Ophcrack is the Linux LiveCD that you reach for when you forget your admin password on your Win32 (incl. XP and Vista) box.

From the Ophcrack Sourceforge page:

“Ophcrack is a Windows password cracker based on a time-memory trade-off using rainbow tables. This is a new variant of Hellman’s original trade-off, with better performance. It recovers 99.9% of alphanumeric passwords in seconds.”

For all admins who use said proprietary OS, if you ever forget your admin password, this is one great way to recover it, and help you keep your job.

Please do not ever, ever, ever use tools like this for malicious purposes, because that’s just plain not very nice.

“kio-slave – For anyone who doesn’t know what this does, it gives KDE the ability to interact with remote filesystems via FTP, SSH, etc. You can open up a remote filesystem, and drag and drop a text file right onto your Kate icon. Kate will open the file for you to edit it. When you are done editing, just click SAVE and close the file. KDE via kio-slave saves the file back to the remote fileystem (assuming you have the proper privileges). This is the one thing that has the supremest of importance to me. It is possible to have one Konqueror window open and have it split into 16 different panes, each pane connected to a different filesystem or directory, whether local or remote. If you have never done this, you have to try it some time. You can split Kate windows the same way. Before anyone says it, I realize that you can make other desktop environments do this, but KDE just does it right out of the box.”

Some may even remember when I posted a bit of a rant about this. I use remote filesystems ALL DAY LONG.

As I’m moving away from KDE and everything that ties me to it, the need arose to access remote filesystems very quickly in a windowing system. I realize ssh does this. With ssh, it takes about 12 seconds to log in and copy a file over, not to mention all the keystrokes. With Konqueror, I click the Konqueror Icon, press CTRL+SHIFT+L, and select the remote filesystem I want from my bookmarks and I’m there. All of 3 seconds and a tenth of the effort.

How to mimic the functionality I want?

One possibility is a little app called gigolo. Why the name? As the author says, “Because it mounts what its told to.”

For XFCE4 users, this little baby is pretty fun. It allows you to bookmark remote filesystems, autoconnect to them, and all sorts of great stuff, quite a bit like kio-slave does. Just a bit more cumbersome, but at least I get the functionality.

Experience is a great teacher, so add the repo and install gigolo:

[1207][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$ zypper addrepo "http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/xfce/openSUSE_11.1" XFCE4 ; zypper modifyrepo -r XFCE4 ; zypper in gigolo
Adding repository 'XFCE4' [done]
Repository 'XFCE4' successfully added
Enabled: Yes
Autorefresh: No
URI: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/xfce/openSUSE_11.1

Autorefresh has been enabled for repository 'XFCE4'.
Retrieving repository 'XFCE4' metadata [done]
Building repository 'XFCE4' cache [done]
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
  gigolo

Overall download size: 90.0 K. After the operation, additional 310.0 K will be used.
Continue? [YES/no]:
Retrieving package gigolo-0.3.2-1.1.i586 (1/1), 90.0 K (310.0 K unpacked)
Retrieving: gigolo-0.3.2-1.1.i586.rpm [done]
Installing: gigolo-0.3.2-1.1 [done]
[1208][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$

Now just run it. You’ll get a window similar to the following:

Press CTRL+B to edit your bookmarks. A window like this comes up:

Click ADD. In the box that appears, fill out the info and click OK:

If you selected autoconnect, you’ll be prompted for the password:

You may also have to create a keyring password. When you are done, if you selected autoconnect, you’ll see an icon showing that it’s connected:

If not, click the down arrow next to the bookmark button (furthest left), and select the bookmark you want to connect to:

Once you have connected to a bookmark, double-click it in the gigolo window. Nautilus comes up displaying the remote filesystem. Not sure if you can use other file managers, but if you can, let me know.

Repository Management

To list repositories:

[1342][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper repos
#  | Alias             | Name                  | Enabled | Refresh
---+-------------------+-----------------------+---------+--------
1  | Enlightenment CVS | Enlightenment CVS     | Yes     | Yes
2  | OpenSUSE_11.1_ISO | OpenSUSE 11.1 ISO     | Yes     | No
3  | Packman           | Packman               | Yes     | Yes
4  | Window_Managers   | Window Managers       | Yes     | Yes
5  | XFCE4             | XFCE4                 | Yes     | Yes
6  | aterm             | aterm                 | Yes     | Yes
7  | home:danci1973    | home:danci1973        | Yes     | Yes
8  | home:dauphin      | home:dauphin          | Yes     | Yes
9  | home:jnelson-suse | home:jnelson-suse     | Yes     | Yes
10 | mozilla           | mozilla               | Yes     | Yes
11 | openSUSE 11.1-0   | openSUSE 11.1-0       | Yes     | Yes
12 | repo-debug        | openSUSE-11.1-Debug   | No      | Yes
13 | repo-non-oss      | openSUSE-11.1-Non-Oss | Yes     | Yes
14 | repo-source       | openSUSE-11.1-Source  | No      | Yes
15 | repo-update       | openSUSE-11.1-Update  | Yes     | Yes
[1402][root@dev:/home/scott]$

To add a repository (we’re going to use Packman as an example):

[1341][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper addrepo "http://packman.unixheads.com/suse/11.1/" Packman
Adding repository 'Packman' [done]
Repository 'Packman' successfully added
Enabled: Yes
Autorefresh: No
URI: http://packman.unixheads.com/suse/11.1/

[1341][root@dev:/home/scott]$ 

To turn on autorefresh, because it’s disabled by default (again, with Packman):

[1341][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper modifyrepo -r Packman
Autorefresh has been enabled for repository 'Packman'.
[1342][root@dev:/home/scott]$

To refresh a repo manually:

[1342][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper refresh -r Packman
Retrieving repository 'Packman' metadata [done]
Building repository 'Packman' cache [done]
Specified repositories have been refreshed.
[1342][root@dev:/home/scott]$

Leave out the “-r” and leave off the name of the repo if you want to refresh all of them.

To remove a repository:

[1337][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper rr Packman
Removing repository 'Packman' [done]
Repository 'Packman' has been removed.
[1337][root@dev:/home/scott]$ 

Package Management

To search for a package (id3v2, in this example):

[1224][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper search id3v2
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...

S | Name  | Summary                              | Type
--+-------+--------------------------------------+--------
  | id3v2 | A Command Line Editor for ID3V2 Tags | package
[1229][root@dev:/home/scott]$

To get information on a package (again, id3v2):

[1229][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper info id3v2
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...

Information for package id3v2:

Repository: openSUSE 11.1-0
Name: id3v2
Version: 0.1.11-77.60
Arch: x86_64
Vendor: openSUSE
Installed: No
Status: not installed
Installed Size: 79.0 K
Summary: A Command Line Editor for ID3V2 Tags
Description:
ID3 tags are found in MP3 files. They canstore information about what band recorded the song, the song name, and more.

ID3V1 tags are seriously deficient as to the kind of and length ofinformation that they can store. This is a tool for editing ID3V2tags in Linux.

[1333][root@dev:/home/scott]$ 

To install a package:

[1333][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper install id3v2
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
  id3v2 

Overall download size: 30.0 K. After the operation, additional 79.0 K will be used.
Continue? [YES/no]:
Retrieving package id3v2-0.1.11-77.60.x86_64 (1/1), 30.0 K (79.0 K unpacked)
Retrieving: id3v2-0.1.11-77.60.x86_64.rpm [done]
Installing: id3v2-0.1.11-77.60 [done]
[1334][root@dev:/home/scott]$

To remove a package:

[1334][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper remove id3v2
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

The following package is going to be REMOVED:
  id3v2 

After the operation, 79.0 K will be freed.
Continue? [YES/no]:
Removing id3v2-0.1.11-77.60 [done]
[1336][root@dev:/home/scott]$

These are some common zypper commands that will help you manage your repositories and packages from the command-line.

Click for slightly larger version.

Throw a quick eyeball at the SuSEBlog Linux Wallpaper gallery.

Should you have a favorite Linux wallpaper that is not featured in the gallery, please shoot me a link to it. I am happy to include wallpapers from all distributions. Heck, I even wore a Fedora 11 T-Shirt to work the other day because the guys at the 2009 UTOS booth were so cool and gave me one. Besides that, Clint Savage (more info, more info, more info, more info, more info, more info) is one totally hardcore Fedora ambassador, and he’s really cool. Wearing the Fedora shirt with pride was my props to him and the Fedora representation at UTOS.

I would have worn an OpenSUSE T-Shirt, but I was unable to acquire said shirt from my brethren at the OpenSUSE booth. Decriptor, bro… what do you say about hookin’ a brother up?

De todos modos…

Have a fabulous weekend, and remember, chill out and take ‘er easy. Like the wallpaper says.

Happy Halloween and all that. Go scare the living daylights out of someone and come back and tell me your story.

aterm looked interesting to me because it has a small memory footprint. Konqueror takes up about 7 times the RAM that aterm does, while xterm takes over twice the RAM that aterm does. aterm also has very little dependencies. Additionally, it supports pseudo-transparencies, while remaining very responsive and quick.

The first thing you want to do is install aterm. This does not appear to be available on OpenSUSE 11.1 by default. But just add the following repo:

http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/-miska-:/Release/openSUSE_11.1

Add the repo as root like this:

[1049][root@laptop:~]$ zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/-miska-:/Release/openSUSE_11.1 aterm
Adding repository 'aterm' [done]
Repository 'aterm' successfully added
Enabled: Yes
Autorefresh: No
URI: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/-miska-:/Release/openSUSE_11.1

[1049][root@laptop:~]$

Refresh the repo:

[1049][root@laptop:~]$ zypper refresh aterm
Retrieving repository 'aterm' metadata [done]
Building repository 'aterm' cache [done]
Specified repositories have been refreshed.
[1050][root@laptop:~]$

Install aterm:

[1112][root@dev:/home/scott]$ zypper install aterm
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
  AfterStep_applets_all 

Overall download size: 310.0 K. After the operation, additional 1.1 M will be used.
Continue? [YES/no]:
Retrieving package AfterStep_applets_all-070412-5.13.x86_64 (1/1), 310.0 K (1.1 M unpacked)
Retrieving: AfterStep_applets_all-070412-5.13.x86_64.rpm [done]
Installing: AfterStep_applets_all-070412-5.13 [done]
[1112][root@dev:/home/scott]$ 

Now, run aterm in a terminal window or something to make sure it’s installed.

On to the configuration (which is the cool part, really).

First, determine which font you want to use by running xfontsel. It opens up a window where you can fine-tune the font you want aterm to use.

Then, you’ll want to set up your configuration file. I use .Xresources although there are others you can use.

Copy and paste this into your .Xresources file, and then adjust as necessary:

aterm*font: -*-fixed-medium-r-*-*-18-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-*
aterm*font1: -*-*-*-*-*-*-2-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
aterm*font2: -misc-fixed-*-r-normal-*-8-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-*
aterm*font3: -b&h-lucidatypewriter-bold-*-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
aterm*font4: -*-screen-bold-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-*
aterm*font5: -*-lucidatypewriter-medium-*-*-*-18-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
aterm*font6: -*-lucidatypewriter-medium-*-*-*-20-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
aterm*font7: -dec-terminal-bold-r-normal-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-*

aterm*background: black
aterm*foreground: white
aterm*pointerColor: red
aterm*pointerColorBackground: black
aterm*cursorColor: blue
aterm*internalBorder: 3
aterm*loginShell: true

! Do you want a scrollbar?
aterm*scrollBar: true
aterm*scrollKey: true

! How many lines do you want to save in the buffer?
aterm*saveLines: 32767
aterm*multiClickTime: 250

! Do you want transparency?
aterm*transparent: true

! Do you want transparency in the scrollbar?
aterm*transpscrollbar: true

! How much transparency do you want (in percent)?
aterm*shading:20

!aterm*tintingType: true
!aterm*tinting: #a07040

! How many characters wide and tall should your window be?
aterm*geometry: 80x40

! Do you want a visual bell rather than an audio bell?
aterm*visualBell: true

Hopefully, it’s apparent that you can use exclamation points for comments.

Everything in this sample .Xresources config file should be fairly self-explanatory.

aterm takes many of the same configuration directives as xterm. So if you see an xterm directive you want aterm to use, throw it in the .Xresources file and reload it. You reload the .Xresources file with the following command:

[1058][scott@dev:~]$ xrdb -merge .Xresources
[1058][scott@dev:~]$ 

If you are running that command in an open aterm window, you will have to close the window and re-run aterm.

aterm is very quick and responsive, looks nice, and doesn’t take up too much memory. Take a look at it, play around with it, and enjoy it.

For everyone who is an OpenSUSE Linux fan, here’s a new wallpaper just for you:

Click image for bigger version.

Take a look at the rest of the Linux wallpaper gallery.

In OpenSUSE Linux, we have a wonderful thing called One-Click Install. This is a marvelous thing for new users. I love it to death, and care for it as I would my own child. Almost everyone knows that this is very cool except for maybe Christer, as he is not a believer (nuttin but love bro, loved your presentation @ UTOSC). That said, what happens when it stops working or gets broken?

Use Windows.

Let’s head over to the OpenSUSE Build Service. Search for something cool like the fluxbox window manager. The results come up, and you click on the 1-Click Install.

You should see something like this:

However, if it is broken, you will not see the “YaST Meta Package Handler (default)” in the OPEN WITH radio button drop-down.

You may see something like this:

The first thing to do is tear your hair out. If you don’t have any, turn to the closest person to you (I do not recommend a spouse unless you want to spend the rest of your life on the couch).

The first thing to do is to click CANCEL. Then, look right above the 1-Click Install button. There is a link in gray:

Click that bad boy. You are taken to a really scary-looking page like this:

Totally no worries here. Copy everything in the address bar:

Pop open a terminal window, become root, and use zypper to add the repository. Then refresh it, like so:

[0917][scott@suse-desktop:~]$ su
Password:
[0917][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$ zypper addrepo "http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/windowmanagers/openSUSE_11.1/" windowmanagers
Adding repository 'windowmanagers' [done]
Repository 'windowmanagers' successfully added
Enabled: Yes
Autorefresh: No
URI: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/windowmanagers/openSUSE_11.1/

[0917][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$ zypper refresh windowmanagers
Retrieving repository 'windowmanagers' metadata [done]
Building repository 'windowmanagers' cache [done]
Specified repositories have been refreshed.
[0917][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$

Now, you can search for fluxbox and it will find it in your repositories, because you just added the one with fluxbox in it:

[0919][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$ zypper search fluxbox
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...

S | Name    | Summary                   | Type
--+---------+---------------------------+-----------
  | fluxbox | The fluxbox windowmanager | package
  | fluxbox | The fluxbox windowmanager | srcpackage
[0919][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$

If you’d like to install it, go for it, baby. No holds barred:

[0919][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$ zypper in fluxbox
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
  fluxbox

Overall download size: 920.0 K. After the operation, additional 3.6 M will be used.
Continue? [YES/no]:
Retrieving package fluxbox-1.1.1-1.2.i586 (1/1), 920.0 K (3.6 M unpacked)
Retrieving: fluxbox-1.1.1-1.2.i586.rpm [done (236.8 K/s)]
Installing: fluxbox-1.1.1-1.2 [done]
[0920][root@suse-desktop:/home/scott]$

Houston, we have landed. Now, go enjoy your new package. This method should work with virtually any package where the 1-Click install fails.

[0908][scott@dev:~]$ ssh -R 8080:suseblog.com:8080 scott@suseblog.com
Password:
Last login: Thu Oct 15 11:59:43 2009 from 67.214.232.162
Have a lot of fun...
[1109][scott@mail:~]$ [PRESS SHIFT + ` + c HERE]
ssh> ?
Commands:
      -L[bind_address:]port:host:hostport    Request local forward
      -R[bind_address:]port:host:hostport    Request remote forward
      -KR[bind_address:]port                 Cancel remote forward
[PRESS ENTER HERE]
[1110][scott@mail:~]$ [PRESS SHIFT + ` + c HERE]
ssh> -R8080:letslearnlinux.com:1080
Forwarding port.

[1110][scott@mail:~]$

OpenSSH has got to be one of the freakin’ sweetest tools *EVAR*. Anyway, enjoy!

My car has a 10-gallon tank. And hat.

54.20 miles per gallon. That’s better than my motorcycle. Nope, my car isn’t a Prius. Nope, it isn’t even a hybrid. No, it isn’t a Geo Metro. Yes, this is a real picture that I took myself, this very morning of my trip meter.

<punchline>
YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY!
</punchline>

If you have difficulty browsing on your Linux workstation at work, say, because of filters and such, this will make your day. One other thing is that you need a Linux server that is outside your network at work. Once you have this, you can use ssh to create a socks proxy. Even as an un-privileged user, type in this command:

ssh -D 8080 <username>@<host>

Replace <username> with your username and <host> with your remote Linux server host name. Once that’s successful, pop open Firefox. Go to the EDIT Menu => Preferences. Select the ADVANCED button, then go to the “Network” tab. Click the “Settings” button. Select the “Manual Proxy Configuration” radio button. In the SOCKS Host, put in either the IP or the domain name of your remote Linux box. In the port, put in 8080, as that’s the one we used.

Click “OK” and close everything (except firefox). You should now be able to browse wherever your little heart desires.

One thing to note. NS queries are NOT proxied. So if your admins are looking at the name server lookup requests, you could still get nailed. Anyway, pretty neat little thing to know about ssh. Not sure that I’ve ever seen this capability on a Win32 platform. Yet another one of the many reasons that I really enjoy Linux.

Have a totally spectacular weekend.

General Description
• Responsible for the installation, maintenance, and tuning of UNIX hardware and software systems.
• Perform system-debugging tasks.
• Provide application support on the UNIX systems.
• Work individually or in a team on various system projects related to UNIX, Storage, and Application support.
• Work first, second, third shift in rotation.
• Supervises and provides technical guidance to the Staff in the operation, systems administration and control of the GIS systems environment
• Directs and checks other SA and Operator’s work and assists with scheduling and administration

Specific Responsibilities
• Prepares installs, and implement UNIX (SuSE Linux) and AIX operating software and associated components.
• Develops test plans for implementing new software or new releases of software.
• Thoroughly test hardware and software upgrades and if necessary works off shift hours to accomplish the testing.
• Debugs and corrects installed UNIX operating system software as required.
• Applies maintenance to system software as required.
• Debugs and applies corrective maintenance to system software as required.
• Documents and notifies Developers and Business Analysts of software and hardware upgrades.
• Tunes system software for peak performance and availability.
• Assists Developers with high level problem program debugging and correction.
• Provides end user and Developers support via Customer Support.
• Provides off shift on call support for production system support.
• Makes system hardware and software recommendations as required.
• Assist in evaluating new applications software.
• Provides technical training for Information Technology personnel as needed.
• Configure and document backup and restore procedures.
• Maintains UNIX Disaster Recovery Plan and actively participate in Technology and Business Recovery activities.
• Provides support for 3rd Party Customers to support ongoing service hosting objectives.
• Stays abreast with technical and operational tools and knowledge required to perform assigned duties.

Qualifications Required
• Bachelors Degree in Computer Science or a related discipline and at least five (5) or more years experience in systems administration and computer operations, with increasing administrative and leadership responsibilities or an equivalent in education and work experience.

• Requires extensive knowledge and experience in all facets of computer operations, systems administration, decision-making, strong judgment, management skills and a considerable aptitude in human relations.

Summary of Skills Required
• 5+ years of Linux experience (Suse Linux).
• 2+ years of AIX experience.
• 3+ years of shell scripting experience.

Jack H. Karamanoukian
VP of Professional Services
Quorum Technical Services, Inc.
600 Sylvan Avenue
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
p. 201.569.3050 ext 103
f. 201.569.8040
efax. 201.586.0336
w. http://www.quorumhq.com

It seems that M$ still doesn’t get it. At least that’s quite obvious when one considers the “training” that they have been providing to Best Buy employees. For example, take a look at this screenshot of the training (click for bigger graphic):

The original poster of this info couldn’t have said it better:

“No iPod support? Really? And the Zune doesn’t work on the Mac either although there has been some progress from the Linux community. And I’ve never had any problems pulling pictures from cameras.

I’ve yet to see a printer that doesn’t have a driver. You might have to download it from the products website though (gasp!).

Yeah yeah. Software. Although WINE has been vastly improving lately (we even got around that stupid Secu-ROM).

There are free alternatives to all of the Windows Live “essentials”.

WOW. Of all the games to mention, they mention World of Warcraft. I wrote a tutorial on how to get WoW running on Linux not to long ago. Its probably the easiest game to set up with in WINE.

Authorized support? Well you have Red Hat and Canonical, oh I guess you can count Novell…

Video chat with Pidgin? Or Skype?“

Of course, not to mention the endless lists of Linux equivalents to Win software.

Take a look at the original exposé here:

Microsoft attack Linux at the retail level

See also:

microsoft (mis)educates best buy employees about linux

Microsoft’s training materials teach Best Buy employees how to trash Linux

Another migration to SUSE Linux:

Excerpt:
“Novell today announced that National Vision Inc., one of the largest optical retailers in the United States, plans to use SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise Point of Service to improve the performance, stability and uptime of the network of 5,000 point-of-sale devices within its stores. With more than 500 retail locations in 44 states, including America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses and Vision Centers at select Wal-Mart stores, SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service will provide National Vision with an agile, reliable and cost-effective operating system.”

Read “National Vision Chooses SUSE Linux Enterprise…“

You know Microsoft would only say something like this if there was absolutely no other alternative. They are marketing experts, not software experts. And apparently, the software experts that contribute to Linux have created an OS superior enough that, with little to no marketing/advertising, it enjoys a quickly-expanding install base.

Excerpt:

“While Linux on servers is a well-established market among business customers, Linux as a viable alternative to Windows on PCs has never taken off. However, the emergence of the netbook as a low-cost, smaller form factor to the traditional notebook PC has certainly changed that, so much so that Microsoft lately has been pushing a lightweight notebook as an alternative to netbooks, Helm said.”

Read Microsoft acknowledges Linux threat

Celebratory wallpaper:

Click for full-sized wallpaper.