Linux itself is relatively immune to viruses. Some do exist, but they are mostly experimental and don't propagate in the wild. However, Linux is perfectly capable of spreading Windows viruses, so I re ...

Whoever invented Heelys should be shot once in the leg for every time some 11-year-old brat plowed into my grocery kart at top speed as I was shopping. Or maybe they should have to fund a trip to ...

Very true, Kennon. That's exactly why I chose a thumb drive for the example above. For completely erasing a hard drive with a modern journaling filesystem, it's best to use a boot-and-nuke utility lik ...

An easy way to find the command (or executable filename) for an app you aren't sure about is to look at its properties in the Main Menu. Click System > Preferences > Main Menu, and then look for your ...

The command for pidgin is simply 'pidgin' ...

Thanks for chiming in with these, joboha. I always seem to overlook Avast and Panda. I think I'll do a bigger AV roundup with all of these sometime in the near future. -Robert ...

I don't want to send mixed signals here (although I probably am), but I don't really recommend running out and spending actual money on an antivirus app for your Linux machine. While some Linux threat ...

You're perfectly right to call me on the incendiary headline. (It's deliberately so, bein' a headline and all.) But do you really believe Linux isn't picking up momentum? I'm not claiming that 2008 wi ...

Just for clarification, the above instructions for Fedora 7 add the Livna repos to Yum. Without adding repos, you only get the official open-source updates, not the proprietary stuff like Flash and MP ...

The trouble many people have with adding codecs is that the default repositories in Fedora and openSUSE don't include proprietary software. But if you add in third-party repos, (Google "distro_name re ...

I agree, gam3r4eva. I generally run at least two distros at any given time. (At the moment, I'm typing this on my openSUSE-powered laptop.) I'll make it a point not to let this blog devolve into a str ...

As fun as it would be, you can't make DX10 work through Wine. Wine is an API layer between your Win apps and Linux, acting as a translator for system calls made by the app. DX10 addresses the hardware ...

You're right. My bad. I used the word "freeware" liberally because I didn't want to use the phrase "open source" twice in one sentence. Thanks for keeping me honest. ...

A reasonable criticism, n0b0dykn0ws. It's a shame the 32/64-bit divide runs so deep. But it's hardly fair to call me a liar over something that's as true for Windows as it is for Linux. There's no 64- ...

The short answer is yes, we will be covering other distros besides Ubuntu. The longer answer is that our coverage will grow and change as the world of Linux grows and changes. At the present time, Ubu ...

To say WoW runs in Linux would be pushing it, but it does run pretty well if you use Wine. Look for a post about Wine today or tomorrow. ...