Just a year ago -- April 21, 2010 to be exact -- I installed a Linux distribution. I installed it from a DVD of Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex, that came with an issue of Linux Pro magazine I bought from a news stand.

I recently read a blog posting that denounced the use of sudo as insecure. My first reaction was that the author had no idea how to use sudo properly or why you would want to.

In my last article, Quick and Dirty with Open Office Base, I described my initial experiences with building a simple database application for my wife in Open Office Base, having had no prior experience with the program. In that article, I described how easy it is to get started, and how easy it is to build usable software with Base.

A few days ago, a copy of Action Comics No. 1 sold for about $1.5 million. What makes a 72-year old comic worth seven figures? More importantly, what can system administrators learn from a guy who's been wearing tights and a cape for more than seventy years?

Most often its not the case that you have only one application open at a particular time on your computer. With hardware becoming cheaper & faster, multi-tasking has become a norm. Its a common sight today to have a media-player, web browser, chat client & an image editor all running in realtime on one’s desktop.

Frankly, this was a selfish move on Sony's part, and a big hit to low-cost supercomputing.

OpenOffice.org (OOo for short) is a great office suite for Linux and pretty much any other operating system, but can always use improvement. This is especially true for templates and clip art. Fortunately, the open source community provides many add-ons or extensions. Here's a look.