You can be configured to verify that passwords (read as weak password) cannot be guessed easily using Linux PAM module called pam_cracklib.so. It will check the passwd against dictionary words. User is not allowed to set new password until and unless conditions satisfied (i.e. weak password is not allowed).

Adopt 10 good habits that improve your UNIX® command line efficiency -- and break away from bad usage patterns in the process. This article takes you step-by-step through several good, but too often neglected, techniques for command-line operations. Learn about common errors and how to overcome them, so you can learn exactly why these UNIX habits are worth picking up.

This tutorial shows how to set up a PXE (short for preboot execution environment) install server with Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft).

If you've ever suffered GUI fatigue--the visual boredom that results from looking at the same old icons, window borders, and color schemes on your desktop day in and day out--you may appreciate one of Linux's unique features: the ability to change the basic look and feel of your system without resorting to add-ons that demand a price in terms of performance.

Like dd, dd_rescue does copy data from one file or block device to another.dd_rescue is a tool to help you to save data from crashed partition. It tries to read and if it fails, it will go on with the next sectors where tools like dd will fail. If the copying process is interrupted by the user it is possible to continue at any position later. It can copy backwards.

Hello, my name is Dan Chu. I'm Senior Director of Products at VM Ware. Today I'm going to talk to you about what is virtualization. To set the stage, virtualization is a trend that is sweeping enterprise IT. The overall environment has over seven million servers being shipped worldwide every year. Now, out of those over six million of those servers are Intel architecture X86 volume servers. Now, these are getting deployed into enterprise data centers by the hundreds, by the thousands, even by the tens of thousands into large enterprises.

Web spiders are software agents that traverse the Internet gathering, filtering, and potentially aggregating information for a user. Using common scripting languages and their collection of Web modules, you can easily develop Web spiders. This article shows you how to build spiders and scrapers for Linux® to crawl a Web site and gather information, stock data, in this case

It is time to do the deed and install Linux Mandriva on your Windows XP computer in ‘dual-boot’ mode. Once again I must stress that you should only attempt this after you have backed up all essential data and accept that there is a small risk that you could end up loosing your XP system. See also this week’s Top Tip for some basic troubleshooting advice.

For many computer users, it sounds like a nightmare - being forced to enter cryptic commands into the computer using the keyboard. Yet, it need not be such a horror show. While operating systems like Windows XP and Mac OS and many Linux versions allow the user to control the computer completely using the mouse, it can be helpful to enter commands in text form sometimes. Linux offers a powerful tool for this, known as the console or shell.

There's always something new and progressive in the free and open source software universe. Here's a roundup of some recent worthy happenings in the fun worlds of iptables and VoIP: getting SIP through iptables NAT firewalls, adding new modules to iptables with Patch-O-Matic, monitoring iptables in real-time, and a look at the excellent AstLinux, "the professional's PBX".

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