5×1=5 5×2=10 5×3=15 5×4=20 5×5=25 
6×1=6 6×2=12 6×3=18 6×4=24 6×5=30 6×6=36 
7×1=7 7×2=14 7×3=21 7×4=28 7×5=35 7×6=42 7×7=49 
8×1=8 8×2=16 8×3=24 8×4=32 8×5=40 8×6=48 8×7=56 8×8=64 
9×1=9 9×2=18 9×3=27 9×4=36 9×5=45 9×6=54 9×7=63 9×8=72 9×9=81 
10×1=10 10×2=20 10×3=30 10×4=40 10×5=50 10×6=60 10×7=70 10×8=80 10×9=90 10×10=100 
11×1=11 11×2=22 11×3=33 11×4=44 11×5=55 11×6=66 11×7=77 11×8=88 11×9=99 11×10=110 11×11=121 
12×1=12 12×2=24 12×3=36 12×4=48 12×5=60 12×6=72 12×7=84 12×8=96 12×9=108 12×10=120 12×11=132 12×12=144

7. Command: Cowsay

An ASCII cow in terminal that will say what ever you want.

Install Cowsay

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install cowsay   (for Debian based OS)
root@tecmint:~# yum install cowsay  (for Red Hat based OS)
Output
root@tecmint:~# cowsay I Love nix 

 ____________
< I Love nix >
 ------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||
How about pipelineing ‘fortune command‘, described above with cowsay?
root@tecmint:~# fortune | cowsay 

 _________________________________________
/ Q: How many Oregonians does it take to  \
| screw in a light bulb? A: Three. One to |
| screw in the light bulb and two to fend |
| off all those                           |
|                                         |
| Californians trying to share the        |
\ experience.                             /
 -----------------------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||
Note: ‘|‘ is called pipeline instruction and it is used where the output of one command needs to be the input of another command. In the above example the output of ‘fortune‘ command acts as an input of ‘cowsay‘ command. This pipeline instruction is frequently used in scripting and programming.
xcowsay is a graphical program which response similar to cowsay but in a graphical manner, hence it is X of cowsay.
apt-get insatll xcowsay
yum install xcowsay
Output
root@tecmint:~# xcowsay I Love nix
install xcowsay
xcowsay command
cowthink is another command just run “cowthink Linux is sooo funny” and see the difference in output of cowsay and cowthink.
apt-get insatll cowthink
yum install cowthink
Output
root@tecmint:~# cowthink ....Linux is sooo funny
 _________________________
( ....Linux is sooo funny )
 -------------------------
        o   ^__^
         o  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

8. Command: yes

It is funny but useful as well, specially in scripts and for System Administrators where an automated predefined response can be passed to terminal or generated.
root@tecmint:~# yes I Love Linux

I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
I Love Linux
Note: (Till you interrupt i.e ctrl+c).

9. Command: toilet

what? Are u kidding, huhh no! Definitely not, but for sure this command name itself is too funny, and I don’t know from where this command gets it’s name.

Install toilet

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install toilet 
root@tecmint:~# yum install toilet
Output
root@tecmint:~# toilet tecmint 

mmmmmmm                        "             m                               
   #     mmm    mmm   mmmmm  mmm    m mm   mm#mm          mmm    mmm   mmmmm 
   #    #"  #  #"  "  # # #    #    #"  #    #           #"  "  #" "#  # # # 
   #    #""""  #      # # #    #    #   #    #           #      #   #  # # # 
   #    "#mm"  "#mm"  # # #  mm#mm  #   #    "mm    #    "#mm"  "#m#"  # # #
It even offers some kind of color and fonts style.
root@tecmint:~# toilet -f mono12 -F metal Tecmint.com
install toilet command
toilet command
Note: Figlet is another command that more or less provide such kind of effect in terminal.

10. Command: cmatrix

You might have seen Hollywood movie ‘matrix‘ and would be fascinated with power, Neo was provided with, to see anything and everything in matrix or you might think of an animation that looks alike Hacker‘s desktop.

Install cmatrix

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install cmatrix
root@tecmint:~# yum install cmatrix
Output
root@tecmint:~# cmatrix
cmatrix command
cmatrix command

11. Command: oneko

OK so you believe that mouse pointer of Linux is the same silly black/white pointer where no animation lies then I fear you could be wrong. “oneko“ is a package that will attach a “Jerry“ with you mouse pointer and moves along with you pointer.

Install cmatrix

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install oneko
root@tecmint:~# yum install oneko
Output
root@tecmint:~# oneko
install oneko
oneko command
Note: Once you close the terminal from which oneko was run, jerry will disappear, nor will start at start-up. You can add the application to start up and continue enjoying.

12. Fork Bomb

This is a very nasty piece of code. Run this at your own risk. This actually is a fork bomb which exponentially multiplies itself till all the system resource is utilized and the system hangs. (To check the power of above code you should try it once, but all at your own risk, close and save all other programs and file before running fork bomb).
root@tecmint:~# :( ){ :| :& }:

13. Command: while

The below “while” command is a script which provides you with colored date and file till you interrupt (ctrl + c). Just copy and paste the below code in terminal.
root@tecmint:~# while true; do echo "$(date '+%D %T' | toilet -f term -F border --gay)"; sleep 1; done
Linux while command
Linux while command
Note: The above script when modified with following command, will gives similar output but with a little difference, check it in your terminal.
root@tecmint:~# while true; do clear; echo "$(date '+%D %T' | toilet -f term -F border --gay)"; sleep 1; done

14. Command: espeak

Just Turn the Knob of your multimedia speaker to full before pasting this command in your terminal and let us know how you felt listening the god’s voice.

Install espeak

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install espeak
root@tecmint:~# yum install espeak
Output
root@tecmint:~# espeak "Tecmint is a very good website dedicated to Foss Community"

15. Command: aafire

How about fire in your terminal. Just type “aafire” in the terminal, without quotes and see the magic. Press any key to interrupt the program.

Install aafire

root@tecmint:~# apt-get install libaa-bin
Output
root@tecmint:~# aafire
install aafire
aafire command

16. Command: bb

First install “apt-get insatll bb” and then, type “bb” in terminal and see what happens.
root@tecmint:~# bb
bb command
bb command

17. Command: url

Won’t it be an awesome feeling for you if you can update you twitter status from command line in front of your friend and they seems impressed. OK just replace username, password and your status message with your’s username, password and “your status message“.
root@tecmint:~# url -u YourUsername:YourPassword -d status="Your status message" http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml

18. ASCIIquarium

How it will be to get an aquarium in terminal.
root@tecmint:~# apt-get install libcurses-perl
root@tecmint:~# cd /tmp 
root@tecmint:~# wget http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/K/KB/KBAUCOM/Term-Animation-2.4.tar.gz
root@tecmint:~# tar -zxvf Term-Animation-2.4.tar.gz
root@tecmint:~# cd Term-Animation-2.4/
root@tecmint:~# perl Makefile.PL &&  make &&   make test
root@tecmint:~# make install
Install ASCIIquarium
Now Download and Install ASCIIquarium.
root@tecmint:~# cd /tmp
root@tecmint:~# wget http://www.robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/asciiquarium.tar.gz
root@tecmint:~# tar -zxvf asciiquarium.tar.gz
root@tecmint:~# cd asciiquarium_1.1/
root@tecmint:~# cp asciiquarium /usr/local/bin
root@tecmint:~# chmod 0755 /usr/local/bin/asciiquarium
And finally run “asciiquarium” or “/usr/local/bin/asciiquarium“ in terminal without quotes and be a part of magic that will be taking place in front of your eyes.
root@tecmint:~# asciiquarium
install aquarium
aquarium command

19. Command: funny manpages

First install “apt-get install funny-manpages” and then run man pages for the commands below. Some of them may be 18+, run at your own risk, they all are too funny.
baby
celibacy
condom
date
echo
flame
flog
gong
grope, egrope, fgrope 
party 
rescrog 
rm
rtfm
tm
uubp
woman (undocumented)
xkill 
xlart 
sex 
strfry
root@tecmint:~# man baby

20. Linux Tweaks

It is time for you to have some one liner tweaks.
root@tecmint:~# world

bash: world: not found
root@tecmint:~# touch girls\ boo** 

touch: cannot touch `girls boo**': Permission denied
root@tecmint:~# nice man woman

No manual entry for woman
root@tecmint:~# ^How did the sex change operation go?^ 

bash: :s^How did the sex change operation go?^ : substitution failed
root@tecmint:~# %blow 

bash: fg: %blow: no such job
root@tecmint:~# make love 

make: *** No rule to make target `love'.  Stop.
$ [ whereis my brain?                    
sh: 2: [: missing ]
% man: why did you get a divorce? 
man:: Too many arguments.
% !:say, what is saccharine? 
Bad substitute.
server@localhost:/srv$ \(- 
bash: (-: command not found
Linux is sexy: who | grep -i blonde | date; cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger; mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount; sleep (If you know what i mean)
There are certain other but these don’t work on all the system and hence not included in this article. Some of them are man dog , filter, banner, etc.
Have fun, you can say me thanks later :)
yup your comment is highly appreciated which encourages us write more. Tell us which command you liked the most. Stay tuned i will be back soon with another article worth reading.


original post :
http://www.tecmint.com/20-funny-commands-of-linux-or-linux-is-fun-in-terminal/