With Independence Day coming up, I want to do a series of posts about freedom and what "free software" actually means. The English language is weak in the area of freedom, so when somebody says "free software" they think "free of charge" or "gratis" (to use the Latin term for the concept), which can really throw you, since most free software is available to anyone without monetary cost.

Part four of a five part post series on setting up Linux and Unix servers securely.

Most of us might be finding it difficult to run Mozilla Firefox 3 on Debian Etch, because of the old gtk libraries. And many might have problems installing the libraries themselves. Mozilla Firefox requires at least gtk 2.10. Here is a small howto I found to solve the problem. Basically it is to install the required libraries in a different location and make Firefox3 use them.

Part one of a five part post series on setting up Linux and Unix servers securely.

The standard size of the console is 80 columns and 25 lines, which is too big if you want to work easily in console and don't even use a desktop environment (or use one but also prefer to do things in console rather than an X terminal). It will also look nicer when booting up the system.

Quick and easy shell script to help setup openssl, openssh and zlib, while creating new ssh host keys, network-wide using rsh.

Often, the web browser that comes with an operating system is not set up in a secure default configuration. Not securing your web browser can lead quickly to a variety of computer problems caused by anything from spyware being installed without your knowledge to intruders taking control of your computer.

I’m primarily a GNOME user, but I was interested and followed along with the development of KDE 4.0. It’s time to start testing again now the KDE 4.1 Beta 1 has been released.